[TV] Doctor Who

[Arlee]

I am so happy, this episode was WAAAAAY better than the last Christmas one \o/

[Gallahadd]

My favorite line was the widowed father's when under siege, when the new companion/governess he has feelings for introduces the Doctor as her gentlemen friend. In a matter of seconds, the Doctor reveals there are carnivorous alien snowmen attacking his home; a lesbian Silurian at the frontdoor and a pyscho Sontarian at the back.

The Doctor, brusquely: "Any questions?"


Father, dismayed: "She has a gentlemen friend?"

That was my favourite line as well it's scenes/lines like that one that keep me loving Dr Who, even when it gets a bit weak.

Not sure about the intro... I get the feeling it'll grow on me and I like the new score, but the actual graphics just look REALLY low budget, even more so than usual

[drwelfare]

The house set and the stair case was reused from The Family of Blood I think.

Overall good episode, seem to like her more than I did Amy

[dirk123]

That was my favourite line as well it's scenes/lines like that one that keep me loving Dr Who, even when it gets a bit weak.

Not sure about the intro... I get the feeling it'll grow on me and I like the new score, but the actual graphics just look REALLY low budget, even more so than usual

Well, Moffat did it to show homage to the classic series.
Not to mention that he in a way wants to resurrect the "Cartmel Masterplan" (which didn't happen since the old show got canned). Hence the "Doctor, Who?" being the theme of this/next season.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartmel_Masterplan

[Gothicshark]

Well, Moffat did it to show homage to the classic series.
Not to mention that he in a way wants to resurrect the "Cartmel Masterplan" (which didn't happen since the old show got canned). Hence the "Doctor, Who?" being the theme of this/next season.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartmel_Masterplan

Actually Moffet and RTD have dropped hints that the Master Plan might have been canon. So far they have done very little to invalidate any of the story's prior to the restart. In fact the each new Doctor has gotten darker each time. Which lends credence that the 13th Doctor will be worse than the Master.

[Gallahadd]

Well, Moffat did it to show homage to the classic series.
Not to mention that he in a way wants to resurrect the "Cartmel Masterplan" (which didn't happen since the old show got canned). Hence the "Doctor, Who?" being the theme of this/next season.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartmel_Masterplan

That makes sense, but tbh he can make it a homage to the classic openning and not make it look like it came from the 60s

As for the Cartmel Masterplan.... God I hope they do bring that into the new season, would be so freakin epic!

[Grummgug]

I feel like its opposite day or something.

1. I didn't like this xmas episode compared to the previous one. In fact, I think "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe" might be my favorite episode of the new series. Either that or "A Christmas Carol". I think Matt Smith really shines when he acts with children. I probably watched the Wardrobe episode 50 times. A Christmas Carol the same.

2. Amy Pond was my favorite companion of the new series. If anything, she was underdeveloped. I think there was a lot more that could have been done with her. But it doesn't feel right to follow her with Clara Ozwin Ozwald. Amy Pond's career path was in entertainment. Clara's career path is more or less the same. Either entertainer or barmaid. I find it hard to believe someone like the Doctor would find an unintellectual, blue collar girl all that interesting. He needs someone smart and well-read to travel with.

3. I've watched "the Snowmen" about 5x and some of my favorite moments are:

a. The Doctor tells Strax to "take Clara back where they found her." Strax had just touched the memory worm twice. This means that he found Clara right there on the street. Naturally, Strax pulls away and leaves Clara right there, as instructed! XD

b. Clara is wearing a wedding ring....
http://i46.tinypic.com/ic4ksg.png

4. Oh I hated the Cartmel masterplan. Its too.....comic booky. The last thing the show needs is to clutter up the Doctor's past any more than it already has been. If they keep doing that, it will ultimately lead to a reboot of the show because it will get too unwieldly. Just leave it alone, and move forward. Doctor Who doesn't need to visit his past. Its more interesting to just drop him in no-win scenarios and see what decisions he makes.

5. The Doctor hasn't gotten darker over time. The darkest Doctor was certainly the First Doctor, William Hartnell. He was crabby and demanding. He would regularly have arguments with Ian and Barbara. He locked his own granddaughter Susan out of the TARDIS, gave her a quick speech, and then took off, practically leaving her banging on the TARDIS doors crying. He was a cold, heartless bastard. The best comparison I can think of is Hugh Laurie's portrayal of House, MD, which is HIGHLY ironic since the reason Doctor Who moved away from the first doctor's portrayal was because the executives in charge thought the show could be more popular with a silly, happy Doctor. And right when they cast the happiest, silliest Doctor of them all, David Tennant, Hugh Laurie absolutely DEMOLISHES Tennant with an amazing portrayal of essentially the First Doctor that becomes a smash-hit in America.

