969 replies to this topic

[Lord of Adders Black]

I thought I recognised the voice of Robert Webb in that last episode!!

Yeah, he was one of the voices for the robots, the other being played by his long-time comedy partner David Mitchell. It was like Peep Show if Jeremy and Mark were robots

Edited by Lord of Adders Black, Sep 12 2012 - 05:08 PM.

[Wotsiznaim]

I thought I recognised the voice of Robert Webb in that last episode!!

Yeah, he was one of the voices for the robots, the other being played by his long-time comedy partner David Mitchell. It was like Peep Show if Jeremy and Mark were robots

That's weird, I love Peep Show but somehow I didn't recognise their voices

[ChocolateFrogs]

I'm saddened by the lack of discussion for A Town Called Mercy here.
Especially since Ben Browder* was awesome (not that I expected anything less).

Spoiler

I quite enjoyed it. Not Toby Whitehouse's best, but then again it's hard for him to beat his episode last season, The God Complex.
Plenty of witty lines, a nice concept played out pretty well, and some great character development.
In particular: Amy seeing that The Doctor needs his companions to stay grounded (like Donna did).
On that note: The Doctor sure has been aggressive lately. Killing Solomon in Dinosaurs and then pushing the doctor outside the circle in this one.

-CF
*See: Farscape, Stargate SG-1 Seasons 9 and 10.

[Bundalings]

I've enjoyed all the episodes this season so far, but I'm especially excited about this week's. It's been a while since we've had a good adventure on regular old Earth.

[ChocolateFrogs]

I know almost nothing about episode 4. To which I am very excited. Everything will be a surprise! I haven't even watched the trailer yet, only heard a blip of a guest from this series returning. That's it. And the episode title from the wallpaper put out. Plot, quotes, location/time period--all a mystery to me!

-CF
(Also, we just had a "good adventure on regular old Earth." )

Edited by ChocolateFrogs, Sep 17 2012 - 11:31 PM.

[Bundalings]

No, that was past Earth. XP

[Alyska]

Australia's a week behind (unless you use iView), so I haven't seen Mercy yet. Dinosaurs was a lot more Saturday morning cartoon-ish than most episodes (I mean, the bad guy's spaceship was coloured red and black, the raptors don't have feathers, the triceratops acts like a dog, and there's a standard "girls can do anything" message in there to boot), but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, and between all that and the Doctor's cute, zany antics throughout the episode, it sort of lulled you into a false sense of security so that the ending had more of an impact.

[Lord of Adders Black]

Spoiler

The thing I liked about A Town Called Mercy was the way there was no out-and-out villain. The Gunslinger refused to hurt innocents, was just going to keep his revenge on the people who were responsible rather than a whole species or planet, and of course became sheriff at the end. On the other hand Kahler-Jax genuinely wanted to help, only created the cyborgs in the first place to stop a war and save millions, and decided to end the Gunslinger's revenge with a Heroic Sacrifice. Both had shades of good and bad which is harder to effectively pull off than you think

[ChocolateFrogs]

Alright, list famous British/UK actors you wish were in Doctor Who. Cross out names you're glad finally made their appearance since they are required to by British law.

Mark Strong
Ewan McGreggor
Mark Sheppard
Bill Nighy

-CF
(I probably have more people to add to those lists but I can't remember them off the top of my head.)

[Ymper Trymon]

Rowan Atkinson (I'm not counting Curse of Fatal Death)
Jeremy Irons
Alan Rickman
David Bowie
David Jason
Tim Curry

I don't think David Jason or Tim Curry would be good picks for the Doctor, but the other four would and all six should appear on Doctor Who at some point.

[ChocolateFrogs]

So I really enjoyed The Power Of Three until...

Spoiler

...the very end, when everything came together and was solved instantly with a very jumbled and out of the blue, confusing explanation. Kind of like this writer's last episode, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, where the solution happened quickly without buildup (aside from plot) and was instantly solved.

I think I'll be able to build to build one of those cubes out of LEGO though, with a trans-blue tint in the middle of each side. Hehe.

-CF

[Wotsiznaim]

So I really enjoyed The Power Of Three until...

Spoiler

...the very end, when everything came together and was solved instantly with a very jumbled and out of the blue, confusing explanation. Kind of like this writer's last episode, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, where the solution happened quickly without buildup (aside from plot) and was instantly solved.

I think I'll be able to build to build one of those cubes out of LEGO though, with a trans-blue tint in the middle of each side. Hehe.

-CF

I agree about that thing, I felt it was a bit jarring. I've been thinking all of these episodes could have done with being two-parters, as they all felt like they tried to do too much in one segment of time.

