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

[Sunken Valley]

That could just be a figure of speech. I consider when I was 16 years old to be "when I was just a kid" even though I was more or less fully grown.

That's not the point. The point is that after 120 years of life, he was still at an age where he was considered by himself as a kid. River hasn't had 120 years. She spent 40 years presumably in the "mel" form (I'll start turning off the spoilers it's been 17 hours) in which for the last ten she suddenly started aging at a normal rate by earth standards. River is a unique lifeform, so maybe we don't know her biology. But that is not natural by any standards.

[Androgeus]

That's not the point. The point is that after 120 years of life, he was still at an age where he was considered by himself as a kid. River hasn't had 120 years. She spent 40 years presumably in the "mel" form (I'll start turning off the spoilers it's been 17 hours) in which for the last ten she suddenly started aging at a normal rate by earth standards. River is a unique lifeform, so maybe we don't know her biology. But that is not natural by any standards.

Or she could have regenerated more than once?

[Weezer]

That's not the point. The point is that after 120 years of life, he was still at an age where he was considered by himself as a kid. River hasn't had 120 years. She spent 40 years presumably in the "mel" form (I'll start turning off the spoilers it's been 17 hours) in which for the last ten she suddenly started aging at a normal rate by earth standards. River is a unique lifeform, so maybe we don't know her biology. But that is not natural by any standards.

The thing is it's a common thing in fiction for long lived beings to still be considered ''children'' for quite a while after physical maturation, so it's not all that weird to think that she's still a ''kid'' in Time Lord terms, despite being full grown she certainly acted like a crazy teen for most of the episode.

Also we have no idea how old she actually is, because the time taken in her personal timeline between Good Man and Moon is unknown as well as what actually happened between her NY regeneration and her finding Amy/Rory.

You seem to be taking a lot of offence about weird continuty things in a show that has always prided itself at having no real continuty.

EDIT: Also, don't forget that of course there are gaps in our knowledge, we're missing key parts of the story. I'm pretty sure we know the beginning and the end, but we've only seen disjointed bits of the middle. It stands to reason it'll be a bit confusing.

[Helanna]

Regarding your comments about the time lords being a race of sues, they totally are. But they don't make a fuss about it. Any character can be a sue it's all about the execution. River gets all the best entrances and exits, she's so super invincible that she can gun down an army of silent, she has a mixed up back story as the child of two of the best companions known to man (poll wise Amy came 5 on a list of greatest Dr Who companions and Rory is meme tastic) and even as a baddy she's the greatest war criminal in the universe, whereas Hitler is only a level 3 war criminal. She can also poison the Doctor with a super poison that will kill him for real with not antidote. Except her. River is a sue. But a cooler one then Rose. I just hope she stays a guest star.

I still don't think River counts as a Sue. A Sue tends to warp the entire narrative around themselves, where everyone just loves them and anyone who doesn't like them is evil and there's absolutely nothing they can't do. Obviously not everyone loves River - she's in prison, after all - we still don't know exactly why she's considered such a war criminal, and, as others have pointed out, the story isn't about her. It's like Captain Carrot - he has all the signs of being a major Sue, way more than River, but he's not a Sue because he's a supporting character. And I don't think River has done anything unprecedented in this episode.

Besides, all the best entrances/lines have been going to Rory lately, not River. Although she was pretty awesome in this episode.

[Foeofthelance]

One. To my extreme horror. As you can tell. I like though that he simply calls her guilt. But now I want to know why Donna is "MORE GUILT". Stupid retroactive future spoilers.

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I don't think its a spoiler, I think its a recognition of fact. Of all the companions in Nu Who, Donna came off the worst. One of the big themes through the past couple of seasons is that people don't just go adventuring with the Doctor and have a grand old time. Instead they go on incredibly dangerous adventures that makes them willing to embrace danger and take insane risks all because He says it might work out. And when all is said and done, he has to leave them behind after showing them so much and taking them so far. He sees this as a bad thing, no matter what they feel about it.

When Rose left, she got trapped in another dimension - one where both her parents were alive, where she had a Doctor she could keep as her own, and even with a baby TARDIS to go adventuring in.

When Martha left, she did it for her own reasons. She realized she was just a temporary fling for the Doctor, and while she was slightly heartbroken about not being more she nevertheless went on to a life of action and adventure, working for UNIT and Torchwood and marrying Mickey. She's now such an important player that she has one of the Doomsday keys to the entire planet in her care.

Donna... Donna was forced out of his life by circumstances and the manipulation of his enemies. She now spends her life trapped in suburban hell with her shrew mother and her husband. Her Grandfather is the only one who knows where she's been and what she's done and that its all been ripped away from her to protect her. They can't even go star gazing together any more because if she sees anything out of the ordinary and has to confront it it could trigger the dead man switch in her brain and kill her with agonizing pain. And the chances of that are pretty damned high - remember, this is the time when London gets evacuated every Christmas because they know to expect the Doctor to be having one of his world ending spectaculars.

So not only has she lost everything that made her great, all the experiences that made her more than just a temp, but the person who loves her most can't help but look at her with pity and can no longer experience the hobby that brought them so close together, but she's pretty much living on borrowed time. That's why he feels the guiltiest about Donna.

[Reverent-One]

*snip*

Uh, I think Curly hasn't reached that point yet in Donna's season of NuWho, hence why it's a retroactive spoiler for her. On the note of that line in "Let's Kill Hitler", I'm not sure the Doctor said "MORE Guilt" because he has more guilt over her, but that the Tardis is still showing people he feels guilty about, which he's trying to get it not to do.

[Foeofthelance]

Uh, I think Curly hasn't reached that point yet in Donna's season of NuWho, hence why it's a retroactive spoiler for her. On the note of that line in "Let's Kill Hitler", I'm not sure the Doctor said "MORE Guilt" because he has more guilt over her, but that the Tardis is still showing people he feels guilty about, which he's trying to get it not to do.

Ah. OOops. My bad. I have gone back and spoilered so she doesn't have to read it if she doesn't want to.

[Jahkaivah]

Just saw the new episode.

Suffice to say that "Rory is awesome" gif needs a new addition.

[Kato]

OK, this is one of those subjective things I was trying to avoid, but I don't find it confusing at all, and I don't think I'm the only one.

Wait, you are NOT confused? Obviously, Moffat is dong something wrong Well, I am confused on a regular basis AND I LIKE IT.

Also, damn you Kitty for posting two review that will eat two hours of my life when I have the time to read them...

Anyway, I'll still use spoilers for yesterday.

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Early on I was, really, really REALLY scared. Even though I expected River to get out of the car when this Mel showed up and started doing her stuff I got really annoyed and I honestly expected they'd put her in as another new annoying companion. I was hoping for her to die there and then! I'm... not sure when I got it. Maybe a split second or a few seconds before she started regenerating and then I could forgive it all in an instant. Alex' scene afterwards was epic. (As was the Hitler scene before. Rory is so great)

What else... lot's of great stuff... Rory was great, all the time. Amy was nice too, though, endangering all the minis to save... what to call her?! River? Alex? Melody? RAM?! Well, it was... borderline right. As was what the Minis do, I guess. Better not discuss that here what with politics forbidden and such...

Yeah... reveals on the past... MORE GUILT! Ouch, Doctor. But 'CUSTARD!' was nice.
Reveals on the future... Lake Silencio? Is that new input? .... Well, I went and checked, there's no such lake ^^* But still... also, so the Silence is not just the Silents... I'd like to shove it down the throat of anyone who insisted 'Silence' was like 'humanity' for silents in the last months but... meh. (Not those who considered, those who insisted.)
And finally... the question in plain sight that will end the universe? Er... the answer is not 42, is it? (Okay, it was too lame, sorry)

I liked the episode overall, and I'm still rather hyped RAM being so easily convinced to turn good was... meh. And as I said, Amy was a bit off in that moment but not too bad. Though I liked the Amy/Rory flashbacks. I guess she was kind of stupid but it was still cute-ish.
Sure I forgot half the stuff... maybe over the course of the discussion things will come back..

[Kato]

Screw it, here I go, Curly's review read...

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Mel is hot.

That's the one thing Mel had going for her.

She's crazy. And Mel called Rory "Mr. Perfect". EEEeeeee. Mel ships Amy/Rory. And Rory's so cutely in love with -

Makes sense in hindsight, doesn't it?

Amy thought Rory was gay. Why? "In the whole time I've known you when have you ever shown the slightest interest in a girl. In ten years [...] name one girl when you've ever paid the slightest attention to." Rory runs. Amy gets it. Finally.
OH MY GOD SO CUTE.

Yeah, that was cute. Not to say adorable. Though... well.. it has earlier been established Rory's not that hot (on the outside) He's cute but Amy knew hotter guys. But adorable anyway.

They're tiny humans inside the Terminator. That zoom out from the eye was amazing.

That was a nice thing. Also with the effect. But I got it a bit earlier than the obvious reveal. I'm proud of myself.

River: "Who's River Song?"
D: "Spoilers."
River "Spoilers?"
They giving everything to her.

Why was I about to write [/spoilers]? Yeah, that was anice eychange and an amazing introduction for River... Melody.. whatever.

This is like the thing in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.

If it was possible you'd have just gained several levels of admiration in my eyes for that reference but... well, you're pretty high up as admiration goes already.

A second Amy robot just rolled up out of nowhere.

Two Amys... never can go wrong with that.

Amy/Rory/TARDIS OT3 is canon. OH. MY. GOD.

To the typewriters! We need fanfics of their wedding night!

I also quite like the fact that Hitler's barely in it for five minutes and the entire title was a red herring. Really not even existing for anything at all but a joke. And it was cool.

Dunno... it's not a big complaint but I'd have liked more Hitler. (Wow, that sounds SO wrong when said by a German. You know what I mean, I hope.

River became River, but you can see River as she evolves so rapidly over the episode. And she was sexy-fine-hot with guns. All those little callbacks (to us) are foreshadowing things for her.

