Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

[Cen]

NEVER!!!!


so... since Burly didn't have time yet and there is little discussion going on... any Crazy theories on the finale? Like, what the Dalek is good for or the Pterodactyl, iirc?

It's not a Pterodactyl. It's a Birdosaurus

Bwooock!

[Androgeus]

preview for Saturdays episode is up btw

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not much to it really, just another part of the nursery rhyme and eye patches galore!

[Level8Mudcrab]

Next episode preview.

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There has the be a reason why they are all wearing eyepatches. Perhaps it interferes or affects the Silent's memory alteration in some way, if you can see them but then not see them at the same time. That'd actually make a fair bit of sense, if the people who we can assume are allied with the Silence have some way around their memory alteration.

Well, either that or they all really like pirates.

[Weezer]

Next episode preview.

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There has the be a reason why they are all wearing eyepatches. Perhaps it interferes or affects the Silent's memory alteration in some way, if you can see them but then not see them at the same time. That'd actually make a fair bit of sense, if the people who we can assume are allied with the Silence have some way around their memory alteration.

Well, either that or they all really like pirates.

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My theory is that every patch has a picture of a silent on it so you can always remember them, because you never stop looking at one.

[BRC]

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My theory is that every patch has a picture of a silent on it so you can always remember them, because you never stop looking at one.

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I agree with this theory, though it raises some questions on how the Silence work.

For example, if you see the Silence more than once, do you remember the previous times you saw them? If Not, does the memory wipe happen if you blink or fall asleep?

Depending on how it works, it could be a simple picture of a Silent, versus some kind of high-technobabble device that lets you get around the mind-wipe.
Also, what do you want to bet that the Doctor has run into the Silent before The Impossible Astronaut, he just doesn't remember it.

[KillianHawkeye]

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I agree with this theory, though it raises some questions on how the Silence work.

For example, if you see the Silence more than once, do you remember the previous times you saw them? If Not, does the memory wipe happen if you blink or fall asleep?

Depending on how it works, it could be a simple picture of a Silent, versus some kind of high-technobabble device that lets you get around the mind-wipe.
Also, what do you want to bet that the Doctor has run into the Silent before The Impossible Astronaut, he just doesn't remember it.

When Amy saw the guy in the White House bathroom she remembered seeing him back at the lake, so I don't think it's a traditional memory wipe. More like the memories are suppressed whenever you're not looking at one.

[Eakin]

I was tickled to watch Community last night and see a Doctor Who shoutout

[Hands_Of_Blue]

I was tickled to watch Community last night and see a Doctor Who shoutout

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[chiasaur11]

I was tickled to watch Community last night and see a Doctor Who shoutout

You are not alone.

By which I mean, the internet is memeing the crud out of it.

[Eakin]

You are not alone.

By which I mean, the internet is memeing the crud out of it.

I didn't realize Community had a major online following.

I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised though.

[Weezer]

I didn't realize Community had a major online following.

I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised though.

It's a show based around meta-humor and show references. It's essentially clean(ish) internet humor with a script. Of course it has a major online following.

[BRC]

It's a show based around meta-humor and show references. It's essentially clean(ish) internet humor with a script. Of course it has a major online following.

I wouldn't say it's based around Meta-Humor, but meta humor has certainly become a big part of it (Exhibit A: "Well tell your dissapointment to suck it. We're doing a bottle episode"). I think, mainly it's just a very well written show whose cast of adult characters in a college setting happens to appeal to large numbers of internet dwellers, who themselves happen to be adults who have not quite moved on to traditional adulthood, rather than just piling on Nerd Bait.
Plus Abed is basically the human incarnation of TVtropes, and there is plenty of Nerd Bait (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, A Fistful of Paintballs, a Few Paintballs more, ect)

[Thufir]

OK, just got the Radio Times. On the front cover, there's a picture of River, the Doctor, Amy and Rory, all with eyepatches. So, there's definitely something of significance about them.
There's also an article in which Steven Moffat, Karen Gillan and Matt Smith say who their 'hidden heroes' of Who are, and then there's a little interview with each one: Moffat's is Rory. Karen's is her stunt double, and Matt's is the props guy (Who mentions in his interview that on one occasion he had to improvise a substitute sonic screwdriver in 30 minutes from a vacuum cleaner - but he refused to say which episode this was in, for fear we should watch too closely).