Its disproved everything about the direction they took the show. Ouch.

I found myself more a fan of House MD than Doctor Who when Tennant was in the lead role, just because, well, House MD felt far more like Doctor Who than the actual program haha. Matt Smith is a definite step up tho.

6. I was very excited to see the return of the Great Intelligence. Of all the previous classic Who villains that went into disuse, I found this one easily the most intriguing. I hope we see it again. Did you know, Neil Gaiman intended his episode "the Doctor's Wife" to imply that House (not Hugh Laurie, but House the villain in that story) was, in fact, the Great Intelligence?

[Gothicshark]

I feel like its opposite day or something.

1. I didn't like this xmas episode compared to the previous one. In fact, I think "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe" might be my favorite episode of the new series. Either that or "A Christmas Carol". I think Matt Smith really shines when he acts with children. I probably watched the Wardrobe episode 50 times. A Christmas Carol the same.

I will have to agree that those are by far the best two episodes so far. Although it's a bit unfair really since Snowmen is a continuity episode and the others are not.

2. Amy Pond was my favorite companion of the new series. If anything, she was underdeveloped. I think there was a lot more that could have been done with her. But it doesn't feel right to follow her with Clara Ozwin Ozwald. Amy Pond's career path was in entertainment. Clara's career path is more or less the same. Either entertainer or barmaid. I find it hard to believe someone like the Doctor would find an unintellectual, blue collar girl all that interesting. He needs someone smart and well-read to travel with.

It's the Red Hair and Scottish Accent, I agree she is by far the sexiest one yet. However not the Best, to date the best companions have all been intellectual and independent. I should point out Ace. I think somewhere I read that Moffet loved Aces character.

3. I've watched "the Snowmen" about 5x and some of my favorite moments are:

a. The Doctor tells Strax to "take Clara back where they found her." Strax had just touched the memory worm twice. This means that he found Clara right there on the street. Naturally, Strax pulls away and leaves Clara right there, as instructed! XD

Yah that was right out of the three stooges.

b. Clara is wearing a wedding ring....
http://i46.tinypic.com/ic4ksg.png

Nice catch.

4. Oh I hated the Cartmel masterplan. Its too.....comic booky. The last thing the show needs is to clutter up the Doctor's past any more than it already has been. If they keep doing that, it will ultimately lead to a reboot of the show because it will get too unwieldly. Just leave it alone, and move forward. Doctor Who doesn't need to visit his past. Its more interesting to just drop him in no-win scenarios and see what decisions he makes.

And yet we have had hints of the possibility that this is the type of direction the show might go, and Moffet has made comments he might reboot the show after the 50 anniversary.

5. The Doctor hasn't gotten darker over time. The darkest Doctor was certainly the First Doctor, William Hartnell. He was crabby and demanding. He would regularly have arguments with Ian and Barbara. He locked his own granddaughter Susan out of the TARDIS, gave her a quick speech, and then took off, practically leaving her banging on the TARDIS doors crying. He was a cold, heartless bastard. The best comparison I can think of is Hugh Laurie's portrayal of House, MD, which is HIGHLY ironic since the reason Doctor Who moved away from the first doctor's portrayal was because the executives in charge thought the show could be more popular with a silly, happy Doctor. And right when they cast the happiest, silliest Doctor of them all, David Tennant, Hugh Laurie absolutely DEMOLISHES Tennant with an amazing portrayal of essentially the First Doctor that becomes a smash-hit in America.

Its disproved everything about the direction they took the show. Ouch.

the first Doctor was a bit of an **bleep** however, he always did the right thing. According to the old show the Doctor turns evil in his 13th life. This is not the same as being Dark.

I found myself more a fan of House MD than Doctor Who when Tennant was in the lead role, just because, well, House MD felt far more like Doctor Who than the actual program haha. Matt Smith is a definite step up tho.

meh, not a fan of House, although Hugh Laurie did a great job with the character.

6. I was very excited to see the return of the Great Intelligence. Of all the previous classic Who villains that went into disuse, I found this one easily the most intriguing. I hope we see it again. Did you know, Neil Gaiman intended his episode "the Doctor's Wife" to imply that House (not Hugh Laurie, but House the villain in that story) was, in fact, the Great Intelligence?

I have money that we will see something like Omega show up soon.

[dirk123]

I have money that we will see something like Omega show up soon.

I think there were some Omega symbols seen in Matt Smith's 2nd season. Think most obvious one was in "A good man goes to war".
Even though Moffat said Omega woulld not appear in the near future........
Still doubt the "Silence" were the aliens that were doing the "Silence shall fall" voice in the Tardis though.

[Grummgug]

My suspicion is that the Great Intelligence will play a key role in the 50th anniversary special.

