Doctor Who

I really don't know if this is supposed to even go here, but I couldn't find another thread and recent events have prompted me to make this.

Doctor Who is a British sci-fi TV series about a humanoid, time-traveling alien called The Doctor, zooming around time and space in his TARDIS with one (and occasionally more) companion. It's been on since 1963 and the recent reboot in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper caused a huge resurgence in popularity for the series.

Currently, Doctor Who is about to air its season 7 premiere, starring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Karen Gillian and Arthur Darvill as Amy/Rory Pond, his companions. I'm bringing this thread up now because the first episode of season 7 is being aired in NYC on Saturday, August 25th and it might be interesting to see if anyone can meet up, however briefly. Tickets are 11 cents (with a $1 surcharge) so it's very affordable.

If not, then still consider this an all-purpose thread for Whovian discussion.
 
It's crazy how this show recently started blowing up in the United States. Almost two years ago, I was bored and browsing through On-Demand for things to watch. Then panamaxis told me on IRC that I should watch Doctor Who. I watched the entire (new) series in 5 days... one season a day. I fucking love this show, and got all my friends into it. Then, the next convention I went to was all decked out with Doctor Who stuff out of nowhere.

Also, I ran into Matt Smith and Karen Gillan outside a bar in San Diego during Comic Con last year. I've met celebrities in the past and never broke a sweat, but I totally freaked the fuck out with these two. It's the only time in my life that I found myself shocked to the point where I couldn't speak properly. Luckily, it's easy for me to conceal the 2-incher in my pants...
 
Also, I ran into Matt Smith and Karen Gillan outside a bar in San Diego during Comic Con last year. I've met celebrities in the past and never broke a sweat, but I totally freaked the fuck out with these two. It's the only time in my life that I found myself shocked to the point where I couldn't speak properly. Luckily, it's easy for me to conceal the 2-incher in my pants...
Oh man, that's awesome! Did you go to SDCC this year? Matt, Karen, and Arthur had a Q&A section which was pretty awesome. I'm on the East Coast so I haven't gotten to go to an SDCC yet, but I'm planning to go to the NYCC this year in October.
 
I go to SDCC every year :)

And yeah, I was at the Doctor Who panel this year with Matt, Karen, and Arthur. Also, Steven Moffat, who I was really excited to see.
 
I fucking love Karen Gillan. But yeah, I like this show, and can't wait until the new season returns. I think I saw some promotional image with the 11th Doctor around most of the Dalkes exploding.
 

mattj

blatant Nintendo fanboy
I just recently finished every single episode of every series of Star Trek. My wife suggested checking out Dr. Who. I love that woman.
 
bumping this because FUCK LAST NIGHTS EPISODE WAS AMAZING

completely worth the wait

EDIT: I guess I should probably also introduce some form of discussion. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but what are your theories surrounding the episode's biggest/most important plot twist? Put 'em in spoilers for those who noobies though~
 

Stellar

of the Distant Past
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I have read a few theories regarding Clara Oswin/Oswin Oswald, and the one I like the most predicts that Oswin is "fractured" and reappears repeatedly throughout time and space. There hasn't really been any evidence to support this theory, but I think it is a cool concept nonetheless. Perhaps the Doctor travels with one of Oswin's reincarnations (and her name changes slightly in each incarnation, explaining the whole Clara/Oswin debacle).

I think it is incredibly important that the doctor never actually sees Oswin's human form.

I also think it is important that the episode airing immediately before the Christmas episode deals with the Weeping Angels. I have read numerous reports that Oswin is a "whiz kid computer hacker" who is sent back in time by the Angels to Victorian England while on vacation in Manhattan. This would certainly explain some of the photos we have seen of Oswin/the Doctor in Victorian style clothing.

It is interesting to note that Oswin's fabricated reality shared a few interesting features with other parts of the story.
  • One of the first images we see of Oswin's reality is a figurine depicting a ballerina child in a white tutu. Amy's Dalek hallucination also featured a prolonged shot of the same ballerina.
  • Oswin's command chair is the same as the one Jenna (the Doctor's Daughter) is shown sitting in at the end of that episode. Of course, this could just be an effort to save money on production costs, but still.



