Doctor Who. Official!

[ChocolateFrogs]

Sneak peak at the Christmas special tomorrow, for those of us in Britain who watch Children in Need. And a sneak peek at that sneak peek on the DW website. Apparently there will be explosions. I suppose it just wouldn't be a DW Christmas without them

Not living in Britain, I still look forward to seeing the Children in Need skit (and of course the Christmas trailer, though I certainly don't need any convincing to watch it and I have been avoiding spoilers quite well).-CF

[King Joe]

If I was just starting to watch Doctor Who, and began with the 05 season, where should I break off and go back and watch the old stuff?

[-Toa Lhikevikk-]

You can pretty much pop in anywhere, nearly all of the classic stories are mostly continuity-free.An exception to this, however, would be the Key to Time story arc, which comprised six stories/one season (The Ribos Operation, The Pirate Planet, The Stones of Blood, The Androids of Tara, The Power of Kroll, and The Armageddon Factor) of the Tom Baker era. I would personally recommend these stories -- the first three are absolutely brilliant, the next two are not quite brilliant but still pretty good, and the last, while most classic fans seem apparently dislike, I thought a great, epic way of finishing off the season.

[GSR]

The Christmas special is to be called "The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe." Trailer here!http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_111119_02/The_Christmas_Special_The_Doctor_The_Widow_and_The_Wardrobe

[King Joe]

You can pretty much pop in anywhere, nearly all of the classic stories are mostly continuity-free.An exception to this, however, would be the Key to Time story arc, which comprised six stories/one season (The Ribos Operation, The Pirate Planet, The Stones of Blood, The Androids of Tara, The Power of Kroll, and The Armageddon Factor) of the Tom Baker era. I would personally recommend these stories -- the first three are absolutely brilliant, the next two are not quite brilliant but still pretty good, and the last, while most classic fans seem apparently dislike, I thought a great, epic way of finishing off the season.

I watched The Pirate Planet on Netflix, I really liked it but I was confused to say the least. Didn't watch any Doctor Who for a while after that. because I was unsure of where to begin. I eventually asked a friend who's a Who fan and he said to start with the 2005... Reboot? Is that what it's called?

[Danska: Shadow Master]

You can pretty much pop in anywhere, nearly all of the classic stories are mostly continuity-free.An exception to this, however, would be the Key to Time story arc, which comprised six stories/one season (The Ribos Operation, The Pirate Planet, The Stones of Blood, The Androids of Tara, The Power of Kroll, and The Armageddon Factor) of the Tom Baker era. I would personally recommend these stories -- the first three are absolutely brilliant, the next two are not quite brilliant but still pretty good, and the last, while most classic fans seem apparently dislike, I thought a great, epic way of finishing off the season.

Interesting. I personally regard The Armageddon Factor as an absolutely incredible story and the only stand-out one of the Key to Time series. The others, while good, I found to be fairly generic.So this year's special is going to another Who take on a classic christmassy tale. Well, if it's as good as the last one, I'm not going to complain.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

Parodying/homaging CS Lewis rather than Charles Dickens this time though

[ChocolateFrogs]

Since when is Wardrobe a Christmas tale?Anyway, I'm looking forward to it! It looks pretty clever and full of awesome bits!As for the classic series, I simply started with Tom Baker's first episode, Robot, and continued on from there, though I skipped the Sontaran episode. (I've only gotten through his first season so far.*) I've been recommended not to watch any stories that are more than 4 episodes, unless they are really important (like Genesis of the Daleks).-CF*It's kind of hard for me to watch them, they are pretty slow compared not just to today's DW eps but TV in general.PS, can someone please explain to me when Rory got a fork stuck in him?

Edited November 19, 2011 by ChocolateFrogs

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Probably stems from the idea of putting a fork in something when it's done. Rory died, therefore fork.Rory got turned into a Roman, therefore no more fork.Rory came back 100%, therefore he is now fork-repellent.

[Danska: Shadow Master]

It's not a christmas tale as such, but christmas does feature heavily,. what with it being always winter and never christmas. Then Santa turning up as a sign that the White Witch's power is weakening and giving everybody gifts. You can't really say it's unrelated.And yeah, the classic Who stories can be a bit slow. But then, I also think a lot of modern episodes move too quickly.

[King Joe]

Let's see here.I have now decided that Tom Baker and David Tennant are my favorite Doctors. Of course, I have only seen the one classic serial and haven't seen Matt Smith yet...EDIT:"Tracked you down with this. This is my timey-wimey detector. It goes ding when there's stuff. Also, it can boil an egg at 30 paces, whether you want it to or not, actually, so I've learned to stay away from hens. It's not pretty when they blow."~The Doctor, his Tenth incarnation, from the Doctor Who episode "Blink".BEST QUOTE EVER!!!!

Edited November 22, 2011 by King Joe

[ChocolateFrogs]

And now some River/Doctor-timeline-fun!

