Dr Who -- kinda lame this season

[TheLe]

Well, I just saw the episode, "42". It was kind of blah. Yes, it felt very much like the OOD episode last season.

But my main problem is that it really moved too fast. For the record, I don't like 2-parters -- I like a single contained episode. However, "42" felt extremely rushed. They could have definitely broken it up into two episodes and made us care a little bit more about the characters.

~Le

 

[Fast Learner]

The second half -- and mostly the end of the second half -- is what pulls Human Nature/Blood Ties together so well.

Oh, and if y'all don't end up liking Blink, then all is lost for you.

 

[sniffles]

Well, I just saw the episode, "42". It was kind of blah. Yes, it felt very much like the OOD episode last season.

But my main problem is that it really moved too fast. For the record, I don't like 2-parters -- I like a single contained episode. However, "42" felt extremely rushed. They could have definitely broken it up into two episodes and made us care a little bit more about the characters.

~Le

42 minutes is the length of a standard episode of Doctor Who. So they were making a point that they can tell an entire story in 42 minutes. It was rushed because it was supposed to be.

That said, I think it wasn't the strongest episode this season. [sblock] But I really liked the scene where Martha had to put the Doctor in the medical device to try to remove the solar entity that had possessed him and the Doctor told her, "I'm scared. I'm really scared." It isn't often we see him so vulnerable. [/sblock]

This season was spectacularly good, IMHO.

 

[TheLe]

42 minutes is the length of a standard episode of Doctor Who. So they were making a point that they can tell an entire story in 42 minutes. It was rushed because it was supposed to be.

That said, I think it wasn't the strongest episode this season. [sblock] But I really liked the scene where Martha had to put the Doctor in the medical device to try to remove the solar entity that had possessed him and the Doctor told her, "I'm scared. I'm really scared." It isn't often we see him so vulnerable. [/sblock]

This season was spectacularly good, IMHO.

I just read your spoiler and I have to disagree. The doctor's comment feels very out-of-character and not believable at all.

`Le

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

I've been pretty blase about this season, too. I haven't been keeping track of the writing credits, but I'm surprised to hear that people think Davies isn't quite up to snuff anymore. The episodes he did in season 1 were by far my favorite.

Possibly he's getting burnt out. I do think the show would definately benefit from a greater pool of writers. For something like this, a sci-fi show with only loosly connected plots, it's almost better to treat it more as an anthology than an ongoing series. What I mean is shows like the original Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. They had a large pool of skilled writers and weren't afraid to let them go to strange places.

Another problem I have is the change in the Doctor's personality. I like Tennant, but Eccleston had a really intense, energetic performance that couldn't help but draw you into the show. Tennant's Doctor is more laid back and philosophical. I understand the need to change personas along with the regeneration, but Tennant just doesn't engage me like Eccleston did.

 

[horacethegrey]

I just read your spoiler and I have to disagree. The doctor's comment feels very out-of-character and not believable at all.

How is it out of character? There have been many instances where the Doctor in his various incarnations has shown fear and vulnerability. Off the top of my head here are some I can remember:

First Doctor - meeting the Daleks for the first time in The Daleks.
Second Doctor - having a Cyberman nearly drag him down to their lair in The Tomb of the Cybermen.
Third Doctor - being tortured by the Keller Machine in The Mind of Evil.
Fourth Doctor - coming face to face with Sutekh in The Pyramids of Mars.
Fifth Doctor - nearly being torn apart by the android servants of Shares Jek in The Caves of Androzani.
Ninth Doctor - meeting the lone Dalek firsthand in Dalek.

Despite his alien nature, the Doctor in many respects is just as human as you or I am. He may be brave and have a strong will, but he can be afraid at times of the things he faces. Bu that's just one of the reasons he's such a great character.

 

[Fast Learner]

Whereas Tennant engages me significantly more than Eccleston did. The latter was just too serious, too... well, too much like the older Doctors.

 

[Erik Mona]

For my money, "Utopia" is as good as Doctor Who gets, period. That episode had me pumping my fist and shouting like those two girls in the "whogasm" video.

I'm sure the "surprise" has been well and fully spoiled here and elsewhere, but holy crap. That was a great episode.

And I didn't mind the last episode, either. I suppose people didn't care for the lame bit of CGI or the deus ex machina ending, but those of us who have watched the show our whole lives understand that the franchise has had a lot of extremely lame moments, and that it can survive them very, very easily.

I think I like Season 3 less than the first two (I'd probably go 2, 1, 3), but that's probably because the show suffers a bit from the absence of Rose Tyler, who turned out to be hugely important.

Torchwood is worth watching, but again, prepare to be at least a little disappointed in each episode. The last couple episodes were great, though, and that Bellis Manger character is welcome to show up in the mainline Doctor Who continuity any time he wishes.

But hey, take my point of view with a grain of salt, because I also really enjoyed the Sarah Jane Adventures show!

--Erik Mona

 

[Ed_Laprade]

Just watched the latest. Not sure how they can drag it out for another hour and make it interesting. And won't find out for two weeks!

Well, its two weeks later and I'm disappointed. Not because they didn't find an entertaining way to drag it out, but because of the PCness of it. Headmaster, a former soldier, has just seen his second-in-command at the school killed. Goes back in and barricades the place. Good. Mr. Smith goes and looks out a window at the two of the Family of Blood who are there. Fine. But the headmaster must have known he could have seen them from there as well. Why didn't he grab a rifle, and the best student marksman with one, and go blow their brains out? Because that was what he should have done. Then there was the little girl who disintegrates the Headmaster. Ok, I'll accept that the students were too stunned at that to blast her into little tiny pieces then and there... but not after she taunts them! She was dead as soon as she opened her mouth. (There would have been at least one or two, if not half of them, who would have been sufficiently enraged to shoot her. Especially as she shot the Headmaster after he tried to 'save' her.) But nooooo, that wouldn't have been PC.

And I didn't much care for the fact that the Doctor was perfectly willing to let dozens of Humans get killed just so he wouldn't have to get his hands dirty, and then did anyway. (Without actually killing anyone, of course.) Oh yeah, and lets make one a scarecrow. Like the outfit is never going to rot away or be moved!

 

[Chimera]

Then there was the little girl who disintegrates the Headmaster. Ok, I'll accept that the students were too stunned at that to blast her into little tiny pieces then and there... but not after she taunts them! She was dead as soon as she opened her mouth. (There would have been at least one or two, if not half of them, who would have been sufficiently enraged to shoot her. Especially as she shot the Headmaster after he tried to 'save' her.) But nooooo, that wouldn't have been PC.

I had the same initial thought on watching the show, but I have two answers to this;

1> Dr. Who is a "family" show. Killing a little girl, even if she is evil, isn't going to fly. Only constructs get shot by the good guys. Only the bad guys kill real people, including aliens.
2> You have to remember the time as well. That was the Age of Chivalry, and there's pretty much no chance they're going to machine gun a little girl in upper class Britain of the early 1900's.