Doctor Who: Season 4

[potsherds]

[quote name='Morba the Greek' post='1399321' date='Jun 15 2008, 18.47']The episode was supposed to illustrate the worst of human behaviour: prejudice, panic, irrationality, selfishness, a desperate desire to believe whatever is most convenient and easiest to believe. This in itself is a brave move for a series that often goes on in a rather schmaltzy way about how wonderful humanity is as a species. This story was deliberately constructed to reflect the bad bits.

At the same time, it revealed some less-wonderful sides to the Doctor too: he genuinely [i]does[/i] think he's better than other people because he's cleverer, and he [i]is[/i] often guilty of patronising them as a result. Yes, maybe he is better than other people, but his behaviour is not entirely excusable by that fact.

On the other hand, pots, you have a point about upping the ante. ;)[/quote]
Heh, you make good points about what the episode may have been meant to portray. I've not really considered Doctor Who to be a show heavy on social commentary, so those points never occurred to me.

[Alytha]

Pots and Alaerien (if you're the same Alaerien), you are or were Mafia players. And you really can't understand a bunch of random people ganging up on another one for no really god reason? ;)

Anyway, I really liked the episode. The Doctor had something like this coming for a long time, because without a companion to drag him back to earth, he can be quite an arrogant arsehole.

And in general, this season has so far been better than last year's. No real stinkers like the Daleks in Manhatten 2-parter. And no annoying doey-eyed Martha.

[Werthead]

A link of extreme spoilerness follows. Do not click if you wish to remain unspoilt for the season finale.

[url="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article1299482.ece"]Tantalising, isn't it?[/url]

SPOILER: DW

As expected, Davros is back in the house, looking pretty much like he did at the end of [i]Revelation of the Daleks[/i] (the penultimate old school Dalek story). Odd that he doesn't look the same as he did in [i]Rememberance[/i], when he was reduced to just a head in the Emperor Dalek's shell, but I expect they'll either ignore or gloss over it. Interestingly, the newspaper reports all mention this plot point though, so perhaps it'll crop up in the episode? We've also got a supposedly much more heavily-armed and armoured red Dalek which is supposed to take the brunt of heavy fighting. Damnit, I was hoping for a return of the Special Weapons Dalek, which was among the more bonkers things they created in the original series (during the Dalek Civil War arc, a SWD took out two renegade Daleks and half the street with a single shot).

[Maltaran]

I don't believe it. Catherine Tate can actually act.

[Werthead]

Yup. Shame it took her eleven episodes to find out how though.

A good idea, with the Doctor's death causing all the subsequent events he solved to unravel. A bit dubious how it was 'fixed' though and the bug-on-the-back thing was silly. Good ending though. The Cloister Bell ringing is never a good sign.

Next week looks good [/understatement]

SPOILER: DW

Was that half the [b]Torchwood[/b] team joining forces with the Doctor, Donna, Martha and a giant laser cannon-toting Rose to fight-off a full-scale Dalek invasion of Earth? With a certain familiar [i]someone[/i] cackling in his unimitable way in the background? Totally cool!

[Maltaran]

[quote name='Werthead' post='1409686' date='Jun 21 2008, 19.33']

SPOILER: DW

Was that half the [b]Torchwood[/b] team joining forces with the Doctor, Donna, Martha and a giant laser cannon-toting Rose to fight-off a full-scale Dalek invasion of Earth? With a certain familiar [i]someone[/i] cackling in his unimitable way in the background? Totally cool!

[/quote]

SPOILER: DW

Well, I saw Gwen and Jack. Given that Owen and Tosh are dead, the only missing one is Ianto. Sarah-Jane was in the trailer as well, and I believe Mickey is returning with Rose

[Sir Thursday]

Well, I thought that episode was rather disappointing. Billie Piper looked like her face has been filled with botox to the extent that she couldn't talk properly (well, even less properly than usual :P) and once again none of Catherine Tate's interactions felt particularly realistic. The lone bright spark was Bernard Cribbens - that scene where the Greek (I think?) guy was taken away was very moving, I thought.

I think if the acting had been up to scratch, this episode could have been awesome. The idea is good, if a little cliched - I'm a sucker for alternate reality episodes because they allow the writers a lot more freedom in their character interactions. Plus they can do things like blow up London :D. But if the character interactions aren't portrayed well enough by the actors, it falls a bit flat.


