Doctor Who

[Shan Zhu]

I'd say I love the 9th doctor the most. Compared to number 10 and 11, he's very angsty, but there's something I find charming about him whenever I see him act giddy and happy.

[Debug Ring]

Two more interviews! Thi time we have Matt, Karen and Arthur.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00y24zj

Here is Steven and Caro.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00y24v8

[Debug Ring]

Just finished watching Asylum of The Daleks. Wow. That was amazing.

Karen and Arthur talk about Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00y2rmy

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship trailer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00y2s0b

Asylum of The Daleks behind the scenes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00y2rzx

Edited September 1, 2012 by Rainbow Ring

[PSI Wind]

So, um

How exactly will Oswin be the new companion as she's a Dalek in body? Guessing Doctor's gonna do like a reverse engineering on it or something.

Otherwise, wonderful episode! So great to hear Melia's posh accent from Xenoblade again

[Patticus]

Impressions after watching:

I really enjoyed that episode, it felt very different to a lot of the other Dalek stories, but I would've liked to see more of that asylum before it was destroyed. I feel like it barely scratched the surface of the potential there. Much more could have been made of the inmates; Daleks with all sorts of mad manners. I was half hoping that when Rory had the "egg," the Dalek would ask him to throw it, because it wanted to play fetch. Still, we got dancing Daleks, that's a start. Some Daleks could have had indivdual stories though, and that was sort of hinted at with the intensive care section. Hopefully it'll get to feature more at a later date, wibbly wobbly timey wimey and all that. I wouldn't mind it if a game, a series of radio plays or a couple of books of short stories were brought out to cover some of its more colorful inmates and interesting tales. Also, having got all those old Daleks in there, it's a shame they hardly played a part. It would've been brilliant to have heard some old voices as well, it could've added a lot to the texture and mythology of the place.

So, not quite the Dalek classic I'd hoped for, but a good watch nonetheless.

[Salamander]

So, um

How exactly will Oswin be the new companion as she's a Dalek in body? Guessing Doctor's gonna do like a reverse engineering on it or something.

Otherwise, wonderful episode! So great to hear Melia's posh accent from Xenoblade again

Well,

A. Oswin along with everything else in the asylum was abruptly blown up at the end of the episode.

B. It's widely reported that the new companion will be called Clara, whereas Jenna Louise-Coleman's character in this episode was called Oswin Oswald. So perhaps instead we're looking at a clone/ancestor/doppelganger situation.

I thought this episode was a lot of fun! I agree that more could've been made of the Daleks, and indeed the much-vaunted Special Weapons Dalek does absolutely nothing. There is a problem of how much they can fit in in the time available, though. A two-parter would've been too long for this story, I think, but a one-parter was too short. Oh well. A lot of really cool ideas in it, though.

"Doctor who!"

[Stacy]

Well,

A. Oswin along with everything else in the asylum was abruptly blown up at the end of the episode.

B. It's widely reported that the new companion will be called Clara, whereas Jenna Louise-Coleman's character in this episode was called Oswin Oswald. So perhaps instead we're looking at a clone/ancestor/doppelganger situation.

I thought this episode was a lot of fun! I agree that more could've been made of the Daleks, and indeed the much-vaunted Special Weapons Dalek does absolutely nothing. There is a problem of how much they can fit in in the time available, though. A two-parter would've been too long for this story, I think, but a one-parter was too short. Oh well. A lot of really cool ideas in it, though.

"Doctor who!"

We've had actors on Doctor Who who have had minor roles at first and go on to have bigger roles like Karen Gillan was a minor character in the Doctor Who Pompeii episode before she played Amy though their was a lot of time in-between though compared to now and Christmas with Jenna's role as a new companion.

[Salamander]

We've had actors on Doctor Who who have had minor roles at first and go on to have bigger roles like Karen Gillan was a minor character in the Doctor Who Pompeii episode before she played Amy though their was a lot of time in-between though compared to now and Christmas with Jenna's role as a new companion.

