Doctor Who

[Doctor MK]

Following last week's average Dalek-fest of an episode, I was a bit worried that the return of River Song and the Weeping Angels this week wouldn't be as awesome as it should be. I'm glad to say that I shouldn't have worried, because I thought "The Time of Angels" was a real return to form.

All of the main roles were played brilliant (particularly Amy "aww are we Mr Grumpy Face today?" Pond, who is slowly but surely turning into my favourite companion since the show's revival) and there was a real sense of atmosphere throughout the episode. It wasn't scary and the Weeping Angels definitely don't have the same impact second time around, but merely by comparison to "Victory of the Daleks" it was an amazing first part to what looks to be an even more action-packed second part.

My theory on the cliffhanger is that The Doctor shooting the gravity globe somehow affects the gravity of the cave (hence the name "gravity" globe), allowing the group to jump up to the Byzantium above. Or something like that anyway.

And we're going to get some answers about the crack next week too, it seems! Huzzah! Perhaps it isn't the main story arc of the series, as first believed...?

[Badnik Mechanic]

So I wasn't the only one a bit mad at that advert during the final seconds of the show.

Thousands of fans have complained so far. Hmmm I wonder if they'll take note of this stupid decision. Even Digital Spy have it as their front page story!

If anyone else wants to complain about this advert that they put in the last moment of the show Use this link. Doesn't take a moment to do.

[Glenn]

Also, a random point here (although this is a problem I've had with the series for years), am I the only one who finds that, with a combination of the sci-fi technobabble and a bunch of characters (The Doctor himself in particular) speaking quite fast, it can be really hard to hear what's being said over the background music at times? I swear I must miss a good handful of lines in every episode because I can't make out what's being said.

Yes, yes, and a thousand times yes!!

I adore the soundtrack music by Murray Gold, and would rewatch the episodes with just the music and no other sound, but for the first time through? I wanna hear the words, dammit, and often can't! Since I watch with my Dad, though, who is forever leaning over and saying "What did they just say?" it gets particularly annoying, too.

BBC HD didn't have the Graham Norton problem, so thankfully I dodged a bullet, but I can imagine how hellish that would have been, particularly during this episode's cliffhanger.

As for the episode itself, creepy and good. Best bit was the looping clip of the angel. That was truly terrifying in a really unsettling way, the way each clip had a different part of the angel looking around really innocently and coming ever-closer with that expressionless face. I don't know, the vicious roaring angel doesn't scare me. I reckon they should keep that blank expression the entire time. River Song has my attention because I wanna know what the secret from her past is, but otherwise I'm glad she isn't a regular. Matt Smith? Alas, I'm with Mahzes here... Tennant-Lite. I wish they'd give him some freedom. In the earlier episodes he had it, was a bit more angry and violent, but there were too many moments where I felt he was simply "doing a Tennant", the TARDIS impression and a few of the banter moments between the soldiers being prime examples.

Still, got to see Part Two now...!

[JezMM]

I also wasn't afflicted with the advert thanks to always forgetting Doctor Who is on - thus I watch it on iPlayer, lol.

But yeah, the music levels have always been dodgy since the modern series began. They even parodied it on Dead Ringers once "We have to escape before it's too late!" "Sorry what? I couldn't hear you over the background music!".

Anyway, episode was pretty awesome, though I was surprised when it ended. It came so suddenly... it sort of felt like they didn't get much done. It also annoyed me that every statue looks different yet when they start moving it's always the same two in each shot, lol.

Loved the TV bit, and the Weeping Angels are my fave villians in the series. I wish they hadn't toned down the scary so much this time though. It was very child-friendly done.

[Doctor MK]

But yeah, the music levels have always been dodgy since the modern series began. They even parodied it on Dead Ringers once "We have to escape before it's too late!" "Sorry what? I couldn't hear you over the background music!".

Here is said video for those that haven't seen it before:

Loved the TV bit, and the Weeping Angels are my fave villians in the series. I wish they hadn't toned down the scary so much this time though. It was very child-friendly done.

Weeping Angels snapping people's necks. Really child-friendly.

(Nahh, I agree, it wasn't as frightening as Blink)

[JezMM]

Weeping Angels snapping people's necks. Really child-friendly.

(Nahh, I agree, it wasn't as frightening as Blink)

Haha, yeah. I was talking more about the very lame single (same) shot of the angel used every time it snuck up on those three soldiers who were killed. Nowhere near as impacting as the progress of the angel across the room at the finale of Blink. I think the difference in soundtrack had a lot to do with it too.

