Doctor Who

[~bl~]

Vee I was wondering more about that project you linked, so thank you.

[DRW50]

"Not confirmed" about Marco Polo.

http://www.digitalspy.com/british-tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a533296/doctor-who-bbc-responds-to-marco-polo-recovery-rumors.html

While I don't know if I believe the Mirror story this is based on (it claims someone taped it with a camera while watching on TV at the original airing, and they're having actors dub the voices - they wouldn't have to do that, they already have the soundtrack), I'm hoping this means they do have the episodes.

[Vee]

The Guardian has a series of anniversary pieces up, including one with many of the companions, with a new photo shoot for each era.

[DRW50]

Thanks.

I can't believe it's been twenty or more years since I first saw this on PBS and on the Sci-Fi (NOT SYFY) Channel. Sometimes I've drifted away but never for long, and I never stopped being a fan. I never thought it would be back on the air, and, for all my carping, I never thought it would come back as brilliantly as it did.

The best part of Doctor Who is that you can find so many different parts you might be able to find yourself in. There are so many different eras, and so many strong, stark moments that remind you of humanity and heart. The show has made me laugh, made me cry, genuinely terrified me. I can say that about very few programs. Doctor Who is ours, and that can't be taken from us. It's a seemingly simple concept that leads to a million realities. It's not a catchphrase, or one face, or one voice. It's us.

As someone whose first real glimpse of the show was a PBS repeat of Tegan and Nyssa in the Worst Outfits Ever, crouching in a cheap tunnel during Snakedance, I didn't ever imagine I'd be here decades later talking about a new episode.

Where would my life have been without Tegan, and Sarah Jane, and Liz, and Jo, and K9, and Romana, and Leela, and Harry, and the Brigadier, and Barbara and Ian, and Jamie, and Nyssa, and Donna, and Rory, and Martha? Or so many forgotten ones like Mel, Ben, Polly, Victoria?

How would I feel if my favorite companion of all time and one of my favorite TV characters ever hadn't had a chance, nearly thirty years after leaving the show, to prove what a treasure she was, and win over a whole new generation of viewers?

I don't know.

And I'm incredibly happy that I don't.

Edited November 23, 2013 by DRW50

[Darn]

Quite enjoyed the special (I have a feeling *someone* here hated it), I didn't watch all of the last series. The Doctor and Clara are entirely too cheeky and I swear she's always smirking and practically winking at the camera to remind us how adorable she is. But Tennant and Smith were fantastic, so were Hurt and Billie Piper (couldn't stand Rose, don't get the all the fuss). I'm a New Who fan so while I didn't grow up with the show I'm a huge fan of the reverence the show has for it's own history.

And I loved that the twisted the story of the Time War, it just doesn't seem like the Doctor to get quite that desperate and destroy so many people. In every other circumstance he finds another way but not with his own people? It didn't make sense, I like that they altered things to make him much more creative. He can travel through time! There's no good reason to leave his own race dead.

[Vee]

I loved it.

The audience reaction has fortunately been mostly extremely positive, but there's still a few too many butthurt latter-day fans online crying out because it "undid the history when they started watching"...less than ten years ago. This was always going to happen. I knew one day Gallifrey would return, and I was thrilled with how they did it. There's too many kids out there who think DW is only about an emo-ridden war survivor.

I also liked the exploration of the three primary Doctors, and how they interrelate and why Hurt's War Doctor feels the others have regressed. That was fascinating. I've often felt Matt Smith's era was making a point to transition away from the now-very-tired Time War angst of the Davies years, and now that break is official and total, both in plot terms and in character exploration. The War Doctor and the Moment made a point to the others about who the Doctor is, who he has been, what he has become and where he must go. That means potentially tremendous things for Peter Capaldi's run, not that Matt Smith's was not, IMO, the best since Tom Baker.

And speaking of, Tom Baker was just spellbinding as the once and future Doctor. I cried and cried. He was so 'there.'

Meanwhile, little Lindalee has returned to interview Matt Smith.

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Edited November 24, 2013 by Vee

[DRW50]

Darn, you don't like Rose either? Yay

I haven't seen it yet, but I always had some big issues with destroying Gallifrey. While most of the show's last years did not treat Gallifrey kindly (mostly just a stuffy place full of pretentious and easily manipulated idiots), the potential for the place was huge. I get the angst factor of destroying it but I don't mind seeing them bring it back. I've heard people say this undoes all the pain of Nine and Ten, and so on, but I'm up to my back teeth in pain and angst for the Doctor. And those two Doctors would get angsty over not eating the last cashew. This also means Romana and Leela are still alive, doesn't it?

