Doctor Who

[DFF]

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".

That was FUCKING AWESOME. Everyone was on form and Simm was practically perfect.

As for the age thing, it would only trigger a re-gen if he ACTUALLY died of old age.

[ClaRK! Kent]

John Simm as The Master is perhaps the best guest casting the series has ever, EVER done in its 40+ year history, he was absolutely magnetic, absolutely hypnotic (pardon the pun) in the role from the moment you saw him last week, and this week was just absolutely brilliant. Like I've said time, time, time and time again - The Master is the best when he's almost a mirror image of The Doctor, not just 'another Time Lord' but literally an analogue of The Doctor's in every way except the fact he's evil. John Simm and David Tennant are beautifully alike and Simm plays it so well, loved it.

The plot was interesting, I liked the flashbacks to Gallifrey and the things like the Paradox Machine and Toclafane which have been set up for next episode and such, but really this episode belongs to The Master and to John Simm, in its entirety. Next week's, The Last of The Time Lords, will be the one that makes the two-parter I think, this one was just given to John Simm entirely. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it some more, in fact.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

That was a good episode, probably a very good one. John Simm totally owned the show as The Master, brilliantly played with some great one-liners, and actually seeing Gallifrey was a brilliant moment. And Jelly Babies!

[RavenBlack]

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.

Edited June 24, 2007 by RavenBlack

[Vamp]

Has anyone noticed something on the changing billboard on the Dr. Who website?

[Guest robbo9292]

is it something to do with a dvd if so the dvd on the bilboard is about the domination by those little ball things that are boogeyman stories as the doctor says.

[Benji]

Here. The DVD's Sally Sparrow could've watched, check number three

[ClaRK! Kent]

Cool.

In other news, my avatar is a dozen times better than Benji's, but he manages to be cooler than me by being able to have a custom member title to complete the jazzy Saxony look. Bastard. I remember when I could do custom member titles...

[Skummy]

That episode was incredible. The last two have been really top-notch, and cemented my status as a real Doctor Who geek; I'd had something of a love-hate relationship with the "new" episodes beforehand, but the last two have been enough of a geekfest, while remaining strong as a story in their own right, to really make me see sense, and Tennant's been growing on me every week.

John Simm is fantastic as Saxon/The Master, from the moment he said "What this country really needs, right now, is a Doctor", I knew he was perfect. He's kooky enough to be a believable "mirror image" of the Doctor, but he can be serious and slightly creepy enough to be quite uncomfortable with it.

Things like the Gallafreian crest, and JELLY BABIES popping up in this episode had be squealing like a little schoolgirl, as did things like "...and the Daleks, more or less" and the Doctor's hand.

As for the Toclafane, I don't think that is what they are. The Doctor said that the Toclafane were something of a "boogeyman" story, essentially something to scare children, on Gallafrey, but when he saw them, he asked The Master what they really were...so I think they're something more than generic evil alien #17...something to do with either Daleks or Time-Lords, I would imagine, as they're the only really strong storyline element that could be brought in, unless they plan to introduce a new element, and with The Master's comment to The Doctors that the truth would "break your hearts", it seems linked to the Time-Lords... Either way, I don't think the Toclafane are the Toclafane, per sé. Same goes for Saxon's wife....why would a human woman be supportive of that? Why would Saxon even have a wife if she wasn't important in the grand scheme of things, both in-storyline and out of it? Storyline-wise, surely it would only complicate matters and get in the way of his plan, out of storyline, surely she wouldn't be there if she was just superfluous to the plot? Not to mention the focus being put on her dancing to "the drums" when "Voodoo Child" starting playing. I think she's going to be a pretty important element in next week's. Either way, I'm REALLY looking forward to the next episode, because for the first time in a long while, I genuinely haven't a clue what's going to happen, and the Doctor being old really just confuses matters more.

Edited June 25, 2007 by Ziltoid The Omniscient

[Vamp]

I think his wife is just there to show further how much the Master can manipulate people, and because it makes him look like the perfect person. He's gone to college, played sport, wrote an autobiography and had a wife.

[Guest robbo9292]

final episode this week can not wait as the doctor gets revenge but will martha save all of earth and will Cpt. Jack Harkness ever die tune in next week also will the cast of torchwood show up yes Cpt. Jack's team of torchwood will they show up to save earth.

[Katsuya]

FUCKING. BRILLIANT.

That was awesome. And we have a new Master, and she's female. Awesome.

And he's the reason the Titantic crashed. Excellent.

