Doctor Who (again) [SPOILERS]

[grolim]

River is... well, we don't really know enough about her. She loves/d the Doctor and she is a lot like him, probably even more ruthless.

Probably? She made a Dalek beg for mercy. I don't think even the doctor has done that.

As for the Silents being evil. They killed one woman for no reason, kidnapped Amy, manipulated an entire race for their own ends without even making things better like stopping the wars, where Amy was the caretaker guy seemed so crazy probably from near constant exposure from them and their commands, took a child and put her in a spacesuit. Yeah, evil.

[KillianHawkeye]

Can they leave? They helped humans develop rockets capable of getting to the moon. Who says they have anything better?

Well it is clearly shown that their technology is way better than humanity's. Remember how they tricked out that spacesuit with weapons, armor, and life support? And weren't they trying to build their own TARDIS or something? Even if they don't currently have a functioning ship, I'll bet they could at least call for a ride from somebody if they had to.

Wild Mass Guessing: Maybe the Silence didn't rule the earth in the "original" universe. That would explain how in all the Doctor's visits, he never encountered them before. And we know he didn't because when you see one you remember all the previous times you've seen one.

The current universe was actually created (at least partially) from the memories of Amy Pond. That's why the Doctor and her parents now exist; she remembered to recreate them as the universe rebooted.

The Silence (or whoever it was that destroyed the universe) were taking ideas from her memories (the Romans, Rory, the Pandorica) to set up their trap; maybe they put some stuff in her head as well. Stuff like "We rule the earth and always have". Then she subconsciously made it true when the universe was rebooted.

That's why they wanted it destroyed to begin with. They knew it would come back, and wanted it to come back differently.

</crackpot theory>

That is an awesome theory and I hope it is true because it would explain a lot!

[Level8Mudcrab]

I quite like your crackpot theory, Starscream.

And as KillianHawkeye mentioned, the Silent did have the TARDIS from The Lodger, so perhaps they would have had a means of escape. It could even be the reason for it being where it was during The Lodger. After the Silent used it to escape, perhaps it was then converted to it's current state, with the autopilot and such, then crashed on Earth.

This is Doctor Who, the odds of it finding it's way back to Earth would be pretty high.


Also, we're nearly at 50 pages. We'll be able to have a new thread right in time for the new episodes.

[The Extinguisher]

Was this mentioned?

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Apparently, IMDB lists David Tennant as staring in "Lets Kill Hitler" as the Doctor. Alongside Matt Smith.

Please tell me this is actually happening.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1795142/

[Weezer]

Was this mentioned?

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Apparently, IMDB lists David Tennant as staring in "Lets Kill Hitler" as the Doctor. Alongside Matt Smith.

Please tell me this is actually happening.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1795142/

While that would be awesome, IMDB is notoriously inaccurate about this kind of thing (don't you love trolls?), so I'd disregard that until the episode airs unless I see a quote from Moffat or someone at his level confirming it.

[Sanguine]

Was this mentioned?

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Apparently, IMDB lists David Tennant as staring in "Lets Kill Hitler" as the Doctor. Alongside Matt Smith.

Please tell me this is actually happening.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1795142/

Man, I hope that's true. It would be so frikkin' awesome.

Edit: Well, the Doctor Who wiki says there are currently no plans to bring back any past Doctors*. But they could just be late on the news. Maybe.

*This page, under casting notes.

Edit, the Second: Okay the source also said we would see no classic monsters this year but both Sontarans and Cybermen appeared in A Good Man Goes to War so I don't think it's entirely reliable.

[KillianHawkeye]

Even though I doubt it for "Let's Kill Hitler," it does make me wonder if they're going to have any episodes with Doctor crossover like they did a few times in the old series. I'd LOVE to see 9, 10 and 11 on some wacky adventure together!

[Androgeus]

Even though I doubt it for "Let's Kill Hitler," it does make me wonder if they're going to have any episodes with Doctor crossover like they did a few times in the old series. I'd LOVE to see 9, 10 and 11 on some wacky adventure together!

The 50th anniversary is in 2013 so we should be getting something awesome then, and what's more awesome than a multi-doctor story? While Tennat said he'd definitely come back, Eccleston said he wouldn't, as he considers himself done with the role.

Edit: I went and found my source for Eccleston

[Kato]

Multi Dcotr stories are always fun. Now someone just needs to find a time machine to bring back the old Doctor's as well. (or for Baker, just put him in his wacky costume, nobody will notice the difference )

Also, not to disregard Starscreams theory but I think the bit about 'memory' is taken a bit too literal. Amy can't possibly remember even 1/1000000000 of the universe. It's more like some abstract kind of quantum memory... stuff, I'd say. Of course, they might have manipulated that too but... I don't really see that happening.

[Sunken Valley]

Why do I keep coming back here? Even I don't know. This post has a lot of info so I’ll spoiler it.



The Silent

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Eldan might have it right. The Silent are likely unable to leave earth. After all, they are unable to make their own tech and have to borrow someone else's tech all the time. You'd have thought our moon tech would be better if we had aliens helping us. the show implies that the Silent have made earth their home (I think?) Anyways, peoples are always saying that the Silent were evil and being dictators to humanity, but did they do anything that bad? All I saw was them killing Nancy Baldwin (do you kill a species for killing Nancy Baldwin?), walking around earth (do you kill a species for jaywalking?) and abducting Amy (do you kill a species for...well you do if you're the doctor but by then he had already decided too. Then again were those silent not living the fanboy dream .) In all honesty they were just subtly controlling some of our actions whilst letting us live thinking we were safe. That's a lot better than most world rulers do. Who says a lawful evil ruler can't be benevolent? Who says the aliens ruling us can't be as well. This conversation reminds me of the film "Adjustment Bureau". Except instead of agents in hats, we have nightmare fuel.

Starscream’s theory

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I like it, but as Kato said it has problems. Here is my Theory. I say that the Silent blew up the Doctor’s TARDIS “because” of DOTM. They knew he would save the day and reboot the universe but they needed that. They used the energy to reboot the old universe to make themselves a second, separate universe where they could be in charge.

River Sue

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I do not deny that Rose is close to sue territory (although she did always get the doctor into trouble and did make many stupid mistakes). I'm saying that River is too. She is just a little bit more protected due to her "special guest star" status. Looking at Mary Sue traits, she does get all the best entrances and lines. She is beloved by her creator (The way the Moff goes on about her it's like she's the new Rose). And now she has the weird background (although I saw it coming). Looking suspicious...

Rusty’s glory days

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The story's he wrote are all really cool. Season one is praised and all but four of the stories are written by him. Season two was a misfire. Curly would agree that his season three eps were good (Brannigan! and Slashometer). His season four eps are even better (we all like midnight). But in all honesty you knew what to expect from Rusty. You got the revival of a classic monster, an overarching "hint hint" and a cool finale. Season two is only really disliked because it did not try hard enough. It just was not as impressive as one, three and four with regard to an overarching story line (curly will agree). Same with Moffat. I agree that his stories were among the best back when Davis ran the show but I do not think he’s a showrunner. I will quickly sum up my thoughts on Moffat’s run (I’d do Davis but he’s too long: one, three and four are good, two is bad and 2009 season is YMMV.)

Season five
Eleventh hour: good, sums up the doctor and makes him loveable.
Beast below: good, gives the companion more depth.
Victory of Daleks: YMMV, on one side the Daleks were un-villain decayed, on the other, Amy started getting annoying.
Weeping angels two-parter: bad, ruins the angels entirely from the portrayal we saw in Blink. The crack in time feels forced.
Vampires in Venice: bad, bit of a naff episode, Amy becomes annoying again, My Doctor would not use a companion as a spy.
Amy’s choice: Good, although it did drift quite a lot and it wasn’t really gripping.
Silurians two-parter: bad, thought the welsh humans were all stupid, silurians didn’t grip me enough and Rory had not done enough to make his death an impact.
Van gogh: YMMV, did not feel like a doctor who ep, but then again it was made by the guy who did love actually so it was cool.
Lodger: Good, I liked it, it was funny in a good way and excellent forshadowing.
Pandorica opens/big bang: Pandorica Opens was very good, really liked how it tied everything together and had a brilliant cliffhanger. Big bang was not. I expected a big pay-off from this ep. I did not get it. I just got the Doctor and co running round an empty museum. Interviews show that the stone Dalek was a “last minute addition”. It felt last minute. The fez was the only good part of big bang.

Season six
Christmas Carol: Christmas eps are always good. It’s christmas!
Impossible Astronaut/ Day of the moon: much like last years finale Impossible Astronaut was a cool Wham episode which I liked. Day of the Moon was confusing and had poor payoffs to what I expected.
That Pirate episode: FAIL!
Doctor’s Wife: this was the best episode ever! Although, it was written by a pro-league writer.
Flesh two parter: The rebel flesh was underwhelming and felt too much like the silurians ep. The almost people was excellent, especially the end. Overall, I think this two parter dragged.
Good man goes to War: This episode promised good stuff. It was underwhelming. The reveal was not all that earth shattering and Rivers ID was predictable.