Again. Slight complaint. It happened a bit fast considering she was brainwashed for the sole extent to kill the Doctor yet she got convinced a bit easily. But if we take into account Rory and Amy telling her about the Doctor earlier I guess it's not that bad. And the portrayal though fast was well done, out of any question.

Heh. They left Hitler locked in the cupboard.

Yeah, as people pointed out... missed obvious joke there

[Eldan]

Yeah, as people pointed out... missed obvious joke there

You mean Hitler coming out of the closet?

(Okay, okay, I'll leave)

[Thufir]

'The Sontaran Stratagem' Part 1/2 (Season Four, Episode Four)

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Before I even load the video, wow writers. Way to spoil the surprise. The preview didn't have the Sontarans named as such, some Whovians would know who the Sontarans are, many members of the audience wouldn't know.
Sure, it's not much of a spoiler; not as much as calling an episode where the Big Reveal is that the Daleks have masterminded the entire thing 'DALEKS IN MANHATTAN', but come on.

I think I've mentioned before that's one of the things which really annoyed me during the whole RTD era. They were rubbish at keeping secrets.

WHO WROTE THIS STORY?! Helen Raynor. The writer of 'Daleks in Manhattan'/'Evolution of the Daleks'. Now I know why the title gives away the monster's identity.

I think some blame should also be apportioned to RTD. Show-runners should think of these things.

You know, it's brats like the Brat that give teenagers a bad name. We're not all like that.

Not that I don't agree with you, but you're not a teenager yourself any more.

I swear. If this is what happens, in that order, I'm writing to the Doctor Who office with a script I will write in less than a day. And I'll record myself writing it for proof.

I'd watch it.

I got to go find out who did the voice for Monty. I'm in love with this voice. He rrrrolls his rrrrrrs so wonderfully. Christopher Ryan. This guy was in six classic British shows.

Wait. General Staal was Mike from The Young Ones?
That's just a hilarious mental image.

Okay, the Brat just invoked a tautology when the Doctor said "ATMOS system" which it is, S is for system; but the way he just leapt right in there. Either he's a major grammar Nazi, obsessed with proving his super-smartness or his social skills are nil. Or all of the above.

Mostly the second one - he's still ticked off that the Doctor corrected him on "If only that were possible. Conditional clause." (Why can I remember this?)

Hey. The Not-Monty is Skorr the Bloodbringer.

Also, you might be interested to know, the actor playing him is the same guy who then played Strax in A Good Man Goes to War.

Also: the Doctor led the final battle of the Time War. And won.

Um, yes? We knew this already.

My second platonic girl-crush was Mulan. And she is beautiful and has a personality. The same goes for when she's a boy. I first saw Mulan in 1999. I was eight. So yeah. Nostalgia makes that reveal kind of hot.

I don't see any similarity between Mulan and Clone Martha. I kind of feel like you put that in just because you like to link to videos of Mulan wherever possible.
I can see the Pocahontas comparison though, at least kinda maybe. I haven't actually seen that film.

Who's Sondar? A God? Emperor?

Sontar. Their home planet.

Aaawww, they're told to rejoice when they go to war.

"Aaawww" is not a reaction I would've expected to that...

And the Brigadier isn't here.

Well, naturally, because for some reason UNIT have to be partially antagonistic, and they couldn't do that to a much-loved character like the Brigadier. Also he's retired.

Best Actor: Christopher Ryan! So many Sontarans to play,

Uhh, he's not playing all of them. As I said above, Skorr is a different guy.

I Elaborate on the Doctor and Guns:
*snip*

OK, so there was a bit of a jumble of stuff there.
In general, the Doctor does not carry guns, nor does he use them. On the rare occasions he does so, it's a really significant moment. Nine with the big laser gun in Dalek? Desperation and all the rage of having lost his entire species. Eleven used a gun in Time of Angels, but not as a weapon, as has been pointed out. And I believe Six once grabbed a gun to kill a Cyberman(?) and apparently that was a rather controversial moment.
Anyway, it's a big part of the Doctor's technical pacifism that he doesn't carry or use guns himself.

But, you are right in that he doesn't generally try to stop other people using them, and certainly he doesn't usually object to them being carried in his presence - he merely tries to limit their use, as with stopping Jack shooting the Futurekind in Utopia. Also, I believe Seven persistently told Ace not to bring her explosives, but she always ignored him. And then recall that in Day of the Moon, Eleven said of River, "Good with a gun - I shouldn't like that, but I think I rather do," acknowledging that admiring ability with guns is unusual for him.

So, the Doctor's typical anti-gun mentality is well-established. It goes along with his attitude of trying to avoid bloodshed where possible. However never before this episode has he suggested that they shouldn't be kept as a last resort, or insisted that people aren't allowed to carry guns while in the same room as him, so yes, that was out of character. I'd say Martha was right, he was just feeling tetchy for some reason and picked on the gun as something to object to, rather than it actually being the cause of him feeling tetchy.

I'm not sure why we are spoilering when it just results in every post being full of spoiler tags and harder to read, but I'll follow suit.

I did put this in the OP - it's to avoid spoiling the new episode for people lagging behind for whatever reason.
Or if we just wrote a lot and don't want to shove the walls of text in people's faces.

On the note of that line in "Let's Kill Hitler", I'm not sure the Doctor said "MORE Guilt" because he has more guilt over her, but that the Tardis is still showing people he feels guilty about, which he's trying to get it not to do.

You could take it either way, but personally I'd say the former is more likely. I mean, we've already had an indication of that guilt in the bonus scene between Flesh and Stone and Vampires in Venice: "Friends, pals, mates- not mates, forget mates."

Ah. OOops. My bad. I have gone back and spoilered so she doesn't have to read it if she doesn't want to.

Might want to also add a note to that effect to ensure she doesn't open it not realising what's in there?

Wait, you are NOT confused? Obviously, Moffat is dong something wrong Well, I am confused on a regular basis AND I LIKE IT.

I'm not confused by what I see. I am confused by what has yet to be revealed, but I understand the course of events unfolding onscreen as I watch.

You mean Hitler coming out of the closet?

(Okay, okay, I'll leave)

No, don't go! That's a hilarious joke!

[Wardog]

[spoiler]
So, the Doctor's typical anti-gun mentality is well-established. It goes along with his attitude of trying to avoid bloodshed where possible. However never before this episode has he suggested that they shouldn't be kept as a last resort, or insisted that people aren't allowed to carry guns while in the same room as him, so yes, that was out of character. I'd say Martha was right, he was just feeling tetchy for some reason and picked on the gun as something to object to, rather than it actually being the cause of him feeling tetchy.

I think 10 just has a rather hipocritical attitude to violence (generally "I'm the only one allowed to do it", and often willing to use an excessive amount when pushed to far*) - something that the writers are quite willing to draw attention to. I think the second episode of The Sontaran Strategem shows that thw Doctor's dislike of guns and the military are not shared by the writers themselves.

* E.g. the ending of The Runaway Bride.


As for the latest episode, I have to say that if I had to die a Doctor Who death, then

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a kiss from River Song

would have to be my number one choice.

[Hands_Of_Blue]

That's not the point. The point is that after 120 years of life, he was still at an age where he was considered by himself as a kid. River hasn't had 120 years. She spent 40 years presumably in the "mel" form (I'll start turning off the spoilers it's been 17 hours) in which for the last ten she suddenly started aging at a normal rate by earth standards. River is a unique lifeform, so maybe we don't know her biology. But that is not natural by any standards.

When River was trying on all the clothes she stole she said something to the effect of "I think I'll take a few years off. Just gradually, to freak everyone out." A handwave to explain why River looks younger in her canonically later appearances and outright stating she controls how her body physically ages. So Mels chose to age like a normal person.

It's like Captain Carrot.

I was thinking of the wrong Captain Carrot for a second.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Koorly's Archive of Her Doctor Who Write Ups:
Classic Who

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Fourth Doctor

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Series Twelve
Genesis of the Daleks Part 1/6, Part 2/6

Nu Who

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Season One - retrospective

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Brief Whole Series Retrospective

Season Two - retrospective

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Brief Whole Series Retrospective

Season Three - blind unless otherwise mentioned

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Ep. 1: 'Smith and Jones' -missing.
Ep. 2: 'The Shakespeare Code'
Ep. 3: 'Gridlock'
Ep. 4: 'Daleks in Manhattan' (part 1/2)
Ep. 5: 'Evolution of the Daleks' (part 2/2)
Ep. 6: 'The Lazarus Experiment'
Ep. 7: '42'
Ep. 8: 'Human Nature' (part 1/2)
Ep. 9: 'The Family of Blood' (part 2/2)
Ep. 10: 'Blink'
Ep. 11: 'Utopia' (part 1/3)
Ep. 12: 'The Sound of the Drums' (part 2/3)
Ep. 13: 'The Last of the Time Lords' (part 3/3)

Children in Need 2007 episode: 'Time Crash'
2007 Christmas Episode: 'Voyage of the Damned'

Bits and Bobs About Season Three
Retrospective - to be written later
Why I Do Not Like Martha/Ten (This was written between my write ups of ep. 8 and ep 9)

Season Four blind unless otherwise mentioned

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Ep. 1: 'Partners in Crime'
Ep. 2: 'The Fires of Pompeii'
Ep. 3: 'Planet of the Ood'
Ep. 4: 'The Sontaran Stratagem' Part 1/2

Season 6 part 2
Ep. 8: 'Let's Kill Hitler'

The Nu Who Trek continues. And now, to boldly go where many have gone before. [*cue TNG theme (I love that theme song so much)*]

'The Poison Sky' Part 2/2 (Season Four, Episode Five)

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You know, I have literally only just figured out why I kept wanting to call the previous episode 'The Sontaran Experiment': it's from the Fourth Doctor's first series. It comes right before 'Genesis of the Daleks', so when I was looking on the episode lists to find out which season 'Genesis' comes from I picked up the other episode subliminally.
This also means that 'Genesis of the Daleks' has basically increased in amazing as it was in Baker's eleventh to sixteenth episodes as the Doctor.

