Doctor Who 28 x 04: The Girl in the Fireplace [SPOILERS]

Wah! I never got to see any of the possible responses to my last post!

Anyway- really liked this episode; my favorite so far. Further deepening of the Doctor/Companion relationship with the Doctor's sudden coolness towards Rose at the end, and his eagerness to so completely and willingly jump right into the life and times of another companion, seemingly heedless of his current companion's (Rose's) feelings.

I liked how they built up the relationship with Reinette over the course of the episode, so that we got to know her as the Doctor did, rather than what I thought they were going to do (have her just turn out to be an acquaintance of the Doctor's from the past that we hadn't met before).

Man- was Mickey pissed off at the Doctor's treatment of Rose at the end or what? Mickey has grown on me a lot since the first episode of last season, and I look forward to seeing more of him.

Next week: Cybermen return! Yaaay! What's up with the Davros-looking guy though? Is it really Davros? Are the Cybermen prototypes of the Daleks? Am I reading too much into things?

I've been biting my tongue a bit, but really I am starting to feel that the series has been treading water this season. In the Christmas episode, in the School Reunion episode, and now here again the doctor just sort of struts up and confronts the villains with no plan, just a tough guy attitude that seems to pay off for no good reason. It's all good and well to say you're what monsters have nightmares about, but eventually one of them should just knock your block off.

What did I miss about the ending here with the clockwork creatures? They're about to cut off Reinette's head and then they just conveniently shut down simultaneously? What, they didn't know they were winding down?

Oh, and since when has the Doctor been capable of doing a Vulcan Mind Meld?

Felon said:

In the Christmas episode, in the School Reunion episode, and now here again the doctor just sort of struts up and confronts the villains with no plan, just a tough guy attitude that seems to pay off for no good reason.

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He did have a plan at one point, at least- when he pretended to be drunk and got close enough to pour the oil stuff onto one of the clockwork's head, then pulled the switch to shut the others down.

Although he then turns around and charges blindly in to save Reinette, with no escape plan. He is definitely the impulsive one, this incarnation.

What did I miss about the ending here with the clockwork creatures? They're about to cut off Reinette's head and then they just conveniently shut down simultaneously? What, they didn't know they were winding down?

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They did know they were winding down, which is why they were in such a dire hurry to get the parts they needed, but they knew there was no way back to the ship after the Doctor crashed through the gate. They were stuck in the past, like the Doctor, and taking Reinette's parts wouldn't have helped them. Or, rather, it would have, but they would have spent the rest of their existences as body-part vampires, and they chose to die rather than continue in such a manner. Ultimately, they weren't evil creatures- just doing what they could to continue their primary function- to preserve and maintain their ship.

Oh, and since when has the Doctor been capable of doing a Vulcan Mind Meld?

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He's always been mildly telepathic, from what I understand; it's a Time Lord trait that allows him to interface with the TARDIS and understand other languages and recognize other Time Lords despite their physical appearances. (The Tom Baker Doctor even had a professor of Telepathy in Gallifrey). He's never been able to actually read minds before, though; that definitely seemed to come from out of the blue.

Regarding the Doctor's telepathy...

I do recall that during the Three Doctors, and the Five Doctors, his various incarnations were able to use telepathy to exchange information on the situation, and resist the telepathic attacks/control of Omega and Borusa.

The Master occasionally showed the power to dominate minds in an instant without any obvious use of telepathy. The first time he shows up, he instantly dominates the mind of a circus owner, and having not met him before, is also aware that he is using an alias, and exactly what his real name is.

In both the unfinished version of Shada, and the BBC webcast, the retired Time Lord known as Professor Chronotis and Salyavin shows an ability to project his mind and abilities into another person. In the particular example shown, he is able to transfer the complete ability to repair and fly a TARDIS into a person. At the time, it was described as a unique ability of Salyavin's, but that may have changed.

In the final Third Doctor serial, Planet of the Spiders, there is an old Time Lord aquaintence of the Doctor's who went by the name of Kan'po. Kan'po shows the ability to telepatically project not only his own image, but the complete physical form of his next incarnation as a seperate entitiy (something the Fourth Doctor did imperfectly near his death Logopolis). More than that, it was implied that he could time travel without a TARDIS, as the Doctor specified that unlike Kan'po, he needed a TARDIS to flee from the Time Lords.

Despite mentions of the Doctor's age, and the semi-official books and audios that can't be referenced in the new show, we really don't know how much time passed for him between his regeneration into the 8th Doctor in the television movie, and the first time we see the 9th Doctor in Rose. If there were Time Lord disciplines the Doctor did not know before, he may have had plenty of time to expand. In addition, he seems to have made peace with the Time Lords, or at least enough that he fought in the Time War. The Third Doctor used to have blocks they placed in his mind. Though they were released, who is to know that there were not more?

Time Lords may measure age and ability in both total age, and number of regenrations. In the above examples, the Delgado Master faced by the Third Doctor was in his last regeneration (as afterwards, he was either seen wasting away, or posessing the body of another person), Chronotis was on his last regeneration, and though we were never told specifically about Kan'po, he was said to be much older than the Doctor.

Certain powers of the Time Lords may develop with age, or increase with regenerations.

Felon said:

I've been biting my tongue a bit, but really I am starting to feel that the series has been treading water this season. In the Christmas episode, in the School Reunion episode, and now here again the doctor just sort of struts up and confronts the villains with no plan, just a tough guy attitude that seems to pay off for no good reason. It's all good and well to say you're what monsters have nightmares about, but eventually one of them should just knock your block off.

What did I miss about the ending here with the clockwork creatures? They're about to cut off Reinette's head and then they just conveniently shut down simultaneously? What, they didn't know they were winding down?

Oh, and since when has the Doctor been capable of doing a Vulcan Mind Meld?

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RTD said the Doctor and Rose were growing "cocky". Seems the Doctor thinks he is indeed lucky, and that will get him through the day. However, RTD is hinting it will cost both of them...

The Tic-Toks shut down because they were connected to the spaceship and their primary function was to fix it. When the doctor rode in, he smashed the time-windows (the ones online, anyway). so they had no way of getting back to the 51st century. They knew they couldn't survive that long, so the (without a purpose or any further instruction) shut down.

I think thats something hinted at but never done before...

I loved this episode. I'm going to see it again with some friends tonight and I can't wait to see their reactions.

I was worried that the next episode after 'School Reunion' would be all action and no heart. Boy was I wrong! Writer Stephen Moffat said he wasn't aware that it would follow 'School Reunion', but it felt as if he knew and planned for that. The entire episode seemed to be expanding on a statement the Doctor made to Rose (in the previous episode): "You can spend the rest of your life with me. I can't spend the rest of my life with you."

Yet another episode that left me teary-eyed at the end. It was terribly poignant. Doctor Who finally has a heart, and that's a change for the better IMHO.

sniffles said:

Yet another episode that left me teary-eyed at the end. It was terribly poignant. Doctor Who finally has a heart, and that's a change for the better IMHO.

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I think Doctor Who has always had a heart, that's why it has survived so long.

That said, I agree about this episode. Despite a couple of WFT moments, it was excellent all round. Lots of action, mystery, drama, and yes, heart!


glass.

glass said:

I think Doctor Who has always had a heart, that's why it has survived so long.

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I believe he even has two

Mustrum_Ridcully said:

I believe he even has two

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glass.

Watched it again last night with a group of friends. My favorite moment was when my friend Anthony, who tends to be rather critical, suddenly exclaimed, "Wow, this is good."