Sir Thursday

[Werthead]

[quote name='Republika Hrvmaltska' post='1409692' date='Jun 21 2008, 19.36']

SPOILER: DW

Well, I saw Gwen and Jack. Given that Owen and Tosh are dead, the only missing one is Ianto. Sarah-Jane was in the trailer as well, and I believe Mickey is returning with Rose

[/quote]

Is this the [b]DW[/b] version of [i]Secret Wars[/i] then? :)

Anyway, in the last few days [b]Doctor Who[/b] fandom has been rocked as never before by what initially appeared to be a totally spontaneous outburst of love for [url="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=THE+Colin+Baker"]THE Colin Baker[/url] (who played in the Doctor in 1984-86, Seasons 21-23). It was extremely bewildering until I tracked down [url="http://forum.sfx.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=14868&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0"]the source of the chaos[/url].

Apparently a two-bit podcast operation from Canada blew a fuse when [i]SFX Magazine[/i]'s Dave Golder gave their podcast a review of 3.5 stars out of 5. I dunno about you, but to me that sounds pretty reasonable. The podcasters invaded the forum screaming blue murder. After a few pages of this Golder apologised to the [i]SFX[/i] readers for giving such a high score to such a dubious outfit. The podcasters got confused (apparently not a rare occurrence) and thought he'd apologised to them. When the situation was clarified they became more irate and announced that they were 'officially endorsed' no less a personage than THE Colin Baker and his fury would be bestowed upon any who argued with them. And thus a meme was born.

It later turned out they snatched a quick pic and quote from THE Colin Baker at some random con and once Baker himself was informed about their activities, [url="http://www.freewebs.com/colinbaker/latestnews.htm"]he officially denied any involvement with them[/url]. Hey ho, the Internet is fun.

But, if you are on Facebook, [url="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=16073765501"]you too can join in [/url]the eruption of appreciation for THE Colin Baker ;)

[mormont]

[quote name='Sir Thurdeutsch' post='1409738' date='Jun 21 2008, 20.25']Well, I thought that episode was rather disappointing. Billie Piper looked like her face has been filled with botox to the extent that she couldn't talk properly (well, even less properly than usual :P )[/quote]

I noticed that. The director seemed to be trying to get around it, but he couldn't have [i]every[/i] shot of her speaking facing away from the camera and you could actually [i]hear[/i] the difference anyway.

Someone needs to sue their cosmetic surgeon... :P

I'd agree with the rest, too. Good episode, badly acted by Tate and Piper (though the rest of the cast were good). You really need David Tennant...

[Derfel Cadarn]

Not bad, not great. I liked how they didn't have any Harold Saxon stuff since if the Doctor died before Utopia then the Master would still be stuck in the future.

Next week looks interesting, though Who finales are definately suffering from 'bigger=better' syndrome.

[Werthead]

[quote]Next week looks interesting, though Who finales are definately suffering from 'bigger=better' syndrome.[/quote]

You think? :P

Actually, I quite like the way the finales are getting more bonkers every year because they just can't keep going on topping themselves. At some point they're just going to have to calm down and have a finale in which the most devastating thing that happens is that the Doctor dunks a biscuit in his cup of tea and it breaks off into his tea. Man I hate it when that happens.

As it stands, people have conducted a frame-by-frame analysis of the finale and other pics, and have spotted:

SPOILER: Nu Hu

The Doctor, Martha, Rose, Donna, Mickey, Captain Jack, Gwen, Ianto, Sarah-Jane, Luke (from the [b]Sarah-Jane Adventures[/b] series), former PM Harriet Jones, a Red Dalek who seems to be in charge, a bunch of other Daleks, tons of UNIT troops, some Judoon and the fact that the Dalek behind the Torchwood base door has a black lower casing and in one two-frame flash as the door opens you can see it's Davros with his upper half covered in shadow but his blue eye glowing.

[williamjm]

[quote name='Werthead' post='1409908' date='Jun 21 2008, 23.10']Actually, I quite like the way the finales are getting more bonkers every year because they just can't keep going on topping themselves. At some point they're just going to have to calm down and have a finale in which the most devastating thing that happens is that the Doctor dunks a biscuit in his cup of tea and it breaks off into his tea. Man I hate it when that happens.[/quote]

Maybe that's why RTD is stepping down now, he doesn't know how to up the ante for next year's finale so is leaving the problem to Stephen Moffat.