Finally, the review makes everything sound very interesting. No plot spoilers, so I'll just quote the start of it here. Though I will spoiler it for the benefit of anyone who wants to be surprised by every little odd detail of the opening strangeness.

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Does Steven Moffat gorge on gorgonzola and gulp down a bottle of mescal (together with its worm) before sitting down at his computer keyboard? You might be forgiven for suspecting as much, as his most oddball drama yet unspools like a delirious dream.
Cars hover over London on hot-air balloons, a steam train chuffs Magritte-like out of the Gherkin building, pterodactyls attack school kids in a park and Dickens (Simon Callow) is interviewed on BBC1's Breakfast. All of which happens within the first few minutes. "Something's happened to time," observes Winston Churchill, here a Roman emperor. It's as if all of history is happening at once.

So, yeah. Interested to see that.
Alternative theory on what the Question could possibly be:

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What is the Doctor's name?

Don't really expect to be right, but I feel it's best to say these things in advance just in case they do turn out to be right.

[Androgeus]

Alternative theory on what the Question could possibly be:

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What is the Doctor's name?

So you are saying that the question is

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Doctor Who?

God I hope not, that'd be a crime against whomanity.

[BRC]

So you are saying that the question is

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Doctor Who?

God I hope not, that'd be a crime against whomanity.

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People have been asking what the Doctor's name is since time immemorial.
Well, they have asked the doctor "What is your name" and he has replied "The Doctor", which amounts to basically the same thing.

I have compiled a list of potential questions.

1: Why are Bowties Cool?
2: Exactly HOW big is the TARDIS?
3: How many times will the Daleks be "Totally destroyed forever"?
4: How is turning to stone when people look at you the ultimate defense in a world with sledgehammers?
5: What does River Song have against Hats?
6: At what point will Stormageddon arise to claim his rightful throne?
7: How come nobody remembers the countless times Aliens have publicly invaded earth?
8: Why are Aliens almost exclusively attacking London or Cardiff?
9: Not where, but when.
10: How much BS can the writers hide behind the phrase "Perception Filter"
11: #10, but for "Sonic"
12: #10, but for any other sort of "Advanced Alien Technology"
13: Have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again?
14: Where did I put my keys?
15: Considering that he seems to remember it, why dosn't Rory ever bring up anything that happened during the 2000 years he spent guarding the Pandorica?
16: Who are you and how did you get this number? (That's what Stephen Moffat said when I asked him"
17:
18: Seriously, where are my keys?
19: So wait, CAN you change history? Because sometimes you can, Sometimes you can but it just self-corrects, sometimes you can but it just makes a badass alternate future you cease to exist, sometimes you can but it means a machine won't work because it was only meant to interact with the brainwaves of an alternate version of you, and sometimes it causes gargoyle things to start eating everybody.
20: Did Stephen Moffat get all his scripts from a future version of himself who will one day discover time travel and go back in time to give those very same scripts to a younger Stephen Moffat?
21: When are they going to stop trying to make "Geronimo" Smith's catchphrase, it didn't work the first time they used it, and it hasn't worked since.
22: What exactly is he a doctor OF?
23: How many roads must a man walk down (Answer, 42).
24: How is this a kid's show?
25: Why has he never taken his companions to see Dinosaurs? Because seriously, that's the first thing I would ask to see.
26: Was that dramatic chase scene with them being hunted down by the US government/the shot of the Doctor in chains REALLY worth just skipping two months?
27: Why does the Doctor gain a new power (Psychic Headbut, The Shoosh) every time Craig shows up?
28: Seriously, where are my-oh, nevermind. They were in my pocket.
29: So if he spent a few hundred years as #11, and yet looks exactly as he did a few hundred years ago, how did the Doctor's First regeneration get old? Since Time Lords apparently don't age.
30: Are you my mummy?



Also, random theory, "Silence will Fall" refers to the defeat (The Fall) of the Silence. Not to Silence (as in the absence of sound) falling.

