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  1. - Top - End - #1351
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Quote Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl View Post
    And technically Ace. Because I saw . . . I think it was 'Remembrance of the Daleks' at the Oxford UKitP mini-meetup. It was the serial where Ace beats up a Dalek with a baseball bat.
    Yes, it was Remembrance of the daleks, and to be fair it was a time-lord empowered baseball bat.
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  2. - Top - End - #1352
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Simon View Post
    Says it all really, poor old Harry! (Ian Marter who played him did go on to write a substantial number of the novelisations, though).

    Definitely Mel as Worst Companion Ever. Even if you're not fond of Billie Piper, Rose comes nowhere near in terms of badness. It doesn't help that the stories she appears in are pretty weak as well, but it's really Bonnie Langford's "eyes, teeth and jazz-hands" stage school "acting" that does it for me. She might have been acceptable as Violet-Elizabeth Bott when she was a kid, but ... no. Just no.

    Dorothea "Dodo" Caplet (from the Hartnell period) is a bit of a dud too, mainly because the series producers couldn't decide if she was supposed to have a regional accent or not, so she veers from Cheery Cockerney to Manc to RP within a single episode. Bit like watching Frasier.
    Agreed Mel is Worst Companion Ever. Though Adric and Thurlow were no great shakes either. Hmm Peter Davidson got a rough deal when it came to Comapanions didn't he
    All Comicshorse's posts come with the advisor : This is just my opinion any difficulties arising from implementing my ideas are your own problem

  3. - Top - End - #1353
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Oh my.
    I just finished a ten minute rant for my latest review. I have a problem. Not going to delete it though. Thing is, I'm three and a half minutes into the episode.

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    Quote Originally Posted by V'icternus View Post
    Why is it that you now scare me more than the possibility of nuclear war?
    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Bath View Post
    To compare [Curly] to the beauty of the changing seasons or timeless stars would be an understatement.
    Quote Originally Posted by Coidzor View Post
    But Koorly is the sweetest crime.

    Squid bones are lies.
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  4. - Top - End - #1354
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Quote Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl View Post
    Oh my.
    I just finished a ten minute rant for my latest review. I have a problem. Not going to delete it though. Thing is, I'm three and a half minutes into the episode.
    ... wow.

    For Part 3 of The Invasion? I don't remember anything particularly obnoxious in there (no more so than the first two, at least), so now I'm super-curious.
    If you like my thoughts, you'll love my writing. Visit me at www.mishahandman.com.

  5. - Top - End - #1355
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Quote Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl View Post
    Oh my.
    I just finished a ten minute rant for my latest review. I have a problem. Not going to delete it though. Thing is, I'm three and a half minutes into the episode.
    YES.
    Good times are ahead for Curlyreview fans.
    "'But there's still such a lot to be done...'
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  6. - Top - End - #1356
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Quote Originally Posted by Friv View Post
    ... wow.

    For Part 3 of The Invasion? I don't remember anything particularly obnoxious in there (no more so than the first two, at least), so now I'm super-curious.
    Make that two rants. At six odd minutes into the episode. (I was distracted when the Playground became a paddock of ponies last night)
    Well, the second rant is more 'ranting about awesome'.

    LET IT BE KNOWN THAT: whenever Curly calls something a rant it means going on at length about a certain topic, be it in a positive or negative or confused fashion.

    Also, remember, I'm Curly. The things I'm interested in are not necessarily the things most people pay attention to.

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    Quote Originally Posted by V'icternus View Post
    Why is it that you now scare me more than the possibility of nuclear war?
    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Bath View Post
    To compare [Curly] to the beauty of the changing seasons or timeless stars would be an understatement.
    Quote Originally Posted by Coidzor View Post
    But Koorly is the sweetest crime.

    Squid bones are lies.
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  7. - Top - End - #1357
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    Default Dr. Si's Old Who Recommendations

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

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

    First Doctor

    Second Doctor

    Third Doctor

    Fourth Doctor

    Fifth Doctor

    Sixth Doctor


    And so on to the Seventh Doctor. This season feels like a transitionary period, and in many ways it is. Evidently the initial attitude was for a light-hearted portrayal of the Doctor, since Sylvester McCoy was best known for more humourous roles, but over his tenure the character was darkened down a lot. Removing the plastic Mel and replacing her with the more nuanced Ace is a start, but for the moment most of the stories in this season have a gimmicky feel. It's not helped by a really weak opening story.

    Season Twenty Four (1987)
    Seventh Doctor/Mel/Ace

    Paradise Towers – There are some great ideas in this one, possibly inspired by JG Ballard's novel "High Rise", that deserve better development (the Kangs, for example), but the execution falls short of the concepts. I find it hard to get enthused by any of the stories that include Mel.

    Dragonfire – An interesting villain, and an interesting setting, too, a mix of the mundane (shopping precinct) and the exotic (ice world), even though the creature design is blatantly ripped off Alien. Best bit – Mel leaves. Does have that seemingly pointless (literal) cliffhanger.

    Honourable Mentions
    Delta and The Bannermen – Quite entertaining, but seems to miss out a section where Delta explains who and what she is to the others – to me it seemed like they all suddenly knew. I really hated the bus/spaceship and the whole holiday camp setting the first time I saw this, but now it doesn't bother me so much. Your mileage may vary depending on your tolerance for whimsy.
    Last edited by Dr. Simon; 2012-10-10 at 08:18 AM.
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  8. - Top - End - #1358
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    Default Re: Dr. Si's Old Who Recommendations

    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Simon View Post
    Paradise Towers – There are some great ideas in this one that deserve better development (the Kangs, for example), but the execution falls short of the concepts. I find it hard to get enthused by any of the stories that include Mel.
    Paradise Towers has Pex, and Pex is awesome.
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    1. Pick a random character
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    3. goto 1

  9. - Top - End - #1359
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    Default Re: Dr. Si's Old Who Recommendations

    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Simon View Post
    Continuing my plan to post what I think to be the highlights of every season of Doctor Who, old and new.
    So, on to the seventh doctor, but no spoiler relating to the sixth... Is this an intentional omission?
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  10. - Top - End - #1360
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    Default Re: Dr. Si's Old Who Recommendations

    Quote Originally Posted by Mercenary Pen View Post
    So, on to the seventh doctor, but no spoiler relating to the sixth... Is this an intentional omission?
    No, I wasn't deliberately snubbing Colin Baker! Probably a messed up BBcode in there, I'll check.

    Edit, yep, my mistake, he'd ended up lumped in with Peter Davison.
    Last edited by Dr. Simon; 2012-04-02 at 10:18 AM.
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  11. - Top - End - #1361
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    Default Re: Dr. Si's Old Who Recommendations

    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Simon View Post
    Season Twenty Four (1987)
    Seventh Doctor/Mel/Ace
    Only two seasons left for classic Who! This is both cool and sad.
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  12. - Top - End - #1362
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    Default Re: Dr. Si's Old Who Recommendations

    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Simon View Post
    No, I wasn't deliberately snubbing Colin Baker! Probably a messed up BBcode in there, I'll check.

    Edit, yep, my mistake, he'd ended up lumped in with Peter Davison.
    I wasn't seriously accusing you of snubbing Colin Baker, but I know there are plenty of people who would prefer if he hadn't been one of the doctor's incarnations (or had at least had better writing).
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  13. - Top - End - #1363
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Mercenary Pen, no, I realise you weren't being serious, which is why I put in the cheeky smiley . I happen to think Colin Baker was quite a good Doctor, but hampered by a terrible costume, some of the weakest scripts in the whole run and lots of behind-the-scenes hassle. I understand his audio dramas are worth catching.

    Friv - yeah, that's kind of the feeling I had when I got to this stage watching the episodes.

    Androgeus - but Pex is a Cowardy Cutler! Apparently the character was meant to be portrayed by a real muscle-bound actor, but I think it works better with the more normal-sized guy they used, makes the character even more of a fantasist.
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  14. - Top - End - #1364
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    AAAAAAAAAAA!!!

    Rapey things! Oh so many rapey implications! No surprises it's Punchy Packer saying "I'd think about it if I were you, Professor. After all, she is a pretty girl."


    Yeah. This serial goes from being Totally Awesome to Mummy Keep The Bad Man Away From Me in the most amazingly creepy fashion ever.

    Context:
    this is being said to the girl's uncle. And Punchy Packer has currently kidnapped his niece.

    1968.
    Children's edutainment show.
    Aired at dinner time.

    Bring on the rape.

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    Quote Originally Posted by V'icternus View Post
    Why is it that you now scare me more than the possibility of nuclear war?
    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Bath View Post
    To compare [Curly] to the beauty of the changing seasons or timeless stars would be an understatement.
    Quote Originally Posted by Coidzor View Post
    But Koorly is the sweetest crime.

    Squid bones are lies.
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  15. - Top - End - #1365
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    test post. Why can't I post my review?

    EDIT: I mean, I can post this, but not the review?

    DOUBLE EDIT:

    Oh come on!

    TRIPLE EDIT:

    You think 11300 odd words (20 pg in Word on size 11 font) is too long for the post? But I try removing the archive and nothing. Just blank whiteness of nothingess.

    Oh well. I'll just post the flipping archive then.