I think I'll just go for the 'loads of card cubes coloured black' option. Makes for larger quantities and all that I could even put surprises inside...

[ChocolateFrogs]

So I really enjoyed The Power Of Three until...

Spoiler

...the very end, when everything came together and was solved instantly with a very jumbled and out of the blue, confusing explanation. Kind of like this writer's last episode, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, where the solution happened quickly without buildup (aside from plot) and was instantly solved.

I think I'll be able to build to build one of those cubes out of LEGO though, with a trans-blue tint in the middle of each side. Hehe.

-CF

I agree about that thing, I felt it was a bit jarring. I've been thinking all of these episodes could have done with being two-parters, as they all felt like they tried to do too much in one segment of time.

I think I'll just go for the 'loads of card cubes coloured black' option. Makes for larger quantities and all that I could even put surprises inside...

I know Moffat doesn't want any 2-parters this season, which is great, but I felt that this episode could have been done well split. Not the others though, because there wasn't really two stories to tell. But this could have been "invasion/what is happening/Doctor shenanigans" and then "now we make the big plan to stop it because we're awesome."

-CF

[Alyska]

Haven't seem PoT yet, but this series is strongly implying that the Ponds are getting tired of the Doctor and will eventually decide to stop travelling with him for good, leaving the show that way...

...which naturally means that Moffat is going to kill them off in the most gruesome and heart-wrenching way ever. Discuss.

[Bundalings]

Please don't, Moffat. ;_;

[Ymper Trymon]

Please don't, Moffat. ;_;

Your pleas for mercy only feed his bloodlust.

[Wotsiznaim]

I think he'll make us all think they're gonna die then have them live in some confusing way.

See, I'm one step ahead of him.

Unless he predicts people like me doing this and pulls a sort of double-bluff-twist thingy. There's no way of knowing

[ChocolateFrogs]

One theory I've seen is that The Doctor is meeting them in reverse this season. Like, Angels Take Manhattan is his first encounter with them after so long, but for them it's their (*teardrop*) last. So he then starts meeting up with them to squeeze in a few last adventures. Which explains a few weird things that have gone on, like not knowing some of their problems or making a few actions in a weird-ordered timeline that makes sense to him but not them.

-CF

[Lair of Rockwhales]

So, um...how about that Hartnell?
I'm only up to The Celestial Toymaker, so I'm about... 14% through the show

[Wotsiznaim]

So, um...how about that Hartnell?
I'm only up to The Celestial Toymaker, so I'm about... 14% through the show

You're watching it from the start?!

You sir, are a tank.

[Ymper Trymon]

Oh, he'll probably give up around the 6th Doctor. The actors remained fairly good throughout, but the writing got kind of ridiculous there towards the end.

[Lair of Rockwhales]

You're watching it from the start?!

Indeed I am. Of course, I've already seen most of 3 and 4, but I might as well go through it all again since I've forgotten a lot of 3. What I've seen of the first four are from old worn-down VHS recordings that only had serials not missing any episodes, but now I'm able to see the reconstructions so I'm attempting to go through the whole thing in order.

Oh, he'll probably give up around the 6th Doctor. The actors remained fairly good throughout, but the writing got kind of ridiculous there towards the end.

That rainbow outfit
I already have a bad impression of the 6th Doctor and I've not even seen one second of his show.


So anyway, Celestial Toymaker is... not that great. With a name like that, I was sort of expecting something magnificent. Instead I got some derp who wants to play games, musical death chairs, and these two stupid clown dolls that cheat on an obsticle course and annoying music everywhere. The second episode was better, but the first one. The first one. The music. The clown's voice.
Even worse, the next serial once I finish this one is The Gunfighters. What's so bad about this? It apparently has a SINGING NARRATOR (which honestly isn't that bad, but it's just really weird). Yeah, I'm starting to see another reason why people liked the 4th Doctor so much (I'll never forget that time Hartnell broke the fourth wall).

Edited by Lair of Rockwhales, Sep 28 2012 - 11:05 PM.

[ChocolateFrogs]

Well that threw my emotions out the window forever.

-CF

[BZP Blade]

Spoiler

Looks like Alyska and Wotz were right, unfortunately... D=

Also, I've heard some people talk about how the ending made no sense. The only part, to me, that was iffy, was about going back to visit Young Amy, since that had never happened, IIRC. The other part's easy to understand; the only reason they got through the first time, was because of River's help. With no-one there to give a locked-on signal, and no way to tell how far back they were sent afterward, it would be more or less impossible to save anyone. And with Amy being so emotional then, there was no way any plans could be made.

