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

[legomaster00156]

Y'know, I realized last night that it was actually a really good idea of River to sacrifice herself in place of the 10th Doctor, back in the library. Had he died, she would've never met him. This would cause her to never have written the note on the Psychic Paper, thus never having drawn him there to die. So, she does meet him, and then sends him to die, only to not meet him. Paradox! (This also means a companion thought about the logical consequences of the Doctor's actions more than the Doctor does... which is actually not that unusual.)

[turkishproverb]

You'll enjoy Doctor Who a lot more if you don't try to figure out time travel paradoxes, continuity, and the like, as it really isn't written with a great deal of consistency.

Just repeat to yourself it's just a show...

[KillianHawkeye]

Y'know, I realized last night that it was actually a really good idea of River to sacrifice herself in place of the 10th Doctor, back in the library. Had he died, she would've never met him. This would cause her to never have written the note on the Psychic Paper, thus never having drawn him there to die. So, she does meet him, and then sends him to die, only to not meet him. Paradox! (This also means a companion thought about the logical consequences of the Doctor's actions more than the Doctor does... which is actually not that unusual.)

Plus, she herself would never have existed. She exists, therefore she must die!

[Nightmarenny]

Y'know, I realized last night that it was actually a really good idea of River to sacrifice herself in place of the 10th Doctor, back in the library. Had he died, she would've never met him. This would cause her to never have written the note on the Psychic Paper, thus never having drawn him there to die. So, she does meet him, and then sends him to die, only to not meet him. Paradox! (This also means a companion thought about the logical consequences of the Doctor's actions more than the Doctor does... which is actually not that unusual.)

Was that going to kill the Doctor or just force him to regenerate? She'd probably still exist if he was forced to regenerate instead of her dying.

[Wrathous]

OMG this is so exciting. I really just got cable and BBC so I just stumbled onto Dr. Who. I watch him as much as I can, so excited to see people here like it!
I must say the last season was a fantastic ending and this season will be even better. The lion witch and the wardrobe style was awesome and I cant wait for what happens next!!

[NikitaDarkstar]

OMG this is so exciting. I really just got cable and BBC so I just stumbled onto Dr. Who. I watch him as much as I can, so excited to see people here like it!
I must say the last season was a fantastic ending and this season will be even better. The lion witch and the wardrobe style was awesome and I cant wait for what happens next!!

Welcome to the fandom! If you haven't already I suggest seeing if you can't find the older episodes of Doctor Who also, at least the modern ones, and unless you don't mind spoilers watch out for anything in spoiler tags here, they really, really are there for a reason.

Oh and if you hadn't noticed already you really, really do need to watch the episodes in order, the show can be confusing enough as it is sometimes, getting them out of order would make things a whole lot worse. And if you have any questions etc. I think most of us wouldn't mind answering them, otherwise http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Doctor_Who_Wiki is an excellent resource for anything related to Doctor Who! (But again, I do warn you it does have spoilers. :))

[legomaster00156]

Was that going to kill the Doctor or just force him to regenerate? She'd probably still exist if he was forced to regenerate instead of her dying.

River stated that the shock of running the computer through him would stop both of his hearts instantly. So, yes, he would be permanently dead.

[turkishproverb]

OMG this is so exciting. I really just got cable and BBC so I just stumbled onto Dr. Who. I watch him as much as I can, so excited to see people here like it!
I must say the last season was a fantastic ending and this season will be even better. The lion witch and the wardrobe style was awesome and I cant wait for what happens next!!

*hugs*

Welcome newbie!

[Dr. Simon]

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

For each series I choose 2 or 3 of what I consider to be the best stories, and a selection of also-rans. "Stories" 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.

First Doctor

Spoiler

Show

Season One (1963-1964)
Season Two (1964-1965)
Season Three (1965-1966)
Season Four (1966-1967)

Second Doctor

Spoiler

Show

Season Four (1966-1967)
Season Five (1967-1968)
Season Six (1968-1969)

Third Doctor

Spoiler

Show

Season Seven (1970)
Season Eight (1971)
Season Nine (1972)
Season Ten (1972-1973)
Season Eleven (1973-1974)

Fourth Doctor

Spoiler

Show

Season Twelve (1974-1975)
Season Thirteen (1975-1976)
Season Fourteen (1976-1977)

It was interesting to see, coming to this post-Star Wars season, if the success of that film influenced Doctor Who in any way. There are a few more lasers, in the Star Wars style, than before, and from time to time you get a spaceship overflight effects shot, but on the whole, very little changes. This is the season that introduces K9, which I guess you could cite as a Star Wars influenced element.

The season is an uneven one, partly due to upheavals in the production team, and marks the point where Tom Baker episodes are less reliable than they have been up until now.

