Doctor Who!

[s-island]

It's gonna be companion overload though. My guess is a CGI attack on Earth, like the previous 3 series.

I'd like to see the cybermen of this universe.

[s-island]

Did anyone spot the Doctor Who reference in the Chariots of the Dogs?

[s-island]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul5RjB9Tjbw - someone's beem filming the filming of the finale!

[The Tingler]

Originally Posted by s-island

Did anyone spot the Doctor Who reference in the Chariots of the Dogs?

Oh yes!

Originally Posted by s-island

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul5RjB9Tjbw - someone's beem filming the filming of the finale!

Oh no!!!

[elTee]

Saw this today: 'A reactionary on a bad LSD trip'.

I have no interest in Doctor Who at all, but I know you oddballs do.

[s-island]

Too bad it doesn't mention any names. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...or_Who#Origins - this article mentions the meeting in March where people who didn't work on the programme after that also contributed.
Guess it just was a brainstorming meeting full of crazy ideas and the Telegraph decided on taking the craziest ones and run with it now that season 4 is close to premiering. Pushes copies, that does.

[s-island]

It returns tonight!

[The Tingler]

I am really, really excited about this series (more than usual) for one simple reason: I don't really know what to expect from the story arc.

The last three seasons I knew who the main old-series villains were going to be in each season finale - Daleks, then Cybermen, then The Master. They're the Big Three enemies of the Doctor Who world, so it was obvious all the way they were going to be the antagonists.

In Series Four, I have no idea who is going to be the main baddies! The Sontarans are good for a one-off, but they won't stand up against any of the Big Three.

[s-island]

I have a feeling who it might be. Watch Genesis of the Daleks again...

[The Tingler]

A very interesting (and cute) episode, but the curse of the Crap Opening Episode still pretty much carries on. 'Smith & Jones' last year was pretty good actually, I suppose, but the rest have been fairly awful. Donna was much more likeable, and I loved Bernard Cribbins as her Grandad... but the whole episode was worth it for the "WOW!!" moment near the end.

Nah, it won't be Davros. This is a quote from the Radio Times:

I will update this when I can find my bloody copy of the Radio Times. Anyway, it says something like 'a big evil that has lived for centuries returns'

I hope this doesn't just mean the Daleks, because that will be very anti-climactic. My hope's are either Sutekh ('Pyramids of Mars'), Omega ('The Three Doctors' and 'Arc of Infinity'), or The Beast ('The Satan Pit').

[s-island]

If it is Omega, I hope they don't do a third "Omega trying to get out of the antimatter universe" storyline. If they start with him already having gotten out, it could be more interesting. The Doctor would have to kill one of his own to stop the universe from falling apart.

[The Tingler]

I think they can do big things with Omega, with a bit of effort. He's a Time Lord god, for all intents and purposes.

[s-island]

I wouldn't mind seeing Romana return as played by Mary Tamm either...

[Huz]

I'm confused - I thought Davros was definitely coming back. I thought I'd seen pictures of his new look and everything! Perhaps I dreamt it?

Perhaps s-island means that the fearsome plastic-bag monster from Genesis is coming back to wrap itself around the Doctor's face again (with some assistance from the Doctor himself)? It would certainly shake things up a little bit.

I didn't watch tonight's episode because whats-her-face annoys me.

[s-island]

Plastic bag monster... oh, you mean the Dalek kids? I think the giant clam that tried to eat one of them in the underground would be a better alternative.

What's-her-face is gonna be in all of the episodes.

[Huz]

I know, and I cry myself to sleep every night at the thought of it.

The new series of Doctor Who is lacking something, for the most part, so I don't think I'll bother to continue watching it. Let's call it idealism, the idea that children would sit down week after week and watch the same old character run around the same old quarry for four weeks, and that this was exciting. I know kids nowadays have more stimulating things in their lives, like their hundreds of cartoon channels and stabbing people on buses, but do they really have to cram every Doctor Who story into 45 minutes? That's barely long enough to wait around for the average train, never mind develop a complex story about time and space and fate, and ****.

And Russell T Davies fills at least five of those minutes every week with some love affair ball-bags between the Doctor and, no doubt starting this week, "whats-her-face".