In the recent videos for the Series 6 DVDs, particularly First Night and Last Night, particularly Last Night, River says that The [11th] Doctor is taking her to the Singing Towers of Darillium.At this point the audience is led to believe that this is the moment where he gives her the enhanced sonic screwdriver (with red settings). Very emotional.Here's what bugs me: In Library/Forest, she says that when this happens he greets her with a new haircut and new suit. In Last Night, he was wearing the new suit, sure, but I doubt there was much change to his hair under the top hat.Do you think this is that moment, or just one of many trips to that location? I would think it would be the 12th Doctor's first and only trip with her, or maybe her first encounter with Ten due to some timey-wimey multi-Doctor episode.Then again, River's plot is closing fast, and I wouldn't be surprised if after Smith is gone, so is Kingston.

Thoughts?-CF

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

I'm going with the 'multiple trips' option. Maybe, of all the places they go to, thats her favourite, so taking her there at any time is special

[BenLuke]

I purchased the Series 6, part 2 DVDs recently. $20 for 6 episodes is kind of a rip off, especially with hardly anybonus features. The episodes were all pretty good, though.

[-Toa Lhikevikk-]

Great news!They found two of the missing sixties episodes: Part Three of Galaxy 4 and Part Two of The Underwater Menace!YES!

[BenLuke]

I have never actually seen any old series episodes/serials. I need to rectify that at some point.Also, Lhikevikk, I just notice that the image in your signature changes when you load a page. That's pretty cool.

[King Joe]

All I've seen of the old serials is the Pirate Planet, so you're not alone. I intend to rectify that someday...REC-TI-FY!That could totally be a Dalek war cry.Or do the Cybermen have that one already?AAAANYWAY!I like Matt Smith too.9, 10, and 11 were all fantastic.Yes, I used that word on purpose.

[BenLuke]

I haven't watched very much of Nine. That is something else I should REC-TI-FY!.

[ChocolateFrogs]

It's just been announced that Mark Gatiss is writing an episode for Series 7. Is anyone else disappointed by this news?-CF

[GSR]

I dunno, I think Gatiss is a pretty decent writer.They also announced some casting and story details for series 7 (spoilers I guess)

Amy and Rory will travel in the TARDIS again for a while before having a "heartbreaking" ending and leaving the series for good. River will also be back in some capacity. The Doctor will get a new companion at some point.

[King Joe]

I don't know. The name doesn't ring a bell. Should it?

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Mark Gatiss has written several episodes of Doctor Who, including The Unquiet Dead (9th Doctor) and [that one in the 50s with the TVs] (10th). Not my favorite writer for Doctor Who, but I don't precisely dislike him, either.

Edited December 16, 2011 by The Shadows Out of Time

[King Joe]

Eh, those episodes weren't terrible. They weren't great like some of the others though, but they weren't bad.And it took me a minute to figure out what episode you were referring to when you said "The cool dude's Lantern"

[Protodite Karzahni]

Bah, why does Rory have to leave just because Amy does. He's too good for that manipulative and hypocritical woman. I'd much rather just have her leave, then followed by several episodes of The Doctor and Rory travelling around the universe being bros. Oh, fyi, in case you didn't notice I dislike Amy.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

...Argleblargle. When naming the actual titles of things, sometimes the filter should just leave well-enough alone. I mean, you can't exactly find a good work-around for the title.Nonetheless, edited to minimize argleblargle.

Edited December 16, 2011 by The Shadows Out of Time

[-Toa Lhikevikk-]

I'm fine with Gatiss... I really liked his first episode, and the other three weren't that bad either. If he'd quit doing that whole "the world is saved by pure love! yay!" thing I'd say he's actually a pretty good writer. I mean, he does brilliant non-sci-fi, (look at Sherlock, for example) I think he just succumbs to the temptation to use cheesy plot device in his more fantastic works.On a side note he's also a pretty good actor and I wouldn't mind him as the Twelfth Doctor. He's even ginger, lol.Also haven't we known about

Amy and Rory leaving

for a while?

[Tilius]

.

Edited April 26, 2021 by Tilius

[Grey Snow]

Along with that news, we got news of no two part episodes in Series 7. That actually makes me very happy to hear.

[King Joe]

Along with that news, we got news of no two part episodes in Series 7. That actually makes me very happy to hear.

Two-parters are okay.When you have the second part right away.There are no worse words for people that watch TV than To Be Continued...

[Danska: Shadow Master]

I'm quite pleased to hear that Amy and Rory are leaving, to be honest. I really like them as characters, and they have a great relationship with Smith's Doctor, but companions have to leave. They've had a good run and I'd like to see Smith travelling around with someone else, if only to mix things up in the TARDIS a bit.Kinda dissapointed about the no two-parters thing. Personally I would have gone the other way and made all stories two-parters since it gives a lot more room for actual development of place and characters, which is kind of important when you can potentially be leaping about to a completely new place every story. There are a fair number of episodes I feel would have been greatly improved by being a two-parter. What's more, I'm sure I remember one of Moffat's own arguments for splitting the series in half was to allow for more cliffhangers because they're a vital part of Doctor Who. Removing all two-parters can only mean less, if any, cliffhangers. Not happy about this.

