Doctor Who (again) [SPOILERS]

[CurlyKitGirl]

blah blah blah stuff

Spoiler

Show

Took me a minute to see what you were doing there.

What was I doing there? It's how I pronounced it when I was a smaller version of me.

Just earlier today, or possibly yesterday, I was reading where someone wondered if Neil Gaiman might have named Idris Astrid if RTD hadn't already used it for this.

Bit obvious though isn't it? Gaiman's not often one for obviousness.

I knew it!

Oooooeeeeeeooooooo.

Banakaffalatta (Not 100% sure of the spelling).

Yeah, I'm never going to be able to remember that, Bananas it is.

And in Attack of the Cybermen.

So it was.

As I recall from reading through wikiquote, he has actually said it before. Four said it, just after threatening to kill someone with a deadly jelly baby.

So RTD's not up on his Classic WHo canon as much as he should be, could be worse.

Oh yes. I don't really draw that connection because he does look rather different now to how he did then, but yes.

I'd watched a lot of Blackadder recently.

[QUOTE=Thufir;11286454]That Gruff Old Man isn't just a one-shot... (Though he was originally intended as such)

Dude! Spoilers!

Yay, new review ^^

Okay, to not elaborate on everything_

1) Yay, Discworld notion! Just read the book two weeks or so, I don't think your point is a big spoiler but well... Yeah, missing eyes are creepy. *shudder*

Awesome book wasn't it?

2) On Bananas death... Actually, I'd give it RTD. Maybe because I know what an EMP does (it does fry circuits) Though maybe I'm not allowed to to expect everyone to know, so yeah, he should have explained it also fried bananas circuits (most likely. Or SHOULD have)

I would have liked an explanation though. For my moronically stupid brain that knows nothing about electronics or anything at all really it made no sense.
He's a robot who has already been recharged. So why not do it again?

3) What Thufir said. Old Gruff Man is no one-shot, just wait for it.

This is a spoiler. But a little one.

4) Tennant being awesome really is great. It reminds me of the good times and makes me want to undo moments like Jesus!Doctor which really badly influenced my opinion of him. *sigh*

It could have been much worse though.

Still, it was overall a pretty nice episode, thinking back to it. Or rather, it had lots of good moments even if the overall story was rather meh. Looking forward to season 4, once you got the time!

Well, you know what they say: a poor plot can be made excellent by small moments, characters, music and so on.
Maybe one tonight, almost definitely one tomorrow.

"Gruff Old Man" Is my favourite Who character I've seen. He's great!

Oooh, I shall keep an eye out for him then.

[Kato]

Bit obvious though isn't it? Gaiman's not often one for obviousness.

(not my post but meh)
I need to read more Gaiman... limited to Good Omens and almost done with American Gods (and Fragile Things). Just hard to find an original in a German book store.

I'd watched a lot of Blackadder recently.

Blackadder was great... well, season two onwards.

Awesome book wasn't it?

Hm... not his best but it was good (Pterry puts your standards pretty high) The events of the final confrontation (well, the general idea) were much too obvious through most of the book but apart from that, yeah, I greatly enjoyed it.

I would have liked an explanation though. For my moronically stupid brain that knows nothing about electronics or anything at all really it made no sense.
He's a robot who has already been recharged. So why not do it again?

Well, es you said, an EMP isn't there to uncharge anything but it creates a pulse that destroys electronics. Given he was a cyborg he was as badly damaged as the angels (if vital parts of his were electric) But yes, Nu!Who is so filled with technobabble and not everyone is as geeky as me, so an explanation would have been nice.

Well, you know what they say: a poor plot can be made excellent by small moments, characters, music and so on.

Well, yeah. Most things I enjoy nowadays I enjoy because of the little things. I've seen so muc there's rarely a plot that really surprises me but I still love the details good writers an put in their works.

Oooh, I shall keep an eye out for him then.

You do that.

[Aidan305]

Well, es you said, an EMP isn't there to uncharge anything but it creates a pulse that destroys electronics. Given he was a cyborg he was as badly damaged as the angels (if vital parts of his were electric) But yes, Nu!Who is so filled with technobabble and not everyone is as geeky as me, so an explanation would have been nice.

Personally, I thought of it more as pulling the plug, killing him. He's not a Robot, he's a cyborg and that means he has a reliance on organic parts, like his brain. And then brain doesn't tend to function very well once it's been shut down for an extended period of time, i.e. the time it would take for them to Banakafalatta's core to the extent where it would be capable of powering his body again.

Edit: Incidentally, Colin Baker sings a varient of Modern Major General

[chiasaur11]

The plunger isn't their only weapon, and you might want to watch the new Who episode "Dalek" sometime...what a Dalek does with its plunger in that is quite horrifying!

Of course, Abslom Daak, Dalek Killer made fun of the plunger and lived, but he was an ultraviolent former death row inmate with a chainsaw sword who would have fit right into Warhammer 40K.

[Sanguine]

I love that film

You are a horrible despicable person.

Seriously though that movie was awful even my sister who had never read the book thought so, so therefore my hatred of it is only partially nerd rage over how horribly they mangled the source material. Though I will admit the scene where Robert De Niro is dancing in a pink dress was pure gold.


As for why Buffalo Wings are called such, they are originally from the city of Buffalo. Now you know. and knowing is half the battle. G.I. Joe!

Quick I gotta think of something to say related to Doctor Who so this post is on topic. Here we go.

Edit: Incidentally, Colin Baker sings a varient of Modern Major General

Lovely song that, I play it quite frequently to the annoyance of my loved ones. My only problem with it is that Daleks are not robots, they're organic creatures sealed inside of armor casing. There may be other inacuracies in it but if so I'm not familiar enough with Old Who to notice them.

[Thufir]

You are a horrible despicable person.

Seriously though that movie was awful even my sister who had never read the book thought so, so therefore my hatred of it is only partially nerd rage over how horribly they mangled the source material.

You, sir, are several different kinds of WRONG.
Stardust is an amazing film, the source material was not mangled, Neil Gaiman has never produced anything which was less than brilliant. End of discussion.