[Derfel Cadarn]

[quote name='Werthead' post='1409908' date='Jun 21 2008, 17.10']You think? :P

Actually, I quite like the way the finales are getting more bonkers every year because they just can't keep going on topping themselves. At some point they're just going to have to calm down and have a finale in which the most devastating thing that happens is that the Doctor dunks a biscuit in his cup of tea and it breaks off into his tea. Man I hate it when that happens.[/quote]

In fairness I don't think they've quite equalled Logopolis in terms of grandiose peril, where the Master accidently wipes out a huge chunk of the universe.

[potsherds]

[quote name='Morba the Greek' post='1409751' date='Jun 21 2008, 19.37']I noticed that. The director seemed to be trying to get around it, but he couldn't have [i]every[/i] shot of her speaking facing away from the camera and you could actually [i]hear[/i] the difference anyway.

Someone needs to sue their cosmetic surgeon... :P[/quote]
I was wondering why her face looked damned different, and frankly, I don't like it. I liked her natural looks from before. This is confirmed though? Piper got some bad cosmetic surgery?

I really liked this ep. Although I'm baffled as to why they couldn't have come up with a better bug for Tate's back. I mean, either it's a budgetary thing, or a difference in style, but I'm rather sure it would have been CGI'ed here in the States, and I wonder if that would have looked better than a plastic bug.


ETA: And 'Bad Wolf'. I loved, in a silly, cliched way, that once the Doctor realized that Rose had been the woman, everything read "Bad Wolf". I'm for some reason quite fond of Rose being connected with that term, although confused how it's somehow a harbinger for the end of the universe? I had thought it was specifically connected to Rose.


[quote name='williamjm' post='1409926' date='Jun 21 2008, 22.20']Maybe that's why RTD is stepping down now, he doesn't know how to up the ante for next year's finale so is leaving the problem to Stephen Moffat.[/quote]
Haha! I bet so. RTD's going out with flair, and screw the folks left to try to trump him. :P



You know, this cosmetic surgery snafu is really bugging me. Can Piper get that fixed? Why the hell did she get it done in the first place? If she needed anything, it was braces. (Did she get them, by the way? I thought her teeth looked better than I last remember.)

[Sir Thursday]

@pots: It's not confirmed, it just seemed like the logical conclusion given the symptoms on display...


Sir Thursday

[potsherds]

[quote name='Sir Thurdeutsch' post='1410106' date='Jun 22 2008, 02.28']@pots: It's not confirmed, it just seemed like the logical conclusion given the symptoms on display...


Sir Thursday[/quote]
I was just attempting to look up such gossip on the web and instead came across her issues with anorexia. I'm wondering if that's also an issue, as she simply looks thinner in the face, in an unattractive way (imo). Wondering if it's still a problem she's dealing with, or residual from immediately after her divorce form Evans. Poor girl has body image issues, it seems.

[Houndred]

I hated this episode, a Dr who with no Dr is just depressing, but I am looking forward to the next part, bad wolf made the last 3 minutes worth the rest.

Really, the big plastic beetle was the best they could come up with? It's just a big bettle, for god's sake add tentacles or something... it's supposed to be an alien time traveling messeruper on your back thingy...

I don't think Billie looked like she had surgery, anorexia would explain the general drawn/worn out look, which sadly appropriately for Rose.

[potsherds]

[quote name='Houndred' post='1410195' date='Jun 22 2008, 04.48']I don't think Billie looked like she had surgery, anorexia would explain the general drawn/worn out look, which sadly appropriately for Rose.[/quote]
Uh, I'd rather a wee bit of make-up would give her the worn out look, not an ongoing battle with anorexia. I hope her second marriage and her pregnancy help her overcome her eating disorder a second time.

[mormont]

[quote name='Houndred' post='1410195' date='Jun 22 2008, 05.48']I don't think Billie looked like she had surgery, anorexia would explain the general drawn/worn out look, which sadly appropriately for Rose.[/quote]

Not surgery as such: messed-up collagen injections in the top lip was what it looked - and sounded - like. And lo and behold when I [url="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-366686/Is-trout-pout-just-lashings-lipstick.html"]Google[/url] it...

[Werthead]

[b]Doctor Who Confidential[/b] last night had a brief glimpse of you-know-who. [url="http://blogtorwho.blogspot.com/2008/06/dwc-finale-clip.html"]Here's [/url]the excerpt.

Seriously, what is up with the lighting in that place. It casts shadows on the upper halves of everything in sight!