Doctor Who Thread III: Reverse the Polarity of the Neutron Flow

[Ninjadeadbeard]

Originally Posted by Calemyr

Oswin:

Spoiler

Oswin says point blank that the Alaska was her first adventure. If Clara is Oswin at an earlier date, and she becomes the new companion, that means that her timeline has already been drastically altered by that fact. We're talking Time War level causality warping, here. Taking Oswin out on tour means she won't be on the Alaska, she won't be converted, she won't spend a solid year screwing with the asylum, and she won't scare the hell out of the Daleks. Then they won't call the Doctor, Oswin won't rewrite the Daleks, the Daleks won't forget him, and the Doctor won't have a reason to recruit Clara. So she does go on the Alaska and the episode happens as normally. Paradox.

Of course, it could be intentional. But what would be bad enough that the Doctor would intentionally undo the mindwipe and resurrection of the Pond marriage?

Spoiler

Clara? Who?

As to undoing the mindwipe, I'm guessing that'll happen When Silence Falls.

[Friv]

So, I'm thinking of joining the review festival, and walking through the Third Doctor.

I am thinking this because I just finished watching Terror of the Autons and oh my god did I want to yell things at the screen. ;) However, it'll be a not-quite-liveblog for the first few, because I've watched them each once alreay, so I'll be writing notes from a second readthrough.

Anyone interested in a new reviewer joining the field?

[Calemyr]

Originally Posted by Ninjadeadbeard

Spoiler

Clara? Who?

As to undoing the mindwipe, I'm guessing that'll happen When Silence Falls.

Spoiler

Make that Carla...

[Lensman]

Originally Posted by Friv

So, I'm thinking of joining the review festival, and walking through the Third Doctor.

I am thinking this because I just finished watching Terror of the Autons and oh my god did I want to yell things at the screen. ;) However, it'll be a not-quite-liveblog for the first few, because I've watched them each once alreay, so I'll be writing notes from a second readthrough.

Anyone interested in a new reviewer joining the field?

Definitely! We still feel that the classic Whos are better than the New episodes - most of the new shows are more interested in cool images and instant emotions rather than solid stories. Someone earlier on commented that the new season 5 stories were great at first sight, but didn't bear re-watching - we feel that about most of the new episodes. They're style over substance, and the internal logic just doesn't hold together. (Amy's divorce? Come off it! Daleks can capture the Doctor, Amy and Rory just like that? How come they haven't exterminated the Doctor years ago? Daleks can convert humans into daleks so easily - why aren't they dropping nanobot bombs onto every planet they attack? They can get the Doctor and co onto the Asylum world but can't take in a dalek task force or a bomb?)

The classic Whos have their problems (just rewatched The Dominators... ooops) but at least the universe seems coherent and the plots (usually) make sense and hold together, mostly because the special effects were so awful that they had to make up for them with a decent script. So - roll on the 3rd Doctor!

[dps]

Originally Posted by Lensman

Definitely! We still feel that the classic Whos are better than the New episodes - most of the new shows are more interested in cool images and instant emotions rather than solid stories. Someone earlier on commented that the new season 5 stories were great at first sight, but didn't bear re-watching - we feel that about most of the new episodes. They're style over substance, and the internal logic just doesn't hold together. (Amy's divorce? Come off it! Daleks can capture the Doctor, Amy and Rory just like that? How come they haven't exterminated the Doctor years ago? Daleks can convert humans into daleks so easily - why aren't they dropping nanobot bombs onto every planet they attack? They can get the Doctor and co onto the Asylum world but can't take in a dalek task force or a bomb?)

The classic Whos have their problems (just rewatched The Dominators... ooops) but at least the universe seems coherent and the plots (usually) make sense and hold together, mostly because the special effects were so awful that they had to make up for them with a decent script. So - roll on the 3rd Doctor!

I think a large part of that is because in Classic Who, time travel is mostly used just to get the Doctor and his companions to the adventure, but then isn't really used within the adventure itself. They were real careful not to let the Doctor go back in his own timeline to fix things. Nu Who doesn't take that care. In fact, it seems at times to go out of it's way to have the Doctor go back and hit the reset button, especially since Moffat took over from RTD.