Last time on Doctor Who I was frustrated by the Doctor's antagonistic-for-no-reason attitude, and I wanted to punch a teenager.
I also found out that Bernard Cribbins did The Wombles and so I can say this line: The Young Ones decide to gas the Wombles as part of their plan to take over the world. I love this show.

But let's get on with it.
Recap the last episode. This music though is highly militaristic with the marching drums in the background really taking the lead and being backed up by the trumpets and horns nice. Points also to the editor for this recap because it is very good. Clean, concise, and runs with the music perfectly. And we end with Sontar-ha!s.
Run the intro!
Still don't know how to pronounce Agyeman.
The street's still full of gas and the Doctor is sonicking the tailpipe. As opposed to breaking a window. Which, guess what is what Donna's mum does. With an axe! Thank you common sense. Donna's mum is taking the poison gas very well.
Back with UNIT they're kicking out all the vehicles because gas can't get through closed doors apparently, and this whole ATMOS thing is spreading worldwide. Even though one of the hotspots for this appears to be the East coast of Africa. Which, if you remember from the previous write up, is a concentration of some of the world's poorest countries and thus wouldn't be able to afford to do such a thing.
But that's okay, here comes Clone!MtM! And she just managed to get into the NATO defence system. I can't help but be reminded of 'World War Three' when Mickey used the Doctor's UNIT password (I think it was UNIT) to hack into a defence system and bring it down. And now we have another person using their password to hack into a defence system and . . . bring about WWIII or something. Fun fact! 'World War Three' aired about three years and one week before this episode did.
Ah. Donna's mum had an axe because "burglars". No! No! You can't just "close off all the doors and windows" and protect yourself from a gas in the atmosphere! If doing that worked we'd all suffocate from living in houses. It might decrease the speed with which the ATMOS gas fills the air, taking longer to kill people, but it wouldn't save you. Basic science Raynor. Learn it.
And why isn't anyone else being affected by this gas? Wilfred did, but it was more implied that he was suffocating than dying from unknown gas (also, if that's how the fifty-two people from last episode died, there would have been signs of suffocation, not poisoning; Jesus), and he's in his mid-seventies. Dude should be dead. I mean, that gas is so thick it looks more like a fogbank, and no one's even choking any more. Still, Donna goes off with the Doctor and Ross.
And Clone!MtM's giving MATO's security defences to Monty. Their ship is still purple.
Monty: "Good work for a female. Now she must be protected." I'm getting a distinctly misogynistic tone from the Sontarans. Does their species even have females if they're all clones? When did the females die out? Do they act misogynistic because there aren't any female Sontarans any more, or because they believe that females are honestly worthless? Does this arise from the militaristic viewpoint that females are inferior because they're weaker, and therefore need protecting? Or simply from the fact that they believe females genuinely don't need to exist in order for the Sontaran species to propagate? Or are there Sontaran females back on Sontar who really are worthless?
Should I even apply a human-based gender binary to an alien species that could be entirely made up of men? Especially when there are critical movements based around the fact that a human gender binary is too simple for humanity?
I'll assume a mix of 'we have clones, why do we need females?' and the military viewpoint (even though females have been proven to be better at certain military activities that are traditionally ascribed to males).
Brat: "This is it isn't it? Oh man this is war!" This Brat is a sociopath and a psychopath. He has no concept of the finer sides of humanity. Sure he built ATMOS etc. 'for the good of humanity', but really they were all ego boosts.
I'm trying to think of a human who willingly entered into a scheme to destroy humanity, and there are lots, but none who knew outright. Lucius Petrus was deluded by 'gods', Diagonal Man didn't know what the Daleks wanted at first, that chick from 'Army of Ghosts'/'Doomsday' didn't know what she was doing, that TV man from 'The Idiot's Lantern' fits the bill. As does Simon Pegg from 'The Long Game'. But I can't think of any more. Ah! That guy Donna fell in love with and, of course, Maxxxxx. But Maxxxxx did it for giggles, no aliens involved.
See. Been a long time since I saw a human gleefully enter into alliance with aliens to destroy humanity. And knew about it from the get-go. The Brat is a repulsive specimen of humanity, and I hope he gets death by irony.
Plus his voice makes me want to strangle him.
I love how the Beeb's newscasters will do a cameo in Doctor Who, adds a taste of realism. 'Course, our Who is the Beeb's darling, so it's pretty easy. And probably most of the newscasters grew up with Who or are now fans of it. The point of these broadcasts is the obvious stuff: stay away from ATMOS and, of course, a state of emergency has been announced. And because I can, the green Anvil is "Stay away from your cars", although it makes perfect sense even with the story so I can excuse the extreme close up of some chick's lips enunciating this fact, not once, but twice. I would also like to add that the gas is mixing into the Earth's general atmosphere so it doesn't really make much sense as a warning either.
How can you run away from the wind?! This is like The Happening, but with poison gas. The only ways to run away from the air is to be inside a hermetically sealed room or in outside space. Or underwater. Or being dead. Or maybe on a ventilator, I'm not sure how those things work.
But it's cool, we're at UNIT again now, and they actually leave Ross to go park a car while the air is slowly becoming poisonous. Also, because Clone!MtM can use her brain (good is dumb after all), the moment she finds out the Doctor's arrived she tells the Colonel about Code Red: Sontaran to save her arse. And even though it's been some thirty years(?) since Sontarans appeared on Earth in canon everyone knows about them. This shows this is some serious stuff going on down here.
Finally. Information about the overworked smoke machines. "The air smells disgusting", and we also have acknowledgement that it is bad for humans, so they shouldn't be going outside. But who cares about logical fallacies, Donna just got her TARDIS key five episodes into her run as a Companion. That's one episode before MtM did. And Rose got hers, when? Um, I think it was in 'Aliens of London', so episode four. But I can't remember when exactly. The Doctor's right when he calls it "quite a big moment really".
Except I remember Rose got her key as a distraction, so Nine didn't consider the key as important as Ten does.
Donna doesn't seem to care either, on account of her being affected by toxic gas. So she's off to the TARDIS because that keeps her safe from gas. That I can roll with, it's in its own weird little bubble.
Clone!MtM overhears the Doctor revealing to the Colonel that he's going to sneak on board the Sontaran ship via TARDIS, so she texts some people. This activates an override or something in the redshirts from the previous episode. And their actions in activating are similar to that of the Terminator from 'Let's Kill Hitler'.
But because Clone!MtM is MtM she gets to run off with the Doctor while the redshirts attach explosives to the TARDIS exterior? That's not going to work. What? They're transporting it up to the Sontaran ship? So those little things are like the communicators from Star Trek where you can attach them to anything within reason and beam it up? I'm sorry, but in this case, Star Trek: TOS did it first. The TARDIS (and Donna) go bye-bye. And this makes me think of 'Bad Wolf'/'Parting of the Ways' and particularly 'Army of Ghosts'/'Doomsday' where the TARDIS is seized by the enemy du jour while there's a Companion inside it. A Companion who is then proved instrumental in beating or finding out a weakness about the enemy.
Monty gloats about having the TARDIS, but I'm more worried about the Brat. He has an "amry of [his] own" and wants to tell them about "the honour and the glory" of having doomed humankind to a slow choking death for . . . no reason whatsoever.
I bet this boy's parents never said 'no' to him, let alone tanned his hind legs when he threw a tantrum. Because not only did my parents do both of them and more, but I'm better off for it. There is nothing wrong with disciplining a mouthy child. I was mouthy. I've had more than a few hidings in my life, they did me good.
Seriously though, the Brat is one of the most disturbing villains in a while, and the previous serial to this involved slavery masterminded by Captain Darling who was then forcibly turned into an Ood.
Why's he still involved in the plot anyway? He's extraneous to requirements.
Ah, according to Donna's Eavesdropping, the Brat is behaving all according to plan. Got to get me some Death Note up in my Who. Just as planned. Oh Lord, the Brat really is Light.
Oh noes! Teh TARDIS iz gon. I think Clone!MtM's got some extensions in, and they're not very good. Good at disseminating though, Clone!MtM's so good at being Martha that if I could see her face she'd definitely be bunny-facing. Her hair shouldn't be irritating me this much. It just looks awful.
I think it's because in this scene all you can see are two lights, half a Doctor, mist, a wall, Clone!MtM's hair and a picture with Smurfs in it. Maybe it's the lighting or something but that hair is horrendously fake. There's no way Freema was allowed near an open flame or anything hot because if she did her head would catch on fire.
I can't even concentrate on the fact that the Doctor can taste transport beams because of that hair. It's terribly distracting.
T: "I'm stuck on Earth. Like a human how rubbish is that?" He looks at the camera "Sorry 'bout that." Clone!MtM does some minor interrogation as the Doctor realises the Sontarans "could never have found it", and he gives her an aside glance. The audience now knows that he knows that Clone!MtM is a spy. Clone!MtM is angry, just look at 07:17. She's pulling a massive pouty face. Yeah, he's twigged. He's just ensured that she's staying on site, even as Clone!MtM enquires desparately as to where Donna is.
The Doctor's hair is enormous, looks like he's trying to be Jedward. Now that's horrifying isn't it?
T: "She's gone home. She's not like you, not a solider." Now as MtM is a doctor this is another subtle clue that the Doctor knows Clone!MtM isn't MtM.
Now we're back at the Evil School and I still can't get over those trackies. They're not chavs. Don't know why they're looking at Londonium either. Looks like a perfectly normal day in Londinium. I don't think they even had to digitally alter that shot it looks so much like normal British weather.
Oh what? There's only twenty odd people at the school? Then it's not a school. There are schools in the Hebrides and Scilly Isles with more pupils than that! And why is the psychopathic Brat telling them to "look away"? Doesn't that just scream, 'I am Evil and responsible for this' to any of these geniuses?!
Oh go massage a goat, boy! You're clearly older than the Brat and you're calling him sir?! Punch. Him. In the face. Look at you, you're topping six foot and clearly play rugby or football. Can no one in this universe see how intrinsically unhinged this boy is?! This boy. This boy. I think he's even more annoying than that Adam boy. Hell, on the basis of fifty-five minutes the Brat is more annoying than Rose. Yes. I went there.
Oh no, this freak is acting like a prophet, talking about his "great work".