    Koorly's Archive of Her Doctor Who Reviews:
    Classic Who
    Spoiler
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    Second Doctor
    Spoiler
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    Series 6
    'The Invasion' Part 1/8, Part 2/8, Part 3/8 part the first, part the second

    Fourth Doctor
    Spoiler
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    Series 12
    'Genesis of the Daleks' Part 1/6, Part 2/6

    Nu Who
    Spoiler
    Show

    Season 1 - retrospective

    Season 2 - retrospective

    Season 3 - blind bar Moffat
    Spoiler
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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 3
    Retrospective - to be written later
    Why I Do Not Like Martha/Ten (This was written between my write ups of ep. 8 and ep 9)

    Season Four blind bar Moffat
    Spoiler
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    Ep. 1: 'Partners in Crime'
    Ep. 2: 'The Fires of Pompeii'
    Ep. 3: 'Planet of the Ood'
    Ep. 4: 'The Sontaran Stratagem' Part 1/2
    Ep. 5: ‘The Poison Sky‘ Part 2/2
    Ep. 6: ‘The Doctor‘s Daughter‘ Posted in two parts.
    Ep. 7: 'The Unicorn and the Wasp'


    Season 5 - blind bar Moffat's Angels
    Spoiler
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    Ep. 11: 'The Lodger'


    Season 6
    Spoiler
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    To to things this series was split in two, as such eps. 8 - Christmas episode will be liveblogged, and the first seven will be written with me having seen them before.

    Ep. 8: 'Let's Kill Hitler'
    Ep. 9: 'Night Terrors'
    Ep. 10: 'The Girl Who Waited'
    Ep. 11: 'The God Complex'
    Ep. 12: 'Closing Time'
    Ep. 13: Missing

    2011 Christmas Special: 'The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe'

    Last edited by CurlyKitGirl; 2012-04-04 at 09:11 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by V'icternus View Post
    Why is it that you now scare me more than the possibility of nuclear war?
    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Bath View Post
    To compare [Curly] to the beauty of the changing seasons or timeless stars would be an understatement.
    Quote Originally Posted by Coidzor View Post
    But Koorly is the sweetest crime.

    Squid bones are lies.
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  16. - Top - End - #1366
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Great. Cue the multiple posts.

    And now, to boldly go where many have gone before. [*cue TOS theme (Such a classic introduction)*]

    'The Invasion' part 3/8
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    Previously on 'The Invasion'! Frollo (aka Tobias Vaughn) stood up his alien partners in a display of balls, allowing him to find out what the Cybermen know about the Doctor: not very much.

    There was some extremely uncomfortable rapey implications (and this is me speaking), but luckily there was enough Jamie/Doctor subtext to make me happy. And for anyone who likes miles and miles of legs, this serial seems to be happy to oblige.

    Oh, and the Girls were kidnapped and coffinised - or coffinated, forcing the Boys to come to the rescue and get themselves captured. Plus we got to meet UNIT and the Brig.

    We get another recap of the last minute or so, so more coffinising and adorable Scottish boys in kilts. And Punchy McRapey. But I do think I figured out how they filmed the serials back when they had them proper. I think they filmed a full bridging scene, and then cut it in two to keep the continuity and flow between each individual episode smooth.

    So Punchy McRapey gloats about capturing our Boys, Jamie demands information about Zoe's locale. Even though he literally saw Zoe being coffinated about a minute ago, they really couldn't have gone far in that time. But I'll excuse it because he's being such an earnest, feisty Scotsman in a kilt. Also Jamie totes views Zoe as a little sister. Trust me on this, I've used that same tone when trying to find my little relatives. All of them. And some of the older ones too.

    But the cuteness of the Jamie/Doctor interaction continues! The Doctor keeps urging Jamie to be quiet out of concern for his safety (okay, and it's logical too, but allow me my wilful blindness), not once, but twice! Sadly it failed because Jamie goes toe to toe with Punchy McRapey who tries to pistolwhip my Jamie!

    BAD PUNCHY MCRAPEY! No pistolwhipping for you! Or raping.

    Gods. I adore how Frollo says "Packer!" It sounds like he's putting an 'm' in front of his name so it's so rich and rounded. 'mPacker' indeed. It sounds very much like 'alpaca', but soften the 'a' and replace the 'l' with an 'm'. If I could figure out how to make audio recording with this laptop I would.

    THAT'S IT! HE SOUNDS LIKE SIR HUMPHREY! But with a slightly richer voice.

    So Frollo basically scolds Punchy Packer for being violent, "[a]lthough I must admit the situation is provoking". So now we know Frollo enjoys seeing young men being beaten. Or he thought the situation called for it. Or both.

    Also, Jamie and the Doctor cannot stop touching each other. They're always touching one another's arms, chest, shoulder, back, and now the Doctor's caressing Jamie's head.

    At least until he's forcibly restrained.

    Cue the Traditional Villain Gloat. "So here you are again. You really are beginning to try our patience."

    J: "Aye. And he [Punchy Packer]'s beginning to try mine."

    D: "Jamie, Jamie." Seriously, Doctor, Jamie makes a lovely smart sally, and you reprove him out of concern for his health. And perhaps impatience. The Girls are missing after all. Either way I am digging their relationship and literally every interaction they have. Not to mention that I might as well make it official: Jamie is now in my Top Four Favourite Companions Ever. Not bad for only having fifty-four or so minutes of screen time as I write this very sentence.

    Frollo continue to gloat in that ridiculously rich voice of his that the Girls are gone now. Maybe the Boys didn't see the Girls get coffinated after all. Okay no, they did. So Frollo's going the Oblivious Route then?

    Seems so. Jamie outright tells him "I saw some of Zoe's clothes trapped in the lid" (that's my Scotsman, so observant). Frollo predictably blames it all on the imagination and the Doctor tries to be rational.

    I know. First time for everything Doctor.

    He wants to see inside the box, and I can already tell you without hitting the Play button that there will be nothing inside the boxes the Boys are shown. While it certainly seems to be going that way - they're being shown the 'empty' boxes going back to the factory - I should also admit that another thought occurred to me just now.

    The Boys are boxed in between the Fake Police and are right in front of Frollo and his main henchman. And there are many boxes. The coffination of the Boys is now a distinct possibility.

    Except Frollo just wagged his finger at Punchy Packer while making a secretive face. I am now torn between both possibilities. Ah, it was a Secret Signal of some sort. P: "This is Packer. Get the return van moving immediately. Do you understand? I said, immediately!"

    And the van is a train.

    Huh.

    Well. Guess I was wrong on both counts. How coincidental that the train departed just as the Boys arrived at the station. Terrible luck boys, but what can you do? British trains are known for their impeccable adherence to a time table after all.

    F: "Ah, just too late I'm afraid. Such a pity." Called it. "Still, all is not lost. I am myself going down to the factory today. Would you care to join me? We can meet the train on its arrival."

    The Boys accept. Despite that this is an Admiral Akbar Situation. AND THEY KEEP TOUCHING EACH OTHER! And the touches are so fleeting that I can't even get a proper screen grab of the image they're so casual about their lack of personal space and obvious intimacy! This is impossibly frustrating because the likelihood of a telly box show in the 1960s having an openly non-heterosexual couple is approximately zero, and it’s all got to be in subtext or coding or something else ambiguous so the creators can just say ‘Oh no, you‘re just reading too far into this situation, they‘re just close friends, that‘s all‘! (Yes, I do ship Kirk/Spock too, how did you know?)

    Hell. I asked my mother (who would have been eight at the time this serial was aired) what she remembered most about Jamie and the Doctor and you know what she said? “They were always touching. They were very close.” Yeah, that’s right. My mother - a long-time Doctor Who fan defines an entire era of the show by

    As someone who enjoys shipping, particularly of the slashy kind this is very frustrating! These two have touched each other more often than Captain Jack Harkness has touched the freaking Doctor!! And don’t be giving me any of this ‘more innocent age’ nonsense, or any other possible excuse like my reading way too much into it, or the ambiguity of said scenes! There comes a point when no amount of other plausible excuses can hide the fact that Jamie and the Doctor are totally in love! To Hell with TARDIS/Doctor or Amy/Rory! My Doctor Who OTP is Jamie/Doctor with possibly a dash of optional Master thrown in for good measure.

    I am feeling romantically and sexually frustrated on behalf of two fictional characters from a 1960s BBC science-fiction show!! Because I have seen these two interact for just about an hour and I have lost count of every single ‘ambiguous’ touch, knowing look and general love and subtext oozing between these two! It’s been six or seven individual touches in two and a half minutes of screen time (not including the introduction) - that’s one touch every twenty-one seconds!

    And it will never be anything more than very gentle (probably unintended) innuendo, subtext and touching of the so-called ‘ambiguous’ sort because I already know they will never kiss or openly admit to their feelings onscreen. There won’t even be deliberately teasing innuendo of the sort I revel in in Nu Who because of the flippin’ censors of the time!

    IT WILL TAKE ANOTHER NINETEEN YEARS FOR THERE TO BE A GAY KISS ON BRITISH TEATIME TELEVISION! I cannot wait that long! I cannot believe I just looked that up! (Actually I can) Can’t a girl get some man-on-man action in her nerdery?! Is it really too much to ask?

    Cut to UNIT! HI! Yes, I'm digging my Classic UNIT thankyouverymuchforasking. Sgt. Benton is telling the Brig what happened. Namely: our Boys have been in the warehouse area for an hour.

    Sgt. B: “The Doctor and the boy. They’re coming out sir,” XD “with Vaughn.” Oh. My mistake then. Everything I just complained about has now been made obsolete. The Doctor (at least this incarnation) has come out, along with Jamie. Never pegged Frollo for it though, he strike me very much as asexual or obsessed with lusting after a gypsy temptress with long dark locks. Seems the Brig wasn’t surprised by the announcement either. Didn’t even blink. And neither does Frollo. I’m beginning to wonder if he’s had his eyelids surgically removed or if he’s part lizard. Maybe some form of Silurian?

    Back with our Boys, their coming out party involves more awesome on Jamie’s half. Seriously, when Jamie takes a dislike to someone he does everything he can to annoy them. He is escorted to a car, climbs through the back seat, out the other side and hops into the front seat. And as a smug as all Hell smirk on his face when Punchy Packer tries to get in. At least I know what a Scottish troll looks like now. Punchy Packer is such a terrible henchman he can’t even get Jamie to sit where he’s meant to. Oh Jamie I love you.