Anyway, I will try to watch this soon. In the meanntime, anyone who hasn't seen An Adventure in Space and Time, please watch it! It made me cry. It's a real tribute, a letter of love, that also feels relevant and honest. No fake nostalgia to be found. Mark Gatiss talks about the idea he had for Sara Kingdom and Jean Marsh, which he fought for, but was finally cut.

http://www.denofgeek.us/tv/an-adventure-in-space-and-time/231098/mark-gatiss-on-an-adventure-in-space-and-time

Edited November 24, 2013 by DRW50

[Darn]

She's so bland. Donna, Martha and Amy are my favorites.

Clara is too twee (so was Amy when she started but she got better). I liked Martha and Donna so much because they were Strong Female Characters™ without having to do "masculine" things to be seen as such. They were just...good people forced into extraordinary circumstances who showed they were up for the challenge. Clara seems to think she's already pretty effin special and I find it obnoxious.

I have AAISAT downloaded. David Bradley looks so eerily like William Hartnell.

Edited November 24, 2013 by Darn

[DRW50]

I liked JLC on Emmerdale and I liked her as Oswin so I'm hoping for more with Clara once they've moved further away from her being a plot point - that's what happened with Amy. Once you move away from the "special girl" stuff the smugness starts to fade.

My favorite of the new companions was Donna, and I liked Martha a lot too. I was lucky because I wasn't reading DW boards when Martha was in her main season so I didn't realize how hated she was.

I'm also glad they've brought back the Doctor's friendly relationship with UNIT. I'm sorry that Nicholas Courtney isn't here now but I think Kate is just about the best replacement for him.

[DRW50]

I'm not sure if this aired on BBC America, but it's available to watch on the iPlayer, unlike most of the BBC material, which is blocked to people in the US. It's a comedy special put together by Colin Baker, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, about their efforts to get into the anniversary episode. There are a number of cameos from previous companions, and a very funny reason given for why Tom Baker isn't there.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01m3kfy

[Vee]

The Five(ish) Doctors is priceless. And it's clear there's no hard feelings, since the current production is involved along with the BBC.

Edited November 24, 2013 by Vee

[katie_9918]

The fact that the Daleks always managed to turn back up always cheapened the fact that the Time Lords were somehow unable to. Never liked how they were portrayed in that awful End of Time, either. So I very much appreciated the hopeful situation of Gallifrey. Never quite sat right with me, what was chosen for them.

I very much enjoyed The Day of the Doctor. There are always some minor quibbles, but I can't say enough how much I loved Billie Piper as "The Moment" in the guise of the Bad Wolf. It took me back to a time when I could not only stand the sight of her but thought she was great.

I loved the glimpse of Capaldi's eyes and the last half-hour was a fanboy/fangirl's dream.

"I don't want to go" finally done right. Bless you, Moffat, for giving Tennant another chance with that line.

Edited November 24, 2013 by katie_9918

[Faulkner]

Billie Piper has a lot more acting chops now, since she's done a lot of apparently good stage work. (She was nominated for an Olivier.) But yeah she was great. She was ok as Rose, and the show would never have re-launched successfully without her, but she got by on sweetness and charisma.

Loved loved loved Smith and Tennant together. And saying that as someone who was lukewarm on Ten. They have amazing chemistry as actors.

I still think Clara needs work. No one's talking about her today. Maybe that'll change with Capaldi.

[~bl~]

I thought it was entertaining. What confused about the rewrite about how Gallifrey didn't burn, is that how does this fit into the established part of how it was time-locked during the End of Time. The time-locking happened after this, because Tennant's doctor mentioned being married to Queen Elizabeth prior to the part about the lock. (Of course, a part of me wonders how he can remember that wedding, due to the crossing timelines, but not the rest. He shouldn't remember the wedding as other versions of him where there, maybe somebody anyone?!?!)

I like Rose, but completely understand why anyone would dislike the character as some of the early Eccelston episodes are more about her than the Doctor. Throughout the RTD episodes, Rose even if she is off screen is still referenced pretty regularly, which from what I understand isn't typically how it is done within Whoverse. Those would be reason enough for someone to not like the character. I think Piper has grown as an actress since 2005, which is a good thing. That being said if Elisabeth Sladen was still alive, she should have played the role of the Moment. I thought Smith and Tennant were hilarious together, and that Hurt had to play referee to their madness. To me Clara was just there and didn't really add to it like the rest.

The five(ish) doctors was amazing. I know I missed some of the humor as I don't know the classic stuff, but OMG I was laughing so hard I turned red. Seriously the fact that the BBC was okay with it was great.

Thanks for the link to the Matt/Lindalee stuff.

Edited November 24, 2013 by ~bl~

[Vee]

What they did Time Locked Gallifrey - it was confirmed to be Time Locked back during the Tenth Doctor's era. But at the time, he and the prior Doctors were all laboring under the impression that behind that Lock was only destruction. In both courses of events Gallifrey was Time Locked. The difference is the circumstances.