Oedo 808 Posted May 8, 2011 Report Share Posted May 8, 2011 It was a little lacklustre but I don't think it was awful by any means.It was an episode with an interesting conceit, poorly realised.In essence it was a much more traditional episode of Who. The sort of episode that the critics who disparage Moffat's "timey-wimey" adventures have incessantly called for this season and last. The problem is when Doctor Who delivers these 'standalones' they often seem, by comparison, as old and stale as a month old bread.The Curse of The Black Pearl, I mean Spot, also appeared to be aimed at a younger audience. There has been a lot of complaint that Doctor Who is now too "grown up" or complicated for children to understand. It's an argument I just don't buy into but one which seems to be gaining momentum as the received 'wisdom' is parroted by critic and fan alike. Most of them don't seem to have asked a child what their opinion is.If I had to summarise this episode:Trying to cash in on Pirates of The Caribbean - doomed to failure on a BBC budget. The episode became better after they crossed over.Steve Thompson's script - flat in places but never terrible. Mixed bag of jokes. Overcompensating? Not funny.Direction - very poor during the action sequences.Lily Cole - no thanks.Parallel universe - good stuff.Story behind the 'baddy' - I liked that.Pirates in space - totally kick ass, bitchin idea. They should have taken this bit and run with it. (I know Hans Solo was a pirate in space but he wasn't an Arrrrr! pirate in space)Can't wait for another Moffat, but it looks like the next one will be at least three episodes away ):The next episode is written by Neil Gaiman. He wrote the Sandman comics for DC, the Beowolf movie script and the novels on which the movie Stardust was based. He has also co-authored with Terry Pratchett and has written for Babylon 5 so I have high hopes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
framheim Posted May 8, 2011 Report Share Posted May 8, 2011 Well that was bloody fucking awful.i didn't think it was awful. not as good as the first two right enough but it was a bit of fun. good drama at the end with rory almost dying and as bob said, pirates in space is a great idea. a bit wishy washy though and didn't really contribute anything to the story arc. next weeks looks good though.i'm preparing myself to be fully annoyed when the series break comes in summer. i hate when they do that and i'll probably have forgotten tons of key things by the time it returns in autumn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted May 8, 2011 Report Share Posted May 8, 2011 It was the worst Matt Smith episode for me and one of the weakest Who episodes I've seen.Rory's near death wasn't dramatic at all that was probably the worst part. He's always nearly dying anyway. Did anyone for a second believe he was going to die?I'm usually pretty good at just accepting what happens in order to be entertained but this episode had me thinking what? why? the whole way through.There was absolutely no reason shown why the doctor suddenly decided that the siren wasn't killing people and that they had to touch her too.Why did they just arrive on the ship and not on hospital beds like all the others?Why did they leave all the other pirates on the spaceship to live a life of space travel?Are we really meant to believe that the captain could navigate an alien spaceship just because he's got experience on a 17th century ship? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOX Posted May 8, 2011 Report Share Posted May 8, 2011 Rory's near death wasn't dramatic at all that was probably the worst part. He's always nearly dying anyway. Did anyone for a second believe he was going to die?I think if this wasn't the third episode of the series, and instead somewhere towards the end, then it would have had the extra "what if" factor... but obviously it was the third and therefore seemed like a poor hooking attempt.The rest I agree with, but Robert's point about aiming it at kids rings true throughout much of the holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oedo 808 Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 There was absolutely no reason shown why the doctor suddenly decided that the siren wasn't killing people and that they had to touch her tooOh yeah, that was a bit daft. That should have been foreshadowed so he reached the conclusion logically and he shouldn't have explained himself before they teleported. That way the Doctor could have demanded that Amy and Henry Avery (a real historical figure) took the leap of faith required instead of the audience.Are we really meant to believe that the captain could navigate an alien spaceship just because he's got experience on a 17th century ship?Arrr! D'ya dare doubt it ya scurrilous dog! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester1470 Posted May 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 It's more traditional Who in that it's a bit throwaway. We've been watching a lot of classic Who and as someone who's always been a big fan of Who, I was surprised at how terrible some of 'my' era Who is (Peter Davison/Colin Baker era - it started to pick up by the time it got cancelled), people mock the special effects but it's not just that, some of the stories were beyond shocking. We watched Resurrection of the Daleks which was very poor, last week we watched the Deadly Assasin (Tom Baker) which was very good. I liked it, saw the huige plotholes,. but no worse than the plotholes in the first few episodes. I did find myself looking around to see if there were any silence around... Next weeks looks good, neil Gaiman written, I can't help wondering/hoping that he woman we meet is Romana, though it is billed iirc as the Dr's wife and apparently there are lots of references to past Who's, imo it will either be Romana or the tardis in a human form... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delboy Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 Speaking of old Who the first two parts of 'The Hand Of Fear' are about to start on BBC4 in tribute to the late Elisabeth Sladen. Shame the beeb didn't think Nicholas Courtney was important enough to get one of the classic Brigadeer stories repeated.Quite enjoying the new series, agree last episode was a bit silly but fun nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Cynic Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 Just watched them Del......good fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester1470 Posted May 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 Speaking of old Who the first two parts of 'The Hand Of Fear' are about to start on BBC4 in tribute to the late Elisabeth Sladen. Shame the beeb didn't think Nicholas Courtney was important enough to get one of the classic Brigadeer stories repeated.Quite enjoying the new series, agree last episode was a bit silly but fun nonetheless.I'm, more disappointed they havent even dedicated an episode to him but have to Barry Letts, Verity Lambert and Lis Sladen. Really they should be repeating inferno which is Courney's finest hour with his evil