1. Neil Gaiman intended it to be the villain in "The Doctor's Wife".
2. Moffatt used it again in the Snowmen.
3. If you assume it was the GI in The Doctor's Wife, its been killing lots of time lords, a HUGE step up for it.
4. The Neil Gaiman episode felt like a set-up for the 50th anniversary special to me.
5. Voiced by Ian McKellan? That is just awesome in itself. I can see them bringing McKellan back for the 50th.
6. Its a villain that Moffatt, not RTD, brought back, and many program heads will give priority to their own creations or re-introductions.

Or maybe I'm completely off base. I need more GI tho haha.

---------- Post added 2012-12-30 at 08:12 AM ----------

the first Doctor was a bit of an **bleep** however, he always did the right thing. According to the old show the Doctor turns evil in his 13th life. This is not the same as being Dark.

Actually what is supposed to happen is the Valeyard is created when the Doctor regenerates from his 12th to 13th body. Its not that the 13th Doctor is evil, but the Valeyard is the distillation of any and all of his evil inclinations. He splits into two beings, supposedly. If this is correct, the 13th Doctor may be purely good.

[Gallahadd]

My suspicion is that the Great Intelligence will play a key role in the 50th anniversary special.

1. Neil Gaiman intended it to be the villain in "The Doctor's Wife".
3. If you assume it was the GI in The Doctor's Wife, its been killing lots of time lords, a HUGE step up for it.
4. The Neil Gaiman episode felt like a set-up for the 50th anniversary special to me.

I would be 100% behind the 50th anniversary being based around an Ian McKellan voiced GI...

If Niel Gaiman wrote the script, I would explode into a Geekpocalypse and destory most of the greater london area in an explosion of 8bit VG sprites and Pocky.

Just saying.

EDIT: btw, the snow in this years Xmas special was 100% the GI, as the doctor showing him the London Underground and saying it's a key strategic weakness is a refernce to the GI's appearance in the 1960's season (The Web of Fear)

[Berethos08]

But it doesn't feel right to follow her with Clara Ozwin Ozwald. Amy Pond's career path was in entertainment. Clara's career path is more or less the same. Either entertainer or barmaid. I find it hard to believe someone like the Doctor would find an unintellectual, blue collar girl all that interesting. He needs someone smart and well-read to travel with.

Remember, we haven't actually met the version of Clara - except for that brief moment revealing the present day version - so we don't yet know what her career path or background will actually be until April.

As for smart - both versions (and Moffat's comments about the character) have been quick thinkers and witty. Clara of the Snowmen episode was nearly able to keep up with the Doctor (most notably shown in the umbrella scene) as well as working as a governess (she was filling for a friend in the barmaid situation) which, at the time, were the educators of the children of wealthy families who did not want to send their children to boarding schools (teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, and often other skills related to languages or musical instruments), and Oswin Oswald in Asylum of the Daleks was of high enough intelligence that the Daleks didn't just make her a one of their eye-stalk slaves but changed her into a full-fledged Dalek...

One that managed to keep her personality and play all sorts of havoc with the Daleks.

Neither version is what I'd call unintellectual.

[Gothicshark]

Remember, we haven't actually met the version of Clara - except for that brief moment revealing the present day version - so we don't yet know what her career path or background will actually be until April.

As for smart - both versions (and Moffat's comments about the character) have been quick thinkers and witty. Clara of the Snowmen episode was nearly able to keep up with the Doctor (most notably shown in the umbrella scene) as well as working as a governess (she was filling for a friend in the barmaid situation) which, at the time, were the educators of the children of wealthy families who did not want to send their children to boarding schools (teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, and often other skills related to languages or musical instruments), and Oswin Oswald in Asylum of the Daleks was of high enough intelligence that the Daleks didn't just make her a one of their eye-stalk slaves but changed her into a full-fledged Dalek...

One that managed to keep her personality and play all sorts of havoc with the Daleks.

Neither version is what I'd call unintellectual.

don't forget she also removed all memory of the Doctor from all Dalek memory. Which will be really interesting because someday the daleks will find a stored memory of an advanced race which will mention the timewar. How much more will the Daleks fear the Doctor after that?

[Grummgug]

Oh I get it now. Clara represents the actual TV series.

1. Her name is Oswald. Her shipmate on the Alaska was named Harvey. Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK the same day Doctor Who was set to first air in 1963.

2. She dies in "the Snowmen" at age 26. The original series was cancelled after 26 seasons.

3. She breaks the 4th wall and talks right to the camera at the end of "Asylum". Again signifying that she is outside of the TV series in some way.

4. The GI first arrives in 1842. Then needs 50 years to realize its goals until stopped by Clara and the Doctor. The show is 50 years old.

5. Doctor Who was cancelled twice. Once in 1989. Again following the failed American series in 1996. Clara Oswin Oswald has died twice.