I have to say as well... I know it isn't a voice-voice, but still, I think letting the angels talk does kinda remove the scary a little bit too. It humanises them just a tad.

The conversation about making mistkaes with traps back-and-forth etc with the Doctor is something I'd more expect of classic villians like the Daleks and Cybermen.

Edited April 26, 2010 by JezMM

[Glenn]

The bit with the TV looping and Amy stuck in the C&C was the most disturbing bit of Doctor Who I've ever seen.

Note I said "disturbing", not scary.

[Doctor MK]

Here's some teasers from Digital Spy about next week's episode, "Flesh and Stone"...

1. Eureka! no Galileo!

2. Amy: "Basically we've *** up the inside of a *******."

3. The Byzantium contains a forest. Yes, a forest.

4. Amy: "Seven."

5. There's a scene reminiscent of a scene from 'Doomsday'.

6. Amy: "Six."

7. What's the opposite of the moral from 'Blink'?

8. River has done something very, very naughty.

9. There's a very important date you'll want to mark in your diaries/iPhones/Google calendars come the end of this episode.

10. The crack. We finally learn what it is and what it wants.

11. Amy does something to The Doctor that prompts an epiphany. And a collection.

Feel free to speculate what the teasers may lead to.

[Toffkat]

Heh, I watched the repeat of the episode on Sunday and then with my brother on iPlayer, so I only heard about the advert today

Up until this point, I'd really liked the new series, but this one's sold me on it <3 Blink wasn't as scary as I'd heard it was (though I do love my imagination bringing up that scene in the basement with the flickering lights TT.TT) but that repeating clip as the Angel came closer to the screen... creepy D: After it came out of the screen though, it somehow lost that factor a little, but with it right up to the camera I was just a bit freaked out.

I'm really looking forward to next week, though - that bit about Amy not opening her eyes immediately made me think of reversing the idea of not blinking, which I thought was pretty cool~ Matt Smith has won me over, too - while I can still occasionally picture Tennant acting instead of him, I don't notice it so much, and I like the slightly darker-ness of the character - not enough to throw you off too much but enough to keep things interesting <3 Same goes for Karen as Amy, I liked them well enough, but they've grown on me a lot more

River Song... she's not my favourite character, I must admit, but I'm far from not liking her either. She's got me interested in this secret. Overall, great episode, I enjoyed the stone hand part, and the ending especially x3 Aaand I shall stop rambling on about it now.

[Patticus]

Episode 8 is called "The Hungry Earth"

Episode 9 is called "Cold Blood"

This will probably be the two-parter which introduces a 'new' old Doctor Who species.

Episode 10 is called "Vincent and the Doctor"

[Doctor MK]

Episode 8 is called "The Hungry Earth"

Episode 9 is called "Cold Blood"

This will probably be the two-parter which introduces a 'new' old Doctor Who species.

Episode 10 is called "Vincent and the Doctor"

Episode 8 and 9 is the two-parter featuring the return of the

Silurians

And Episode 10 is the episode written by Richard Curtis guest starring Bill Nighy. Good times.

Edited April 28, 2010 by Doctor MK

[Patticus]

Episode 8 and 9 is the two-parter featuring the return of the

Silurians

I know that, but I don't like cutting sentences up with spoiler boxes and there is a lack of the in-line spoiler boxes we used to have so... I thought I'd be all cryptic.

[Doctor MK]

I know that, but I don't like cutting sentences up with spoiler boxes and there is a lack of the in-line spoiler boxes we used to have so... I thought I'd be all cryptic.

Oh, okey dokey Gotcha.

So the only episode titles that remain to be announced are the last three episodes... Episode 11 is the one with The Doctor sharing a flat with James Corden and playing football (rumoured to be called "The Lodger", I think?). Episode 12/13, I have no idea. "The Pandorica Opens" was a rumoured title for Episode 12, which would make sense seeing as Prisoner Zero warned The Doctor about the Pandorica in "The Eleventh Hour"... oh and I think "The Big Bang" is rumoured for Episode 13, but don't hold me to that.

[PSI Wind]

So, I watched Season 1 (2005) Episode 1 "Rose". It was cheesetastic! It looks like a good show.

Edited April 30, 2010 by Sinnoh

[Doctor MK]

For people wanting to follow the latest on "Norton-gate" (as it shall undoubtedly be known at some point), you'll be pleased to hear will Graham Norton will indeed be exterminated soon.

Well, obviously not the real Graham Norton. But an animated Graham Norton (much like the one that disrupted 'The Time of Angels') will be exterminated by a Dalek on this Monday's 'The Graham Norton Show' on BBC One, if anyone wants to tune in.

