Rate Doctor Who Episode 12- "Bad Wolf"

[Gomez]

Here is a little bit of Dalek history.

By the time of Revelation of the Daleks (1985), Davros was in hiding at the Tranquil Repose funeral facility on the planet Necros, experimenting with physically transforming humans into Daleks. He was also placing those Daleks loyal to him into white and gold casings to distinguish them from the usual black and grey Daleks, but his plans were undone when a worker at the facility contacted the original Daleks. These Daleks arrived on Necros, exterminated the white and gold Daleks and captured Davros, who was returned to Skaro to face trial.

Davros made his last televised appearance in the serial Remembrance of the Daleks (1988). Apparently, events had taken place off-screen, as he appeared in the guise of the Dalek Emperor, leading his gold and white Imperial Daleks. Davros had at this point modified the Imperial Daleks, adding cybernetic enhancements to their organic components. A new model "Special Weapons Dalek" was introduced with an enormously powerful cannon and armour capable of deflecting regular Dalek weaponry. Also for the first time, a Dalek was clearly seen on screen to hover up a flight of stairs.

Pitted against the Imperial Daleks were the Renegade Daleks, led by a black Supreme Dalek. The name "renegade" suggests that the tables had turned and Davros' side had the upper hand. Both Dalek factions became aware that the Hand of Omega, a Gallifreyan stellar engineering device, was hidden on Earth in the year 1963. Both factions sent expeditions to Earth, battling each other to retrieve it, hoping to use the Hand to create a power source that would refine their crude time travel technology.

Ultimately, the Imperial Daleks succeeded, not knowing that the Doctor had inserted a booby trap into the Hand's programming. When Davros activated it, Skaro's sun went supernova, and both the Dalek homeworld and the Imperial Dalek fleet were destroyed. Davros, however, apparently escaped his flagship's destruction in an escape pod. The Renegade Dalek Supreme itself self-destructed when the Doctor informed it that it was the last surviving Dalek.

[sblock]From this Davros is Emperor Dalek

Now this does not include anything about the Time War. But Davros did experiment in transforming humans into Daleks. And in the Bad Wolf episode people are being transmated to the Dalek fleet on a regular bases. So is Davros using these people to create "new" Daleks.
My money is on Davros being the BBEG.[/sblock]

 

[WizarDru]

ahhhh....it all comes back, now. That's great stuff. It's been something like 12 years since I've seen that episode, so I'd forgotten how it played out.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

[sblock]From this Davros is Emperor Dalek

Now this does not include anything about the Time War. But Davros did experiment in transforming humans into Daleks. And in the Bad Wolf episode people are being transmated to the Dalek fleet on a regular bases. So is Davros using these people to create "new" Daleks.
My money is on Davros being the BBEG.[/sblock]

Just flipped through the latest issue of Doctor Who magazine, and based on one of the comments made by Russell T. Davies, I think you're right.

[sblock]He said something to the effect that the Master is not the BBEG in Bad Wolf.

He also noted that this season finale will be a bloodbath, and not everyone will survive. [/sblock]

On another- related- note, the Cybermen are slated for a return as villains for the 10th Doctor. Woohoo!

 

[MonsterMash]

In the Guardian newspaper (and possibly more of the British press) there is a spoiler for the last episode of the Dr Who season. The good news is a third series has been commissioned.



I've deliberately not read the story so I can't give any more info than the link here

 

[Hawklord]

The press are also saying Billie Piper will be back for all of season 2.

But like Monster Mash I'm trying to avoid the spoilers !

 

[TanisFrey]

Argh, CBC is replaying "Rose" this week and pushing back Bad Wolf a week, then it's End of the world before we get the Parting of the ways

 

[glass]

At one point, when talking to Lynda-with-a-Y, the doctor points out that he's a lawbreaker, and jokes that he doesn't pay his licence, which they both laugh about. He's referring to the UK's TV Licence program. AAFAIK, in the UK, the BBC is a state-owned and operated television service and has been since it's inception. To fund the BBC, people need to purchase a licence (not unlike a driver's licence) for the right to watch TV. A colour TV Licence costs £126.50 and a black and white licence costs £42.00, and has to be renewed annually. As you might expect, many people try to skirt around paying the licence (many folks question whether the Beeb should be funded that way in the first place, especially if they don't watch the BBC). Not paying the licence, from what I can tell, is considered by many to be the equivalent of speeding or playing games with your tax return.

That's pretty much it. I don't think the BBC is exactly state owned. It's nominally an independant entity. OTOH it does have a royal charter, so the difference is probably just a technicality.

A couple of other points: the BBC operates (a lot of) radio stations as well a TV chanels. It also has quite a large web presence. Also, the TV licence fee is per household as long as you have at least one TV, not per TV.

AFAIK, most people pay their TV licenses. Lots of people moan about it a lot, but I've never quite understood why. IMO, to get the whole of the BBC for less than a pound a day is a great deal -especially all that TV with no adverts.


glass.

 

[Viking Bastard]

Iceland too has a licence system, although because of people's moaning they're
disbanding it for a tax-per-person system.

People are generally very happy about this, even though it means that the tax has
now become mandatory instead of optional (that is, to not own a TV).

People are idiots.

 

[glass]

While I could have done without the references to present-day television programmes - I find it hard to believe that in the far future anyone will know or care about 'The Weakest Link' - I still enjoyed the programme overall.

I just had a thought about that. It occurs to me that the Daleks are not really suited to coming up with original programming ideas (or inclined to bother), and that they have been out there monitoring for a while -maybe they are there now.

They would have picked stuff from history that was long enough ago that the populace wouldn't realise was being recycled and that suited there purposes. We saw three programmes from our era, but that might only have been 3 out of 500. OTOH it might be that TV as made in the early 21st century was the best fit or their plans. Either way, it makes as much sense as anything in Dr Who.


glass.