Doctor Who Fans?

[Bobtheduck]

Just started watching. Fun. Also, Eggs.

[rocklobster]

Just so everyone knows, on January 16th, my Aspie Catholic blog will begin a monthly mini-series chronicling the history of Doctor Who. Each post in the series will give you:
1. A bio of each doctor, complete with my opinion on the actor's portrayal.
2. An assessment of each companion.
3. Best line from the Doctor.
4. Worst and best episodes.

[AdriTan]

Exciting!

This years Christmas Special was alright. I do love the new TARDIS. However, I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for another regeneration and possibly a new co-writer to help with new ideas.

Also, it's been said that Tom Hiddleston is going to be on the show. However I've not found as who or what of how long. Thoughts? Anybody else know more about it than me?

Just found its for two episodes. But the only links I find for it are on Tumblr. I hate Tumblr sometimes.

[FllMtl Novelist]

Oh cool, this thread wasn't lost! ;w;

All I can say after that Christmas episode is that Clara Oswin Oswald >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> River Song. Leave my ships alone.

Seriously though, I really enjoyed that episode. It had some cheesy bits, but it also had Oswald and Strax who I thought were super great.

Also, it's been said that Tom Hiddleston is going to be on the show. However I've not found as who or what of how long. Thoughts? Anybody else know more about it than me?

I'm really out of touch with Who news, so I have no idea. That would be pretty awesome,though.

[battletech]

Doctor Who returns March 30th.

[GeneD]

This years Christmas Special was alright. I do love the new TARDIS. However, I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for another regeneration and possibly a new co-writer to help with new ideas.

While I'm still happy with Matt Smith, I agree with the co-writer thing. I'm a little hesitant about the direction that the series is going in overall; especially when it comes to companions. I'm getting tired of the mysterious-uniquesnowflake-superspecialawesome companion thing that Moffat keeps doing. I miss a just plain normal companion, which is why I loved Rory's dad so much. I mean, I don't want to through the term Mary-Sue around because it can swing to both extremes and no companion is perfect... but currently it's bugging me.

I did like the Christmas special though. The new TARDIS is cool and Madame Vastra and co. being back was great, although the Strax humour was somewhat cringe worthy. I totally loved the snowmen, they were creepy and kinda cute at the same time, they needed more screen time!

[Yuki-Anne]

What I'm getting annoyed with in this show is how they seem to get almost preachy sometimes with the gay marriage thing. Sometimes it's almost like they're like, "Here's a lesbian couple. OOOH ARE YOU GONNA GET OFFENDED LOL" It's getting very irritating.

I almost want them to have a female character go, "I'm married... to a MAN!" and then look at the other characters as if daring them to get offended. It's not good character writing at all, it's just baiting.

[Bobtheduck]

That started with Russell T Davies, a gay writer. I think Moffat only continued the trend because it had become a tradition, but I don't think he does it as much. In fact, I'm not sure if it happened at all in season 6. Season 7 had it twice, that I could remember. Once with a very brief statement about Oswin having an "experimental" phase, and the other with the Lizard Woman. *edit* Oh, I forgot about the FBI agent... And there's probably more I don't remember in Season 6.

I get annoyed by it, too, though. It's really not done well.

EDIT: I'm watching the show straight through for the second time, and I"m on ep 2 now. I wish someone would translate the Lady Cassandra scenes into Korean and make them available in classrooms with rich girls. Haha, speaking of preachy. I know I'm a hypocrite.

[GeneD]

What I'm getting annoyed with in this show is how they seem to get almost preachy sometimes with the gay marriage thing. Sometimes it's almost like they're like, "Here's a lesbian couple. OOOH ARE YOU GONNA GET OFFENDED LOL" It's getting very irritating.

I almost want them to have a female character go, "I'm married... to a MAN!" and then look at the other characters as if daring them to get offended. It's not good character writing at all, it's just baiting.

I totally agree. Like that stupid horse "joke" in A Town Called Mercy. I actually thought it's more prevalent in Moffat's time than Davies' but I haven't seen any of his stuff in a while so I might have just forgotten.