Doctor, it's lovely that you're fighting with UNIT again, I mean, I'm having nostalgia even though this is my first UNIT story, but get your head out of your own rectum. The word "fighting" can be used in a metaphorical and a literal sense. And you? You're fighting in a literal sense with UNIT to stop the Sontarans. In a war, any action taken by a person intended to save another or to cause harm by the enemy is fighting in a war whether it be merely evacuating people or sneaking into enemy headquarters to cut some throats in the dark of the night.
Now, I've read people's comments on why I was so offended by the Doctor's attitude in the previous episode, and now is the time for me to clarify myself. Over half of my maternal family has been in the Armed Forces, so I know very well what fighting can do to a person; at least three of my uncles served in Ireland during the Troubles.
So when the Doctor acts so disparagingly, when I also know (admittedly partly by hearsay) that the Doctor has willingly participated in other armed conflicts whether he himself holds a weapon or not, I can't help but see this as highly hypocritical. If he is against fighting why did he participate in the Time War? Because he had a reason that he believed was sufficient to do so, in spite of his typical pacifist (in the loosest sense of the word) nature. As UNIT does now. They believe this is the only way to fight aliens who are vastly their superior. And they're right.
Now I think the Doctor's pacifist nature is one of the more interesting things about the show, not just because it makes resolutions much more interesting, but because you can see the Doctor struggle against the parts of him that he fears. What he did in the Last great Time War clearly traumatised him, I think the Doctor is legitimately insane at times, and you can tell that he views violence as a last resort. Most of the time.
When you push his buttons, that's a different story.
No matter how much the Doctor hates guns, no matter how much he claims to hate guns (the "moral high ground" indeed), if you use an object as a weapon it's a weapon. The Sontarans and UNIT view the TARDIS as a weapon, the Doctor has used the sonic screwdriver to kill beings, be it Daleks, Cybermen or to do technoTreknobabble that kills people through connections. Or the Thames river.
I'm of the opinion that a weapon is a weapon if it is used to harm others. Up to and including words.
Similarly, if you have ever associated yourself with the military in order to defend a place - even if only to eventually further your own purpose - you are tacitly condoning their actions. No matter how reluctantly.
And I am willing to let this out-of-character actions slide because yes, the Doctor's overall attitude towards guns or violence does change, the point rests that this is still massively insulting towards one's long-term allies. And this rudeness I cannot abide if it's towards long-term associates. And UNIT is some forty years the Doctor's ally at this point.
The Doctor is definitely rude, but this seems needlessly antagonistic, and for much less of a reason than normal.
And yes, I am unabashedly biased in this manner because I can't stand anyone treating a serviceman, whether he be former or still serving in a disparaging way. If someone's risking their lives and health to keep you or people you care about safe you don't insult them even if your morals are the exact opposite of theirs. By all means, debate or let them know politely, but don't act the way the Doctor does to the Colonel. It really does upset me. And yes I have personal experience with this.
So the Doctor's a hypocrite, although he does have psychological reasons. But reasons aren't excuses. For the duration of this serial the Doctor has been acting unnecessarily harsh. I'm fine with the Doctor being anti-gun, and even anti-violence, but I don't like people forcing their opinions on others.
Now, while I realise myself that this is probably a bit hypocritical of me, what this being an opinionated write up of Doctor Who I also like to think that I try to present a reasonable explanation for my thoughts.
More gas info! "Not lethal until it reaches eighty percent density", so in other words, stay out of closed areas. UNIT also found the Sontaran ship. A strike from NATO wouldn't even pierce the surface, so the Doctor tries to take to the Sontarans.
The Hell is Jurisdiction Two of the Rules of Intergalactic Engagement? Is this another Shadow Proclamation thing? And how can Donna even - ROSE! get lost. Thank you. The Colonel calls Monty a "troll" to which the Doctor snarks about wonderful diplomacy. Before calling Monty and his lot "cowards".
The wonderful Colonel responds "Oh that's diplomacy". The joys of British snark. What the Doctor's doing, of course, is poking the Rottweiler until it snaps and tries to bite your face off, regardless of its original intentions. I think it'll work, partly because we've got half an hour left, and partly because calling a Sontaran a coward seems to be along the same lines as calling Pumbaa a pig.
Oh Monty sounds like a Shakespearean character, "you impugn my honour!" this and "dishonour" that. It's so nice to see polite genocidal aliens. Heee~! We're having, here, a catfight between the Doctor and Monty.
This is me, having a happy face :D. Several in fact, ^^, :D, :). I don't think I've been this happy over a one-story character since the Master. Both of them!
The Doctor has a point, if the Sontarans are such amazing soldiers, why gas a planet? That Monty on the left has an absurdly tiny waist. And well, look, I tried to be polite, ladylike, gentlemanly, to not point out the elephant in the room, but combined with that angle making such an impossibly tiny waist, I have to point this out: the Sontaran crotch nearly rivals that of the delectable Jareth the Goblin King. They're like freakin' magnets! The lines on the leg armour even point towards the enormity of the things! That is some strange armour. Massive pecs that from the side look like boobs, a six pack, tiny waists and crotches that are bigger than their hands. And what is up with those eighties shoulder pads?!
Hey lookie look, the taunting didn't work. A general doesn't reveal his plans, but this is confirmation that the Sontarans are up to something. Not just war.
Who are the Rutans? And does this mean this teeny war is something important in the big war? Are the Rutans actual aliens or is this something made up during the hiatus? Sontarans just look adorably grumpy. T: "Fifty-thousand years of bloodshed [and war]. For what?"
M: "For victory!" Well, duh. You don't go into a war aiming to lose. I like that the Doctor changes the channel when he gets bored. Oooh! Actual Latin. As clues! "Donna nobis pacem" A common phrase during a Latin mass, found in the Agnus Dei (I've sung that) it means something along the lines of 'bring us peace' or 'grant us peace'. Foreshadowing!
Helpful too that the Doctor remembers this particular piece of Latin that just so happens to almost have her name in.
Still don't know why Donna seems to think talking to a computer screen helps her talk to the Doctor when it's obviously one-way. Then again, Donna's not exactly the brightest bulb in the house, so it takes the Doctor being fairly obvious to make Donna realise that a phonebox has a phone. And she can call the Doctor because this is a magic phone.
He also got the Sontarans to move the TARDIS. I want to know why, but then we cut back to the Brat and he looks really sallow and has clearly gone off the deep end. He's got a really shiny face too. I think I've said this before, but the Brat looks unhinged. Seriously so. Callow it may be, but while I'd give this person the time of day, I don't think I'd do much else. He looks the type of person who, after you'd shook his hand, you'd surreptitiously wipe yours on your trousers because he's got a really limp moist handshake.
Also, he want to build a whole new world, shining shimmering splendid.
Literally. "I'm talking a brand new start for a brand new human race" on a brand new planet. GROSS! Everyone else kind of wants to go home.
And Earth.2? What kind of dorkily unimaginative - no, I take that back. A dork would have better imagination than that! Even Bob would be a better name. If you get that reference, my compliments.
I adore the reaction of Plaits at 12:05, that's basically my face whenever I discover that the Brat has sailed so far over the horizon of insanity he's discovered another horizon.
Okay, what this guy's basically intending is . . . using a small group of geniuses to create a superior human race. That Hitler Youth thing from the previous episode is suddenly so much more apropos. It's also genetically unviable as I think you need at least two hundred breeding pairs to create a sufficiently diverse genetic pool to prevent bottlenecking and inbreeding.
This guy. Dudes, this guy. He's. He's. He's a monomaniac. He has control issues, won't let people leave (so he's a kidnapper), he has a gun, wants to genocide humanity because giggles, is complicit in multiple murders and has appalling taste in fashion.
Points again to Gold for the unsettling background music, rolls with the Brat's collapse very well. And yay! That guy I think is a rugby player is trying to talk the weasel-physiqued Brat down.
Whoa. This kid. He just called people of less-than-genius intelligence "cattle" (my emphasis). Know who else called/treated sentient beings cattle? Slavers and Nazis. And what this boy is basically doing is ethnic cleansing and genocide. Of everyone except the people in the room with him. Even if someone in the audience is fine with all that this is possibly the stupidest way of trying to restart the human race. Intellectuals and geniuses are very good at building, or farming, or any of the basics need to actually kickstart a civilisation. It is only once of civilisation has reached a point at which it is stable agriculturally, economically and to some degree, politically and militaristically, that proper advances in intellectual areas can be made with any great consistency. Hence the period of time in English history known as the Dark Ages. It was a three hundred year period of political turmoil where the end of the Roman Empire (and protection) meant that suddenly things went down the pan. And it was only after the invasion of the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians that written records and culture began to recover. Because without that certain degree of stability, where people had the freedom of time to write and think that allowed things to be recorded and advanced.
There are records of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales during the period roughly spanning the C5^th to C9^th, mainly the works of missionaries, monks and nuns. These writings chronicle the massive inter-kingdom wars waged. Certainly the Dark Ages aren't without their beacons of light; I've read Caedmon's Hymn and Bede's Ecclesiastical History just like everyone else, and they are extremely good works. But they had the time and freedom to do such a thing because the direct civilisation around them (the Northumbrian monasteries) had filled the 'less' intellectual roles in society first, leaving people the free time to put pen to paper and write. I should also add these two pieces of work were written during what could be called the Northumbrian Enlightenment due to the number of amazing works created during the C6[sup]th[sup] and 7^th.
The Brat's society is doomed from the start. Oh sweet Heavenly Christ. He thinks he's God saving the righteous from the Flood. 2I chose you to survive!" And what about their families you deluded child? Don't you think they would feel any sort of human emotion towards the people you were murdering?! Jesus.
[Censored words] Peeps. Peeps. He just said "I designed a mating programme." I just what how is this sagrdbf \sdipyfb;qlXS;Oiubf; what
This is inhuman. Even a crazy person isn't that crazy! Humans don't mate! Animals mate. At its coldest humans procreate. And on what did you base this 'mating programme'?! Genetic compatibility?! regardless of sexual orientation, simple human feelings, ability to procreate and every other factor. because this is more than a designer baby debacle although it's getting there. no this is. it's nazis all over again. you have these characteristics which are good and pure and worthy, and so does this person so you shall boink each other even though one of you is asexual and the other wishes greatly to go home to their significant other.
