The werewolf episode. Reactions have been mixed to this one. Some people loved it, I. . . didn't.
Few too many cutesy BBV in-jokes - the red BBC-logo style monks, a Balamory reference for fuck's sake. . .
And, enough with the Torchwood references already!
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Funny - on the front page you had DW s2e01! You must have just changed it. Downloaded it - haven't watched it yet.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
The queen's Torchwood speech near the end there was pretty awful, I agree. Unfortunately, my familiarity with British televison doesn't extend far enough for me to know what these BBC references are of which you speak.
My big question is, after the wolf came down through the sunroof, how did he leave the room? They closed the door, trapping him inside. And yet, a moment later, he was chasing them down the hall. He couldn't bust through the door because of the mistletoe. So, how did he get out, if he couldn't get in?
Also, I'll assume the Doctor was just trying to be funny with the whole "royal hemophilia = lycanthropy" thing. Considering that Victoria already had hemophiliac children and grandchildren long before 1879.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
OK, well, basically the consensus is that the scene with all the monks in slow motion in nifty red outfits bears far too much resemblance to [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_%27Rhythm_%26_Movement%27_idents]the current BBC1 idents[/url] to be a coincidence.
And the doctor identifies himself as coming from Balamory. And, as I've just realised, uses the name of a former companion when he does - thought it seemed familar at the time. . .
I thought that the wolf managed to get through the door before the Doctor closed it completely, sheer momentum carrying him through before the mistletoe was able to affect him?
The thing I can't figure out is what happened between Queen Vic and the Chief BBC Monk. She pulls a pistol on him, next thing you see she comes downstairs and says her guard Captain took care of him. Cut scene? Or meant to imply something else? Or would the Queen simply never admit to anythign as common as shooting someone?
Posted by FawnDoo (Member # 1421) on :
I wondered about that one myself - the captain was, I'm pretty sure, put out of action by the monk and I don't think we heard Victoria's gun fire, so what happened up there?
The Balamory reference I could handle (and I thought the James McCrimmon reference was superb) but I never caught the link between the monks and the BBC idents at the time. Looking at it now of course I can see the similarity - then again, hindsight is a wonderful thing!
What was interesting to me was how blase Rose and the Doctor seem to be about time travel in the episode...even when things got bad Rose was still trying to win the bet. I liked Victoria's speech at the end to the two of them, basically reminding them that while they take this all in their stride they do tend to leave a fairly impressive bodycount behind them. Could they be hinting at a big knock coming for the new Doctor and Rose sometime soon? Something to shake them out of the idea that time travel is an extended holiday? Might just be baseless speculation on my part but I think they played the "Rose and the Doctor larking about" hand pretty heavily this week, and wonder if they might be setting them up for a fall.
As for the Torchwood reference the speech at the end was a little laboured, but I like the idea of Victoria wanting to defend her realm against a whole new level of threat - one that tends to pop up whenever a blue box appears nearby. Okay, we know the Doctor just has a habit of showing up and thwarting an evil alien plan (tm) that was already being carried out, but to the people involved he must be a bad omen - whenever he shows up, people die. (He's a bit like a time travelling version of that old biddy from "Murder, She Wrote" - why didn't anyone ever arrest her? Every fucking town she showed up in, someone copped it. I'm telling you, that show is the story of a serial killer!)
Personally, I liked it the episode. The BBC can do period stuff with one hand tied behind their back and Doctor Who has always done well with the historical stories...I'm just finding that it takes a bit of adjustment to get used to the new Doctor. Don't get me wrong, I do like him and enjoy his performance - I just think the slightly darker Ecclestone Doctor suited my tastes a little better.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
quote:The thing I can't figure out is what happened between Queen Vic and the Chief BBC Monk. She pulls a pistol on him, next thing you see she comes downstairs and says her guard Captain took care of him. Cut scene? Or meant to imply something else? Or would the Queen simply never admit to anythign as common as shooting someone?
I think it's clear she shot him and yes, one would proabably not admit to committing an act of violence.
I think the BBC references should be taken with tongue firmly pressed in cheek and no worse than Jack O'Neall giving his name as James Kirk on SG1. As for the orange monks, I was more surprised that a bunch of Christian caucasians know kung-fu. I can't help but wonder where they learnt the fine art of backflips between prostration and headbutting planks of wood.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
I agree with Fawny, so far the Ten(an)th Doctor hasn't really clicked for me (though I thought he was OK in the Xmas ep).
But they're really flogging the Torchwood angle to death, considering it's all a reference to a show that hasn't even started filming yet. But it all combines with all the other BBC references to get a bit much. Especially since from what I read of the new show it sounds like a mish-mash of Ultraviolet, Ghost Squad, Bugs, Crime Traveller, Strange, plus all sorts of similar US TV shows from before and (especially) after The X-Files. The concept has legs, especially given the fact the Torchwood Institute has BFGs capable of taking out alien motherships in orbit; and you could have all sorts of retconning fun to establish what they were up to in, say, the 1970s when the Third Doctor was stranded on Earth and hanging out with UNIT dealing with all sorts of alien nasties. But instead it looks like we'll get another belaboured BBC attempt to rip off the X-Files. With (and here's the worst bit) Welsh accents.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"...I don't think we heard Victoria's gun fire..."