Season Fifteen (1977-1978)
Fourth Doctor/Leela

Horror Of Fang Rock – a tight, claustrophobic story with some excellent Leela moments (who, despite the usual leather bikini, appears at her sexiest here in a thick woollen jumper. At least she’s dressing appropriately). It’s a pity that the body count is so high, which somehow, counter-intuitively, diminishes the horror. Only time so far we've seen a Rutan, arch-enemies of the Sontarans.

The Sunmakers – this is another story that goes for fun above anything else. Similar to the Seventh Doctor’s Happiness Patrol (also, the Collector prefigures Sil from the Sixth Doctor era), it sticks in my mind because the final fate of the Collector (shrivelling down the plug-hole) greatly amused my seven-year old self, although it looks less convincing now.

Honourable Mentions
Image of the Fendahl – remniscent of Season Thirteen’s gothic horror-themed stories, although I have no idea what it was all about!

Completists may want to watch The Invisible Enemy for K9's first appearance, but be warned, it's a horrible mess.

[littlekKID]

OMG this is so exciting. I really just got cable and BBC so I just stumbled onto Dr. Who. I watch him as much as I can, so excited to see people here like it!
I must say the last season was a fantastic ending and this season will be even better. The lion witch and the wardrobe style was awesome and I cant wait for what happens next!!

Welcome!
It's weird to hear that you started with season six, I didn't think you can watch it without seeing the fifth season first.
Even if you can watch the last one without watching the other ones -I still think you should watch the Previous Seasons -becuase ,hey! It's more DW
(also, both RTD and Moffat loves putting references to Previous episodes, so more jokes!), at least from the new seires (the Classic Seires is a bit less... accessible).

[CurlyKitGirl]

So, on Boxing Day I fell down the stairs and sprained both my wrists.

Given my natural proclivity towards enormous walls of text, and my ambitious Twelve Days of Whomas project . . . yeah. Didn't fancy destroying my wrists for life (or at least causing agony and/or being horrendously slow typing speed), so the project was suspended.
And then about five days before I went back to uni I get some emails from my tutors.
How does one say "Oh sweet Christ on a bicycle, I have five new essays to write, plus two missed essays and revision for some exams and reading for next term and I need a drink right about now" in German?
And then I was ill for much of last week.

But it's been officially term time for a week, everything's . . . not easy. I have a heavy workload this term, but my wrists are not sprained and I don't have a bajillion things to do. And I'm not sick.

Therefore I declare Boxing Day to be the day that I post 'The Unicorn and the Wasp', the 27^th Dec 2011 the day I next post a review and so on and so forth.
It is late, I am tired, but I only have one essay to write tomorrow, so optimism states a review should be up by Wednesday.
Barring unforeseen circumstances.
Happy Second Boxing Day everyone! (Soon)

[Thufir]

Therefore I declare Boxing Day to be the day that I post 'The Unicorn and the Wasp', the 27^th Dec 2011 the day I next post a review and so on and so forth.
It is late, I am tired, but I only have one essay to write tomorrow, so optimism states a review should be up by Wednesday.
Barring unforeseen circumstances.
Happy Second Boxing Day everyone! (Soon)

Oh wow.
I'd pretty much given up on more Curly reviews until your next lot of holidays.
Though, that will take you through next weekend. Are you planning on doing reviews while at the UK meetup?
...actually, that could be potentially fun, if time consuming. We could all do a collaborative review or something. Up to you, though.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Oh wow.
I'd pretty much given up on more Curly reviews until your next lot of holidays.
Though, that will take you through next weekend. Are you planning on doing reviews while at the UK meetup?
...actually, that could be potentially fun, if time consuming. We could all do a collaborative review or something. Up to you, though.

I admit I've dallied with the thought of doing a Who review at a meetup, it would be more of a massive MTS than my usual wall of text though.
But there will be lots going on, and I don't think people would be interested.

[Das Platyvark]

I must ashamedly admit that despite my varied interests, most of which I follow somewhat avidly, this show is the one thing to have brought me to the point of squeeing (or at least, near squeeing). Particularly some of Matt Smith's more odd moments, and the big reveals (That weren't from the Davies era).

[Kato]

How does one say "Oh sweet Christ on a bicycle, I have five new essays to write, plus two missed essays and revision for some exams and reading for next term and I need a drink right about now" in German?

"Oh süßer Jesus auf einem Fahrrad, ich muss fünf neue Aufsätze schreiben, sowie zwei verpasste Aufsätze und nacharbeiten für ein paar Prüfungen und für das nächste semester lesen und ich brauche jetzt dringend etwas zu trinken." Though I guess I should have been less literal.


Anyway, looking forward to next boxing day, but again, if you have work to do, do that first. We are pleased with any one review you can write for us. (Well, I am anyway) And I wish you and whoever else goes to the meetup lots of fun!

[Timeras]

"Oh süße Weihnacht

That would be christmas. Christ is Christus

[Thufir]

I admit I've dallied with the thought of doing a Who review at a meetup, it would be more of a massive MTS than my usual wall of text though.
But there will be lots going on, and I don't think people would be interested.

