Doctor Who Fans?

Postby **Radical Dreamer** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 11:20 am

AUGH. I loved everything. XD I felt like the episode could've worked better as a two-parter, as it felt really fast-paced in the latter half, but aside from that, I loved everything. XDD

[SPOILER]I loved how they introduced Mels/Melody Pond (did anyone else think for like two seconds that she was Martha Jones? Because I did XD). I loved all of the flashbacks, I loved the scene where Amy figures out that Rory is not gay (I laughed SO hard XD). I thought it was fantastic to see River Song's origin, and her first time (so to speak) meeting the Doctor. Also, I am SO glad that, while Moffat did not ignore the existence of previous companions in this episode, he also did not try to rekindle anything with the Doctor pining after Rose, instead writing it off as "guilt" for all three of his previous female companions. XD Also, I'm glad they explained why River doesn't regenerate in Forest of the Dead back in series 4: because she revived the Doctor using the rest of her regenerations.[/SPOILER]

Basically, I loved the episode, and I'm really excited to see where the rest of this season goes. XD I do hope they slow down future episodes, though--I know they have a lot of information to reveal over the next few months, but I hope they don't try to do it too quickly at a breakneck pace. XD

MAL profile · Postby **FllMtl Novelist** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 11:25 am

It's back, huzzah! 8D

Amy's misconceptions about Rory were lulzy.
[spoiler]I think there were a few things broken about this episode, though. I mean, how come River never wondered how she could regenerate, when she knew both her parents were human?

And being all smug that she'd killed the Doctor, then saving him, seemed like a rather abrupt about-face. The reason given just didn't seem good enough to me.[/spoiler]
That said, Saturdays are great again and it is good. 83

Postby **K. Ayato** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:30 pm

BBC American re-aired the episode on Tuesday for those who missed it during the hurricane. All I could say was that it was awesome.

MAL · Postby **GeneD** » Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:35 am

2 things:

1. I was pleasantly surprised to recognise Karen Gillan in episode 2, the Fires of Pompeii, of series 4. I was like; that's Amy Pond, why is Amy Pond here? It would be really cool if they manage to pull off a story where it IS really Amy Pond there for some reason, but they probably won't.

2. We had a ladies thing the other day at church where we decorated cupcakes and at first I was uninspired, but then I made these:

Dalek
Dalek side view
Tardis

I didn't have exactly the right decoration things I needed, there were these little, shiny silver ball things I would have liked but they were finished by the time I stopped making random stupid cupcakes and started making awesome ones. I am really proud of my creations though, they were *almost* too good to eat. XD

MAL · Postby **MomentOfInertia** » Sat Sep 03, 2011 4:56 pm

GeneD (post: 1501828) wrote:2. We had a ladies thing the other day at church where we decorated cupcakes and at first I was uninspired, but then I made these:

Dalek
Dalek side view
Tardis

I didn't have exactly the right decoration things I needed, there were these little, shiny silver ball things I would have liked but they were finished by the time I stopped making random stupid cupcakes and started making awesome ones. I am really proud of my creations though, they were *almost* too good to eat. XD

Those are cool, I think the TARDIS tuned out the best.

Postby **K. Ayato** » Sat Sep 03, 2011 7:02 pm

I'm convinced the latest episode of Doctor Who stirred the same reaction with dolls as Weeping Angels did with statues. Enough said.

Postby **Yuki-Anne** » Sat Sep 03, 2011 9:14 pm

GeneD (post: 1501828) wrote:2 things:

1. I was pleasantly surprised to recognise Karen Gillan in episode 2, the Fires of Pompeii, of series 4. I was like]Dalek[/URL]
Dalek side view
Tardis

I didn't have exactly the right decoration things I needed, there were these little, shiny silver ball things I would have liked but they were finished by the time I stopped making random stupid cupcakes and started making awesome ones. I am really proud of my creations though, they were *almost* too good to eat. XD

I HAD NO IDEA! I had to go check it out. She's really good. XD

Also, those cupcakes are flipping sweet. Good job!

I agree that Let's Kill Hitler did feel rather rushed. It really felt like...