    Back with UNIT and the Brig again. I hope we’re not going to be having too many scenes of less than a minute in length, it’s a little vexing when writing things up. Anywhere, the Brig wants to know what Frollo, the Doctor and Jamie are doing now they’ve come out. Sgt. Benton helpfully tells him that “[t]they’ve all got into Vaughn’s private car” (oh yeah) and that they’re driving off. The Brig inquires as to whether “any force is being used” and my mind goes very dirty places (for me at any rate), but the Brig is clearly concerned because the obviously villainous head of the obviously villainous company is escorting his two industrial spies into a car. Bet he thinks they’re being taken to a nice sunny wall for one last ciggie.

    Sgt. B: “[I]t all seemed very friendly to me.” Oh I bet it did all right! The Brig decides against having a close watch on the Boys, opting instead for a more discreet watch. Then some military stuff happens, with patrols being alerted and Jimmy (possibly Sgt.) is ordered onto a helichopter and has to meet up with a tracking agent. I have no idea what is going on any more,

    I wholly endorse this because a civilian brat- even one with extensive military ties - such as myself should not understand military jargon. Then again, it was the 1960s, only twenty years out of WWII, with active military bases along that communisty border thing in Europe, and that war or two somewhere in the Far East of Asia, but not in Japan. Maybe more people understood it then than do now. Or I could just be a complete moron. Whatever suits. Basically, they’re winging it and Sgt. Jimmy is the man in the field for when the Boys radio for help.

    The Boys are still in a car, driving down a road. I think it might be a Bentley, I couldn’t really see the hood ornament close enough to tell. But I think we’re back near the communist compound because the fake police are there to open gates to the Ominous Music with atonal motif. And I adore how discreet the helicopter is. I mean, it’s so quiet, nobody could hear it flying over the obviously secretive area over which they are flying.

    Oh, my mistake. The Very Obvious Helichopter is now going to be upgraded to Ridiculously Obvious as the Brig just ordered Sgt. Jimmy to “circle the area”. In full view of the people who work for Microsoft. But they really can’t do nothing much else until the Doctor actually deigns to tell the Brig (technically his boss) what’s going on.

    *snerk* The B: “And Jimmy, keep out of sight. If Vaughn’s private army” [okay really, and the government’s a-okay with this?! Oh right. Brainwashing] “they might well get the wind up, and that might make things rather unhealthy for the Doctor and the boy.” Yeah. Just a little bit Brig.

    Be tea dubs. Does the Brig ever call Jamie anything but ‘the boy’? Because I can think of several ways to interpret that appellation via power plays, relative social status/other status in the hierarchy and so on and so forth. Probably it’s just an endearment or something dismissive, but currently Jamie is one of the Brig’s operatives - a voluntary one and should be allotted the proper respect.

    Oh. The car is a Bentley. Jesus. This serial had funding enough for filming on an RAF base, hiring a (fairly new) Jag, a Bentley, a bit of railway, and pretty big compounds. Well, it’s probably the back of the RAF base. But on top of the location filming (which is kept to a minimum, but not in a way that seems at all obvious) it also manages some fairly decent props, costumes and sets. For a telly box show.

    The fake police even have a fake salute. But frankly, let’s talk about the fact that our Boys, Frollo and Punchy Packer are all now stuck in a small elevator. With the exception of Punchy Packer our three boys are standing shoulder to shoulder. Well, more like Jamie’s standing shoulder to shoulder with our villain and our hero. Boy does not understand the concept of personal space at all does he?

    Frollo brings up the fascinating Time Lord circuits. However, the conversation and scene is interrupted by the elevator arriving at its destination. Ah, these are the secret science labs maybe. I think this because Frollo (who still hasn’t blinked yet) just told Punchy Packer to “see if Prof. Watkins is finished”.

    Skeevey moment! F: “You might even offer him a little encouragement.” Considering his niece and his niece’s friend are currently unconscious in a couple of coffins somewhere I do not like the various ways the ‘encouragement’ can be. Very few of them bode well for our Girls. Yep. The Science goes on on the third floor.

    Hey. This new room is Frollo’s office with another (slightly less) fake background in the windows. And it’s going to be lampshaded! J: “Hey. Doctor it’s . . . “

    F: “Confusing isn’t it?” [Awesome more like]

    J: “It’s exactly the same as your office in London.”

    F: “In all basic essentials yes it is. That’s the secret of my success you see.” [Re-using sets (lampshades are optional) in order to save on money] “Uniformity. Dupliaction.” [Assimilation.] “My whole empire is based on that principle. [Okay, look. Frollo’s as close to a Cyberman as possible while still being human. If he is still human. Also, this makes those two Cyberman two-parters in series two of Nu Who less new and more ‘repeating a Second Doctor serial’. God, that’s a lot of twos isn’t it?] “The very essence of business efficiency.” I actually really like how they tied in a [I]lack of budget for individual sets[I] into a thematically appropriate reference to: the enemy of the serial, ‘communism’, ‘collectivism’, ‘individualism’ and so on and so forth.

    No. This is a seriously amazing way of linking humanity’s desire for sameness (look, it’s half one in the morning, don’t expect coherency from me), schedule, routine, the rapid development of the machine line reducing the need for humans to work in manufacturing and all of these other socio-politico-economic things into the serial. It shows that humanity can become Cybermen so easily if they forget the place of an individual in the grand scheme of things.

    And they did this by lampshading the lack of budget Doctor Who has, and tying it into the villain’s motivation for allying with the Cybermen who are basically the perfect ideal of his own beliefs. If I could marry a show it would be this one. Now. I could be reading too much into this, but this was a conscious choice on the writer’s (or editor’s) half to have the villain spout his motivation in response to Jamie commenting on a set being re-used.

    THIS WAS INTENTIONAL AND IS A REASON WHY I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH. They could have just left it as a joke, but they tied it directly in the characterisation of the villain in a way that makes perfect sense given what we already know of him. This is some stellar writing going on here. Remember: it could have been a joke. They used it to develop themes and characters. And it’s social commentary too!

    I haven’t been this impressed with a piece of writing/set design/set up in Doctor Who in a long time.

    Although I don’t know why Frollo still employs the supremely incompetent Punchy Packer though. Seriously, that man is not competent, efficient or anything of the sort. Eh. Guess he needs a bit of psychopathic dumb muscle around the place for something. Like all the dirty work. And rape. I still can't get over the fact that rape was so heavily suggested in Doctor Who. It's awesome. Not that I think rape is awesome, but it's the fact that Doctor Who doesn't always shy away from the bad things in life. Or the less pleasant. Or the things that are disapproved by the majority.

    That is not to say that Doctor Who necessarily addresses things realistically, well or always (hi 'Fear Her' and everything Rose has ever done ever), but for a family show it does address Actual Things more often than I'd expect.

    But let's not digress again. The Doctor sits down while Jamie goes to . . . look out the window probably. Frollo admits he should be angry at the Doctor for "thwart[ing his] elaborate security precautions twice". I think by 'elaborate' he mean the receptionist computer.

    (((I am way too easily distracted. The reason this is so 'late' is that I rewatched all of Sherlock over the past few days.

    CHEEK. BONES.

    All the expressive faces in the world!

    All the sadness!!

    ALL THE SUBTEXT!!!

    ALL THE MORIARTIES!!!

    ALL THE CHEEKBONES!!!!! ALL THEM COATS WITH THE PARTIALLY UNBUTTONED SILK SHIRTS AND THE CURLS AND THE EYES AND THE SKIN TONE AND THE CHEEKBONES AND MARTIN FREEMAN IS SO CUTE AND HE IS SUCH A HOBBIT, YES I'M GOING TO GO SEE THE HOBBIT AND COME ON IT HAS SHERLOCK HOLMES AS SMAUG HOW CAN THIS NOT BE AWESOME?! You know this will be the best film of the year, don't you deny it.

    All my sads.

    Stephen Moffatt is an Evil Genius who revels in your pain. He even infiltrates Who stories written before he was born.

    And I want canon Sherlock/Doctor Who crossover. In fact, I demand it.)))

    And Frollo, being a Super Efficient Evil Villain Man wishes to know why. Though to be honest, any businessman would want to know why industrial spies were spying on his stuff. So the Doctor explains.

    D: "I hate computers and refuse to be bullied by them." The Doctor really hates bullies of all kinds doesn't he? Stand up for the little people Doctor! It's what you do best. No. What you do best is everything except dancing. I will say this now and forever: my headcanon says that no DOctor can dance at all. This will never not be true ever.

    Frollo then proceeds to name drop Zoe and Miss Legs, making our gallant Jamie exclaim "So that's why your thugs dragged her and Isobel away". Cue a swift denial as he proceeds to admire her and the Doctor for their "scientific ability". Methinks he's coining onto the fact that Zoe and the Doctor are from the future. Or a highly technologically advanced planet.

    Hey dudes who know science? Can there be such a thing as a "totally illogicall[y]" constructed circuit or is this just mumbo jumbo technoTreknobabble? Either way, Frollo covets them and the person who invented them - in this case: the Doctor.

    'kay guys. I'm getting some seriously creepy vibes from Frollo again. He's all cool and hip with the Doctor's silence, "[i]n fact, I'll do anything I can to help you" mend them. This is Highly Suspicious. Particularly as he then intimates that Dr. Watkins (that's Legs' uncle) hasn't been doing jack in studying them when we all know he has been studying them.

    And you know what! Frollo's leaving the office to go do something nefarious I just know it!

    And hello! The very second Frollo opens the damn door cue Jamie getting all up in the Doctor's personal space and 'accidental' touching as the Doctor turns around to watch Frollo go! Barely one minute into my resuming my review and 'accidental' touching. This pairing is going to be very good for me in a terribly frustrating way.