Bah, all in all. I'll stick to my Sylvester McCoy ;

[s-island]

Oh, I hope RTD leaves this season and someone with a different vision takes over. Like, someone who commissions a new theme tune, fires Murray "plastic orchestra" Gold, and lets proper sci-fi writers write the scripts. Hell, Christopher "entropy and recursive algorithms are fun" Bidmead wrote more interesting scripts...

Bah, now we've probably scared away everyone who likes RTD's scripts. Sorry :S

[Gabez]

Oh, well, I love whats-her-face and RTD and especially Murray "makes me wet myself" Gold.

And last nights episode hadn a "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" moment in it.

Seriously, though, I think Tate is 100% less annoying than she might have been before, so give her another chance.

Also, I noticed that they're showing classic Whon on BBC Four now! It's definitely a different kind of pleasure.

[The Tingler]

Bah, all in all. I'll stick to my Sylvester McCoy

Me and Gabez met him a couple of weeks ago! Still my favourite Doctor!

[s-island]

Hmmm, Tate was less crazy and more tolerable this time.

BBC Four is showing The Daleks. That's an excellent serial. Secured the show's future, that one did.

[The Tingler]

What does everyone think? Obviously based on the traditional Doctor Who Region 2 DVDs. I'm quite happy with it.

[s-island]

Think of what?

Edit: oh, right, it came up now. Never been a fan of the grey roundels, I'm afraid.

[The Tingler]

At least it's consistent.

[Gabez]

Looks like a very well done job.

[The Tingler]

Thanks! I tried to keep it simple.

Did anyone think that cliffhanger in today's Sontaran episode was... slightly atrocious? Badly paced or set up, the really terrifying threat of smoking cars, and even if they turn out to be "weapons" I imagine something like this. I mean, why did no one think to break the bloody window?

[s-island]

Haven't seen it yet, but I don't think it'll beat The Time Warrior.

[Gabez]

They can't break the window because the whole car is deadlocked -- remember the first episode when they couldn't smash the glass because the whole building was deadlocked?

It wasn't atrocious, it was brilliant. Great episode!

[s-island]

They broke the window!!1

[The Tingler]

Yeah, about time! So much for deadlocking!

The best thing about that episode? The ending, in a nice way. The Surprise Ending!

[Gabez]

Did everyone see Rose briefly flicker on the TV screen? I wonder if I've missed her in previous episodes...

[The Tingler]

Oh yes, that was cool! I don't think she's been in any episode bar the first... could be wrong though.

[s-island]

The Doctor's screen saver! It makes no sense, actually.

[The Tingler]

Not yet...!

And that's my screensaver too!

[Gabez]

Loved The Doctor's Daughter... it seemed like the closest to the classic series we've had yet. Anyone else agree?

[The Tingler]

Yes, an excellent episode!

The only thing I disliked was that Martha left at the end. I was really hoping the Tardis would go wrong, classic series-style, and just keep bumping them to random times and places for a few episodes! Shame.

I think Daleks In Manhattan was very old-skool too.

[neon_git]

It was definately one of the better episodes. The trouble is, to my mind, that simply by having such an interesting concept it really suffers from having to tell the story in such a short time frame. There were quite a few interesting ideas that were never explored in much detail. There was so much scope to commentate on the folly of fighting over religion, the ethics of cloning, the meaning of parenthood etc that were lighly touched upon but really deserved more attention. Bring back the multi episode stories!

I'm also finding Tate more and more irritating every episode - I'm hoping there's a Soda Poppers style twist coming soon.

[The Tingler]

Really enjoying Series 4 now! Didn't really like the first episode, but it's been excellent since then! The Agatha Christie one was great fun, and we've got a Steven Moffat two-part story starting next week! Hooray!

[The Tingler]

Guess we now know the identity of the big-bad-guy coming back from the old series!

Don't watch if you don't want to know!

[Thrik]

Bloody hell, more Daleks?

I stopped watching towards the beginning of the series with the black companion, but it seemed like they were coming along too often even then. Just how many times can they be annihilated??

[The Tingler]

It still really annoys me that they turned up at the end of Series Two. That was meant to be the Cybermen series!

At least there's a reason for them to be back this time... although I'm not going to say why for anyone who doesn't want to be spoiled!