I have no idea what the next six will be like.

[Thufir]

I quite like your crackpot theory, Starscream.

As do I. I don't really expect it to be true, but I like it.

Also, we're nearly at 50 pages. We'll be able to have a new thread right in time for the new episodes.

I think this is the first time a Doctor Who thread has kept going long enough to require a second thread. I feel so proud.

[grolim]

Who says a lawful evil ruler can't be benevolent? Who says the aliens ruling us can't be as well.

Um, personally I think the "evil" part of lawful evil says they can't. They may do things that APPEAR benevolent. They may be benevolent to those required to stay in power or those that could remove them, but it is faked and a means to an end. At the end of the day evil is evil, anyone they are benevolent towards it is because they are a threat and are mollifying them till can get the upper hand, are useful and that is the easiest way to keep them available till time to use them. Someone on this board has the perfect sig about it. Evil isn't about looking after number one it's about looking after number one while crushing number two or something like that.

[Drolyt]

Um, personally I think the "evil" part of lawful evil says they can't. They may do things that APPEAR benevolent. They may be benevolent to those required to stay in power or those that could remove them, but it is faked and a means to an end. At the end of the day evil is evil, anyone they are benevolent towards it is because they are a threat and are mollifying them till can get the upper hand, are useful and that is the easiest way to keep them available till time to use them. Someone on this board has the perfect sig about it. Evil isn't about looking after number one it's about looking after number one while crushing number two or something like that.

I disagree. Someone who looks after number one without actively seeking to harm others can still be evil, so long as he is ruthless enough. This is the type of person who might be very pleasant and benevolent in general, but they have a goal (say world domination) and if you get in the way they will kill you. The aliens were manipulating humanity for their own goals yes, and this is evil, but that doesn't mean they have any intention of hurting humanity. Perhaps they don't care so long as they get what they want.

[Aidan305]

The aliens were manipulating humanity for their own goals yes, and this is evil, but that doesn't mean they have any intention of hurting humanity. Perhaps they don't care so long as they get what they want.

Hurting humanity may not be their goal, but they're certainly happy to do it. After all, from what we've seen they've been responsible for some of the nastiest conflicts in recent history (WWI and WWII) and who knows what they've done before now.

[Sanguine]

This is the type of person who might be very pleasant and benevolent in general, but they have a goal (say world domination) and if you get in the way they will kill you.

There's a trope for that.


I don't remember them saying the Silents were responsible for World War I and II. They obviously did nothing to stop the wars but that's not the same thing at all.

[Mkhaiwati]

I just finished re-watching Vampires in Venice. The head fish said that when their world was dying, they saw cracks, and in some there was Silence. The fish-people escaped through another crack.

Perhaps the Silence did the same, and when the universe was rebooted, they stayed here.

Or they forced the reboot to their advantage. The reboot worked because the Tardis was exploding everywhere and everytime. Somehow they got into the universe code and inserted themselves there.

The ship/Tardis thing from the lodger still has me a bit baffled. It looks and behaves (and even "lost its pilot") from the lodger, but in this series, it looked like a control room underground. So I would think the Silence appropriated it from some other race. Perhaps found it wandering around without a pilot.

[Aidan305]

There's a trope for that.


I don't remember them saying the Silents were responsible for World War I and II. They obviously did nothing to stop the wars but that's not the same thing at all.

I believe there are implications of it. I haven't seen the episode since it aired though so I can't place exactly where they are.

[KillianHawkeye]

I disagree. Someone who looks after number one without actively seeking to harm others can still be evil, so long as he is ruthless enough. This is the type of person who might be very pleasant and benevolent in general, but they have a goal (say world domination) and if you get in the way they will kill you.

You're missing the point. It doesn't matter if they're "seeking" to harm others, it's whether they are actually harming them. The guy in your example fits perfectly. He's out to fulfill his own goals, and anybody that interferes is eliminated. Evil.

Now, say, if he were out for world domination but refused to kill anybody in the process, that would be different.

[Sanguine]

You're missing the point. It doesn't matter if they're "seeking" to harm others, it's whether they are actually harming them. The guy in your example fits perfectly. He's out to fulfill his own goals, and anybody that interferes is eliminated. Evil.

Now, say, if he were out for world domination but refused to kill anybody in the process, that would be different.

Ah, but once he has the world under his thumb he can be perfectly benevolent. He could very well be a the ends justifies the means sort of guy and after world domination for the sake of world peace. Doesn't change the fact that he got their by climbing a mountain of corpses. In a world with objective good and evil, it is perfectly believable that he could be evil. Even though he was out for world peace.

Of course this discussion has nothing to do with Doctor Who and should probably be moved elsewhere if continued at all.

[BRC]

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The story's he wrote are all really cool. Season one is praised and all but four of the stories are written by him. Season two was a misfire. Curly would agree that his season three eps were good (Brannigan! and Slashometer). His season four eps are even better (we all like midnight). But in all honesty you knew what to expect from Rusty. You got the revival of a classic monster, an overarching "hint hint" and a cool finale. Season two is only really disliked because it did not try hard enough. It just was not as impressive as one, three and four with regard to an overarching story line (curly will agree). Same with Moffat. I agree that his stories were among the best back when Davis ran the show but I do not think he’s a showrunner. I will quickly sum up my thoughts on Moffat’s run (I’d do Davis but he’s too long: one, three and four are good, two is bad and 2009 season is YMMV.)

Season five
Eleventh hour: good, sums up the doctor and makes him loveable.
Beast below: good, gives the companion more depth.
Victory of Daleks: YMMV, on one side the Daleks were un-villain decayed, on the other, Amy started getting annoying.
Weeping angels two-parter: bad, ruins the angels entirely from the portrayal we saw in Blink. The crack in time feels forced.
Vampires in Venice: bad, bit of a naff episode, Amy becomes annoying again, My Doctor would not use a companion as a spy.
Amy’s choice: Good, although it did drift quite a lot and it wasn’t really gripping.
Silurians two-parter: bad, thought the welsh humans were all stupid, silurians didn’t grip me enough and Rory had not done enough to make his death an impact.
Van gogh: YMMV, did not feel like a doctor who ep, but then again it was made by the guy who did love actually so it was cool.
Lodger: Good, I liked it, it was funny in a good way and excellent forshadowing.
Pandorica opens/big bang: Pandorica Opens was very good, really liked how it tied everything together and had a brilliant cliffhanger. Big bang was not. I expected a big pay-off from this ep. I did not get it. I just got the Doctor and co running round an empty museum. Interviews show that the stone Dalek was a “last minute addition”. It felt last minute. The fez was the only good part of big bang.

Season six
Christmas Carol: Christmas eps are always good. It’s christmas!
Impossible Astronaut/ Day of the moon: much like last years finale Impossible Astronaut was a cool Wham episode which I liked. Day of the Moon was confusing and had poor payoffs to what I expected.
That Pirate episode: FAIL!
Doctor’s Wife: this was the best episode ever! Although, it was written by a pro-league writer.
Flesh two parter: The rebel flesh was underwhelming and felt too much like the silurians ep. The almost people was excellent, especially the end. Overall, I think this two parter dragged.
Good man goes to War: This episode promised good stuff. It was underwhelming. The reveal was not all that earth shattering and Rivers ID was predictable.

I have no idea what the next six will be like.

I actually agree with all these opinions on the episodes, which is odd, because I largely disagree with other stuff you said.

As for River being a Sue

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I don't think she is one, but that could be a definition-based thing. Everybody has their own idea of what a Sue is. In my mind, a Sue isn't just a Capable or successful character with few flaws, nor are they a character the author loves and wants us to love. In my mind, a Sue is defined by Infallibility, rather than anything else. By my definition, a Sue goes beyond a well-intentioned character, they have to be a character who can do no wrong, the author believes that every decision the character makes was not only the right one, it was the ONLY right one, and anybody who thinks otherwise is stupid or evil. This also has to come up frequently enough for it to be an issue. A Sue happens when an Author goes beyond wanting us to like a character as a character, and wants us to like them as a person.

For example, Captain Carrot from Discworld. He seems like he's got all the parts needed for being a Sue: he's Handsome, he's strong enough to stick a sword through a stone pillar, he's honest, everybody who meets him likes him, he's got royal blood (but dosn't care), he's nice, he is intelligent, and is an all-around good guy.
However, he avoids Suedom in two ways: By remaining a secondary, if capable, character, preventing the books from becoming "Ways Carrot Ironfounderson is awesome: Volume III", and he exists in a world where cunning, deceit, and cynicism can do more to further the cause of good than honesty and strength.


