Doctor Who

[ClaRK! Kent]

THAT WAS AWESOME!!!

Ahem.

The first 15-20 minutes weren't too good, as timmayy noted, although it did the job of slowly setting up everything that's to come, with Professor Yana getting all befuddled and zoning out, etc, whilst also providing some instant peril - which we wouldn't have had without the Futurekind. Even though it looks like this is gonna be a 3-part finale, you needed the instant peril of the Futurekind to keep the plot moving on for the first half of the episode. Not well-executed, but timmayy's wrong in saying they weren't needed.

Everything from the moment you see Yana's watch to the end was fan-fucking-tastic. Absolutely brilliant, not just in a fan-wank kinda way but all really well-executed. As David Tennant noted on Confidential, the attention to detail has been perfect throughout - Face of Boe's message makes sense, the Doctor's comment that he'd 'sense' another Time Lord makes sense, all of it fits into place beautifully and clears up a confusing set of bits'n'bobs. I loved that the first moment of realisation from the Doctor that the Master was back was with them in totally different rooms, great touch. "Creeping terror" as RTD put it.

And as for John Simm! WA-FUCKING-HEY! This is what's always been missing from the Master's character - he works best when he's not just the Doctor's equal in terms of intellect, he needs to be so much like the Doctor it's uncanny (just evil) for it to be truly gripping drama between them. Delgado had that a bit with Pertwee, but not enough, while Ainley's portrayal was a bit too 'do scene, cackle wildly, scream when defeated' cardboard cut-out to be compelling. But, in John Simm, they've essentially got the British actor most like David Tennant right now in, and he was fucking awesome. Loved him, and from the look of next week's trailer, he's gonna be awesome.

[Dingle]

Wait, when did The Doctor say he could sense another time lord and how did he sense him?

[Benji]

Wait, when did The Doctor say he could sense another time lord and how did he sense him?

End of New Earth ep of this series. He said he could as in, he would be able to.

[wozzi]

Question is, what is ATILLA? That was the other code used...

[marksbros6]

That was awesome, especially as I was expecting this to simply be a prelude to the series finalie, much in the way of there being a 'calm-before-the-storm' episode in the previous two seasons. THAT was the reason for having the 'Future-kind' there guys, lulling you into thinking that that was what the story was going to be about, when really once you get to the revelation half way through, the whole story of the futurekind and the Humans and 'Utopia' can be screwed up and thrown in the bin. Regardless of which it was a well thought out plot-device, that enhanced the shock when you find out about the Master.

I liked Jack's return, and finally getting the Doctor's reasoning for leaving him there. Plus we find out how Jack got to be in the 21st century, when we'd last seen him on the Gamestation far in the future (I liked the idea of him having to 'wait through' the 20th century, it's a concept straight from the old Virgin New Adventure novels, having the Tardis 'wait around', through normal time for a rendevous with the Doctor when he gets seperated from it in time). I also thought the pair of them discussing Rose was very poigniant, especially when Jack confesses to visiting her estate in the '90's and watching her grow up. Though it did tend to marginalise Martha a bit, which is a shame, after she featured so well in the previous 2-parter.

And was I alone in thinking Mr Russell T. had SWERVED us when it came to the Master and John Simm? I though he might have but after he got shot I knew he was going to regenerate...and it's early days but I think I'm going to like John Simm's portrayal. The nod-and-a-wink to him 'telling the Doctor his evil plan' was a nice touch, and he seems to be striking a nice balance between over the top melodrama and underlying threat, making him a joy to watch, but retaining the fear. He's entertaining, but he'd kill you in a second!

Can't wait for the next two episodes!

[Dingle]

Question is, what is ATILLA? That was the other code used...

Which episode is ATILLA from?

[RavenBlack]

When's the expected ETA on series 3 going Stateside? July?

BBC America's advertising series 2 and Torchwood...in September. :thumbsdown:

[Protoman Version 2.5]

Yeah, us Yanks who watch the Series are royally screwed at the pace the channels take. What with it up in the air if Sci-Fi will get Series 3 and BBC America (as you said) just NOW getting Series 2 (about a year after Sci did).