[spoiler]Nazi Germany was just a fun backdrop, but they really could have placed that scenario in any time period and it wouldn't have made any difference. So why Nazi Germany? Now they've played the card and they really can't use it again, which is a shame because it had a lot of potential for yet another creative WWII centred story. But they just kind of wasted it when they could just as easily have set this in any other time period or on any other planet and saved the Hitler scenario for its own story, with complex moral dilemmas and character development. Instead we got this, which was really just an okay episode.

I mean, think about it; how awesome would it have been if instead of the brief 5 minutes we spent acknowledging that it was Hitler's Germany, they spent the whole episode having to actually save Hitler from the robot and from Mels, because he's a fixed point in time. And then at the end we get the big reveal that Mels is River and she was actually using Hitler as a diversion so that she could kill the Doctor. Imagine if they'd spent 45 minutes building that plot point instead of the ten or 15.[/spoiler]

Postby **ich1990** » Sat Sep 03, 2011 10:22 pm

I am just going to take a moment here to make whatever mouth noise is the male equivalent of a fangirl squee. I just watched "A Good Man Goes to War" and am further reminded why Dr. Who is the best show ever.

Heck, all of season six has been outrageously good, starting right from the Christmas special and continuing through the war with The Silence, the episode with the Doctor's wife, the Flesh episodes (which prove once again why the horror genre is so closely tied with the sci-fi genre), and now this.

I don't really have anything constructive to say, I just feel the need to communicate to someone how awesome this show is. And how awesome it is that there is an alien walking the streets of London with a samurai sword, killing and eating criminals.

Postby **goldenspines** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:03 pm

Dear Steven Moffat,

Thank you for finally wrapping up your River fantasy show and actually letting Doctor Who gain back one of its best features in "Night Terrors": Monsters in our bedrooms and the madman in a box who fights them.
I have regained hope in your choices for the direction of the show. See you on the other side.

Cheers,
goldy

P.S. Please make Amy more useful like she used to be back in series 5.

[spoiler] In regards to Let's Kill Hitler, it had terrible pacing and the content did not flow at all (besides a few glorious scenes). Mel was rather unbelievable as a character until she regenerated. While this not the best conclusion for River, I can accept it.

Night Terrors was probably more outstanding to me than it was meant to be. It was a breath of fresh air from all this silly "lol, your best friend is really your daughter that you named after your best friend" and just told a great story. Forget the timey wimey nonsense for a while (as much fun as it is) and bask in the brilliance of the monsters in everyday life. [/spoiler]

Next episode looks fun. More timey wimey stuff to mess with our heads.

Disclaimer: No one reads my posts in this thread anyways because I'm sure you all believe I hate Moffat, but I'm adding this anyways. I actually love Moffat. I think he's a fantastic writer and that's why I critique him all the time. Because I know he can do better than he has been doing with the show recently; especially in his position as head writer. The Eleventh Hour and The Big Bang blew me away in Series 5, but he hasn't lived up to that brilliance since then. (Neil Gaiman's episode was the only shining moment in series 6 when compared to the previous series; not counting the Christmas special though, because that was excellent).
I still wait for someone to give me a good explanation why Moffat apparently has no flaws in his writing, but no one has. So I will continue to critique him. At least Davies, while not the best writer overall, was more consistent in quality than Moffat is.

Postby **Cognitive Gear** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 3:58 pm

[quote="goldenspines (post: 1502245)"]Dear Steven Moffat,

Thank you for finally wrapping up your River fantasy show and actually letting Doctor Who gain back one of its best features in "Night Terrors": Monsters in our bedrooms and the madman in a box who fights them.
I have regained hope in your choices for the direction of the show. See you on the other side.

Cheers,
goldy

P.S. Please make Amy more useful like she used to be back in series 5.

[spoiler] In regards to Let's Kill Hitler, it had terrible pacing and the content did not flow at all (besides a few glorious scenes). Mel was rather unbelievable as a character until she regenerated. While this not the best conclusion for River, I can accept it.

