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"Before the Flood" Grading and Discussion Thread

How do you rate "Before the Flood"?

  • Excellent

    Votes: 20 27.4%
  • Very Good

    Votes: 29 39.7%
  • Good

    Votes: 17 23.3%
  • Decent

    Votes: 6 8.2%
  • Rubbish

    Votes: 1 1.4%

  • Total voters
    73
The rest of the universe is a guy being mugged, from his perspective the Timelords are either the arsehole across the road who walks on by and doesn't even shout a warning or call the cops, or else they're the arsehole who intervenes by charging over and kicking seven bells of shit out of the mugger, and the victim at the same time!

That is a great analogy! They seem to clearly feel they are superior to everyone else, with the exception of course the Doctor, and don't really care about the suffering of others, as you put so well.

As for this episode.

I voted the middle option. Not quite as good a finisher to last week's set up as I wanted.

I liked the little speech to the audience in the beginning although it too me a few seconds to realize who he was talking to.
I wilted slightly when I saw the guitar but then I enjoyed the accompaniment and actually don't mind if it's going to stay because if that's this Doctor's "thing", like a long scarf or wearing celery or having "?" on everything, then ok with me. I mean, an electric guitar is not as cool as a fez, but we can't have everything all the time. :)

I thought the monster was very well made, looked great, but I was surprised that they lit him so clearly. A little shadow would have helped, but I appreciate the work that went into that and that it wasn't just a cg image. Not hating cg, but it's best used in moderation, imo. He was a bit of a disappointment in the monstering department, only just getting drowned after some talking, but over all a good effort.

So the monster was never dead, but he feigned death when the new invaders took over Tivoli to get off world so he could call for reinforcements to take over somewhere else. Ok.

It took a few moments, but I think the sequence of events are rather straight forward and no really bad problems there. I'm wondering if the casket was even "deadlock" sealed and he noticed that he was in there when the Doctor said that. What's a good way to say I don't want to open this, say "I can't!" and no argument, right? So knowing he's in the casket, he really isn't too worried about dying, but it's no good letting that out of the bag. I'm thinking that's why he even had the idea to go back to find out what happened, he knows he's in there and had to do it before the flood.

Everything else just follows.

He knows the power cell is missing. He knows the place was flooded. He knows the casket will be found in the church.

Maybe that's a valley that was a lake that was drained to use the land so the water would naturally stay if not damned off?

The O'Donnell ghost couldn't be running around the base with living O'Donnell there because of the electromagnetic techno-nonsense that needs to kill the people to make them into ghosts, but as soon as she was removed in the TARDIS, that ghost could then appear. Basically same reason that they couldn't be out in the bases day mode but specific to that ghost. And because the Doctor knew she wouldn't make it and wouldn't listen to reason is why he was so half hearted about trying to stop her. Bad analogy but if you know something is going to happen, how much to you want to bang your heart against some mad bugger's wall.

I also like, in retrospect, how the scratches reflect on the eyes of the people that saw them, that would be the signal rewriting their brain. You could even say that's why it didn't translate, it wasn't written communication, as such, but a jibberish to get someone to look at it while the "signal" rewrote their electrical signals in their brain, more akin to a hypnotist's watch than writing.

I'm sorry for the wall of text post. Actually I want to raise my vote to 4 out of 5. I like having to figure things out and didn't figure out some of that until I was typing this post. But everything seems logical in retrospect, something I can't say for a lot of other things.
 
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I loved the theme music, but I have no doubts it was just for this episode. 1 shot only.

I really dig the opening credits this season.
 
Another recurring thing in Doctor Who is that most aliens seem to dislike or hate the Timelords? Why is that?

Even in this episode when the Doctor meets the alien they go on a rant about Timelords?


Might as well quote the Sixth Doctor

In all my travelling throughout the universe, I have battled against evil, against power-mad conspirators. I should have stayed here. The oldest civilisation: decadent, degenerate, and rotten to the core. Power-mad conspirators, Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen they're still in the nursery compared to us. Ten million years of absolute power. That's what it takes to be really corrupt.
 
Characters wincing about the TimeLords in the "classic" series...?

There's Sutekh in "Pyramids of Mars". He demands the Doctor's world of origin. When he answers "Gallifrey", it doesn't "click", so he then demands binary coordinates. After the Doctor rattles off a series of numbers, Sutekh then makes the connection and realizes the doctor is a TimeLord. Later, after he has taken control of the Doctor's body, making him a puppet, Sutekh tells Scarman his latest plan revisions. The "g*d" notes the scheming nature of the TimeLords and recommends Sarah be used as a hostage should the Doctor shows any signs of self will.

I know there are other examples, but I can't immediately recall them. As the series continued, it seemed that more and more guest characters knew about the TimeLords, and usually as being a general pain in the a$$. I mean, in "The Invasion of Time", the Vardans and the Sontarans not only knew about the TimeLords, they "invaded" Gallifrey!

Sincerely,

Bill
 
Another recurring thing in Doctor Who is that most aliens seem to dislike or hate the Timelords? Why is that?