[GhostMachine]

We're supposed to be getting series 3 on the Sci-Fi Channel in July. I saw a commercial for it the other day, but don't remember the date and the Sci-Fi.com website doesn't say when it starts.

I don't think they're picking up Torchwood, so I guess we'll have to wait for BBC America to air it in September, like RavenBlack mentioned.

Color me ambivalent about the Master returning, because anyone taking the part is going to have a lot to live up to, considering how awesome Delgado and Ainley were. (Wouldn't take much to surpass Eric Roberts, though )

[Thrilla]

The casting of Simm in my mind is perfect. The Master has always been portrayed as an equal to The Doctor in intelligence and ingenuity, Simm himself is very much like Tennant, coming into the programme after having critically acclaimed success in another all British show. They're two of the bright spots of British acting at the moment and I think they will be able to play off one another fantastically.

As for the show itself, the first twenty minutes while not redundant did seem rather useless when the big reveal half way through the show was made. But that is what they were there for, I guess, to throw people off of the scent a little and in that case it worked brilliantly. The last 25 minutes of the show were undoubtedly the best acted in all of the season, the storyline progressed at a quick, yet logical pace and some of the characterisation was near-on perfect. The stuff between Jack and The Doctor in the radiation chamber was great, Martha was pushed to the outside of the group here and the obvious parallels between her and the assisant to the Professor, could be an interesting way of making Martha's character more forward, realising that she could end up dead by continually following The Doctor. The stuff with The Master being trapped in the same way The Doctor had been was cleverly done and the reveal was another highspot of the show. The Doctor's pleading with The Master as well, once he was inside the Tardis was interesting to watch as well.

My only qualm about the show was the 'extreme close up, one liner' part of The Master's return, Davies seems to have grand ideas about things like that, that he never manages to execute fully. Overall it was a great show and a great set up for the final two episodes of the season.

[Katsuya]

Correction, everyone, it was ATILLO. Still no clue what the fuck that means, but...

[therockbox]

Did The Master still have his TARDIS?

If so, could it be on the planet somewhere?

[DFF]

Did The Master still have his TARDIS?

If so, could it be on the planet somewhere?

What somewhat bothers me is that, in the Doctor Who film with Paul McGann, the Master is killed off as he has run out of regenerations. Now, this could be solved if the film was non-cannon, but from what I gather it IS considered cannon.

As for the TARDIS thing, I'll swing by wikipedia and have a look.

[R.W.]

Correction, everyone, it was ATILLO. Still no clue what the fuck that means, but...

Probably nothing. To me, YANA was still the Professor's name, and they were using those codes to access camera links to each other - so ATILLO was probably just the code for the camera link to the guy at the radiation chamber

[Hobo]

Edit: Nevermind.

Edited June 19, 2007 by The Lonesome Hobo

[Dingle]

But YANA = You are not alone, Wolvy >_>.

As far as The Master goes, he ran out of regenerations before didn't he during the period around "The (something) of Tracken". However, I'm sure we will get an explanation for it somewhere down the line.

[Benji]

He's run out of them twice at this point IIRC. But remember The Doctor's description of "Timey Wimey stuff". Plus, I suspect the Face of Boe had a hand in this, of all places to be found, Yana was found somewhere in "The Silver Devastation".

[R.W.]

But YANA = You are not alone, Wolvy >_>.

As far as The Master goes, he ran out of regenerations before didn't he during the period around "The (something) of Tracken". However, I'm sure we will get an explanation for it somewhere down the line.

I know, but to the people, Yana was still his name, so when they set up the camera codes, it's what they would have used. Thus , Atillo was just the soldier's name.

[Dingle]

Well that was hilariously awesome. I love John Simm and David Tennant sooo much. It's a tremendous casting and finally a great rival for The Doctor. I kinda thought Th Rani may have been the wife, but it is fine that she's a human.

No idea where they'll go with The Doctor being old, I just thought "hmm...wouldn't that trigger a regeneration?". Still, it was a great episode and that drumming is a great idea to explain the "hypontism".

Edited June 23, 2007 by Devil In Jouzy City

[Vamp]

No idea where they'll go with The Doctor being old, I just thought "hmm...wouldn't that trigger a regeneration?".