Yay!
Doctor Who premiered a few days ago, and due to some connections in the UK I was able to snag a preview of it.
It rocked.
It was a bit silly, which happens in the first episode of the season, but it did a good job establishing how things will go. Spoilers ahoy!
First, as I suspected, Donna will be great. She’ll still be irritating (in a good way), but she’s grown a bit. She’s not precisely the same person she was in the Christmas Special, but I suspect she’ll lapse into her old ways on occasion. I’m glad she had her head together in this episode. Are the days of the screaming companion firmly behind us?
Second, I liked the alien menace in this, and I also liked how they treated the "children". When the Doctor lets them live, and Donna points out he’s changed (due to Martha), it would have been nice to have him say something like "Well, these kids won’t try to eat all the humans" or something along those lines. Still, nice. And the level of humor was great. Even Mrs. BA was enjoying herself watching it.
Third, the music was excellent as usual, though they reused a lot from the previous seasons. Nice to hear Donna’s theme again! But I’m disappointed in the main opening theme; it lacks the scope and grandeur of the past three seasons. Still, the incidental music was fun, and I’m looking forward to the eventual release of the soundtrack (I recommend the previous two which are fantastic).
As for the BIG spoiler… I won’t give it away here, but I will note that in the first season they had the Bad Wolf scenario already thought out early on (and Saxon as well in the third, dropping hints all season long), so the writers do plan well ahead of the game. Dropping in a hint now of how the season will go much later was pretty interesting. The BBC has the video of all this online at their site, too.
All in all, a firm start to the new series/season. I’m very excited to see it back on!
April 7th, 2008 at 11:12 am
The episode totally rocked, I have a couple of hypotheses regarding the “spoiler” moment possibly involving the eventual return of a character played by the wife of Richard Dawkins (come on Phil prove your geekness here), the last words of the Face of Bo may have meant more than we thought
April 7th, 2008 at 11:14 am
My thoughts exactly, though to be honest I kinda liked the new theme music.
As for Dawkins, I dunno if his wife is going to be back in the show (we can always hope), but Dawkins HIMSELF will be guest-starring in an episode!
(Caution, spoilers)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/russell-t-davies-return-of-the-tea-time-lord-805255.html
April 7th, 2008 at 11:18 am
What! Billie Piper is married to Richard Dawkins?!
April 7th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Being without TV, your infatuation with this programme is of less than no interest to me!
April 7th, 2008 at 11:35 am
I agree, it was a great show. I was wrong about Catherine Tate before, I thought she was really good. However, I am relieved that there will be no romantic aspect to the relationship between the Doctor and Donna (shudder…).
April 7th, 2008 at 11:57 am
“Season 4″…. this seems very odd to me, since I recall watching the very first series back in the early 60s. Oh… perhaps they have one series per decade? No, because then we’d be in season 5. A mystery.
And no, Billie Piper is not married to Richard Dawkins (unless, that is, he is a bigamist). His wife is Sarah Ward.
April 7th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Don’t forget about Torchwood for season 2! I think that that was a much better runner than Saxon in S3 (or S29, if you want to get pedantic.)
April 7th, 2008 at 11:59 am
But no discussion of the Bad Astronomy in the episode? Wilf was observing Venus, well after sundown, with his telescope pointed at a very high angle. Sure, it’s a tiny detail, but it stood out to me.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Kaptain K:
Ah yes, the old TV will rot your mind blarney( or is it that you just can’t afford a TV?).
Note that ANY entertainment that questions our most cherished beliefs(I’m thinking specifically of SF) will be regarded by the mainstream culture as subversive and decadent. I recall that in the old Soviet Union, SciFi writers were prohibited from writing paradisiacal SciFi that was not based on communism, since that was supposed to be the ultimate social construct.
One thing driving all the blogs and social spaces on the ‘net is the pleasure people take in just talking about things. As noted by some pundit, opinions are like rectal orifices: everybody has one. Some just smell better,,,(ok, I made up that part,,,)
GAry 7
April 7th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
OK, that last post WAS a non-sequitur.
Really looking forward to the new WHO season.
Bring it on,,,
GAry 7
April 7th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Really? I liked the new Theme a lot more. It was good enough that I actually sat up when I watched the episode.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Doctor Who? More like Doctor Who cares! Ha Ha, jk!
Where’s the coverage for season 4 of Battlestar Galactica? Lots of astronomy to cover and poke fun of there.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
BLASPHEMY!