[Androgeus]

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22: What exactly is he a doctor OF?

Everything!

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The question being "doctor who?" isn't that bad, I've just been wanting to say whomanity for the past few days. (I love terrible puns and word play, you could say I'm a pundit... ok I'll stop with the punishment now)

also your last question actually made me think of a theory, if the question and answer are ever known by one being, it will instantly be replaced by something even more bizarre. I don't know how silence falling gets linked in, but I'm sure it could be.

[BRC]

Everything!

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The question being "doctor who?" isn't that bad, I've just been wanting to say whomanity for the past few days. (I love terrible puns and word play, you could say I'm a pundit... ok I'll stop with the punishment now)

also your last question actually made me think of a theory, if the question and answer are ever known by one being, it will instantly be replaced by something even more bizarre. I don't know how silence falling gets linked in, but I'm sure it could be.

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Which last question? I edited that post a few times.

Also I edited in a theory about "Silence will Fall", I'll say it here again though. "Silence will Fall" refers to the Fall (Defeat) of the Silence (The organization), not Silence (The absence of sounds) Falling.

[Androgeus]

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no. 23.

It is going to be massively disproved on Saturday, but that's part of the fun. Oh an Madame Kovarian is totally The Rani/The Master/The schoolVALEyard/Rassilon/Omega/Susan/Curly's Mum/Moffat/All of the Above

[Thufir]

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Oh an Madame Kovarian is totally The Rani/The Master/The schoolVALEyard/Rassilon/Omega/Susan/Curly's Mum/Moffat/All of the Above

I LOL'd. And then became scared.

[Sunken Valley]

I just had a thought about the Pirate Episode. Everyone says that "the universe is leaking" was bad writing and it would have been easier for the ship to be underwater. This would work in every shape or form better than what they did so I wondered why they did it. Then I read this spoiler about ep 13 which will:

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Be set in a paralell universe as evidenced by a Hyde Park sign saying "Please Don't feed the Petrodactyls" and a line about how "Holy Roman Emperor Winston Churchill returned to the Buckingham Senate on his Personal Mammoth" a line that is wrong in so many ways.

Maybe this weird writing angle is actually the biggest forshadowing in season 6 thus far.

Why do I quote this? Was a theory I found. And it came true. My 4th post came true!

re: the eyepatches

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probably silent blockers. I'm betting someone at advertising thought "the fez worked last year how about we make the Doctor's finale fashion accessory on all the adverts. We need a finale fashion accessory. Moffat, make us a finale fashion accessory!"

Moffat: No! I don't wanna!

Marketing: More money!

Moffat: Okay, I'll do it!

Moffat probably isn't persuaded by money. At least not any more than most big TV writers.

[huttj509]

The question?

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Do you take this woman to be your wife?

Doctor then speechless, and River goes postal and destroys reality.

[Androgeus]

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How about "Is this the question that will make silence fall?", it fits in with the rest of Moffat's paradox love

[Eakin]

Doctor Who always seems to be better at building up to something than the payoff. Although I appreciate the improvements in this series compared to the last one (What? We didn't reference any ongoing plot in this episode? Quick! Add a "mysterious crack" to the last scene and make sure the camera lingers on it!) I have learned to appreciate the buildup for it's own sake and don't really expect Saturday's episode to live up to the rest of the season or fix the mess it's gotten itself into without a major ass pull.

[Dr. Simon]

And again...

Continuing my plan to post what I think to be the highlights of every season of Doctor Who, old and new.

For each series I'll try to choose 2, maybe 3 of what I consider to be the best stories, which may comprise any number of actual episodes (somewhere between 1-14, typically 4 or 6). Older Who is nearly always episodic, with NuWho most episodes are self-contained. Feel free to expand on my brief comments, agree, disagree etc. This is, after all, purely subjective.

Previous Posts:
Season One
Season Two
Season Three
Season Four
Season Five
And now...

Season Six (1968-1969)
Second Doctor/Jamie/Zoe

To paraphrase Tristan Shandy, we are now getting to the moment of my birth. From hereon, all episodes were shown within my lifetime even if I was too young to be aware of them until the Tom Baker years. And what does the last season for Patrick Troughton give us?