Though, I must say... Moffat pulled off the double-bluff very well... Everything looked bad the first time, I figured the paradox would work, but Amy and Rory would still be gone. Then that didn't happen. So, I thought they'd just go off to live their own lives. And then the Angel showed up, and things just went from good, straight to worst. =/

[Lord of Adders Black]

Spoiler

Looks like Alyska and Wotz were right, unfortunately... D=

Also, I've heard some people talk about how the ending made no sense. The only part, to me, that was iffy, was about going back to visit Young Amy, since that had never happened, IIRC. The other part's easy to understand; the only reason they got through the first time, was because of River's help. With no-one there to give a locked-on signal, and no way to tell how far back they were sent afterward, it would be more or less impossible to save anyone. And with Amy being so emotional then, there was no way any plans could be made.

Though, I must say... Moffat pulled off the double-bluff very well... Everything looked bad the first time, I figured the paradox would work, but Amy and Rory would still be gone. Then that didn't happen. So, I thought they'd just go off to live their own lives. And then the Angel showed up, and things just went from good, straight to worst. =/

Spoiler

About him visiting Young Amy, we do hear the TARDIS returning to her in the morning way back in Eleventh Hour, so nice to see that actually getting a pay off. Though, I thought the Doctor already returned to her and tucked her in during the night back in Big Bang...maybe she woke up and just went right back outside

Edited by Lord of Adders Black, Sep 30 2012 - 05:53 PM.

[BZP Blade]

Spoiler

Hmm, those are two good points. I need to watch series five again; it's been a long while since I watched it. xD

Maybe it has to do with the rebooted universe, though... Because wasn't the whole scene there from when the Doctor was disappearing? He only appeared there when he was rewinding in time; he didn't have the TARDIS. So this would probably be a similar moment, though potentially while she's actually awake.

[Booker DeWitt]

Spoiler

Bleh. The reason why the Doctor can't go see them again is the result of silly and not that logical rules put in place by Moffat, rather than believable reasons. And Rory went off too sudden, and the whole episode felt rushed. Potentially iconic concepts like the Statue of Liberty were underused and not presented that well - just the head on the rooftop that posed no major threat.

- Tilius

[BZP Blade]

Spoiler

Watching the episode a second time makes more sense; you pick up on things you may have missed the first time.

For instance, back when they're still in the hotel room, the Doctor warns Rory that he'll have to keep running, even if everything's successful, but the Doctor just ignores his own advice in his joy that everyone's alright.

Once back, he also says he cannot take the TARDIS back to that time period, due to the fragmented timelines. He also clarifies why any plans to get Rory back a second time won't work: Any further paradoxes would rip New York apart.

I do agree with the whole Rory going off too quickly thing(Though it had been hinted at moments earlier, and couldn't be paced that much faster, aside from extending the storyline past what would really be possible), and the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty should've had a bigger role, rather than just being a head on a rooftop. And why didn't it really pose a threat, anyway? That was kinda odd, I must say.

[GSR]

Watched it last night. Thoughts:

Spoiler

• As always, the climactic episodes make me want the soundtrack already. Shame they'll almost certainly pull a S6 and not release it until after the second half of the season is done rather than do two smaller releases.
• River works a lot better when the plot isn't focused around her. Her and The Doctor's relationship also felt like it was working a little better than usual, perhaps because she wasn't quite as quippy this time as I remember.
• I agree the graveyard scene at the end was very strangely paced. I think if maybe they could've worked Amy's farewell into the roof scene and then had the Doctor and River show up at the graveyard in front of the Amy and Rory grave (still marked as aged 80-something) that would've worked better.
• Crushing to see Matt Smith lose it like that. I didn't cry, but this episode did a number on me.
• Christmas teaser was too short, but I guess they didn't want to ruin the mood.
• Amy and Rory are the first main companions I've seen their whole tenure live (started watching live with series 4, after Donna had already been introduced). Don't think it's fully sunk in yet.

Edited by GSR, Sep 30 2012 - 07:21 PM.

[ChocolateFrogs]

Step 1) Get enough money to go to a Doctor Who convention.
Step 2) Get enough money to get a thousand black foam cubes that look like the ones from The Power of Three.
Step 3) Leave them lying around all over the place during the convention, probably on Saturday so by mid-afternoon the convention has been properly "invaded."
Step 4) ???
Step 5) Profit!

-CF

[CHTrilogy]

What a tragic ending.

Spoiler

I hadn't counted on their paradox plan backfiring the way it did!

[Yukiko]

It is really taking all my willpower not to click on those spoilers. Well, I know now that something bad is going to happen, but that is not surprising considering Moffat is Evil.

