Doctor Who Christmas Special Part 1
- Thread starter 4p
- Start date
It would be easier to just tell you not to watch it, because you are missing everything that makes Dr Who. Alas, I've decided to put some effort in.
Yes, Dr. Who has comedic entertainment value as well as a heritage of scaring kids. But you are welcome to your opinion, I won't argue that.
I'm not a big Dr.Who buff, so I don't really know the ins-outs of his time glove. Needless to say, what was terribly wrong with what happened? They were not out, they were in transit, Gallifrey was still coming over, so breaking the link was a pretty good choice.
Most if not all time travelling sci-fi suffers from some sort of paradoxical inconsistency. It's very difficult to maintain consistency when you deal with time travel. So your statement is quite true, in Dr Who, "anything ridiculous can happen" but you derive the meaning and the entertainment.
The Dr and the Master are 2 of a kind. Rebels of the time lords as far as I know, the only ones outside of the time lock. Friends as children, would you shoot your mate, or the president of the apocalypse, which wouldn't have stopped the return of Gallifrey?
Ah, the true beauty of Dr Who since it began, nothing ridiculously too Hollywood. It's got a bit CGI'd but the moderation keeps the spirit of the programme. Didnt you love the Star Wars Canteen scene with all the dodgy costumes?
Overacting, a key element of any Doctor, he wouldnt be the doctor without it.
Ding!
All in all, I don't really know if you should be watching TV. I enjoyed it, for what it was. I am sceptical of the new Doctor because Tennant was brilliant, probably the best or on par with Baker, and that he does look a bit..
"Hey you guyyyysh"
Don't blink!
Btw, does anyone know what the Nightmare Child is? It's been mentioned before when the Dr spoke of the time war between the time lords and the daleks. It was mentioned tonight too. I seem to recall an old line that Tennant once spoke "but I saw you fly into the jaws of the nightmare child!" as he was talking to someone.
Btw, does anyone know what the Nightmare Child is? It's been mentioned before when the Dr spoke of the time war between the time lords and the daleks. It was mentioned tonight too. I seem to recall an old line that Tennant once spoke "but I saw you fly into the jaws of the nightmare child!" as he was talking to someone.
Oy, he said "Geronimo" again. Groan.
As usual, Tennent's performance carried the episode. The whole thing whilst enjoyable when the Doctor was on screen, felt like a massive two part anti-climax which probably explains why he had mixed feelings about the passing of the 10th Doctor.
Dr Who Confidential afterward had some great scenes from Tennent's 4 year run - particularly those with with Rose which for me was the best story arc, that's how I'll remember the 10th Doctor as for me that was the 10th Doctor at his peak.
Its never been revealed what it is, almost sounds like some sort of planet killer like out of the old star trek episode.
I enjoyed it, but there was no plot, dr who just made it up as he went along.
I dont want to spoil it by revealing what things were made up as he went, but all of it was, the whole thing.
And oh the powerful time lords and james bond spitting all over the camera and he was all over in space of 10 minutes, even less.
It was just too anticlimatic but then it was difficult to see how it would end well given how the first episode ended. I thought it ended in an impossible situation.
I dont want to spoil it by revealing what things were made up as he went, but all of it was, the whole thing.
And oh the powerful time lords and james bond spitting all over the camera and he was all over in space of 10 minutes, even less.
It was just too anticlimatic but then it was difficult to see how it would end well given how the first episode ended. I thought it ended in an impossible situation.
Some things that annoyed me-
They never tied up the loose end about the Doctor having met the lady (can't remember her name) from the Library as she said that she meets him in the future and he gives her a sonic screwdriver. She seemed to remember him as David Tennent, so this makes no sense.
The new guy reminds me too much of Gordon Ramsey.
The regeneration took waaaaaaaay too long
The head shaking thing reminded me of a scary / weird film that I think was called Jacob's Ladder and now I want to see it again.
Why was Bernard Cribbins not the same Bernard Cribbins who was the Doctor's assistant many moons ago? As far as I could work out, no mention was made of this when it could have been such an asset to the story with the recurring theme of loops in his history?
I have been a big fan since I was little and will give the new bloke a chance, but I did prefer Christopher Eccleston as his portrayal was a perfect mix of humour, genius, manic running around and great acting.
BTW, loved the Captain Jack bit
They never tied up the loose end about the Doctor having met the lady (can't remember her name) from the Library as she said that she meets him in the future and he gives her a sonic screwdriver. She seemed to remember him as David Tennent, so this makes no sense.
The new guy reminds me too much of Gordon Ramsey.