I can't even guys.
NO ONE THOUGHT TO WARN ME ABOUT THIS NUTCASE?! Not even obliquely. Not one 'there's a really crazy person in this serial; I mean Librarian poo crazy, so hold on to your horses and prepare for Insane'? I hate you all.
Random Chick: "Shoot me." I feel the same way sweetie.
Ugh. He doesn't even have the guts to be a proper crazy dictator. They're all just leaving and he shoots no one. Look, if you're going to be a monomaniacal, megalomaniacal, sociopathic, psychopathic, mentally unhinged, clinically insane dictator-mad-scientist then at least have the balls to go through with it. Because now you're a coward too. Coward.
Rugby player: "You're just sick." And that is an understatement that sums up the nutshell. And the Brat's response, "I'm clever than you!" Kid. Bullying doesn't mean you can do all this. You claim to be smart, so take this piece of free advice: school isn't everything. Once you actually go to college and uni people like smart people. And really? That's your entire motive isn't it? I was bullied by 'stupid people' so now I want to hurt them back.
So what. I was bullied, I ignored it. Hell, I didn't even realise people tried to bully me I cared so little. And I bet every one of you reading this now was bullied too. I got over it. Everyone got over it to some degree. What's so different with you Brat?
I hold no sympathies whatsoever. I hope you die a painful agonising death.
Also, he bunny-faced at 13:40.
Oh fffffflip. A gas does not stay outside your house. It does not stay in urban areas. It spreads. The best you can do is to die slower. "People are now walking across open country to escape the fumes". Desk. Head. Meet, greet, repeat. You're only delaying the inevitable. You can't escape the air! Called it. Biblical plague/disaster. Except those plagues were limited only to Egypt and Egyptians specifically. The tenth and final plague, the one that (in The Prince of Egypt - a film I truly recommend seeing for a wonderful adaptation that's true to the source material) Moses truly regrets having to send because it kills the first-born child of every family in Egypt. Nowhere else in the world. If anything my analogy to the Flood is better because the Flood was worldwide.
Back with Donna in the TARDIS she's calling her family. At least Wilfred has a clue, he's sealing them in as best he can.
This is a sweet, soft scene. The music with the muted horns and strings, and the genuine concern between the two. Bernard Cribbins and Donna Noble are fantastic actors and deserve awards.
Clone!MtM's running a diagnosis on the gas. And the NATO strike is beginning despite the Doctor's orders because the gas is at sixty percent density - where? And how can you measure that as a worldwide average? What is this I don't even. I'm rolling with it.
Worldwide nuclear grid? But there's only nine or so countries with nuclear capabilities right? And why is Monty so happy? The Doctor now wants the Sontarans to be ahead of humanity because nuclear weapons are bad. But the target is five million km above the earth, so the fallout should be minimal? I can't do science.
Wait. Out the those eight or nine countries with nuclear weapons they only name five, and Japan isn't one of them?! Buh?
Double buh. Clone!MtM turned off the launch. Doctor's shuffled over to Clone!MtM so he's clearly going to reveal her mole status any second. What with him blatantly asking Clone!MtM why the Sontarans don't want the weapons launched.
The Sontarans in the base are now off to protect her. There's five UNIT members for some one hundred Sontarans. The Colonel orders UNIT to open fire, but obviously the weapons don't work, so some phaser fire later people are dead. The Doctor then enters some sort of fugue state after hearing the people on the radio die. Because it was Ross. Damn. And I really liked Ross. He was sweet.
The Doctor yelled for a retreat so loudly I can now tell you Tennant has a gold filling in one of his left molars, and quite old and not very well looked after. Should fillings regenerate with a new body? Because that's such a weird thing to get, suddenly a new body and a few ten-year-old fillings. Why would you regenerate with a filling?
The retreat is ordered. People die. With a very short Wilhelm scream. The Redshirts report to Sontarans. They die. So do at least nineteen more people onscreen. Remember, this would be shown at twenty past seven in the evening when this was first released!
Monty: "This isn't war, this is [SPARTA!] sport!" Close enough. And that retreat is extremely no. Basic military knowledge: when you retreat you set up a rearguard. Bloody Hellfire. A teenager who's never played a computer game in her life beyond Age of Empire II and a bit of Civ IV shouldn't have to explain how a basic retreat works. That is not a retreat. It's a rout. And then they seize the factory.
Why? Nobody knows. And the Doctor wishes for the Brigadier. So do I. Why is Brigadier Sir Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart stranded in Peru? Clone!MtM proceeds to troll UNIT by turning their launch system on and off for the lulz. You know she'd hang out on /b/ if she knew about it. And finally someone from UNIT figures out the system is from within UNIT.
The Brat finally finds out that allying yourself with aliens who want to destroy humanity is a bad thing - how did this boy live to eighteen? - and he was being trolled by experts. No new planet for him. And even finding out everything's falling even more down around his ears he can't stop annoying people. He cries. I enjoy it. Prat.
The COlonel and the Doctor brainstorm; there's something important in the factory, the Sontaran weapon thingy only works on copper shells, the Doctor gets hissy some more. I think 'why didn't the Doctor explain exactly what the weapon jamming thing was beforehand? There are different types of casing' and the Doctor borrows a phone while Cline!MtM peers around suspiciously. Cue eavesdrop attempt!
Donna answers the phone, and she's the secret weapon. Got to do some sabotage while not getting caught. Bit tricky, but the Doctor claims he can walk her through it. It being re-opening the teleport link.
Donna's got to take out a Sontaran. Back of the neck time. Luckily there's a hammer in the TARDIS. One technoTreknobabble chat later, and - oh come on, Donna had to make the ta'al to open that door!
GASMASKS! Way to leave Donna stranded on a ship full of professional soldiers. And Clone!MtM's on her way to sneaksville.
T: "Are you my mummy?" HA! It's 02:45 over here right now, and I literally went HA! out loud. That scene guys. That scene made this episode.
And it keeps on making it. Because I called it. Different casings. And Colonel, you just keep on defying the Doctor. Show me what UNIT can do. I've heard about you, show me your awesome.
A kickass speech with a kickass (but a little too loud) piece of music? Hell yeah. A bit too Churchill, but it's a rhetorical classic for a reason. Given the earlier comparison to Dunkirk, the endless fog and the gasmasks, this is intentional.
OH MY DIZZY NIECE did the Colonel just use the Valiant to clear away the air?! He did! This is wow. Look at that! Another thing I never thought I would say: Skybase just used Borg lazor technology to attack an army of Mr. Potato Heads. And yes, that lazor was exactly like the ones to Borg use. Finally. Military procedures and competence! Just look at that. Sontarans dropping like flies.
Donna's still on hold, the Doctor's still keeping Clone!MtM in the dark. UNIT is still being lovely. And Clone!MtM keeps delaying the launch as the Doctor hauls her off to find (presumably) the actual MtM. Monty meanwhile is so ahppy that there's competence to fight. Back with the Doctor, I called it. Not that they're there yet, but nearly. Ah. Green glowy room time. Sadtiems. Two Marthas on one screen.
Here's an interesting thought. This is basically the Ganger situation from season 6a, so when the Doctor terminates Clone!MtM (whom he knew about all along (called it)) wouldn't that be the same as killing an ordinary human being? This means that the Doctor killed Clone!MtM to save Real!MtM. And he did it without an ounce of regret. And it's a slow death as Cloney starts choking away as Real looks on. Great use of doubles there.
The Doctor tells Donna some more stuff. Monty gets shot by the Colonel, and Cloney and Real bond the same as the Gangers did in season 6a.
The Sontarans are converting Earth into a clone feed thing. This is bad.
And wow. This death is being dragged out. And there's sad choral music being played out, and suddenly I feel sorry for Martha. And then just as Cloney dies war music kicks in as Martha takes her ring off her hand. And now things can teleport again!
The TARDIS is on Earth, and things are happening. The Crew are now at the Evil school. And the Doctor is still having a hissy fit over guns even though he murdered one of his Companions in cold blood. And he admitted Cloney was the same as the real one, but with extra motives implanted on top.
The Doctor wants to set fire to the atmosphere or something. And now there's an atmospheric converter. Clone pods are being launched and suddenly the music went all Star Trek on me. And yeah Donna, you can still see London. Not veyr well, but it's London.
Dudes. The Doctor is seriously setting the sky on fire. This will be either amazing or terrible. How the Hell did they do that? That is frakkin' amazing, I mean. How. TV BUDGET! Look at that! I can't that just wow. That's beautiful. I completely agree with the ethereal music playing as the gas finally dies out.
That I wow.
HOW DID THEY DO THAT?! That. If I had to imagine the sky burning that would be how they did it.
But now that's been thwarted, the Sontarans are back to the usual methods: destroy. And now the Doctor's off to go blow up the ship and sacrifice his life. Why can't you put the thing on a delay? You've got to give them a choice? NO YOU DON'T! Well, okay, you do. Don't want to sink to their level and all, but here's the thing. Sonic yourself a connection to the Sontaran ship like you did earlier you martyr! Why isn't he doing that? He did earlier? Why do this?
Yeah, he's going to survive, but that's no excuse to not use logic in the first place. It's so sweet and brave of the Doctor to make heroic sacrifices. Except this one doesn't need to be made. And didn't one Monty earlier call death "glorious"? They're not going to want to give in.
Okay, what? Sontaran High Command wouldn't approve? Even the immoral Sontarans are moral. The Doctor's still not pushing the button even though he's given them eight chances now. Nine. And now the Brat's going up there. Why didn't he just push the button.
Oh. The BRat switched places with the Doctor. Without somehow transferring the converter thing. How did he do that? He only hotwired the transporter. That should make it less accurate, not more so.
But there was an ironic death for the Sontarans and the Brat. The Brat by the converter with which he hoped to make a brand new world (every turn a surprise, a new horizon, every moment gets better), and the Brats by the coward going "SONTAR-HA! as he pushes the big red button.
Cue pretty special effect. A fantastic one.
The Doctor's now all shocked and sad - not. Just surprised to be alive. The sanctity of human life eh?
Oh look. There was a green aesop. A small one. because it's great people are afraid to use their cars now. Wilfred is still amazing as he tears up when telling his granddaughter to go see the stars and bring something back for him. And you guys this is so wonderful just look at their chemistry. Why can't there be more granddads like that?!
MTM YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY TARDIS! Thank God. She's staying. Hand! Did I just see the Doctor's hand-inna-jar? And snap. MtM's locked in the TARDIS as it teleports itself away.
I thought I was free of her. But Sexy seems to have decided to inflict more MtM on me. But at least she wants to go home, so after Sexy's gotten over her PMS they can drop her right off home.

