I think no one bothered with last week's "The Idiot's Lantern" because it was, well, not so great. Not hideously awful or anything, but just not much to it. In contrast, I *loved* this week's episode. To wit:
-Am I the only guy that got a serious Firefly vibe off of the sets and music of this one?
-Or failing that, Event Horizon?
-The Ood are pretty scary-looking, but I wonder how scary they are to the expedition crew, who've been used to seeing these guys all their lives. And given how uniform these guys were, I wonder if they just recycled all the Cyberman extras from last time?
-The Evil Bad Guy (tm) is voiced by the sameguy who was the Evil Bad Guy Sutekh in the 1970s Doctor Who story "Pyramids of Mars". Which, if you think about it...
-Ooh, but Scootie was a cutie. And now she's dead. Damn!
-The FPN-90 continues its dominance as the "generic futuristic weapon" in sci-fi shows. Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, Outer Limits, Andromeda.. Hey! Is this the first time we've seen it on an SF show made outside of Vancouver?
-The Doctor makes note that these habitats were made out of kits - one could easily be used for an undersea lab, or in the desert, etc. Good catch for when we doubtlessly see the set pieces later.
-If the Ood need to carry around their translation orbs all the time, how useful are they when you're sweeping the floor? Cooking lunch? Manning a buzzer on Jeopardy?
-Theories abound on why the TARDIS was groaning like it did upon materialization (the first we've seen, I believe, since the emergency landing in the Christmas Special). It could simply be due to its proximity to the black hole (what's powering the old girl these days, I wonder?), or wear and tear, as the Doctor suggests.
-"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry" seems to be this Doctor's catch phrase. Doesn't really compare to "fantastic!", though...
Mark
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Well, it's better than "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow".
Posted by Johnny (Member # 878) on :
I got that Firefly vibe from the music as well, really helped with the atmosphere of the episode.
Why didn't anyone connect the dots and realise people started dying right after two new people msyteriously appeared out of thin air? Sure, we know the Doctor and Rose are good guys, but you'd think the station crew would be pretty suspicious. Instead, the Captain let the Doctor hug him.
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
Dunno about you lot, but I think that this is proper Doctor Who - a big bad scary monster , a very good story with lots of nice nods and clues, a (albeit slowly increasing) good body count. No moody "I'm the last Time Lord, boohoohoo." Good stuff.
Seeing Daleks and the Cybermen was nice, but this is more like it.
Oh, before I forget, yes "Im sorry. I'm so sorry" is a very anoying catchphrase. At least "Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" was something we could all look out for and enjoy. His apologising for everything is just getting up my nose.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
quote:Dunno about you lot, but I think that this is proper Doctor Who - a big bad scary monster , a very good story with lots of nice nods and clues, a (albeit slowly increasing) good body count. No moody "I'm the last Time Lord, boohoohoo." Good stuff.
You forgot that this one takes place on an alien planet that, human presence aside, has nothing to do with the Earth - the first true time this has happened. AND, if you watch DW Confidential afterwards, you'll learn that this episode has the new series' first scene in a gravel quarry. About time!
Mark
Posted by StationMaster (Member # 63) on :
Hello.....
(everyone falls over in shock)
Wow - no time no here. Have to say I am loving the new series of DW. Season 1 was exceptional in nearly every way, but I am finding season two a little hit and miss. Some stories are amazing, other (like this one), perhaps not so amazing. My overall opinon was this could have easily been a a one episode story, but it dragged on rather pedantically.... Still, will be glued to the box on Saturday to see how he gets the tardis back.....
and what's in the hole (tribble)...
Chris
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
He went and opened the hellmouth. Oh well. Maybe Rose is a potential slayer.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Goffy!
Since the TARDIS is pretty-much the only way off the planet, I imagine that the Nameless NoNo From The Deep Depths Of The Pit will retrieve it and attempt to coerce the Doctor into giving him control, with hilarious consequences.
Posted by StationMaster (Member # 63) on :
Still say there is a tribble in there....
Or perhaps Janeway (where else would you put her?!) It even has her grating voice. It could even be the season of Enterprise that never got aired...... (thank god)
I actually think there is going to be something in this to do with the tardis, perhaps a little secret about it that even the doctor does not know.
Or maybe I am just being speculative......
I have to say that my fav ep so far has been "the girl in the fireplace".... touching, moving and sad. The Cybermen eps were eagerly anticipated, and sadly failed to live up to any expectations. Very poor with so much more that could have been done. And Micky / Ricky getting stuck there.... waste of a good prop. Tony Head's guest appearance was good.. if not great. Story was well written though.
Rambling... off now
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Wow, hello Chris - where did you and YOUR TARDIS materialise from!?!
Well I watched the conclusion just then. I'm sorry I have to disagree this season hasn't been hit-and-miss it's been fantastic! OK agreed the cybermen episodes - AS A WHOLE - weren't as satisfying as expected but - hey they weren't CRAP.
This season has had better episodes than the Ghosts in the methane or the large green mosters episodes of season 1.
And does the "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" have to be catchphrase!?!
After these two episodes - I still have the words of Queen Victoria ringing in my head about the Doctor and Rose's lack of responsibility when they arrive and when they leave - doing stuff and moving on - it's gonna catch up with them. Well they were already banished from Britain... it'd be interesting if THAT came back to haunt them again.
Where have we seen the Acting-captain before?
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
quote:Originally posted by Omega: He went and opened the hellmouth. Oh well. Maybe Rose is a potential slayer.
I was thinking the same thing at one point... I was waiting for a smart-mouthed quip from Rose Buffy-style.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
RTD is a professed Joss Whedon fan. You can see this in the Scoobie-esque repartee in several episodes, notably "Boom Town" and "School Reunion".
Mark
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
I did like the bit in "The Satan Pit" (do we need a new thread for it?) when they are crawling through the ducting and Rose comments on the view from her angle and then Toby comments on the view from his! Posted by StationMaster (Member # 63) on :
*Waves*
I have to say that I was rather surprised that the "torchwood" guys did not know about the doctor. In fact it seems that the Doctor is becoming PEA #1 (Public Enemy Alien) on their list.... especially as it seems that the next ep is going to be about Torchwood.
Again, both myself and my wife agreed that the last two eps could have easily been rolled in to one.
Again, the writers have put in this long thread relating to to overall plot line, much as with Bad Wolf in the last series, but this time it is failing to please or be half as enigmatic as last time......
Bugger.. rambling again.
BTW... Was a big fan of Joss... but then he turned all ... errr..... mad. Which was a shame really.
Enough......
Chris
Posted by Johnny (Member # 878) on :
Everytime someone drops a mention of Torchwood on Dr.Who I shout a four letter word.
With Bad Wolf there were some subtle mentions and some very in-your-face, but we didn't know what it was all about, so as you say, it was enigmatic.
With Torchwood they're more interested in promoting the series, so they've dropped all subtlety.
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