Night Terrors was probably more outstanding to me than it was meant to be. It was a breath of fresh air from all this silly "lol, your best friend is really your daughter that you named after your best friend" and just told a great story. Forget the timey wimey nonsense for a while (as much fun as it is) and bask in the brilliance of the monsters in everyday life. [/spoiler]

Next episode looks fun. More timey wimey stuff to mess with our heads.

Disclaimer: No one reads my posts in this thread anyways because I'm sure you all believe I hate Moffat, but I'm adding this anyways. I actually love Moffat. I think he's a fantastic writer and that's why I critique him all the time. Because I know he can do better than he has been doing with the show recently]

I read your posts! For the record, I don't think that Moffat is perfect. I just think that he is leagues above Davies. As such, I tend to sing Moffat's praises for bringing what he has brought to the show. (This isn't to discount the work Davies has done in reviving the series, though.) Honestly if Davies was still show runner, I would likely just watch episodes which had a general positive consensus, as I grew very, very tired of episodes like Partners in Crime.

EDIT: To be more specific about that particular episode, the characters in Doctor who are usually good even in otherwise bad episodes. Wilfred Mott was the best part of the episode. (Though sadly I must note that I am one of those people who doesn't like Donna, but do like her as she grows as a person. As such she is not a positive element in the episode for me. That is subjective, though.)

Postby **Radical Dreamer** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 4:20 pm

So Night Terrors was fun. XD

[SPOILER]The return to an episode unrelated to the current story arc was fun. I wouldn't call Night Terrors my favorite this season: it's actually probably my second least favorite, with my first least favorite being the Pirate episode. XD That isn't to say it was bad, of course, but out of this season, I've had a lot more fun with episodes that relate to the overarching story. Then again, I tend to gravitate towards television shows, stories, and movies that have some sort of overarching plot with lots of little subplots along the way, so I naturally find the episodes about River ridiculously interesting. XD

On Night Terrors in general though, I thought it had some great lines (I love everything about Eleven. Every single thing. XD The same goes for Rory Williams-Pond. XD), but it wasn't nearly as scary as I was expecting it to be! It was no Weeping Angels episode, that's for sure. XD Speaking of, I am VERY much looking forward to this season's Weeping Angels episode. I cannot wait. XD[/SPOILER]

Postby **goldenspines** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 4:34 pm

Cognitive Gear (post: 1502323) wrote:I read your posts! For the record, I don't think that Moffat is perfect. I just think that he is leagues above Davies. As such, I tend to sing Moffat's praises for bringing what he has brought to the show. (This isn't to discount the work Davies has done in reviving the series, though.) Honestly if Davies was still show runner, I would likely just watch episodes which had a general positive consensus, as I grew very, very tired of episodes like Partners in Crime.

Thank you and I agree. Hence why I do hold Moffat to a higher standard than I did Davies] [EDIT: To be more specific about that particular episode, the characters in Doctor who are usually good even in otherwise bad episodes. Wilfred Mott was the best part of the episode. (Though sadly I must note that I am one of those people who doesn't like Donna, but do like her as she grows as a person. As such she is not a positive element in the episode for me. That is subjective, though.)[/quote] This train of though applies to most of the 6th series episodes that I thought were not up to standard (aka: overall blah). Even if the episode was flat story wise, the characters kept it from failing, which I appreciated. With the exception of Amy who somehow lost her character's usefulness this series. Considering I was shocked at how much I liked Amy when she was first introduced in the 5th series, I'm sad her character has become so flat and reliant on Rory. I keep hoping she'll be of some use. [spoiler] I do not count her usefulness in regards to being the mother of River Song or the wife of Rory. Any woman could have done that (i.e. Amy could be replaced with any other female character and the overall story would still go in the same direction since her character's personality is so flat currently). But rather, why is Amy unique over any other companion (or character), ya know? Rory is more of a defined character than she is and she's been on the show longer. XD; Giving Amy a reason to still be there is the hope I have for this next half of series 6. Next episode looks promising for this, though. I hope Moffat doesn't disappoint. [/spoiler]

Postby **Sheenar** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:35 am

One of the coolest things ever:a cat TARDIS

Postby **Warrior 4 Jesus** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:50 am

Goldenspines, you seem to be unusually harsh on this season. Personally, I thought last season had some great episodes but I feel the current season is more consistent in it's overall quality so far (barring Amy's usefulness). Don't forget it took a number of episodes for Season 5 to find it's feet.