I feel like I should segue back on topic with something about The Doctor's Wife, but I have nothing really to say besides it was the best episode ever and I love it.
OK OK OK. Vaguely curious, in what sequence would people rate the episodes of the current series thus far? And why? Personally, I think mine would be:

4 (Gaiman. 'nuff said)
7 (Rory. 'nuff said)
6 (Doctor x2 makes for enough brilliance to just beat the next one, maybe)
2 (Not entirely sure, might swap this and 6 around depending on how I feel. Dark and confusing and a bit epic)
1 (Goes with 2, but the setup isn't on the same level as the resolution)
5 (Same as for 1, but more so)
3 (Doesn't hold up to critical scrutiny)

[CurlyKitGirl]

I'm dong something new tonight!
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the start of my Classic Who Trek. And now, to boldly go where many have gone before. [*cue TOS theme (Such a classic introduction)*]

'Genesis of the Daleks' part 1/6 (Tom Baker serial)
Same format as before.

Spoiler

Show

Introduction time! Tonight officially marks my first forays into the era of Classic Who, not counting the one time I saw the Doctor Who movie back over ten years ago now. The reason I picked this one above all others is many fold: Tom Baker is one of the most popular Doctors of all time, and to this day is the Doctor in the eyes of the general populace, I want to see why; Elisabeth Sladen is one of, if not the, most popular Companions of all time, and I want to see why; this serial has been regarded consistently as one of the best in all forty-eight odd years of Doctor Who's history, and I want to see why.
The hype: it is big, but extremely vaguely so, at least for me.
So I picked this up about a fortnight ago, and have been bravely resisting watching this for the sake of your entertainment. The DVD looks pretty nifty actually, oodles of special features.
I'm thinking that, from the title of this serial, there's Daleks in it. And I know from the cover art for the DVD there's that dude who made the Daleks; Davros isn't it?
Also: the writer is Terry Nation, Wikipedia tells me he created the Daleks, wrote for Doctor Who and one of my mum's favourite tellybox shows: Blake's 7. I'm going to guess he's a very good writer then.
And this is Classic Who. I am expecting cheesy, silly special effects and all the things one expects from a BBC sci-fi show in the 1970s with a budget literally comprised of string, sticky tape, sticky-back plastic and some plasticine. And styrofoam.

That done, on with the show!
I also want to add I just love that old BBC ident from the 1970s and 1980s.
Let's do this thing.

