Any Doctor Who Fans? **UK AIR-DATE SPOILERS ABOUND**- Page 30

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 2/6/10 at 5:46pm

That's why I love "Waters of Mars", for the last few minutes and I think David Tennant did a great job acting out the change in the Doctor. It's a shame that it wasn't examined further. He snapped, and then the next episode he lost the 'Time Lord victorious' attitude. Although it did emerge briefly in his comments to Wilf before he 'died'.

I also thought Adelaide was brilliant. She was so strong and very like the Doctor in that she wanted to see the stars.

I feel like I might have given up on the show if I had seen certain scenes/episodes first. I was lucky to have seen two very good ones as my first episodes. The first episode, "Rose", is a bit of a mix. It's got cheesy effects but it's also got the great mystery of the Doctor in it, which was better than the whole plot.

I've managed to convert family members. I don't have any friends who would watch a sci-fi/fantasy show. That's always been a difference between me and many people I know. I like the somewhat impossible. I don't care if it could never happen. It's fun.

[Plum]

Posted: 2/7/10 at 12:03am

Sweetsiren, I find that a great episode to show Who newbies is "Blink" - no, it doesn't show much of the Doctor, but it covers the time travel aspect, it's sufficiently weird to prepare people for the full Who experience, and it's self-contained enough not to be confusing. Plus it's awesome.

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 2/7/10 at 12:38am

"Blink" is great.

I'm not sure if any of you know who Neil Gaiman is. For those who don't know, he's a fantasy writer, and he's a fan of Doctor Who. And he likes Steve Moffat, which I find really cool about because I'm a fan of his as well. In fact, he blogged about it:


Neil Gaiman's Comments on Steve Moffat

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 2/7/10 at 1:51am

"Blink" is a brilliant episode and probably is a good one to recommend to most newbies. I don't think it would have been a good one for me to start off with, but I'm weird and basically only ever get hooked into shows based on the character writing. I don't care for procedural shows, however cool, that aren't significantly character-focused. Not that that's how "Blink" is--it's strong enough to get you intrigued to watch and find out more about this Doctor guy. My ideal starting point for Doctor Who would probably have been something like "Father's Day" or "School Reunion," oddly. Some missed backstory, but a lot of character stuff going on.

My newest approach to luring people in is showing them clips of The Doctor and The Master interacting. Might not work for everyone, but knowing my friends...

Moffat's written some great episodes and seems to have a pretty good sense of restraint, which is where Davies tends to go wrong at times. Moffat's episodes seem to play as very economical and well-plotted (not to mention creepy). It'll be interesting to see how he does running the show. Also, can I just say how much I love Coupling?
Updated On: 2/7/10 at 01:51 AM

[kec]

Posted: 2/7/10 at 8:32am

If you like Moffat's Who episodes, I highly recommend Jekyll. It's a new take on the Jekyll and Hyde story. I don't normally like that kind of story, but I was interested to see what else Moffat had written. The miniseries had me hooked from the start and on the edge of my seat. The ending was one I TOTALLY did not expect.

Blink is truly, truly awesome.

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 2/7/10 at 10:12am

Moffat is a great writer, which makes me glad he's taking over as head writer. I mean, all of the episodes he's written make for great stories.

And I'm still waiting for an explanation of the River Song story line from "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead".

I would probably show people one of Moffat's episodes first, like "Blink" or "The Girl in the Fireplace". Or possibly the episode "Midnight" because it, too, can stand alone and isn't too complicated. But, again, most of the people I know don't like sci-fi/fantasy. Not even subtle sci-fi/fantasy.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 2/7/10 at 10:59am

one of my friends loves "class Who" but hates the new series. How, I don't know?!?!

As for JEKYLL, I agree with kec. Great show with great writing but Mr. Nesbit is the main reason to watch it. Just wow!

[Plum]

Posted: 2/7/10 at 11:07am

Guitar Girl, you are aware that Gaiman is set to write an episode for Eleven's second season, right?

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 2/7/10 at 12:26pm

Really? I'd seen rumors but I wasn't sure if it was true. But that's great! I love his writing and I think he'd write something fantastic for Doctor Who.

[kec]

Posted: 2/7/10 at 1:38pm

GG, are you aware that Midnight isn't a Moffat episode, but an RTD one?

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 2/7/10 at 3:16pm

Yeah, I know RTD wrote it. I just feel like it would also be a good episode to show people because it's pretty self-contained and one of the more subtle episodes of Doctor Who.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 2/8/10 at 9:43am

With Richard Curtis writing for this series (rumours are his episode(s) will star Bill Nighy), Neil Gaimen writing for the next, and the whole thing being overseen by one of my favourite Dr Who writers ever, I have high hopes for the Matt Smith era!

"one of my friends loves "class Who" but hates the new series. How, I don't know?!?!"