EDIT: Oh, and The Master singing "I Can't Decide" to Doctor was fucking marvellous.

Edited June 30, 2007 by Katsuya

[9 to 5]

Whoa, hang on Katsuya. It might just be a cross-dresser. >_>

[Benji]

FUCKING. BRILLIANT.

That was awesome. And we have a new Master, and she's female. Awesome.

And he's the reason the Titantic crashed. Excellent.

Horrid, aside from the clever Face of Boe thing and the Toclofane being Utopian humans the entire thing marred the previous two episodes in my book. I just assumed the person picking it up was Lucy, not a female Master, I dislike the idea of Time Lords changing gender when they regenerate. Finally, isn't the TARDIS meant to be impenetrable... so how did the Titanic get through and why was it so small?

[alex]

Can anyone explain to me in the simplest possible terms how the Doctor was de-aged (is that a word? If not I claim it's invention) by the power of thought?

Not a critiscm, just not understood.

I'm a bit unsure on the actual episode, i'm going to watch it again ... ah, the power of VHS, and then come back with an actual opinion.

OG is currently dying with traffic, but knowing the forums there it will be probably be overflowing in SQUEE threads.

I imagine after the female hand picked up the ring rumours of The rani will be rife.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

That was alright. It was decent to solid, but the de-aging of the Doctor was laughable, totally laughable.

The last five+ minutes saved it, with the Boe thingy, with Martha leaving and the good (if a little silly) set-up for the chistmas special.

So, in review, Last 5-10 mins good, rest OK, with some laughable parts.

Oh, I hate the fact John Simm died, but the scene with him dying in the Doctor's arms was well good.

[Katsuya]

I'm guessing it is Lucy, who then uses the ring to become the Master. It's Doctor Who, logic is fucked up.

Agreed that the whole "Doctor" thing was stupid though, but otherwise I thought the rest of the show was just as good as the rest. Oh, and Jack being the Face of Boe is brilliant too.

[9 to 5]

Aye, the whole Face of Boe thing did make me spit out my beer in a good way.

[Vamp]

I just assumed the person picking it up was Lucy, not a female Master, I dislike the idea of Time Lords changing gender when they regenerate.

[Skummy]

I hated the whole "power of thought" thing, even when they explained that it tied in with Archangel and everything...it was just silly, even by Doctor Who standards. It was cringeworthy. They tried to build up The Doctor to be some kind of Messiah, which I suppose makes sense given the circumstances, but it just seemed uncharacteristic and tacky, and a bit of a cop-out...just seemed like they couldn't find a sensible way to return him to his normal age.

The female hand picking up the ring was interesting, but I don't think it will be a "new Master" per sé. I liked the Doctor crying over the death of The Master...I really like how they're driving home the loneliness of the Doctor's life, to the extent that even losing someone like The Master would leave him distraught, because it's just about all he's got left. The funeral pyre image, and the Doctor crying over the Master's body, were both wonderful images, but I like the idea of the Master being held captive inside the TARDIS, I would've liked that as an eventual outcome, and it wouldn't be too tricky to bring him back for a future story. If we DO have a new Master, I don't want to see him/her again for a long, long time. The last couple of episodes were pretty epic, and bringing the Master back as just another recurring villain would lessen that severely.

The Face Of Boe thing was a cute twist, as was the Toclofane being humans...really sums up the whole idea of humanity being the most durable race, yet at the same time the most vicious and monstrous; something that's been brought up a few times this series. Not sure if it was intentional or not, but there seemed to be a couple or parallels between humanity/Toclofane and the creation of the Daleks, which was nice. As an aside, the Toclofane's human face looked a bit like Davros. I almost marked out.

The set-up for the Christmas episode was silly, but it would have to be, really. For a brief moment I thought the Titanic's hull was a Dalek Emperor.

I thought we were going to get another sickly Doctor/companion romance moment when Martha was leaving, I'm so glad we didn't. Martha was a decent assistant, and I'm sure we'll see her again, but I think she's outlived her usefulness in the companion role. I'd like to see the Doctor fly solo for a little while, really build on the loneliness idea, before eventually introducing a companion, but I can see a new one popping up at Christmas, or the start of the next series. Oh well.

It was a good finale, all in all, though, but the pacing was a little odd. It was like BIG MOMENT nothing nothing nothing nothing BIG MOMENT plot twist nothing nothing nothing nothing BIG MOMENT nothing nothing nothing, silly plot twist, nothing nothing nothing, tender moment, silliness.