River isn't a sue, she could easily become one though. Currently, her role in the stories has been to hang around flirting with the Doctor, being mysterious, and occasionally shooting things. Yes she's very capable, but she's hardly a Sue. We're supposed to respect her capabilities and like her as a character, but Moffat isn't expecting us to love her as a Person.
That said, she could become a Sue, if she joins the regular cast before we get far enough back in her personal timeline that she loses all her knowledge and capabilities, then she could easily get annoying. We already have one character who can solve just about every problem, we don't need two of them.

I would say the Threshold is going to be the halfway point in the whole Doctor/River timeline. Once we reach the point where The Doctor has known River for longer than she has known him, then I would say it's safe to make her a regular cast member.

As for Rusty versus the Grand Moff

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I like Moffat much more than I like Rusty, but I think RTD was a better showrunner in some ways.
The thing about Moffat is that he is at his best when he is exploring something new, the Weeping Angels, the Silence, the Dream Lord, the Vashta-Nerada, he is good at creating these psychological-horror monsters, each with a set of Rules. The Angels only move when you arn't looking at them, the Vashta-Nerada have you when you have two shadows, you forget about the Silence the moment you look away from them, ect. Those moments are where he is at his best.
However, he's not very good at handling repeat performances or any monster that is just another instance of "Something nasty that tears your face off". His weak epsiodes, Vampires in Venice, Victory of the Daleks, the Rebel Flesh, the Silurian two-parter, are all fairly straightforward about the Threat and what it is capable of. And when he did the Angels two-parter he had to start making up new "Rules" (Images turn into Angels, if you look them in the eyes you turn into one) in order to try to make it work, and while I liked those episodes, they kind of fell flat. If you hand him a classic Who monster like the Daleks, something the audience is very familiar with, then you're stopping him from doing what he does best.
Of course, the pirate episode seems to fit the formula for a good Moffat ep (New Monster that can take you out easily but has a set of Rules), and it kind of fell flat too.

Rusty on the other hand was all about the Spectacle. He was at his best when he had the Doctor strutting around chewing the scenery like it was an all-you-can-eat buffet. He liked his monsters to be straightforward "rip you to shreds" affairs, though he would settle for having them blast you to bits. And this led to plenty of good episodes, even a few great ones. For the most part it led to episodes that were entertaining but forgettable. It also led to a couple really terrible moments where he tried to make a big moment seem particularly "Epic", and the result turned out cheesy. Examples, Gloweey Floaty Jesus-Doctor, flying lightning-hands Master, Giant Cyberman powered by Dickensian imagery, ect. When Moffat tried to do a straightforward episode, we got the mediocre Silurian two-parter. When RTD tried to do a subtle, psychological horror episode, we got Fear Her.

As for "A Good Man Goes to War"

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It wasn't actually a bad episode. There was an epic conflict, some amusing guest-star characters, enough callbacks to be entertaining but not so many that they overburdened the story. Yes the reveal was somewhat predictable, but that dosn't mean it wasn't a good plot point.
The only thing that made it bad was it's packaging. It was packaged as the episode where the Doctor went too far, where his desire to protect his friends caused him to cross a serious line.

Instead we got a clever plan that took the station with very few casualties until the Headless Monks sprung their trap. The Doctor remained exactly the same as he was, a good guy hoping to solve problems with the least amount of violence possible. I think Moffat was expecting us to be shocked by the idea that the Doctor has been running around causing enough trouble to warrant somebody creating an army to stop him, but it didn't really work. All that trouble he was causing was usually to save somebody. This wasn't Rorschach burning a man to death, this wasn't Batman realizing that he was the reason the Joker was terrorizing the city. This was just another group that disliked the doctor, only instead of being body-snatching robots or nigh-indestructible omnicidal maniacs, it was just an army of ordinary guys with guns who happened to think the Doctor was some combination of Vash the Stampede and Kaiser Soze.
"On her homeworld Doctor means "Great Warrior", oh no, what's he supposed to be doing, NOT running around saving lives? Putting on fake mustaches so nobody recognizes him (Although I could see a running joke of the Doctor adopting a series of silly disguises which he discards after a minute or two being pretty funny), not using his reputation to avoid further bloodshed? When faced with murderous repair bots and a power core that's about to explode, killing the millions of people being transported between the stars in cold-sleep, is he supposed to say "Nah, better let everybody die so people don't start telling stories about me" and get back in the TARDIS?
NO, he's supposed to make funny faces at the robots until they start chasing him, then, when he's got them all in one place, hook his screwdriver up to a loudspeaker and reprogram them all at once.
At which point he probably turns to one of the surviving crewmembers and says "THAT'S why I carry a screwdriver".

[The Extinguisher]

Was this mentioned?

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Apparently, IMDB lists David Tennant as staring in "Lets Kill Hitler" as the Doctor. Alongside Matt Smith.

Please tell me this is actually happening.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1795142/

NEWS: Turns out it definitely was just an error. David Tennant is no longer on the cast page. Sadface.

[Sunken Valley]

I actually agree with all these opinions on the episodes, which is odd, because I largely disagree with other stuff you said.

When Moffat tried to do a straightforward episode, we got the mediocre Silurian two-parter. When RTD tried to do a subtle, psychological horror episode, we got Fear Her.

I'm glad someone agrees with one part. However, neither the Silurian episode nor Fear her were written by Moffat or Davis. They were written by Chris Chibnall and Matthew Graham respectively. Although it's still bad because Chris had done the "burn with me" ep and Graham went on to do the flesh two parter. Although Rusty and Moff would have had a say in both eps. Please do not attack Fear Her. It was a last minute job, written after a story done by Stephen Fry fell through. The Pirate ep was also written by Stephen Thompson, a bad writer.

Any ways with your comments about Rusty's props being naff, I agree. But I'd much rather have that than stories which fluctuate from good to bad. Between two parters.

Besides, when Davis tried to do a subtle psychological horror, it was called Midnight. And it was a success. Scarier than everything except Blink and Empty Child.

[Philistine]

"Fluctuate from bad to good between two-parters"... like between the rather good Sound of Drums and the spontaneous-lobotomy-inducingly awful Last of the Time Lords, you mean? Davies has a knack for setting up conflicts, but he cannot make them pay off to save his life: every time he grabbed at Epic he came away with fistfuls of Epic Fail instead. Never more so than Tinkerbell Jesus Doctor , though. I mean, I'd been warned beforehand that the resolution of that story was lame, but I didn't expect it to be quite that cringeworthy.

Also - Midnight? Scary? Really? I certainly didn't find it so. I never once believed that the Doctor was in any danger; as for the others on the train, the episode did not do a good job of establishing any of them as characters, let alone as sympathetic characters. (Lack of focus is the big offender here: 45 minutes is not much time to create a dozen different characters, much less run a Monster of the Week plot on top of that.) Silence in the Library, Empty Child, and Blink work much better as horror because they give us smaller numbers of more fully drawn characters, who are then put at risk - and it's no coincidence that Blink is the both best of that lot and Doctor-lite, as taking the Doctor off-screen for most of the episode not only allows the audience to believe that the characters on screen are in real peril, but also allows considerably more screen time for them to be properly established.

The saddest part? None of this is what you'd call esoteric lore. The difficulty of doing horror well in series television - where the audience knows the main cast are going to come through just fine - is well-documented, and the need to create audience sympathy with characters before putting them into danger, if you want the audience to care about said danger, is if anything even more widely known. Honestly, Davies is just not a particularly good writer.

[Starscream]

As for River being a Sue

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I don't think she is one, but that could be a definition-based thing. Everybody has their own idea of what a Sue is. In my mind, a Sue isn't just a Capable or successful character with few flaws, nor are they a character the author loves and wants us to love. In my mind, a Sue is defined by Infallibility, rather than anything else.

If you ask me, if there's any character in the new series who qualifies as a Mary Sue it's Lady Christina de Souza (pronounced de Sue-za for added appropriateness).

She was an insufferable pain, but the episode seemed to think we’d adore her. Instead I found her thoroughly obnoxious and really wanted something much worse to happen to her than losing her expensive cup. I could forgive the Doctor letting her go in the end (she did help save lives), but did she have to be so freaking smug the whole time?

Like I’d ever watch a protagonist who’s an over-confident know-it-all , immediately takes charge of complete strangers despite lacking any authority over them, is always prepared, comes from a privileged, elite background and wants everyone to know it, and stole something from a museum just…for fun…

Huh. Kind of blew my own mind there for a second. This didn’t occur to me until after I started writing it.

[Sunken Valley]

Doctor Who was in the Radio Times! There was an episode guide. Time to beat everyone to the punch by revealing titles and details. Opinions are spoilered.

8 Let's Kill Hitler
We all knew this was happening, but now we know that Hitler won't be in it much. I hope this is the ep where 11 falls further than ever before.

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This has more chance to fail than be good but I'm ready for surprises.

9 Night Terrors
Mark Gattis's ep. He says it's set in the scariest place in the universe. A child's bedroom.

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This could be real scary. Gatiss is a good writer.