I love this theme tune and the intro graphics; and the scarf! This is short, sweet, spooky and the drums really do come through here. Don't you worry peoples of the earth, it turns out that David Cameron? Is totally the Master. Just you wait until he's done doing . . . whatever it is; then the drums will come.
Cold open onto a tear gas grenade? And a fog machine working overdrive in a BBC quarry as the music tells us this is an eerie and scary scene!
'Are you my Mummy?'
AAAAaaaaahhhhh!! It's the gas-mask child!
Run away!
Heheh, one of the Gas-Mask Children is wearing a beanie (0.43), it's amusing because it's starting to fall off.
Actually, in all seriousness, the music is really creepy and highly atmospheric. And, for the record, I am going to be keeping a WWII reference count. The music is slightly military in tone, and a small group of Gas-Mask Children go over the top, and one is shot dead! People, we're just barely a minute into this serial and somebody's died! Shot dead by machine gun fire.
This is probably foreshadowing the grimdark nature of war, and, um. I would say it indicates that anyone can die, but this guy is as much a faceless mook as you can get without having had your face eaten by that alien who ate Rose's face back in 'The Idiot Lantern; and well, faceless mooks die all the time, even in Who[/I]. Especially in Doctor Who now that I think about it.
And another dies!
In slow-motion.
Normally, I would call this a bit narmy, it's only just hit the 01.10 mark, and we know literally nothing about these people, so it's like they're playing for sympathy or showing how Bad war is. But!
Anyone who's seen the last episode of Blackadder Goes Forth before watching this serial would say otherwise. See, in 'Goodbyee' [SPOILERS!]this is the second-to-last shot we see of the entire series, before a fade-away to the poppy-red fields of Flanders. End show. No credits, just the ambiguous ending where they almost certainly died.[/SPOILERS!] Tears will be shed watching that episode. So there'll be flashbacks to that episode while watching this show.
Or for those few people who've only seen this serial, I still believe it would have a strong impact. It's treated with deadly seriousness, with a solemn militaristic air, a stark, bleak setting, and the anonymity of the soldiers almost makes it worse because even as we see them die we have no way of telling who anyone is.
Additionally, this was aired from March to April 1975, thirty years after WWII, so likely more than fifty percent of viewers would have been alive during it. Most recently though, this aired in the last two months of the Vietnam War. The war was officially declared over just eighteen days after this serial finished airing.
A serious opening for a series show then.
The fog machine goes into overdrive as the men march away, completely whiting out the screen and then TOM BAKER! In his hat and scarf and the curly hair and pardon me I just need to girl out. Oh my paws and whiskers it's Four and he's looking befuddled and more than a little bit eccentrically amazing in that outfit, and he's just treating it as a moderately nippy, foggy day and this is so cool! I have just decided it's possible to fangirl over something you only have the slightest passing knowledge about. Or possibly fangirl due to sheer hype.
Then all of a sudden, the confused Doctor, scanning the nearby quarry wall has a - oh my giddy aunt. It's another Time Lord. I can tell this because the silly collar matches the silly collars that I saw in flashbacks in 'Sound of the Drums'.
It looks so ridiculous, like his mother simply put too much starch in the wash. And that hood. Yay 70s.
So the Doctor complains to the Time Lord - who, I've just noticed looks uncannily familiar to Tony Jay in a profile shot (check out 01.47) - about intercepting a "transmat beam" as it's very dangerous.
And my heavens isn't Tom Baker's voice impossibly distinctive. It's like the voices of BRIAN BLESSED, Leonard Nemoy, Patrick Stewart, Morgan Freeman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sean Connery and Stephen Fry. Or the Old Spice Man. Seriously, Tom Baker's voice just feels right and I don't know why. It's a little plummy, but that's nothing special; after some thought I've decided that it's because it's a very deep, rich voice, and it seems to resonate on its own. Not that that makes any sense, but it's the best way to explain it. He's on a horse.
So the TLFiB (Time Lord Frollo in Black) is more than a little condescending, "Oh, come, Doctor [that's what she said! *slaps self* Bad me!], not with our techniques [hehehe, *slaps self*, sorry, I don't know why I'm feeling so lecherous today]. We Time Lords transcended such mechanical devices with the universe was less than half its present size. [He does patronising so very well. And it's a very subtle drop for how old and powerful Gallifrey's society is]."
Doctor: Look, whatever I've done for you in the past [I wonder what you did do for - *slaps self*], I've more than made up for. [*slaps self*]. I will not tolerate this continual interference in my life." So the Time Lords have been annoying the Doctor for a while now? Well, Doctor, in all fairness you did steal a TARDIS from a museum and run off gallivanting around all of time and space with it. Or possibly the TARDIS stole you, but the point remains the same!
So in the banter that follows, TLFiB says that his entire race basically follows the Prime Directive (so does this make the Doctor Cpt. Kirk then?), and yep, the Doctor is their agent who does things that publicly they Disapprove of.
By the way, Tom Baker is just rocking his outfit, and compared to TLFiB he looks positively normal!
The Doctor preemptively refuses to participate in the TIme Lords new mission for him until TLFiB bursts out "Daleks!" You know, what with the title of the serial, I never would have guessed there were Daleks in this episode. Ever.
And the Doctor's position changes instantly. He's all 'no, I won't do it' and then "Daleks? Tell me more." Will he put up a fight? Shoo-bop-bop.
The Time Lords foresee a time in the future when the Daleks become the dominant life form in the universe. Which is a bad thing. In essence, the Time Lords wish, as the Doctor so elegantly puts it, for him to "avert their creation"."Or affect their genetic development so that they evolve into less aggressive creatures."
Doctor: "Hmm. That's feasible." See, the Doctor's always cool when it comes to killing Daleks. Always.
TLFiB: "Alternatively, if you learn enough about their very beginnings, you might discover some inherent weakness." The Time Lords are really quite benevolent here, there's the Genocide option, the Sabotage option or the Steal Plans option. And remember people, this is the race that will eventually become the dominant life form of the universe, and the de facto enemy of everything else in the universe. Yet the Time Lords are perfectly happy just finding the Dalek's kryptonite.
Doctor: "All right, just one more time." Shame that it doesn't work out. Or does it? I don't know. This is the first Doctor Who episode I have ever seen in my life ever. Ever.[/blatant lies]
Also, the Time Lords knew the Doctor would agree, so he's on Skaro already. And then there's a wonderfully tacky prop called a Time Ring. When the Doctor's done what needs to be done, he comms. the Time Lord Council and they beam him back to his ship. Simples.
Oh, and then TLFiB ninjas out of there as the Doctor looks around. Which upsets the Doctor as he wants to know about Sarah Jane Smith and Harry. Harry who? Everyone knows who Sarah Jane Smith is, but the other dude? I'm assuming he's a dude. No idea who he is.
I really do pity the people working the fog machines (or dry ice), they've been working their butts off this episode. Not one stop so far. But it works really well. I mean, really well. It creates the desolate, war-torn atmosphere simply, but effectively. As the Doctor shouts "What about Sarah and Harry?" you can really feel how alone he is at that moment as his voice echoes slightly.
What a coinkydink! Sarah Jane Smith and Harry are just over the next rise. Hope they don't get shot too. Also, Sarah Jane Smith looks adorable in that little yellow mac and beanie hat. If it weren't for the fact that she must have been in her thirties at the time, I'd have sworn blind she was about ten years old in that opening scene of hers at 03.40. She. Looks. Cute. And eminently huggable.
I think you can tell who's the the Doctor's favourite though, he says hello to Sarah, but not to Harry. Poor Harry, next thing you know, it's the cupboard under the stairs and one hundred points from Gryffindor!
Sarah asks where the are, to which the Doctor explains "There's been a slight change of plan" as something explodes in the background! Typical British dry humour and stoicism. You just know that if the Doctor was stranded in the middle of a typhoon he'd call it a little damp and breezy.
Oh, my mistake, this isn't just a background explosion, this is a creeping barrage (invented in WWI and used in WWII!), and it's getting closer. My, isn't Sarah Jane Smith just stating the obvious here?
Hehe, look at those adorably small firecrackers they've got acting as heavy artillery fire! And how it lands just a few feet away from them and they're not affected by it one jot. Yay 70s! And please note that they're hill they're hiding behind is comically tiny. It's about two feet tall for Heaven's sake!
Sarah Jane Smith squeaks a lot, and they all have their hands over their ears, and in the Doctor's case, he's pushing his hat down over them too. I'd like to think that it's because Sarah Jane Smith's squeals are honestly grating. However, I don't like it when girls scream a lot when they're scared in a high-pitched fashion. Sexist. But hey, it's the 70s, what can you do? And it still happens now.