[Thufir]

Originally Posted by Kobold-Bard

Personally, I think the thread should have [spoilers] in the title so they're unnecessary altogether (even without it, if you know there'll be spoilers its only sensible to avoid the thread until you see the episode). I consider Monday an acceptable cut off so that America & the world has had a chance to see it on tv.

Wait, doesn't i- oh wait, no it doesn't, because I didn't start this one. We had [SPOILERS] in the title of the last thread, but still followed a policy of spoilering new episode discussion for a day or two in case people were lagging behind (Explained in the first post). Androgeus, I don't suppose you could sort those things out?

Originally Posted by Tergon

Check Wikipedia, good sirs. The episode doesn't come out in Australia until the 8th of September - the only reason I've seen it is because, frankly, my friends and I are massive Doctor Who fans and didn't want to wait (don't worry, I make a point of buying the box sets of shows I download to ensure my karma stays positive).

Adding spoiler tags is a mild irritation, but since I most likely won't be downloading every episode before it airs, I'd greatly appreciate it if I didn't have to avoid this thread for a week every time a new episode airs. Fair's fair, no?

Frankly, I'm sorry, but suck it up. If you haven't seen the episode, that's the vast majority of what we'll be discussing after it airs in any case, so it's not like you'll be missing that much, and spoilering everything for a whole week is just too much to ask really.

Originally Posted by Xondoure

Oh please no. With all the wierd scheduling things that happen with Who I'd have to stop visiting this thread altogether. Even with the spoiler tags lack of labels have occasionally tripped me up. Please please respect the spoilers. Or River will kill you in her sleep (that's right, hers, not yours.)

See above.

Originally Posted by Ninjadeadbeard

As to undoing the mindwipe, I'm guessing that'll happen When Silence Falls.

You mean when Silence fails to fall. Have people still not got this straight?

[Xondoure]

Clicking the spoiler tag button takes 2 seconds, and fixes most of the problems. I've never understood why it's such a hassle to people.

[Avaris]

Originally Posted by Xondoure

Clicking the spoiler tag button takes 2 seconds, and fixes most of the problems. I've never understood why it's such a hassle to people.

Problem is remembering to do so. I try and use spoilers soon after an episode, but the longer a thread goes and the longer from when I saw an episode the easier is to forget. Sure, doing it is easy and considerate, but unfortunately we are only human and can forget.

We do of course have the tardisesque powers of the edit button, so there is no excuse for not adding them later...

[Ninjadeadbeard]

Originally Posted by Thufir

You mean when Silence fails to fall. Have people still not got this straight?

Silence will fall when the Doctor answers the First Question. "Silence will Fall" is the thing the Silence want to avoid as that is their Fall, their end/destruction.

[Calemyr]

Originally Posted by Ninjadeadbeard

Silence will fall when the Doctor answers the First Question. "Silence will Fall" is the thing the Silence want to avoid as that is their Fall, their end/destruction.

"'Silence must fall' is a better translation." - Dorian

If the question is asked and the Doctor is able to answer, he will have to, and very very bad things will happen. (Or very very good things that other people don't want, given how much effort he went through surviving to that point.)

Either way, the Silents want silence to fall. They want the Doctor to keep his mouth shut, which would take an act of God. (Using the Silents homonym just makes it easier to tell the two concepts apart.) Now, the Silents can fail or the Silence can fall. At this point, the former seems more likely.

[Androgeus]

Originally Posted by Thufir

Androgeus, I don't suppose you could sort those things out?

Sent a PM so it should be sorted at some point. I also need to update main post with new reviews.

[Reluctance]

Is this anybody else's first thought when they hear about The First Question?

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened

[Tergon]

Originally Posted by Thufir

Frankly, I'm sorry, but suck it up. If you haven't seen the episode, that's the vast majority of what we'll be discussing after it airs in any case, so it's not like you'll be missing that much, and spoilering everything for a whole week is just too much to ask really.