10 The Girl Who Waited
The title is a reference to Amy and indeed KG promises that this ep will explore her relationship with Rory. This episode is apparently about how time travel messed up Rory and Amy's life. Set in a white room. Written by virtual unknown Tom McRae (who did the Cybermen two parter waay back in 2006).

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Unknown. This has an interesting premise. Done right it could be a swell ep. Done wrong it could be like Father's Day. And I hate Father's Day.

11 The God Complex
This is set in a scary hotel where nightmares come to life. Will contain the line "12 years on and Rory's still scared of Granny Granger". Toby Whithouse wrote this.

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This could be good too, although Whithouse is not such a good writer. Will be constantly compared to Night Terrors.

12 Closing Time
A sequel to the Lodger. Will have Cybermats. And a baby.

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Lodger worked, but will it's sequel? I'm not sure

13 The Wedding of River Song.
Line: "I don't want to marry you" "I don't want to kill you". Moffat says that in it "the Doctor goes to his inevitable death but it does not go as well as he intended". He also says that it will be the best wedding of 2011 (I still say Will and Kate was best

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??? Obviously there will have to be a build up between eps to this.

[Androgeus]

12 Closing Time
A sequel to the Lodger. Will have Cybermats. And a baby.

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Lodger worked, but will it's sequel? I'm not sure

Me and my friend had the best reaction to that episode when we reading about series 6 on tardis wiki.

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We'd forgotten the name of Jame Corden's character, so when it said "return of Craig Owens", we were both thinking it must be some awesome guy we couldn't remember. So we went to his article and went totally stone face realising who it was.

I also hope God Complex is good, but that's because I love Being Human (created by Whithouse). Whithouse also did School Reunion, which had that awesome scene between Tennant and Anthony Head.

[Xondoure]

So the Lodger sequel,

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Best I can speculate its going to be the same story, only with all the silence bits we didn't see cause we forgot bits added in?

[CurlyKitGirl]

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

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Fourth Doctor
Genesis of the Daleks Part 1/6, Part 2/6

Nu Who

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Retrospectives - as in 'writing up an episode that I've already seen recently (within a year)'

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Season One

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Brief Whole Series Retrospective

Season Two

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Brief Whole Series Retrospective

Blind - applied to seasons as a whole, some episodes will have been seen before, but a long time ago, I'll say which

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Season Three

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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

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Ep. 1: 'Partners in Crime'
Ep. 2: 'The Fires of Pompeii'
Ep. 3: 'Planet of the Ood'

I had to make epic cuts for this write up, please hold.

[CurlyKitGirl]

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)*]

'Planet of the Ood' (Season Four, Episode Three)