And to be honest, I have to admit that if I were put in this situation (do they know what Skaro implies?) I'd probably scream a lot. And maybe wet myself.
I think I'm in love.
Stranded on Skaro as the Daleks are being created, tasked with destroying the Daleks before their inception, keeping his Assistants alive, and under heavy artillery fire the Doctor calmly remarks "Something's annoyed them." This guy? Is awesome.
But then the barrage seemingly focusses in on there position, and those ones look seriously dangerous. I think it's because we get some isolated shots of ones that are clearly more powerful than the ones used with actors in-shot.
Hee. Four has buck teeth.
Then a dead Gas-Mask Child! It's meant to be shocking, you can tell from how the trio react, but that little electro-synth sting just sounds so fun and perky. It made me laugh.
Hey. Question? Well, I'll let the Doctor point it out "There's centuries between these two weapons." One's a standard looking rifle and the other is a very rectangular water pistol that probably shoots lazors of Doomy Death. And the Dead Gas Mask Child has both a radiation detector and a gas mask.
"Those things don't go together, do they?" No Harry, I don't think they do. But I'm eighty percent certain that was rhetorical. And animal skin and modern synthetic fibres in one uniform?
"It's like finding the remains of a stone age man with a transistor radio." Or finding a four hundred year old version of Data's head when he's clearly ali - functioning perfectly adequately on the Bridge right in front of you.
This is honestly a really intriguing set up. Surely one would think that as war went on the weapons would develop alongside it, if I had a lazor water pistol I'd use it instead of the rifle for sure.
Doctor: "A thousand year war. Civilisation on the point of collapse."
Sarah Jane Smith: "What?" Yeah, I'm with him, how can you. Oh right. Time Lords. Skaro. Genesis of the Daleks. The Doctor probably had to study this when he was in Time Lord School. There's a thought. Imagine having to take a History GCSE when you're from the planet Gallifrey. But the Doctor knows more than he's letting on right now.
Doctor: "Nothing. Just theorising, that's all." Or you could tell your Assistants that you were hijacked on the way to the beacon (whatever that is) and are now on a covert mission to destroy the Daleks before they're born. It would clear up a lot of confusion. No need to be enigmatic all the time. Except you are the Doctor, it's one of your many raisons d'etre.
Okay, Tom Baker makes me giggle a lot. The chemistry between these three is really solid. Harry: "Where are we going?"
Doctor: "Aaaah, forward."
Such a small exchange, but it makes me smile because of the Doctor's uneasy body language, he looks around and then clearly randomly picks a direction and stumbles off in it.
As they walk around the quarry - I mean planet surface - we have lots of mournful windy noises, and many, many rocks to be climbed and dodged. Then we get a close up of a land mine! That, along with the little percussion-type sting tells us this is important.
This is verified seconds later when the Doctor realises they're in the middle of a minefield. The other two are to follow behind him and tread in his footsteps.
Sarah Jane Smith: "Good King Wencelas." Okay. One: what? Two: forty-eight years of Doctor Who and I happen to watch two episodes back-to-back which reference Good King Wencelas? What are the odds? No. Seriously.
I want someone to take every episode of Doctor Who on the tellybox, every film (including the Peter Cushing ones), every book, comic, audio drama, webisode, animated episodes, the adventure games, all the specials (including the CiN ones) and tell me what the odds are.
This is freakin' weird.
Oh, I remember the reference now. The reason Duke Wencelas became sanctified was because of a miracle where he and a retainer were walking, lost in a storm, but wherever the Duke walked, the snow melted and gave off great heat. This was then memorialised in the carol.
I wonder if RTD watched 'Genesis of the Daleks' before he wrote 'Voyage of the Damned'.
The Doctor gets distracted, he thinks they're being watched, so does Sarah Jane Smith; but they're want to put it down to paranoia. They're optimistic like that.
And that face! (06.38) I've pulled that face. That's the 'I'm only a dozen yards away from my tutorial room and I've forgotten to bring my essay with me, and oh God I've done barely any reading for this tutorial' face. Or the 'Oh brilliant. I've left the oven on and I've burnt my dinner' face.
When the Doctor pulls this face it means he's stood on a landmine. And we all know what happens when you tread on a landmine don't we?
And he holds that expression for ages! That's such a blasé, yet serious and funny reaction to something that really is quite dangerous.
So Harry wedges some rocks under the land mine (I think it's a real one too) so it doesn't go off. Somehow. Anf it doesn't go off! This makes Harry very awesome . And Tome Baker has a very infectious grin by the by.
And they just shrug it off as if it were nothing, and then the camera zooms in on this dude wrapped in bandages (I think I've found the Gas-Mask Children's mother), showing us that these person is important. And that the Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith and Harry are being watched.
And now there's barbed wire. Also the Eden Project which is "large enough to cover an entire city". This makes Harry even more confused about the anachronistic technology levels of this planet.
And now we're in the trenches. No, literally. I've been to the Sanctuary Woods trenches and these are spitting images of trench warfare in WWI. And the dead are propped up to make it look as if the trenches are manned. Which also happened back then.
And the Doctor finally expounds upon his theory. It's a war of attrition, "only backwards". So the more resources they use up, the more primitive the weaponry gets.
This is genuinely fascinating. It even makes sense, and there was no technoTreknobabble involved. I'm beginning to miss it to be perfectly honest.
And Sarah Jane Smith found a service tunnel to the Eden Project. But the Doctor decides to follow the trench as the door is locked. As they turn away a man in a gimp mask opens a small hatch in the door (09.37), it made me smirk. *slaps self*
Oh noes! Gas! Smeg! Hope it's not mustard gas. So they strip the gas masks off the dead. Pragmatic, but icky. What if they'd gone all mouldy or mushy?! Then some dudes attack them!
And then some other dudes all in black burst out of the door and carry the Doctor and Harry inside. But not the girl in the bright yellow macintosh. Because she fainted or something. So these people don't know how to take a pulse. Lame. Have her be carried off or something.
So these MiBs wonder who these people are. They may be Thals, or possibly robots created by them. So they lump the pair onto the transporter , and Captain MiB wants to contact General Ravon. I wonder, will he whip out his communicator? Will Scotty beam them up?
Sadly no, it's a glorified mine cart.
Cut to . . . headquarters where some dudes are playing in a sandbox, and General Ravon (presumably) admits to "enjoy[ing] interrogation".
I smirk, and the Doctor wittily responds, "You seem the type." He most certainly does, I can definitely picture him with a whip. *slaps self* This gets the Doctor pistol whipped.
We have some confirmation from Captain MiB and General Tortures-A-Lot that they're running low on ammo and stuff. I love that this is clearly exposition, but I also know enough about military communication to know this is common. General Tortures-A-Lot says the Doctor and harry won't get a quick ciggie, a blindfold and a nice wall to lean agaisnt as they're shot, but a simple hanging.
And then we have - okay. They're Nazis. The salute, the black SS-type uniform, trench warfare. These are Nazis. These therefore, are the pre-Dalek form of the Daleks. Well, I always knew Daleks were basically space Nazis. Nice to know characterisation is consistent.
General Torture-A-Lot thinks the Doctor and Harry are "mutos", which is obviously a derogatory term for mutants. He orders them to turn out their pockets.
The Doctor's pockets are TARDISes, so "it might take some time"; made me laugh. That and he has a cheap, tacky yo-yo in those pockets too. The amount in those pockets is outstanding.
General Tortures-A-Lot gloats about how they're going to wipe out the Thals, and the Doctor snarkily murmurs that he's "heard that before", and well, yeah. He has, but the thing is, the pre-Dalek Daleks must have wiped out the Thals because this is the first time I've ever heard of them. So why the snark oh Doctor mine?
The Doctor wonders how "you propose to wipe the Thals fro the face of Skaro with boy soldiers, no ammunition and very young generals". Ouch. Doctor, you know how that worked out. Painfully. With devastating impact on all cultures involved.
Oh, the pre-Dalek Daleks are called Kaleds. Subtle.
General Tortures-A-Lot-And-Is-Bat-Guano-Insane thens says this immortal line, "Our battle cry will be 'Total extermination of the Thals!'" Well, more like everything else in the universe, but yeah, you're right.
Hee~ The Doctor just whipped General Tortures-A-Lot! I knew he liked it! *slaps self* And then he throws Harry the pistol the General was carrying and he then handcuffs the mook. The Doctor though uses his sonic screwdriver to make the console thingy blow up.