I still don't see Clara as intellectual at all. If anything, the guy who hired her as a governess seems like a complete idiot and is easily lied to. I don't see her read books. She doesn't say things that make her stand out as well-read like an intellectual would.

[Frozenbeef]

Can anyone explain to me why Doctor who nowadays lasts for like 5 episodes a series then quits until christmas? Its fckin annoying, I remember when I was younger there was an episode like every week for months until christmas. And the episodes seem to be getting a bit more halfassed, like that angel one was just.. facedesk.

Trying to appeal to Americans...havn't you noticed all the american themed episodes? Cowboys, giant statue of librarty angels, white house

[Gothicshark]

Can anyone explain to me why Doctor who nowadays lasts for like 5 episodes a series then quits until christmas? Its fckin annoying, I remember when I was younger there was an episode like every week for months until christmas. And the episodes seem to be getting a bit more halfassed, like that angel one was just.. facedesk.

Depending when you where a kid, and which Doctor was your first could answer that question.

But for simplicity I'll do my best.

Classic Dr Who from 60s-80s was based on the serial series format Each season was divided in to serials which told a story arch. These serials would cover between 4-6 episodes which where all filmed at the same time, the BBC used this method because they could film 24-48 episodes for the cost of 5-6 episodes. it allowed for the show to have a new episode almost every week during a year as well.

The restarted Doctor Who under Russel T Davis (RTD) he used the American formula method of making the episodes, which meant he would film 12-13 episodes a year. The Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston has a film career and could only promise one season, which was fine because RTD wrote the series to have a regeneration at the end, which is where we get David Tennant, he quickly became one of the most popular Doctors ever in history, so when he was offered the prestigious role in Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), to play Hamlet (alongside Patrick Stewart) he had to accept, which caused Doctor Who to make a season of Specials, also David Tennant and RTD were ready to move on from Doctor Who, this caused RTD to hand over control to Steven Moffat (SteveMo).

Since SteveMo took over he has split two out of three seasons for different reasons. The 2011 season had a one month gap, mostly for scheduling reasons with the BBC. And the 2012-2013 season had to be split up because of the Olympics. And has been stretched to make the final episode coincide with the first airing of Doctor Who 50th anniversary. 23 November 1963-23 November 2013

[Grummgug]

Other shows have a massive mid-season break. Burn Notice does this which is annoying because I completely forget to tune back in. Eureka started doing this before the end.

I would much prefer series broken up into 30 minute segments, so they can double the length of time they are on the air in a calendar year. Modern shows take these huge 1 hour blocs, run for 13 weeks, then are gone forever and you forget to tune back in the next season because they are gone so long.

You get 14 episodes counting the xmas special. Cut them all in half for 28 episodes. I'd love to see something like start in October with 30 minute episodes, 4 in october, 4 in November, break for 3 weeks, xmas special around xmas as a two-parter, then 4 in january, 4 in february, 4 in march, 4 in april, 2 in may.

[Kelimbror]

Trying to appeal to Americans...havn't you noticed all the american themed episodes? Cowboys, giant statue of librarty angels, white house

It can't be that they got tired of magically having problems in London every episode for 4 years on end? Everyone should have brain tumors from all the time manipulation and false memories they had of London being on the brink of apocalypse every other day. I love Doctor Who, but to claim that the writing is merely to engage an American audience is stretching it.

The Christmas special was great. I was very surprised by the chemistry and engagement of the side characters. The story was well written and I am very intrigued with the new companion's 'predicament'.

[Frozenbeef]

I love Doctor Who, but to claim that the writing is merely to engage an American audience is stretching it.

Yes you are right, it's more that... i dislike Steven moffats stories he has created... river song/Amy/Rory are incredibly boring and I'm glad they are gone...River was mysterious in the library episode because we didn't know who she was but it's been dragged out for way too long...

every episode (excluding the christmas episode) was basically -

Doctor: hi, fez, cool, shiny, geronimo
Amy: I love you doctor!
Doctor: Eww...
Rory: Hey! what about me?
River: Hello sweety
Monster: Rawr! Silence will fall!
River: Spoilers!
Rory: I'm dieing....
Amy: QQ i love you rory
Rory: Wait nm i got over it...
River: Bai!
Amy: I love you Rory and i will always choose you!
Rory: <3
Doctor: I'm all alone :*(

[Arlee]

don't forget she also removed all memory of the Doctor from all Dalek memory. Which will be really interesting because someday the daleks will find a stored memory of an advanced race which will mention the timewar. How much more will the Daleks fear the Doctor after that?

iirc, I think she didn't just erase him from the Dalek memory, but others as well. It's fuzzy and I can't remember specifically but I swear there was an episode or two where he expected things to recognize his name but they didn't.