The Invasion – cybermen again, and again the excellent Kevin Stoney giving a role similar to Mavic Chen (see The Daleks Master Plan, Season Two) of a man playing his own dangerous game. This was probably also the last time that the cybermen felt like a real threat – after this their schemes become so ludicrously convoluted that they become a bit of a joke.

The War Games – one of the longest individual stories (at 10 episodes), but a good one that builds and builds. Also, another of the few Troughton stories to exist in its entirety. The earlier episodes are an atmospheric evocation of WWI, and give a hint of something creepy going on. When we find out what that is, it raises new mysteries, culminating in some massive revelations from the Doctor concerning the Time Lords (seen for the first time). Watch, also, for the psychic distress signal that we’ve seen recently in The Doctor’s Wife.

Honourable Mentions
The Mind Robber – I’m not really a fan of stories where a super-powerful being messes with reality (e.g. Celestial Toymaker) , but this one isn’t bad, suitably surreal without becoming too cute about it. Bernard Horsfell, who crops up in a range of different roles in later stories, is good as Gulliver, speaking only in lines from Gulliver’s Travels.

The Space Pirates – not a bad foray into space opera, with some scene stealing from Gordon Gostelow’s Milo Clancey. Shame that the Space Corps people are so limp. Must be the awful uniforms.

[Sunken Valley]

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Originally Posted by Patrick Mulkern
Does Steven Moffat gorge on gorgonzola and gulp down a bottle of mescal (together with its worm) before sitting down at his computer keyboard? You might be forgiven for suspecting as much, as his most oddball drama yet unspools like a delirious dream.
Cars hover over London on hot-air balloons, a steam train chuffs Magritte-like out of the Gherkin building, pterodactyls attack school kids in a park and Dickens (Simon Callow) is interviewed on BBC1's Breakfast. All of which happens within the first few minutes. "Something's happened to time," observes Winston Churchill, here a Roman emperor. It's as if all of history is happening at once.

Hey, hey got some more info on that scene.

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It's the opening scene. And the Doctor's in it as an old soothsayer for Churchill.

My reaction to this news:. Moffat is up to his old tricks again. Not explaining. You've probably all put me on your ignore lists but by tomorrow I think you'll all be agreeing with me, whatever score I give it (which will be low). If not, half of you will agree with me (I can name that half but I won't).

In lighter news, Doctor Who is immediately followed by Merlin. Who here watches Merlin? Because that's good too.

[CurlyKitGirl]

This episode is the greatest thing of all time.
It is perfection.
SCREW PLOT. I want a light fluffy rom-com with the Dorktor, Smithy and Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All romping through space as they crush galaxies underfoot in the name of Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All so that all may know his greatness and power.

This episode is glory in all ways.

And he works in a shop!

[Thufir]

This episode is the greatest thing of all time.
It is perfection.
SCREW PLOT. I want a light fluffy rom-com with the Dorktor, Smithy and Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All romping through space as they crush galaxies underfoot in the name of Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All so that all may know his greatness and power.

This episode is glory in all ways.

And he works in a shop!

A friend of mine has put Stormageddon as her middle name on facebook as a result of that episode. I am quite pleased by this.

Look forward to the review. Are you feeling better or still just soldiering on through the illness? *Hugs either way*

[Androgeus]

A friend of mine has put Stormageddon as her middle name on facebook as a result of that episode. I am quite pleased by this.

I though it was funny between End of Time pt.1 & 2

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Loads of people chaining their profile picture to John Simms

[Kato]

Of course Stormageddon is the great lord of cosmos! (And I'm saying that as someone who's not a big fan of babies) Though, a show with only the three of them... dunno, I'd miss something I think.

Anyways, I hope you'll be better soon (if you are not yet). We'd love a review (well, I'm sure some of us do) but if you're not feeling well your health is more important of course. Hope you can enjoy the finale tomorrow either way, Curly.

[The Extinguisher]

Honestly, I would love it if Craig was a companion, but his whole character is based on the fact that he never would be.