Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

Ehh.. WTF just happened?

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

Tomahawk wrote:

Ehh.. WTF just happened?

http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/shh.gif



Just accept it.

Last edited by BigDamnArtist (2013-07-11 17:03:31)

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

I just watched SFDebris's review for The Eleventh Hour, and I think it it contains just about the most apt explanation for why I absolutely love the Smith series.

The short short version is basically that the Smith series focus less on technological feats and vistas and more on creating an almost modernized fairy tale tone.

Obviously he puts it better than I do, but I've never had it distilled quite that way, and it is absolutely spot on.

http://sfdebris.com/videos/doctorwho/s31e01.asp

ZangrethorDigital.ca

479

Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

A new maze has appeared in the UK, apparently:

http://i.imgur.com/vK6GoYr.jpg

Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

Found out that the DVD/Blu-ray release for the complete seventh series of Doctor Who will be available on 9/24, which is the week after "The Ice Warriors" and "Scream of the Shalka".

All with the 13 episodes, BOTH Christmas specials (The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe and The Snowmen).  Prequels, entire Pond Life mini series & related stuff from The Nerdist will be a part of the specials features.  Commentaries will also included but currently there's no word how many will be but it's unlikely to be for every episode.

Link below is what the box set will look like.
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos- … 6520_n.jpg

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

So I've finally watch and caught up with the series as of the 2005 debut. Loved. Every. Fucking. Second.

Of the new Doctor Who companions, who's your favorite?

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

I like Amy. She's a scot and ginger.


But I'm really one of those Rose kind of guys.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

I loved Amy...but then Clara came along and I fell in love all over again. So my heart is torn between them.

However, my FAVORITE newwho companion? Rory all the way.

How can you not love him, the little dweeb who's over 2000 years old, almost all of that spent guarding this box that contained the girl he loves against every force come against it in the last 2000 years, the last centurion, I love it.

Plus...

Although if we're counting Harkness as a companion, him all the way.

Just anyone but Donna or Rose really... is what it boils down to...

Last edited by BigDamnArtist (2013-07-25 18:14:53)

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

I love them all dearly. From an emotional perspective, Rose and Amy are very close to the heart.

But for me? I think it's gotta be Donna Noble.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

Amy & Donna for me. Amy wins though, mainly because of my Karen Gillan crush.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

BDA, Rory is by far my favorite secondary character.

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487

Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

BigDamnArtist wrote:

The short short version is basically that the Smith series focus less on technological feats and vistas and more on creating an almost modernized fairy tale tone.
http://sfdebris.com/videos/doctorwho/s31e01.asp

He actually sums it up as a transition from Sci-Fi to Fairy Tale. I guess that I agree with SFDebris's assessment that the change isn't inherently good or bad, just different, but I can say unequivocally that I inherently enjoy Sci-Fi more than Fairy Tales -- so to me that's a negative.

But more than that, it wasn't the tone or even the genre shift that bothered me so much about Smith's run. It was that the Doctor was just bumbling and immature. One can be quirky, playful, and even youthful without crossing the line to annoyingly immature, but they leap right over it. Every time the Doctor got all whiney or grumpy or jealous or petty...it's just like "Really, I'm supposed to root for this guy?"

BigDamnArtist wrote:

However, my FAVORITE newwho companion? Rory all the way.

Plus... (coolest scene ever video)

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That scene is already pretty awesome...but it reaches even more epic proportions of Rory's awesomeness when you consider that at this point in the series, he totally human again. He's not a Auton anymore, so he is literally just a regular human being standing on the bridge of a Cybermen ship staring down their entire fleet in search of his wife.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

The Sci-Fi to Fairy Tale point is very interesting. Because what I found jarring about series 5-7 was the way everything before that point seems to have been, maybe not quite forgotten, but "put in the vault". Previous adventures, companions, themes since series 1 seem to have ended when Tennant left the show.

I'm sure that was intentional on the part of the creators, but it feels like such a big split in the show. The show during Eccleston's tenure bled right into Tennant's and while the show changed and evolved over time, it didn't feel distinctly different the way it did when season 5 started, in fact it always seemed to make a point to recall and remember previous characters, conversations and interactions in a way that I wish more shows would do.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

auralstimulation wrote:

I'm sure that was intentional on the part of the creators, but it feels like such a big split in the show. The show during Eccleston's tenure bled right into Tennant's and while the show changed and evolved over time, it didn't feel distinctly different the way it did when season 5 started, in fact it always seemed to make a point to recall and remember previous characters, conversations and interactions in a way that I wish more shows would do.