    Someone go find me some Jamie/Two fanfic now. You can choose what I review next after 'Remembrance of the Daleks'. YES I AM WILLING TO DO LONG REVIEWS JUST TO SATISFY MY NEED FOR ACTUAL JAMIE/TWO ROMANCE! My needs must be fulfilled!

    And even more 'accidental' touching! Jamie totally didn't need to touch the Doctor to get his attention and he did. I'm going to need a folder just for touchy Jamie/Two aren't I? Yes, yes I am. Out of my twenty-three screencaps for this serial, four of them involve Jamie or the Doctor touching one another.

    Is the Doctor really going to play along with Frollo in order to fix his TARDIS and maybe get Zoe back? That's the drift I'm getting here. But again, it's cute their interaction! It's that ying and yang thing. Jamie's all hotblooded and impetuous and Scottish and young and attractive and kilt wearing and the Doctor's more relaxed and cautious and English and older and not-exactly attractive at all and trouser wearing.

    These two are married. I have seen my grandparent (married for fifty odd bloody years!) bicker like this. Although louder.

    J: "I don't think you can annoy that man [Frollo] even if you wanted to." He has a point. Never seen a more cold-blooded person outside of . . . um. Outside of Mycroft Holmes actually. Well, perhaps Cybermen too, but they're stripped of emotion so you can't really count them can you? But you have too because they're kind of a . . . species . . . so they're people after all.

    Aha!

    Never seen a more emotionless person outside of a Vulcan who is not undergoing pon farr, suffering from Bendii syndrome, has just seen their entire planet imploded, is part of the V'tosh ka'tur movement or similar.

    At least the Doctor agrees with Jamie that Frollo's being too nice. He's a Stepford Husband! D: "He's a little bit too interested in these circuits for my liking." No faecal matter Sherlock. Jamie brings up an interesting point: does Frollo know about the TARDIS? Kinda. He's probably extrapolated it given his Cybercontact.

    Jamie and the Doctor are also worried about Prof. Watkins too. Because yeah. The whole situation smells as fishing as my local fish market just after the fleet's come home after a bumper harvest. And the Doctor is so bemusedly earnest it makes me smile.

    AAAAAAAAAAA!!!

    Rapey things! Oh so many rapey implications! No surprises it's Punchy Packer saying "I'd think about it if I were you, Professor. After all, she is a pretty girl." Yeah. This serial goes from being Totally Awesome to Mummy Keep The Bad Man Away From Me in the most amazingly creepy fashion ever.

    1968.

    Children's edutainment show.

    Aired at dinner time.

    Cults and communes. Murder. Communism allegories. Industrial espionage. Corporate conspiracies. Monopolies on markets. Alien invasions (basically another metaphor for the communist threat/the dissolution of the British Empire and immigrants etc.) Blackmail. Kidnapping. Assault. Rape threats.

    And the aliens haven't even been onscreen yet. Hell, if you include their time as a disembodied voice they've been onscreen for about ninety seconds. In just over one hour of the serial.

    Pardon my language. But humans are complete and total smegpots aren't they.

    But I do so love it when writers treat the audience as smart. Particularly if the main demographic of a show is children.

    I know this is is going to sound horribly provincial, but well. It's a bit of a stereotype over here in the UK that most American shows are a bit . . . stupid. I can think of a lot of exceptions off the top of my head, but the reason I know of them is because they're so good they were imported to be aired. A:TLA, Buffy, Star Trek, Battlestar ,Angel, Firefly, MLP: FiM and so on.

    But well. It seems to me that oodles of British shows are imported to America and are very popular and/or are adapted for an American audience. I can name dozens of them. And it seems that a lot of the 'intelligent' American shows that gain a wide overseas audience aren't particularly mainstream in America. Whereas said imported British shows airing in America gain what I'm told is a respectable audience figure. Is this just a stereotype or a generalisation or is it depressingly true? A mix? I'm just curious.

    So the gist of this is: is Doctor Who (Nu or Classic) more 'intelligent' than other shows aimed at the same(ish) demographic? And yes. I am well aware of how stupid this question is when it comes to a show that is literally everywhere on all the sliding scales at different points in its history, but I have to ask anyway.

    But back to the rape. PP: "It'd be a shame to spoil all that." If that doesn't make you feel unclean (Punchy Packer's got to be twice the age of Miss Legs) it's the Prof's response that makes me wish for a shower.

    PW: "What a vicious sadist you are Packer." Sadism: the derivation of pleasure from inflicting pain or watching pain inflicted on others. Can be used in a sexual context.

    Yeah.

    And this is Packer who has been implied multiple times to enjoy physically inflicting pain upon people who cannot fight back. i.e. the beginning of this episode.

    He looks like a rapist, and he looked like he was looking forwards to it when Frollo implied that rape was a-okay and totally awesome. And we all know Rape Is A Special Type of Evil (please do not get into the ethical implications and subjective truth of this generalisation), but the idea of torture on top of that too.

    I'll be over in a corner feeling horrified and horribly conflicted.

    And yes. I do get that the 'sadist' remark is referring to Punchy Packer's enjoyment of the Prof's pain during the conversation but we already know he likes physically hurting people too.

    I am thus validated in my conviction.

    And he's trying not to grin and laugh during after Prof. Watkins says this.He's having the time of his life.

    And it gets worse.

    PW: "I don't believe you anyway." His face screams denial.

    PP: "I don't make idle threats, Professor, as you well know." AND HE HAS A SMUG!FACE ON. "If you want to see that girl again in one piece, I suggest you do as Mr. Vaughn asks."

    PW: "How do I know that you already haven't harmed her?" [OH I FEEL FOR YOU PROF. W. THAT HAS GOT TO BE A HORRIBLE PREDICAMENT AND NOT ONE I EVER WANT TO BE IN] "If you had got her . . . " Here Prof. Have my sympathies.

    And then Frollo pops out from bumbleshuck nowhere to reassure the Prof that she's not been harmed. Yet. And even though the Prof's full of bravado, doubting Frollo's word too, you can see he's terrified.

    Oh, and then Frollo calmly goes over to Punchy Packer to ask if there's been any progress made on this "machine".

    PW: "No, and I don't intend to." Ridiculously bold words for a man who very well suspects that his niece is being held hostage and under threat of rape and torture.

    F: "Oh I think you will Professor. Much as I detest violence,
    I find it difficult to restrain Packer's indisputable [pans over to Packer's SMUG!FACE] talent for persuasion." [Packer looks away demurely like he's embarrassed by the compliment!!!!!] AKA: I'll have Packer 'persuade' your niece.

    Just look at Prof. W's face! You can see his tears.

    Let's go over his predicament. He's likely been kidnapped, forced to work against his will on Nefarious Things, and now his niece has been officially threatened with beatings, rape, torture and murder in order to 'persuade' him.

    1968 children's show.

    Also, I think we can add 'police state' to our list of Adult Things being discussed/used in this serial. About the only plus I can think of is: at least they're adults. And it hasn't happened yet which is a big plus. I mean, it never will, but Jesus.

    OH MY GOD FROLLO SEMI-BLINKED!

    And naturally, Prof. W gives in and decides to work on this Machine. PW: "If I do cooperate, will you let her go?"

    F: "Ph no, she's our guarantee, but she'll come to no harm."

    And! Prof. W.'s genre savvy enough to demand to see Miss Legs first. (I feel really bad now about objectifying an attractive woman when she's now under threat of rape) (Frollo nearly blinked again. With one eye.) But first the Prof. has to meet our Boys. Except they've never met before. I don't think. No, they've not.

    Yup. Super confirmation that the Prof was kidnapped- "I haven't been allowed visitors since I came here". So yay. Psychological and emotional abuse. The Prof, naturally wanting desparately to escape threatens to tell his friends everything.

    Frollo gloats about the Prof. not knowing anything dangerous about him. "And of course, there is always Isobel to consider."

    PP: "Or would you rather leave her to me?" Complete with Leer Face.

    AAAAA. That was genuinely so disturbing to me I went and got my secret cache of ice cream out!

    Look. I might be reading too much into this (WHICH I AM NOT) but this is no longer IMPLYING ANYTHING. THIS IS OUT AND OUT 'DO AS I SAY OR I WILL RAPE YOUR NIECE AND IT WILL BE ALL YOUR FAULT' TERRITORY. How did this show get away with this?! If this was in a 'grown up' show you wouldn't hesitate to call this a RAPE THREAT but because children are the primary demographic (or at least make up a sizeable percentage of the audience) people say this isn't a rape threat.

    These guys are so evil.

    This is so creepy I need sweet, sweet ice cream and fluffy cute fanfic for a few minutes. Okay back.

    Good. We're back with adorable Jamie/Two. And guess what they're doing. If you said touching, well duh. This time the Doctor is touching Jamie. It makes a change. Even better: "Let's have a closer look at that, shall we?" [THe Doctor proceeds to slide his hand down Jamie's back and pulls a telescope out of his TARDIS pocket]

    The telescope which he then proceeds to rest on Jamie's shoulder for a ridiculously weak reason. D: "Now just hold still a minute".

    Look. The Doctor is holding a phallic object, and is asking Jamie to hold still. This is not me reading too much into things. It is not! Yeah, I get that the Doctor is using Jamie for stability (READ THAT METAPHOR FOR THEIR ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP CURLY WHY DON'T YOU YES I WILL FOREVER), but touch touch touch touch touch touch touch.

    Give. Me. My. Fanfic. Or some sort of canon material that make their love open. A Big Finish audio drama perhaps? A comic? A book? These two belong together!

    They're looking at some big balls.

    . . .

    COME ON!