Well, this is a little different. Karen Gillan (and Freema Agyeman) both had roles as secondary characters in the show before they were cast as the new companion, whereas with Jenna Louise-Coleman:

She would already have been cast by the time this episode was filmed, and her role is central to it - the episode would have been filmed with the idea in mind that people recognised her as the upcoming companion, which is indeed what happened. This is why the twist works - we assume she'll go on to become the new companion as a result of this episode rather than being a Dalek who gets blown up unceremoniously.

So there's evidently something a bit more complex going on here.

[Stacy]

Well, this is a little different. Karen Gillan (and Freema Agyeman) both had roles as secondary characters in the show before they were cast as the new companion, whereas with Jenna Louise-Coleman:

She would already have been cast by the time this episode was filmed, and her role is central to it - the episode would have been filmed with the idea in mind that people recognised her as the upcoming companion, which is indeed what happened. This is why the twist works - we assume she'll go on to become the new companion as a result of this episode rather than being a Dalek who gets blown up unceremoniously.

So there's evidently something a bit more complex going on here.

Well you could be right because Iike I said there isn't much time between now and Christmas, also it wasn't exactly a minor role so yeah will have to see, I have admit I was confused saying as its been stated she is the new companion so your twist theory might be right, though I don't think the Doctor actually saw what see looked like.

[Your Vest Friend]

I wasn't even aware that there was new Dr Who until I caught it by accident just before I went out to a party. With that said, since I didn't know that the Oswin person was being promoted as a new companion, the 'twist' of the episode was so predictable, I saw it coming as soon as it was mentioned that she was on Asylum.

[Speederino]

About Oswin:

There's probably something more complex at work here, but let's not forget that the Doctor is a time-traveller. He could just jump back to earlier in her life and induct her then. Problem is, Oswin had no idea who he was, and from what I understand of time travel in this show that should be impossible. I guess.

It's honestly hard to tell.

[-Mark-]

The episode was 'decent' but didn't grab me until the reveal at the end. Daaamn, that was deliciously dark and twisted.

But yeah, it's curious how she'll be the new companion after that ending. Is it confirmed she'll be the same character? I actually thought she was going to the new companion almost then and there, before the ending.

[Master Bater]

Loved this episode. The bronze daleks were the main reason: I thought they were gone for good.

_{^{Also hi :3 I had an idea that people who live in Britain could do a Who avatar/sig set corresponding to each episode, so from next Thursday someone could do Dinosaurs on a Spaceship until the next one. That's what I would do anyway.}}

Edited September 2, 2012 by Oswin

[Salamander]

But yeah, it's curious how she'll be the new companion after that ending. Is it confirmed she'll be the same character? I actually thought she was going to the new companion almost then and there, before the ending.

Her name in this episode is Oswin Oswald, but it's been widely reported that her name as the companion character will be Clara, so it seems that they must be different - although there's pretty obviously going to be a connection. The matter has been heavily muddied, though; we aren't meant to know that her companion name is going to be Clara, so we're meant to be speculating about Oswin Oswald anyway, but because we know that she's going to be called Clara then quite a lot of people and publications are acting as if she was called "Clara Oswin" in Asylum of the Daleks when that wasn't her name at all.

[Debug Ring]

Anybody else like the idea of the themed openings for each episode? Like in Asylum where the actors name's where written in the Dalek text? I think it's a nice feature, I'm wondering what they're doing for Dinosaurs on A Spaceship, I'm not sure if it's just text change each time (the vortex seemed a bit more green than before, or is that me?). I remember the first time they said about the themed openings and I imagined a Dalek flying through the vortex being flung around and hit by lighting, but I thought that wouldn't happen. Anyway, do you like the idea of the themed openings or not?

[Debug Ring]

If you'd like to ask the executive producers questions about Asylum of The Daleks, here is how,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/Ask-the-Execs-Asylum-Special

[Patticus]

Neil Gaiman has won a Hugo Award for The Doctor's Wife. Well deserved, in my opinion. In his speech, he said, "Only a fool or a mad man would try to do it again.... so I'm on the third draft." Another Gaiman story incoming!

[Brad]

Steven Moffat teases Jenna-Louise Coleman companion impact

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has revealed details about how Jenna-Louise Coleman's new companion will affect the Doctor.

