New Doctor Who

[ccrobinson]

a) The Daleks don't know him anymore because Oswin erased the Doctor from the Dalek's database in Asylum of the Daleks.

Yes, I'm quite aware of this.

b) I presume that is why Solomon couldn't identify him as well, or perhaps because Solomon's computer ID system was visually based there is no photo record of the Doctor's newest incarnation.

I disagree with this (I know, you're shocked that I disagree with you :wavey: :smilewinkgrin: ). Solomon wouldn't have been after the Doctor himself anyway. He traded in things, not in people. Solomon would have been after the TARDIS, but it obviously wasn't in his database and certainly should have been. I don't have an explanation as to why Solomon didn't identify the Doctor or the TARDIS. I'm pointing out that, despite Moff saying there is no story arc this season, there clearly is and I think the Silence are behind it, which continues the story that began in The Eleventh Hour.

 

[InTheLight]

Solomon wouldn't have been after the Doctor himself anyway. He traded in things, not in people.

No, because Solomon wanted Nefertiti. Also, as the Doctor was repairing Solomon's wounded leg, the Doctor says, "you were trying to find out what I'm worth", and then his computer scanned the Doctor and couldn't find info on him. He would buy or sell anything.

Solomon would have been after the TARDIS, but it obviously wasn't in his database and certainly should have been.

Why would Solomon be after the Tardis? He had no knowledge of it. He asked the Doctor how he got on the ship and the Doctor avoided answering. Also, Solomon had scanned the whole ship with his IV System (Identifying Value System). The system probably saw the Tardis but identified it as a police box and didn't think it valuable.

I'm pointing out that, despite Moff saying there is no story arc this season, there clearly is and I think the Silence are behind it, which continues the story that began in The Eleventh Hour.

There could be an underlying story arc, but so far of the two stories, they've been pretty much standalone and off-Earth, a welcome change from season's past.

 

[ccrobinson]

Doh! How could I forget that about Nefertiti? Great point.

I wouldn't think that Moffat would start a story in S5, continue it in S6 and then abandon it for an entire season. It's possible, but I think unlikely.

 

[Matt Black]

Wow! I think you'll love A Town called Mercy....

 

[InTheLight]

Wow! I think you'll love A Town called Mercy....

There were some things to like about it, but overall I didn't like it. I liked the set and the marshall character. It was a decent story but there were some plot holes and the characterization of the Doctor is getting ridiculous. The Doctor almost never picks up a gun and points it at someone. Remember this is a week after he enabled the death of Solomon by putting a tracking device on his spaceship and sending it into the path of incoming missiles. How dark is this Doctor going to get? Hartnell's doctor had a dire episode set in the American West called "The Gunfighters" where he has a line of dialogue, "I don't know why people keep handing me guns, I do wish they would stop it." Now this Doctor is threatening people with guns.

Why did the townspeople carry the Doctor to the perimeter of the town and throw him out when they already knew the 'alien doctor' the Cyborg was hunting was in a jail cell inside the town? And how silly is it that a border made of rocks, boards, and logs around the town is enough to keep the Cyborg out? The whole bit with the Doctor talking to the horse was goofy. Rory had virtually no role in this story and Amy just a wee bit of a part. The high noon scene was a cliche. Jex didn't need to blow up his ship, he could have just walked outside of town and surrendered to the Cyborg. (They did milk the explosion for FX, showing it three times from different angles.)

 

[Matt Black]

Sorry you didn't like it. I was more upset by the Doctor polishing Solomon off last week than I was by the gun-pointing, which at least was in the context of Amy saying, "see, this is what you get like when you travel alone". It's also not the first time that the Doctor has been directly responsible for the death of a baddy: he gave a grenade to the Graf Vynda-K in The Ribos Operation and basically left Cassandra to die (at least for a time!) in The End of the World.

 

[ccrobinson]

I was more upset by the Doctor polishing Solomon off last week than I was by the gun-pointing

Agreed. I wasn't terribly fond of what happened. I get that it was justice and all, but it didn't feel right. The Doctor has become darker the last 2 episodes.

... and the characterization of the Doctor is getting ridiculous. The Doctor almost never picks up a gun and points it at someone.

That's right and when the Doctor does something so out of character, we sit up and take note that something is wrong. Amy pinpoints it for the Doctor, and us, by saying this is what happens when he travels by himself too much.