    THEY WERE TOUCHING, AND THERE WAS CLOSENESS AND THEN A PHALLIC SYMBOL AND A METAPHOR FOR THEIR ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP AND THE REASON FOR ALL THIS CLOSENESS WAS TO LOOK AT SOME BIG BALLS!

    THEY. ARE. TEASING. ME.

    This is proof that at least one person who's worked on Doctor Who is a Time Lord. They went back in time to engineer all this so-called subtext just to tease and troll and mock the audiences of the present and the future and they are laughing.

    Oh sure, it's a "deep space radio communication system" (in the shape of a trio of big balls) Doctor. That's no reason to get touchy-feely with Jamie is it? Oh that's right, it is because you want and need to touch him any time you can.

    Maybe my slash goggle are on too tight, or I'm too committed to my new OTP, but there is no way all of this is coincidental or accidental or innocent. Why do I keep getting distracted from the plot by them and the deeply disturbing things to villains do? Oh right, because one is deeply disturbing and the other is deeply frustrating!

    Oh, and as far as Google tells me, all deep space radio communication systems are made of giant satellite dishes which are not ball shaped at all.

    Even more touching! I swear I will make a review of this serial one day that is nothing but a record of every time the Doctor and Jamie touch and get way too close to one another. BECAUSE THEY'RE DOING IT AGAIN!

    Jamie sees a helichopter and his first instinct is to reach for and cling to the Doctor! This is literally getting ridiculous. It's like every other minute these two are touching and being all cute and obviously married, but it's not canon! And I know some (most) of you readers out there aren't into slash and are probably getting fed up with all these screencaps and my obsession with their endless touching, and I don't particularly like forcing my opinion of something as the Only Possible Answer, and I don't want to sound like a mindlessly slashy fangirl because I actually have a brain (ooh, watch me bash people) and like to think I can make intelligent points about family sci-fi shows but

    HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THESE TWO ARE DEEPLY IN LOVE AND MARRIED?!?!22?!

    I suppose if I wiped the knowledge (and fun) of slash out of my mind entirely I could call this an incredibly deep and trusting bromance which is honestly fantastic (I mean, I don't even really ship Johnlock in a sexual fashion for Christ's sake! And Sherlock/Watson is like the first ever 'homoerotically coded piece of fiction ever'), but they're still waaaaaay too touchy!

    And then when Jamie hears someone coming (although how he can over the really noisy helichopter is anyone's business) he pushes the Doctor and then they turn to face the door. Standing arm-to-arm.

    Oh, it's Punchy Packer. I was honestly expecting Frollo. Also, while they were alone why didn;t the Doctor contact the Brig to tell him what was going on? Probably lost their chance now. And Jamie reaches out to touch the Doctor again as they walk past Punchy Packer and down to the lab.

    (((You know, it's a cold rainy night out, I'm in my pyjamas, armed with ice cream, fizzy pop, alcohol, Classic Who and I get to rave and rant and be frustrated over my favourite Boys.

    I. Love. 'The Invasion'.)))

    Ack! Back at UNIT HQ. Who's Cpt. Turner again? Dude in the helichopter. Idiot. Oh! I knew a Jimmy Turner when I was a wee little Curly back in first primary school! My Jimmy Turner wishes he was cool enough to polish Cpt. Jimmy Turner's boots. The Brig is informed that there's no sign of our Boys, and again "[w]e daren't make a move until we hear from the Doctor".

    And back to the lab. Dr. Travers is a girl! Colour me genuinely surprised. I don't know why, but the fact that we have a lady science doctor in 1968 makes me really happy. It's not like this was even made during some big Feminist Thing like there was over in America around about this time (+/- 10 yrs), so it's just awesomely casually understated 'feminism'. (PS: I hate feminism. And most -isms for all it makes for good analyses and commentaries) Then again, Anne is married so Dr. Travers could be the husband (barely), but I think Anne's wearing the trousers in this relationship as she's the one who persuaded the husband to go the America "with her". Also it was Anne who was the student of the Prof.

    Okay. You can spoil this for me. Is Anne the doctor/prof or not?

    stop cutting away from things!

    Because just as the Doctor's about to exposit the last two and a half episodes we cut to the office with Frollo and Punchy Packer. PP is then informed that the DOctor has been on another planet. PP: "That's not possible!" Dude. Your boss basically owns all the electronics in the world ever, has a massive (solitary) commune where all his workers live and freely kidnaps and blackmails scientists and their families.

    And you think aliens are unbelievable!

    And yeah. Frollo's extrapolated the existence of a TARDIS. Cue the spying! I actually think this is a nifty way of doing plot exposition. Our Boys (and one Girl) know how they got here, but our Villains and our Prof. don't know how they ended up in this situation. It puts everybody (minus our Girls who, frankly, haven't really demonstrated they have a brain between them) on the map and allows for the plot to develop properly. Argh. Sugar makes my brain not work.

    It helps the dynamism of the serial pick up pace because our main factions now know more about the motivations and ideals of each other allowing them to plan and interact more appropriately according to their information.

    Also. D: "Jamie, Jamie, I don't think the Professor want to hear about [the exact specifics of the problem they have]." I think someone's figured out they're being spied on. And yet it's just a little too late to stop the villains finding out that their theory about the circuits come from a machine that travels through space (they don't know about the time bit yet) are true.

    Of course, two scientists biffling together about the TARDIS (Anne and the Prof.) means that the Prof really wants to know what the problem is exactly. And the Doctor can't come out and say 'hi, yeah, we're being spied on' because . . . plot and not giving away an advantage or something. This means that the Doctor is essentially insulting Anne by saying she "allowed her imagination to run a little wild".

    Um yah. The Prof was her teacher and likely worked with her on numerous projects. Also: SHE'S A SCIENTIST! LIKELY HER DEDUCTIONS ARE MADE BASED UPON EXTRAPOLATION FROM FACTUAL RESEARCH AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

    Oh Doctor. You are so adorkable. Your attempts at subtly pointing out the spy cameras will never not be cute, adorable, adorkable and amazing unsubtle. But at least Jamie got a clue.

    And because honesty compels me, I must say that Jamie seems to be a very tactile person anyway because as he says "Oh I see, yes." he's tapping the Prof. gently on the chest. The Prof. does look a little weirded out by it though.

    But I'm left again to contemplate the specifics behind the Jamie/Doctor relationship be it sexual, romantic or platonic (totally romantic). See, what I was trying to do just now as I was eating some Ben & Jerry's was think of a similar Companion dynamic.

    So my default Nu Who Companion dynamic would be Doctor/Amy/Rory compared to Doctor/Jamie/Zoe.

    You have two guys, one girl in each. But where the Nu dynamic is romantic!Amy/Rory and platonic!BFF!Amy/Doctor/Rory we have romantic!(or bromantic!)Jamie/Doctor and Zoe's kind of . . . there. She doesn't appear to be best friends or anything but friendly in a mildly distant way with our Boys (note she's practically eager to have some 'girl talk' and runs off).

    We have more similarities in that both Amy and Jamie are very much outgoing, vivacious, sexy redheads (look, I don't care what anyone or anything says, Jamie is a redhead to me always) who look great in skirts. They're both rather impetuous and, while quick to catch on, don't always notice the subtle things. Particularly Jamie. However! They're both fantastic at trolling people, subtly or unsubtly, and they're very good at understanding what their significant other is saying. Usually.

    Two (for sake of convenience) is naturally very similar to Eleven, and yes, I do know that quite a few character tics/clothing ideas were pinched from Two at Matt Smith's behest, and they are technically the same person. Eleven is a bit more adorkable and absent-minded, while also being more obviously dangerous. Two is more timid, cautious and modest, and most importantly: sensible.

    Rory now. Rory is like Jamie and Two (and Eleven and Amy). If you asked me to define Rory's character it would be 'loyal beyond all measure, impossibly brave, compassionate, badass, cynical, intelligent, logical (but not always), little bit of a troll, and devoted to Amy'.

    Jamie is 'loyal beyond all measure (he would never give up on the Doctor or Zoe or whoever ever; I can already tell that), very brave, touchy feely, fairly compassionate, badass, loves trolling people, impetuous, driven by his emotions, devoted to Two'.

    Zoe is. Well. My first impulse was to compare her to Rose, but then I realised that that was too harsh on Zoe even as a rough analogue. The day I compare Rose to anyone favourably is the day the world ends. But Zoe isn't Sarah Jane Smith - she does things. She's not MtM because at least Martha's not a total moron, and Zoe's definitely not in love with Two (she knows he's taken). She is not Donna because Donna is Godlike in mine eyes. She's not Amy or Rory for the exact same reasons. She's not Cpt. Jack Harkness because she's nowhere near as cool. She's not Mickey because Mickey had a cool backstory and he will forever have my sympathy for being ditched by the cow known as Rose. She's most certainly not K9 either. Or the Master.

    I don't even want to say he's like that Harry guy from 'genesis of the Daleks' (was it Harry?) because at least he got some sarcasm in.

    Zoe is a non-entity. This means that she's empty filler allowing for more time for the Jamie/Two relatioship to become deeper and richer. And yet I can't quite peg how these two work just yet.

    Frankly, it's fascinating. And worthy of an actual essay thing explaining why I've so rapidly come to ship these two together. As opposed to yet another massive digressive rant no one'll read.

    Spoiler
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  17. - Top - End - #1367
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    'The Invasion' Part 3/8 continued

    Spoiler
    Show
    Back to the plot. The Doctor's going through his TARDIS pockets looking for . . . something as the Prof. tells us what he's doing locked away in a lab. "I've been developing a new kind of teaching machine". TVTropes or Wikipedia then.

    Except he calls it "the Cerebraton Mentor". Okay, that is a bloody fantastic name.

    The Doctor has a box! A little box! It is now the Sonic Box because we all know that if the Doctor had his sonic screwdriver (when does he get that? (don't tell me exactly)) he'd be sonicking the camera to death.