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Is this the real life
is this just fantasy
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality
Sorry, I must be watching the wrong tab, this is clearly Queen I'm watching here. I'll just, nooooo . . . this is clearly labelled season 4 episode 3 Planet of the Ood. Why is there 'Bo Rhap' all up in my Who? This is very confusing. And no way was that accidental. No. Way.
Aaaahhhh! Ood closeup!
You know, that is some damn good prosthetics right there. It looks so real with that faint sheen of moisture? Sweat? And those wrinkles, with freckles on one of its abominable Cthuluesque face-tentacles. Why do I have the feeling RTD looked at My Little Cthulu and thought 'what a spiffing Who monster!' and rolled with it. Fun then their first appearance was in an episode with an eldritch abomination that may or may not have been the ur-Satan.
Eh? Origin story? Who put a kaleidoscope in front of the camera, I'm here to see Doctor Who. If I want to be hypnotised by colours and shapes I'll watch BooBah thank you very much. Let me get this straight, this ancient telepathic hive mind race have travelled who knows how many thousands of thousands of light years to ask: "Do you take milk and sugar?" This is a British slaving company, you can tell because they mentioned tea.
I'm watching an advert. People want me to buy an Ood using a strange Queenesque video sequence. Got to tell you, not working for me.
Also, this is a TiFS. Haven't seen one of those since '42'; ten episodes ago (and one of only two in the entire season).
Pop art Oods? Ood? Why are there pop art pictures of an Ood. They're not exactly the cutest aliens from outside space I've ever seen (adipose!), and frankly, I don't want a picture of one of my wall. For Heaven's sake they have red eyes! Calling it: foreshadowing. The future looks so boring.
Huh? Fifty credits for, let's be blunt, a slave. Ignoring modern day opinions of slaves because in the Satan two-parter they were willing slaves. I got to say, this company's not going to make much of a profit selling them so cheaply. If I remember my mindless trivia correctly, in 'Voyage of the Damned' Betty ran up a five thousand credit phone bill, which Duke explicitly said was five years wages. One-twentieth of a years wages (assuming no inflation over x-thousand years, it's the same monetary system and so on for a slave. Not much is it.
No way is this company going to make a profit, hell, they're probably making a net loss in the millions if this deal goes through. Mr. Pop Art agrees with me, but Male!Majel just mumbles something about sales being down. I'm no economic expert, but unless this is a very limited offer it's still going to be a net loss.
Military export figures?! Great. Ood slave-soldiers. Hi moral implications, nice to meet you, we'll be dancing around you and with you in this write up. Start warming up. Willing slavery or no, back in the Satan double bill they were also explicitly stated (or I heard it from somewhere that has a reputable background) to be a "peaceful" race. As in: does not like fighting. I'm not one to draw historical parallels (lie!), but back when slavery was legal, and when people were expanding Empires like mad, they tended to have to force slaves, prisoners of war/circumstance and so on on the front lines with the threat of certain death behind them if they faltered. To abuse willing slaves in such a manner is immoral in the highest degree!
And yes, I am aware of the Atans, but I'm also aware of the facts that they are a warrior race who almost fought themselves to extinction, and so this is a different matter altogether!
RED EYED OOD! Murderous Ood! Mind-controlled Ood!
Intro theme!
Yeah, yeah, give me Captain Percy Percy. Vitement s'il vous plait. Oh, writer's Keith Temple.
Riiiiight Doctor. You have "random" controls. Is that why you so often miss the timeframe you're aiming for? And the country? And world? I think someone's playing silly beggars the Donna the Wonderful. And I bet you it's Earth. Or a suspiciously Earth-like planet.
But Donna? Is precious. She's "terrified" about visiting her first alien planet. Got to tell you, I would be too. You know, it's literally just occurred to me that, comparatively, Martha's gotten the rawest deal of any long-time Companion so far. Rose? Got to see alien planets and a parallel universe. Donna? Four appearances and she's got two Present Earths and a Historical under her belt and is off to her first Alien. Martha? Present, Future Earth (no they're not alien planets), Past Earth, Present Earth, Future Space Ship, and then straight up Present Earths until she left. I'm beginning to think she left because she was bored.
Donna's giddy, and they have a bonding moment. The Doctor still fears like that every time he steps out of the TARDIS. Key Doctor trait here. Donna is straight up squeeing now, "It's just, I don't know what the word is!" before she darts out into . . . snow. Called it. Future Earth. Nice to see we got that global warming sorted out. Bet it's London to boot.
Doctor: "Snow! Aah, real snow." Considering the last times he's seen snow it was the ashes of many dead people, I feel his happiness. That and, well, it's snow!
Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes! THANK YOU KEITH TEMPLE FOR GIVING ME AN ALIEN PLANET THAT LOOKS ALIEN! Thank you CGI team! Thank you set designers! I love you! Shame I can tell that the largest planet in the sky is just a flipped Saturn tilted at about thirty degrees. The smaller one then is probably one of the larger, Earth-sized moons. Is it a shame that I know that if a gas giant roughly the size of Saturn were close enough to even fill up five percent of the sky the planet would start to rip itself apart, or at the very least undergo massive tidal and tectonic movements?
Who cares?!
Alien landscapes in a sci-fi show which has a budget!
T for the Doctor, D for Donna. T: "Millions of planets, millions of galaxies [then why do we always visit the same flipping planet?!], and we're on this on. Molto bene. Bellisimo. [Italian?! But doesn't the TARDIS automatically translate all this? Can the Doctor override the universal translator? I have to agree it is pretty.] [...] Donna Noble, citizen of the Earth, standing on another planet! How about that?" She's gone inside. Doctor, we love you, but sometimes you should remember that you need people around to soliloquise too, otherwise you start sounding just a tad bit odd.
Fancy coat Donna. How'd you afford that on the dole with sporadic temp jobs?
Thunderbird 3?
Bit tacky though. Donna doesn't agree, "That's what I call a spaceship. You've got a box [a sexy box], he's got a Ferrari." More to the point, why is Thunderbird 3 in another galaxy? And since when did the Thunderbirds involve themselves in slavery? I'm assuming here that Thunderbird 3 is a ship owned by the Slaving Company here.
Captain Darling!
What are you doing being a high up in a company dealing in slavery? Even back when you were Lord Percy Percy you didn't seem the type to indulge in a bit of slavery. Mostly because you were so stupid Baldrick could steal from you, but my point still stands.
Right. Plot. Some form of sentient beings are dead. I don't know whether or not they're humans or Ood yet. On the one hand, dead humans would be bad for PR, on the other hand, dead Ood would indicate a virus etc. which would be bad for PR.
Speaking of PR. Oh look. Indian lady (and maybe Indian security?) is working as a PR manager for a slaving company run by white people. MESSAGE! The centre of which well known Empire with footholds in India was an important stopover in the slaving industry of the eighteenth-century? Hint: it was the British Empire.
You know, slavery was outlawed in Britain and all its overseas colonies back in the 1770s. And the 1800s. And the 1830s. It's complicated.
Fairly sure if I could be bothered I'd be able to read racism in there as well. Slaving company run by white people, with Indians working as subordinates or grunts? Just saying.
My Captain Darling, you have gone bald quick haven't you? I mean, it's only been twenty-five years or so since Blackadder . . . I'm old.
While I'm on the subject. Why is it always the same two nations that people go after when it comes to slavery? The US or Britain. Now, while people would almost always pick the former as a Country With Slavery Issues, that this episode uses Captain Darling of Blackadder fame, and makes the first (please pardon this, but I've no way to frame this politely) coloured people (again, sorry for using the term) Indian aligns this slaving company pretty obviously with the British.
After all, it's not like the French, or the Spanish, Italian, Greek, HRE, German, Belgian, Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese and oh, every other Empire in history dabbled in slavery too. Including African and Arabic ones. And insects.
The Belgian Empire in particular was known for doing dark, bad things in the African outposts. But noone ever points this out. Or what the Spanish were doing over in Central America. Or the rising trend in white slavery?
Yes, yes, British show, British actors, ridiculously famous British show, famous British actor. Can't be helped and so on and so forth, but still.
I'm not saying that the British Empire didn't do bad things, I know about the Opium Wars and well, the Blackadder Goes Forth satire was accurate; but we weren't the only empire to do bad things when amassing colonies. Read a book writers!
PR Lady: "We've had three deaths, all attributed to heart attacks or industrial accidents." [said as we're shown footage from the cold open. Wouldn't that be a stroke or a brain haemorrhage more than anything else though? Man, you got it bad if I'm pointing out better medical ways to cover your rears.] "But now we've captured this on tape" [so it's four deaths you silly lady!]. They call the weird orby thing a translator ball. Just saying, Star Trek was going to right way when they implanted the Universal Translator chip into your brain. And PADD.
Ah, and it's pretty much canon now that red-eyed Ood mean Bad Business. And not just in the possessed-by-ur-Satan way, but the more general 'gone insane' way. Oh, and they call the Ood 'it'. Charming. They also immediately assume that because the Ood was shot it's now dead. They've not been reading the Evil Overlord list. Tuppence says the TARDIS Crew run into the injured Ood.
The PR Lady is naive. In this case, this is because RTD (presumably) doesn't think his fans would connect the following facts:
Ood = slaves with white eyes.
Ood with red eyes = murdering people.
Red eyed Ood = Bad Things.
So she has to ask what red eye is. Admittedly, I'm looking forward to a more in-depth explanation than 'the ur-Satan did it', but it's not that hard to extrapolate. Lab Coat "It's some sort of infection" [no. Really?] "The eyes" [wow. He's just told her to eff off. Oh, and if he says, 'they go red' I am seriously going to stick a fork in his eyes] "change colour," Lab Coat now has no eyes. He also can't find the source of this infection.
Easy. They were possessed by the ur-Satan. More broadly, I'm rolling with the old classic: mind control.
Ugh. Naive PR Lady is also a stickler for the rules. "There's no alcohol allowed on base." Lady, it's a factory in the middle of a snow field with no appreciable entertainment nearby. In addition, I can't really see Captain Darling being pregnant or driving any heavy machinery; furthermore, he's indoors. Zip it. Plus, you just said "according to your own rules" (my emphasis) meaning he can do whatever the damn Hell he wants.
And how can she tell it's alcohol? It could just be water. Or "hair tonic". Huh.
The Future! Where Thunderbird 3 can cross solar systems and galaxies, own extra-terrestrial species as slaves and we haven't invented a cure for male pattern baldness.
Point to Captain Darling for being so calm and blasé about it though. Most men I think would be embarrassed to admit to taking such a thing.
Hehe. Darling: "Five years ago I had a full head of hair. Stress, that's what this is, stress". I'll have that point back now, wangsting about hair loss to people you met for the first time less than an hour ago is not calm, cool, collected, or very good for someone who's possibly in charge of a very large slaving company. And it's kind of pointless in the not-plot-related way, but good for showing the neuroses of a Bad Guy way.
Back to the TARDIS Crew they're walking through obviously fake snow (05:11), it looks like so much styrofoam and soap flakes there. Red Dwarf had better snow in the 1980s!
Oooooo look at that natural bridge! That's some good CGI. Just makes those fake snow drifts all the more embarrassing doesn't it? Donna is literally giggly as a school girl, and now the pair can hear the background music.
Antics! There will be some soon.
T: "That noise is like a song." Written by Murray Gold don't you know. Good chap. Popular work. Hell, he's got his own BBC Prom devoted to his Who work.
Called it! Injured Ood in the fake snow. Point of interest here: the Bad Guys call the Ood 'it'; the Doctor calls the Ood 'he'. Obvious thought is that the Doctor is the good guy (not just because he's the hero) and therefore sees every being as their own separate self, even if part of a hive mind, and the slavers see the Ood only as assets, property. To be assigned as much gender and individuality as the seat on which you are sat.
Yay, Temple gets in the clarification on the issue with the wonderful Donna. "But its' face!"
"Donna don't, not now; he's a he, not an it." Honestly though? Donna's reacting very well to a humanoid Cthulu if all she does at first sight is have a mini freak out over the face tentacles. But, given the Doctor's acerbic comment I think Donna's going to have a character arc going on here, kicked off immediately by her whispered "Sorry".
Hey, hey peeps; the Doctor's got out his stethoscope and is actually doing medical Doctor stuff! Shame he not only doesn't know if the Ood "even have a heart". This then, is a poignant death scene, and we're not six minutes in; on the other hand, it's a red shirt. Doesn't even have a name, just the designation Delta-Fifty. Nameless, kind of faceless, identity . . . less. In cases such as this the empathy has to come from the discoverers of the tragedy, not just 'because it's sad someone's dying'. So. Tate. Tennant. Harper. Gold. Temple. Impress me.
D: "My name's Donna."
T: [Damn car. Every time with this line for ten minutes] "No, no, no."