Also, here's Charlie Brooker ranting about the incident it on last week's 'You Have Been Watching':

[JezMM]

So, I watched Season 1 (2005) Episode 1 "Rose". It was cheesetastic! It looks like a good show.

Well if you enjoyed that you'll be pleased to know every season is usually twice as good as the previous one.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Ok... so Amy Pond now wants to

have sex with the Doctor...

Urm... right?

[-Mark-]

As this series goes on, I'm certainly getting intrigued by the fact the whole issue with the crack and matters with Amy are quite blatant, because it makes it feel more structured, like they're actually building towards some kind of series finale with it, rather than just stringing together random stories with a few vague hints dropped every few episodes. Showing the 26th of June (airdate of the last episode this series, if I'm not mistaken?) was a nice touch too.

That said, whilst I'm getting more intrigued with her involvement in the plot, I can't say I'm liking Amy's character, especially after the end of this episode. Not only is she coming across as a total slut, but the night before her wedding no less, and to add insult to injury she blatantly stated she wasn't interested in anything long-term with The Doctor. What a tramp. D: Just makes the fact you saw her as a cute, innocent child in the first episode more depressing.

Speaking of The Doctor, I'm going to have to repeat again- Matt Smith is like a wannabe David Tennant. He's just far too similar. The only real differences I've noticed so far are that the 11th Doctor seems a lot more aggressive and rude in his delivery of certain lines ('shut up and listen'- whilst Tennant could probably get away the same line, Smith just sounded flat-out and genuinely rude with his delivery), which are traits I can't say I'm overly fond of.

Nice episode though I suppose, in terms of building an overall plot for the series. River Song is certainly intriguing, although I do think that they fail at subtlety somewhat regarding who she supposedly 'kills'.

Edited May 1, 2010 by Mahzes

[SuperLink]

Well.

Not as scary as I'd thought, not as scary as I'd hoped even. Still, a very interesting episode. Unfortunately I think perhaps Moffat's weakest so far, with loads of loopholes and stuff to exploit.

Very interested in what River Song knows/does, but I thought her acting on that last scene was pretty poor really... (man she annoys me)

And lastly, Amy, my respect for her has dropped...

Quite a bit... silly girl. I mean I know it was obvious but the whole "I LOVE THE DOCTOR" thing is so overdone D:

That's all I've got for now, maybe some other opinions will make me think about it some more.

EDIT: Oh! Something else. I really liked Smith in that episode, he showed a lot more individuality imo. I love his little phrases, like "that's very not good" etc.

Edited May 1, 2010 by BritishLink

[Glenn]

Bored now.

So we're back to having an assistant who wants to sleep with the Doctor. After the obvious-but-hey-it-was-Season-One-so-whatever Rose Tyler and then the getting-a-little-silly-now-he's-a-Time-Lord-after-all Martha Jones, I have to say Donna Noble was a refreshing break. And yet suddenly we're back again. Okay, so it seems like Amy Pond has a different agenda, in that she's absolutely bonkers and possibly the key to the end of time itself, but seriously, that last scene was A: out of nowhere and B: made me gag.

Also, why must everything be a story arc? Seasons One, Two and Three did it well. Little hints here and there that were all answered in the final episodes... not Episode Four and Five?! There was far too much plot thrown at this second part. You had the ongoing crack in time, Amy's role in that, River Song (including the man she killed [could it be more obvious? That won't be a shocker when 'tis revealed], her relationship with Bishop, her criminal past, etc. etc.), the Doctor yelling at everything that moved, the Angels and their multiple developments, the tension of a chase thriller, the Angel inside Amy's head... gah, overload! Too much! That's why I loved the earlier seasons of the new Doctor Who, really. You could tune in each week, have a little adventure, and then the "Ah, so that's what Bad Wolf meant!!" made the season finale a nice bit of event telly. I can't see this season doing that, frankly.

I did love finally seeing the Angels move, though. That was amazingly done, was properly creepy.

Otherwise?

Bored now.

Also, sorry for the double post, but...

Anybody notice that the Doctor was wearing his jacket again when he returned to Amy and told her to remember what he said when she was seven? Naughty Doctor, crossing his own timeline... you watch future episodes, it was too blatant a continuity error and just the sort of thing I can picture this madcap, all-over-the-place season doing.

Yeah.

[SuperLink]

Seems like opinions on it are pretty split right now xD

I just couldn't understand why it wasn't very scary... Blink was like... a masterpiece of scariness, and other than the way they moved and how there were so many of them, I can't say these episodes were anywhere near as scary. Did Moffat do that on purpose or is he losing his edge in "scaryness"?

