Doctor Who *Spoilers Abound! We've lost Containment*

Poor Old Lu wrote:

So does anyone know why the CBC (Canadian TV) stopped carrying this? I live across the border and am really missing my Who fix.

I have no idea! The CBC frustrates me a lot. I download almost all of the shows I watch because a lot of good tv isn't shown in Canada, and even when it is, it's often way later than in the US. It's lame!

Poor Old Lu wrote:

So does anyone know why the CBC (Canadian TV) stopped carrying this? I live across the border and am really missing my Who fix.

Erm, I'm not an advocate for piracy or anything, but the new episodes of Doctor Who are usually up on Pirate Bay within a day of airing on BBC (on Saturdays). They are about four episodes ahead of scifi's re-airings and, better yet, no commercials.

If anyone has a netflix account, there are a large number of Doctor Who episodes available through instant play. These include some of the Tom Baker episodes. If you've never had the chance to watch the earlier incarnations of the doctor, these episodes are worth checking out.

So what did y'all think of "The Doctor's Daughter"? Some friends thought it was a "mary sue" plot, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Cramps wrote:

Meh, end was a bit of a cop out. They could have

spoiler wrote:

[color=white]at least changed the actroess for the regeneration[/color]

But I did enjoy the rest of the episode. And it made clear to me my preference to Martha Jones over whatshername. Christ, the character's so bland I can't remember her name. Donna Summers?

You fail at spoiler masking!

You sure it isn't because Martha's hot? I have to admit Donna's warming up to me, if just because it's a different dynamic from a googly eyed girl.

Yeah, I'm not in practice in spoiler masking.

I don't like Donna. She's Contrary for the sake of being contrary. She's a foil to the Doctor, sure, but there's no actual character as far as I can tell.

Meh, end was a bit of a cop out. They could have :

spoiler: [color=#FFFFFF] Changed the actress for the regeneration
[/color]

But I did enjoy the rest of the episode. And it made clear to me my preference to Martha Jones over whatshername. Christ, the character's so bland I can't remember her name. Donna Summers?

Edit: That better quintin?

Cramps wrote:

Edit: That better quintin?

Yes, much.

Cramps wrote:

I don't like Donna. She's Contrary for the sake of being contrary. She's a foil to the Doctor, sure, but there's no actual character as far as I can tell.

I've just seen her through the Pompeii episode, but the writers seem to have screwed her up. She would have been perfect as a smug, xenophic battleaxe who is capable of needling the doctor a little when he tends to get arrogant. Someone who maybe starts off not caring about traveling the universe but who evolves into something more during the course of the season. Instead, she's got this odd mix of annoying qualities that don't really offer anything to the viewer. She's a big walking "meh."

She seems like a placeholder for a season before they trot out the next hot chick to come in and go all moist for the Doctor.

Personally, Donna has turned into my favorite companion so far in the new series. I love her spunk, chutzpa, heart and so on. While I did indeed love Martha and Rose, Donna is tops with me. Her full name is Donna Noble, BTW.

Duoae wrote:

This wasn't the weakest episode in the series by far but Dr Who is quickly degenerating into the hokey mess that got it cancelled in the 90s - and i even liked Sylvester McCoy's Doctor.

Oh, now that's harsh! Not even close to being that bad!

For me, "The Doctor's Daughter" was the weakest episode so far since Who came back, and was a waste of Martha's reappearence; I'm coming to like Donna more and more, but they seem to be dedicated to the idea of wasting Martha's character in this programme.

Still, even a weak episode is entertaining, unlike a lot of other sci fi out there at the moment.

I'm not so sure... i mean, yes i was exaggerating the proximity to the 90s Who but seriously, this series has been pretty weak in plot and acting. Think back to episodes like the angels one (Blink) were the Doctor was only a supporting role - or even the first series with Eccleston. I feel like they're (the BBC) are just pushing out the series as fast as possible to get as much money as possible without waiting until they have the right storylines and motifs for the series.

The Doctor's daughter was hot and pretty smart too. I think she's nifty.

The epsiode was okay but the story was a bit messy. As far as i could tell (and as was explained) the 'war' had been going on for 7 days... however none of the original crew had survived to relate this and it had all gone horribly wrong.

More spoilers wrote:

[color=#FFFFFF]
Now, the thing i didn't get is do those clones/genetically bred people age faster than normal humans? If not, what was that old man doing there - the leader of the human faction. Surely he would remember what was going on?

I didn't think it made much sense.

Another thing that bugged me was when the alien jumped into the bog to save Martha. WHY?!! My incredulity of this action is infinite. He couldn't reach out and pull her in? She was right by the edge. THEN Martha proceeds to watch as he slowly sinks when she could have saved him as well! Take off your coat and use it as a rope!

It was a really jarring scene...
[/color]

This wasn't the weakest episode in the series by far but Dr Who is quickly degenerating into the hokey mess that got it cancelled in the 90s - and i even liked Sylvester McCoy's Doctor.

Maybe i'm getting old and cranky but i expect more from my television watching and these are the sort of reasons that stopped me from watching TV in the first place.

[edit]
Can't seem to use a colour inside the quote box for some reason?

[edit2] Or for multiple paragraphs... What's going on?