D: "Sorry. Oh God, this is the Doctor. Which is just what you need, the Doctor. Couldn't be better." [So far, not bad. the loudness of the wind emphasises the desolation of the area and the loneliness of the Ood. The soloist is, I think, a little bit too loud though for right now; it is helped by Donna's very quick compassionate reaction to realising someone's dying, but still a bit too loud, almost drowns out the dialogue. And, um, I can't be certain, but I've heard a lot of soprano soloists, and that is not a soprano. Counter tenors are hard to find. Points to the music guys.]
T: "You've been shot."
O: "The circle - "
D: "No, don't talk."
O: "The circle must be bro-"
T: "Circle, what do you mean?" [Well if you let the dying Ood finish his dying words maybe you'd find out.] "Delta-Fifty, what circle? Delta-Fifty, what circle?" [Can't let a being die in peace can you? I see his reasoning, dying being, last wish; need information to avenge and or solve his death, but can you badger him a little less?]
AAHHH! Roaring red-eyed Ood. Doctor had the same idea as me too, yelp and run. Possessed Ood are not a good thing. They tend to result in death. You know, having a red-eyed Ood staring out at me from the next window is actually pretty intimidating; those are some good prosthetics, infinitely better than the tentacle headed Human Dalek. The Ood show that you don't need CGI to make a realistic alien. Oxymoron, I know, but because you know it's a real person in there it has more presence.
The Ood don't, as of 06:33 into this episode, don't have a universe, a history, or any particular character or standout characteristics. But they were a pretty cool threat in their initial episodes, they could interact with real humans and the sets, and the prosthetics are pretty damn good.
I'm not saying that I don't like CGI, I adore Pixar's work. But you need to give CGI character and personality. Then again, you can literally make what you want with CGI, and you're limited when it comes to prosthetics.
And now the Ood is dead. Yes. My tangent was so long and pointless that it killed an Ood. I'm a fictional murderer!
So how did the death scene work, for me personally? It was quite touching in a fashion, I think the word that best fits the situation is 'sensitively'. Donna's attempts to comfort Delta-Fifty are, frankly, sweet and childlike in her innocent way of trying to communicate with the Ood. The Doctor, being the Doctor, wants to find out the deeper reasons behind the death, hence the badgering.
Did I care the Ood died? Frankly, no. As mentioned above, the Ood so far are all but blank slates; but I am intrigued. What possessed the Ood? What circle? Why must it be broken? Is this a cult? A conspiracy? Who is controlling the Ood, and to what purpose?
The death scene served its purpose.
'kay, more backstory. The Ood are servants to humans as of the C42^nd (although if they arrived here today they'd be worshipped), and the Ood's telepathy works as a song. So whenever we hear a counter-tenor singing in Who from now on, we're hearing the Ood. Meta. Oh, Donna couldn't hear anything, must be psi-null. Does this mean the Doctor is part Betazed or Vulcan?
Understatement of the episode time!
T: His eyes turned red.
D: What's 'at mean?
T: Trouble.
No, really. Who'd have thought being possessed by the ur-Satan and going on a murderous rampage would be troubling? Hey, I make the jokes - attempt the jokes - here Tennant, don't you go lampshading the Devil aspect
of that two-parter! Nor you Tate. Huh. Donna Tate and Doctor Tennant.
Pretty landscapes! Also known as civilisation. A bit game graphic-y to me, reminds of those Warhammer 40k games you get for the PC.
This planet seems to be called the Oodsphere. Dull name. And is it me, or has PR Lady's accent gotten noticeably stronger? Is that David Cameron at 07:34 just left of centre in the Tory blue tie?
But more importantly: this facility has recently had three (or four) deaths due to Psycho-Ood, and yet they still invite very rich investors along for a guided tour. With Ood. Stupidity For the Sake of Plot! There are twelve odd investors, I predict half or more will be dead in twenty minutes.
Time to Bluff the PR Lady. Good God she's stupid, "Must have fallen off my list, my apologies," my foot. If people appear at a top secret(?) tour of a slave facility and their names aren't on your list, call for confirmation. Granted, I've read the Evil Overlord List (important for when I come to dominate the country), but common sense. It does exist right? Not like it's going to get bred out of humanity in twenty-one centuries. Then again, Big Brother is still airing in spite of the fact that it was officially canned several years ago, so it may be possible.
Doctor Noble? Mrs. Noble? Buh. But they're clearly not - but they do bicker like an old married couple . . . I'll chalk this up to getting in a dig at the fandom. Even though it really is a perfectly reasonable mistake for PR Lady to make.
Excellent! D: "We're so not married. [...] Never ever." Hope you stick to your guns better than MtM. I'm sorry, I can't get over how stupid PR Lady is. The TARDIS Crew don't even fit in with the investors.
An alarm goes off, and this line makes me grin. T: "Oooh, what's that? That sounds like an alarm." Can't hear what Captain Darling says. Something about it not meant to happen.
Did I just hear that right? End of the World Shift? Gloomy isn't it? Why don't you go all out and call it Ragnarok Shift?
It's all lies. You can tell because PR Lady's smile fades. Also: there's an Ood loose. Ironic cut time.
PR Lady: "As you can see, the Ood are happy to serve, and we keep them in facilities of the highest standard," and outside there's an Ood running about in the snow doing things which, in the context of the ironic cut, are going to involve rebelling or something. Are the humans going to be told to "swivel on it punk"? Reading this in my head, this past paragraph or so has taken on an upper-class accent that could cut glass, making the previous sentence very silly indeed.
PR Lady: "We like to think of the Ood as our trusted friends," ones you sell as slaves and hunt down and shoot in the snowy wastelands whenever one does something unanticipated. "We keep the Ood healthy, safe, and educated," yeah, can I just come out here and state again the Indian/Black slave dynamic? Because that's this. "We don't just breed the Ood, we make them better". Hoookaaaaay, they're cattle-slaves. Not exactly made any more comfortable by the fact this speech is intercut with a running Ood, or occasionally as a voiceover to those scenes.
This, is an Anvil Scene. Enjoy the concussions.
Toasted cheese!
Sorry, anvils. As to the effectiveness of this scene, I've seen subtler, and I've seen - "Because at heart, what is an Ood, but a reflection of us?" Said as an Ood cowers behind some barrels of . . . toxic waste(?) as a firing squad assembles to shoot it.
"If an Ood is happy," [cut to a very unhappy Ood "then you'll be happy too."
Well, that Anvil was particularly large. You know, on account of being being roughly the size of Luxembourg. I don't even need to parse it down it's so obvious. But I will anyway. Ood = "reflection" of humanity = human. Humans don't like being enslaved, they are unwilling slaves, and it is deemed morally reprehensible. Ergo, enslaving the Ood is morally reprehensible.
I also have to give a point to the director because when the audience is applauding we cut to the TARDIS Crew giving one another aside glances and clap halfheartedly, while the foreground feature Howard from the Halifax adverts applauding. Whether it was accidental or by design, it does add a kick that a black person is applauding and endorsing a slaving company.
Oh, and that Ood who was running? Is rabid. Captain Darling only cares about hiding damaged stock, and I really don't want to make another Thunderbirds reference in one review, but the watches. I still can't get over the Ood pop art. And why is Captain Darling keeping an Ood i.e. a member of a species who has recently gone insane and/or rabid for no apparent reason in that very facility within muttering distance at all time?! I wouldn't! I like living!
Ooh! brainy specs! And wait, is that a Classic Who reference? Him having been to the Sensesphere? To Wikipedia! Yeah, that was "a long time ago" Doctor, you were still Hartnell then. And from that grainy still on the article I can see why they made that reference. The Ood and the Sensorites look similar.
The Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire is built on slavery? And Empire that stretches across three continentsgalaxies (although really it's four if one includes the Milky Way)? Hello Classic Great British Empire! I suppose I should briefly explain the 'Classic' and 'non-Classic' British Empires. Technically, they're First and Second, with the Second being the Classic Empire on which the sun never sets (and the one everyone thinks of), the First being composed of colonies in America. Oh, and the slave trading route was triangular.
Donna has another fangasm about being in the future; and then we get a speech about how amazed she is that humanity survived. One that I swear is note for note the same as ones made in 'The End of the World' and a few episodes from season three. What's up with the bees disappearing Donna? Why are you mentioning them again? It's such an odd thing to crowbar into global warming and flooding. Even the Doctor just admitted "the thing about the bees is odd"! See! When a Time Lord agrees with you, you know you're right. Except when you're not.
Hehe, this next bit about humanity spreading reminds me of a certain person talking about humans as a planetary disease.
So, humans are everywhere, and the pretty shapes mark shops where you can buy Ood. You know, even at warp speed it takes years to traverse the Milky Way. The nearest galaxy to ours is Andromeda - two and a half million light years away. And, sad sad sack that I am ([IVoyager for God's sake[/I])I know that, at a sustainable level of warp (around 5) it would take one year to travel one thousand light years.
Stop reading real science into sci-fi. Stop importing different sci-fi standards in Who.
Wow Donna. Taking exception to being called miss. Calm down. And frankly, compared to 'ma'am', I think most women would prefer being called miss. Strictly speaking, all women can be known as 'miss' until their marital status, or preference for a term of address is made known. Commonly, 'ma'am' is used as a marker of respect for someone who is demonstrably over forty when one does not know their name, marital status, or anything about them. Or if the woman in question is your superior in any way.
There is the neutral title 'ms', but I think it's stupid. Not to mention that the way Donna reacted made it seem as if it were shameful to be over thirty and still single. It isn't.
Okay, ettiquette and forms of address aside, Donna starts asking an Ood whether there are or were ever any free Ood, and the Ood starts twitching.
(Writing Ood so many times is really bizarre. Starting to make no sense. Like the word 'whimsy'.) IN response to DOnna's questions the Ood starts glitching and can only mention "the circle".
What is that dissonant song in the background? I only call it a song because my mind is shutting down and I can't think of the word for background noises that aren't music. It's a good song in that it's unsettling. This coincides with the TARDIS Crew indulging in a little industrial espionage by getting 'lost' accidentally on purpose.
ARGH!
DON'T DO THAT!
Raving Ood shouting and bellowing in the camera's face is not a good way to change scenes! It's hanging from the ceiling in chains doing its best Renfield impression, and Lab Coat With No Eyes is clearly making up the science as he goes along. Darling asks Ood Sigma what's happening, to which it replies "Humanity defines us sir; we look to you for answers." Fat lot of good that does Darling. The Ood is clearly insane.
I also call antics. The Ood existed ever before humanity found them, and you can't just instantly lose an entire world's worth of culture, civilisation and history. Not without nuking the planet. Maybe the Ood are all drugged into servility or something. Ood slavery has been extant for at lest two centuries then, given that Warehouse 15 has been quarantined that long. Cthulu. It sleeps there.
Rabid Ood is shot and autopsied, the Bad Guys go to Warehouse 15. The TARDIS Crew are probably nearby. They're already in the . . . housing compound? And it only just dawns on Donna that the Ood are slaves when one falls in the ground and is whipped (by a black man, how symbolic) into standing back up and falling in line with the rest.
I am going to let it slide though, the parallels are obvious to the audience because we're the audience and are thus an omniscient narrator, and they only have a limited third-person narrative to draw analogies to story telling.
The Doctor laments the fact he didn't find this out previously, but there was the ur-Satan and a black hole causing trouble. And he let the Ood die. Cue the regret. A nod too, to noting that for the Doctor not to enquire about anyone or anything in the vicinity is very unusual indeed.
Also, the Crew are genre savvy enough to realise an austere white man in a business suit walking out of a slave compound acting like he's the boss is someone to avoid. Good call.
So Captain Darling hasn't been in Warehouse 15 in ten years. He is very afraid of the place. Also it stinks. And glows red. There's that background song again! Ood! A mutant one? The humans think it's looking at them.
It's "Daddy" [my italics]?!
Wait. I think I know what's in Warehouse 15 and why the human men are so afraid of it! It's Tim Curry! That or Tim Curry is the ur-Satan. Guess we know the secret childhood traumas of Matt Jones then. But the red glowy thing could still be something possessed by Tim Curry! Like space pollution! It would even smell gross.
I am pleasantly surprised to find out that PR Lady has an honest-to-God brain. Who'd have thought it?! She ran a circumspect background check on the TARDIS Crew and found out that neither they, nor the company exist. I'd give her a point, but it took way too long to do such a thing, and she still shouldn't have let the Crew in in any case.
The usual search happens. What is it with Captain Darling obsessing over his hair loss potion? Is it addictive or something? Is it green? Obviously it's a Plot Point.
The hair tonic makes the thing angry. Its singing is now bubbly.
That was a terrible whistle Donna. Why is there so much toxic waste hanging about? I was joking when I mentioned Hexus. Hello Worst Special Effect! Look at that cruddy grapple claw. Toy Story had a better grapply hook thing and that was released back in 1995.