Despite the General knowing that "mutos know the difference between Thals and Kaleds" he still seems to think the TARDIS crew (seriously, I need a name for the Doctor and his Companions/Assistants if only to save my wrists from carpel tunnel) are mutos. The Doctor undergoes a Fridge Moment. See, as I mentioned before, K-A-L-E-D-S, why that's an anagram of, "How interesting. Are you fit Harry?" Because he's just realised how screwed they are.
Screwed enough that the Doctor holds the General hostage to make him take them back to the wastelands, presumably to get Sarah Jane Smith back. And yes, General Torture-A-Lot still thinks they're mutos.
Cut to Sarah Jane Smith who's only just regained consciousness to realise that she's been lying on a pile of corpses. Awesomely, Sarah Jane Smith, after realising she was locked out of the bunker picks up a nearby gun, only to sigh in exasperation and toss it aside when she finds out there's no ammo in it. So, having nowhere to go, she creeps off further into the trenches, because that's how she rolls.
Sarah Jane Smith, you are amazing. Your reputation precedes you, and you're living up to it fairly well, squeaking aside.
Back to the TARDIS crew and the General, they think they're being lead into a trap, the General finally realises they're not mutos. And then!
Himmler?! And escorts with armbands?! Okay, this is no longer just an homage, or reminiscent of the wars or Nazis. This is literally the Third Reich. But in space.
Y'see, Doctor Who and subtlety have a love-hate relationship.
So on the subtle side of the scale we have Astrid's name, YANA/yana, the terror of the Weeping Angels, the identity of the Toclafain; then in about the middle we have the usual stuff, 'The Lazarus Experiment', 'The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit', then we get stuff like 'Fear Her', the space ship Titanic, the patriotic! synbolism of 'Voyage of the Damned'; and then alllllll the way on the Tattooing the Symbols Onto The Audience's Forehead side of things would be the two Jesus!Doctor moments from 'Last of the Time Lords' and 'Voyage of the Damned'. And probably a raft of other things I've forgotten because I'm very tired, including the entire plot of 'Voyage of the Damned'.
This though is a complicated scenario. See, individually each little reference is fairly subtle, or at least very well written, and actually has a basis in the original concept behind the Daleks. It's just that seeing that the Kaleds are Nazis by another name, and everything coming one after the other like this makes it all very Tattoo Meaning Into Your head symbolic.
Fun how this show can be on both sides of the Subtlety Scale at once isn't it?
So Not-Himmler, along with his ominous and intimidating music will speak with General Tortures-A-Lot in his office momentarily. And we all know why. *slaps self* Oh, and I adore how the two mean clearly not in space!Nazi uniform are trying to look inconspicuous. Remember: this incarnation of the Doctor has a full head of curly brown hair, a red greatcoat and, of course, the incredibly long scarf and floppy hat. Harry is rocking a blue ensemble, including a double-breasted waistcoat.
In the middle of a base of space!Nazis in SS garb.
They stick out like an extremely sore thumb from a cartoon.
The Doctor finds out who Not-Himmler is, and then walks off. Because the Doctor and Harry are two aliens (and civilians) in a base full of all-black uniforms. Not those All-Blacks.
But it's a trap! Not-Himmler shouts for Tortures-A-Lot to duck and then the two mooks open fire on the TARDIS crew who promptly run away. Hooray for villains. He even sounded the alert. And there is no way on earth those two are going to escape given the corridors are grey or metal and they're clothing is very colourful.
Meanwhile, back with Not-Himmler (who also greatly resembles the Demon headmaster) and Tortures-A-Lot, the latter is getting a reprimand. "What kind of soldier lets two unarmed prisoners overpower him in his own headquarters?" A very slow, stupid one.
And now Demon-Not-Himmler knows they're aliens, so cue the autopsy! Oh dear, poor Seven/Eight.
Back with the TARDIS crew, they're slipping and sliding on shiny floors. It's fun. Also, they're trapped and lost in a maze of identical corridors. How does the Doctor not trip over that scarf?! I really want one like it.
Then the lift opens. By magic. Just in time to carry them away from the mooks.
And Demon-Not-Himmler even tells the surface patrols to watch out for them! This guy, he's cool. I like him, understated villainy. And fairly genre savvy too.
Back on the surface again, the Doctor tells Harry their new plan is to "keep running!" So it's nice to see Nu Who keeps the traditions of Classic Who so faithfully. And the patrols have found the TARDIS crew. And the fog has mysteriously disappeared, must be on strike.
Harry triggers a trip mine! But he's okay! Shame that they're cornered, These dudes all have beanie hats and capes on. They amuse me.
Now we rejoin Sarah Jane Smith. She's lost inNo-Man's Land.
Except for Limpy McQuasimodo. But I don't think Sarah Jane knows she's being followed. Except by the fog machine obviously. And she's run past the lift the TARDIS crew used to escape the space!Nazi bunker.
So now we're back with Demon-Not-Himmler and the TARDIS crew. And yay! TechnoTreknobabble. Only took 19.35 minutes!
Is Demon-Not-HImmler wearing the Iron Cross?! As a necklace! Dude. And he's the head of the Security division of the military. Hold please.
You know, even though I studied Germany 1919 - 1939 (and bits after that) at GCSE I always forget who the leader of the SS was. It is Himmler. Seriously, I'd forgotten that until I Googled 'head of the SS'. See, the resemblance is so strong I recognised it subconsciously.
Like I said, awesomely subtle in an extremely over-the-top way.
The Doctor reveals (again) that "my friend and I are not from your planet", to which Demon-Not-Himmler replies "I've heard Davros say there is no intelligent life on other planets." Except he's telling a face full of lies there. "So either he is wrong or you are lying." Or Davros is lying . . . "And Davros is never wrong about anything."
*cough*Hitler*cough*
Four is all self-deprecating and funny, "even I am occasionally wrong about some things" before whipping into Serious Business Mode "Who is this Davros?" Literally, a split second pause and he goes from fairly jocular to deadly intent. Also, was this Davros' first story or something?
Doesn't the Doctor know who created the Daleks?
Whoa.
Ladies and gentlemen, I just had a fridge moment. The Time War seems to me to have been primarily Daleks v. Time Lords yes? Now I always thought the Daleks attacked first, but they didn't! The Tome Lords did when they sent the Doctor back in time to kill the Daleks before they were ever born.
So the Doctor is going to fail to kill, weaken, alter the Daleks (all it takes is to shove a human up a Dalek's bottom/eat it or have a human touch a Dalek casing, not hard) perhaps, and as a result the Daleks will always know who tried to kill them, so one day they're going to attack the Time Lords.
This means the Time Lords are the reason the Time War happened and their own cause of death!
THE TIME LORDS SHOT FIRST!
So the Doctor is an idiot. He doesn't know what "mutos" are. Kaled = Dalek. You figured that out, now figure out muto. It's just a jump to the left as far as logic goes.
Now comes a classic bit of anti-war propaganda. Mutants are made because of chemical or nuclear weaponry. Immediately followed by classic Nazi phrases, "we must keep the Kaled race pure. Imperfects are rejected."
So if the Kaleds are Nazis and the Axis, the Thals are the Allies, what does that make the mutos? I know what I'm thinking, but while the parallels is obvious re: persecution and 'imperfection', this setting is far too areligious and ambiguous to make it a clear one I'd point out safely with my reasons.
Realistically, the mutos are any group of outcasts, be they gypsies, Hunchback of Notre Damecharacters, druggies, chavs and so on and so forth.
That the Doctor calls this a "harsh policy" adds more credence to my Obvious Theory: mutos = Jews. But to be honest, many, many groups of people were persecuted under the Nazi regime, so it could be any of them.
To bring out the SS tones a little more, Demon-Not-Himmler says that his "special unit" could extract more information from the TARDIS crew than the army ever could. Subtle. And Demon-Not-Himmler is close to Davros (not that way), close enough that he can steal supplies from the army, and all of a sudden I feel sympathetic towards the General.
He's brow-beaten, and seems to care for his men. At least in the: 'I need supplies so I can win the war for the glory of our people, oh, and not to get my men killed' way. Good actor you have there to make me feel sympathy for a space!Nazi General.
Back with Sarah Jane Smith, she knows someone's following her, and it's still fog. She starts running away as the camera - I mean Limpy McQuasimodo and his friends - start stalking her. She falls over a lot. Must be the boots and skirt combo, not something I'd personally wear to a battlefield, but she had no choice in the matter.
Hiding behind a broken wall she sees Davros! I know it's Davros because he's on the front cover of the DVD, and is the "greatest scientist" in the world. Or so Demon-Not-Himmler insists.
Davros looks amazing. Seriously. And his voice. It's gravelly, rusty almost, and quiet but powerful. , and the glowy LED, and the hand!
DALEK! It does what Davros says. And I just saw my first Classic WHo Dalek lazors!
"The weaponry is perfect. Now, we can begin."
END CREDITS!
The script editor for this was Robert Holmes!?! No wonder Skaro's covered in more fog than you'd see in the night time streets of Whitechapel!
I get Tom baker, Sarah Jane Smith, Terry Nation, Davros and Robert Holmes.
Awesome.

