Classic monsters return (spoilers)

[Guy Gardener]

But we don't know what's a hat and what's flesh and bone?

Then there's the explanation of the leader class who all so look like they're wearing hats.

Have you ever thought that there might not be a goldilocks point where an Ice Warrior can fight a Silurian without both of them being in an environmental suit?

(40 million years ago.)

Ice Warrior War Martial "No war today it's too hot."

Silurian War Leader "Well bugger having a war tomorrow becuase it's too cold."

Ice Warrior War Martial "Stop pulling my dick, either you're invested in this war or you're not."

Silurian War Leader "Look, I do want to fight you. You're an asshole. Your entire species is an asshole. On principle, I want to wipe you from the solar system. it's just good house keeping."

Ice Warrior War Martial "I agree wholeheartedly, I think you're an asshole too, and I look for war to the day I can eat your children, not your figurative or metaphorical children, but I want to make omelets out of the eggs you've fertilized which your female laid."

Silurian War Leader "Do you think a lot about me fertilizing a wide variety of females including your humpbacked mother?"

Ice Warrior War Martial "See! We should make incredible enemies!"

Silurian War Leader "I agree, I would love to hate you to death."

Ice Warrior War Martial "but it's just a question of simple economics."

Silurian War Leader "It all comes down to nickels and dimes. There is no fiscal advantage to invading Mars. It's too cold! Only a moron or a sadist would bother trying to live there, offence intended."

Ice Warrior War Martial "And what's with Earth?! 120 Fahrenheit in the shade!? Heat like that would melt my balls! I'd rather live with my shrew of a mother in law than land a foothold force on Pangea!"

Silurian War Leader "So we're agreed?"

Ice Warrior War Martial "Indubitably. No war today.

Silurian War Leader "And no war tomorrow."

Ice Warrior War Martial "That's such a relief."

Silurian War Leader "Hey?"

Ice Warrior War Martial "What Assface?"

Silurian War Leader "What about Telos?"

Ice Warrior War Martial "Oh! They are the worst!"

Silurian War Leader "No, you're the worst!"

Ice Warrior War Martial "No, they're the worst."

Silurian War Leader "Maybe they're the worst?"

Ice Warrior War Martial "Yeah. Lets go whack some fricking Cybermen!"

Silurian War Leader "Hell yeah!"

Ice Warrior War Martial "Boo-yah!

[BlastHardcheese]

Venardhi wrote:

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Unfortunately not.

All the same, I'm quite impressed with the new look. They actually don't look too goofy. They look like one could crush a Cyberman like a tin can. I hope the Ice Lord costume gets a similar update.

[Cutter John]

Just saw this among some newly released pics on Facebook.

Possibly a Draconian?

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...psc2347677.jpg

[Starkers]

Yeah I saw that, it does look like one...

[Emh]

So it does...I wouldn't be surprised. Just another aspect of the 50th anniversary celebration.

Now, if only we could get the Zygons...

[Starkers]

[The Wormhole]

Eh, I don't know. I think I preferred the Draconian look in Frontier in Space over this. Then again, maybe I should wait until I see an image larger and more detailed before I judge.

[Christopher]

That doesn't look at all like a Draconian to me. The only remote similarity is the elongated cranium, but the shape of it is very different. Given how faithful the new Ice Warrior design is, I profoundly doubt they'd change the Draconians this much. It's presumably a new species.

[The Mirrorball Man]

Christopher wrote:

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That doesn't look at all like a Draconian to me. The only remote similarity is the elongated cranium, but the shape of it is very different. Given how faithful the new Ice Warrior design is, I profoundly doubt they'd change the Draconians this much. It's presumably a new species.

It has an elongated cranium like a Draconian, it's reptilian like a Draconian, it's the same color as a Draconian and it's wearing the same kind of clothes as a Draconian. It may be a different species, but this looks more like a Draconian than the new Silurians look like the old Silurians.

[Christopher]

The Mirrorball Man wrote:

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It has an elongated cranium like a Draconian

It has an elongated cranium, but shaped very differently from a Draconian's elongated cranium. The Draconian cranium is egg-shaped with a small fanlike crest; this has a much larger, thicker crest. Also the orbital ridges are much more pronounced and angular, and there's no nose, ears, or beard.

it's reptilian like a Draconian

Maybe. I'm not sure of that. And there are plenty of reptilian aliens in the franchise.

it's the same color as a Draconian

Not really. It's a dull dark brown, while Draconians were more of a golden-brown on top with greenish-brown scales on the sides of the head.

and it's wearing the same kind of clothes as a Draconian.

Broadly similar.

It may be a different species, but this looks more like a Draconian than the new Silurians look like the old Silurians.

Maybe. But on the other hand, the modern Daleks and Ice Warriors look very much like their original selves. Also, the Silurian design was changed to look more sophisticated and aesthetically pleasing. The original Draconian design looked fine by modern makeup standards, so there wouldn't be as much incentive to update it -- particularly to make it scarier and more monstrous like this character, since Draconians were painted in a fairly positive light.

It's got enough rough similarities that it might be a revisionist Draconian, but enough differences that we can't assume that's the case. I'm putting it firmly in the "too early to tell" column. I don't like jumping to conclusions. There's nothing wrong with just saying "I don't know yet" and waiting patiently to find out.

[The Mirrorball Man]

Christopher wrote:

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It's got enough rough similarities that it might be a revisionist Draconian, but enough differences that we can't assume that's the case. I'm putting it firmly in the "too early to tell" column. I don't like jumping to conclusions. There's nothing wrong with just saying "I don't know yet" and waiting patiently to find out.

Oh, I agree, that's why I wrote "it may be a different species". But if you ask me, the Doctor Who producer should not feel any obligation to slavishly stick to any design that was cobbled together forty years ago. If it works for them, fine, if they want to change it, that's also perfectly fine.

[diankra]

I;m also in the 'Could be, too early to tell' camp, though my 'word association' gut reaction to that pic was 'Draconian'. But more for the robes than anything (the head looks very different), and they lack the high shoulders you'd expect (though those were a sign of rank/nobility, so the lower ranks wouldn't have them).

[Lonemagpie]

Cutter John wrote:

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Just saw this among some newly released pics on Facebook.

Possibly a Draconian?

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...psc2347677.jpg

That's a new alien AFAIK

[The Mirrorball Man]

diankra wrote:

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they lack the high shoulders you'd expect (though those were a sign of rank/nobility, so the lower ranks wouldn't have them).

That and, you know, the fact that different people in different places at different times wear different clothes.

[Christopher]

The Mirrorball Man wrote:

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But if you ask me, the Doctor Who producer should not feel any obligation to slavishly stick to any design that was cobbled together forty years ago. If it works for them, fine, if they want to change it, that's also perfectly fine.

But the Draconians were a terrific design, one that would work very well today. The record shows that alien designs are only radically changed when the originals looked fairly crude, like the Silurians or Cybermen. The Daleks, Sontarans, and Ice Warriors are hardly altered from their original appearance, beyond some refinement of the details. So I don't think it would fit the pattern for them to alter the Draconian design so drastically.