Dr Who Xmas Special 06

[Cthulhudrew]

Not so pleasing was seeing the sonic screwdriver used over and over throughout the episode as a magic wand. It's always been some sort of all-purpose tool, but this episode it just seemed that it was a poor deux ex machina for escaping any tough spot that the doctor might find himself in.

I agree, and I find it incredibly ironic considering that the reason they got rid of the Sonic Screwdriver under the 5th Doctor because it was being used in just such a manner. I'm almost sure that I've seen an interview with RTD who said something to the effect that he wanted to make sure that they didn't fall back into the trap of it being the magic wand that does everything, but they don't seem to be doing a very good job of it if so.

(Though I will say that the bit where he uses the sonic screwdriver to take out the robots by using it with the amplifiers was actually one instance in which I thought it made sense. It is a sonic screwdriver after all- though I doubt there would be any non-blown eardrums in the place.)

 

[Felon]

I hadn't really noticed, but I suppose there are a couple. Rose and Mickey, and the couple in the Xmas special. Plus the Cyberwoman in Torchwood. I'm not sure it's a fascination as a tendency on his part to just be varied.

Well, there's been a couple more than that, though it's been long enough that there's a bit of a strain to recollect (I'm not keeping a scorecard or anything). I do remember that "Attack of the Graske" special feature was about an alien going after a family (white mom, black dad). Of course, if he keeps casting interracial couples, it stops being a display of diversity and just becomes...a peculiar inclination.

 

[Felon]

(Though I will say that the bit where he uses the sonic screwdriver to take out the robots by using it with the amplifiers was actually one instance in which I thought it made sense. It is a sonic screwdriver after all- though I doubt there would be any non-blown eardrums in the place.)

That wasn't so bad at all, but using it to perform an expedient insta-hack of a website was a little dubious, and using it to free Donna from the webbing from a considerable distance was a rather sloppy contrivance. The whole point of the doctor is that he's the most clever guy in the universe and that he comes up with truly brilliant, inspired, sometimes crazy solutions to problems that make the viewer go "oh, why didn't I think of that?" Well, if a guy just has some magic wand that does whatever the Doctor needs it to do at any given moment, you lose that element of inspired brilliance. He becomes less of a Sherlock Holmes and more of a Harry Potter.

 

[nerfherder]

It's also a kick to see him bring out a darker side of the Doctor's especially in the scene SPOILERS where he drowns the Arachnos queen's children (but did he really need to empty the Thames to do that?) SPOILERS.

Well, the Thames is still tidal at that point...

I thought it was ok. To be honest, I wan't that impressed with last year's Xmas special, either. Fortunately, the episodes in the regular series seem to be better, so I'm looking forward to the next one.

 

[Morrus]

That wasn't so bad at all, but using it to perform an expedient insta-hack of a website was a little dubious, and using it to free Donna from the webbing from a considerable distance was a rather sloppy contrivance. The whole point of the doctor is that he's the most clever guy in the universe and that he comes up with truly brilliant, inspired, sometimes crazy solutions to problems that make the viewer go "oh, why didn't I think of that?" Well, if a guy just has some magic wand that does whatever the Doctor needs it to do at any given moment, you lose that element of inspired brilliance. He becomes less of a Sherlock Holmes and more of a Harry Potter.

Usually, it's to "open things" (with a loose interpretation of "opening"). As he said to the Daleks in the season finale, it may not be a threatening weapons "but it is very good at opening things". Thus he opened the door then, he opened the cab window and then unlocked the cab door in the Xmas special. Money from the ATM and loosing the webbing are also along that theme.

 

[sniffles]

Usually, it's to "open things" (with a loose interpretation of "opening"). As he said to the Daleks in the season finale, it may not be a threatening weapons "but it is very good at opening things". Thus he opened the door then, he opened the cab window and then unlocked the cab door in the Xmas special. Money from the ATM and loosing the webbing are also along that theme.

Yeah, I'd have to agree with this. He never uses the sonic screwdriver as a weapon directly, only as a tool to make weapons. They did make fun of it a lot in 'The Empty Child', which I thought was rather clever. And the Doctor misplaces it or leaves it behind often enough that it doesn't become too easy a fallback.

I'll admit the Christmas episodes aren't as good as the regular series episodes, but I still enjoy them and hope they keep up the tradition. I particularly enjoyed the chase in the TARDIS. It was great that modern video technology allows them to do something like that. I liked the way the Doctor jerry-rigged a control system just using some string and elastic bands, and using the kids in the other car as audience surrogates was quite fun. It really made that scene for me.

(Edit) Back to my previous post complaining about the Rachnos Empress's lack of movement - now that I know it was an animatronic and not a digital effect I'm more impressed with it and understand why she couldn't move around as much as I would have liked. It was an amazing costume.

 

[Tonguez]

Well, there's been a couple more than that, though it's been long enough that there's a bit of a strain to recollect (I'm not keeping a scorecard or anything). I do remember that "Attack of the Graske" special feature was about an alien going after a family (white mom, black dad). Of course, if he keeps casting interracial couples, it stops being a display of diversity and just becomes...a peculiar inclination.

Perhaps Russell Davies hasn't noticed.
I was rewatching Aliens in London last night and really the relationship between Micky and Rose was somewhat unremarkable, just another couple.
Really the whole notion of 'portraying interracial relationships is an American hang up that perhaps the rest of us don't take much note of.

 

[Raven Crowking]

You can always watch the cartoon of K9 that they're supposed to be making.

Live action + CGI.

I've seen the first episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures; not sure what age group they intended it for.

RC

 

[Raven Crowking]

SPOILERS


Just as a side note, the idea of a hole being bored into the Earth has been done on Dr Who twice before. In the 3rd Doctor's era, it released a gas that turned people into Primords (admittedly only seen in an alternate universe). In the 2nd Doctor's era, a villian plans to drill a hole to the center of the Earth and then pour a lot of water into it....to crack the surface of the Earth. Which, with the exception of cracking the Earth, is what Doc 10 does in the XMas special.

This special also borrowed a bit too heavily from Image of the Fendahl (4th Doctor) for my taste.

The whole "The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout" bit was cute, but what happens when the sun comes out?

Re: The Black Dalek & time travel without a TARDIS, see the final two episodes of Torchwood (or all of Torchwood itself, actually). Barring a Rift in Time & Space, it is possible that the Dalek Think Tank had something built into their casing similar to the Time Ring employed by the unnamed Time Lord in Genesis of the Daleks.

 

[sniffles]

SPOILERS


Just as a side note, the idea of a hole being bored into the Earth has been done on Dr Who twice before. In the 3rd Doctor's era, it released a gas that turned people into Primords (admittedly only seen in an alternate universe). In the 2nd Doctor's era, a villian plans to drill a hole to the center of the Earth and then pour a lot of water into it....to crack the surface of the Earth. Which, with the exception of cracking the Earth, is what Doc 10 does in the XMas special.

This special also borrowed a bit too heavily from Image of the Fendahl (4th Doctor) for my taste.

The whole "The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout" bit was cute, but what happens when the sun comes out?

Re: The Black Dalek & time travel without a TARDIS, see the final two episodes of Torchwood (or all of Torchwood itself, actually). Barring a Rift in Time & Space, it is possible that the Dalek Think Tank had something built into their casing similar to the Time Ring employed by the unnamed Time Lord in Genesis of the Daleks.

Doctor Who is nothing if not repetitive. How many times did they explain the Loch Ness Monster?