Preview thoughts: No preview I'm afraid.

Best Moment: The land mine! No. Davros' end scene.

Worst Moment: The faceless mooks who just stare at the closed lift doors. It's all of two seconds long. Or maybe the scenes of Sarah Jane Smith stumbling through the foggy lands of Skaro repeatedly.

Best Special Effect: Davros. Hands down.

Worst Special Effect: The Time Ring. In that it's gloriously tacky. I suppose I could also say the fog as it was omnipresent in the quarry, but it's good fog. Perhaps that first explosion made by heavy artillery fire.

Best Actor: Tom Baker, Demon-Not-Himmler and Davros all tie for first. Yes, that's how cool Davros was. He just commanded the screen the whole minute or so he was there. Tom baker is self-explanatory, and Demon-Not-Himmler is too. He's very slimy, but in an interesting, devious way.

Worst Actor: Elisabeth Sladen.
I'm sorry! Don't hurt me!
It's not that she's the worst actor, it's just that she's underused in this particular episode. And I can't really say that the mook who answer the phone is the worst actor (because he is) because he barely qualifies as an extra. Ms. Sladen simply did the ebst with her part which can be summed up thusly:
*scream*
*point out the obvious*
*pass out*
*wander around the quarry looking for the Doctor and Harry, trying to escape the mummies*
And she did that awesomely; but she was still really underused.

Number of WWI/WWII References I Make:
14 - oh screw it. The moment I saw space!Himmler I gave up. Too many references.

Number of Times I Slapped Myself For Thinking, Saying or Writing Something Lecherous:
14

Thoughts overall?
It's a slow start with a fantastic cliffhanger. But what elsle can you expect from a six part serial that spans two hours and twenty minutes.
This is a full length film.
The prologue has only just finished.
And it's a tightly written prologue too; we have the plot sorted in about three minutes, but the exact situation is handed out sparingly, plus I doubt we've seen it all yet. We've had a nice introduction to the military world of the Kaleds, and the characterisation is very solid, believable and honest.
Despite the overall dark, WWII tone to the story so far there've been some great funny moments, intentionally or unintentionally, and I'm having a lot of fun.
I'm reserving judgement on the entire serial until the end, but this part is enjoyable, interesting, leaves me wanting more, ended on a brilliant cliffhanger and is, in my opinion, an extremely good opening to a serial.
Things are looking good.

[Sanguine]

You, sir, are several different kinds of WRONG.
Stardust is an amazing film, the source material was not mangled, Neil Gaiman has never produced anything which was less than brilliant. End of discussion.

Well then, we will have to agree to disagree.

I feel like I should segue back on topic with something about The Doctor's Wife, but I have nothing really to say besides it was the best episode ever and I love it.

This however I can agree with.

OK OK OK. Vaguely curious, in what sequence would people rate the episodes of the current series thus far? And why? Personally, I think mine would be:

Let's see.

The Doctor's Wife: (Do I really need to explain this?)

A Good Man Goes to War: (The Last Centurion, sure there were other nice parts but he just stole the show. Also the Doctor speaks baby.)

Day of the Moon: ("River: Your secret weapon is Apollo 11? Doctor: Of course not, that would be silly. It's Neil Armstrong's foot." Yeah sure there are other reasons it's up here but I just loved that exchange)

The Almost People: (Two Doctors, Classic Who references, Rory being awesome. Also a genuinely compelling conflict with no side being "the bad guys". If it weren't for the stale feeling it had at times, possibly due to lousy direction and/or music can't say for sure which if either, it would have easily been third.)

The Impossible Astronaut: (This was a fun episode with the Doctor waving at them through history and the cool Stetson. It also was part of a two-part story with Day of the Moon which helps out a lot, which isn't to say it couldn't hold up on it's own. It could.)