They showed a close-up of nothing but the gun as she pulled the trigger and it fired. The only ambiguity is that we didn't see the bullet hit the guy, so she could plausibly have missed. But that wouldn't explain why he never showed up again.
One good thing about the episode : the Doctor evidently finds Maggie Thatcher distasteful.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
I have no idea what this Torchwood thing is. (Personally, I'd have thought some sort of reference to UNIT might have worked better.)
And although it happened last week, I do need to mention one extremely important thing about how this series has improved on the last. The awesome part of the theme tune is back.
Yes.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"Torchwood" is the spin-off show that's coming up later this year, featuring Captain Jack. It's all about him and the Welsh chick from the Dickens episode (the actress, not the character) in modern-day Wales fighting aliens, or something.
As for the theme song, I noticed that, too (some may recall that that was one of my complaints from the first episode last year). But it only during the ending credits, which they talk over, anyway. The bastards.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Yeah, I was going to mention that. Also, I thought I'd obtained a full version of the 2006 theme but either I've lost it or the file I have found isn't what I thought it was. Big Brother will get back to you. . .
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
. . . Nope, turns out it was just a new 2006 version of an old theme. Anyway, the place to keep an eye on is here.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Note that UNIT is taking a back seat on Doctor Who now. Apparently the *actual* United Nations got pissed that the BBC was advertising a real/fake UNIT website as part of the promo deal, and demanded that they remove "United Nations" from their name. So we still have UNIT, but we can't say what the UN means anymore. Methinks that Torchwood is part of RTD's response to his desire for a UNIT-esque series, but without the military hangups. A British X-files? I'm in.
As for this episode... Passable, but not my favorite. As noted, the characterizations seemed off, especially with Rose (she's a screamer, btw - she did in "Rose" too, but not since). Some have noted that there's less of a contrast between the Doctor and Rose in this incarnation, and I tend to agree - not that there's been any real conflict between the two, of course, but they're less different now that the Doctor isn't the brooding anti-hero anymore. I love both characters, but they seem to work well a little TOO well, y'know? However, I'll reserve further judgement until we see more episodes.
Mark
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
The UN is aggressively defending their trademark now?
(I guess that is one explanation for the fake "Global Health Organization" on a certain Lost website.)
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
I think your worries about Tenant are unwarranted. I think it's (hopefully) going to be an interesting season arc for both Rose and the Doctor. The Chastisement by the Queen was full on - and you could tell both were crest-fallen. It is VERY true that both are similar - but maybe again it's because Rose was there when the Regeneration took place? I think in the Christmas Invasion - his lecture to Harriet Jones - Prime Minister was chilling to the bone and he often has those breakouts where you can see there is something deeper to this doctor than his happy-go-lucky hijinks.
Yes they mentioned Torchwood a lot - but I thought it was nice to have a bit of continuity - I think with a lot - you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. They aren't being a subtle like the Bad Wolf of last year - but they didn't set up a TV show based on Bad Wolf.
Speaking of Bad Wolf - RTD I think said that The Parting of the Ways wasn't the last we would here of Bad Wolf. We here it mentioned in this episode BY a wearwolf in rather a cryptic fashion. Rose is possibly destined for something bigger? It may have just been referring to the events of last year - but I'd like to think that that arc is still going.
Anyone a "The Book Group" fan here? Rabb was the Lord Robert!!
As for the orange monks, I was more surprised that a bunch of Christian caucasians know kung-fu. I can't help but wonder where they learnt the fine art of backflips between prostration and headbutting planks of wood.
It was made clear that those monks had turned their backs on the church and had turned to worshipping the Werewolf. Maybe they decided that martial arts was something they would introduce or even were influenced by that alien inhabiting the human body?
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Damnation. I missed the next episode, and the Sunday repeat on BBC3, due to hospital-related hijinks. Still trying to discover if there are any further repeats before I bother to torrent it.
Posted by FawnDoo (Member # 1421) on :
Lee, if you have (or know someone who has) NTL cable tv, they have the latest Doctor Who episode for a week on their free "pick of the week" service - they save a whole load of BBC shows, and they're all free to watch. Works on the same principle as renting a movie on cable/satellite. Just watched "School Reunion" tonight over dinner. Might not be of much use, but hope it helps anyway.
Cheers
FD
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Nope, although ironically the house we bought did have NTL cable. . . at some point. Still ripping the cabling out. Even found the cable box under the stairs, so old I think it was steam-powered. Or it may have been Telewest - I can't tell, the inscriptions have faded and language has changed in the intervening centuries, making what remains illegible.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Whan that chaflet hath offense given Seke holpen with ye wealden of the chaungyng wand.
To span the brede of it pranglen to the gyde botun.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
![[Smile]](smile.gif)