Even in this episode when the Doctor meets the alien they go on a rant about Timelords?
Did you not see the Paul McGann Minisode? The Time War, wiped out whole civilizations, and made the Time Lords just as bad as The Daleks. Manipulating The Daleks history, took out whole Civilations with "friendly Fire". For instance, let's say Dalek Invasion of Planet XYZ caused a mass exodus from Planet XYZ, and those Survivors built a Civilization of 50 Planets and Trillions of Being over the Course of Several Millenia. Then, the Time Lords come along, and change Dalek History, and they no longer invade Planet XYZ, that whole Society that was built vanishes from time.

Or, Say the Time Lords help Planet ABC, who then went on to build a Galaxy Wide Civilization. Then the Daleks come along, and erase that act from Time Lord history in retaliation, that Galaxy Wise Civilization vanishes from time.
 
Just caught the second part, for me I think this story could have worked a lot better in one episode, but I found that I was watching the clock for this to end rather than watching the episode and having the time fly by.
A rare miss for me this one, but not bad seeing as I think the last episode that had me doing this was fear her.
Roll on next week.
 
Characters wincing about the TimeLords in the "classic" series...?

There's Sutekh in "Pyramids of Mars". He demands the Doctor's world of origin. When he answers "Gallifrey", it doesn't "click", so he then demands binary coordinates. After the Doctor rattles off a series of numbers, Sutekh then makes the connection and realizes the doctor is a TimeLord. Later, after he has taken control of the Doctor's body, making him a puppet, Sutekh tells Scarman his latest plan revisions. The "g*d" notes the scheming nature of the TimeLords and recommends Sarah be used as a hostage should the Doctor shows any signs of self will.

I know there are other examples, but I can't immediately recall them. As the series continued, it seemed that more and more guest characters knew about the TimeLords, and usually as being a general pain in the a$$. I mean, in "The Invasion of Time", the Vardans and the Sontarans not only knew about the TimeLords, they "invaded" Gallifrey!

Sincerely,

Bill


The Black Guardian wasn't too fond of The Doctor and Time Lords if I recall correctly.
 
Re: "Before the Flood" Grading and Discussion Threa

Characters wincing about the TimeLords in the "classic" series...?

There's Sutekh in "Pyramids of Mars". He demands the Doctor's world of origin. When he answers "Gallifrey", it doesn't "click", so he then demands binary coordinates. After the Doctor rattles off a series of numbers, Sutekh then makes the connection and realizes the doctor is a TimeLord. Later, after he has taken control of the Doctor's body, making him a puppet, Sutekh tells Scarman his latest plan revisions. The "g*d" notes the scheming nature of the TimeLords and recommends Sarah be used as a hostage should the Doctor shows any signs of self will.

I know there are other examples, but I can't immediately recall them. As the series continued, it seemed that more and more guest characters knew about the TimeLords, and usually as being a general pain in the a$$. I mean, in "The Invasion of Time", the Vardans and the Sontarans not only knew about the TimeLords, they "invaded" Gallifrey!

Sincerely,

Bill


The Black Guardian wasn't too fond of The Doctor and Time Lords if I recall correctly.
Nor was Fenric (or anyone else who spits the words "Time Lord" as if they're a pejorative; c/f crispy Master in The Keeper Of Traken).
 
Another recurring thing in Doctor Who is that most aliens seem to dislike or hate the Timelords? Why is that?

Even in this episode when the Doctor meets the alien they go on a rant about Timelords?


Might as well quote the Sixth Doctor

In all my travelling throughout the universe, I have battled against evil, against power-mad conspirators. I should have stayed here. The oldest civilisation: decadent, degenerate, and rotten to the core. Power-mad conspirators, Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen they're still in the nursery compared to us. Ten million years of absolute power. That's what it takes to be really corrupt.


Was that from "trial of a Time Lord?" I loved that whole thing.
 
One thing I thought was weird, "Before the Flood" felt a lot shorter than "Under the Lake." Checking on iTunes, "Before the Flood" was slightly shorter but only by 1:09. ("Under the Lake" was 43:33. "Before the Flood" was only 42:24.) It felt a lot shorter than that somehow. Of course, "Under the Lake" also felt more substantial than "The Magician's Apprentice" or "The Witch's Familiar," and yet it was shorter than both episodes (46:31 & 47:49, respectively).

Yeah, the Time Lords are not well regarded, and haven't even back in the old show.

Yeah but in the old show did aliens ever go on rants onscreen about the Time Lords?

Perhaps, prior to the Time War, fewer aliens even knew about the Time Lords. After all, they seemed to be largely extremely isolationist prior to the Time War.

I mean, an electric guitar is not as cool as a fez, but we can't have everything all the time.

A Doctor Who message board & a Shriners convention, the only 2 places in the world where you will ever see this sentence. :p
 
Flood feels shorter/faster because it's not just a bunch of people running around corridors without explanation ;) We have time travel antics and the explanation of the force behind it all.
 
New to Doctor Who, so the fourth wall thing was unexpected, and startled me. Doubly weird when you realize that the TARDIS interior is actually located behind the fourth wall. I was almost convinced the Doctor would pop out of the screen at some point.
 
Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, but I don't even remember this 4th wall scene you guys are talking about.
 
Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, but I don't even remember this 4th wall scene you guys are talking about.

It's the one wearing the big, floppy, multicoloured scarf.

It's the eighth wall you need to worry about. It only holds up for just over an hour. People say the audios are good, but if a wall is sound it holds your ceiling up, not pisses around time and space with Sheridan Smith.
 
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