I really like Oswin as the new companion. She has just the right amount of quirky. :heart:
 

Ray Jay

"Jump first, ask questions later, oui oui!"
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Personally, I've never watched Doctor Who before, but I did tune into last night's show and loved it. I thought the way the episode panned out was just very... nice. It was admittedly one of the best times I've had watching TV in a while, and it had the right amount of drama / action whatever. Definitely going to keep watching this.
 

mattj

blatant Nintendo fanboy
favorite assistant gogogo!

Donna. I haven't finished season 6 yet so I didn't watch the new episode. I also haven't watched the old series(s?), which I will get around to soon. Rose and Martha and Amy were all good, but Donna made me laugh like none of the others. That whole:
Doctor: "I... I just want a mate... you know..."
Donna: "You wanna MATE? Well you AIN'T MATIN WITH ME Mr!" Made me lol so freaking hard.
 
To be honest, I thought the latest episode was shocking. Poor acting, a terrible plot, but something else which bugs me. In earlier series of Doctor Who, Daleks were thought of as the most powerful enemy of the Doctor, a hatred stepping back for generations. When Rory was against those Daleks? The Daleks should have killed Rory. Impractical and stupid. But then, to top it all off, one hack makes the Daleks forget Doctor Who. Generations of Doctor Who irradicated. By ONE hack. Stupid.
 
I don't see how you can call the acting poor, nor the plot terrible. The Daleks were arguably less frightening in this episode - at least the ones in the Parliament. The ones in the Asylum were obviously not as frightening because they weren't functional; that also explains why they didn't shoot Rory. Keep in mind that these are defective, defunct Daleks.

The hack at the end is a bit of a stretch, but Oswin is a computer whiz combined with the genius and technology of a Dalek; theoretically she could very well hack into the hive mind and do what she did. Besides, the Daleks are still one of the most iconic antagonists of the show. They've been completely wiped out in the past and they still come back. It's much simpler to imagine a scenario where they are simply reprogrammed and fixed to target the Doctor again. Would you rather Matt Smith have flown out of there, leaving an exploding Parliament behind?
 
Fine, in my opinion, the acting was poor. Oswin was good, she provided a sexy and much needed freshness on the episode. The Doctor was average, but Amy's irritating confidence got to me, and Rory was just annoying.

The plot was terrible if you look at it from my view: Doctor, Amy and Rory get teleported to the Dalek Parliament, a place nobody knew existed which we should have been told about in earlier episodes, unless it was made up on the spot. David Cameron of the Dalek world tells them to go down to Dalek Asylum, because they're in deep shit. Doctor, Amy and Rory get beamed down to Dalek Asylum, with Rory somehow managing to get beamed down a tiny hole, into Dalek territory. Scared shitless, he still has the courage to poke a Dalek, which serves no purpose whether the Dalek was activated or not. Oswin swiftly tells him to remove his clothes. Meanwhile, Amy and Doctor get led down to a base by a Cockney, because that's original. (Have you noticed that there's ALWAYS a Cockney which greets the Doctor in any episode?). All the guys are dead, but the Cockney realises he's just forgotten that he's dead, and turns into a Dalek Human Thingy, which doesn't make any sense. But then again, this is Doctor Who. Doctor lightly pokes Skeleton Dalek Human Thingies with his foot, sending them toppling over. Amy follows suit. But Oh No! A Skeleton Dalek Human Thingy has grabbed Amy's hand, but finally lets go. Amy realises her Rolex watch, I mean Space Deactivator Nugget Combobulator is missing, which means the Skeleton Dalek Human Thingy must be a magician, as that Combobulator was strapped on pretty tight. Oswin's there to greet Doctor (chin) and Amy, and tells them the whereabouts to go. Amy gets all stoned, and scared, which is so not Dalek like, peoples! Meanwhile, Rory talks to a crippled Dalek, who probably wants eggs. Because that's the proper thing to do, give it eggs instead of run away like a normal person when seeing an awaking Dalek. The Dalek then recites the first few letters of the Alphabet, before deciding to say Exterminate, giving the game away. "Thanks for the warning!" thinks Rory, who casually dodges 20 Dalek's laser beams, before opening the door, safe. Doctor tells Amy not to open door, but as soon as he says that, EVERYBODY knows she's going to open the door. She does, surprisingly. There she meets loads of people, and I admit, this part of the story was well done. However, the Daleks don't actually kill Amy, until the Doctor comes, which makes me think that the Daleks don't care for Gingers with too much Make-up. Anyways, Dalek goes all 9/11 on his fellow crew, Doctor and Amy meet Rory, and it gets awkwaaaard. Doctor goes off to find Oswin the Slut, whilst Rory tries to make Amy feel better by saying that she doesn't love him. Nice one, Rory. Doctor meets up with the four most badass Daleks, but the producers just degrade them and make them seem less important than they really are. Daleks attack with their Toilet Plungers, which Doctor gets scared about. Oswin hacks the Daleks, so, as I said, wiping out generations of Doctor Who so now the Daleks are meaningless. Since Oswin can't make Souffle without milk, it turns out she's a Dalek. This bit is quit heart-touching actually. Until Oswin goes EX-TER-MI-NATE, then finding out that's pointless. Oswin shuts off the forcefield, once again committing suicide, whilst Amy and Rory kiss. Doctor uses the teleporter thingy, and teleports into the Tardis, which is pretty good accuracy. He comes out, all Daleks shriek DOC-TOR WHO, instead of zapping him which they should do. And that's the end of that!

