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Torchwood: Children of Earth DAY FIVE FINALE grading thread

Day Five: Nut Brown Ale or Squid Vomit?


  • Total voters
    107
There's nothing onscreen to suggest that the first PM was Tony Blair nor that there were caretakers or PMs inbetween the ones we've seen onscreen.
True, but there are things we can deduce from the way these things work in real life.

Yes because Dr. Who has been so faithful to real life in the past right? :techman:
Obviously not, but there are no reasons to think that the way the Prime Minister gets elected is different in the Doctor Who universe. :p
 
Precisely. I mean, thanks for starting the threads, Steele, but your taste in poll categories is dubious at best.

It's only had one complaint that I'm aware of (yours).

It's just a stupid euphemism, I was having a bit of fun with it due to boredom with the usual options. People voting "Excellent" are not genuinely expressing a desire to suck RTD's penis, I figured people on this forum would have grasped that. :p
 
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well I had thought it a bit distasteful, but was aware that I wasnt voting that I want to suck RTDs cock, so didnt say anything.
 
^ I found it pretty distasteful too. It's one thing to be funny in the poll options, but the last few polls have been vulgar just for the sake of being vulgar.
 
Out of curiosity, I tried to figure out how many Prime Ministers RTD has gone through now...

In 2006, Tony Blair was assassinated by the Slitheen. Then the Doctor tricked the Royal Navy into killing Acting Prime Minister Joseph Green (in reality a Slitheen in disguise).

After Blair's death, a caretaker PM must have taken office before elections were called. So presumably Gordon Brown took over after the Slitheen incident, only to lose Downing Street to Harriet Jones.

Then the Doctor managed to force Harriet Jones from office some time after Christmas 2006. At some point, another PM must have taken over who went unnamed. This unnamed PM would have then lost his seat after the 2008 General Election to Harold Saxon.

Upon Saxon's death, I'd presume that the Leader of the Opposition was appointed PM just long enough to advise the Queen to call another election (since the Cabinet was dead). This third unnamed caretaker PM may or may not have held office after this new election.

Then in 2009, Torchwood Three lost contact with the Prime Minister's plane during the Dalek Invasion, implying that the Daleks killed that PM.

The next PM we know of after that is Brian Green from Children of Earth.

So that gives us...

Tony Blair
Joseph Green (Acting, Slitheen in disguise)
Unnamed caretaker #1 (possibly Gordon Brown)
Harriet Jones
Unnamed caretaker #2
Harold Saxon (the Master in disguise)
Unnamed caretaker #3
Unnamed Prime Minister (probably killed by Daleks, possibly the same person as UC#3)
Brian Green

Sooo..... At least 8 Prime Ministers between 2006 ("Aliens of London") and what I would presume to be 2010 (Children of Earth).

There's nothing onscreen to suggest that the first PM was Tony Blair nor that there were caretakers or PMs inbetween the ones we've seen onscreen.

The dead Prime Minister in "Aliens of London" sure as hell looked like Tony Blair. Harriet Jones, MP, made a reference to not being one of "the Babes." There was a reference made to the Iraq War, which of course Blair got the U.K. involved in. Blair was explicitly mentioned as having been Prime Minister in "Rise of the Cybermen." And there has never been mention in the TV series of there being any Prime Minister other than Blair before 2005, when "Rose" was set.

The implication certainly seems to be that the Prime Minister seen in "Aliens of London" was Tony Blair.

And there would have to be caretaker Prime Ministers between the ones we've seen, even if only very briefly, because that is how the British system of government functions. If nothing else, a caretaker Prime Minister would have to be appointed by the Queen so that he/she could then "advise" -- which is a British constitutional euphemism for "order" -- the Queen to dissolve Parliament and call for a new General Election (such as we know put Harriet Jones into office). You might as well argue that the fact that we didn't see a U.S. Vice President mentioned or portrayed means that there's no U.S. V.P.
 
I'm chiming in incredibly late again - I was so overwhelmed by part 5, I needed to sleep on it. I actually cried twice: when Rees confirmed that Gwen didn't want to abort their child and during Stephen's sacrifice. I see why Jack needs to wander for a while - Earth just hurts too much for him now.

A fourth series? Dunno - I guess ratings speak louder than art, but I would let Jack do a bunch of appearances on Who for a while. I finally get why the Doctor has never really liked Jack and is so wary around him.

Overall, the best SF I've seen in a long time.
 
^ I found it pretty distasteful too. It's one thing to be funny in the poll options, but the last few polls have been vulgar just for the sake of being vulgar.

