It's tough to believe that in near thirty years of phone box travel, the Doctor had yet to encounter William Shakespeare. He finally does here, in an episode filled with dozens of literary, theatrical and pop culture cliche references, from Shakespeare to Harry Potter.
-The Doctor's answer to showing up in a time where race is an issue: "walk around like you own the place". Fair enough.
-For a trip obstensibly to test out the sonic screwdriver, he doesn't use or even brandish the thing. My theory is that the abilities of the sonic screwdriver are related to how long the Doctor has been using it... That it gains abilities and powers via experience rather than design.
-The Doctor looks into Pete the architect's mind not unlike the experience he shared with Reinette last year. He didn't live long after that, so one wonders if he'd fall in love with the Doctor too.
-Speaking of the requisite gay stuff in most episodes (whether it makes sense to have it or not), they casually toss in the recent theories that Shakespeare was bisexual and drop them just as quickly.
-This episode was filmed more "on location" than most... And they used the "real" reconstructed Globe Theatre to great effect. The other outdoor sets were very nicely dressed. Do they give out awards for production design in British television?
-Will the arrow still be sticking out of the TARDIS when they next land in New New York? There is a slight history of stuff being left outside being taken along - notably the Doctor's scarf. Also, the Doctor HAS been concerned about removing the occasional grafitti that people saw fit to decorate his ship with... But then again, back in "The Unquiet Dead" the snow that had been accumulating atop the TARDIS fell away as it dematerialized. Hmm...
-Is there NO member of royalty that the Doctor hasn't pissed off at some point? Even without knowing it? The remainder of the season does not seem to earmark a return to Elizabethan England. This is apparently another throwaway joke, but I wouldn't mind seeing someday what he could have done to warrant a decapitation order from Lizzy the First!
Mark
[ April 07, 2007, 05:27 PM: Message edited by: Mark Nguyen ]
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Plot hole #1 : Why did the "witches" need to go through all that elaborateness of getting Shakespeare to write their "spell" into his play? Why not just sneak into the theater while no-one's around and recite it themselves?
Plot hole #2 : When Shakespeare was inventing a "counterspell" at the end, why didn't they just poke their little voodoo doll again and make him pass out, like before?
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
1. It was stated that they had found Shakespeare as a person with a natural knack for their brand of technomagicary. It's possible they needed a human to write the words, and another semi-gifted person to utter them, in a place also built by a human. With their natural powers of disguise and hotness, they could have done all that themselves; but it's our planet, after all.
2. No excuse there, unless their powers had been abated somehow by all their sisters popping thorugh the gate. Or, by the time Billy started spewing, it was too late. Or, the same reason why no monster ever attacks the Power Rangers while they're assembling the Megazord, even though it takes five minutes to do it in plain sight.
Mark
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
Hmm.. I noticed another mention of 'the darkness', this time in the form of the Deep Darkness, where the Carrionites (and the play) are apparently sent to. In the previous episode, shortly before dying, the Plasmavore asked the Doctor if he was afraid of the Darkness, or something to that effect.
I didn't really notice it the previous season, but I like the short moments where the Doctor turns into his darker, more brooding persona (like when Shakespeare confronted him with his 'playing a role'). Did the Doctors from the classic series have this?
Posted by Johnny (Member # 878) on :
I suspect if Tennant sticks around for series 4 we'll see how he pissed off Elizabth I.
Another great ep overall. I really liked the shots of Ye Olde London's skyline and Shakespeare's rockstar persona was far less jarring than I'd feared.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
I wonder though if and when we'll get an episode about Martha, though. This one wasn't really about her, not in the sense that "The End of the World" was about Rose's first time travel experience. That episode saw an awful lot of Rose reacting to the wonder of time travel and meeting alien species, etc. Martha was far more readily accepting of this sort of thing, and so didn't really have to react as much, but still I was hoping that we'd see more of this story from her perspective.
