[The Dark Wanderer]

That was quite easily the best episode this season and I was enjoying this season quite a lot. Does look like the season finale will be something special although could be interesting as they're bringing in Torchwood as well which some people might not have watched.

[Cougar]

Yeah, I agree, good stuff. I like the look of the finale although I hope it isn't an extended hom-athon since that old queen Jack Harkness is in it.

[Sir Thursday]

Just watched Turn Left and then Midnight (missed it last week, downloaded it off the iPlayer and then watched it later). The difference was rather noticeable. Midnight was well acted and directed, a creepy exploration of humanity in a claustrophobic setting that was very different from your standard Doctor Who fare.

For the most part, while it often shows humans in a negative light, overall Doctor Who is quite positive on the human condition, to the point that I consider it quite a light and not particularly serious programme (obviously, the humour and poor acting this season helps in that regard). But Midnight was a hard-hitting exploration of how fear brings out the worst in people, and thus it stands out. It felt like a far more artistic piece than the rest of the new series, by which I mean that it is something that transcends being merely entertaining and becomes something that is worth watching for the ideas it conveys as well. My opinion of it is further raised by the absence of Tate, whose acting I really cannot stand - all the characters acted believably, all of the actors filled their roles well, and we got to see a facet of the Doctor we don't normally see. He was genuinely traumatised by the incident, as evidenced by him asking Donna not to repeat what he is saying at the end. Little things like that serve to make the Doctor's character more human, and when that happens I tend to feel a greater sense of connection to the story. Witness the anger displayed in Human Nature last season - that had a similar effect for me.

On the other hand, I was rather disappointed by Turn Left. Very little Tenant, and way too much Tate. To be fair, her acting was a little better than it has been for the rest of the series, but that's not really saying much. The problem was that the concept was a good one, and with better execution would have been fantastic. I tend to enjoy alternate reality episodes because the writers can pretty much do whatever they want to the setting, and I would be overjoyed if they had the balls to do something like blow up London in the base reality and leave it like that. The way that everything is always cleaned up at the end and returned to an approximation of normality annoys me. But I digress. Bernard Cribbens was excellent as Donna's grandfather, but I can't say the same for Billy Piper or Donna's mother. Did anyone else notice that Piper's face was so full of botox that she couldn't speak properly? They did their best to hide it, but it was painfully obvious to me. I was never really convinced by the interaction between Donna's mother and Donna, although the make up artists did an excellent job of making them look more and more dishevelled as events take a turn for the worse. The stand out scene for me was the one where they took the Greek guy (I think he was Greek?) away to the concentration camp. Both Cribbens and the actor playing the deported guy did fantastically, and it served to underline Donna's stupidity and general ignorance that she had no idea what her grandfather was talking about when he said "It's happening again". Oh how I loathe her! Then came the place with the modified time machine, and while I found the comic relief with the army woman amusing ("And this is to stop dehydration" ), it felt very out of place given the moving scene before. Thought they did a good job of portraying Rose's regret at needing alternate-Donna to sacrifice herself (I think some of the Botox had worn off by then, Billy seemed to have regained a smidgeon of expression in her face again).

So overall, I liked Midnight much better than Turn Left. Next week looks rather cramped, what with the cast of Torchwood invading for a while. Hopefully there'll be enough time to actually have some action in the first half as opposed to saving most of it for the final episode.


Oh, and by the by, I seem to have noticed a pattern emerging in people's feelings about the companions. The majority of males I've spoken to have found Donna incredibly annoying, but the females seemed to be more put off by Martha last season. Anyone else have any observations to back this up/reject the hypothesis?


Sir Thursday

[Werthead]

Not just Torchwood. Several cast members (three, at least) also turn up from The Sarah-Jane Adventures spin-off series on CBBC, and on top of that you also have:

Spoiler

Rose, Jackie and Mickey pop back from the parallel universe, plus Harriet Jones, Martha and UNIT are back in play. Plus you have the Judoon doing a cameo and the last major individual villain from the old series making his wrinkly return (well, apart from the Rani and the Monk, but they don't really count), with a superb fankwankery nod to what happened to him in his last-but-one appearance in 1985. And, you know, Daleks as well.

I am interested to see this finale. Apparently Davies has had this storyline in mind since he brought Who back and this is the story he always wanted to bow out on:

Spoiler

Leading credence to the theory that at the end of this two-parter, or possibly in the Christmas special or one of the specials due in 2009, that the Time War will be erased and the main Dalek Empire and the Time Lords will be restored to existence.

[Trotts]

Quote

The majority of males I've spoken to have found Donna incredibly annoying, but the females seemed to be more put off by Martha last season. Anyone else have any observations to back this up/reject the hypothesis?

I personally quite like Donna. And then Martha, then Rose. My gf would say Donna, Rose, then Martha.

[QuickTidal]

Rose first!

Turn Left was cool, but I think it may be the next time trailer that had me nerd-gasming....just seeing Gwen and Ianto on Who is going to be special. Can't wait.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

Das war sehr gut.