[Yuki-Anne]

I think with Davies it was just Captain Jack Harkness and an old married lesbian couple in the traffic jam episode. But the difference there was that they simply introduced characters who were gay or bisexual without acting like it would be something particularly shocking. I don't mind that, because I can acknowledge that there are gay people in the world without finding it personally offensive, regardless of my beliefs. I have a few friends who identify as gay/bi. What I don't like is when people parade homosexuality in my face as if they KNOW it's offensive, and they are daring me to get offended, which seems to be the main difference between Davies era and Moffat era writing style. It's obnoxious. Either write gay characters or don't, but don't write a character a certain way just to antagonize a portion of your audience.

[GeneD]

Idk maybe it just came across like this since it's been brought up now, but something very similar happened in the first episode of Jekyll that I watched yesterday, which was written by Moffat.

[rocklobster]

I think with Davies it was just Captain Jack Harkness and an old married lesbian couple in the traffic jam episode. But the difference there was that they simply introduced characters who were gay or bisexual without acting like it would be something particularly shocking. I don't mind that, because I can acknowledge that there are gay people in the world without finding it personally offensive, regardless of my beliefs. I have a few friends who identify as gay/bi. What I don't like is when people parade homosexuality in my face as if they KNOW it's offensive, and they are daring me to get offended, which seems to be the main difference between Davies era and Moffat era writing style. It's obnoxious. Either write gay characters or don't, but don't write a character a certain way just to antagonize a portion of your audience.

A problem I have with this is that Doctor Who was originally conceived as a children's show. I don't think this is a topic to expose children to. Teens, maybe.
I'm not speaking as a homophobe, which I am not. I am speaking as someone who feels children should understand what they are exposed to.

[Yuki-Anne]

I think Doctor Who, if it was rated, would be PG. I wouldn't want very young children to watch it on their own. It's not really a children's show; it's a little too scary for that. But if they're watching it with their parents, then parents are able to explain these things and help their children understand it.

Even so, I do agree that I'd rather they just left it alone. But at least Davies knew how to introduce the subject with a little tact. Sometimes I feel like Moffat's style is hitting me over the head with a sledgehammer.

[GeneD]

New trailer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p016dy23

It does look quite epic.

[AdriTan]

What I'm getting annoyed with in this show is how they seem to get almost preachy sometimes with the gay marriage thing. Sometimes it's almost like they're like, "Here's a lesbian couple. OOOH ARE YOU GONNA GET OFFENDED LOL" It's getting very irritating.

I almost want them to have a female character go, "I'm married... to a MAN!" and then look at the other characters as if daring them to get offended. It's not good character writing at all, it's just baiting.

I do have to agree. Like I said, I liked the Christmas special. However the whole thing your talking about IS quite annoying. It's almost as if they think it's better be homosexual than not so. And I have to agree with what you said about it not being good character writing.

[Bobtheduck]

I was wondering if I could get a Doctor Who collection on DVD or bluray, but then I looked it up:

http://www.bbcamericashop.com/dvd/docto ... 15985.html

And they charge 15 bucks PER EPISODE...

Who can afford that? That's, like, Japanese DVD prices, and I would never buy DVDs in Japan. It's just not worth it.

[Yamamaya]

My girlfriend loves the show. I've only watched a few episodes. It seems like an interesting show, although with me being a huge completionist when it comes to things, I fear getting into it, as I will feel required to watch every single episode of every single Doctor.

[Bobtheduck]

Well, luckily for you, that's not possible. First - I don't think every episode that still exists is available on DVD. Second - The DVDs are way too expensive, so you'll have to resort to Netflix. Three - Netflix has a VERY small selection of the Classic Doctor Who (at least streaming... I"m not sure about disc based). Four - Many episodes of classic Doctor Who are gone. They were erased to make room for new episodes, because BBC didn't have unlimited storage space... I guess. It is literally impossible, no matter how much time you have and how much money, for you to complete the series.

All of the Netflix episodes of Classic Doctor Who can be watched pretty quickly, and then the New Doctor episodes will take a big longer, both because there's more of them on Netflix, and because they're longer (made for an hour timeslot rather than a half hour, like most of Classic Doctor Who)

[FllMtl Novelist]

Hey so they made a prequel (of sorts?) to the upcoming season: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... IROtC6cAT4

Also GUYS IT COMES BACK SATURDAY ARE YOU EXCITED BECAUSE I'M PRETTY EXCITED.

[Bobtheduck]

Hey so they made a prequel (of sorts?) to the upcoming season: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... IROtC6cAT4

Also GUYS IT COMES BACK SATURDAY ARE YOU EXCITED BECAUSE I'M PRETTY EXCITED.