I feel like one of the only people in my friends group that actually liked that RT Davies era more. I don't know what it is, I like Matt Smith, I love Rory, and I am okay with Amy. Maybe its something about not being hit over the head with Plot. At the same time, it's not like I dislike Moffat's writing...it just...gives me these vibes, like there's one reason I can't completely throw myself behind it. It's in Sherlock too, but less obvious I think because Gatniss is more involved.

So I don't know what this is, urg. ._.

[ChocolateFrogs]

To each his own. Davies has some good episodes, but if anything leads up to the season finale he writes it is very subtle throughout the season. Moffat, I feel, works in big ideas, and uses every bit of the science-fantasy genre of Doctor Who to his advantage. Sure, he has some "bad" episodes too, but I haven't found much flaw with him. Davies was great for starting out the show easy for new viewers, but I love what Moffat does to reward the fans. Moffat doesn't like the shows where one doesn't have to think.

-CF

[Booker DeWitt]

But Moffat isn't half as clever as he thinks he is. Granted, stuff like Blink and The Empty Child were great, but his first arc with the Pandorica and the 'the universe has ended but we're still here for a convoluted reason', 'we can reboot the universe with light' stuff was all silly. It was only 'clever' because it used rules that he'd made up, if that makes sense. Not to mention that he brings stuff up and then seems to forget about it and never answer it. Like the end of series 5 - the voice in the TARDIS, the people who'd been to Amy's house, how and why the different bad guys were working together (just a shot of the Silence influencing them all together would've been good). Then he thows in stuff like Amy and Rory's divorce, and makes River Song their childhood friend, which would've been fine if that'd been set up in The Eleventh Hour. And he pointlessly makes River a regenerator, has a lazy 'mind control' plot with her to follow on from her 'I killed the best man I ever knew' thing from Series 5, which we should've been led to believe was the Doctor BUT in the end should've been her dad, Rory.

He just sets stuff up and either leaves it hanging or resolves it quite predictably. Take the Angels episode this season, you knew from it having Angels in it and it being Rory and Amy's last episode that what happened was going to happen.

- Tilius

[Ymper Trymon]

Mmh. I think Moffat is considerably cleverer with Sherlock than Doctor Who, possibly because he doesn't have the sci-fi stuff to work with, and thus doesn't get to make up weird rules about how things work.

Regardless, though, he does seem very smug about himself.

[Lord of Adders Black]

Not to mention that he brings stuff up and then seems to forget about it and never answer it

I think its less he never answers it, more he just takes his time. I mean, the shot from Angels Take Manhattan where we hear him going back to visit Young Amy was set up all the way in Eleventh Hour. Either he assumes he'll get back to it or expects us to work it out on our own because he treats the audience like they're intelligent (something we don't get enough of)

[Booker DeWitt]

Not to mention that he brings stuff up and then seems to forget about it and never answer it

I think its less he never answers it, more he just takes his time. I mean, the shot from Angels Take Manhattan where we hear him going back to visit Young Amy was set up all the way in Eleventh Hour. Either he assumes he'll get back to it or expects us to work it out on our own because he treats the audience like they're intelligent (something we don't get enough of)

But that's the one thing he went back to, and it wasn't even essential to the plot. Plus, I think I read that he suddenly remembered he'd set that up whilst writing the ending, so it's not like it was part of his big plan. I like his attitude of 'don't whine when it gets complicated, pay attention to what you're watching' towards people who were saying it was all too complicated, though. It's a good attitude to have.

Still, most of the time the complexity comes from his own setting of space-time rules, which means stuff can be a bit deus ex machina, rather than actually clever or complicated. I don't expect every week to be like Blink or The Empty Child, but for his overall series arcs I thought he'd pull out something incredible, but he's yet to.

- Tilius

[Bundalings]

Just watched it. I thought there was an episode a season or two ago where Amy and Rory have a kid or two in present day, or something? What happened to that? It was after they stopped traveling with Doctor for a while... and he saw them at the mall or something.

[Lord of Adders Black]

Just watched it. I thought there was an episode a season or two ago where Amy and Rory have a kid or two in present day, or something? What happened to that? It was after they stopped traveling with Doctor for a while... and he saw them at the mall or something.

I think you might be talking about Amy's Choice, where she and Rory were settled down and she was heavily pregnant. That turned out to be a dream. Possibly even a dream within a dream depending on how you look at it

[Skarloth]

I've literally just started watching the show, honestly, like yesterday. I started with Christopher, and I'm currently making my way through his episodes.

I have to say, it's pretty neat, but it doesn't seem quite as amazing as some people made it out to be, IMO.

-Skar