• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

8X04 "Listen" Grading/Discussion)(SPOILERS!

Grade "Listen

  • Attack Eyebrows!

    Votes: 67 48.9%
  • Amazing

    Votes: 39 28.5%
  • Okay

    Votes: 22 16.1%
  • Bad

    Votes: 5 3.6%
  • Terrible

    Votes: 4 2.9%

  • Total voters
    137
  • Poll closed .
There's of course the "season 6b" theory, that Troughton's regeneration at the end of War Games was halted and he did some jobs for a group of timelords, and eventually picked up Jaime again (and probably restored his memory). It sort of explains how he knew that Jaime and Zoe's minds had been wiped-although he appeared to be regenerating minutes later, his aging and the mission for the time lords with Jaime in the Two Doctors. However then for whatever reason he's found out by the regular timelords, regenerated and exiled.



There is another theory that perhaps the aging Second Doctor is like the curator; possibly a future incarnation who regenerated into an "Old favorite".
 
I illustrated in a very professional way the little girl I see when looking at the screengrab of the figure behind Clara.

I leave it to you which is scarier.. unaltered or illustration. ;)
 

Attachments

  • listen2.jpg
    listen2.jpg
    10.9 KB · Views: 21
The more I look back on it, the more I'm convinced "The Listeners" (good name upthread) are actual aliens. Who knows maybe this is setup for a future episode!
 
I prefer the Doctor as a man of mystery.

The very last thing I want to do is explore his psyche.

Seriously.

And:
It's like her character is defined and redefined to fit whatever role the script says she needs to fill.
This. That's not a character, it's a placeholder.
 
Last edited:
Or Doctor Why. Someone upthread implied the metatheme for the season was going to be eploring the Doctor's psyche. Not interested.
 
I agree that it does not look like a kid. Head shape is wrong.

Mr Awe

Look closer. The light/lens flare behind it is distorting the shape. Plus if it's a kid with curly, thicker, longish hair the blur will do the rest to make it look weird.

Edit to clarify: and if you look even closer than that you can see that the backround goes from blurry to veeeeery blurry the instant the blanket comes off. watch the light when that happens to see how much.

I have watched it closely and it doesn't seem to be a kid.

Mr Awe

Even if we assume it was an alien, what was it doing in Rupert's bedroom? Just pulling a prank anyway? Wouldn't that be the ultimate twist, the Doctor thinks he's hunting some exotic alien species with the ultimate hiding, but in the end its just bored alien teenagers messing with the minds of children on undeveloped worlds.
 
I'd add this. Given that they intentionally blurred the person out to not be visible, is there anyone who thinks they would have gone to the trouble of giving that person make-up to be an alien? Even if its supposed to be an alien, they wanted it to be ambiguous and not seen. I could see giving makeup if they planned to show him later, but they didn't.
I'm going with the interpretation that whatever the "Listeners" are, they're exceptionally blurry. Perhaps through some kind of EM field (or some such thing, I haven't kept up on my physics) or property of their skin/body that bends and scatters light around them. It is the only way I can make sense of the thing under the blanket being more "out of focus" than the blanket.

Sure, I have no problem accepting that. I'm just skeptical that there was any makeup work done whatsoever. So its either a deliberately blurry creature or a camera trick designed to keep it ambiguous.

However, I'm certain some kid was insulted by suggesting he or she has a funny shaped head.
 
I took the thing as a physical manifestation of the Doctor's own fears, especially later on in the episode.

We've seen it happen before as Dream Lord in the "Amy's Choice" episode.
 
I'd add this. Given that they intentionally blurred the person out to not be visible, is there anyone who thinks they would have gone to the trouble of giving that person make-up to be an alien? Even if its supposed to be an alien, they wanted it to be ambiguous and not seen. I could see giving makeup if they planned to show him later, but they didn't.
I'm going with the interpretation that whatever the "Listeners" are, they're exceptionally blurry. Perhaps through some kind of EM field (or some such thing, I haven't kept up on my physics) or property of their skin/body that bends and scatters light around them. It is the only way I can make sense of the thing under the blanket being more "out of focus" than the blanket.
Sure, I have no problem accepting that. I'm just skeptical that there was any makeup work done whatsoever. So its either a deliberately blurry creature or a camera trick designed to keep it ambiguous.

However, I'm certain some kid was insulted by suggesting he or she has a funny shaped head.
I'm not convinced it was necessarily makeup work, but there could easily have been some manipulation to alter the proportions of the face before the obvious additional blur was applied. I might need to go find the rough cut to see what state that shot was in.
 
Though Troughton seemed to remember events from The Three Doctors in The Five Doctors.

Side-effect of being back in the company of One and Two?

Well before he got "kidnapped", when he visited Brigadier he reminisced on adventures they shared, including Omega which they faced in The Three Doctors.

What if the Doctor remembers it initially but memories of meeting a future Doctor are automatically blocked by the next regeneration process?
 
I think more likely he remembers a version of the events but it is fuzzy and indistinct, with the other versions of himself even moreso than the details of it. He has some vague awareness of it, but until he experiences it again it is all shrouded in fog like a dream.
 
There's of course the "season 6b" theory, that Troughton's regeneration at the end of War Games was halted and he did some jobs for a group of timelords, and eventually picked up Jaime again (and probably restored his memory). It sort of explains how he knew that Jaime and Zoe's minds had been wiped-although he appeared to be regenerating minutes later, his aging and the mission for the time lords with Jaime in the Two Doctors. However then for whatever reason he's found out by the regular timelords, regenerated and exiled.
Hmm yeah, that sounds possible.
 
I took the thing as a physical manifestation of the Doctor's own fears, especially later on in the episode.

We've seen it happen before as Dream Lord in the "Amy's Choice" episode.

I like the theory, but the Dream Lord wasn't physical. However, the child and the knocking being his own subconscious is a cool middle ground between monster and mundane.
 
I'm 99% sure that isn't a kid.

9yacTi2.gif

I don't think it's a kid too. Look how unnatural the head is when the blanket comes off. It's almost like it's a balloon on a stick and the head sort of pops up once the blanket is off.
 
That is because whoever is under the blanket has hair that pops back into place.
Plus, if you look closely when the blanket comes off a massive blurring effect appears over the head shape, and only over the head shape.
Combined this creates the illusion of an oversized head.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top