It's in the spirit of Torchwood

Hey, we're no longer in the first season. Torchwood is good now. ;)

Seriously though, this is a board with thousands of unique posters. I don't think including an "It made me squirt" option in a episode review poll is the best idea. Most people will either find it funny or won't care, but it's going to make some people uncomfortable. An episode review thread should not be R rated.
 
I'm sorry to say the story fell apart for me in the final chapter. I was getting worried when there was 30 minutes left and they hadn't taken a single step towards resolving the conflict. So when they just reverse the signal and drive off the aliens in the last 10 minutes... I felt that was extremely anti-climactic. At the very least I expected them to expose the cloaked ships and destroy them or something. Or for Jack to come up with ingenious solution to save the day. Or better yet, a Doctor cameo deus ex machina! When Gwen talked about the Doctor in the opening scene I got very excited about this. But as is... very disappointing. Still, the mini-season overall is definitely the best Torchwood series.
 
So when they just reverse the signal and drive off the aliens in the last 10 minutes...
you have never heard the phrase "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" have you? this is a Doctor Who spin-off their is not a single problem that can not be solved by reversing the polarity of the neutron flow.

:rolleyes::lol::p
 
Well, the real issue was that the villains were Frobisher and the PM and the rest of the government. Sure, Jack had to make 456 go away at the end, but the miniseries was about defeating the human menace. From that perspective, it wasn't so rushed (though it has the bitter irony of implying that if they'd just girded their loins and called in Torchwood from minute one, everything would've ended quicker and happier).
 
Precisely. I mean, thanks for starting the threads, Steele, but your taste in poll categories is dubious at best.

It's only had one complaint that I'm aware of (yours).

Oh, I'm sorry, did you not notice that I was QUOTING ANOTHER COMPLAINT in my thread? :wtf:

It's just a stupid euphemism, I was having a bit of fun with it due to boredom with the usual options. People voting "Excellent" are not genuinely expressing a desire to suck RTD's penis, I figured people on this forum would have grasped that. :p

Oh, really, gosh, you mean I don't have to perform fellatio on RTD if I want to praise the episode? My goodness, what a relief!

Give me a little credit for intelligence, please. I just thought your poll was juvenile and in bad taste. Too bad, because most of your comments seem insightful and thoughtful.

Stick with the boring categories, please, in future or at least come up with something more imaginative than smirky penis humor. Thanks.
 
ok I should say that I did feel it was a very quick resolution to the problem, with greater screentime given to the cost of it, rather than the solution itself.
 
Yeah it was pretty shocking to me that in a 5 hour mini-series, only the final ?20? minutes actually showed the characters attempting to solve the crisis. Before that they were just running around and fleeing the authorities and listening in.
 
Firstly, it was just pointed out to me that the complaints didn't start until the US airing. Interesting observation, bobtheskutter. :devil:

Precisely. I mean, thanks for starting the threads, Steele, but your taste in poll categories is dubious at best.

It's only had one complaint that I'm aware of (yours).

Oh, I'm sorry, did you not notice that I was QUOTING ANOTHER COMPLAINT in my thread? :wtf:

I didn't see that guy's comment as a complaint, so much as a jokey aside.

Give me a little credit for intelligence, please.
I wasn't undermining your intelligence, hence the smilie. I was stating the obvious - that's the point.

I just thought your poll was juvenile and in bad taste. Too bad, because most of your comments seem insightful and thoughtful.
Jeez, it's been so long since anyone patronised me I'd forgotten what it felt like....

Juvenile humour and generally bad taste are wells I drink from far too often, I accept that.

Stick with the boring categories, please, in future or at least come up with something more imaginative than smirky penis humor. Thanks.
Not quite sure how to react to this without responding in a similarly condescending tone, which won't help anyone...

The filthy humour was mainly born out of the fact we're rating a show which was once described by a leading television critic as being "Chuckle Brothers with cumshots", its first and arguably second seasons being littered with unnecessary and frequent allusions to sexual encounters, sandwiched between frequent and unnecessary sexual encounters. As Uncle Tobias said, it's in the spirit of the source material - rightly or wrongly.

Perhaps it was misjudged, so I'll apologise for the vulgarity. I honestly didn't think it would be that big a deal (especially for TBBS - have you seen TNZ? :lol:), but seriously, I'm sorry for annoying or offending you and I mean that sincerely, that goes to anyone else who feels the same way.

If anyone else wants to have a go on the subject, do it via PM instead of derailing this thread, I'll be happy to respond.
 
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