Preview thoughts: Faces. Masks. Some chick. The Doctor has a daughter. No. No. Not any more. Susan was his granddaughter, ergo he had a son or daughter. But that's not her. She looks mid-twenties at best. The video lags and I can't be bothered to watch the rest.
I dub thee: Sue. Doctor doesn't have a daughter. Said non-daughter doesn't just appear right the bumbleblurt out of nowhere and acrobatically flip her way through your Resident Evil style corridor of lazors.

Best Moment: The Colonel and UNIT display their awesome. Those thirty odd years without an episode meant that when they got to unleash it, it was magnificent.

Worst Moment: The Doctor's still hissy over guns despite the murder of what is essentially his former Companion. Yes, there was no way at the time for both to survive independently, but the Doctor is a genius. He'd have figured it out.

Best Special Effect: The sky caught on fire in the most believable and beautiful way imaginable.

Worst Special Effect: Sontaran lazors resemble TOS/early TNG style phasers.

Best Actor: In a weird way, Ryan Sampson. He did so well being the slightly freaky boy-genius who rapidly goes insane it's unbelievable. All the emotions that should rightly be felt towards such a monster were all felt, and Sampson brought them out so well.
And in the end? That death was so obviously meant as a redemption thing. I doubt anyone felt sad when he died, he deserved it, but that he did kill himself for the sake of humanity shows that, at the last, he felt some semblance of human emotion.
Still he deserved to die, might as well take out his allies with him.
Ryan Sampson I salute you.
Runner up to Freema Agyeman for being able to do two subtly different portrayals of Martha very well.

Worst Actor: In a weird way, there isn't really one. All the cast once again played their characters extremely well, to the point where, at times, I couldn't separate actor from character. The life seen in some of those scenes, especially with Donna and her Grandfather.
So it would have to be the Countdown Lady because that's all she was. Basically Uhura at Communications repeating messages from other people. She didn't really have a life as a character. She was just a lady reading the script from a computer screen.
For for an actual actor with a part? Freema Agyeman. She did a good job, better than usual, but she's still pretty bland. Her best scene is definitely her death scene.

Most Punchable Character: The Brat. He's just. Wow.

Death Count:
Onscreen - forty-eight
Offscreen - several dozen
Assumed - thousands from poison gas, dozens from the Sontaran assault

Number of Times Rose Is Mentioned:
One. WHY DOES SHE KEEP RETURNING?! You left at the end of season two, sealed in your own parallel universe. Stop crossing over into this universe.

Thoughts overall?
This serial was far better than I ever expected from Helen Raynor. I am truly impressed by many things in this episode, from the music to the special effects and the acting. There are weaknesses in the script, but I can roll with the gas thing. I'll just pretend that worldwide there was no wind whatsoever.
The Sontarans were a fantastically silly race, and I hope they get to show up again; sometimes a one-note race isn't a bad thing. At times they were hammy and campy, and what more can I ask?
The green Anvil was mixed, and I don't believe it really worked, although it was quite subtle. The anti-violence/guns one didn't work at all, it just comes off as an almost irrational dislike on the Doctor's part even though he has his reasons. But I don't think this serial was ever intended to actually have anything much resembling a message, it was just a bit of good old fun. Lots of mindless clichés such as cloning and mind control, but also mixed up with what I believe is the more serious plot: Luke Rattigan and all his mental and social issues.
As a new thing, I'm including a link to critical reception, and I have to say, I agree with some of the things said. Helen Raynor's writing improved so very much that I honestly wouldn't believe they were written by the same writer. The liberal borrowings from 'School Reunion' act as a comparison showing that, despite all her flaws, Martha is more mature than Rose, and Donna is more mature than the both of them; actually being happy to meet former Companions.
Overall this serial got an AI of 87.5 - excellent. It was very good indeed. As far as this season goes I hesitate to rate it as, in order for me to do so I have to consider story cohesiveness, plot and character development, and when a story has twice the length to do it, I have to rate it higher than I would treating this serial on an episode by episode merit.
As a whole story it comes in after 'Fires of Pompeii' which is still my favourite. On an episode basis, 'The Sontaran Strategem' is weaker simply because it's a set up and, even though there are a lot of things I like in it, it would be the worst episode of the season so far. 'The Poison Sky' has several great resolutions, lovely quiet emotional moments, and a very realistic battle sequence. This episode would be third best after 'Fires of Pompeii' and 'Planet of the Ood'.

And good news guys! Dad came back with my 'Genesis of the Daleks'. So the question is: 'The Doctor's Daughter' (which I am predisposed not to like because no) or 'Genesis' part three?

[factotum]

And good news guys! Dad came back with my 'Genesis of the Daleks'. So the question is: 'The Doctor's Daughter' (which I am predisposed not to like because no) or 'Genesis' part three?

"The Doctor's Daughter" isn't what you might think, and is actually a pretty fun episode. Having said that, "Genesis" is one of the all-time classics of the series and you probably ought to do it first!

[Sunken Valley]

Time to reply to Curly! And I beat Thufir to it.

re Adam Mitchell: Adam was cool. Adam was an evil Doctor Who companion. You do not get an evil Doctor Who companion or a companion who backstabs the Doctor whilst a member of the crew (River does not count, she was evil before she became a companion and stopped after). I do so wish he would come back and try to steal the TARDIS. That's never going to happen, but I don't care!

re The Rutans: This is not made up. The Rutans are a bunch of shape shifting aliens. They are the Sontarans motive: they fight an eternal war with the Rutans. The Rutans have, however, only appeared once in a DW story: Horror of Fang Rock (4th Doctor). There were no Sontarans in it.

re Rose: See how every one of Rusty's seasons has had "hint hints" building up to a finale. Rose is this years "hint hint". You may also see Roses (flower) in the background. There was one in "Planet of the ood". Don't worry, the finale is awesome!!! Edit: For all you Rose haters out there in a 2010 Radio Times poll regarding the best Doctor Who companions: Rose came no 1. Sarah Jane came 2nd, Donna came 3rd, K9 came 4th and Amy came 5th. I can try find a link if anyone's interested.

re Doctor's Daughter sue: She is not a sue. There is justification for her backflipping antics and presence. Rusty can do red herrings too. Fun fact: The Doctor's daughter is played by Georgia Moffet, Peter Davidson's Daughter. Georgia is also married to David Tennant now. Warning: in Doctor's Daughter there is a psycho who I like to call General Beardy. His real name is Cobb. Please call him General Beardy or Kernel Cobb in your writeup. Although do feel free to do either write up. They are both awesome. In fact I will say that every ep in DW Season four is awesome. There is not a single bad ep. Which makes me sad as Moff will not be doing four seasons of Matt Smith. Playground I dare you to find a bad ep from season four (though do spoiler it)!

To the rest of the playground I have found something. Donna Noble was around in Season three living her life. Which means she was there when Mr Saxon took over the world. What do you think happened to her and her family before the button reset was pressed? Best answer gets a cookie from me!

PS: Finally got why thread II is called "I should have a hat". Clever, especially as Troughton's catchphrase is remembered (to his chargrin) as "when I say run, run".

[Androgeus]

re The Rutans: This is not made up. The Rutans are a bunch of shape shifting aliens. They are the Sontarans motive: they fight an eternal war with the Rutans. The Rutans have, however, only appeared once in a DW story: Horror of Fang Rock (4th Doctor). There were no Sontarans in it.

I won £1 when watching this episode betting on wether a charater would die or not. People who have seen the episode will know what side of the bet I was on.

On the Doctor using guns, I wonder if it would be spoilery to say that

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The Doctor gets called on his attitude a bit in the next episode and the finale

[CurlyKitGirl]

"The Doctor's Daughter" isn't what you might think, and is actually a pretty fun episode. Having said that, "Genesis" is one of the all-time classics of the series and you probably ought to do it first!

I'll try to keep an open mind about 'The Doctor's Daughter', but I can't promise anything. Luckily it seems 'Genesis' might be up next.
Unless another family member walked off with it. Always happens to my things.

re Adam Mitchell: Adam was cool. Adam was an evil Doctor Who companion. You do not get an evil Doctor Who companion or a companion who backstabs the Doctor whilst a member of the crew (River does not count, she was evil before she became a companion and stopped after). I do so wish he would come back and try to steal the TARDIS. That's never going to happen, but I don't care!