"The Gunfighters"

Can we pretend that The Gunfighters never happened? :smilewinkgrin:

Why did the townspeople carry the Doctor to the perimeter of the town and throw him out when they already knew the 'alien doctor' the Cyborg was hunting was in a jail cell inside the town? And how silly is it that a border made of rocks, boards, and logs around the town is enough to keep the Cyborg out? The whole bit with the Doctor talking to the horse was goofy. Rory had virtually no role in this story and Amy just a wee bit of a part. The high noon scene was a cliche. Jex didn't need to blow up his ship, he could have just walked outside of town and surrendered to the Cyborg.

The nit-picking begins.

The townspeople were desperate. They didn't want to lose a friend, so better to give up somebody they didn't know than lose their friend.

The border didn't keep the Cyborg out. He stayed out by choice. The townspeople were deluding themselves into thinking otherwise.

Talking to a horse is no different than any other goofy thing that 11 has done.

Using number of minutes on screen isn't the best arbiter of a good episode.

Of course the high noon scene was cliche. It was supposed to be.

Actually, yes, Jex did need to blow up his ship.

Thematically, this was the darkest episode we've seen during 11's tenure and there's nothing wrong with seeing the Doctor's ethics and conscience being tested once in a while.

 

[InTheLight]

Can we pretend that The Gunfighters never happened? :smilewinkgrin:

One of the all time worst episodes in the canon.

The nit-picking begins.

The townspeople were desperate. They didn't want to lose a friend, so better to give up somebody they didn't know than lose their friend.

The townspeople knew the Doctor wasn't the target of the cyborg. It's not nit-picking to wonder why there was a scene that doesn't jibe with the plot.

The border didn't keep the Cyborg out. He stayed out by choice. The townspeople were deluding themselves into thinking otherwise.

Upon further review, I think you're on to something. It appears the Cyborg constructed the border.

Marshall: "See that border out there? Woke up one morning and there it was. Nothing gets past it, in or out. No supply wagons, no reinforcements."

Rory: "But he let us in."

Talking to a horse is no different than any other goofy thing that 11 has done.

He said the horse Joshua was really named Susan, "and he wants you to respect his life choices." So, a transgender horse isn't sillier than anything else in Doctor Who?

Thematically, this was the darkest episode we've seen during 11's tenure and there's nothing wrong with seeing the Doctor's ethics and conscience being tested once in a while.

I agree with that. But it seems Moffatt is taking the Doctor down a dark path that will not have a good ending.

Speaking of your theory with a story arc--what's with the flickering light bulbs so far? At the beginning of Asylum when Rory visited Amy at her photo shoot, the light bulbs on her dressing room mirror were flickering. At the beginning of Dinosaurs Rory and his dad are changing a light bulb. In Mercy, the light bulbs in the town flicker. I'm going to watch for flickering light bulbs in the next episode.

 

[Matt Black]

I think you're onto something there...

 

[Gina B]

The gunslinger thing was pretty humorous in a parody type of way...not the norm, but change can be good.

Deep thought of the show, and yes, there actually still was one in this episode! - The idea that frightened people are more dangerous than most anything else on the planet. (frightened people...give me a Dalek any day.)

So true! Scared people do scary things and fear is the basis of anything negative I can think of. Hate, anger, all of it starts out with a basis of fear.

 

[shodan]

Tardis Sighting in N. America

On the State Asylum grounds across from Walmart.

Rumor has it he stopped to pick up some Charmin.

 

[ccrobinson]

I'm a couple of weeks behind here, so let's get something caught up.

The townspeople knew the Doctor wasn't the target of the cyborg.

Like I said, they were desperate to give up anybody calling himself a doctor. I know it's not the greatest explanation, but I can't think of another one that makes any sense at all.

But it seems Moffatt is taking the Doctor down a dark path that will not have a good ending.

I think I agree with you on this, but I'm not sure where the path is leading. Ultimately, it's leading to the Plains of Tranzalore, but I not only don't have a clue, I can't even speculate yet as to what it means.

Speaking of your theory with a story arc--what's with the flickering light bulbs so far? At the beginning of Asylum when Rory visited Amy at her photo shoot, the light bulbs on her dressing room mirror were flickering. At the beginning of Dinosaurs Rory and his dad are changing a light bulb. In Mercy, the light bulbs in the town flicker. I'm going to watch for flickering light bulbs in the next episode.