I'd be interested. Since I consistently end up giving kind of point-by-point responses to your reviews, I've considered the idea before of just cutting out the middleman and us doing a collaborative one if we could arrange for it.
If it's a possibility, I'll bring my DVDs to the meetup just in case.

@^: I was wondering about that...

[Kato]

That would be christmas. Christ is Christus

Urgh, what was I thinking? Must be Curly got me all Christmassy again with her promise of review presents...


btw, there seems to be a new Who game with the Doctor and River... anyone ever played any of the previous ones? Are they any good?

[Androgeus]

btw, there seems to be a new Who game with the Doctor and River... anyone ever played any of the previous ones? Are they any good?

The Eternity Clock is a different game than the adventure games. They are being developed by different studios (Supermassive Games for EC, and Sumo Digital for the adventure games). They do look quite different as well, EC seems to be "2.5"d platformer from the trailer, whereas the adventure games are baisicly 3d point and click adventure(duh) games.
The adventure games are ok if you get them for free, I wouldn't want to spend money on them though.

edit:Trailer for EC seeing as it hasn't been linked

[Androgeus]

bleh, Hate to double post but it's been days since the last posts so meh.

Matt Smith & Karren Gillan both won Outstanding Drama performance (male & female respectively) at the National TV Awards. The awards are voted on by the public so that might colour the worth of the award.

[littlekKID]

Matt Smith & Karren Gillan both won Outstanding Drama performance (male & female respectively) at the National TV Awards. The awards are voted on by the public so that might colour the worth of the award.

Totally deserve it, especially Matt

[LokeyITP]

I must be getting old, even liked Lazarus and 42 this time around. Yes, 42 still doesn't quite work, but that's true for a lot of my favorites anyway :)

[NikitaDarkstar]

I must be getting old, even liked Lazarus and 42 this time around. Yes, 42 still doesn't quite work, but that's true for a lot of my favorites anyway :)

Ehh no harm. I still like End of Time. *hangs head in shame* Granted it's mainly because I do like the Master a lot.. and a planet full of the Master and "get out of the way!" completely justifies the existence of that episode for me.


Also am I the only one who's hung up on how they claim it's impossible for anything to orbit a black hole in the Impossible Planet (+ Satan Pit).. it's no harder to orbit a black hole than it is to orbit a star! >.<

[Kato]

Also am I the only one who's hung up on how they claim it's impossible for anything to orbit a black hole in the Impossible Planet (+ Satan Pit).. it's no harder to orbit a black hole than it is to orbit a star! >.<

Yes and no. It depends on the distance. To be in a stable orbit around a black hole you need to have at least a distance of 3 times the distance on the event horizon to the center... Maybe they were referring to that ad the writers just didn't go into detail?

[Das Platyvark]

To me, the best part of the end of time was seeing Tennant go.
That, and The Master. 'Nuff said.

[Weezer]

Yes and no. It depends on the distance. To be in a stable orbit around a black hole you need to have at least a distance of 3 times the distance on the event horizon to the center... Maybe they were referring to that ad the writers just didn't go into detail?

That's what I assumed, it's not that there is no stable orbit around the black hole, it's just that they were in an orbit that would normally not be stable.

[NikitaDarkstar]

Yes and no. It depends on the distance. To be in a stable orbit around a black hole you need to have at least a distance of 3 times the distance on the event horizon to the center... Maybe they were referring to that ad the writers just didn't go into detail?

Possible, it just grated on my nerves a bit, and it came back full-force when talking about the episode with a buddy yesterday. But yhea for my own sake I'm just gonna assume that's what they meant.


As for seeing Tennant go, I really didn't like the sendoff he got, to drawn out and melodramatic.

[Dienekes]

To me, the best part of the end of time was seeing Tennant go.
That, and The Master. 'Nuff said.

It turned the master from hilariously crazy to a cartoon that eats people, also the "master race" pun was groan worthy.

That said "Out of the way" was bad ass.

Now I liked Tennant, but I can't say I enjoyed seeing him go, because seeing him go was the longest, most drawn out, unnecessary, boring, denouement ever.

[Weezer]

Possible, it just grated on my nerves a bit, and it came back full-force when talking about the episode with a buddy yesterday. But yhea for my own sake I'm just gonna assume that's what they meant.


As for seeing Tennant go, I really didn't like the sendoff he got, to drawn out and melodramatic.

To be fair his whole tenure was laced with melodrama, so it makes some sense that his sendoff was melodramatic. Though I still agree it was a really bad sendoff.

[littlekKID]

As for seeing Tennant go, I really didn't like the sendoff he got, to drawn out and melodramatic.

Now I liked Tennant, but I can't say I enjoyed seeing him go, because seeing him go was the longest, most drawn out, unnecessary, boring, denouement ever.

To be fair his whole tenure was laced with melodrama, so it makes some sense that his sendoff was melodramatic. Though I still agree it was a really bad sendoff.

Agree with all of you