"Allons-y, Alonso!" Doctor Who Special Feature Thread

[MereChristian]

Good one, RS. At least, I hope you're joking.

Whoa Sonic! I think that you know more about DW than I do, and that's saying something. Just finally noticed your avvy and sig. AWESEOME, by the by. I'm guessing that you're a Rose fan?

Phos, I too loved the Human Nature ones. It weas so poignant, especially at the end. I watched it on DVD while I was in Iraq, and it was so inspiring seeing the young boys actions. Of course, I don't watch those scenes now, bu the end scene with the Doctor and Martha watching the Observance from afar off, and him seeing them, now as an old man, had always mad me cry. Yah, I admit it, I cry at sappy tv show moments. You ever see any Classic Who, Phos?

Yah, good point, Booky. I should have added how Davies finds a way to make Rose into the center of the show when she's on it. Makes me bonkers. Especially disturbing was the ending of the fourth season, when Rose lost all credibility with me. They destroyed her char with that one.

I hate, hate, HATE the new logo. I do like the fact that with Moffat, at least if the early pictures on the set are any indication, they are going to bring back in some of the wierd, eccentricities of dress from the Classic Who era. The Bow tie never goes out of style, I guess.

Who's your favorite villain, starkat? Oh, and can I have your permission to use some of your avvys and stuff? I love them.

RS, Have you seen any Classic Who? What's your take on the series as a whole, new or old?

Has everyone seen pics of Matt Smith? What do you all think of him? What do you all think of going to a more eccentric dress again?

God bless.

I bid you all adieu.

[starkat]

MereChristian, go for it. Anyone is welcome to use anything on my website.

As for a favorite villain... tis hard to pass up the daleks. Mainly because they tend to get inventive when introducing them and taking them out since they have been there before in the story line. You never know when they'll pop up.

[ALittleMoreSonic]

=)) Good one, RS. At least, I hope you're joking.

QFT.

Whoa Sonic! I think that you know more about DW than I do, and that's saying something. Just finally noticed your avvy and sig. AWESEOME, by the by. I'm guessing that you're a Rose fan?

Why thank you.

Yes, I do like Rose. I was 19 when I started watching so I really, really identified with her. However, I thought the stories were better when he travelled with Martha (I don't think there's one story in that season that I don't like-- okay, Gridlock isn't my favorite), and I think that Donna was the best companion of all because she actually did the Doctor some good rather than just tagging along making puppy dog eyes.


About Human Nature/Family of Blood, I LOVED those episodes! They came in-- what was it, 6th?-- on DWM's list of the top 200 DW stories, which actually surprised me because, at least where my ear goes to ground on Doctor Who matters, a lot of people seem to hate HN/FOB. They say it's pathetic and a poor excuse for a Who story. I completely disagree (if you don't mind ), I think it's brilliant, both for the storyline and the moral questions it brings up. The most heartbreaking line was when

SHOW SPOILER

Joan told the Doctor after he came back that John Smith was braver than he. He chose to become human, Smith chose to die.

That was wow.

Grr. I agree with the whole way-too-much-Rose thing. I was glad they got closure, but I thought the whole 10 and 10.5 thing was a bit of a cop-out. No, actually, a huge cop-out.

Has everyone seen pics of Matt Smith? What do you all think of him? What do you all think of going to a more eccentric dress again?

I have seen on-set pics, and I'm sure it will take some getting used to. Eccentric dress is good, but I read a line somewhere about him rocking some braces? I'm not sure the Doctor should have braces (though there is the whole, "New teeth... that's weird," thing) but it may just be rumor, of course, because I don't read much about it because I don't want to be spoiled.

I did hear about 10 seconds of him delivering lines, though, and I must say, it's far different from what we're used to. I think I will like that part of it, starting fresh and new. But of course I will cry when Tennant leaves. *sigh*

[LadyCaeron]

Not big on Matt Smith. Have heard rumors that he never even liked the show himself, so I'm afraid he won't try very hard.

Braces? That would be weird. The first incarnation of the doctor rather needed them though

Human Nature and Family of Blood were amazing!