I saw that. I should have posted it. There are prequels like that to every season / half season start. The ones leading up to Season 7 started off really silly, then got sad at the end. I don't remember what they're called, though.

EDIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZkWjkvaKpA

I'd love to find more of these. I tend to feel like I'm missing something between most seasons.

[GeneD]

David Tennant and BIllie Piper are back for the 50th anniversary! source I am really excited and I hope they don't mess it up and I hope they get Christopher Eccleston too.

Anyway, on to The Bells of Saint John:

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I must say I really enjoyed this episode. It was mostly standard Doctor Who fare, in a sense that there didn't seem to be any new long term arc kind of stuff that hasn't been carried over from the previous half of the season. But I think it all came together really well, even if a lot of similar ideas have been seen on the show before. (I've kind of gotten over this by now since Moffat is king of re-using ideas.) The acting was good all around and I liked Clara much more in this one than her previous 2 appearances. I thought having the Great Intelligence back was really cool. And lastly, I thought the title and where it comes from was really cute. If I have to nitpick, the bit with the plane was a bit weird and the weakest link in the action I think. The Doctor putting stuff out at Clara's bedside was also, well, slightly creepy but in the nicest possible way I guess. And those people really should know better than to click WiFi connections they don't recognise.

I didn't spot this in the episode, I learned it in a quiz thing afterwards, but the author of that book is Amelia Williams! Interesting.

[K. Ayato]

@GeneD I read an article that explains Eccleston won't be back for the 50th anniversary. http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/ ... -eccleston

[GeneD]

Well I didn't have much hope that he'd be back anyway, although technically nothing's been confirmed by the BBC yet.

The Rings of Akhaten:

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Well the episode looked really impressive. That's about the best thing I can say. I was very much reminded of a Star Wars bar and they got the feel of the market across well. I didn't see any monsters I recognise, except a bit of Hoth in one, so that was kinda cool too, giving the viewers, along with Clara, a more alien experience. Don't know why the Tardis wasn't translating for Clara but I guess they just wanted Matt Smith to bark at something. The bit with Clara's parents were quite sweet, although I don't care if she's the biggest, most important mystery in the whole of space and time, someone needs to tell the Doctor that stalking is creepy.

Other than that I found it quite forgettable. I couldn't even remember the episode title until I looked it up. The villain was boring. I can't help comparing it to the sentient sun in the season 3 episode 42 and how interesting and sinister that was. However, the thought of the First Doctor and gang waltzing around this place makes me smile a lot.

[bigsleepj]

I was not impressed with Rings of Akhaten. It was barely coherent, and only had good dialogue to help sustain it, but not even that good.

[K. Ayato]

It's not the first episode where a planet is sentient, but (although I've only read the synopsis) the 10th Doctor episode with the Beast was a better idea.

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I did feel that bit at the end where Clara's ring (which had belonged to her mother) was returned to her out of gratitude was a nice touch. That, and giving up the first page of her diary/scrapbook. I didn't think of the what-ifs vs. actual memories until after I finished the episode. Pretty clever.

[MomentOfInertia]

Well that was fun, I always enjoy getting to see a bit more of the TARDIS.

It's not often that you get a SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Message in a Bottle plot, let alone a (Message in a Bottle)^2 plot.

...and next week we get to see the belligerent potato again, delightfully straightforward fellow that potato.

[Twister980]

The name of the Doctor was AMAZING. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: River was awesome, I can't wait for her to make a full return. Clara's moment with the First Doctor was hilarious. And Hurt's appearance at the end. AWESOME. Next stop, the Forbidden Doctor in the 50th Anniversary. :3

[Yuki-Anne]

Actually, my thoughts on season 7 can be summed up in one word: MEH.