The regeneration took waaaaaaaay too long
The head shaking thing reminded me of a scary / weird film that I think was called Jacob's Ladder and now I want to see it again.
Why was Bernard Cribbins not the same Bernard Cribbins who was the Doctor's assistant many moons ago? As far as I could work out, no mention was made of this when it could have been such an asset to the story with the recurring theme of loops in his history?
I have been a big fan since I was little and will give the new bloke a chance, but I did prefer Christopher Eccleston as his portrayal was a perfect mix of humour, genius, manic running around and great acting.
BTW, loved the Captain Jack bit
Caporegime
- Joined
- 9 Mar 2006
- Posts
- 58,757
- Location
- Surrey
I've watched a few of the latest Doctor Who episodes and some werent too bad, but I am getting the feeling like I dont want to watch tv anymore.
But yeah thinking about it now, Doctor Who in the past was pretty nonsensical, and time travel stuff anywhere always is, but then they could use that a bit more, like alternative earths where the Dr lost, I think they might in a few episodes. But then that doesnt negate the lackadaisickal nature of this latest episode. The blatant set up elements. The glass box thingy that one person must stay in at all times and which just happens to channel all the radiation for instance.
The problem with the glove was it, I cant remember what its called (macguffin, deus ex machine)its one of those story elements which instantly solves everything. That scene was just awful in general badly set up and portracted. David Tennant lies on the ground for ages, then turns out not to be injured at all, starts off deciding to shoot then changes his mind. The master instead of instantly doing his thing whatever he wants to do, he stops David Tennant from telling, then tells them himself(I know this is a bad guy conceit but isnt it about time this is stopped, its been parodied to hell and Bond films dont do this anymore, and Dr Who does contain a lot of referential humour, but they played it totally seriously) , which lets him do his magic glove thing.
Then you have the Doctor deciding to pick up the gun and not being able to decide whom to shoot, either the master or the time lord could have jumped him, taken him out when he was focused on the other. Then you have the master not knowing who's side he's on, "But I like you time lords, please be my fwiends, why dont you like me?" "Oh I'm evil and selfish thats why, damn you all to hell, by the way I'm on your side now Doc".
All this time they just stand there, they could have said, I'm out of this portal, I think I'll wait for the rest of me stuff over here well out the way whilst the rest of the stuff appear.
And the ending climax is him basically just pushing the off button, "Arrggh we're all doomed!", "Well no actually if we just shoot this thing here or turn it off then everything will be completely fine, thats of course negating the fact that a planet appearing that close so suddenly even for a second would screw up the orbit, tidal waves, plate tetconics etc."
My main gripe though is with the acting and dialogue its just awful, the drawn out cheesy ending encapsulated that. Its like they've made it to teach the little kiddies how to be good people by peppering it with confused messages and idealised dialogue.
Last edited:
Lots and lots of RTD endings are deus ex machina and thats why I'm glad to see the back of him. Shame tonights regeneration ep was a bit meh. Could have been so much better. I'll still give the new guy a fair go though.
Caporegime
- Joined
- 9 Mar 2006
- Posts
- 58,757
- Location
- Surrey
He uses them constantly, every Doctor who series ender and the end to the recent Torchwood mini series (which was a shame as the rest was outstanding)
Tbh Doctor Who could be allot more fleshed out storywise with decent characters that make sense but i dont think it will ever happen.
It will never be similar to say Star Trek, Stargate, BSG just to name a few Sci Fi shows. Shows like that are on a much later timeslot, granted only by a few hours but it makes all the difference. With doctor who being on at like 6-7 you know its aimed at the kids/family and as such the content will always stay the same. The BBC isn't going to make a version of Doctor Who that is infinitely better with its story and characters if it doesn't pull in the family audience which is most likely where most of the ratings come from.
I really hope with Moffat at the helm that we've got rid of the really stupid elements that RTD loved but its still not going to be anything spectacular story wise
.
Who knows maybe in another 20-30 years someone will look back at Doctor Who and do what Ronald D Moore did for Battlestar.
It will never be similar to say Star Trek, Stargate, BSG just to name a few Sci Fi shows. Shows like that are on a much later timeslot, granted only by a few hours but it makes all the difference. With doctor who being on at like 6-7 you know its aimed at the kids/family and as such the content will always stay the same. The BBC isn't going to make a version of Doctor Who that is infinitely better with its story and characters if it doesn't pull in the family audience which is most likely where most of the ratings come from.
I really hope with Moffat at the helm that we've got rid of the really stupid elements that RTD loved but its still not going to be anything spectacular story wise
. Who knows maybe in another 20-30 years someone will look back at Doctor Who and do what Ronald D Moore did for Battlestar.