I would lay this at the feet of Rose. Because she crossed over the gap of Doctors all the baggage sort of followed with her. Where as with Smith, it literally was wiping the slate clean, new Doc, new companions, new new new. Which I'm okay with, I think trying to take the show in the direction they were (the fairy tale, and you're absolutely right BBQ, I was just having a hard time translating SFDebris onto here) while still holding onto all of that would have been a bad choice. It could have very easily gotten very weighed down by having all this other stuff behind it (See: Star Trek).

I think that's one of the nice things about the regeneration mechanic and especially the way the doc treats it, it is basically a reset button. Everything changes.

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

I agree, ultimately. It's just that you have to kind of adjust your heart to the trajectory of the show. I needed to learn to love the new Doctor and his new companions. I did in the end, of course.

That said:

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Rose's departure in "Doomsday" ripped my heart out. I felt nothing at all at River's departure.

One of the other things I absolutely love about this show is how meta it all feels. The show knowing its place in our culture is part of its DNA. I also ALSO love how very British it is and how that is also part of the show's DNA.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

auralstimulation wrote:

Of the new Doctor Who companions, who's your favorite?

The most interesting companion? Amy & Rory as a couple.

The most beautiful companion? It's a toss-up between Martha Jones and Amy Pond.

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auralstimulation wrote:

I felt nothing at all at River's departure.

Not many people seem to care for River Song. Alex Kingston isn't necessarily awful, but I think she was miscast here. I'd be interested in seeing what someone else would do with the part.

So honor the valiant who die 'neath your sword
But pity the warrior who slays all his foes...

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

I love Alex Kingston, but I feel like the Moffat doesn't always know what to do with River. She seems to orbit the Doctor and dispense clues and...not much else. There's so much more that could have happened.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

@Marty:

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I think it's part miscasting, but her character is also written horribly. The weird time tripping shit they tried to pull around her makes absolutely no sense when you step back and look at it, and as the seasons went on, it felt like they were just trying to jam and force in more and more twists, without actually bothering to justify any of it, or make any of it make any goddamned sense.

I like River when she's just being that coy, playful, kickass warrior thief chick who knows just a bit to much about the Doctor. But it's when they try cramming all this extra shit into her character that the entire thing just falls apart.

And yes, I think another actress would be much better suited to the role.

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

BigDamnArtist wrote:

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I think it's part miscasting, but her character is also written horribly. The weird time tripping shit they tried to pull around her makes absolutely no sense when you step back and look at it, and as the seasons went on, it felt like they were just trying to jam and force in more and more twists, without actually bothering to justify any of it, or make any of it make any goddamned sense.

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It's an interesting concept for a time travel story, but (like most time travel stuff) hard to execute properly. And Steven Moffat just likes to overcomplicate his plots with this timey-wimey stuff... It worked well for "Blink", but his season arcs are a little hard to follow (they probably make more sense on paper big_smile ).

So honor the valiant who die 'neath your sword
But pity the warrior who slays all his foes...

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

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I find it interesting that River's death when we didn't even know who she was was way more poignant than her goodbye at the end of season 7 when we knew everything about her.

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

Allison wrote:

I love Alex Kingston, but I feel like the Moffat doesn't always know what to do with River. She seems to orbit the Doctor and dispense clues and...not much else. There's so much more that could have happened.

Spoiler just in case people are not up to speed on the 10th doctor and River.

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I think that River was an unnecessary complication in the Doctor's mythos, though I understand why they felt they needed to do it. However, if you want someone to spout enigmatic clues to the Doctor, the Ood seem to do that very well in "End of Time." Why have the convoluted relationship between River and the Doctor?

Ok, besides that, I really think that the Doctor should have another Time Lord as a counter balance to the Doctor. I always liked the Master, but it would be nice to not constantly have "the last of the Time Lord" thing going on.

God loves you!

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

fireproof78 wrote:

I always liked the Master, but it would be nice to not constantly have "the last of the Time Lord" thing going on.

I'm the complete opposite, the Doctor being the last time lord, because of a choice he made and has to live with, is THE most interesting aspect of the character. It's why I fell in love with the character and mythology in the first place.

Last edited by BigDamnArtist (2013-07-26 04:36:34)

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

BigDamnArtist wrote:
fireproof78 wrote:

I always liked the Master, but it would be nice to not constantly have "the last of the Time Lord" thing going on.

I'm the complete opposite, the Doctor being the last time lord, because of a choice he made and has to live with, is THE most interesting aspect of the character. It's why I fell in love with the character and mythology in the first place.

There are aspects that I like, such as in "The Fires of Pompey" where the audience gets an insight in to how he views the universe as a Time Lord. That was such a wonderful and poignant insight, for me, that it will solidified how difficult it was for him to be alone.