Loved the iranian bloke, but mostly it's the set up for next episode, which will be pure win.

[QuickTidal]

Thelomen Toblerone;337354 said:

Das war sehr gut.

Loved the iranian bloke, but mostly it's the set up for next episode, which will be pure win.

Agreed!

[RodeoRanch]

Companion convergence. Epic.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

As long as Martha turns up in her leather catsuit, Rose wears something revealing, and Donna is wearing a collection of baggy all-covering potato sacks, I shall enjoy.

[caladanbrood]

I enjoyed Turn Left - but it was not what I expected it to be, and, once more, the motivations of the baddy (or at least the fortune-teller woman) were not even vaguely explained, just like in Midnight, which annoyed me

The Finale (which I'm assuming next week is the start of...) looks damn good though!

[caladanbrood]

HOLY CRAP!!!!:eek:

Well this looks good

[Sir Thursday]

Did not see the ending coming at all!

The rest of it just seemed a little too cluttered - I really didn't like the Torchwood and SJC people turning up...I watched Season 1 of Torchwood and then stopped in disgust, and have never seen the Sarah Jane Chronicles in my life, so I was a little out of the loop as far as they were concerned, and can imagine many people felt the same. They seem to have managed to link in pretty much every little offhand reference they could manage into this - it is nicely set up, I'll grant. I'll be interested to see how this particular cliffhanger is resolved...


Sir Thursday

[caladanbrood]

Indeed, I'm intruiged by it. Never watched Torchwood or SJC either, so apart from bringing Captain Jack back into it, this was pretty meh, I thought. Nice to see Harriet Smith though

[QuickTidal]

I love Torchwood (Thursday, the show get's a whole lot better in series 2), and I liked that they were in this ep, as well as Sarah Jane and Martha ect...I thought The Stolen Earth was one of the best episodes I've watched all season. Great effects, and a nice gathering of Doctor companions. I liked the new Daleks (the gruff Red commander one, and I thought Davros was cool) and the scene where the Doctor sees Rose again after all this time was great!

Spoiler

The regeneration is either not going to FULLY happen, or because the medusa cascade is timelocked and 1 sec out of real space and time it will make Tenant regenerate into Tenant, or something of the like. I only say that cause Tenant himself said he'd be doing the 3 bank holiday specials next year, and there are scads of set pics from him doing this years forthcoming Christmas Special. I'm not sure what is going to happen though. It stand to make next Saturday VERY interesting.

[stone monkey]

Or those pictures were posed to make everyone think that was the case...

Anyway, for our unfortunate colonial brethren...

Spoiler

It was nice to see the whole gang again, even if Billie Piper appears to have both overdosed on the botox and forgotten how to act in the interim. The mad Dalek was a bit of giggle too and Freema looks lovelier than ever in uniform. I'll be peeved if they kill off Sarah Jane though as she's the first Doctor Who companion I remember. The Richard Dawkins cameo was a nice bit of fun too. And I'm left wondering if, given who he's married to, it's a big clue or just a red herring.
I suspect the reset button is going to be pressed in a big way via the thing that Donna still appears to have on her back. What this implies for who Donna actually is will be interesting given the big hint in Turn Left; my money's on Time Lord.

[QuickTidal]

stone monkey;341543 said:

Or those pictures were posed to make everyone think that was the case...

Anyway, for our unfortunate colonial brethren...

Spoiler

It was nice to see the whole gang again, even if Billie Piper appears to have both overdosed on the botox and forgotten how to act in the interim. The mad Dalek was a bit of giggle too and Freema looks lovelier than ever in uniform. I'll be peeved if they kill off Sarah Jane though as she's the first Doctor Who companion I remember. The Richard Dawkins cameo was a nice bit of fun too. And I'm left wondering if, given who he's married to, it's a big clue or just a red herring.
I suspect the reset button is going to be pressed in a big way via the thing that Donna still appears to have on her back. What this implies for who Donna actually is will be interesting given the big hint in Turn Left; my money's on Time Lord.

Spoiler

Actually, my money is on either Donna or Rose to be the companion to die(they won't kill Sarah Jane, she has her own show)...though if it is Rose I am going to be inconsolable. I also wondered at the Dawkins thing as well, if we might see A Romana II resurfacing. T'would be interesting

[Sir Thursday]

QuickTidal;341575 said:

Spoiler

Actually, my money is on either Donna or Rose to be the companion to die(they won't kill Sarah Jane, she has her own show)...though if it is Rose I am going to be inconsolable. I also wondered at the Dawkins thing as well, if we might see A Romana II resurfacing. T'would be interesting

Spoiler

I like the way they're leaving lots of avenues for Moffat to explore when he takes over. Should make for a good show .

Sir Thursday

[QuickTidal]

Sir Thursday;342071 said:

Spoiler

I like the way they're leaving lots of avenues for Moffat to explore when he takes over. Should make for a good show .

Sir Thursday

Yeah, that's actually really cool.

[RodeoRanch]

Giggidy.


I love this show.