Speaking to SFX following Coleman's surprise early appearance in Saturday night's series premiere, Moffat said that the character will transform the Doctor's personality.

Teasing the new dynamic, Moffat said: "We are going to do the story properly of the Doctor having lost a friend and making a new one. We're not taking that lightly.

"It's not in one door out the other. It's the story of how all that affects him, why he engages with somebody else and what's going on with that - that's all important.

"The Doctor is quite different with her, and the way you watch them is quite different. You watched the Eleventh Doctor and Amy arrive together.

"It's like they grew up in the same sandpit, playing. They felt not quite like equals - the Doctor never feels like an equal to his companion - but you knew them equally well and they were equally important to each other.

"They formed around each other. And one of the interesting things about writing the Doctor is that he's so responsive to the people around him. It's almost like left on his own his personality would slowly disintegrate. He becomes what people want him to be, a little bit. So he's Amy's Raggedy Doctor.

"With a different companion he becomes a slightly different man. He dresses differently. The mere fact that he's so much taller than her suddenly reveals that Matt Smith is very tall, not, as people assume, about average height, because he was about the same height as Karen [Gillan]."

The writer added: "He's the senior man, not in the sense that he's more important but he's the one you know already, and he's training up a new one, as it were. In these five episodes the Doctor is practically the adopted son of Amy and Rory.

"He's gone from being the wonderful man from space - Space Gandalf, as he wants to be - to being that troublesome kid that they try and keep under control. They even talked about getting babysitters for him in one unfortunately cut scene.

"They love him, but they know he's a big kid, they know they have to look out for him, check he eats and all that. Whereas with the new companion he's back to being the mysterious spacefarer."

Gillan and Arthur Darvill's assistants Amy Pond and Rory Williams will depart in forthcoming episode 'The Angels Take Manhattan'.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a403576/doctor-who-steven-moffat-teases-jenna-louise-coleman-companion-impact.html

Sounds very interesting. I'm looking forward to what Moffat has in store, I think he's a wonderful writer.

[Kevin]

I saw the premiere of the new episode at Dragon Con. I thought it was fantastic and the big reveal at the end completely caught me off guard.

Anybody else like the idea of the themed openings for each episode? Like in Asylum where the actors name's where written in the Dalek text? I think it's a nice feature, I'm wondering what they're doing for Dinosaurs on A Spaceship, I'm not sure if it's just text change each time (the vortex seemed a bit more green than before, or is that me?). I remember the first time they said about the themed openings and I imagined a Dalek flying through the vortex being flung around and hit by lighting, but I thought that wouldn't happen. Anyway, do you like the idea of the themed openings or not?

I personally liked it myself. I thought it was creative and brought something fresh to the table in terms of how to make an opening and I wouldn't mind seeing more of that kind of thing.

[Salamander]

I wish the openings were a bit more themed; it was kind of hard to tell that the "Doctor Who" in AotD's opening was meant to be "Dalek-y," and I'd actually assumed that they were going to use the elaborate titles from the movie posters. I'd be happy to see more of it, but they should go deeper, if so.

[Patticus]

Gaiman confirms he is writing new Who episode

Neil Gaiman has confirmed that he is writing a second Doctor Who episode.

The fantasy author hinted at Sunday night's (September 2) Hugo awards that he was drafting a new instalment, following the success of his 2011 episode 'The Doctor's Wife'.

Gaiman told io9 that he is indeed working on a new Doctor Who script, currently scheduled for 2013.

However, the award-winning scribe added that his episode may yet be delayed, just as 'The Doctor's Wife' was shifted from series five of Who to series six for budget reasons.

http://www.digitalsp...e-for-2013.html

Excellent news. This has shot to the top of my most anticipated future Doctor Who... stuff.

[Debug Ring]

Hi guys!

So, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship is coming soon and BBC have released some short clips from the episode.

Official clip One

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00y761m

Official clip Two

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00y82lx

[PeanutButterDimond]

So, I decided to start watching this series and so I caught the marathon. Later I plan on watching the other doctors's seasons.