Night Terrors was a good, if not great episode. Quite creepy too.

Postby **Cognitive Gear** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 2:51 pm

I really, really loved today's (The Girl Who Waited) episode. Great emotionally, and it's always good to see the Doctor being less than perfect.

To get back to the other conversation- Amy has been useless this season? She's certainly less useful than she was in last season, but that's to be expected, as last season's plot very heavily revolved around her. I mean, if we look at each episode, she usually played a fairly important role in most of them. In general, though, I am fine with her being slightly less prominent, as it's given the other companions time to shine that they rarely had in season 5.

Postby **K. Ayato** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 3:41 pm

I'm with Gear. It was nice to see Rory continue to gain backbone. Personally, I think Amy was in the background for a bit due to [spoiler]the shock of finding out who her baby becomes in the future, plus the Doctor's fate.[/spoiler]. I'm hoping as this season goes on, she gets back on her feet in spite of what she's encountered along the way.

Postby **Kung_Fu_Master** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 3:53 pm

I think tonight's episode 'The Girl Who Waited' should give Amy some more spotlight.

Edit: And I'm right.

Postby **Warrior 4 Jesus** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:27 pm

I love Amy. I don't have a problem with where she is in the story at the moment because it's great to see Rory get more development and find out more about River Song.

Postby **Cognitive Gear** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:27 pm

Anyways, more specifics about the episode:

[spoiler]Great episode once again reaffirming the strength of Rory and Amy's love, and showing why they are a great team. It was also very good at portraying Amy as old and bitter, while still giving the audience some insight into how she will grow as a person outside of that.

Also, re-affirming rule #1- The Doctor lies. I always enjoy seeing the Doctor deal with situations that he can't solve perfectly.

Best lines: "This isn't fair. You're turning me into you." Chilling, and quite lovely to hear from Rory after he spent so much of his life trying to be the Doctor that Amy obsessed over at a young age. Also, "I'm not alone, I've got my wives!" followed by a double thumbs-up.

Amy's "don't let me in" speech, and her "sometimes you meet someone" speech.

The Doctor's, "Come on, Rory. It's hardly rocket science; it's just quantum physics!"

Bad bits: The slow motion fight. The way that the paradox is changed gets a handwave (which is fine, the emotional and storytelling payout was more than good enough.)[/spoiler]

Postby **goldenspines** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:57 pm

EDIT: Too long post for even me to understand.

Still need to see this week's episode. It focuses around Amy, so I hear.

(and knights?)

Postby **K. Ayato** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 8:12 pm

Reaction to this week's episode: Wow. Just wow.

Postby **Warrior 4 Jesus** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 8:33 pm

The Girl Who Waited hits Australian screens this upcoming Saturday. It looks amazing! I can't wait. Thanks for using spoiler boxes.

MAL profile · Postby **FllMtl Novelist** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:36 pm

I really like 'The Girl Who Waited'.
[spoiler]The episode was very emotional without being overly dramatic, and I loved that. I liked how Rory faced a terrible choice at the end, and I really didn't know which I wanted him to make. There was no choice that would do justice to everyone.

The slow-mo wasn't bad at first, but it looked silly when it just kept going.

Also, I thought the ending was a bit too sudden.

Everything else was great.

Any other specific thoughts I had about the episode pretty much mirror Cognitive Gear's.[/spoiler]
Awesome episode. I particularly liked it because the tension came from emotion and character, rather than creepy monsters or blow-your-mind plot reveals. Good variety's always nice.

Postby **K. Ayato** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:45 pm

I felt the same way in regards to the ending. It was just...there.