The Rebel Flesh: (Very nice build up of the characters and the flesh, helped set a wonderful tone for the second part, however while it was quite good it didn't hold up to it's conclusion, or the other episodes in the Series.)

The Curse of the Black Spot: (Now up front, I actually enjoyed watching this episode. Pirate Amy was brilliant. However it just wasn't that great of an episode, especially compared to the rest of the Series. The missing pirate in particular bugged me. Avery's motivation was flat and cliche, and I so thought there would be a real character there. And as others have said in this thread the premise of a Space Nurse who doesn't quite understand humans has been done and done better in The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances.)

Spoiler

Show

General Tortures-A-Lot gloats about how they're going to wipe out the Thals, and the Doctor snarkily murmurs that he's "heard that before", and well, yeah. He has, but the thing is, the pre-Dalek Daleks must have wiped out the Thals because this is the first time I've ever heard of them. So why the snark oh Doctor mine?

I haven't seen this particular Serial so I can't comment on much but this however I can explain.

The Thals date back to the very first appearance of the Daleks, way back in the days of the First Doctor the third Serial of the entire show even, they were a peaceful race race that lived in the petrified forests of Skaro, they also all had blond hair. This was of course a later point in history than Genesis of the Daleks as the Daleks were in fact Daleks not Kaleds or Dals or any other number of precursor races. Anyway the Daleks who were much more technologically advanced wanted to exterminate the Thals calling them "mutations". The Thals however with the help of the Doctor and his companions defeated the Daleks and took over their city. The planet was also covered in toxic radiation which may explain the radiation detector that the gas mask kid had as the radiation dated back to some past war, presumably with the Thals.

[Sunken Valley]

I will rate the episodes

Doctors Wife: GAIMANNN!

Almost People: Excellent twist and the two doctors was humourous

Impossible Astronaut: Only Moffat could make the first episode the Wham episode.

Rebel Flesh: Good build up to Almost people and would probably be better in the list if I merged its ranking with Almost People.

Good man goes to war: Rory was cool but I expected a really shocking twist at the end. Everyone who had watched the two parter at the beginning would know that Melody=River so really I think Moffat was full of himself that he thought this would be big twist.

Day of the moon: further proof that Stephen Moffat cannot write a decent two parter (unless it is empty child). Tone felt too different from the first part and there was no need for three month gap. I mentioned the Melody=River that was slammed against us but I also did not like the doctor killing Silent. The silent did not do anything that evil and genocide was not needed. My doctor does not kill people.

Curse of the Black Spot: The Fear her of Moffat's era. Ironically the worst episode of Sherlock was also written by Stephen Thompson. Missing Pirates galor! Although, if my spoiler is right...

[Androgeus]

My rankings: (note that everything between first and last are liable to change very easily, and I also hate judging stuff I haven't seen really recently)

Spoiler

Show

Doctor's wife
The Almost People
Day of the Moon
The Rebel Flesh
Impossible Astronaut
Curse of the Black Spot (while it is the worse episode in Moffat's run so far, it's no where near as bad as Fear Her.)

On another note, Torchwood: Miracle Day is starting next week on Thursday over here (this Friday for you Americans). Can't wait. Also should we discuss Torchwood here seeing as it is a spin-off, or start up it's own thread?

[factotum]

I'd start a new thread--it's not like the two shows are even being run by the same people anymore, so the link is a bit tenuous now!

[Szilard]

Good man goes to war: Rory was cool but I expected a really shocking twist at the end. Everyone who had watched the two parter at the beginning would know that Melody=River so really I think Moffat was full of himself that he thought this would be big twist.

What are you blabbering about here? Sure the reveal was a bit lackluster, but only the wildest of guesses could've come up with that.

[Kato]

What are you blabbering about here? Sure the reveal was a bit lackluster, but only the wildest of guesses could've come up with that.

Yeah... well, I wouldn't say the wildest of guesses but it was not proven or anything. Lots of people deemed it possible but whoever was convinced this was true was still working with inconclusive evidence. Anyway, I wasn't surprised (well, a bit) but mostly just loved how they did the reveal, especially Eleven.

[Sunken Valley]

Now to explain to everyone the obviousness of Melody=River.

First off we need to know that Moffat intrically plans his entire story and knew since 2008 how seasons 5, 6 and 7 will go down. Interviews have shown that Moffat planned from the beginning to make Amy and Rory the first married couple on the TARDIS (making the babies ever after trope a strong number). I had already suspected an Amy/River connection due to their watery names (Pond and River). Then the opening episodes put the baby as confirmed. The girl in the suit beared strong resemblence to Amy (with similar hair to Caitlin Blackwood [young Amy]). The girl was introduced as a clear plot point, making Girl=Amy's daughter a good chance. Then she regenerated. River I have always felt was more than human with her phenomenal shooting skills and knowing the Doctors name. Thus River=Timelord is not far off. It would also explain how River looks nothing like Amy. Plus there is the fact that throughought the adventure, River and the little Girl were never together. "Only water in the forest is the river" further tied the water connection. The clues in episode 7 (Melody and Pond are synonyms of Song and River, River and Baby are never there at the same time) seals the deal. I was thinking right until the end that Stephen Moffat was throwing tons of red herrings.

[Kato]

Well, except half your points happened after Day of the Moon which you named to be the point when 'everyone' knew it was a fact. And even until then, at best Sexy's parting words were the first STRONG hint towards it until episode 7. I'm not saying you couldn't see it coming or it took me completely by surprise but you made it sound like it was almost an established fact after DotM which it really wasn't even if you could suspect. (Though, since River really looks nothing like Amy (as you said) I don't see how you could deduce anything about her from the pictures of her as a baby... whatever) Neither does Rory and Amy having a child prove that child has to be River. Or at least I don't see how it does.

[Xondoure]

I saw it coming, but I don't remember there being any solid evidence more of a "they just would do that too" kind of inclination.

[Kato]

I'm dong something new tonight!
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the start of my Classic Who Trek. And now, to boldly go where many have gone before. [*cue TOS theme (Such a classic introduction)*]

'Genesis of the Daleks' part 1/6 (Tom Baker serial)
Same format as before.