eyepatch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oedo 808 Posted May 14, 2011 Report Share Posted May 14, 2011 The TARDIS is sexy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester1470 Posted May 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2011 Great episode, a touch of classic Who wrapped up in new Who, some older ideas explored in the books taken and rejigged rather well by Mr Gaiman, hope he does some more. My one disappointment is when they mentioned an older control room I'd hoped for a classic era one, ideally the Hartnell one with the big scanner, rather than the Tennant one, which all exploded when he regenerated anyway. Very good episode though, have enjoyed this seson much more than the last one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOX Posted May 14, 2011 Report Share Posted May 14, 2011 Really enjoyed that episode. Premise was excellent, unravelled itself slowly without too much confusion, great acting by all three leads; some minor silly mistakes though (how could she pant for breath with no air? What happened to the lighting in the scene with the old TARDISes?) but all in all a great bit of Doctor Who.Do wish they'd stop teasing us with Rory deaths though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted May 15, 2011 Report Share Posted May 15, 2011 Oh my god they killed Rory!You Bastards!Fantastic episode, really great ideas done brilliantly. Next week's looks promising too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 Great episode, a touch of classic Who wrapped up in new Who, some older ideas explored in the books taken and rejigged rather well by Mr Gaiman, hope he does some more. My one disappointment is when they mentioned an older control room I'd hoped for a classic era one, ideally the Hartnell one with the big scanner, rather than the Tennant one, which all exploded when he regenerated anyway. Very good episode though, have enjoyed this seson much more than the last one.From a Q+A with Neil Gaiman on the Guardian site. Why did you use the Tennant era TARDIS as the alternate control room? I would have loved to have seen an earlier version?So would I. But I was not able to reach any of the earlier producers in time and ask them to keep their sets up.Because I came up with the story before the Year Four Specials aired, I was able to ask them to keep the Christopher Ecclestone TARDIS interior. It stood in the studio for an extra eighteen months, and they lied to anyone who came past about why it was still there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester1470 Posted May 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 I did see that, but there is an original set of the Tardis from the five doctors at the interactive exhibition in London, you'd think they could have borrowed that for a day or 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GluteusMaximus Posted May 26, 2011 Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 I'll stick with the classic Doctors up 'til Peter Davison, he was the last good Doc in my book although Sylvester McCoy had a couple of cracking stories before his tenure was up (Ghostlight, The Curse of Fenric). Sad though that Nicholas Courtney and Lis Sladen have now joined Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee in the big blue Tardis in the sky. God rest them.Never taken to the new shows at all (unless the (old style) Daleks are in them, love the Daleks) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester1470 Posted June 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2011 Well that was the last in this block what does everyone think ? I think in this series Moffat has taken it from a kids show into a proper Sci-Fi show and much as I love it not sure how good that is in the long run for the show, kids are still the core audience to make it so complicated hat many adults don't get it may alienate kids who will get bored more easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOX Posted June 5, 2011 Report Share Posted June 5, 2011 Well that was the last in this block what does everyone think ? I think in this series Moffat has taken it from a kids show into a proper Sci-Fi show and much as I love it not sure how good that is in the long run for the show, kids are still the core audience to make it so complicated hat many adults don't get it may alienate kids who will get bored more easily.There was enough blind action in that last one to entertain kids, while there were deeper themes and foreshadowing genius to make adults talk about it. I think Moffat has it sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 The last 3 episodes were ok but not great. I had high hopes after the opening 2 parter and the Doctor's wife. Last night's was a bit of a mess but still entertaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsinho Posted August 26, 2011 Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 This starts again tomorrow night. I am pretty, pretty excited about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 I'd forgotten it was back this weekend. Brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaseyBoi Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 sky plus set for record thanks folks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oedo 808 Posted October 1, 2011 Report Share Posted October 1, 2011 Right... last episode tonight? How have you found this series? Pretty poor I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted October 1, 2011 Report Share Posted October 1, 2011 It's been up an down.I was very hopeful after the first 2 episodes of something great but the main arc has turned out to be a bad thing. The episodes either side of the mid-series break were pretty awful. The Doctor's wife and The Girl who waited were highlights and most of the other episodes were at least good.Overall probably not quite as good as the previous series but at least it's still had Matt Smith who is consistently brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oedo 808 Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 I think that's fair. There were a few episodes I found so bad I almost gave up entirely. The Mark Gatiss effort with the creatures in the boy's dollhouse was a stinker - as was the one in the Hotel with the Minotaur. I'm sick of seeing puppets and ventriloquist dummies on DW. The Cyberman episode wasn't exciting in any way. The idea of turning James Corden into the Cyber leader was fuckin pish and that mouse thing was ridiculous. The robot with the little people inside sounds like an idea The Beano would have come up with, and The Girl Who Waited would have been good but the way the white robots walked about looked really bloody daft. There should be someone in "quality control" who just says "Nah, that looks shit mate" and they sort those kinds of things out. Despite all this the last episode was good and the Doctor's Wife was a good 'een.Anyway, I live in hope that The Doctor's return to the shadows will bring a different tone to the storytelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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