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

Felon · May 12, 2006

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.

"Finally" has a heart? A lot of actors brought a soft side to the role, going back to second doctor Patrick Troughton.

Plane Sailing · May 12, 2006

For some reason my video recorder didn't record this episode

However, I did get to see it, and I liked it (although possibly not quite as much as the previous two episodes).

I didn't find the clockwork automata to be convincing or effective foes. I couldn't understand why a 51st century starship which could handle time-travel across the millenia would have pretty primitive clockwork robots on board.

I liked the poignancy of the time differential though, and the fact that at the end the seconds he took to get back were long enough that she died still waiting.

Overall I'm not quite liking this doctor quite as much as Ecclestone, because he seems over-manic to me. I really like his serious bits, but they almost get swamped by the manicness.

Nevertheless, it will still be extremely interesting to see where they go with this. Only one day to the next episode!

glass · May 12, 2006

Plane Sailing said:
I liked the poignancy of the time differential though, and the fact that at the end the seconds he took to get back were long enough that she died still waiting.

That was about the only thing I didn't like about the episode. He new that most of her life had gone by in a couple of hours on his, so why didn't it occur to him that if he went back without her again the same thing would continue to happen. Why didn't he watch her pack a bag, and then take her back with him?

That's really my only complaint, though.

glass.

sniffles · May 12, 2006

glass said:
That was about the only thing I didn't like about the episode. He new that most of her life had gone by in a couple of hours on his, so why didn't it occur to him that if he went back without her again the same thing would continue to happen. Why didn't he watch her pack a bag, and then take her back with him?

That's really my only complaint, though.

glass.

I thought of that, but I think it goes back to his being a Time Lord - time is in many ways unimportant to him. He just didn't think about it because he was so excited. Or maybe, if we want to go all psychoanalytical, he subconsciously did it on purpose because he was afraid of getting too attached to Rienette.

@ Felon and glass: I know Doctor Who has always had some emotional content, but the amount seems to have increased exponentially in the new series. The Doctor seems to wear his hearts on his sleeve a bit more, so to speak.

JEL · May 12, 2006

glass said:
That was about the only thing I didn't like about the episode. He new that most of her life had gone by in a couple of hours on his, so why didn't it occur to him that if he went back without her again the same thing would continue to happen. Why didn't he watch her pack a bag, and then take her back with him?

That's really my only complaint, though.

glass.

He thought he had fixed the loose connection in the fireplace portal.

Felon · May 13, 2006

JEL said:
He thought he had fixed the loose connection in the fireplace portal.

The loose connection was what allowed him to use the portal. I didn't catch him saying that it was supposed to prevent the time dilation effect. He really should've taken her through with him. He has clothes aplenty on the TARDIS.

Really, show of hands here on folks who didn't know she was marked for death as soon as he went through the fireplace that last time? Sorry, way too predictable for me. I want to see the doctor exhibit a little more brains in the episodes, and a little less schmoltz.

Felon · May 13, 2006

What time does Dr. Who air in England?

StevenAC · May 13, 2006

Plane Sailing said:
I liked the poignancy of the time differential though, and the fact that at the end the seconds he took to get back were long enough that she died still waiting.

glass said:
He knew that most of her life had gone by in a couple of hours on his, so why didn't it occur to him that if he went back without her again the same thing would continue to happen.

Felon said:
The loose connection was what allowed him to use the portal. I didn't catch him saying that it was supposed to prevent the time dilation effect.

Guys, there was no time dilation effect!

If time was flowing at different rates on either side of the fireplace (especially if six years was supposedly passing in seconds), how could the Doctor have had conversations through it, as happened on two different occasions in the episode?!

I thought it was quite clear what was happening -- the loose connection in the fireplace portal caused it to jump randomly from point to point in Reinette's life whenever anyone entered it from the ship. So, at the beginning, the Doctor talks to Reinette through the fireplace, then operates it and finds himself in her bedroom but several weeks later. At the end, the Doctor repairs it (he thinks), returns to the ship and is able to continue the conversation with Reinette he was having before he used it. But then, when he goes back the final time, the loose connection strikes again...

And that's what makes the ending almost unbearably poignant. The Doctor makes a simple mistake (not realising the portal isn't fully repaired) which has tragic consequences. Once he arrives in 1764 he understands what's happened almost immediately, but there's nothing he can do -- the timeline is now fixed; he can't go back for Reinette because her letter shows that he never did.

Morrus · May 13, 2006

Eh, I enjoyed the episode immensely, but had a problem for it.

How can anyone ever say to the Doctor "You're too late"? He's the Doctor. He has a TARDIS. Surely the reply, then, is "Oh, I'll come back yesterday then".

That really seemed silly to me. A 28-season series about a time-traveller, and someone says to him "You're too late".

Felon · May 13, 2006

Morrus said:
Eh, I enjoyed the episode immensely, but had a problem for it.

How can anyone ever say to the Doctor "You're too late"? He's the Doctor. He has a TARDIS. Surely the reply, then, is "Oh, I'll come back yesterday then".

That really seemed silly to me. A 28-season series about a time-traveller, and someone says to him "You're too late".

They do address this a few times in the new series. Once you appear within a timeline, you're a part of it. Trying to tamper with that is dangerous. Hence the disastrous reprecussions in "Father's Day" when Rose is too late to save her dad from getting hit by a car, and then tries to rectify the mistake.

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

Felon

First Post

Plane Sailing

Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!

glass

(he, him)

sniffles

First Post

JEL

First Post

Felon

First Post

Felon

First Post

StevenAC

Explorer

Morrus

Well, that was fun

Felon

First Post

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