    You know, that is a very obvious camera. It's the thing that looks like a white eye in the screenshot linked above. How did the scientist not notice such an obvious looking camera?! Also, the camera can totally see what you're doing Doctor. Better hurry with your business before the Fake Police or a Villain comes in a stops your conflab.

    Back to the Cerebraton Mentor. It can "induce emotional changes in the subject". I do not like the sound of this. It feels like (ha) you can programme people to react the way you want them to to triggers or key words/facts/situations.

    Oh! Doctor Who has a few Cerebraton Mentors then. Gareth Roberts, Karen GIllan, Arthur Darvill, Matt Smith, Stephen Moffatt. Oh my God Stephen Moffatt is the champion of all Cerebraton Mentors and he revels in your pain.

    Think about it, he's given us so many triggers: 'gasmasks', 'are you my mummy?', angels, statues, things under the bed, shadows, face spiders, doom and death and destruction and the end of all happy things, the Silence, forgetting what you were doing, losing your baby except it was a doppelganger all along! (ditto your wife), Reichenbach, taxi drivers.

    And the Doctor turns the camera into static. How can they think it's broken down when I so clearly saw the camera move like it was tracking the Doctor's arm movements (or was this just a convenient bit of SFX failure?)? They check to see if the spycam's broken, and it's obviously not because they switch locations - so surely it would be the receiver that's the problem as opposed the the transmitter, and they postulated the transmitting device was broken so why check to see if the telly's broken? My brain.

    But the tellies are fine elsewhere so they know it's the camera's fault. Well duh. Also, Punchy Packer seems to know they have allies from outside space yet he doubts that the Doctor can travel through space what.

    And in a semi-aside, I mean, he's all but looking at the camera here, he admits he was ordered to destroy the Doctor, "but first I must find out the secrets of this extraordinary machine of his". I'm also given another piece of information about Frollo's character - "I don't take orders Packer. I give them!"

    And look, I don't normally do this, but Frollo (Tobias Vaughn) is such a fascinating character that I went to the TVTropes Characters page for Doctor Who to see if I could find out if someone'd made a listy thingy for him. AND THEY HAVEN'T. I am saddened by this. Frollo is such a compelling character! Oh well. Not like I'm going to make an account just to do this.

    Oh! And now Frollo is looking at the camera (then again the camera is right in his face) askance as he says "Now I think the time has come to stop playing games with this Doctor!" Hey, at least it's not Seven, he's meant to be some kind of crazy awesome chess master.

    Cut to the lab with our Boys plus the Prof. fiddling with some doodad and worrying about our Girls. The Doctor brings up his ace in the hole: The Brig. He can "[p]ossibly" help. But who cares about your life and death situation or the fact that your Girls are currently kidnapped, unconscious and under threat of beatings, torture and rape, "what is Vaughn up to? What's he doing here?" You know if it was Jamie he'd be all up in the Brig's grill about launching the Orbital Friendship Cannon.

    Sadly, all the Prof. can tells us is "[Frollo]'s a ruthless man, without morals or principles." I gathered that a loooooong time ago mate. "His object, I'm sure, it to get complete control of the electronics industry of the world!" Again Captain Obvious, we already knew this. And I thought, given LD's exposition in episode one that Not-Microsoft already had a complete global monopoly on electronics.

    Dude must be really out of touch.

    And Doctor, yes the audience knows how high he's aiming, but how can you aim higher than a complete global monopoly realistically? President of the World? Well, that's the Master's job, and it'll happen in oh . . . more or less exactly forty years.

    Oh, and I so called it. People are coming down to the lab. Again. And the Doctor fell over. Awwww. So adorkabl -

    OH YOU DID NOT JUST PUSH JAMIE ASIDE WITH THE DOOR FROLLO! GO HANG YOUR HEAD IN SHAME NOW FOR INSULTING ONE OF THE GREATEST COMPANIONS EVER!

    But I do adore how Frollo instantly knows what the Doctor was using to run interference on the spycam. Got to admire his class if nothing else. You know, now that I think about it, Frollo really would make an excellently classy Bond villain.

    Can magnets do that? No seriously, science dudes. Can magnets be used to screw with webcameras like that? Oh Frollo, you are so gallantly evil! I'm sorry, I hate him, but I love him. I love to hate him and I hate to love him. He gives the Doctor back his magnet and endlessly compliments him on his intelligence. Look, I know Frollo has exactly zero emotions or kind/gentle/nice/non-self-centred thoughts, but I kind of what to ship these two.

    It would be an intellectual relationship. Most likely asexual, although hatesex/sex for science's sake could be on the cards. It would be pretty business like too. A bit more like enemies with benefits if that makes sense. Basically unlike the Master in so many ways (why oh why do I have this song in my head all review). Actually, that would be a pretty good villain team up. Fanficcers! Write me a Tobias Vaughn/Master team up fic (Cybermen optional), and maybe throw me in some UST. Or at least a deeply screwed up relationship of some sort between at least the Master and the Doctor.

    My minds. Sugar makes me slashier than usual I think. Or at least more prone to digressions. Eh, live with it Curly.

    Also, yay, Frollo's bringing his "other methods" of persuasion into play now. Oh, it's just going to be a torture/interrogation scene with the Fake Police. That's pretty tame as far as Frollo's concerned.

    OH THIS IS ADORABLE! D: "Oh dear. You know, Jamie, I've always been rather scared of lifts." I'm pretty sure this is a ruse of some sort, but it's totally adorable and the Doctor just would bring up something random like that in the middle of a life or death situation because he is just that boss.

    Yes, this is most definnitely a ruse. "I never even like to start them. You will have to push the button for me." How can Punchy Packer and the Fake Police not get this Very Obvious Ruse (oh right, PP's a bit thick and the Fake Police are NPCs).

    This screencap is all you need to know about their plan. And I am most certainly amused by the fact that PP (who must be topping six foot) is so easily manhandled and pushed away by the (rather small) Doctor.

    JAMIE CARRIES A HUGE KNIFE WITH HIM AT ALL TIMES. I love Jamie. And yeah, the Doctor's trying to break some circuits with the knife. "It will either stop the lift or send us out of control." Well, those aren't very good options Doctor I hope you acknowledge that.

    Jamie certainly does! And in response: "We'll have to take that risk. Hold tight [like they need an excuse!], here we go." And, and while the Doctor's wrestling with wires and stuff Jamie is holding onto the Doctor's shoulders all clingy-like rather than doing the sensible thing and giving him some space to move around properly, but well, that would mean Jamie not touching the Doctor, and we all know that ain't going to happen any time soon.

    AND THEN THEY HUG!

    \adsifa';fci\jsdn ksl\dhfaoljbgdznfjgosldsnv[ozsdxkv awjbhtriw

    LOOK AT THEM!

    LOOK AT THEM! HOW ARE THEY NOT CANON I I - IUK ,D VO[AERVK,kjhydh;k fl!2!!!!1 Is that not the cutest thing in all of Doctor Who history? yes it is! HYPERBOLE INTENDED.

    And then we had to cut away from them because they were so going to make out (I kid), and we get to see PP being reprimanded by Frollo. because PP is a gormless gimboid git. And he's still out of breath. By being pushed over by someone who's probably a decade older than him, not as fit and much shorter.

    Oh, and the lift's stuck between floors four and five. We know this because rather than having the watch be a loud two-way comm. device it is instead audible (apparently) only to PP. Guess the budget finally ran out.

    And PP is a total moron. "Well, it's obviously a mechanical fault. Wait a minute. he did it!" No. Really. I NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED.

    "Yes Packer. Our clever doctor has outwitted you. Oh, then that wouldn't be too difficult would it?" BURN! Frollo, you're awesome. Still don't know why you just don't fire or 'remove' PP though considering how stupid he is.

    You know, I really do admire how this one incident is more or less making PP have a nervous breakdown. His voice rises in pitch and becomes more frantic in waves. He's pacing around agitatedly. His hair's more messy than it was earlier. His face is more mobile.

    This incident has really rattled him for some reason.

    FROLLO STILL ISN'T BLINKING ANY MORE. And he suspects that the Doctor stopped the lift for a specific reason. Well, probably, he's the Doctor. Then again, he's the Doctor.

    Back with the Doctor. He's wiping his face with his hanky. And they're in each other's personal space again. And the way the Doctor moves his hands makes him look and sound like a slightly put-upon wife pointing out the obvious to a stressed out husband. It's adorable.

    And yes, I was going to mention that there would be a lift hatch because Health and Safety, but then I was carried away by the Endless Touching. So yeah. There's a hatch. OHMYGODMORETOUCHING! I just know it!

    J: "Eh, where does that [lift hatch] lead to?" Oh Jamie, you so clueless sometimes.
    D: "Out into the lift shaft, I imagine. Quickly, on me back."

    Guys.

    JAMIE'S IN A KILT.

    JAMIE IS TALLER THAN THE DOCTOR. LOGICALLY. LOGICALLY, it'd be better for Jamie to give the Doctor a lift up and then - oh right. Upper body strength. Dammit.

    Still, "You know something [Doctor]? You're a clever wee chappie!" Yes, Jamie, now stop flirting so you can stand on me.

    DON'T CUT AWAY FROM THE TOUCHING! (In my head they did this because the Troughton wouldn't stop looking up [jamie's actor's name]'s kilt and saying something racy) So PP orders emergency circuits to be engaged. Oh wow. One of the Fake Police has shades. In my head he is now David Caruso's father. And I don't care that the timeline would never work out right either!

    Oh, Officer Caruso is so boss. He just pushed PP out of the way after he (PP) said "I want an officer on all floors. Move!" And oh, did PP squeal that last word. PP is losing it~! And Frollo's totally enjoying this.