Gotta say, you don't sound especially sorry. In fact it sounds kind of like you're not willing to take two seconds of extra time when writing your post because you don't give a sweet damn about any forum members who haven't seen the show. It's not just me, chuckles, it's everyone in Australia who's in the same boat as me, plus everyone else in the world who is slightly late in watching the episode, and I'm asking for no more than the same simple courtesy than I'd show you in the same position. Adding spoiler tags and clicking to read stuff that's specifically about the latest episode is not hard, and "I'm sorry but" if you're not willing to do that out of simple respect for other members, that makes you kind of a bad person.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Originally Posted by Friv

So, I'm thinking of joining the review festival, and walking through the Third Doctor.

I am thinking this because I just finished watching Terror of the Autons and oh my god did I want to yell things at the screen. ;) However, it'll be a not-quite-liveblog for the first few, because I've watched them each once alreay, so I'll be writing notes from a second readthrough.

Anyone interested in a new reviewer joining the field?

DO EEET!

I think I'm the only person doing Who reviews that aren't the latest series, and Dr. Simon's finished his series by series playthrough (which should totally be added to the OP if it hasn't been already), so the more reviewers the merrier!

[Friv]

Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl

DO EEET!

I think I'm the only person doing Who reviews that aren't the latest series, and Dr. Simon's finished his series by series playthrough (which should totally be added to the OP if it hasn't been already), so the more reviewers the merrier!

Done!

So, my cunning plan is to review / provide hopefully amusing summaries of every episode that the Third Doctor took part in. I figure that he was around for five years, or twenty-four serials, so that's about...

128 Episodes.

Okay. So. If I review these things twice a week, that'd take me about a year.

Huh.

Well, no time like the present! Let's begin with the first Doctor Who story to be broadcast in color, and the first in which the Third Doctor appeared...

Spearhead From Space

A couple quick notes. At the moment, I am doing an approximation of liveblogging. I saw these episodes several months ago, but I was frequently half-asleep on the bus going to work, so several of the plots are a little confused in my head. I'm hoping they'll make more sense on a rewatching. I'll be pausing to write down my thoughts, but otherwise will be watching straight through, and when I eventually catch up with myself and embark into entirely new ground*, I'll let you know.

* - Mostly new. I saw all of these when I was eight or nine. I do not really remember them, aside from a few individual scenes that are wildly confused in my mind.

PREVIOUSLY, ON DOCTOR WHO!

Spoiler

The Doctor, attempting to stop a villainous member of his race from embarking on a campaign of galactic conquest, called the Time Lords in as his big guns. By way of thanks, the Time Lords chose to execute the Doctor, remove him from his companions (Jaaaamiiiiiiiiie!!) and then exile him to Earth, disabling his TARDIS.

Only in Doctor Who can you have execution, followed by exile, as a viable punishment for your crimes.

(Out of the setting, Doctor Who was suffering from some serious budget issues, so the production staff wanted to be able to reuse a stable of sets and film on location in England instead of having to make up new planets all the time. This results in the Doctor's “exile” arc, in which he is trapped on Earth for several seasons before being allowed to travel again).

And now, Spearhead... From... Space!!

Spoiler

No, wait, one more aside. There was a great comedy bit I saw at one point, in which the guy gave a great discussion of how old Doctor Who episodes were delightfully descriptive. You read them, you knew exactly what the episode was going to be about. So I'm going to guess that someone is establishing a spearhead, and that they are from space.

Okay, let's begin for real this time.

Part One

We open with a lovely color version of the Doctor Who opening. It is even trippier than the old black and white one, and bears a picture of Jon Pertwee smiling possibly broader than he ever does in the show. We are also told that this is a Robert Holmes script – Holmes wrote scripts for every doctor from the Second through the Sixth, and who was head script editor for three years in the Tom Baker era.

We begin with a panning shot of space, with bombastic music in the background, slowly panning to the Earth. From there, we cut to a radio tower. Inside, a nervous scientist is watching a mysterious signal. He calls up his superior, who isn't too impressed (and who, in what I feel like might be a pretty big deal for 1970, is a woman) but who gives him the benefit of the doubt. On a close scan, they find that the mysterious something is coming down fast, and seem to be meteorites – but in formation!

