New Doctor Who

DT was already in my top 3 before this story and after HN/FoB, I don't have much of an argument with placing him at the top of the list. He was brilliant, especially in FoB.

First, I think I know how we can say certain things here without spoiling it for those who haven't see the stories, like bapmom and the lurkers. Changing the font color is the equivalent of spoiler tags. If you don't want to be spoiled, then don't highlight the next paragraph. Also, this will only work if you haven't changed from the default color for the BB.

*** Spoiler alert ***
One of the things that I think we were led to believe in HN is that the Doctor feared what the family could do to him. But, with the way that FoB ended, what we actually learn is that the Doctor did everything he could do to keep from imprisoning them forever. He remembers what happened to Borusa at the end of The Five Doctors.

Although she's ultimately wrong about the Doctor's bravery, Joan made a great point about what John was willing to do for all humans, and what the Doctor was unwilling to do for her. But, she said what she did because she had to. I don't think she would have been able to live with herself if she hadn't painted John as the hero and the Doctor as the coward.
*** Spoiler alert over ***

HN/FoB take over the top spot from Gridlock as the best of the season.

Not only next week, but the reason of the season. Season 1, or 27 if you prefer, is excellent from Dalek through Parting of the Ways. It's actually better, since there are so many seasons, to refer to them as CE's only, DT's 2nd, etc.

At some point over the last 2 years since this thread was opened, we discussed which season was the best ever. Now that we're 2 years past CE's season, I think it's become easier to say that CE's one season is the best from beginning to end. Every story is excellent. There are no stories like Love&Monsters, or 42 (which I liked, but others say "eh" about).

I think the 2nd best season is Tom's first one, which had the now legendary Genesis of the Daleks. The problem is that it also had the rather pedestrian Revenge of the Cybermen. RotC had great lines like, "You've got no planet, no influence, nothing! You're just a bunch of pathetic tin soldiers skulking about the galaxy in a decrepit space ship." and "Harry Sullivan is an imbecile!". But, those lines alone don't save the story.

I think I'll leave GotD at #1 on my list for now, but HN/FoB comes in at a very close 2nd.

 

I had completely forgotten, or never remembered in the first place, the "I'll try anything once" stuff with Harkness.

I think there a number of things to take away from HN/FoB the more I think about it.

*spoiler*
There are gospel parallels here. One man dies for the whole world, and is resurrected as a god. Impossible to miss that one. And I hear tell that RTD is an atheist? Interesting.

Another lesson that we would all do well to learn is that what we are comes through, no matter how hard we try to hide it. Not only did it come through in John's writings, but did you notice that he didn't fire his weapon, not even once, when the strawmen were advancing into the schoolyard? You could even tell he had conflicting thoughts. On the one hand, "Why am I not firing this weapon?" and on the other, "I simply cannot shoot this gun if there's a chance I could kill somebody."

I was horribly wrong about Timothy of course, which is no big deal to me, but I always find it fascinating how the Doctor changes just about everybody he comes in contact with, usually for the better. Timothy's comment of, "Coward any day." is one of those changes. I think he had that in him anyway, but the Doctor affirmed it without ever saying those words to him.

A couple of weeks ago, I said that I wasn't looking forward to Human Nature. The reason is that I was thinking we were going to see another Superman II and the Doctor was going to change himself to human because he fell in love. Because if he was going to do that with anybody, it would have been for Rose. If he doesn't change that way for Rose, then there's really nobody else that he should do it for, except maybe Madame du Pompadour. I actually breathed a sigh of relief that I wasn't going to be watching Superman II.
**spoiler ending**

I've been watching some of 4's stories lately, and I need some help with a possible continuity error. It's a big one relating back to Sarah Jane and what she said in School Reunion.

At the end of Terror of the Zygons, Sarah decided to leave the Doctor, but he talked her into letting him take her home. At the end of Android Invasion, she was going to leave again, and the Doctor talked her into letting him take her home. It wasn't until The Hand of Fear that the Doctor was forced to leave her behind and he left her in the wrong town.

Since she seemed fine with leaving at the end of TotZ and AI, why was she so upset in School Reunion about how he didn't come back for her? Either the writers hoped we wouldn't notice, or else there's something else. Maybe Sarah was really upset in School Reunion because she didn't get to name her terms. She pretty much got tossed out and that's what really annoyed her about leaving. What do you think?

 

Matt, You're just going to have trust me when I tell you that you're nowhere near as sad as I am.

 

Watched FoB again tonight. Bravo, DT, bravo. To the American lurkers (assuming there are any of course ), it's a cliche, but very true that you are in for a treat when Human Nature/Family of Blood airs later this year on SciFi.

Pete, the more I think about it, the higher that HN/FoB climbs on my list of best Doctor Who stories. It does get me to rethink everything we know about him.

** spoiler beginning **
This story also got me thinking about the Time War. How powerful did the Daleks become to even be able to go after the Time Lords? It really brings home how dead serious 9 was when he said that all creation was at stake in the Time War.

BTW, anybody know the name of the song that played during the scarecrow battle?
** spoiler ended **

I love this show.

 

I liked Blink. While I think the comparison between Love&Monsters is apt, I liked Blink better.

Utopia. Whew. Well, what to say. A total throwaway story who's existence was for one reason, and one reason only. I was on the edge of my seat at the end.

I really didn't think it was possible to make Doctor Who better, and maybe the next 2 weeks will show that RTD didn't make it better than it already was, but the end of Utopia was... fantastic.

***spoiler***
RTD, you got some 'splainin to do!

How did the Master get out of the Eye of Harmony? If the Time Lords ceased to exist as a result of the Time War, I would assume that the Eye just sort of went away, spitting out the Master in the process. How did he wind up being able to regenerate? I can't be sure about it, but once he took over Tremas' body at the end of Keeper of Traken, I didn't think that gave him the ability to regenerate. At the beginning of The Enemy Within, we see the Master get executed on Skaro, and he was still in that same body, wearing the same silly clothes (re: he looked like a penguin) that Anthony Ainley was forced to wear.

I'm sure more questions are to come as I think about the end of Utopia.

And, actually, they already have. After he regenerated, he taunted The Doctor (never a good idea btw, Master or not) about not telling him his plans. What plans could he possibly have? He'd been regenerated for 2 minutes.

I think that what The Doctor was doing with the sonic screwdriver wasn't designed to stop the TARDIS as The Master thought. I think the Doctor extended the "time vortex thingy" (yes, I'm channeling The Doctor), for lack of a better term, so that he and Jack and Martha would follow the TARDIS back to whenever the Master went.

I wonder if any other Time Lords used The Chameleon Arch? Romana? The Monk? Drax? Well, maybe not Drax. I couldn't stand him. Have I forgotten any other Time Lords?
***spoiler over***

I said this about Family of Blood.

That goes double for next week.