Postby **goldenspines** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:23 pm

Ah, good stuff. Tom MacRae, you live up to your previous experience as a Doctor Who episode writer.
Stuff of note (excuse my spoiler, it's a bit long-winded ^_^;; ): [spoiler] Yay, an Amy episode. Character development for Amy = A++
While we were already aware of Amy being known as "The Girl Who Waited" before all this (see Eleventh Hour), this episode was a nice twist on that idea and gave us some more insight on Rory and Amy's relationship. (Rory is also "The Man Who Waited", as we know. So they make a lovely couple anyways). I tend to not favor episodes where the Doctor takes the back seat, but I got the feeling from this episode that it may not continue to always been the "Rory/Amy show" anymore (or just Rory show, see line "You're turning me into you", and honestly, the world is better with only one Doctor anyways. :3), much like the conclusion of River Song's relationship to everyone. Therefore, it was acceptable and well done.

Detail notes:
Robot Rory made me smile.
They did a great job of aging Amy.
Alice in Wonderland garden!
The Interface was a lot creepier to me since I had recently watched 2001: A Space Odyssey.
"Their kindness will kill you."
OMG NEEDLES SHOOTING OUT OF THEIR FACES
This episode gave me a bit of the feel that "Bad Wolf" (from series 1 of the reboot) gave me. With all the being trapped in confusing rooms and such.
And last but not least, "Rory Cam" [/spoiler]
Preview for next episode sends a shiver down my spine. Looks like it will shape up to be a haunted house-esque adventure. Looking forward to that.

Postby **Twister980** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:24 am

Glad I'm actually taking the time to catch up, and not read spoilers. xDD

I watched the first episode with Matt Smith, I understand why everyone thinks he the best doctor yet, but I've stopped to watch "The End of Time" special.

MAL · Postby **GeneD** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 10:04 am

So the other day I was finally able to watch the season 6 opening two-parter (Unfortunately I don't know when I'll be able to watch the rest but hopefully soon).

Firstly, one day a long time from now at some award ceremony I will credit Steven Moffet as inspiration for genetically mutating myself into growing a pair of eyes at the back of my head. Then I'll probably cut a deal with the BBC to distribute my home-mutation kit with ever copy of the Doctor Who DVDs sold. Moffet likes things you can't/definitely shouldn't look away from.

I pity anyone who had to wait a week or whatever between those 2 eps, that must have been kinda awful. Along with, of course, the first 10 minutes or so of the first episode.
[spoiler]I'm going to give Moffet the benefit of the doubt and assume he's going to somehow get the Doctor out of dying, because for him to kill the Doctor off for real, even if it's his future self, seems arrogant to me and a bit rude to anyone who may play the Doctor after Matt Smith/run the show after Moffet.

The stuff with Amy's baby/Time Lord girl is really interesting though. I'm not yet 100% convinced that they are in fact the same person and I had a random thought that it would be cool if the Time Lord girl was Romana from the old series. But we'll see where it goes. I have a feeling that we won't get the full story till season 7 but of course I don't know how many clues are still in the rest of season 6 which I haven't seen.

I totally subscribe to the River-shot-the-Doctor theory, since those comments from the Time of Angels about her shooting "the best man", I mean who's better than the Doctor.

[/spoiler]

I'm not sure I 100% like the new very scary, darker Doctor Who, I miss the old campy, rediculous stuff a bit. I'm generally not a horror/scary stuff fan and while I can put up with the super scary/creepy stories (which are also thankfully generally very good episodes) I need the lighter stuff to balance it out. I kinda agree with Goldy's opinion of Moffet in this regard but I haven't read all her bits in spoilers. Her comment about the overuse of suspence ties in with my gripe below.
[spoiler]Some scenes in ep1 and 2, while brilliantly creepy and suspensful didn't seem to actualy go anywhere/have a purpose other than to be creepy and suspensful. I'm using the scene where Amy is in the rundown children's home in the room with all the hanging-from-the-cealing bat-Silence as an example. When Amy looks away from the bat-Silence because the door opens mysteriously, she forgets about the danger and wanders back into the room again. We see a Silence ominously standing out in the hall and then... nothing. As far as I remember the next time we see Amy she is in the hallway and sees the eye-patch woman in the door of the little girl's room. So nothing happened with the bat-Silence and nothing with the Silence outside the door. Arguably that one Silence is the one that goes and gets itself shot (I can't exactly rememeber the order of events) and then Amy gets kidnapped, but still, it kinda bugs me when the scene doesn't seem to actually have a purpose.