Most of the episodes left me bored and lukewarm. Especially The Crimson Horror, which was downright stupid. The finale also left me feeling lukewarm. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I mean, when they started foreshadowing the plains of Trenzalore and "the fall of the Eleventh" and all that, I was like, "OH MAN THAT'S GONNA BE EPIC." Basically the only epic thing about it was the huge TARDIS. That was pretty cool. But we've had the Magical Assistant save the Doctor in, like, half of the finales already (Rose and Amy specifically) so it feels quite overdone. And I don't know, I think Clara has been my least favorite assistant of the new series to date. There's nothing about her personality or story line that stands out. I'm sick of the Magical Girl Assistant story line. I mean, people complain about Rose being Mary-Sueish, and she was, but she felt more down-to-earth, and she had a dogged determination that was admirable and could be considered an identifiable character trait. Plus she wasn't chosen as an assistant because she was inherently magical. In fact, I think Clara is the first one that has been chosen SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE SHE WAS MAGIC. Amy was getting close but it was mostly because she happened to have a crack in her wall. And it really feels like most of Clara's dialogue is exactly what Amy would say, which makes it a lot harder to accept her as an assistant because she's not distinctive and likable on her own merits and personality.
And frankly, going from characters as fantastic as Amy and Rory to the pile of boredom incarnate that is Clara is a REAL let-down. Not to mention how awful the stories have been ALL SEASON LONG, even the ones WITH Amy and Rory.

I really think Season 7 has been the worst one so far. I really hope things improve, because as it is the show has gotten boring, which is possibly the worst crime Doctor Who can commit.

[goldenspines]

Actually, my thoughts on season 7 can be summed up in one word: MEH.

Most of the episodes left me bored and lukewarm. Especially The Crimson Horror, which was downright stupid. The finale also left me feeling lukewarm. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I mean, when they started foreshadowing the plains of Trenzalore and "the fall of the Eleventh" and all that, I was like, "OH MAN THAT'S GONNA BE EPIC." Basically the only epic thing about it was the huge TARDIS. That was pretty cool. But we've had the Magical Assistant save the Doctor in, like, half of the finales already (Rose and Amy specifically) so it feels quite overdone. And I don't know, I think Clara has been my least favorite assistant of the new series to date. There's nothing about her personality or story line that stands out. I'm sick of the Magical Girl Assistant story line. I mean, people complain about Rose being Mary-Sueish, and she was, but she felt more down-to-earth, and she had a dogged determination that was admirable and could be considered an identifiable character trait. Plus she wasn't chosen as an assistant because she was inherently magical. In fact, I think Clara is the first one that has been chosen SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE SHE WAS MAGIC. Amy was getting close but it was mostly because she happened to have a crack in her wall. And it really feels like most of Clara's dialogue is exactly what Amy would say, which makes it a lot harder to accept her as an assistant because she's not distinctive and likable on her own merits and personality.
And frankly, going from characters as fantastic as Amy and Rory to the pile of boredom incarnate that is Clara is a REAL let-down. Not to mention how awful the stories have been ALL SEASON LONG, even the ones WITH Amy and Rory.

I really think Season 7 has been the worst one so far. I really hope things improve, because as it is the show has gotten boring, which is possibly the worst crime Doctor Who can commit.

^^^ Same. Except, I feel like it's been going down the boring path for quite a while now. Granted, there have been some shining moments, but those are few and far between. :<

I maintain hope in the 50th anniversary special, though! \>o</

[GeneD]

I totally agree, Yuki-Anne. Out of the 8 episodes, I enjoyed Hide and The Name of the Doctor, and the rest all ranged from meh to terrible.

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I'm sick of the Magical Girl Assistant story line.

This, so so much. Clara's also my least favourite of the new series so far. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: She's too much like Amy and one thing I've noticed is that she never seems to be convincingly scared in a situation which should be scary. I mean there's a difference between being brave and *giggle giggle a cyberman's about to shoot me, dodge now mkay*. It's making it hard to care about things that are happening to her.

I did however really quite like the finale, and was quite excited by the last minute reveal. But it did feel really disconnected from all the Silence foreshadowing we got last season, it feels like whatever that was all about hasn't actually happened yet. Idk, anniversary ep maybe.

Another thing that's been bugging me that I only sorted out in my head while talking to someone about it recently, is this: The mystery aspects of the arc and assistants (River, Amy, Clara and Rory to an extent) of the Moffat era, seem to be getting more and more convoluted and extended each season. Like each new mystery arc/person is the BIGGEST MYSTERY ARC/PERSON OMGEE!!!1 But then we solve it(not-really-and-then-seem-to-forget-about-it) and then guess what it's time for the next BIGGEST MYSTERY EVER! So mysterious Crack in the universe is mysterious, but no, behind the Crack is the mysterious Silence, but now the Silence are some kind of organisation and will fall when we find the Answer to the Question etc etc. Where does it end?! It gets to a point where all these mysteries just don't really interest me anymore.