Finally got around to watching it as well... Took me long enough.
Problem is, I really have trouble with older shows because, hands down, there is stuff they are worse at then newer shows. And I'm not talking about poor special effects. Not even about being cheesy. But about land mines being disarmed by placing rocks under them... And women being useless...
Nonetheless, it was fun enough for a start, even if neither Kaled nor mutos are subtle, as pointed out by you already. And... well, I got a little bit much space!nazis shoved down my throat (yeah, I know coming from a German this sounds kind of badly, it's not terrible but still, a bit more subtle would have been nice. I guess back then this had an even stronger impact. Though, Not!Himmler was kind of nice. Didn't have Himmler's face in my mind before your link but it really looks alike.

Otherwise... Timelords shot first... well... you know, timey-wimey and stuff... I guess even without the Doctor it would have happened the same way or something... though we can't REALLY be sure I think the Kaleds/Davros are just that type of people first aggression or not...

Though, the idea of studying history on Galifrey sounds fun to me. Guess that's what took the Doctor 700 odd years before he started traveling. Need to know the universe before you jump into it, don't you?

Also: Yay for all the Blackadder references, hehe.

[Eldan]

I got my hand on some of the very first episodes. I might do one of these things for An Unearthly Child. Could be interesting.

[Dr. Simon]

Finally got around to watching it as well... Took me long enough.
Problem is, I really have trouble with older shows because, hands down, there is stuff they are worse at then newer shows. And I'm not talking about poor special effects. Not even about being cheesy. But about land mines being disarmed by placing rocks under them... And women being useless...

Not always true; in fact there are surprisingly few "useless" female companions - it actually seems to get worse as you go forward in time (cough Peri). The fantastic Barbara, Vikki, Zoe, Liz, Jo (later on, she starts out as the clumsy ditz), Sarah-Jane, Leela, Romana (1 and 2), Nyssa, Tegan and Ace - all able to hold their own and with little or no screaming.

Of course, that leaves Susan, Dodo, Polly, Victoria, Peri and Mel. Poor Polly, reduced to making coffee every time the cybermen appear :(. And as for Susan... when she falls over whilst running away in The Five Doctors, I really wanted Tegan to say "Look, this is 1985, we don't do that kind of thing any more!"

For me, the worst elements of the older series are, as you say, things that were generally rubbish in TV at that time. Unconvincing fight scenes, for one. Also, if you're a guard and you're looking for fugitives, there are two rules you must follow.

1) If you are chasing the fugitives down a corridor with alcoves and side branches, and you lose sight of the people you are chasing, on no account must you even as much as glance to one side - make sure that you keep your eyes fixed dead ahead and keep going.

2) If you are searching a store room filled with crates, shelves and dark corners, a simple glance from the door will suffice to satisfy you that the room is empty.

[ShinyCap]

Though, the idea of studying history on Galifrey sounds fun to me. Guess that's what took the Doctor 700 odd years before he started traveling. Need to know the universe before you jump into it, don't you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg49uxC2v_g

[Friv]

And as for Susan... when she falls over whilst running away in The Five Doctors, I really wanted Tegan to say "Look, this is 1985, we don't do that kind of thing any more!"

You know, having watched most of Susan's appearances on the show, I really have my own theory about her screaming - massive post-traumatic stress disorder. The girl had been travelling with the Doctor for basically her entire childhood, and as a result she was incredibly jumpy and tended to freak out whenever anything happened.

And seriously, can you blame her? That is not a stable upbringing.

[Sunken Valley]

Was looking at the Doctor Who Season 6 part 1 DVD box and it says it is a 12. Not a 12a, a 12. What will people think when they see that? Never has Dr Who been 12 certificate since doctor 6 (and maybe the movie). And what is worse is that Moffat lets his kids watch it!

[dehro]

so...I saw dr who the movie, with eric roberts as the master..

I am uncertain as to merely going "meh" or even go as far as to go "ewww"

since I'm a "new Dr.Who" guy and know nothing (nor do I intend to catch up with everything) about old Dr.Who...
what was the consensus about this movie/experiment, aside from the obvious commercial purpose of the movie which I suppose it failed to achieve???

[Eldan]

so...I saw dr who the movie, with eric roberts as the master..

I am uncertain as to merely going "meh" or even go as far as to go "ewww"

since I'm a "new Dr.Who" guy and know nothing (nor do I intend to catch up with everything) about old Dr.Who...
what was the consensus about this movie/experiment, aside from the obvious commercial purpose of the movie which I suppose it failed to achieve???

I've only seen part of it (gave up pretty soon), but I think the fans were pretty soundly on the "ewww" side.

[factotum]

They made the Doctor half human, and then said that the central device powering the TARDIS could only be opened by a human. So, a machine built by a race aeons older and more advanced than humanity is set up so it can only be properly used by a human? Even without its other flaws those two would have been enough to sink it for any Whovian, I think...

[Eldan]

Would explain why it was on the trash heap...

[dehro]

They made the Doctor half human, and then said that the central device powering the TARDIS could only be opened by a human. So, a machine built by a race aeons older and more advanced than humanity is set up so it can only be properly used by a human? Even without its other flaws those two would have been enough to sink it for any Whovian, I think...

yessss.. I was pulling a Dwayne Johnson when I noticed that..

[Thufir]

You know, having watched most of Susan's appearances on the show, I really have my own theory about her screaming - massive post-traumatic stress disorder. The girl had been travelling with the Doctor for basically her entire childhood, and as a result she was incredibly jumpy and tended to freak out whenever anything happened.

And seriously, can you blame her? That is not a stable upbringing.

Except the implication was pretty clearly that the adventures and danger only really started when the series did. Before that they were just exploring space and time peacefully. Sometimes even stopping in one period of history for more than a day or two!

[Friv]

so...I saw dr who the movie, with eric roberts as the master..

I am uncertain as to merely going "meh" or even go as far as to go "ewww"

since I'm a "new Dr.Who" guy and know nothing (nor do I intend to catch up with everything) about old Dr.Who...
what was the consensus about this movie/experiment, aside from the obvious commercial purpose of the movie which I suppose it failed to achieve???

From what I recall, the fan consensus is that Paul McGann was a pretty good doctor, and everything else about the movie stunk to high heaven. They made a whole bunch of audio books with him as the doctor, which were quite popular.

[Starscream]

From what I recall, the fan consensus is that Paul McGann was a pretty good doctor, and everything else about the movie stunk to high heaven. They made a whole bunch of audio books with him as the doctor, which were quite popular.

Pretty much this. Good Doctor, bad everything else.

I'm glad McCoy returned to officially pass the torch, but his death was rather undignified. Of course, it was still better than his immediate predecessor's.