Don’t you know the fourth commandment of geekdom?
“Thou shalt not blaspheme against Doctor Who”
As for BSG, that hasn’t started yet
April 7th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
BA, I agree. I enjoyed the episode, and thought the theme music not as good as the preceding three series.
t3knomancer, I also thought that the observation of Venus was screwed up. As well as the time and the angle of his scope, the image they showed on screen of Venus was taken with a bigger scope than Wilf’s 60-mm refractor, I think!
April 7th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
I am glad to see Who back for this season, but I wasn’t that excited by the first episode, particularly the very end, if you know what I mean. I am looking forward to the Sontaran Strategem. That, I hope, is good.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Speaking of the meaning of the last words spoken by the Face of Bo, there is another Time Lady out there. If you go back to the First Doctor, one of his traveling partners was his grandaughter, Susan. In the end of “The Dalek Invasion of Earth” the Doctor lock Susan out of the Tardis, and tells her she needs to get on with her life. Susan was left on Earth in the 22nd century. So it stands to figure see did not make it to the Last Great Time War. So could the Face of Bo’s words been speaking of her?
April 7th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Well, there is also Romana II and a K9 out there and Peter Butterworth as a Timelord (the time Meddeler) trapped in 1066
April 7th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
oops that should be ‘Time Meddler’ of course
April 7th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
For you Billie Piper fans in the U.S., I suggest you sign up for Showtime before June so you can see her in the British series
“Secret Diary of a Call Girl”.
The previews have been … enticing…
April 7th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I have connection to the UK, too. It’s called The Internet. I had the episode hours after it had aired, thanks to Mad Martha.
April 7th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
@RayM:
Tichard Dawkins’s wife is Lalla ward, not Sarah.
Now, when is Phil Plaitt going to guest star on DW? PZ can be a squid monster on Torchwood…
April 7th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I thought the theme was different, wasn’t quite sure. Thanny, Mad Martha rocks our world!
I got goosebumps at the very end with the blonde girl. Spooooky.
Oh, I noticed in the preview that the next episode is set in Roman times, in Pompeii on “Volcano Day.” Now, there’s no confirmation about the canonicity of the Big Finish productions and the books, but in the Big Finish audiodrama “The Fires of Vulcan”, the 7th Doctor and Mel visit Pompeii on Volcano Day. I’m wondering if there will be any subtle references to the the BF story, or indeed, if it will just use that story (it’s a very good one, btw), like they used a book story for “Human Nature”/”Family of Blood.”
Oh, so excited!!
April 7th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I thought this season’s first episode was fantastic (as Doctor #9 would say). Definitely the best of the season openers from the new series. Donna is still a bit irritating, you’re right, but in a good way. I am so pleased to see The Doctor have a companion without all the sexual tension. As nice as that was with Rose (and wasn’t with Martha), it’s time to establish a new dynamic. Speaking of new dynamic, did anyone else think that The Doctor and Donna were going to swoop down and scoop up gramps, too? That would have made for an interesting TARDIS crew.
Doctor What
www.doctorwhatus.blogspot.com
April 7th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
“@RayM:
Tichard Dawkins’s wife is Lalla ward, not Sarah.
Now, when is Phil Plaitt going to guest star on DW? PZ can be a squid monster on Torchwood…”
And for those readers who are not Doctor Who fans (or at least not fans of the old series), Lalla Ward played the second Romana, a Time Lady who traveled with Tom Baker’s Doctor. (Lalla Ward and Tom Baker subsequently got married, but the marriage only lasted 18 months — they had essentially fallen in love with one another’s on-screen characters, which is sort of a hazard of the acting profession.)
I bought a copy of “Destiny of the Daleks” recently. That was Lalla Ward’s second Doctor Who story, but her first as Romana. (She’d previously played Princess Astra in “The Armageddon Factor”, who turned out to actually be the sixth segment of the Key to Time.) She developed a friendship with the script editor at the time, Douglas Adams, who later on would introduce her to a good friend of his at a skeptic’s convention: Richard Dawkins.
April 7th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Ooh, left out the part which explained how that related to “Destiny of the Daleks”. Lalla Ward did a commentary track for it, and mentioned that Douglas Adams had introduced her to her current husband. Oddly, that means that she met both of her husbands as a result of her time on Doctor Who.