[-Toa Lhikevikk-]

Apparently Moffat says that there aren't any two parters planned -- he's willing to add some "if necessary." So there's still hope.

[ChocolateFrogs]

Gatiss also did Victory of the Daleks and Night Terrors.I don't pay attention to too many writers' names, but some stick and his has with a bad aftertaste (even his Sherlock was the least-fantastic of the three).Oh well.I like two-parters for the "OMG I can't believe they ended on a cliffhanger how will I survive the next week???" moment, but I also hate them for that. But things like The Doctor's monologue at the end of The Time of Angels make for great discussion points. If they have a good story, I say "why not?," but I don't think I will mind a full season of one-offs.

We've known Amy and Rory will be having a smaller role next series, and in fact Karen has said that when it's time for Amy to leave she wants it to be definite and concrete, unlike Martha and Rose who returned. Hopefully that won't mean death. I trust Moffat's storytelling.I also like that idea of Doctor and Rory only adventures!

-CF

[Grey Snow]

On the subject of making the entire season two parters, as Danska said, Moffat stated that two parters are actually the most expensive to do, not the least, as you would expect. That's one reason, if I recall correctly.

[Protodite Karzahni]

Okay, everyone prepare your marshmallows, because I'm about to heat this thread up with a controversial opinion. Or not.I'm not going to mourn the loss of two-parters, because they were done a lot better when RTD was in charge. I'm not sure why, because even the ones where he wasn't writing them were better. The reason for this is the cliff-hangers have been far less than exciting in the previous two seasons, an example being The Hungry Earth, which essentially boiled down to the Doctor looking at a city and going "Oh. They live here.", which was only saved by Amy seconds away from being dissected. Compare this to The Impossible Planet, which was in general a far better episode, but aided by the cliffhanger, of the Ood being possessed and pushing Rose and co against a corner, whilst the pit opens.Likewise, compare The Rebel Flesh's cliffhanger, which was faux-Doctor coming up and saying "Hi". That's not gripping. I wasn't the least bit excited for that, as it didn't horrify me, make me laugh or surprise me in the slightest. It was just disappointing. Now, compared to Rise of the Cybermen, where the Cybermen once again, backed the crew into a corner and promised deletion with no hope of escape. That made me want to tune in to next weeks episode, because there was a reason to.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Yeah, pretty much. There's a difference between scary cliffhangers and "Wait, what?" "cliffhangers", and Moffat only seems to like the second variety.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

You're not going to mention the ending to Time of Angels, where they're about to be engulfed by a tide of Weeping Angels? Or The Pandorica Opens where the entire universe ends?You just seem to be saying you don't like those two cliffhanger endings, and then generalising from there. Its an unfair comparison given how many more cliffhangers there were under RTD, you have more to pick from

[Protodite Karzahni]

You're not going to mention the ending to Time of Angels, where they're about to be engulfed by a tide of Weeping Angels? Or The Pandorica Opens where the entire universe ends?You just seem to be saying you don't like those two cliffhanger endings, and then generalising from there. Its an unfair comparison given how many more cliffhangers there were under RTD, you have more to pick from

I didn't mention those at the risk of sounding repetitive. But if you insist, I don't hold The Time of Angel's cliffhanger in high regard. I thought the speech was fairly overrated and the actual ending wasn't all that exciting, because it was clear the Doctor had a plan. It was definite they were going to get out of it. (And shh, I know they'd get out of anything, but a cliffhanger is meant to make me question whether that'd happen)Now, the Pandorica Opens, I will give you that. I've been listening to The Life and Death of Amy Pond so much lately, because it's a truly moving piece of music, combined with the sight of a dying Amy and the Doctor screaming for help. That was a very good cliffhanger.But, the two others I didn't mention, The Impossible Astronaut and A Good Man Goes to War. The Impossible Astronaut was entertaining but if felt fairly empty. The "I'm pregnant" revelation felt too much like something from a soap opera, but the sight of the child in the costume redeemed it and made me excited for next weeks episode. But A Good Man Goes to War was once again uninteresting. It may be the fact that River Song being Melody was something several people had already predicted and I'd discussed with friends beforehand, but the revelation was just meh. There was no threat that made the extended break any more exciting or tense and the fact the Let's Kill Hitler's intro had nothing to do with it just made me irritated.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Eh, I'll concede the point, mainly because I'm really rather fond of Time of Angels.

[Protodite Karzahni]

Eh, I'll concede the point, mainly because I'm really rather fond of Time of Angels.

In general, I think it was a good episode. Flesh and Stone was disappointing, mainly because of the moving Angels and the awkward ending, but I liked Time of Angels. I just naturally have issues with it that I feel entitled to loudly vocalise.

[-Toa Lhikevikk-]

As someone who mostly watches classic Who nowadays I must say I'm rather fond of cliffhangers. 'Course, in the classic series they were rather overused, and the ones I consider the best cliffhangers usually strayed from the norm of Doctor/companions in danger.