The Carrionites also mention the Eternals as having banished them from the beginning of the universe. The Eternals were first mentioned in the Davison-era story "Enlightenment" - according to the producers of the current series, the Eternals waged an early Great Time War with the Halldons, and upon observing the last Great Time War betwen Gallifrey and the Daleks, left our universe in despair. Don't worry, there WILL be a quiz on this later.
Mark
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Loved it - love most of all the reference to Book 7! I think this is - for me - one of the closest things I could relate to time travel being a "real" thing. Book 7 of Harry Potter comes out in July... The Doctor - a time-traveller has already read it! Great stuff! I love the expelliarmus! at the end too!
Was Shakespeare that hairy? The guy had a beard that connected to his chest hair!
I was wondering if we'd see Elizabeth I. Wouldn't it be awesome if they got Helen Mirren to portray Elizabeth II!
I suppose we already have had an episode based around Elizabeth II - That coronation episode with the television.
I liked that Shakespeare couldn't be fooled by the psycic paper.
Martha is handy to have around as a Doctor - or nearly doctor. Is the closest thing Daphne Ashbrooke's (she played Ensign Melora Pazlar in Deep Space Nine) character from the Movie? She didn't travel with the Doctor though, did she?
This is the second time they've mentioned the power of the true name isn't it? I guess that is why the Doctor is just THE DOCTOR. It's not just something to do with the carrionites - I'm sure they've mentioned the power of the true name in the new DW before.
Another reference to Rose - do you think at any time in the future we'll get a cameo by her?
Are there any plans for an older Doctor to appear? Maybe next Christmas' special?
I still think McCoy and McGann could still do a stint.
That makes me think... Have the various Doctors gotten younger each regeneration?
Andrew
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"That makes me think... Have the various Doctors gotten younger each regeneration?"
No.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Granted, they've been younger OF LATE. We've posted their apparent age versus their chronological age before. Lesee if I can dig it up; the age of the actors when they took the role:
RTD is on record as saying that "old" Doctors are passe in today's television environment - leading men in television just aren't old & gray. Never say never, but for now at least the Doctor won't be older than his early 40s.
Mark
Posted by bX (Member # 419) on :
I am very interested in watching some episodes pertaining to the Time War where Gallifrey is destroyed and the Daleks along with. The one so famously aluded to by Eccleston ("I watched it happen! I made it happen!") It's been mentioned several times in the 2005 revival, but I'm not sure which series and which episodes I should be looking for. Or even which doctor.
I should mention that I watched most of the Pertwee eps when they replayed them on local PBS but they skipped Tom Baker and I couldn't get into Davison. I'm not looking for a description here (and I worry about spoilers), I'd much prefer to watch the shows. Can some kind soul point me in the right direction?
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Hmmm a TV movie would be cool with McGann and Eccleston and Tennant (maybe to introduce/conclude/bookend the movie) about the Time War...
Did Eccleston say he would NEVER do Dr. Who again?
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Yup. We probably won't know for sure for years, but Chris apparently didn't enjoy his time as the Doctor, the shooting schedule or the stories. So, he kept to his original contract of a single year and got out. He's always been a movie actor, and was probably not adjusted to a nine-month shooting schedule - and he officially wanted to do it as a challenge and career move (being pegged until that point as an actor who only did serious or antagonistic roles), so for him it was enough.
I would love a TV movie depicting the Time War with McGann, culminating with his demise and regeneration (we don't have to show Eccleston) leading directly into "Rose". We know McGann is interested and can handle the drama... If only the Beeb would warm to this one-shot idea, and not be so damned busy with all those spinoffs.
Mark
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
A Movie-length feature on the Time War could be enough to entice him back for one more spin as the Doctor??
Do we know that McGann regenerated at the end of the Time War? Maybe it was during the Time War... hit his head on the TARDIS control unit.
If a Dalek hit the doctor directly and vapourised him - does he still regenerate?
Maybe during the Time War - there were Time Lords regenerating everywhere until it ended when all of them hit no. 13
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