Doctor Who

[9 to 5]

Harking back to the Christmas special, didn't the Doctor say the Ood had advanced way too fast as well?

[Frederick Jameson]

Well as Amy did not know who the Daleks are that further supports the theory that she is from a time before everyone on Earth knew about them

[GhostMachine]

Season 5 episode 1 aired here on BBC America tonight, and I thought it was pretty good. Do not care for the new version of the theme or the new opening title sequence, but I do like the new logo. (I'm assuming that was the regular new opening, and they didn't just do that bit with the TARDIS being hit what looked like lightning then spinning out of control before travelling on for just that episode?)

I like Matt Smith already, but obviously since its his first episode as the Doctor and the Doctor is always screwy for a while after regenerating, I can't judge him fully just yet. And I have a thing for redheads, so Karen Gillan is a definite thumbs up.

The new TARDIS control room is a definite improvement, but I don't like the fact the TARDIS key looks like an ordinary key.

So the new sonic screwdriver has a green light instead of a blue one? Or was the coloring off on my tv?

Not too thrilled about the Daleks episode (I think they've been overused in the series), but am looking forward to the vampires and Weeping Angels episodes.

[Benji]

Harking back to the Christmas special, didn't the Doctor say the Ood had advanced way too fast as well?

Oh man, I'd totally forgotten about that, I wonder if RTD and Moffat slipped anything else in during those transition episodes?

[TheWho87]

I like the new daleks and its great their brining back the colours since i hated the generic one rank system however two problems, firstly Daleks cant see red (it was brought up in the old Dalek books) and secondly i dont like the new shoulder/gun arm parts, they seem too bulky for my liking plus look too much like Special Weapon Daleks

[Jimmy]

While I am too bored of the Darleks, I really enjoyed that episode. The first five minutes, in particular, were rather fantastic. I liked the story and the setting, but can't feel a sense of dissapointment that The Darleks will probably be back for The Finale. They do bore me somewhat. I liked the ending question The Doctor posed to Amy. And I'm really interested in this crack of the wall stuff - and I hope it has a satisfying end.

Weeping Angels next week should be rather awesome.

So far, I've been loving the new series. The episodes are fun; I like our leading duo and I've really been enjoying the writing. Cliche at times, but I couldn't care less. Doctor Who is becoming a real guilty pleasure.

[ClaRK! Kent]

"Oh no, I hate those episodes where they have the Daleks in them, there's 1 every season pretty much!"

Move on, get over it. One of Bill Hartnell's seasons had 2 entirely separate Dalek serials in them, and they were all like 4-8 week-long serials back in those days. Doctor Who is the Daleks and the Daleks are Doctor Who, as much as the TARDIS or sonic screwdrivers etc, so I can't really begrudge them the chance to retool the Daleks for the new 'era' as it were.

Loved the redesign, they look both retro (very much like the ones from those old-school Peter Cushing movies) and futuristic, loved the touch of having an actual living eye at the end of the eyestalk, and they look actually big and nasty now compared to the others, like tanks compared to 4x4s.

The episode itself was fairly standard WW2 fare, Ian McNiece played a good Churchill and all and Matt Smith's holding the Daleks hostage with a Jammie Dodger was a very Tom Baker-ish move ("stand back, or I'll kill him with this deadly jelly baby!") but it was good fun, although the last 5 minutes were obviously what we'll need to remember through the series, with the Daleks surviving, Amy not knowing who the Daleks were, and of course another ominous-looking crack in space/time.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

I enjoyed it for what it was; a way of getting the Daleks back after the overkill demise at the end of Season 4, and as a way of setting up things for the rest of the series. "You don't require tea" and the Jammy-dodger self destruct button were great bits of humour.

So far, I've really enjoyed the first episode, Encounter and Farpoint was a bit less enjoyable but fine, as was this. Basically, every episode has been good for what it was, so I'm expecting the bigger, "epic" episodes to be awesome, starting next week with the weeping angels.

As for Matt Smith, I'm generally sold. Sometimes he's great in one part of an episode and weaker in others, though it's all just settling in. He'll be fine and good.

And I'm really liking Karen Gillan.

[9 to 5]

Harking back to the Christmas special, didn't the Doctor say the Ood had advanced way too fast as well?

Oh man, I'd totally forgotten about that, I wonder if RTD and Moffat slipped anything else in during those transition episodes?

It's always worth looking back. They never did explain about the Ood after all.

[Skummy]

That episode wasn't nearly as bad as I'd hoped for. It was naff and camp, and I hated the SPITFIRES IN SPACE bit because even considering that the guy was an android with Dalek technology, how the fuck did he build space Spitfires in a few minutes, and with what resources? And even ignoring that massive jump in logic, it was just a tiny bit silly.

The whole episode was patriotic guff, but more in a kind of campy old war movie sense that a genuine "isn't Britain great?" way, which I was kind of worried about....don't think much of coloured Daleks, or any time Daleks use any kind of strategy really...I much prefer them as just single-minded killers. They're supposed to be all the same. They're a hive mind. They all know The Doctor, and they all have one goal - to destroy anything that isn't Dalek. I don't like them being able to plot and connive quite as much as they did in this episode - that's what Davros was for.

I don't mind them having a Dalek bit in every series, it's kind of expected, I suppose.

Mostly a pretty naff episode, though the Doctor taking a month to respond was another time jump moment, I reckon, and maybe people are right about Amy...though I'm not sure about that one, it doesn't seem to add up, though the crack in the wall and all that, it does seem like she's as out of synch with time as anything else. Maybe something about her is causing it somehow, and that's why the crack in the universe is always in the same place as the Doctor....