We quickly cut away to a “shifty figure”, who is setting a poacher's trap. Shifty! He looks up in shock as a perfect formation of meteorites crashes to the ground, running to hide from them. Back at the tower, the scientists note where the formation of meteorites landed. In the field, Shifty goes to check on the fallen meteors, and (accompanied by ominous music) decides to cover one of them with dirt after it proves too hot to touch.

In another field, the TARDIS appears, looking a little beat-up but otherwise normal. The Doctor appears for the first time, ready for heroism. By which I mean he staggers, collapses against the side of the TARDIS, takes a step, and then falls face-first onto the heather. Which looks soft, to be fair. I'd totally fall there.

Another quick cut (quite a lot of these, given that we're only three minutes in, but I guess there's a lot of setup here) takes us to a woman in a car. Which she stays in, with sax and soft jazz playing, while it winds through various underground garages for forty seconds or so. We then cut away to...

The Brig!

Yes, the best part of summarizing the Third Doctor is Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, who is now making his first appearance of the season. This guy is among my favorite companions, and I don't care if Nicholas Courtney felt that he wasn't, he totally was. Our Lady is introduced to him as Liz Shaw, and the Brig invites her into his office. She is not happy to be there, due to the high security of the place, and the Brig's attempts to laugh it off are not met with joy.
(Actual line: “Security! Rather amusing, don't you think?... … … no, you don't.”)

Liz is an expert in astronomy, physics, and other subjects, and the Brig is attempting to recruit her. She thinks that he's a spy, and the Brig explains that UNIT is in the business of “dealing with the odd, the unexplained. Anything on Earth, or even beyond.” Liz thinks that this is a load of dung, and thinks that the Brig is having her on, but he moves right to business – mysterious meteorites landed in Essex this morning, and they want a meteorite expert to help study them. He also says that this is the second time meteorites have landed in exactly that location, which is wildly unlikely.

Meanwhile, at a fancy wood-paneled hospital, the Doctor is being brought in unconscious, apparently just to remind us that this is, in fact, Doctor Who, because we cut right back to Liz and the Brig. The Brig is still trying to convince her that alien life is a possibility. He explains that Earth has been sending probes into space in the last few decades, and that there have already been two attempts to invade Earth, but that governments have made a decision not to inform the public. Liz is pretty sure he's joking (which is becoming a trend, here). The Brig explains that UNIT had help from “a scientist” called The Doctor on their previous encounters, but before he can explain further, he gets a call from one of his men, name of Munroe, who is at a hospital. When told an unconscious civilian was found next to a police box, the Brig gets really intrigued, and orders a guard placed on the police box. His man finds this odd, but goes with it quickly.

Back at the hospital, the (hospital) doctor is looking at X-Rays, and finds two hearts. He assumes someone in the X-Ray department is messing around, and pushing his way past a random man vaccuuming really, really conspicuously in the hallway. Receiving a call on the wall telephone, the doctor waves the janitor silent and gets a message from the blood lab, who accuses him of sending him non-human blood. The Conspicuous Janitor responds suspiciously as he hears the doctor yelling about the blood, and as soon as the doctor leaves, the janitor steals a doctor's coat and goes to make a phone call of his own. Suspiciously. He immediately calls a newspaper, to tell them that there's an alien at the hospital, having heard that they pay for stories.

Back in the meadow, Shifty has returned, and is in the process of stealing a meteorite. The meteorite is making funny computerized sounds, which doesn't worry Shifty at all. He stuffs the meteorite, which looks like a giant piece of plastic with a flashing lightbulb in it, into his bag, and then hears UNIT soldiers sweeping the area. Immediately, he decides that this is probably important, and goes to tell them about his meteorite.

Just kidding! He runs away with it. Come on, who ever tells the Army about glowing space rocks? That thing could be worth money!