[edit3] Agh! I give up.... I'm not going to sit here and manually go through and try every manner to get this to work.

Duoae wrote:

I feel like they're (the BBC) are just pushing out the series as fast as possible to get as much money as possible without waiting until they have the right storylines and motifs for the series.

Next year could be a blessing in disguise, then, since it won't be doing a full 13 episode season.

Kurrelgyre wrote:

Next year could be a blessing in disguise, then, since it won't be doing a full 13 episode season.

Exactly my thinking. To be fair, every series has has some weal eps so far, but there has not been anything that has really made me sit up and pay attention so far (well, other than seeing the family from the Cambridge Latin Course on a sci fi show: "Hey, I've been to that guy's house!")

Oh, by the way, the Doctor in a gas mask saying "Are you my mummy?" in the second Sontaran episode had me howling.

This made me rather angry though. I have enough of a problem with the BBC charging a licence fee, then selling the progammes to commercial stations here and overseas, and then making even more on DVD sales; the huge merchandising campaign on Dr Who is fairly sickening. The Adipose creatures in s4e1 were very clearly intended as "this year's big toy" and very little else. Persecuting someone for a knitting pattern is just unacceptable.

If they are really that worried that this year's mass produced tat will be knocked off by hand knitted versions, they should go after the eBay vendors selling goods based on the pattern, not a fan who designed one.

If we aren't careful, they will come after us for using the name. Fans kept Who alive, for god's sake.

The sci fi channel just started showing The Sarah Jane Chronicles. When I heard about it I was originally put off by the whole thing. It's supposed to be a kids show set in the Torchwood/DW universe. Sarah was my second favorite companion when I was a kid so I thought it would be cool to see her back in the DW universe. I gave the show a shot but wasn't expecting much. I'm suprised how much I like it. To me SJ feels more like the original series. Anyone else watching it?

Yeah, I'm Sarah Jane with my kids. We all really enjoy it. It's become a kind of family time. We're a couple of weeks behind, though. Thank goodness for DVRs.

I assume everyone knows that Russell T Davies is stepping down and the mighty Stephen Moffat (he of Empty Child/Madame du Pompadour/Blink fame) is taking over. I see this as an excellent step. If Moffat can leverage his writing ability into some non-sucky season finales, I will be much more happy with Who than I am at the moment.

Double post

I too am pleased. I like RTD for resurrecting the series and his influence, but I also sense that this season is weaker in some respects than the last few and I think a break followed by new, and reliable, blood will be a good step forward. That said, I recall that I felt similar at the start of last season, and then was blown away by the later episodes last season (Family of Blood, Blink), so I remain optimistic.

I have loved every season finale so far. I geekgasmed to an embarrasing degree of Daleks vs Cybermen! Those episodes were not at the artistic standard of Blink etc, but were fine Dr Who action for the most part.

As this series progresses, I am becoming increasing depressed about it. So far, there has not been a single decent episode. The Agatha Christie angle was great, but the wasp thing was simply moronic.

spider_j wrote:

Oh, by the way, the Doctor in a gas mask saying "Are you my mummy?" in the second Sontaran episode had me howling.
.

Same here, great nod to a past episode. For some reason I find it intriguing that he keeps going on about the bees disappearing this season. I realize it is probably nothing more than a culture reference, but it still intrigues me.

Certis wrote:

The Doctor's daughter was hot and pretty smart too. I think she's nifty.

Your line of thought is of interest to me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

ruhk wrote:

Ever since the first season's "Bad Wolf" finale I've been looking for clues towards the story arc for each season- this series I've noticed that in two of the four episodes yet aired there have been allusions to The Doctor and Companion being worshiped as gods (episodes 2 and 3). If that is this series' arc I'm interested to see where it goes.

You know what's interesting? I was watching one of the mid S4 episodes (ether the Ood episode or one of the Sontaran ones) and the credits had Billie Piper listed.

I think the big reveal is going to be linked to what that one oracle said in Pompeii, "She's coming back, Doctor".
Now, it's a fairly obvious twist that's been telegraphed to an idiotic degree, but we all remember Mister Saxon from last season...

As for Donna, I like her in an odd way. I know she got a lot of flack for being shrill in her original appearance (as the bride), but am digging her thrill/knowledge-seeking role now that she's back in the fold. She's clearly a thrill-groupie, and admires the Doctor, but in a platonic way. Which is funny considering everyone this season's mistaken them for a couple.

I'm really happy she isn't lovesick like the previous two New Who companions have been.

I'm a little worried she will get burned somewhere along the way.

Did anyone else catch last Saturday's 'Silence in the Library'? It, like all other Steven Moffat penned episodes, was absolutely fantastic and I'm really impressed how Moffat manages to write such a solid story and somehow take something mundane and make it really, really creepy. Case in point for that episode, the "Data Ghosting" really got under my skin, and that's all I'm going to say about that in fear of spoiling to much. Easily the best episode of Series 4 so far.

Easily the best episode of Series 4 so far.

You ain't seen nothin' yet.

This week's episode is perhaps the best hour of Doctor Who I've seen.

I'll second that. A fantastic episode.

I'll third it. Marvelous, simply marvelous. I can't WAIT until Moffat takes over.

I wonder if it's time for spoiler tags for folks not living in the U.K. or obtaining episodes through other means?