(The commentary track did disappoint me, though. Most of the Dr Who “classic series” DVDs have the commentary tracks played over the episode audio, but on “Destiny of the Daleks” you can only hear the episode audio *or* the commentary track. Not both.)
April 7th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Well all I know is, I want a squidgy little toy Adipose.
April 7th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Dawkins wife Lalla Ward, was born Sarah Ward. Lalla is her stage name.
April 7th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
No shortage of timelords scuttling around out there -
* The Master (Flash Gordon ripoffs nowithstanding - I just hope they go back to the Mr Sinister ‘Delago style’ as opposed to the hyperactive Joker ripoff)
* Romana II (in E-space if books are ignored, president of Gallifrey otherwise)
* The Rani - (stuck on Tetrapyriarbus)
* Meddling Monk (stuck in 1066 or on an icy rockball)
* The Valyard (again canon dependant)
* Drax (working as a mechanic on Atrios)
* Omega (may or may not still be in the anti-matter universe)
* Professor Chronotis (at Cambridge)
* Cho Je (a Tibetan monk)
* Many many more if you go to the books….Dr Who cannon is all over the place sometimes.
As for having an octopus monster appear in Torchwood…well…I think there’s enough sexual escapades without bringing in tentacles.
April 7th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Very enjoyable, lighthearted episode, even if a bit silly. Great way to bring the Doctor and Donna together again before getting into heavier situations. ( I didn’t mean t that as a pun, I swear). Those critters are a marketer’s dream.
Anyway, I’m curious whether our “special guest” was simply a preview, or if that scene was part of a future event. (iow: Do things/events in the finale cycle back to the series start?)
Very happy to hear about Prof. Dawkins’ upcoming role. Can’t wait. Is it too much to hope for Lalla to reappear?
(Actually… I have this theory that hinges on a very, very slight similarity that I perceive between Romana (2) and this week’s special guest. They do sorta, almost, kinda look like they might be partially related, eh?)
To clarify Calli Arcale’s post a tad for you non-fans, Romana is a young, fresh out of school Time-Lord that the Doctor is paired with. She was originally played by Mary Tamm in 1978/79 but replaced by Lalla Ward when MT left due to pregnancy and other reasons. So, one character, but 2 incarnations. That regeneration thing comes in handy for the writers, eh? :p
April 7th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Oh, and PZ would obviously have to be a Zygon.
April 7th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Gary Ansorge
Kaptain K:
Ah yes, the old TV will rot your mind blarney( or is it that you just can’t afford a TV?).
Actually, neither!
I am 50 Km from Austin and the transmitters are on the other side of Austin (call it another 50 Km.
I have two TVs. What I don’t have is cable. although that’s about to change (I think)
April 7th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Ragutis: “Oh, and PZ would obviously have to be a Zygon”
Afraid not - Zygons while they control the lochness monster still have backbones. And considering who the current ‘monster of the series’ is he would definetly be a Rutan.
“In their natural forms, Rutans resemble large green jellyfish, glowing blobs of biomatter with long ropy tentacles….”
April 8th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Wow. I’m in a definite minority here.
I thought the S4 opener was the worst episode of the revival. Not because of Tate (she did OK with the direction and writing she was given), but because of RTD’s insipid, repetitive, and poorly timed script. C’mon, we’ve had farty marshmellow aliens before. We’ve heard the Doctor give alien races “one last chance” before going medieval on them. It just seemed like RTD was throwing in all sorts of unrelated catch-phrases and bits of contrived tension from previous episodes. Too much wink-winking and nudge-nudging.
The sooner Moffat takes over as head writer the better.
April 8th, 2008 at 1:47 am
It was a lukewarm episode, but hinted at some future Donna/Rose rivalry when Billy Piper appeared in a brief exchange with Tate before dematerialising to her own dimension again.
The references to other Sci-Fi classics are becoming a bit tiresome.
The Adipose mother-ship was very like the intergalactic spinning top in “Close Encounters”. The little-adiposers themselves looked like they might have fitted into ET’s toy cupboard.
When the Tardis shot up into space towards the end, it looked like it had been filmed by the BBC Special effects departments of the 1960’s.
- Like a cardboard box on a wire.
Either this was a very clever retro reference, or the cuts in the BBC’s budget must have gone further than we thought.
Can only get better.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:05 am
The Tardis shouldn’t have ’shot up into space’ it’s not a rocket.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Swoop.. the Doctor did that for the old man.