Back at the hospital, the Doctor is tossing and turning, and the nurse finds him trying to climb out of bed, after which he passes out again. At about the same time, the Brig and Liz arrive to find a massive media presence, as Munroe tries to not explain anything without seeming interesting. This is about as successful as you'd expect. The media descends on the Brig, who laughs off their questions and claims to be at the hospital for a training exercise, then escapes. He's furious that there are reporters present, and goes to find the Doctor. After a brief chat with the hospital doctor, who admits that the guy has a weird cardiovascular system and blood, the Brig goes to check on him and discovers that he's a complete stranger. The Doctor promptly wakes up, and recognizes the Brig instantly. Everyone is properly confused. When the Doctor realizes that the Brig doesn't recognize him, he borrows a mirror to study himself, and is not impressed. He spends some time being annoyed, then decides that his new face is “rather distinctive”. Having gone through that, he decides to go back to sleep, and does.

The Brig decides to have this mystery man brought to London once he's well, and slips out the back to avoid the press. The instant that he's gone, the Doctor opens his eyes. Meanwhile, the reporters realize that there's someone in the phone booth who isn't one of them. When they ask him if he'll be much longer, the mystery man flips out and staggers away.

Meanwhile... (so many scene cuts!) two soldiers find Shifty, who throws them off their scent by trying to sell them a rabbit. The soldiers let him go, but Shifty gets greedy and asks if there's a reward for information about where the meteorites landed. The soldiers get suspicious, Shifty backs off, claiming to be curious, and then leaves.

Meanwhile again, the Doctor is looking for his shoes again. His pulse is down to ten a minute, and the hospital doctor admits he has no idea if that's good or not. The Doctor demands shoes, again, and the hospital doctor shows him his shoes. The Doctor grabs them and turns over, clutching them tightly and pretending to sleep again. As soon as the nurse and hospital doctor are gone, though, the Doctor grabs a key out of one shoe, then hides them under his pillow.

Moments later, two orderlies enter, club the hospital doctor, pull the blankets off the Doctor, and gag him. It takes about three seconds. They bundle the now-unconscious Doctor into a wheelchair and wheel him out. The hospital doctor wakes up, and calls for help, as the fake orderlies wheel the Doctor into an unmarked white van. The Doctor promptly wakes up again and wheels himself out of their grasp and down the street. This is a moment so absurd that I actually had to chronicle it for you.

The Doctor is on the run, and the van is in hot pursuit. UNIT arrives just as the van drives off, and the soldiers try to shoot the tires. A short distance away, the soldiers at the TARDIS hear gunshots and start moving in, while the soldiers at the hospital try to cut off the ambulence. Finally, the Doctor abandons his wheelchair, makes his way to the TARDIS... and is promptly shot by the panicky soldiers that were stationed there. He collapses as the credits roll...


Summary – Wacky and wonderful, but oh my lord was a lot happening in this opening, and it jumped around all over the place. Pacing is a serious concern for the Third Doctor, and the shift between high-speed cuts and slow, leisurely establishing shots is not going to go away any time soon.

Best Moment – What do you think. Although the Brig's attempts at levity with Liz come in a close second.

Worst Moment – There was about a minute too much of the two scientists at the radio tower, who existed to just exposit the same three lines over and over again. But overall, it was actually a really solid episode. One interesting thing about it, especially compared to later stuff, is how everday and down to earth things are; with the alien menace still looming, and most of the episode just about various people discovering, uncovering, or discussing things, there's a very ordinary feel that makes the alien stuff more, well, alien.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Originally Posted by Friv

Done!

So, my cunning plan is to review / provide hopefully amusing summaries of every episode that the Third Doctor took part in. I figure that he was around for five years, or twenty-four serials, so that's about...

128 Episodes.

Okay. So. If I review these things twice a week, that'd take me about a year.

Huh.

Well, no time like the present! Let's begin with the first Doctor Who story to be broadcast in color, and the first in which the Third Doctor appeared...

Will only mention one thing because it's twenty past four and am beyond knackered.