Actually, I'm beginning to like this plot now...

And don't miss next week, with dinosaurs, because the producers have run out of ideas!
(I want to review these episodes every week now.)

Anyway, I still think Rory could have been zapped at least once, as the Daleks were so close to him and were still functioning. And yes, I would rather Matt Smith flying out, leaving an exploding Parliament behind. Explosions make everything better.
 

Stellar

of the Distant Past
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I think you are being unnecessarily inflammatory, so no one is going to actually take your opinion seriously...

Anyway, I thought the soufflé bit was incredibly clever. What did Oswin do to cope with the reality of her situation? Eggs-stir-mix-ate. She took one of the Dalek's most basic instincts and flipped it around completely.
 
I'm not trying to get people to take my opinion seriously, quite the opposite. I'm trying to actually have some fun, whilst still voicing my opinion. These are the times when I miss Firebot.

EDIT: My first post is the one you should listen to. My second was just trying to be carefree. I'm sorry if I've offended you or anything.
 
I'm not trying to get people to take my opinion seriously, quite the opposite. I'm trying to actually have some fun, whilst still voicing my opinion. These are the times when I miss Firebot.

EDIT: My first post is the one you should listen to. My second was just trying to be carefree. I'm sorry if I've offended you or anything.
How do you miss firebot if you just came to Smogon and firebot was gone a while ago? Im just curious, also this show sounds very predictable which is a no go in my book. :/
 
Well, last night, I was looking through Firebot and it looked amazing. I guess I shouldn't have used the word "miss". Rather "want". Anyway, the show is predictable, but I don't think that's enough to drive somebody away from it.
 
duh duh duh dum, duh duh duh dum, duh duh duh dum, duh duh duh dum etc

I thought the episode wasn't all that bad, but I didn't find it particularly brilliant either. I'd agree that the daleks haven't really been threatening since the first series (and maybe the second at a stretch). Like, remember in the episode "Dalek" when one dalek on its own is enough to make the doctor shit his pants and kill loads of military-type personnel? Then in the first series finale there were loads of daleks and they were pretty much unstoppable killing machines (the moment when the big brother contestant who accompanies the doctor for a bit is killed is fucking brutal).

Then there was the frankly embarrassing daleks in new york couple of episodes and it all kind of dropped off for the daleks from then on.

Also, maybe I am missing something obvious here, but I have no idea how the doctor suddenly managed to have his tardis with him at the end of the episode.
 

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