Doctor Who 2007, Episode 3: Gridlock (Spoiler Alert!)

[Felon]

However, I can't complain about the acting. Freema continues to impress me greatly. I liked how she expressed her displeasure at the Doctor's reluctance to open up, or at being nothing more than a "rebound" for him after losing Rose.

I liked seeing her react as a doctor would regarding the honesty patch on the pregnant woman.

 

[delericho]

Wow, I'm surprised that folks didn't enjoy the plot. I thought it really hit the spot, as it had sort of a Harlan Ellison/Roger Zelazny/Fritz Leiberish surreal science fiction premise. All the different little characters with their customized vans was pretty cool.

Also, there's a scene in "The Time Machine" where the time traveller, after dealing with the Eloi and the Morlocks, travels even further into the future and sees the world taken over by crab monsters. That's what I thought of when I saw the beasties... although they've apparently featured before, in an episode from before I was born, so that may not be a reference.

At the end there, I was waiting for Martha to ask why the doctor can't simply use time travel to return to Gallafrey, or just revisit some time lord buddies. Must be that they were erased from all existence. Maybe she'll have time to ask next episode.

I wondered the same back in the first season. The only way this can work is if the Time Lords now can't ever have existed. Which makes the Doctor's existence a paradox, of course.

Well, the premise is such that once you start asking questions--what happens when a car breaks down, what happens when people get seriously ill or die on the road, why is it prohibitively expensive to get three people in your vehicle--it starts leading you to another question. By the time you got the whole picture, you'd probably have stopped caring.

The concept broke for me the moment the girl said she was pregnant, or when they said their journey would take years (whichever came second). It became especially ridiculous when the inter-species couple had children born on the road. At which point I resolved not to worry about it, and just go with the flow.

 

[evildmguy]

Wow, I'm surprised that folks didn't enjoy the plot. I thought it really hit the spot, as it had sort of a Harlan Ellison/Roger Zelazny/Fritz Leiberish surreal science fiction premise. All the different little characters with their customized vans was pretty cool.

At the end there, I was waiting for Martha to ask why the doctor can't simply use time travel to return to Gallafrey, or just revisit some time lord buddies. Must be that they were erased from all existence. Maybe she'll have time to ask next episode.

And those last four words...well, that was disappointing as it was exactly what everyone expected.

It's not that I didn't enjoy it. I think I wanted more or it didn't fill in enough blanks for me. I understand they were giong where they thought it would be better, for themselves or family. But, there were still people in the undercity and I didn't get why it was so bad such that people would be leaving. Probably just me.

I have wondered that about Gallifrey as well. Is it gone? Or does it exist at some point? For the Doctor to exist, assumably it must exist as well, at some point. (Although circular logic just might be making me dizzy.) But, I am assuming that he can't risk going there or it would make the outcome of the Time War worse. And considering they lost, that's a big risk.

Funny. I am able to extrapolate on that but not the individual details on the people in the cars. Maybe I haven't read enough of that type of Science Fiction.

edg

 

[Cthulhudrew]

I have wondered that about Gallifrey as well. Is it gone? Or does it exist at some point? For the Doctor to exist, assumably it must exist as well, at some point. (Although circular logic just might be making me dizzy.) But, I am assuming that he can't risk going there or it would make the outcome of the Time War worse. And considering they lost, that's a big risk.

Without recalling all the details offhand, it seems to me that Gallifrey was sort of located outside of the timestream due to the effects of the Eye of Harmony. In any event, I would assume that whatever catastrophe was brought down that destroyed the Time Lords and Gallifrey were somehow arranged (perhaps by the Doctor, who back in season one claimed responsibility) such that their destruction would not create any paradoxes.

As to the Face of Boe's seemingly contradictory statements, I had the same thought myself. You are the last of your kind, and you are not alone don't seem to go hand in hand. Best bet is that it's a semantics issue, though. Perhaps the Doctor is the last Time Lord, but not the last Gallifreyan? Or (going along with the theories about the Master's return) perhaps he's the last good Time Lord?