Originally Posted by Friv

Spearhead From Space

The Conspicuous Janitor responds suspiciously as he hears the doctor yelling about the blood, and as soon as the doctor leaves, the janitor steals a doctor's coat and goes to make a phone call.

That guy looks like a terrifying mix of the sweet shop owner from Willy Wonka and the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
*shudders*

More comments tomorrow.

But I really enjoyed my brief skim read over it.

[NikitaDarkstar]

Originally Posted by Tergon

Gotta say, you don't sound especially sorry. In fact it sounds kind of like you're not willing to take two seconds of extra time when writing your post because you don't give a sweet damn about any forum members who haven't seen the show. It's not just me, chuckles, it's everyone in Australia who's in the same boat as me, plus everyone else in the world who is slightly late in watching the episode, and I'm asking for no more than the same simple courtesy than I'd show you in the same position. Adding spoiler tags and clicking to read stuff that's specifically about the latest episode is not hard, and "I'm sorry but" if you're not willing to do that out of simple respect for other members, that makes you kind of a bad person.

On the other hand it could be argued that it's not that hard to avoid a thread you know will contain spoilers until you've seen the episode either. Sort of like not going into a "Star Wars" or "Mass Effect" thread unless you're up to date. Don't really care either way, just playing devils advocate I suppose. (Even if it does get a bit frustrating to unspoiler everything to read it.)

[Tergon]

I don't mean to put others out, and if I'm the only one who cares, then by all means ignore me. All I was meaning was that if the excuse for not spoiling was "Everyone's already seen that episode", and not everyone had seen the episode... well, like I said, fair's fair. Since we already are using spoilers, deciding to stop using them because "Eh, I'm bored with that now" seemed kind of rude to me when clearly not everyone who reads the thread might have seen it yet.

That, and being told to "Suck it up" and that my opinion didn't matter was pretty insulting. When you're informed that a minor inconvenience is more important than me enjoying the forum without having one of my favourite shows spoiled, it's hard not to get offended by that.

But like I said, if nobody else cares about the spoilers, then I'm not upset about being outvoted. It's more the rudeness that got to me.

[Lord Tyger]

Originally Posted by NikitaDarkstar

On the other hand it could be argued that it's not that hard to avoid a thread you know will contain spoilers until you've seen the episode either. Sort of like not going into a "Star Wars" or "Mass Effect" thread unless you're up to date. Don't really care either way, just playing devils advocate I suppose. (Even if it does get a bit frustrating to unspoiler everything to read it.)

The issue is, if one is consistently a week behind, by the time one sees the latest episode in Australia, the next one has aired in England, and people are posting about that. Spoiling the first couple days after a new episode provides a buffer to read the speculation and theories about the last episode.

[factotum]

Lord_Tyger has a point there. By the time people who are a week behind with their episodes can come in to talk about episode 1, spoilers for episode 2 will already be appearing in the thread, so if there are no spoiler tags at all they're essentially blocked from posting in here until the entire series is over. Hardly an ideal situation!

[Tergon]

True. But all I said was that "I'd greatly appreciate it" if I didn't have to worry about spoilers every time I look in this thread. It's hardly my fault that Australia is a week behind on broadcasts, and I'm sure I'm not the only Australian poster here in the same situation. The comment was made that spoilers weren't needed because the episode had already aired everywhere, and I pointed out that this wasn't the case before remarking that it's better off for me if there were spoilers.

After making this (fairly polite, I thought) observation, I was told to "suck it up" and that the few seconds of extra inconvenience when posting is so much that my opinion, along with common courtesy, becomes irrelevant.

Asking the whole thread to be spoilered is too much, you're right. And if people stop using spoiler tags, it probably won't cause me to die - I'll just have to risk the occasional spoilers if I want to talk to folks on the internet about a show that I like, or else make a point of getting hold of the episodes early. But there had to have been politer ways of telling me so. I think I'm within my rights to be a little bit insulted right now.