[-Mark-]

that last scene was A: out of nowhere and B: made me gag.

Oh hell yes. What a slut. D:

Also, why must everything be a story arc? Seasons One, Two and Three did it well. Little hints here and there that were all answered in the final episodes... not Episode Four and Five?! There was far too much plot thrown at this second part. You had the ongoing crack in time, Amy's role in that, River Song (including the man she killed [could it be more obvious? That won't be a shocker when 'tis revealed], her relationship with Bishop, her criminal past, etc. etc.), the Doctor yelling at everything that moved, the Angels and their multiple developments, the tension of a chase thriller, the Angel inside Amy's head... gah, overload! Too much! That's why I loved the earlier seasons of the new Doctor Who, really. You could tune in each week, have a little adventure, and then the "Ah, so that's what Bad Wolf meant!!" made the season finale a nice bit of event telly. I can't see this season doing that, frankly.

I dunno, isolated, one-off episodic stuff usually leaves me with a feeling of "Well, what's the point?", personally. Granted, stronger ongoing plots are a lot less accessible to those who might not have followed from the start or missed an episode, but I like a plot that actually rewards you- where you get more out of it the more you watch.

There's only so deep, so intricate a plot you can tell in 45 minutes, or even a double episode, or hell, even a full series of thirteen. It's nice for them to make the best of what they have, in my opinion, rather than make a handful of episodic plots that you could basically skip without detracting anything from the overall plot. Yes, well-written single episodes can be brilliant and I'm not saying they should do an entire 13-episode serial plot, just that it's nice for a bit more to go with this time, rather than the relatively lax overall plots of previous series.

Edited May 1, 2010 by Mahzes

[Doctor MK]

Flesh and Stone... I liked it. A fitting conclusion to last week's story that really set us up for the finale (and practically confirmed The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang as the Episode 12/13 titles through the dialogue), even if it does seem a bit odd to be hyping up the last episodes less than halfway through the series. Now we know what the crack is I hope it stays away for a little while - and it looks like it will, as the next two episodes seem to be very much about Amy's relationship with The Doctor (what with Rory joining the TARDIS crew).

Speaking of which... that final scene. RAWR.

Oh, and I totally called the "shooting gravity globe = gravity shift = up to the Byzantium" cliffhanger resolution. But it was fairly obvious I suppose.

Edited May 1, 2010 by Doctor MK

[Glenn]

I dunno, isolated, one-off episodic stuff usually leaves me with a feeling of "Well, what's the point?", personally. Granted, stronger ongoing plots are a lot less accessible to those who might not have followed from the start or missed an episode, but I like a plot that actually rewards you- where you get more out of it the more you watch.

There's only so deep, so intricate a plot you can tell in 45 minutes, or even a double episode, or hell, even a full series of thirteen. It's nice for them to make the best of what they have, in my opinion, rather than make a handful of episodic plots that you could basically skip without detracting anything from the overall plot. Yes, well-written single episodes can be brilliant and I'm not saying they should do an entire 13-episode serial plot, just that it's nice for a bit more to go with this time, rather than the relatively lax overall plots of previous series.

I agree and respect the principle, but not for Doctor Who.

This coming from a fan of Twenty-Four, where you miss one episode of the show and you're screwed, but this is a timeless classic icon of British tellyboxing. Forty-five minutes is plenty long enough to create an emotional, well-rounded plot. My favourite episodes of all time were "The Family of Blood" two-parter ones from Season Three. They had me in tears, were touchingly beautiful and heartbreaking... and they managed it. Came back to the watch plot device later, but otherwise, they managed it.

I just fear that, in becoming more inward-facing and complicated, Doctor Who will stop becoming event television and start becoming fan-exclusive. Which is a shame, because as it stands, everybody in the country loves Doctor Who. And yet, with plots like these, I see it becoming such a niche. No problem for me, or the other fans, but it would lose wider appeal. And this is the BBC we're talking about.

Hey, I wanna know the answers, though! Not like I'm tuning out next week!

[Badnik Mechanic]

Anybody notice that the Doctor was wearing his jacket again when he returned to Amy and told her to remember what he said when she was seven? Naughty Doctor, crossing his own timeline... you watch future episodes, it was too blatant a continuity error and just the sort of thing I can picture this madcap, all-over-the-place season doing.

Yeah.

That angel in question was caught in the light, it was removed from time. So the Doctor had his jacket on because the angel never grabbed him or took his jacket. [/sonic 06]