He was that guy who had his head opened for intelligence purposes right?
I wouldn't really call him evil per se, but definitely self-involved. Wasn't like he knew getting his head carved open would betray the Doctor and Rose.
Hell, Adam was flirting with Rose after all.
He definitely won't be coming back though, he was just a two-shot character designed to show that, guess what, not everyone's cut out to be a Companion.
Would be nice to see an evil Companion though. Obviously the Doctor would wear away at the evil over time, so that would be a nice character arc to see.

re The Rutans: This is not made up. The Rutans are a bunch of shape shifting aliens. They are the Sontarans motive: they fight an eternal war with the Rutans. The Rutans have, however, only appeared once in a DW story: Horror of Fang Rock (4th Doctor). There were no Sontarans in it.

Excellent. I love me my Classic references. And seeing as I'm liking the feel of the Fourth Doctor I might buy more of his serials. Maybe 'Horror of Fang Rock'. Would you recommend it?

re Rose: See how every one of Rusty's seasons has had "hint hints" building up to a finale. Rose is this years "hint hint". You may also see Roses (flower) in the background. There was one in "Planet of the ood". Don't worry, the finale is awesome!!! Edit: For all you Rose haters out there in a 2010 Radio Times poll regarding the best Doctor Who companions: Rose came no 1. Sarah Jane came 2nd, Donna came 3rd, K9 came 4th and Amy came 5th. I can try find a link if anyone's interested.

Have to tell you, I face palmed.
Rose was a nice Companion before they started hyping her up as the best thing since sliced bread. A half-second cameo makes me want to throttle her now and I honestly can't see why people like her.
And she's coming back for the finale?
Gonna get me Hate Hat on.
Frankly, Rose being a greater Companion than Sarah Jane Smith is just wrong. I am horrifically biased, but the three episodes I've seen with Sarah Jane Smith in were wonderful things, and there's a reason Sarah Jane Smith has always been voted one of the best Assistants or Companions of all time.
So popular she got her own spin-off. When the Rose: Earth Defence spin-off was nixed early on.
I know I seem to be in a minority disliking Rose so much, but I genuinely can't see how people still like her after touting Rose as teh best fing evar!!!1!!1! for the best part of season three to the point of denigrating Martha before she even had a chance to be herself. And now, two seasons after being sealed away in a parallel universe.
This is the kind of thing that made me hate Wesley.
I agree with the other four in the top ten though.

re Doctor's Daughter sue: She is not a sue. There is justification for her backflipping antics and presence. Rusty can do red herrings too. Fun fact: The Doctor's daughter is played by Georgia Moffet, Peter Davidson's Daughter. Georgia is also married to David Tennant now. Warning: in Doctor's Daughter there is a psycho who I like to call General Beardy. His real name is Cobb. Please call him General Beardy or Kernel Cobb in your writeup. Although do feel free to do either write up. They are both awesome. In fact I will say that every ep in DW Season four is awesome. There is not a single bad ep. Which makes me sad as Moff will not be doing four seasons of Matt Smith. Playground I dare you to find a bad ep from season four (though do spoiler it)!

You spoiled one of my observances before I ever got to write it. A well, c'est la vie. Still going to mention it though because it's fun.
I look forward to seeing the explanations for the things that seem sue-ish to me. I'm only running on the basis of a twenty second preview, and in that time anyone can be a Sue. Even . . . the Doctor. I know, I know, I shouldn't have said it. But you could make even him, the most humble person in the universe, a Sue in a twenty second clip show.
As to season four not having a single bad episode, I don't know. Haven't seen it all yet. And after season three having very few major faults and a string of six extremely strong episodes, I have a high bar now.
I'd also like to add the disclaimer of: different strokes for different people. THe things I like and dislike and hate aren't the same as anyone else's.

To the rest of the playground I have found something. Donna Noble was around in Season three living her life. Which means she was there when Mr Saxon took over the world. What do you think happened to her and her family before the button reset was pressed? Best answer gets a cookie from me!

Slavery at the shipyards.
Boring, but most likely explanation. That or they were dead.

[factotum]

Georgia is also married to David Tennant now.

I don't think she is, actually--they're engaged, and planning to get wed next year sometime, but I don't think they've actually tied the knot as yet.

[chiasaur11]

He was that guy who had his head opened for intelligence purposes right?
I wouldn't really call him evil per se, but definitely self-involved. Wasn't like he knew getting his head carved open would betray the Doctor and Rose.
Hell, Adam was flirting with Rose after all.
He definitely won't be coming back though, he was just a two-shot character designed to show that, guess what, not everyone's cut out to be a Companion.
Would be nice to see an evil Companion though. Obviously the Doctor would wear away at the evil over time, so that would be a nice character arc to see.

Well, during the fifth Doctor era, Turlough was hired by The Black Guardian (one of those almost-the-devil fellows that hate the Doctor so much) to kill the Doctor and he was let on board with no fuss.

Things gradually worked out in the end.

[Kato]

re Rose: See how every one of Rusty's seasons has had "hint hints" building up to a finale. Rose is this years "hint hint". You may also see Roses (flower) in the background. There was one in "Planet of the ood". Don't worry, the finale is awesome!!! Edit: For all you Rose haters out there in a 2010 Radio Times poll regarding the best Doctor Who companions: Rose came no 1. Sarah Jane came 2nd, Donna came 3rd, K9 came 4th and Amy came 5th. I can try find a link if anyone's interested.

Not quite was Curly said but... why should I care what other viewers say? Or back when BigDice reasoned RTD was a better show writer because he got better ratings. I think Rose got way too much love probably because Russel loved her more than the Doctor or something and I guess I don't hate her as much as Curly but I've seen her more than I like to. Heck, she keeps me from rewatching the first season because I feel she'd ruin it for me. Sorry but... yeah, I just don't like her, no matter what any poll says.

To the rest of the playground I have found something. Donna Noble was around in Season three living her life. Which means she was there when Mr Saxon took over the world. What do you think happened to her and her family before the button reset was pressed? Best answer gets a cookie from me!

Got a temp job as Saxon's unseen secretary and secretly sabotaged him?


Curly review, both episodes, as far as I can recall important plot points)

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Were to start... not to argue much about it but I don't really mind Martha bunny facing that much. Ms Agyeman is dead sexy no matter how she looks and... well, her acting dumb is so much worse than a dumb face once in a while. But yeah, she got reasonably better since season three.

Brat. Well... yeah, he was despicable. Absolutely. I kind of missed what caused his Heel Face Turn. (i.e. I can't recall from watching back in the day and I kind of either missed it when reading and/or can't find it skimming the text... whatever) Well... we don't go warning you in general, do we? Would you want us to? I'm sure we could.
The thing with him is... he's not that new. Yeah, he's a cold bastard. But the thing is, he really only is... what's the word... he lacks empathy. He might even think he does humanity a favor. I guess he got bullied as a child, probably (and I guess he deserved it if he was like that) but he's not out to take revenge, than he'd not try to make his own little perfect race. He's a **** but he is just too dumb to see he's doing something bad. At least that what I thought about him.
(Also, why do you think we all were bullied? Because we watch Doctor Who we are all nerds and victims? (Well, I got bullied but... I thought I'd say we don't necessarily all were. I hope))

Sontarans are great. They show up too rarely. We need a Sontaran companion!

Bonus points for referencing DN. Never thought about it but I guess Brat had a lot of Light, yeah. Gladly there are no Death Notes in Who (yet).

'Are you my mummy?' was a nice moment, but Empty Child totally made gasmasks THE accessory for Who fans.

Also, was Diney week or something? Mentioning your childhood girl crushes on Mulan and Pocahontas (mostly acceptable, Mulan was great and Pocahontas at least kind of hot and also I feel old again... ) and an Aladdin clip?

Ah, on the bigger topic of guns... I'm mostly with you. I can accept the Doctor changing his opinion and weapons and the show would be lame if he was walking around shooting his opponents but if your enemies are armed the claim for all your allies to go unharmed is at best very dangerous to their life. Okay, maybe it's different with Sontarans, maybe they don't kill unharmed opponents but if they were trying to get an anvil in there it was a poor one.

I'm sure I forgot like half the important stuff... sorry. It's getting late.

Doctor's Daughter is okay. I was expecting terrible Sue as well, but it's not that bad, imo. But I guess you'll see. Though, I vote for finishing Genesis before continuing.

[Dienekes]

Curly, awesome posts as always.

@Doctor's Daughter: Give it a chance it's not a bad episode, not great but ok. The reveal was kinda weird but it was made up for by:

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The Doctor pouting that he's not a soldier while the daughter more or less has him pegged as one. Fun to see the Doctor taken a few pegs down, and Donna gets to laugh at all of it.

@ Let's Kill Hitler. Awesome. Just saw it and it immediately became a favorite. Each of the characters got to shine. I rather enjoyed River Song and Rory especially. I'm not particularly seeing River as a Sue. At least not without automatically counting the Doctor, the Master, and Rose as well. And honestly if all those characters meet our definition of Sue then the word has lost all meaning.

@ Favorite companion. People like Rose? Why? What part of her personality is even interesting or likeable? This really does confuse me, because I always thought she was the weakest part of the show and was right with Curly in disliking all the references to her. Though personally my favorite companions look nothing like the list given: 1) Rory, 2) Donna, 3) Wilf, 4) Amy, 5) Sarah Jane (sorry Sarah, I've only seen a handful of oldWho but hey you still beat out Rose, Martha, and Can't-Get-Over-Rose-Boy-Even-Though-Rose-Treats-Him-Like-a-Turd)

@ Season 4 Finale: It was ok. Not the best, but not Daleks in Manhattan. The gimmick of the episode while fun made the pacing odd, and the resolution with Rose was dull. But the resolution with Donna was amazing.