Oh dear, incoming Anvil. See, those containers hold Ood; apparently one hundred a box which is just foolish. Legally, all livestock needs x amount of space, access to fresh air, food and be allowed to relieve itself. Those Ood in that box there can't do any of it. If nothing else, even accepting that slavery is now apparently socially acceptable, companies like that should want to avoid massive sanctions and fines for violating common trading laws and agreements. Love Tennant's face at 17:45 though, it's just so startled and bug-eyed.
Here's the Anvil. D: "A great, big Empire built on slavery."
T: "It's not so different in your time."
D: "Oi, I don't have slaves!"
T: "Who d'you think made your clothes?"
Ow. I think that Anvil gave me a bump the size of an egg. Let's dissect this wonderful exchange shall we? 'great . . . Empire', obviously indicating very unsubtly the First and Second Great British Empires; this is only further emphasised by the 'your time' section as the Empire pretty much hung on until the late 1960s. However, it can also allude to ongoing slavery all over the world as well as the congress of racial equality in America in the mid-1960s. And then, finally, bringing to light a type of slavery people in MEDCs (More Economically Developed Countries) aren't necessarily aware of: sweat shop labour. I grant this is a more than fair point, and it needs further attention brought to it to stop it, and making it in a ratings favourite is going to get that attention; the Anvil was worth it.
To a point.
There is a sliding scale of Anvils, and Doctor Who tends to be all over it. Weighing in on the Titantic size isn't necessarily a bad thing, but here it's so bald-faced it seems like one of those Special Assemblies one gets in schools, or maybe a super special episode about Topic of the Week. This little segment isn't Doctor Who, it's a five minute mini-show that goes on the Red Nose Day, Comic Relief or Children In Need shows and only happens to star David Tennant and Catherine Tate.
Good Anvil, but terrible presentation. 2/10.
Okay, I'd paused at 17:50 odd to rant, but immediately after that little sermon (and that is exactly what it was) Donna takes her own pot shot and calls the Doctor out on the things I just complained about. Anvil rating: 8/10 purely because of the lampshade wherein the Doctor is the mouthpiece of Moral Lesson of the Week and he tells off humans.
And she got the Doctor to apologise. Donna is Awesome.
We get more repetition about the Ood being mindless mirrors of humanity who "do not understand the concept" of freedom. She also cottons onto the fact that the unnatural orbs are, well, unnatural. Also, "The circle must be broken." The Ood say so, it must be true.
Creepy moment! The Doctor's gone all bug-eyed again, Donna says it's creepy. It is a bit. Also, that song is back again.
Finally. The Doctor asked why. Answer: "So that we can sing." Except you're already singing. I can hear you. The entire audience can hear you. It's still a counter-tenor singing without words. To think I once knew the technical term for that. My brain-attic is overcrowded.
The Crack Team of Non-SWATs have found the Crew. Alarms! Even though Captain Darling said he wanted none. Also, the Doctor just ran past a door. Donna is peeved. Then again, there's a Not-SWAT team just behind it.
Also, the Doctor's only just realised he lost Donna. He looks adorable when he's perplexed. And being chased. And he still doesn't realise he's being chased. Or that Donna's been imprisoned in a container. Or that Crazy . . . Sergeant? Seems to have a thing for a one-on-one confrontation with the Doctor.
Oh my giddy aunt. He's controlling the grapple hook thingy. Coolest. Fairground boxy game thingy with the grapple hook ever. I want to catch me a Doctor with one. This Sergeant is amazing. Look at him rocking backwards and forwards in hammy glee! The grapple hook thingy still looks terrible though.
Cue a chase scene. Why the Doctor doesn't just sonic open a box and hide in the Ood I don't know.
RED-EYED OOD! But who cares when I got a Crazy Sergeant cackling in evil hammy glee trying to grab himself a Doctor?! Aaaaw. He got stopped by PR Lady.
Eep guys are getting the brains electrocuted by the Orbs. Running! And hooray for a subtle Anvil! Donna says the people of Earth would by horrified by the treatment of the Ood; and PR Lady's response? "Of course they know! [...] They don't ask!" Subtle Anvil is subtle.
Okay, it's a poorly-forged Anvil with many flaws, but it still has its points. One of the primary reasons for the continued anti-slavery movements at the end of the C18^th was because of William Wilberforce, aka Mister Amazing Grace, brought awareness to the general public the state in which a slave lived. I recommend watching the film Amazing Grace by the way. Bring to attention an atrocity, and people will try to help. Usually.
The Doctor verbalises what people probably already knew: a species born to serve literally cannot evolve to be that way, it is therefore artificially induced. PR Lady never asked how, so she can't tell. Ironic.
The Doctor tries to get PR Lady to join the Crew, but she apparently endorses slavery, as she summons the Not-SWAT team. And contacts Captain Darling to tell him where the Doctor's going. And his hair is falling out in clumps. Okay, that hair tonic is a Plot Device.
Oh, and he's going to gas the slaves. The slaves who are being raised on forms and kept in compounds. Draw your own parallels people.
The Crew lock themselves into a fridge, and the Ood songs pop up again. It sounds giggly. Must be gnomes.
Praying Ood are unprocessed Ood. And they sing. It's telepathic. "IT's the Song of Captivity". Wait, so the Doctor being fully telepathic can hear the words, Donna hears nowt, therefore everyone in the audience is partially telepathic. It is pretty, but it's not exactly tear-inducing. Emotional transference clearly isn't working through the telly-box this time around.
But Donna begs for it to be taken away, and it is. In a nice bit of meta we immediately lose the lyrics. WAIT! If the Doctor can hear it "all the time" and knows the name of the song then how did he not realise that they were, well, enslaved against their will.
What are they holding in their hands? OH MY GOD IT'S A TESTICLE! Or a "secondary brain". Turns out they're the same thing. Whoa. Lobotomised Ood. Pre-watershed. Dude.
Uhoh. The Evil guys are in the room. Hello! Donna and the Doctor handcuffed to poles. Kinky. This is our regularly scheduled Fanservice Moment, please enjoy.
I really hate Captain Darling right about now. "They [the Ood] welcomed it [the lobotomy]! They certainly didn't fight it." On account of it being more than a little hard to fight when you've had part of your brain removed.
Buh. Logic leap Donna? Explain. The Ood are "peaceful. Born with their brain in their hands, they got to be." Well, yes, war would be tricky. "They got to trust everybody they meet." Why? Because of the 'no war' angle? If this is some extended simile along the lines of wearing one's heart on their sleeve I . . . I don't think it would really work the same way. I can kind of see where they're trying to go with it though, and it's a nice, if flawed point.
Captain Darling's gone the usual route, "The infection [rogue Ood] will be sterilised." Again, make your own comparison. I don't think for you.
Captain Darling invokes the Foot and Mouth method of dealing with infection. Talk about a topical reference, what with there being a minor outbreak only the year before this episode was aired, and the major outbreak being seven years earlier.
And the Ood are gathering in circles doing some mumbo jumbo. Antics. It's happening.
To my eternal surprise all the investors are still alive and we're hitting the 29: 14 mark. Of course, now Purple Tie is obnoxious and talking about a free bar and whenever booze is mentioned, someone must die. So when PR Lady urges the Ood to leave the room I'm not surprised to see the Ood . . . well, having a fit.
Ah, here's the red-eyed Ood. And our first dead investors. It's Purple Tie. Four, five, dead investors. Shoot to kill (and yes, that was obligatory), and we have a dead PR Lady. And presumably a dead Crazy Sergeant. And unknown numbers of redshirts.
But that's okay because the Big Bad guys are running away.
Lab Coat with No Eyes: "It's a revolution." Oh hi reference to the American Revolution and the declaration of the abolition of slavery in the Northern states. Took a whole 30:49 for that particular point to be made.
Hey, if all the Ood (oh, another one dead) in the general vicinity are now Red-Eyed, how come Ood Sigma isn't? This is suspicious. Especially the way he keeps following Captain Darling. Aaah, there's the dead Crazy Sergeant.
Yeah, world wide revolution. So they're running away again.
Wait what. A third brain? Because people with two brains would be eternally at war with themselves. Well, explain Zaphob Beeblebrox then. But this third brain has "gotta be connected with the Red-Eyed. What is it?" Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster maybe?
Whatever it is, "It won't exist for very much longer." Captain Darling's losing a few screws on top of all that hair. Buh? He calls Ood Sigma "Faithful to the last." And tells it to go away. But the Ood was mere feet away when he announced he was basically going to nuke the entire planet or something, and the Ood is fine with it? Something is going on, and I don't know which side is going to win. I mean, obviously the Ood, but how?
Called it! As the usual giggling song carries on (the Song of Revolution maybe?) we quick cut to Ood Sigma who pulls a classic horror movie turn as the song roars? Growls? Showing that, once again, the Ood are up to something nefarious.
The way the Doctor and Donna are jerking around while handcuffed to those poles is making me think some very rude things. Also, hello Red-Eyed Ood. And panicked yelping on behalf of the Crew while the Free Ood intervene to save them. By turning the Red-Eye off.
OH MY GOD OOD FROM ABOVE! And it's eating a mook.
Freed Crew are now running around looking for Warehouse 15. Nice pyrotechnics there at 24:15. And as the smoke clears we meet Ood Sigma again. Told you it was up to something.
Meanwhile, the sneaky plan Captain Darling has is simply "to blow it up". And oh my dizzy uncle the way he says that line. Right out of Blackadder Goes Forth that. Literally. It's at 34:52ish.And the bombs look a little like boobs.
Bear in mind too, that this plan is so genius that nobody's thought to change this plan, or alter it in any way in two hundred years. I sense an ironic defeat coming somehow. I just know it.
Ood Sigma show the Crew to the Warehouse, and we finally get to see the Ood Brain. It's a telepathic centre, "a shared mind. Connecting all the Ood in song." It is also laughable. Lister's brain in Red Dwarf looked better than that! And it was a brain in a jar with dreadlocks taped to it! That darling little grapple hook thing just lost out.
But at least I can see Captain Darling completely, utterly lose his nut in your typical stoic British stiff upper lip fashion. By talking about switching over to generic livestock trading.
The pylons damp the telepathic field. So when things go boom, so does the circle. By the by, Ood Sigma's being eerily subservient again. And as Captain Darling is making funny faces - gas mask conversion funny faces I kind of don't want to see what happens next.
And Lab Coat with No Eyes is a Friend of the Ood! He lowered the barrier, and now he's dead. And the Ood Brain ate him. It wobbled like jelly. Why not just shoot him? You have a gun. You went over the top in 1917. You were at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Shooting things is literally in your blood.
"Would you like a drink sir?" Where does the Ood get that drink from? And Captain Darling is speaking all weird and stuff.
T: "Oh they've been preparing you for a very long time. And now you're standing next to the Ood Brain. Can you hear it?"
The song is getting a - why is Captain Darling speaking like someone with a physical or mental illness?
Aaah.
Gaah.
What.
GROSS.
Aaaaaaaah.
Change the channel change the channels oh my Gods I can see his skull! RUn away. MAKE IT GO AWAY MUMMY I DON'T LIKE IT MAKE THE BAD THING GO AWAY NOW!
Children watch this show! Grown ups watch this show! Children are going to love it because a bad man is getting his just desserts in a cool and gory way, grown ups are going to look at it at think oh my God he just ripped his scalp off his head and I can see the bones and the - and all because someone doctored a drink. This could happen in real life! It did! That Litvenenko guy.
And the tentacles and the OOD! Thank Christ they didn't show the entire thing.
And everyone's rightfully -
He just sneezed up part of his brain.
Into his hand. And he's still sentient. As Captain Darling. Oh that is horrible and wrong and bad and - D: "I can tell what's right or wrong any more". Yeah Donna. That.
But at least the Ood are free now. In probably the most anti-climactic defusing of a bomb in the history of defusing bombs ever.
The Brain looks better from the side.
Oh, and now the Ood raise the arms to the sky as the counter-tenor sings. Which also induces peace and wonder in everyone. As the Ood all magically stand in Circles of Freedom. "That song resonated across the galaxy. [...] Everyone knows. [...] The Ood are coming home."
Ood Sigma: "Thank you Doctor-Donna." For what? They did jack. They showed up, got into some mischief, and deactivated a bomb I could have deactivated. They did nothing. Don't thank them! "There is room in the song for you."
T: "Oh, I'm sorry. I've got a song of my own." That's what she said! But not around Rory. He'll punch you in the face.
O S: "But your song must end soon." You sure, two seasons later - okay, one and a half, and she's still going strong. In increasingly bizarre ways, but she's still alive. Twice. At the same time. Or more.
T: "Meaning?"
O S: "Every song must end." So the Doctor's going to die? But he's still got three regenerations to go. Or possibly more, I know you can nick them from others, so canon's a little iffy on that account.
Ood Sigma, why are your children going to sing of the Doctor-Donna when they did nothing - literally - to help free your entire species from slavery? Praise be unto the Doctor I suppose.
But I like this idea of the TARDIS Crew simply stumbling into a scenario where they're superfluous to the ongoing conflict, one they can only observe. Or rather, they're involved in attempting to sort out the conflict, but their actions when totalled up, contributed nothing or little that couldn't have been done by another, to resolving said issue.
Make this happen more often.
It's also a gorgeous ending. With the scenery and counter-tenor in the background.