SHOW SPOILER

He never raised his voice. That was the worst thing - the fury of the Time Lord - and then we discovered why. Why this Doctor, who had fought with gods and demons, why he had run away from us and hidden. He was being kind. He wrapped my father in unbreakable chains forged in the heart of a dwarf star. He tricked my mother into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy to be imprisoned there, forever. He still visits my sister, once a year, every year. I wonder if one day he might forgive her, but there she is. Can you see? He trapped her inside a mirror. Every mirror. If ever you look at your reflection and see something move behind you just for a second, that's her. That's always her. As for me, I was suspended in time and the Doctor put me to work standing over the fields of England, as their protector. We wanted to live forever. So the Doctor made sure we did.

This part gave my sister and I chills. I mentioned it to my brother and he thought we creepy for liking it. Guess I like it because there are so many times that he could have done those sorts of things to his enemies, but he restrained himself. What do y'all think?

Btw, does anyone know just what a Jelly Baby is exactly?


First episodes. Did everyone here watch the show in order? Do you think you would have liked the show more or less depending on what you had watched first?

Ciao!

[ValiantArcher]

*pops in quickly* LadyCaeron, a jelly baby is a British sweet---it's kind of like a gummy bear or something, but in a little human shape, if I remember correctly. It's been a while since I had any.

I've seen episodes from every single Doctor except for the Eleventh, of course (So, pretty much, I've seen almost all of the episodes released on dvd ). I don't think I could really pick a favourite necessarily, nor do I have 'my Doctor' (The very first episode I was was The Five Doctors ).

The new logo/insignia---what's the big deal? I think every Doctor has had at least one different logo, of varying artistic designs, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. You'll get used to it. I'm much more concerned about whether the Tenth Doctor will regenerate into the Eleventh the same way the Ninth regenerated into the Tenth (every Doctor so far has had an unique regeneration).

I'm sure Matt Smith will work out fine. They've never had a 'dud' Doctor, so why start now? And braces---do they mean suspender braces or mouth braces?

Apologies if any of this comes off sounding a bit 'strong'---I'm not trying to offend anyone.

[Phosphorus]

It's suspender-type braces. Personally I think that the new costume is a step in the right direction. It's much more eccentric than any doctor since Seven. Hopefully, by the time they get to the Valeyard, we'll have some outrageous fashions (such as Four's scarf) again. Here are some pictures. The first includes his new companion (is there a way to shrink this down?).

The Doctor and his companion

article-1200883-05C6E23F000005DC-378_468x609.jpg (77.06 KiB) Viewed 10803 times

The Eleventh Doctor

article-1200883-05C6E1B8000005DC-445_468x698.jpg (132.3 KiB) Viewed 10803 times

[LadyCaeron]

LadyCaeron, a jelly baby is a British sweet---it's kind of like a gummy bear or something, but in a little human shape, if I remember correctly. It's been a while since I had any.

Ahh! Sort of like Sour Patch Kids, minus the sour? Thank you

I'm sure Matt Smith will work out fine. They've never had a 'dud' Doctor, so why start now?

Good point, that is very reassuring And, if they do mean suspenders when they say braces, that would be kind of fun


Thanks for the pics Phosphorus! They look good

[johobbit]

Please note that this Special Feature will be closing on Monday evening, to re-open again for the specials in December. In the meantime, you may post about Doctor Who in the currrent Television thread.

[johobbit]

On the advice of a knowledgeable mod who is aware of the latest in Doctor Who happenings, we are retracting our closure date of tomorrow evening. This Special Feature will stay open longer as the Waters of Mars special airs today in the UK. Continue to discuss away!

[ALittleMoreSonic]

I wish I wasn't, but I was disappointed by The Waters of Mars. Maybe I just need to see it again to appreciate it, but even though

SHOW SPOILER

I love both The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit and 42, and shunned all the claims of copycat-ness between the two, I must say that TWOM was just taking it too far.

The only thing that frightened me was

SHOW SPOILER

All-Powerful Doctor. I wanted so badly to be scared by the Flood, but they weren't scary at all (perhaps because Steven Moffat didn't write it). But yeah, All-Powerful Doctor frightened me. I actually wondered at one point if this is the catalyst that created the Valeyard. And I also wondered if the Master was masquerading as the Doctor. And I just knew that the Doctor would try to resurrect the Time Lords. Though given his realization and horror at the end, I'm not too sure about that bit, in a way I think it's in the back of his mind.