Also, if I ever have to record a message to myself about a monster I forget when I look away, someone remind me to make sure I tell myself where I saw it. Is that not logical or is it just me?

I'm not even going to go into Amy crying over the communicator most of the episode. That was just blah. I am just thankful that they took the thing away from Rory at the end, I wouldn't have been able to handle angsty eavesdropping Rory for very long.

The Doctor defeats the Silence in the end by subliminally programming almost all current and future humans to attack them on sight. While we can assume that most Silence deals with high ranking people, so people who spontaneously attack them are people like bodyguards with adequate weapons, I was thinking though that it's still a potentially dangerous situation for (normal) humans who try to attack the Silence without proper weapons just because they're compelled to. I mean there's nothing stopping the Silence from electro-suctioning them to death is there?[/spoiler]

Okay I know this post mostly makes me come across as sour grapes, but honest I really enjoyed these episodes, can't wait for the rest, love the cast more and more and on the whole think Moffet is doing a good job. Maybe everyone else already said why it's all so great that I felt the need to pick it apart a little. Rest assured, I gripe because I care.

Lastly, I promise; <3 Canton Everette Delaware III
New favourite short-form companion? I think so. ^__^

Postby **Cognitive Gear** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 10:55 pm

Okay, it's personal opinion time! Today: River Song, whom much of this season has focused on. Appropriately, this post will have spoilers from anything involving her, so proceed with caution.

[spoiler]River song is an interesting character. She's generally pretty fun, and fits into the Whoverse quite well. Dying in the very episode she was introduced to the audience, everything we see her do from then on is seen through this filter: since it was an act of self-sacrifice, we see her as ultimately good, and on the Doctor's side, even though she says and does things that would otherwise cast her into a more grey morality spectrum. This is actually quite appropriate for the Doctor's bride, as if we look at the Doctor's history, he hasn't always been portrayed as a very good person as he has been in the new Who series. By seeing River's story in this way, we gain a bit of insight into both the Doctor and River.

With that said, if this were fan fiction, then River Song would be a Mary Sue. She is related to the companions, she's romantically involved with the Doctor, she has strange hair, etc.

I think that it is important to note here that this is exactly why tropes aren't useful as a critical tool. Mary Sue carries with it very negative connotations, and most people will do everything they can to avoid it. If this character type is an innately bad thing, then River Song should never have been written into the canon of the universe, and that would be a sad thing. She is an interesting character, she's given insight into the Doctor, and has given us a story of redemption told backwards. She may not be the best companion the Doctor has ever had, but she isn't the worst, and the show would be worse off if she weren't around.[/spoiler]

Postby **goldenspines** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 5:23 am

GeneD wrote: Firstly, one day a long time from now at some award ceremony I will credit Steven Moffet as inspiration for genetically mutating myself into growing a pair of eyes at the back of my head. Then I'll probably cut a deal with the BBC to distribute my home-mutation kit with ever copy of the Doctor Who DVDs sold. Moffet likes things you can't/definitely shouldn't look away from.

I would buy this.

Postby **Yuki-Anne** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 8:14 pm

As usual, I'm behind, but my thoughts on The Girl Who Waited:

[spoiler]Loved it. The scene at the end with old Amy/Rory at the Tardis door made me cry. Also, the slow motion fight scene was stupid, but I'm holding out hope that someone on youtube will splice in footage or audio from 300 or something. Because that's basically all it was. All we were really missing was Amy kicking the Doctor into a bottomless pit while shouting, "THIS WAS HELL."

I also liked that we got more of why Amy loves Rory. This whole time it's been, "Oh, Rory loves Amy so much that he'd do this and this for her and this is why he loves her" and, especially with Season 5, it almost felt one-sided sometimes, almost like Rory was the puppy dog following her that she'd reluctantly decided to embrace. So I'm really glad that season 6 is giving us more of the romance from Amy's point of view.[/spoiler]

Oh, and did anybody else kind of feel like "Night Terrors" was

[spoiler]Moffat's version of "Fear Her"? [/spoiler]

Not quite as bad, but still kind of basically the same thing.

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