They are two very different shows and the things that many (including me) love about the 'classic' series aren't to be found in the post-2005 incarnation, which is (on the whole) much more bombastic and RTD's style isn't liked by all. Personally I think that it has to be one of the best re-inventions of a television series ever seen (it's still the longest running Science Fiction series in the world!) and, some slightly dodgy season finales non-withstanding, is still so unique and unlike anything else out there. :)
Updated On: 2/8/10 at 09:43 AM

[kec]

Posted: 2/8/10 at 12:23pm

GG, I have to say Midnight wasn't one of my favorite episodes, but I learned to appreciate it for the performances by David and the actress who played Skye. Utterly brilliant, the two of them!

Apparently the current issue of Doctor Who Magazine (#418 I think) has an article in which it's mentioned that Matt Smith saw Tomb of the Cyberman and called Moffat to rave about how good it is. Certainly has piqued my interest in this particular episode.

On another note, I GOT MY BOX SET TODAY!!!! Despite the massive amounts of snow, and despite the shut down of the Federal Government, the Postal Service has made my Monday.

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 2/8/10 at 3:12pm

Have fun watching it! I spent the whole of Saturday on mine, but I still have to watch some of the special features on the End of Time disks.

I don't know why, but Midnight is one of my favorites. The acting is very good, but I also like the mystery.

I really want to see the classic series. Especially Tom Baker, since I heard he was very good. That might have to wait a bit though.

And I, too, am extremely excited for Matt Smith's series, much as I love Tennant. I think Moffat is going to write some brilliant episodes, and I'm thrilled about Neil Gaiman. And of course there's Matt Smith himself. I haven't seen much of him, other than the bit at The End of Time, but I did like him.

[kec]

Posted: 2/8/10 at 10:48pm

If you go about 23:49 into the audio link posted below, you'll hear a recording by John Barrowman from his new CD -- it's a variation of "The Wizard and I" from Wicked, only the title is "The Doctor and I."
Elaine Page on Sunday

[Taryn]

Posted: 2/9/10 at 1:35am

That was just about the greatest thing ever.

I don't care about any of the companions. The Doctor + Jack = OTP.

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 2/9/10 at 7:06am

That is cool.

I wish the Doctor and Jack had been together more often.

[Plum]

Posted: 2/9/10 at 4:30pm

Kec, the actress who played Skye was Lesley Sharp, who is unutterably brilliant in everything she's in. If you want to see her in another RTD project, watch Bob and Rose. Penelope Wilton (Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North) is in it, too, and it's fantastic. There's also RTD's The Second Coming, which stars Sharp and Christopher Eccleston - not as funny, but it's nice to see RTD putting out all his religion/god ideas in a forum more suited for it than Doctor Who was.

Oh, and Clocking Off. It's written by Paul Abbott (State of Play) and the cast reads like a British television all-star list: Sharp, John Simm, Eccleston, Philip Glenister (Life on Mars), Julian Rhind-Tutt (Green Wing), Sarah Lancashire (Blackpool, spider-woman in "The Runaway Bride)...it's pretty amazing.

Ah, British television. So incestuous. Erm, in a nice way.

[kec]

Posted: 2/9/10 at 5:16pm

I thought Sarah Parrish was the Rachnos Empress? Clocking Off sounds interesting -- I saw the British State of Play and really enjoyed it.

I thought the name was Lesley Sharp but I wasn't sure. Thanks for the clarification.

[kec]

Posted: 2/10/10 at 8:54am

Regarding "The Doctor and I" -- a correction, it's not on John's new CD, it's a download only: from I-Tunes UK. Which means that no one outside the UK can download it. I've asked if it will be available on US I-Tunes.

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 2/10/10 at 9:38am

This is one of those times I wished I lived in the U.K.

Well, off to watch the rest of the special features on "The Complete Specials" DVD. I got a snow day today, so now I have time.

[Magdalene]

Posted: 2/10/10 at 6:00pm

Eastwickian, I would have to say that the Battlestar Galactica re-invention was brilliant. Not taking away anything from DW---haveing watched it since the mid-seventies!

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 2/10/10 at 10:52pm

Since Jack's come up, it reminded me of my favorite scene between Jack and the Doctor, when they discuss how Jack became immortal.


Jack and the Doctor in Utopia

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 2/11/10 at 8:28am

Magdalene I think I've always done to Battlestar Galactica what I accuse other of doing to Dr Who - namely, unfairly dismissing it as sci-fi (of which I'm not generally fond) without giving it a try. Think I'll have to see if I have any friends with the DVDs...

All my favourite Jack/Doctor scenes are in 'The Empty Child' two parter - the competition for Rose's (and each other's?) affections is brilliantly written and played!
Updated On: 2/11/10 at 08:28 AM

[kec]

Posted: 2/12/10 at 6:51am

Here's an interesting book. John Barrowman's sister Carole is one of the contributors:
Chicks Dig Time Lords