April 8th, 2008 at 10:48 am
For the major canon junkies out there, a bit more fun with Romana.
Romana left the series at the end of Warrior’s Gate, where she opted to remain in E-Space (a small pocket universe outside of our own — the “e” stands for “exospace”, and the term would likely apply to any of several exospace universes accessed via charged vacuum emboitments — CVEs). She stayed there to help the enslaved Tharil race free itself and rebuild a society.
In the novels and audio dramas (which have separate continuities), Romana eventually returned to Gallifrey and ultimately became President. The canonicity of this is unclear; in generally, it is best to assume that the books are not canon. However, elements of the books have appeared on the series (most notably “Human Nature”, which was worked into a two-parter last season) and a lot of the authors of the novels are now script writers for the series. Some things said by Davies suggest that they are operating on the assumption that Romana did return to Gallifrey and become President, ultimately perishing along with Gallifrey itself.
But Davies can’t possibly be the producer forever, and since this hasn’t been enshrined in any actual episode, it could always change.
And if not, well, more fun for the fanfic writers!
All of this does leave unanswered the question of where other Time Lord renegades wound up. Drax, Cho-Je/K’Anpo, the Rani, the Meddling Monk, Chronotis, Omega, any Time Lords imprisoned on Shada…. Drax most likely could not have returned to Gallifrey to assist in the Time War, as he was stranded without transportation. (He wasn’t technically a Time Lord anyway, as he dropped out of the academy. Dialog in that episode and in “Invasion of Time” suggests that Time Lords are the Gallifreyan elite, but that there are working class Gallifreyans as well — and also indicates that it is possible to renounce the title, as the hunter-gatherer Shabogans had done.)
There is also the possibility of refugees. Not just people who couldn’t get to Gallifrey in time, or who wouldn’t have heeded the call anyway (I can’t imagine the Rani caring about the outcome, for instance) but those who were involved in the war but dropped out due to injury or stranding and then were left behind, accidentally or otherwise.
I am certain that if there were Dalek survivors, there will be Time Lord survivors too. And not just the Doctor and the Master.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
[…] recently ran across a website saying the next season of Doctor Who is off and running and is looking good. I certainly hope they […]
April 9th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
And of course they are the TIme Lords, theres nothing to say that Galifrey won’t return
April 10th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Yes, lots of time lords were left in various places over the 20+ years of the original show. The thing is that a ‘time war’ isn’t just time lords having a war….it is using time travel as a weapon. Lots of Terminator-style ‘I kill your mother to prevent you from being born’ type stuff. When the Doctor says ‘they all burned’ he means it in the sense that both the Daleks and the Time Lords wrote themselves out of time. His survival, the Master’s, the few Daleks, all had to do with special oddball circumstances that writer’s get to create. A Time Lord just stranded on a planet would disappear in a Time War.
April 13th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Rather than mere baseless whinging, let me be specific why S401 was utterly abysmal:
- this isn’t science fiction. It is science fantasy, and inherently weak on logic. RTD doesn’t understand SF, merely its trappings.
- Tate is simply terribly annoying to watch in Dr Who. There is NO reason to root for her. I rather wanted the cable to snap and put her out of my misery.
- Large rabbitsized adipose creatures pop out of victims through their skin, bloodlessly? Utterly cartoony. Absolutely silly in an unfunny creepy way.
- What ill director plays reactions of helpless infected victims for comedy, as done several times?
- Overuse of the damned sonic screwdriver as deus ex machina. Since when do sonic screwdrivers have weapons capabilities able to heat steel cables, melt door locks - with sparks! ENOUGH.
- TERRIBLE special effects. The legions of adipose creatures were BLURRY in the street scenes. The character design was cartoony in the extreme. We’re not infants watching teletubbies.
- Reactions of the infected people in the bar scene not credible at all, just silly.
- Glossy spectacle outweighed character credibility and plot sense. One might almost just turn the sound off and watch for the spectacle, forget the story.
- Plot holes aplenty. Did RTD actually expect us to accept that hundreds of thousands of adipose creatures popped out of hosts each night unseen, and roamed the streets like rats until collected by black vans? Or that a fleet of vans dispatched perhaps like taxis, one per creature? Or that the nanny would allow potential children of the royal family to roam unprotected on an alien planet?
RTD has been infected with Uwe Boll Disease.