Topic: Doctor Who

[Dragonfire]

I was reading a little bit about the new season...there are mentions of cliff hangers.  Not what they are of course..just that there are some.  The longest I had to wait on a cliffhanger for Doctor Who before was 24 hours.  This may drive me nuts.

[goodguy]

Certainly not bad, but I was a little bit underwhelmed. It almost felt like a step back into Davies territory. Also, while the general idea of the new "monsters" is neat, the actual execution was rather conventional.

[RossRoy]

Certainly not bad, but I was a little bit underwhelmed. It almost felt like a step back into Davies territory. Also, while the general idea of the new "monsters" is neat, the actual execution was rather conventional.

The main problem I have with it is that it feels like a rehash of a previous story .. The Empty Child. Sure, they seem to be setting up for bigger things in the future, but the episode itself, to me, feels a The Empty Child all over again.

What makes it more aggravating is that it is from the very same author ..

[Najemikon]

You guys know this is Doctor Who, right? Of course it's rehashing previous stories. They've been doing that since day one, even of the newer series. These new monsters are like the mirror image of the angels. It's part of the charm. I know I keep repeating myself, but this is essentially a kids show and you should enter into it with gleeful abandon. It does fascinate me how Matthias especially is looking for something that just isn't there.

[RossRoy]

Oh I still loved the episode (hence my comment about hating to watch shows as they air) .. but yeah, it really felt a tad bit too much like The Empty Child.

Though I hadn't made the link to the Angels .. probably because I like the concept of the Angels so much I don't want them messing with it

[goodguy]

It does fascinate me how Matthias especially is looking for something that just isn't there.

That kid show excuse gets old. I always said the Moffat contributions to earlier seasons were outstanding and S5 was mostly quite different from the previous Davies crap. So it most definitely WAS there and I hope it continues to be. Also, I don't mind the rehash so much. You could say that the first episode of S5 if not the entire season was a rehash of The Girl in the Fireplace and it turned out pretty good.

What I meant with "Davies territory" was for example the muddled and unearned "emotional" scene at the lake. And especially the inclusion of global political figures and all that such a move entails. S5 did well on the sidelines. It was all just about a little girl and still the entire universe was at stake. That was more truly a kids show than Davies ever managed to accomplish.

[Najemikon]

That Davies crap as you put it, is the whole reason Moffat gets a run at it at all. Davies is the Doctor Who answer to Joss Whedon in terms of how much of his vision is engrained in the revived show. If you can really dismiss his contribution so readily, surely the basic format of Dr Who is always going to fail for you?

That's what I don't get. I don't disagree that there has been some fine writing in Moffat's work, but we're talking about singular episodes that stand out. The arc over a series is what's important for longevity and while you thought that Season 5 is better than anything, it couldn't support the classic villains, like the Daleks, and it seems to be continuing in an essentially contrived manner, in that the story is about Doctor Who himself. That won't work for much longer, because it should be about Who landing in the middle of something monumental, the factor these ridiculous enemies always dismiss.

I took the new episode for what it was and enjoyed it, but Moffat needs to get back to the Davies crap properly, get an iconic villain in place that considers the Doctor a flea that can be ignored and then be proved very wrong as he saves the universe again, right under the nose of said iconic villain.

All credit it to Moffat if he successfully does pull the show in a new direction, but it looks like there won't be many stand-alone episodes and I really think that's going to hurt.

[northbloke]

While I enjoyed the first episode, I've got to agree that there's been too much emphasis on these underlying story arcs they seem to have every series. I don't think a series like Doctor Who really needs them. I'd rather they concentrated on proper individual stories than trying to connect all these dots.
With this episode I never got the connection with the Empty Child, it seems more directly linked to last year's the Lodger - it even looks like the same panels in the space ship. I do like the new villians though, they are pretty creepy. But the whole River Soong thing is getting a bit tired - I do like the character, but they're just dragging out the deep, dark secret thing far too much for my tastes.

[Dragonfire]

I read that the secret with River comes out in episode 7.

[goodguy]

Well, this continues to be a roller coaster. Last weeks episode was pretty awesome, but the pirate ship was below meh, the few hints at The Greater Plot about the only thing even mildly interesting. Hopefully, next week will be better again, with Neil Gaiman and all. 

[Najemikon]

Yeah, the pirate one was run of the mill. I want to see more like that though, mixed in with the arc. Just so long as they are good!

How many more times can that happen to Rory? It's getting silly.

[RossRoy]

How many more times can that happen to Rory? It's getting silly.

Yeah, I just rolled my eyes at that.

Pretty average episode. Wonder if it's not suffering from being the followup to that awesome 2-part opener?

(click to show/hide)

I did like the sci-fi spin on that classic pirate tale though!

That being said, can't wait for the next episode! The Oods are back!

[Najemikon]

I think I posted a link before to James Hance's website. He does wonderful paintings based on movies, but mixed up, such as Star Wars (features a lot!) meets Winnie The Pooh ("Wookie the Chew").

Anyway, check out this t-shirt print:

http://www.redbubble.com/people/strangelydrawn/t-shirts/7152475-the-girl-who-waited-dr-who

[Dragonfire]

That's cool

[DJ Doena]