[Xondoure]

Originally Posted by Tergon

True. But all I said was that "I'd greatly appreciate it" if I didn't have to worry about spoilers every time I look in this thread. It's hardly my fault that Australia is a week behind on broadcasts, and I'm sure I'm not the only Australian poster here in the same situation. The comment was made that spoilers weren't needed because the episode had already aired everywhere, and I pointed out that this wasn't the case before remarking that it's better off for me if there were spoilers.

After making this (fairly polite, I thought) observation, I was told to "suck it up" and that the few seconds of extra inconvenience when posting is so much that my opinion, along with common courtesy, becomes irrelevant.

Asking the whole thread to be spoilered is too much, you're right. And if people stop using spoiler tags, it probably won't cause me to die - I'll just have to risk the occasional spoilers if I want to talk to folks on the internet about a show that I like, or else make a point of getting hold of the episodes early. But there had to have been politer ways of telling me so. I think I'm within my rights to be a little bit insulted right now.

... the last two posters agreed with your original point.

[Tergon]

I know they were, I wasn't pouting at them. I'm just trying to be reasonable here. I absolutely don't want anyone put out because of my whining! Just... trying to explain myself. Which I had probably already achieved, so I'm really just talking to myself at this point.

BASICALLY WHAT I AM SAYING IS THAT I AM SOMETIMES NOT A CLEVER MAN.

[dehro]

Originally Posted by Kobold-Bard

Personally, I think the thread should have [spoilers] in the title so they're unnecessary altogether (even without it, if you know there'll be spoilers its only sensible to avoid the thread until you see the episode). I consider Monday an acceptable cut off so that America & the world has had a chance to see it on tv.

the world is not made only of english speaking countries..neither is the crowd that hangs around here.. plenty of us won't see this season for at least a year..and have therefore to resort to finding ways to watch it online (bbc iplayer and such are blocked for abroad viewing).. so yeah.. 2 days? really not enough.

[Kobold-Bard]

Originally Posted by dehro

the world is not made only of english speaking countries..neither is the crowd that hangs around here.. plenty of us won't see this season for at least a year..and have therefore to resort to finding ways to watch it online (bbc iplayer and such are blocked for abroad viewing).. so yeah.. 2 days? really not enough.

I still say if you're coming into a thread about a show that's still airing then you should expect to deal with spoilers.

But since I don't really post that much anyway I'll try to remember to spoiler anything about the most recent series (or just stop reading the thread since I'm the one who's bugged by the spoiler bars).

[NikitaDarkstar]

Originally Posted by dehro

the world is not made only of english speaking countries..neither is the crowd that hangs around here.. plenty of us won't see this season for at least a year..and have therefore to resort to finding ways to watch it online (bbc iplayer and such are blocked for abroad viewing).. so yeah.. 2 days? really not enough.

You know I can understand Tergon's point, I really can. And I can even agree with him (while seeing it from both points of view). But this I can't agree with, at all. If the show is one year behind in your country (used to live in a country with similar issues, it sort of sucks.) then I got a nagging suspicion you either get a hold of the episodes somewhere else (perfectly possible) or you won't remember these discussions in a years time anyway. So problem is what?

Also, am I the only one who thinks this could be solved by just creating a few new threads? Old who, Previous (new) who, Current season who?

[dehro]

Originally Posted by NikitaDarkstar

You know I can understand Tergon's point, I really can. And I can even agree with him (while seeing it from both points of view). But this I can't agree with, at all. If the show is one year behind in your country (used to live in a country with similar issues, it sort of sucks.) then I got a nagging suspicion you either get a hold of the episodes somewhere else (perfectly possible)

absolutely..which is what I've just done.. the thing is, that it's not always possible to find such alternative routes in a mere 2 days because links and uploads get deleted and such..and may be named in such a way as to avoid detection..making them harder to find if not by referral from third parties.. or simply one could be a bit less computer literate.. or simply, someone who HAS access hasn't had yet time to watch it after having recorded it
(for instance, I got to see it today, first chance after returning from a business trip abroad)
again, I cannot and wouldn't ask that people spoiler 2-3 episodes at a time.. but 2 days really isn't such a long time that you can expect everybody who is interested to have managed to gain access to it.