I'd hope that the Face of Boe's last words to the Doctor were more than just a cryptic warning about the return of an old foe, but we'll see.

[EDIT- one thing that really struck me with this episode, were the constant references to the Face of Boe and the Doctor as old friends. We know that they've only met three times- hardly enough to qualify as friends- and the Doctor seemed to acknowledge that with his comment about not knowing what the Face is. The dialogue of the Face's, however, seemed to me to imply a much more intimate relationship- could the Face of Boe be the Doctor? Or someone from his past?]

 

[horacethegrey]

[EDIT- one thing that really struck me with this episode, were the constant references to the Face of Boe and the Doctor as old friends. We know that they've only met three times- hardly enough to qualify as friends- and the Doctor seemed to acknowledge that with his comment about not knowing what the Face is. The dialogue of the Face's, however, seemed to me to imply a much more intimate relationship- could the Face of Boe be the Doctor? Or someone from his past?]

Pardon my asking, but is it such a stretch to think that the Doctor has met with the Face of Boe numerous times beyond the tv series scope? The guy's more than 900 years old, and has traveled to many worlds and different points in time. We know he's been friends with Da Vinci, Puccini, Rembrandt, and many others. But have we ever seen any of these historically famous people on the show? No. He merely mentions them in passing as past acquaintances in his long life, a life that, for better of for worse, is never shown in full onscreen. So how is it improbable that he and the Face of Boe were buddies from a time and place long before? There's so much of the Doctor's past life that we know nothing about, but then that's also the beauty of it. New writers can come in and add new material to better enrich the universe and enchance our enjoyment of it.

 

[Volaran]

Pardon my asking, but is it such a stretch to think that the Doctor has met with the Face of Boe numerous times beyond the tv series scope? The guy's more than 900 years old, and has traveled to many worlds and different points in time. We know he's been friends with Da Vinci, Puccini, Rembrandt, and many others. But have we ever seen any of these historically famous people on the show? No. He merely mentions them in passing as past acquaintances in his long life, a life that, for better of for worse, is never shown in full onscreen. So how is it improbable that he and the Face of Boe were buddies from a time and place long before? There's so much of the Doctor's past life that we know nothing about, but then that's also the beauty of it. New writers can come in and add new material to better enrich the universe and enchance our enjoyment of it.

In "New Earth", the Doctor mentions that he'd only met the Face of Boe the one time previously. In addition, in the same episode, the Face tells the Doctor that they will meet "For the third time. For the last time." So in this case, going by the show's internal mentions, yes it is a stretch.

 

[horacethegrey]

Ah. I stand corrected then. And forgive me for not remembering that bit from New Earth, as I've not watched it in quite awhile. Terrible episode that was, but this one more than made up for it.

 

[delericho]

[EDIT- one thing that really struck me with this episode, were the constant references to the Face of Boe and the Doctor as old friends. We know that they've only met three times- hardly enough to qualify as friends- and the Doctor seemed to acknowledge that with his comment about not knowing what the Face is. The dialogue of the Face's, however, seemed to me to imply a much more intimate relationship- could the Face of Boe be the Doctor? Or someone from his past?]

They've always met on good terms (hence, 'friend'), and the Doctor is certainly old, and those meetings have been widely spaced in time. So, 'old friend' isn't particularly inappropriate.

 

[Volaran]

Ah. I stand corrected then. And forgive me for not remembering that bit from New Earth, as I've not watched it in quite awhile. Terrible episode that was, but this one more than made up for it.

No problem. New Earth isn't one of my favourites either, though I do like some scenes.

 

[dravot]

In "New Earth", the Doctor mentions that he'd only met the Face of Boe the one time previously. In addition, in the same episode, the Face tells the Doctor that they will meet "For the third time. For the last time." So in this case, going by the show's internal mentions, yes it is a stretch.

The Doctor met the Face of Boe in Season 1 The End of the World - Boe was one of the invited elite guests to witness the destruction of Earth.