I think you're definitely on to something here. I don't remember whether there were any flickering bulbs in Power of Three, but there were in Angels Take Manhattan. The symbolism is hard to miss.

As I've noted before, I think Moffat is telling a long story, starting with The Eleventh Hour and ending on the Plains of Tranzalore. The Silence, the Doctor's dark path, the Doctor erasing himself from the Universe are all a part of it. When the question is asked, the Doctor will have completely erased himself from the Universe and nobody but him will be able to answer. Well, him and one other, the one that I suspect is behind using the Silence, who in turn used the Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, etc.

When it was announced that the Doctor was getting a new companion, Karen Gillan made a statement along the lines of, "when we're gone, I hope we stay gone." As much as I love Rory and Amy, I also hope that there's no contrived way that we see them with him again. When Rose was brought back in S4, it cut the heart out of what happened at the end of Doomsday. In fact, the less said about The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, the better. Those 2 episodes annoy me like no other.

 

[ccrobinson]

You may want to watch this. It's the period on the end of the sentence that answers the question, "What about Brian?"

But, before you do, I have to warn you. You will get a lump in your throat. A pretty sizeable one. It will become very dusty in your house and that dust will get in your eyes. I suggest some Kleenex or a handkerchief.

 

[InTheLight]

You may want to watch this. It's the period on the end of the sentence that answers the question, "What about Brian?"

But, before you do, I have to warn you. You will get a lump in your throat. A pretty sizeable one. It will become very dusty in your house and that dust will get in your eyes. I suggest some Kleenex or a handkerchief.

Thanks for posting that.

 

[ccrobinson]

Even I admit this is Doctor Who/Disney Princesses mashup is cute and adorable. You even get a Star Wars/Monsters Inc. mashup to go along with it. Who could ask for more?

http://amymebberson.tumblr.com/post/32857419992/it-is-time-for-the-unveiling-of-shiny-new-swag-for


I haven't seen a firm date for the 2nd half of S7, but it's going to be April and my guess is April 6th.

Here's the trailer for the 2nd half of Season 7.

A note about The Snowmen.

I walked away from The Snowmen thinking that the monsters were pretty irrelevant to the story being told. That the real story being told was about Clara. Now, I'm not so sure. After watching 2 and a 1/2 seasons of Moffat the Showrunner, I think we've being misdirected to care more about Clara than about other things, like The Great Intelligence. Not that there's something wrong with this, because the story of Clara is compelling.

But, let's not lose sight of the fact that there are still unanswered questions about The Silence, who was in control of the TARDIS in S5, how did they get it and why, and the big question about what happens on the Plains of Tranzalore. Not to mention who inserted The Silence into human history and why. I'm still clinging to my own personal theory about who's behind it all, but since I have nothing other than a guess, I shall not reveal my theory just yet.

 

[ccrobinson]

It was announced today. March 30th.

 

[ccrobinson]

Great tweet from @doctorwho_bbca last Sunday.

"Lights still out at the Super Bowl? Don't blink."

 

[ccrobinson]

2 weeks. In a mere 2 weeks from today, Doctor Who returns to our TV screen (or telly, if you're a friend from the UK). Here's the latest trailer for the rest of S7.

 

[ccrobinson]

Thoughts on the 1st 2 this year? I liked The Bells of St. John. I disliked The Rings of Akhaten. InTheLight, if you see this, for whatever your complaints are about it, I probably agree with you. I think TROA is worse than The Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks.

 

[InTheLight]

Thoughts on the 1st 2 this year? I liked The Bells of St. John. I disliked The Rings of Akhaten. InTheLight, if you see this, for whatever your complaints are about it, I probably agree with you. I think TROA is worse than The Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks.

Yeah, I liked Bells. I like that The Great Intelligence (from the Troughton Yeti stories) has been brought back. Possession stories always creep me out.

TROA was eye-candy (aliens, asteroid belts, FX) but the plot was a mish-mash of confusion and nonsense. How can a leaf have unknown experiences or a future? The monster at the heart of the sun was never explained. There were a lot of ideas thrown out there without explanation--how is it that dozens of diverse alien species share the same religion? And it involves a living sacrifice on a recurrent basis?

I would summarize this story as a horrible story that looks great.

Yes, this story is worse than Daleks in Manhattan, but the worst story from the reboot era has got to be Fear Her.