Also, am I the only one who thinks this could be solved by just creating a few new threads? Old who, Previous (new) who, Current season who?

I think that that was always the plan..and that people kept talking on this thread simply because it was already there even though it was mostly devoted to old who.
now the new season has started, I guess it deserves it's own, heavily spoilerised, thread.
anyone care to start it?

also, about this episode.. I think I just found a blooper.

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure the Dr isn't wearing his wristband thing when he wakes up from being shot at the planet.. there's a shot where you can clearly see both his wrists and they're not sporting bulky wristbands..and no, he hadn't already taken his off..because we see it later..before the switcheroo

[Kato]

Originally Posted by NikitaDarkstar

Also, am I the only one who thinks this could be solved by just creating a few new threads? Old who, Previous (new) who, Current season who?

I thought about saying "That would solve the problem but this is not a forum for Whovians so three threads for one topic would be a bit much" but then I remembered the number behind the MLP thread and decided to shut up.


Really, the bigger issue with spoilers taking time is, when you quote and you refer to various points of that statement you won't have one big spoiler but you'll have twenty or so spoilers, and since this thread is rather active there will be like 20*20 spoilers, which means like 800 sec of your time you spent opening spoiler boxes and in a season that would be like 8000 sec and that's more than two hours of your life you spend opening spoilers and that is just one season...
Yeah, I'm not really serious on that one but just saying, it is more than slightly inconvenient to spoiler everything... people know what's up with the thread, the first few days after Saturday there won't be anything about the recent episode and... honestly, who doesn't watch it online after two days? Not to encourage illegal downloads but are we all supposed to wait... heck, I'd have to wait until the DVDs are out, probably and there's no way I'll sit around that long. (Stupid Germany not airing Who *grumble*)

[dehro]

Originally Posted by factotum

Guys, hate to pour water on the excited discussion about the New Companion, but:

Spoiler

Not only do I not remember the TARDIS being aboard the Dalek spaceship when they were sent down to the planet, I have to ask why the Daleks brought it aboard anyway--they were clearly intending to send the Doctor on a one-way trip, so they could have just left it on Skaro.

Spoiler

previous experience would probably suggest them that the Tardis has a tendency to occasionally follow the Dr on it's own accord, a bit like the Luggage in Discworld.. do you want something that can explode and uncreate reality out of your sight and control, if you have the means and the chance to chain it somewhere "safe", i.e. in full view of all your top guys?
on the matter of chains..what was the point of having Daleks chained if every time they woke up they just shook their chains loose?

also.. I was still convinced that the famous "question that mustn't be asked" was indeed the dr Who? question.. I feel this is not going to go away just yet.. could it be that the dalek re-discovering the answer (or maybe even his real name) marks the so long anticipated moment when the Silence must fall?

[Hopeless]

Originally Posted by dehro

Spoiler

previous experience would probably suggest them that the Tardis has a tendency to occasionally follow the Dr on it's own accord, a bit like the Luggage in Discworld.. do you want something that can explode and uncreate reality out of your sight and control, if you have the means and the chance to chain it somewhere "safe", i.e. in full view of all your top guys?
on the matter of chains..what was the point of having Daleks chained if every time they woke up they just shook their chains loose?

also.. I was still convinced that the famous "question that mustn't be asked" was indeed the dr Who? question.. I feel this is not going to go away just yet.. could it be that the dalek re-discovering the answer (or maybe even his real name) marks the so long anticipated moment when the Silence must fall?

Remembering the Runaway Bride, technically there's nothing stopping Eleven from just summoning it wherever he is as long as he has that vial of whatever energy the drider species depended upon.

Spoiler

Curious, wouldn't it be annoying if the whole point of the silence must fall is that the doctor after going to all that trouble to fade into the background has to reveal himself again to prevent some truly terrifying event and the Silence was actually formed because they needed to prevent him becoming the man of mystery again to insure he didn't foil their plan ignoring the fact that it is now a fixed point in time and everything after that such as his return from being erased from time is because the fall of the eleventh and that answer he must give take precedence...