This show is good. Damn good. I watched the whole marathon and the show kept my interest throughout which is hard to do sometimes as I get very distracted. It's due in part to how diverse every episode is. One episode has one setting and then the next has something completely different that catches me off guard. I love that. Each episode has something different and interesting and yet has ongoing plot points to keep me guessing. One episode is creepy and tense, the next is more actiony and fun. It's great stuff. This show is whatever it wants to be depending on the episode. It can be action adventure, it can be horror, it can be comedy, it can be mystery, it can be whatever the writers want it to be and it's done fantastically.

But I seriously wouldn't enjoy it as much if it wasn't for the characters. They are all just so enjoyable to watch and likeable yet not one note. There's actually a good bit to them. Especially the doctor. Matt Smith is awesome as the doctor. He pulls off being odd and quirky and happy yet also is good at being sad and so on. I find myself really interested in the doctor as a character as a whole. I've read all the doctor's individual character tropes on TVtropes and that was enough to get me interested but watching episodes and seeing how well acted the character is just makes me really interested in the doctor. All the acting is of really good quality. It helps that the writing is so damn good. The show has made me laugh a lot which most shows beside a few don't do anymore. From the dialogue to the twists to all the timey wimey stuff that can get a bit confusing but ultimately makes sense. It's great.

I am definitely a Whovian now.

[Salamander]

So Dinosaurs on a Spaceship aired and... well, for me it was a pretty typical Chris Chibnall script: I can see what he was going for, but to me it was clunky and awkward in ways that I find a little bit difficult to articulate. Partly it's that sometimes he's just a bit too earnest. Maybe that's it. Whether he's being earnest or funny, it always feels as if the script is trying too hard, and the actors never seem quite comfortable with it either. Still. It was meant to be a fairly silly romp of an episode, and it was.

[Doctor MK]

Right-o then, time for me to pass judgement on Asylum of the Daleks and Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.

Without question, I think this is the strongest opening to a Matt Smith series so far. Series 5 had the incredible The Eleventh Hour but was let down by The Beast Below, and I found Series 6's opening two-parter of The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon to be just a tad too heavy to kick off a series with. Series 7, on the other hand, has had two pretty solid episodes under its belt now, and with any luck it'll keep up a relatively consistent quality throughout - after all, there's a lot of big stuff yet to come. Amy and Rory's departure, the arrival of the new companion, and of course the 50th anniversary... anything short of amazing for any of those big moments will be a disappointment.

Anyway, let's start with Asylum of the Daleks...

Fantastic stuff. Thank heavens they made the wise decision to throw the limelight back onto the Russel T Davies era Daleks and not the Power Ranger New Dalek Paradigm ones - although I did feel let down that, after all the hype of having "every Dalek ever!", most of the older ones appear on screen for a matter of seconds and even then you can't recognise them due to being covered in dust. The inclusion of Jenna Louise Coleman was positively DELICIOUS though. I definitely didn't see that one coming, nor did I predict the twist at the end. What with her set to be the new companion (unless it's a different character entirely), this could be a very intriguing story arc...

The best thing about it though? She completely stole the show, totally outshining Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill throughout. I simply cannot wait for her to pair up with Matt Smith come Christmas Day because their chemistry was positively magical. She was smart, sassy, and certainly easy on the eyes. I for one will be welcoming her with open arms when she joins Team TARDIS full-time.

My only major complaint? The whole Amy and Rory divorcing thing seemed kinda pointless as it was resolved waaaaaay too quickly and easily - I was expecting it to be some sort of major plot point that carried through these five episodes and ultimately had something to do with their departure. Also Amy not being able to give Rory children was a tad random, and seeing as we've literally just spent an entire series focused around their daughter, it seemed a bit odd that they're just suddenly banging on about not being able to have kids. Poor old Melody Pond has been disowned.

Oh, and plot hole alert - when the Daleks kidnap The Doctor at the start, you don't see them abduct the TARDIS too, yet it miraculously appears slap bang in the centre of the Parliament. Heck, The Doctor even has to go up a lift from a different room to get to the Parliament, so why on earth the Daleks dumped the TARDIS in the middle of that room totally stumps me. Completely nit-picking, of course, but when the opening episode is this good, nit-picking is all I can manage for criticisms.