Preview thoughts: Oh God Martha's back. I thought she'd gone. And they're going to Earth. Military types. Card! ATMOS?! Called it. Sontarans!!!!! Awesome.
Weird creepy looking guy. Sontarans declare death.
Hell yes. The Classic Who monsters are back. And ATMOS. Didn't expect it to come back so fast.

Best Moment: Ooh, this is tough. On the one hand, I geeked out at actual alien lanscapes of gorgeous alien qualities; then again there was the deliciously insane fairground grabby game with the grapple hook thing in the warehouse. Then there was also the transformation scene because it was horrific but so well foreshadowed and it is memorable above all else.

Worst Moment: Beating me around the head with the sweat shop Anvil. That specific section, not including the lampshade hung on it.

Best Special Effect: Horrific as it is, the transformation scene. It's horrible and disgusting and repulsive and amazing.
Honorary mention to the planetscapes of actual alien qualities! So pretty. I'd have that opening panorama as my desktop background. Seriously.

Worst Special Effect: The eagle-eye view of the Ood Brain.

Best Actor: Captain Darling. It's Captain Darling playing against type (as Percy Percy and Captain Dalring) but as type (as Captain Darling) at the same time, and he descends into mania so very well.
Plus it was Captain Darling.
How can I not say he wasn't great. And he was.

Worst Actor: PR Lady. Purple Tie was more noteworthy than her, and he was a drunk lout with all of four lines. Really, in contrast to the hammily glorious Crazy Sergeant and Captain Darling and the Lab Coat with no Eyes she barely rates as a character.

Death Count: Seventeen (three confirmed offscreen) and a lot of redshirts and investors offscreen.

Number of Times Rose Is Mentioned: None!

Thoughts overall?
Not as good as 'The Fires of Pompeii', but on par or a little better than 'Partners in Crime'. The Anvils were copiously heavy and really hit a raw nerve with me. Not because I object to what they were saying, but because of the relentless focus on the Second Great British Empire and the slavery it employed. But you've seen my opinions on that.
A little too heavy on the Anvils, but this was a very good episode. We got a species more fully fleshed out, gorgeous backdrops, some very good background music, very good acting and several stand-out scenes as mentioned above.
Overall it did take a nuanced, if heavy-handed, approach to slavery - willingness to enter servitude, comparisons to earth history and so on, but personally, it was a bit too heavy. But if you accept that the primary demongraphic is supposedly children it's a little more understandable. 'Course, I don't. But they're still a major part of the audience, and well, their skulls are thicker. Oh, the joys of crass generalisation and stereotyping and underestimating said audience.
But the minor flaws are easily outweighed by great everything else, including the bit part actors. I will remember that grapple hook chase scene forever in its glorious hamtastic evil.
Second best episode in the series so far.

[Mercenary Pen]

Well done on the review of Planet of the Ood, Curly- that was among the most insightful I have seen you do (and given the high standard of your other reviews, that's saying quite a bit).