All I can say is they'd BETTER not screw up the final two episodes like they did this one. Well, maybe they didn't screw this one up exactly, but it didn't even measure up to the dubious standards of the other specials this year. Perhaps that is just because I had too-high expectations. But still. If the final two episodes aren't along the lines of the Series 3 finale in terms of hopelessness, Midnight in terms of psychological terror, Series 4 finale in terms of darkness and heartbreak (heck, make it Torchwood: Children of Earth for the darkness and heartbreak part)... I will never forgive RTD.

[starkat]

I read the synopsis on Wikipedia and I'm wondering if it was more of a filler than anything else. Something to

set up some psychological reasoning for whatever happens next

I've seen a couple of commercials implying that BBC America is going to air the specials not long after they air in the UK, so hopefully I can watch it soon.

[LadyCaeron]

Starkat, it's actually on youtube now. You may want to go watch it before it gets taken down.

I don't know whether to be disappointed about this episode or excited about the next one.

SHOW SPOILER

The tone of the entire thing is very tragic/scared, and I'm hoping that this will not be a continuing trend with the Doctor Who show. They need to stop writing stories just for the sake of tears and suspense and give the show back some of it's fun-quirkiness. Also, one thing I have always enjoyed about Doctor Who is that the good triumphs over the bad, but this episode makes me wonder...
Still it wouldn't surprise me if The Waters of Mars is, as Starkat suggested, just a set up for the next story. Really hope this is the case.

Does anyone know the name of the next episode?


~Caeron

[Bookwyrm]

I actually thought this was the best of the three specials we've seen so far. The Doctor's new attitude was downright chilling though. He's always been humorously arrogant, but his comment about saving "little people" didn't sound like him at all. I wonder if it is possible he plans on bringing back the Time Lords somehow.

[Dr Elwin Ransom]

(Arrives at last, with a little time to contribute, and now no fear of spoilers after this past Saturday, either!)

Just this afternoon I finished watching The Waters of Mars. (Hello Lady Caeron! I think I know you ...) And not to be too original here, but I agree with all the observations so far, especially about the redundancy. Fortunately, perhaps the programme's writers and producers know this as well; that's why they're changing it over ... way over.

I posted this to my Facebook profile. It is not a spoiler, because as others have noted, the recent special contained plenty of elements familiar to anyone who has seen all the other new-series episodes and specials. Stop me if you've heard this one.

1) Given: You are a character in a "Doctor Who" new-series episode or special.

2) Given: This character is not the Doctor himself.

3) Given: Or anyone non-native to the time period in which the Doctor is exploring, including the Doctor's companion(s).

4) Given: You suddenly begin talking about your personal life, relatives and other smile-inducing facts or relationships in a quick Character-Building Moment.

5) Conclusion: You are about to be exterminated, upgraded, zombiefied, have your blood sucked out, taken over by an incorporeal entity, or otherwise made to assume room temperature. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

[starkat]

Starkat, it's actually on youtube now. You may want to go watch it before it gets taken down.

I did go watch it. Some things changed at home with mom and dad having to juggle some things so we don't have the BBC America channel anymore. It bugs me to watch it on-line, but eh.

I think the Doctor's finally come to the end of the road. It definitely is a filler as it sets up his arrogance and shows that the pedestal he can be on is shaky. Should be interesting bringing back Donna, her grandfather, and the Master.

[Bookwyrm]

Putting everything in spoilers, just to be safe.

I think the interesting part of this latest episode is that the Doctor plays god constantly, in almost every episode, and we're fine with it, because he's saving the day. This is the first time when we've really been confronted with an arrogant dark side to the way he meddles. I think it's starting to come out because there's no companion to keep him in check. He needs someone bossy like Donna to keep him in line or all of the sudden he's the Last Time Lord and what he says goes. Adelaide was right, nobody should be that powerful, it's dangerous.

So what does everyone think of the latest temporary companion we got? I definitely liked her better than whatshername from Planet of the Dead. That was definitely an episode I'd call a dud, companion-wise and story-wise.