    NO! They did cut away to miss the Epic Touching (again) and only showed us Jamie hauling the Doctor up into the lift shaft by his armpits. I am disappoint. Then again, after some semi-gratuitous semi-touching the Doctor does say "Thank you Jamie".

    You know. After some stating the obvious lines, the Doctor mentions off-handedly that he'd better shut the hatch lid. So ne kneels down (off-screen), and grunts as he pushes the lid shut. Remember, Jamie is wearing a kilt.

    And yet more semi-touching (meaning he hovers just a few millimetres away from actually touching touching) Jamie asks the obligatory, "What happens if they get the lift going before we get to the top?"

    D: "Oh that's simple. [ . . . ] We get squashed." Oh Doctor, I do love you. And it's in such a deadpan fashion that Jamie actually just nods, "Oh," before realising exactly what was said and then exclaims "What" Well, come on!"

    This leads to;, you guessed it! Even more gratuitous touching! Oh, and after that screencap Jamie oh so quickly (and gently) rests a hand on the Doctor's thigh for like a half second at most. Oh course, Jamie couldn't go first because that would be a leetle too obvious. And impolite. And we are British after all. wotwotwot!

    Oh. And the lift's working again. F: "How splendid."

    Back in the lift shaft. Oooh, the camera's angled upwards. Any chance of an upskirt shot - yes I am shameless! Probably not though as the lift's just started up.

    Huh. The lift's stopped at the sixth floor. The Doctor urges Jamie onwards and upwards "they may guess where we are and come after us".

    I seriously believe PP's losing his mind. I'm considering upgrading him to Panicky Punchy Packer. And Frollo, being somewhat sensible shouts for his men to "Chick the other floors!"

    Heh. Well Packer's having his inaudible conversation with The Engineer (I'm never even played Team Fortress, why does my mind insist I capitalise it?) Frollo just glances at the roof. Obviously the lift terminates at the roof and PPP didn't think of that now did he? No he did not.

    Frollo is so passive aggressive, "I'll be in my office. And please don't fail this time, there's a good fellow."

    PPP decides he'll be in the lift as the Engineer send it to the top.

    This amuses me. Nothing more to say really. Just nice to see that graffiti is as long-lasting as a classic British show.

    Oh come on! Even climbing arduously up a lift shaft in fear of being squished to death Jamie rests his head against the Doctor's ankles. Oh, and bee tea dubs. The lift's started again.

    Fortunately they make it to the roof with oodles of time to spare. And I'm fairly sure Jamie's going to get a good look at the Doctor's butt as he climbs out the door.

    Oh my mistake. We just get this completely innocent and non-suggestive pose. And it's not like the Doctor is gasping or going "oh, oh, oh." Ohwait. He is! This is also completely innocent. Any other suggestion or implication is a result of dirty minds.

    After all, it's not like they then crawl pressed up against one another away from the door. Ohwait. I lied. And then the Doctor totally doesn't rest his hand on Jamie's shoulder.

    Nor do they then cling onto one another. I'm actually getting slash fatigue with all this touching! "Wait a minute Doctor" indeed! Can you two just, I don't know, stop touching for ten seconds so I don't have to keep taking screengrabs and things. In total Jamie and the Doctor have been touching each other for a good fifteen continuous seconds.

    Seriously, these two touch one another more often, and have general slashy interludes and subtext than KIRK AND SPOCK AND JOHN AND SHERLOCK DO and Star Trek: TOS and Sherlock (in any incarnation) are ridiculously rich feeding grounds for fans of slash! In, let's be generous, ninety minutes of each show (any episode/episodes in TOS' case to get us up to ninety minutes) there's not as much touching as between these two.

    And they don't seem to have realised where they are. And not five seconds after their fifteen odd second long extended touch and clingfest they're at it again! Jamie HAS HIS ARM AROUND THE DOCTOR'S SHOULDERS! Look, I'm not making this up! Go find the episodes online and watch it for yourself.

    Sorry, distracted by the ENDLESS TOUCHING. The Doctor tells Jamie they're going "down there". Down there being down the side of the building. J@ "Oh no!"

    And now he's got both his arms around the Doctor. Guys, I can't keep getting distracted by this, but I took my slash goggle off a good seven minutes again because I was getting all distracted by the slash.

    They climb down the fire escape. And this time the Doctor goes first meaning if he tries to talk to Jamie he'll be looking up his kilt! YES! And Jamie's a-okay with this. Doesn't care one jot. Jamie is fine with the Doctor potentially looking up his kilt and getting an eyeful of his arse and genitals. HELLO!

    I also think Jamie's afraid of heights as he looks so hesitant as he begins to climb down the ladder. He also looks fairly young too.

    Sigh. We've cut back to PPP and Frollo. Natch, Frollo's reprimanding PPP for losing our Boys again.

    Oh my! Frollo has emotions! He shouts "You're a stupid incompetent! I want that Doctor! Put the whole compound on alert! Have every available guard on the job! FIND HIM PACKER! FIND HIM!" at PPP, complete with dramatic close up zoom of his face, and wow I can't get over the fact that Frollo actually has emotions. Must be annoyed that he let PPP's idiocy go unchecked for x amount of years.

    Yeah, the Doctor and Frollo would so have hatesex.

    Cut to out Boys running down a darkened not-alley between two freight trains. They've found the Girls maybe? And they're also ducking from guards. Especially as the alarm was just sounded. It made me turn my computer's volume down low.

    Cue opening the coffin things - I WAS RIGHT! JAMIE WAS COFFINATED! Self-coffinated. So the guards are searching the compartment and - OH MY GOD THERE'S SOMETHING WRIGGLING AND ALIVE IN THE COFFIN WITH JAMIE WHAT IS IT WHAT IS IT IS IT THE GIRLS AND NOW THERE'S AN OMINOUS SCARE CHORD!

    AND WE CUT TO THE FREAKING CREDITS AND A SLOW FADE OUT OVER JAMIE'S TERRIFIED FACE?!?!


    WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS SHOW!! It is genius.


    Preview thoughts: No preview this time around.

    Best Moment: The security cling in the life! No! The myriad creepy creepy scenes with PP, the Prof. and Frollo (and combinations thereof) because they honestly make me worried for our Girls. And I don't particularly like them very much.
    And, of course, the scene where a reused set is used to further the characterisation and motivation of our Villain as well as to further the general themes of the serial.

    Worst Moment: Is it wrong for me to say 'every time our Boys touch'? Because I just know this wonderful romance is going to go unmentioned and it's such a crime and is actually starting to drive me a little insane in the 'utterly irrational slashy fangirl' way and I don't want that for all that I am irrational and fond of slash and a fangirl.
    But actually, the helichopter scene when they think acting completely normally is going to mask out the very loud noises of the helichopter.

    Best Special Effect: Eh. There's just not that many special effects here at all, so I'll go for the kitschy, yet funky tellybox screens set into the walls of the office.

    Worst Special Effect: Um. Same problem as above, but the spycamera I guess.

    Best Actor: Frollo because he owns disturbing creepiness. The Doctor because he's the Doctor and Jamie because he's Jamie and the last two sell their relationship so well.

    Worst Actor: Ehm. There just aren't that many characters in this episode. Frollo, our Boys, PP, Prof. W, a short cameo from the Brig and Radio Operator and that's about it.
    Cpt. Jimmy Turner because he has a few voiceover lines.

    Most Punchable Character: Punchy Packer.

    Death Count: None.

    Kink of the Episode: Jamie/Doctor is one of the most sexually frustrating pairings I have ever seen because they are so meant for each other and they never stop touching. When they're in the same room and not touching one another or acting like they're married it will be a sign of the apocalypse or something.

    Thoughts overall?
    So much slash . . . No, this is actually somewhat problematic. I keep getting distracted by it in a good way. It's just so prolific. And, just like in Nu Who there are these scenes of epic slashiness, but also so much more in the subtle way too.

    WHAT IS UP WITH THAT ENDING?! And worst of all, the next episode is an animated reconstruction! Less touching and less creepiness! UNFAIR! (Also the audio's not very good)

    This is an extremely good episode. No really. I can't actually think of much to say that I haven't rhapsodised over already. The reused set scene was glorious for my love of characterisation and thematic development; I like the way the characters develop in general throughout this entire serial, particularly how the strict, cool efficiency of the Villains disintegrates as the Boys act very Chaotic (in the DnD sense of the term) and just break free of the expected moves.

    Am I a little annoyed that the Girls have basically become mere objects used as a means of shackling and controlling our Boys and the Prof. and generally dictate the episode's progress? Eh. It's a bit of a sausage fest yeah, but I'm not distracted by it at all, and the dynamics between our Villains and our Boys are so strong and well-written that I couldn't care less about the girls.

    Which is a terrible thing to say as they've been drugged, kidnapped and are held hostage under threat of Bad Things, but they're just not-so interesting. And that is a fault I have with this serial. Make the Girls less girly and more prone to doing things. Just give them some screen time some times soon. Of course, I do say this a third(ish) of the way through the serial, so chances are they'll do some things later on.

    This is just an extremely solid, well-written piece of fiction and I'd like to thank Mercenary Pen so much for giving it to me. I truly think this serial is one of my favourites of all the Doctor Who I've seen so far. Granted it could all go belly up in the last half, but I don't think that'll happen.


    EDIT:
    Okay, I had rather a lot to say about this episode . . .

    Note to self: cut down ranting and raving and Stuffness next time.
    Last edited by CurlyKitGirl; 2012-04-04 at 09:12 PM.

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

    How many characters did that review weigh in at, because if I remember, forum posts cap at 50k characters...
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Quote Originally Posted by Mercenary Pen View Post
    How many characters did that review weigh in at, because if I remember, forum posts cap at 50k characters...
    Honestly?

    I have no idea. But my review structure (i.e. the archive and the Whatevers alone total 5825.