[Thufir]

Time to reply to Curly! And I beat Thufir to it.

Sorry, I didn't realise this was a competition. I'm pretty sure many times I have not been the first to respond to Koorly.
The most in-depth, perhaps.

'The Poison Sky' Part 2/2 (Season Four, Episode Five)

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I also found out that Bernard Cribbins did The Wombles and so I can say this line: The Young Ones decide to gas the Wombles as part of their plan to take over the world. I love this show.

Oh, that's brilliant.

Still don't know how to pronounce Agyeman.

Ajj-yay-man I think?

The Doctor is definitely rude,

And not ginger.
But yes, I agree with what you say there.

Oh Monty sounds like a Shakespearean character, "you impugn my honour!" this and "dishonour" that.

Shakespearean Sontarans, that's an amusing mental image. "Do you bite your thumb at me sir?"

Helpful too that the Doctor remembers this particular piece of Latin that just so happens to almost have her name in.

Eh, I'm pretty sure the Doctor speaks latin. He speaks everything.

NO ONE THOUGHT TO WARN ME ABOUT THIS NUTCASE?! Not even obliquely. Not one 'there's a really crazy person in this serial; I mean Librarian poo crazy, so hold on to your horses and prepare for Insane'? I hate you all.

If we warned you we wouldn't get the undiluted reactions!
Also we don't necessarily think of these things. I'm not sure if I've rewatched these episodes since they were broadcast? If so, once at most.
And when I recall, them, the focus of my recollection is more on the Doctor, Martha and the Sontarans.

For for an actual actor with a part? Freema Agyeman. She did a good job, better than usual, but she's still pretty bland. Her best scene is definitely her death scene.

Wait, what? How is she the runner-up best actor and also the worst actor. Sense - this does not make it.

re Adam Mitchell: Adam was cool. Adam was an evil Doctor Who companion. You do not get an evil Doctor Who companion or a companion who backstabs the Doctor whilst a member of the crew (River does not count, she was evil before she became a companion and stopped after). I do so wish he would come back and try to steal the TARDIS. That's never going to happen, but I don't care!

I wouldn't want him to come back and try to steal the TARDIS - because there's no way he could actually do anything with it. But for him to come back as a proper villain, or in connection with a proper villain would have been interesting. Before the end of series 2 I wondered if he might turn up working for Torchwood. Though come to think of it he was from the future as I recall, so that wouldn't really have worked.

Don't worry, the finale is awesome!!!

That's a highly debatable and subjective statement.

Edit: For all you Rose haters out there in a 2010 Radio Times poll regarding the best Doctor Who companions: Rose came no 1. Sarah Jane came 2nd, Donna came 3rd, K9 came 4th and Amy came 5th. I can try find a link if anyone's interested.

And the Rose-haters will continue to disagree with all the people who voted for her in that poll. I don't see if you have a point here beyond "Ha ha, you're not the majority."

Please call him General Beardy or Kernel Cobb in your writeup.

Hey, if you want to choose the nicknames you should write your own reviews.

In fact I will say that every ep in DW Season four is awesome. There is not a single bad ep. Which makes me sad as Moff will not be doing four seasons of Matt Smith. Playground I dare you to find a bad ep from season four (though do spoiler it)!

Coorli, don't open this spoiler.

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Journey's End. I know you disagree with me, but the ending is just terrible as far as I'm concerned. It's the classic problem with RTD finales - excellent setup, lacklustre resolution.
It did have some good bits. It wasn't all bad, but the resolution's a pretty major thing to screw up.

To your general statement, there is a wide gulf between "Every ep is awesome," and "There are no bad eps." The general standard is improved, I'm much less likely to skip episodes on a rewatch through the series, but several still fall short of awesome.

PS: Finally got why thread II is called "I should have a hat". Clever, especially as Troughton's catchphrase is remembered (to his chagrin) as "when I say run, run".

I'll be honest - I just looked on the Second Doctor's wikiquote page, at the catchphrases, and this one seemed appropriate since Eleven also has a penchant for hats.

...and now I have to add several more quotes to this post...

Would be nice to see an evil Companion though. Obviously the Doctor would wear away at the evil over time, so that would be a nice character arc to see.

I stand by the fact it would have been interesting if the Doctor had imprisoned the Master in the TARDIS like he intended at the end of series 3. Have the Master there, just giving snarky evil advice.

I agree with the other four in the top five though.

Even K-9?
I'm not a great fan of K-9. I certainly wouldn't put him in my top five companions.

Even . . . the Doctor. I know, I know, I shouldn't have said it. But you could make even him, the most humble person in the universe, a Sue in a twenty second clip show.

BRB LMAO.

(Also, why do you think we all were bullied? Because we watch Doctor Who we are all nerds and victims? (Well, I got bullied but... I thought I'd say we don't necessarily all were. I hope))

This is an internet forum based around a D&D-themed webcomic.
It's not a big leap to assume a lot of the regular posters were bullied at some point for being geeky/nerdy and stuff.

Sontarans are great. They show up too rarely. We need a Sontaran companion!

Given they're all dedicated to war, I think Strax from A Good Man Goes to War is the best we're going to get in that regard.

'Are you my mummy?' was a nice moment, but Empty Child totally made gasmasks THE accessory for Who fans.

Of course other episodes promote other things in that regard.
The epitome of this would probably be... let's see...
Gas mask.
Bow tie (Cool).
Fez (Cool).
Brainy specs.
Trainers.
Banana (Good).
Decorative celery.
Scarf.
Is everyone LOLing at this mental image yet? If so, then my work here is done.
I'm sure I could think of more, given time.

Also, was Disney week or something? Mentioning your childhood girl crushes on Mulan and Pocahontas (mostly acceptable, Mulan was great and Pocahontas at least kind of hot and also I feel old again... ) and an Aladdin clip?

Curly loves Disney. A lot.

[Starscream]

To the rest of the playground I have found something. Donna Noble was around in Season three living her life. Which means she was there when Mr Saxon took over the world. What do you think happened to her and her family before the button reset was pressed?

I think a Toclafane came to kill her and her family as part of the 10%, but she shouted at it so badly that (due to its childlike personality) it ran away crying.

Thus the Master only successfully killed 9.99999995% of the population.

[turkishproverb]

I think a Toclafane came to kill her and her family as part of the 10%, but she shouted at it so badly that (due to its childlike personality) it ran away crying.

Thus the Master only successfully killed 9.99999995% of the population.

This. I don't care if it actually happened. This.

[Kobold-Bard]

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Did it work?

[Kato]

Not that it matters a lot but I think quite a few of your quotes reference Sunken, not Curly...

Coorli, don't open this spoiler.

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Journey's End. I know you disagree with me, but the ending is just terrible as far as I'm concerned. It's the classic problem with RTD finales - excellent setup, lacklustre resolution.
It did have some good bits. It wasn't all bad, but the resolution's a pretty major thing to screw up.

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Hm... I guess it was okay. Better than season three, I think. We'll see what Curly thinks.

I stand by the fact it would have been interesting if the Doctor had imprisoned the Master in the TARDIS like he intended at the end of series 3. Have the Master there, just giving snarky evil advice.

Sounds like a nice idea but it would be a waste of the Master if he all got to do was sit in a cell and get to make a comment or two per episode.

This is an internet forum based around a D&D-themed webcomic.
It's not a big leap to assume a lot of the regular posters were bullied at some point for being geeky/nerdy and stuff.

Still... I don't know, maybe it's really like 'insert generic media about US highschool' tells us but in my experience you do't get bullied because you have an interest in pen&paper or whatsoever. Maybe I'm wrong, though.

Given they're all dedicated to war, I think Strax from A Good Man Goes to War is the best we're going to get in that regard.

Well, a man can hope...

Of course other episodes promote other things in that regard.
The epitome of this would probably be... let's see...
Gas mask.
Bow tie (Cool).
Fez (Cool).
Brainy specs.
Trainers.
Banana (Good).
Decorative celery.
Scarf.

Sounds like an awesome halloween costume but how will people see my brainy specs under the gas mask?

Is everyone LOLing at this mental image yet? If so, then my work here is done.
I'm sure I could think of more, given time.

Curly loves Disney. A lot.

Ah, nothing wrong with that.Just didn't notice so much at once. Maybe because it were too subsequent reviews *shrug*

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Did it work?

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I tried to. Does that count?

[Dr. Simon]

After 18 months or more of hard work, I have finally watched the entire back catalogue of Doctor Who. Blimey!

Now bereft of my fix, my plan is to post what I think to be the highlights of each season, to provoke discussion, dissension or bemusement. I'm not going to spoiler them as I'll try to be circumspect about details, and it seems pointless spoilering a show thats over 40 years old. Classic Who has Seasons (1-26), NuWho has Series (1-6 so far). I'll throw out a new season every now and again.

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

And now...

Season Two (1964-65)
First Doctor/Susan/Ian/Barbara/Vicki/Steven

The Dalek Invasion of Earth – yes, I know, another Dalek story, but this one has some great atmosphere, particularly helped by some location shots in deserted London streets. And Barbara gets that moment with the truck.

The Web Planet – so the costumes are a bit like a school play, but I admire this one for its attempt to portray a really alien planet, and although the costumes are pretty poor, the actors manage a good job of seeming quite alien in speech and movement, which helps - there is a surprisingly good moment when the menoptera fly in to attack the zarbi. I like the interplay between The Doctor/William Hartnell and Vicki/Maureen O’ Brien. Both actors and characters seem to go well together, each egging the other on into mischief.

Honourable Mentions
The Crusade – very stylishly done, almost Shakespearian in feel, and again some nice moments with The Doctor and Vicki. Shame, again, this one is incomplete.

Planet of Giants – looks surprisingly good, but the plot doesn’t really go anywhere.

[KillianHawkeye]

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Did it work?

LOL, you got me.