[MGW]

It was what it was, nothing amazing but it wasn't as bad as some people are making out in my opinion. It's going to take some going to beat "Alright it's a Jammie Dodger, but I was promised tea!" as a line. Undecided on the new Daleks, dislike the hunchback, but the colours are a nice way of seperating out the different roles (will be interesting to see what the Eternal Dalek is). I may be alone, but I loved Spitfires in space, I thought it was cool.

Matt Smith is a fantastic Doctor, I love his quirkyness and the slightly Pat Troughton feel to his Doctor. Love the way he callas Amy by her surname. Amy isn'y bad at all, she's a huge step up from Rose, better than Martha but I'm not sure if she's going to better Donna, but that was mostly down to Catherine Tate being amazing.

Beast below wasn't bad, the pacing was a bit off, and the way Amy "got" the Doctor in episode two did feel like it whould have come in say episode 7 but overall it was good, Sophie Odenko was good, but you kind of expect that when you get people like her in the show.

Eleventh Hour was great, a fantastic opener to the series, I can't really fault it at all.

[marksbros6]

That episode wasn't nearly as bad as I'd hoped for. It was naff and camp, and I hated the SPITFIRES IN SPACE bit because even considering that the guy was an android with Dalek technology, how the fuck did he build space Spitfires in a few minutes, and with what resources? And even ignoring that massive jump in logic, it was just a tiny bit silly.

They mentioned 'Gravity bubbles' as a way of keeping the air in. I think it was supposed to be a regular Spitfire (With Laser cannons, but we saw they were using the Dalek ones in the workshop) but with a bubble of air around it, allowing it to fly in space with the propeller (as well as explaining all that non-Newtonian banking and turning in a vacume!). Hell it was a neat visual!

For those people complaining about Amy 'saving the day' all the time and making the Doctor look a bit thick by comparison...I think the idea is that he's been travelling alone for a long while at this point (while he was still Tennant) and since the Time War he's been a bit darker anyway (Donna says it after he murders the Empress of the Racknoss in 'The Runaway Bride'). He needs a companion to remind him of his basic humanity.

The way I see it he has just had to destroy his own people for a second time (In the Christmas Episode), he's regenerated (seemingly without wanting to and fighting it all the way)...hell even the Master has disappeared/is dead again (who has always been like an estranged brother, more so since they were the last 2 Time Lords left. He seemed desperate to re-habilitate him in their recent encounters). As a result Matt Smith's Doctor (in these early eps) has a somewhat fatallistic bent (For all his joking delivery). He was about to lobotomise the Space Whale (instead of considering Amy's solution) and tried to make the Android in last weeks ep feel 'Human' by feelings of pain and hurt and grief (instead of Amy thinking that he needed to feel/remember love). I think we will see Amy help the Doctor and open his eyes, I think he's still recovering from the dark places he went in 'Waters of Mars'.

Just my two cents.

:-)

[Timmoru Suzuki]

There was an event at Sheffield Train Station this morning, to promote the upcoming release of some random free Online Dr Who game. I went along, it was just the White, Red and Yellow Daleks from "Victory of the Daleks" and a stand giving away free mini-posters and pens, but it was a fun little thing to pop-by and see. I got the autograph of Nick Briggs, who voices the Daleks, which made it even more worth the early rise, along a few pictures of the Daleks.

There was a fan there who'd built his own (life-size) Dalek. It looked quite good, for a fan built effort.

True story.

[Guest Jacob]

That was not just the best episode of the recent run, but possibly of the whole series in general.

Weeping Angels are fast becoming my favourite enemy in Who-verse jumping ahead of The Master and Daleks.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

I largely enjoyed it. The "anything that contains the image of an Angel becomes an angel" felt like a little bit of a cop-out reason to pass two minutes by early on, and having the angels re-animate a dead soldier didn't really feel right to me, but I understand the need for the Doctor to communicate with his enemy at points, so I guess it's OK. Beyond those niggles, that was fun and good and I loved The Doctor's rant at the end about him being the one thing you don't put in a trap. Overall, good.

Also,Is it me, or was River Song a bit annoying in this? She was great last time out.

[Skummy]

Bloody good episode. Not as good as Blink - though I wasn't expecting it to be - but the premise of the Weeping Angels is still strong enough to carry the episode by itself. Amy continues to be pretty good, and I'm actually beginning to like her quick-thinking schtick as the current Doctor seems to be simultaneously a little bit ditzy and distracted and very full of himself, and sometimes needs that human element.

The other interesting thing, though is River Song...I don't really like the character, but she's beginning to intrigue me. Seeing as Amy flat-out asked if she was the Doctor's wife, and we didn't quite get a definite answer, that seems like a red herring to me, because that's the assumption so many people had jumped to - that she's a future companion of some sort. But if their timelines are running opposite to one another, than what she'd see as the Doctor's future would in fact be his past.....and she knows his true name, and when she met Tennant's Doctor she commented that he looked so young....I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that it could be Susan Foreman.

Almost certainly not the case.

[Guest Jacob]

Well we already know she knows the Doctors real name and the only logical conclusion is that she definately is his wife.

[Skummy]

Why is that "the only logical conclusion"?

[Guest Jacob]

Why else would you need to know someones real name?

Other than getting a mortgage i can't think of many other reasons.

[9 to 5]

The idea of Doctor Who having a mortgage made me laugh far more than it should have done.