    Now I really want to find out. Hold please.

    70446. Not including the extra stuff like edited information and complaining about not being able to post.
    That is rather a lot isn't it? I probably could have split it evenly into two posts, but my usual word software doesn't have a character count so I didn't know how many characters I had until just now.

    Still. It was an okay review right? In spite of my endless blather.

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    But Koorly is the sweetest crime.

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

    Quote Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl View Post
    Still. It was an okay review right? In spite of my endless blather.
    In spite of? What do you think people read them for?
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Quote Originally Posted by Mercenary Pen View Post
    In spite of? What do you think people read them for?
    I have no idea whatsoever. My wonderfully intelligent and deep analysis of a family sci-fi show?
    I sometimes hold the vain hope that people are entertained by them, although that's probably a bit ambitious.
    On this thread mostly I think people see them as a way to pass the time until the actual show's on and as a way to promote discussion.

    I do know what people don't expect from them:
    a way to watch the episode without watching it. Seriously, it's probably quicker to just watch the episode rather than read a review thingy.
    logic
    sense
    a calm, rational and unbiased view point

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

    Curly, that is not in the least bit ambitious. I for one am greatly entertained by your reviews.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanguine View Post
    Curly, that is not in the least bit ambitious. I for one am greatly entertained by your reviews.
    Anything in particular?

    Oh, and I was counting my reviews and 'The Invasion' part 4/8 marks my thirty-fifth review. This includes my 'Brief Whole Season Retrospective' and 'Why I Do Not Like Martha/Ten' essay things. But I know I've done a lot of essay/ranty type things, so I might add them if people think it's a good idea. If people suggest them.

    Either way I think we can all agree thirty-five is quite a lot!

    I feel like I should do something special to celebrate my fiftieth.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Coidzor View Post
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Quote Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl View Post
    Anything in particular?
    Well, lets see. You're ranting shows a pure undiluted enthusiasm that can be nothing short of infectious. You often show great insight into why some character or aspect of a story just works. But mostly I would say you just brim with so much joy that even when I disagree with you I can't help but smile. I think it distills down to one thing. You have fun doing what you do and I can feel that when I read your reviews.

    Quote Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl View Post
    Oh, and I was counting my reviews and 'The Invasion' part 4/8 marks my thirty-fifth review. This includes my 'Brief Whole Season Retrospective' and 'Why I Do Not Like Martha/Ten' essay things. But I know I've done a lot of essay/ranty type things, so I might add them if people think it's a good idea. If people suggest them.

    Either way I think we can all agree thirty-five is quite a lot!

    I feel like I should do something special to celebrate my fiftieth.
    It is, and you totally should.
    Last edited by Sanguine; 2012-04-06 at 01:44 PM.
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Quote Originally Posted by Sanguine View Post
    Well, let's see. Your ranting shows a pure undiluted enthusiasm that can be nothing short of infectious. You often show great insight into why some character or aspect of a story just works. But mostly I would say you just brim with so much joy that even when I disagree with you I can't help but smile. I think it distils down to one thing. You have fun doing what you do and I can feel that when I read your reviews.


    Thank you very much for saying that. The one thing I always aspire to when writing these things (and my Dominic Deegan ones) is my enthusiasm (or not) for the subject.
    As long as I can convey what I feel with my words, and my experience with the episode I'm happy.
    The insightful/intelligent stuff is just a side effect of my enthusiasm and thinking of things.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sanguine View Post
    It is, and you totally should.
    Then I'll take suggestions. Most popular/whatever takes my fancy wins. And that means I'll do anything as long as it's Doctor Who related and I can get my hands on it. Which means the books are likely out unless I can buy them cheap on amazon.

    One day though I would like to explain in detail just why 'Army of Ghosts'/'Doomsday' turned my severe dislike and apathy towards Rose into sheer undiluted hatred.

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    To compare [Curly] to the beauty of the changing seasons or timeless stars would be an understatement.
    Quote Originally Posted by Coidzor View Post
    But Koorly is the sweetest crime.

    Squid bones are lies.
    Bathatar!

  26. - Top - End - #1376
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Quote Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl View Post
    Then I'll take suggestions. Most popular/whatever takes my fancy wins. And that means I'll do anything as long as it's Doctor Who related and I can get my hands on it. Which means the books are likely out unless I can buy them cheap on amazon.

    One day though I would like to explain in detail just why 'Army of Ghosts'/'Doomsday' turned my severe dislike and apathy towards Rose into sheer undiluted hatred.
    Great review so far. I've just come up for air after reading the first half and think I need a bath and G&BL before immersing myself in the second.
    And yeah everything Sanguine said +1 ( he put it better than me so I'll just steal some of his reflected eloquence).

    As for the 50th review. I vote for 'The Pyramids of Mars'. Tom Baker (my Doctor Who), Sarah Jane Smith, the height of the 'Gothic horror style' Doctor stories !
    English country houses, weird cults, horrible deaths and more !
    All Comicshorse's posts come with the advisor : This is just my opinion any difficulties arising from implementing my ideas are your own problem

  27. - Top - End - #1377
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Quote Originally Posted by comicshorse View Post
    Great review so far. I've just come up for air after reading the first half and think I need a bath and G&BL before immersing myself in the second.
    G&BL?
    If it helps you won't be needing a bath after the second half. Although I do get a little frantic about the Touching.
    And sorry about the length. But I had Things to talk about and it became longer than I expected.

    Quote Originally Posted by comicshorse View Post
    And yeah everything Sanguine said +1 ( he put it better than me so I'll just steal some of his reflected eloquence).

    As long as my audience (ooooh, look at me having a readership) is happy. Or entertained. Or driven to enter into discussion. Or a mixture.

    Quote Originally Posted by comicshorse View Post
    As for the 50th review. I vote for 'The Pyramids of Mars'. Tom Baker (my Doctor Who), Sarah Jane Smith, the height of the 'Gothic horror style' Doctor stories !
    English country houses, weird cults, horrible deaths and more !
    Have heard of this serial in a good way? YES!
    Tom Baker? One of my favourite Doctors so far, and the Doctor as far as most people are concerned.
    Sarah Jane Smith? The Companion.
    Gothic horror? Is that not one of my favourite genres of all time and one on which I wrote a special project for in university?
    Cults?
    Weird deaths?
    Country houses and possible period drama?

    THESE ARE SOME OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS! (But no schnitzel with noodles please)

    GIVE ME THIS STORY!

    BUT FIRST TO HELL WITH DOCTOR WHO AND MY REVIEW (TEMPORARILY) BECAUSE THERE IS A QUEEN DOCUMENTARY (FOLLOWED UP BY THEIR 1975 CONCERT) AIRING ON BBC4 RIGHT NOW!

    I AM SORRY, BUT THIS IS QUEEN AND QUEEN IS MY GOD. AND IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND I HAVE NEARLY ALL THEIR SONGS FAVOURITED ON YOUTUBE AND (POSSIBLY) ILLEGALLY!

    OR SHOULD I MULTITASK DOCTOR WHO, QUEEN AND WATCHING A SPOILER WARNING LP ALL AT ONCE?!
    OH THE DRAMA!
    Last edited by CurlyKitGirl; 2012-04-06 at 03:04 PM.

    Spoiler
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    Quote Originally Posted by V'icternus View Post
    Why is it that you now scare me more than the possibility of nuclear war?
    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Bath View Post
    To compare [Curly] to the beauty of the changing seasons or timeless stars would be an understatement.
    Quote Originally Posted by Coidzor View Post
    But Koorly is the sweetest crime.

    Squid bones are lies.
    Bathatar!

  28. - Top - End - #1378
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Quote Originally Posted by comicshorse View Post
    And yeah everything Sanguine said +1 ( he put it better than me so I'll just steal some of his reflected eloquence).
    Huh. It's odd being on the other side of this.

    Pyramid of Mars sounds like a good suggestion. Though I admit I haven't seen it myself. To Netflix!
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  29. - Top - End - #1379
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Quote Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl View Post
    G&BL?
    Gin and Bitter Lemon ( goes better than tonic IMHO) but must be Gordon's gin
    All Comicshorse's posts come with the advisor : This is just my opinion any difficulties arising from implementing my ideas are your own problem

  30. - Top - End - #1380
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    Default Re: Doctor Who thread II: "I should have a hat like that." [SPOILERS]

    Quote Originally Posted by Sanguine View Post
    Huh. It's odd being on the other side of this.


    Quote Originally Posted by Sanguine View Post
    Pyramid of Mars sounds like a good suggestion. Though I admit I haven't seen it myself. To Netflix!
    It does sound good from the extreme little I know - that being: everything comicshorse just said.
    It's £4.37 (+ £1.26 p&p) second-hand or £6.97 (and free delivery) on amazon. Do I buy? Do I review?
    Yes to the first. Yes to the second.

    By the way: Netflix? Firstly: was is it? Secondly: worth getting an account?

    This serial is in the front running for my 50th episode. People, if your opinion differs, start suggesting so I can buy these DVDs in bulk!
    (God I should be spending this money on my university education and here I am spending it on you guys (and me))

    Quote Originally Posted by comicshorse View Post
    Gin and Bitter Lemon ( goes better than tonic IMHO) but must be Gordon's gin
    Ah.
    Not really a fan of G&T in most cases. May give G&BL a go one day.

    Hee. Look at me multitasking my head off while squeeing (literally) over Queen.

    Spoiler
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    Quote Originally Posted by V'icternus View Post
    Why is it that you now scare me more than the possibility of nuclear war?
    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Bath View Post
    To compare [Curly] to the beauty of the changing seasons or timeless stars would be an understatement.
    Quote Originally Posted by Coidzor View Post
    But Koorly is the sweetest crime.

    Squid bones are lies.
    Bathatar!

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