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That, and moving across alternate time lines, something Time Lords could do with ease, which also accented his loss of Rose

But, having someone who gets his burden and having an actual discussion about what he has down, and the guilt he feels. I think there is a lot of depth that they could explore with having someone who understood.

Also, this is for Teague:

http://verse.aasemoon.com/images/thumb/1/18/Mary_Poppins_TimeLord.jpg/819px-Mary_Poppins_TimeLord.jpg

Last edited by fireproof78 (2013-07-26 04:48:06)

God loves you!

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Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

fireproof78 wrote:

But, having someone who gets his burden and having an actual discussion about what he has down, and the guilt he feels. I think there is a lot of depth that they could explore with having someone who understood.

SPOILER Show
I can understand where your coming from, it would be hard to keep that vein of loneliness and guilt going throughout a long series like this without it getting annoying or stale. But I think they are actually handling it (At least the on paper version of it) fairly well in NewWho, Eccleston fresh from the war is dark, brooding, riddled with guilt. Tennant is starting to get over it, dealing with it, dealing with the fall out of it, trying to come to terms with it. By the time we get to Smith he just wants to forget about it and move on, so he becomes more childlike, more interested in getting out and seeing the universe again, but he can't escape it, he keeps coming back to him, and when it does it hits him hard (The Doctors Wife for example, he wants so hard to just accept that the timelords are dead and gone so that he can move on, but when even the faintest glimmer of thier exsistence emerges he is suddenly thrust into it again, and when it turns out it's fake, it's just like another gut punch all over again).

As far as having another Timelord to bounce off of, I like the theory but I don't think another Time Lord is the answer. A) It completely nullifies the ENTIRE idea of him being the last time lord there will ever be, think about it, there is only one Doctor (And unless there's some major factor of TimeLord biology I don't know about they don't procreate asexually) and he is the last there ever will be. But put another in the mix (And I think I'm right in this, but Time Lords don't technically have genders, they can regen as men or women, so they could technically reproduce...I'm way off the reservation thinking on this one, if there's something in the canon I don't know, feel free to correct me) so if there are 2, technically they could adam and eve the entire time lord race again.
B) I've always viewed the Doctor Who universe in the same sort of light as I look at the Hitchhikers Guide universe, the universe is endless, and there is all sorts of shit out there you don't even know about, so much no one could ever see it all. And yet, on the show we only ever see a very small fraction of it (Both literally, any amount of infinite possibilities is a small amount, and figuratively: What we do see is always so surface level, there is very little actual depth to most of what we see. Run here, save these people, run here, oh that's cool, save these people, run over here etc etc. My thinking is, is it really so ridiculous to think that there is literally no one else in the ENTIRE Galaxy with whom the doctor could develop that kind of connection?! Seriously?

We got a little hint of something like that with The face of Bo, but it was so brief if you blinked you missed it. But out there in the universe there has to be someone with whom the Doctor could talk on something nearing an even level, even if the other person doesn't EXACTLY understand whats happening that doesn't mean it won't be useful. I mean imagine if an ex-Time Agent was suddenly cursed with everlasting life and walked the universe for a few millennia as a lost soul doing some pretty fucked up shit that he has to live with...I imagine he and the Doc could have a pretty solid convo... not that I've thought explicitly about that at any point *cough* Er...right... moving on...

But idk, I kinda get frustrated sometimes when there's ANOTHER Dalek episode or Cybermen, I mean there is this boundless, endless universe out there that we could be exploring and we can't get away from these damn guys (Which yeah, I get that's the point in universe, but as a viewer of the show it gets frustrating sometimes) It's actually why one of my favorite sequences from New Who is the scene where Smith is going around calling in favors and rounding up troops for the assault on Demon's Run to get Amy back. It made it feel like the Doctor actually has this entire life outside his Companions that we never get to see, and actually has friends out there in the universe. And I love that stuff.

Sorry, long, rambley... probably makes no sense... apologies.

Last edited by BigDamnArtist (2013-07-26 05:26:34)

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah?

BigDamnArtist wrote:

But idk, I kinda get frustrated sometimes when there's ANOTHER Dalek episode or Cybermen, I mean there is this boundless, endless universe out there that we could be exploring and we can't get away from these damn guys.

We also can't seem to get away from England, either. Of all the places he could possibly go in the universe, he keeps coming back to England.

What? The show is made there? SO!?!? wink

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One hint dropped during "The Doctor's Wife" that I really liked was the mention of The Corsair. It indicates (at least I think) that those Time Lords who embark on missions in their TARDISes take on handles or code names. I'd love to get a sense of what other Time Lords there were out in the universe going on adventures.

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