posted
This one reminded me very much of a Farscape episode - the CGI FX, the diverse alien races. . . The plumber, I forget her name, even reminded me of whatserface, Francesca something? Ben Browder's wife, anyway, who played several such roles in that show. My wife thought it was Charlotte Coleman (from Four Weddings and a Funeral) but she didn't realise she'd died a couple of years ago. Actress's name in this episode though was Beccy Armory or something like that, doesn't ring a bell. As soon as she opened that duct, however, I thought of Ensign Eiger from ST:FC. . .
So, yeah. Aliens! The doctor nearly pulls one. Zoe Wanamaker as the last human, who Rose refers to as Michael Jackson! Was that Warwick Davies as the blue one?
"How about this? We copy the seeker drones from Minority Report, but give them four legs/tentacles instead!"
I'm not up on Who mythology, so has Gallifrey really been destroyed, and is the Doctor really the last of the TimeLords?
I've also cought myself using the adjective "Fantastic!" a lot more. . .
posted
From what I've heard, the destruction of Gallifrey happened in the Paul McGann audio adventures. I think it invovled Romana returning from E-space, becoming Lord (Lady?) High President, becoming evil, and... the planet gets exploded. For some reason. I don't really know the details.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
As I understand it, the destruction of Gallifrey IS a consequence (or precedent) of the "Time War" that the Doctor fought in, mentioned last episode, and which will be brought to light over the course of the season. The Daleks, one of the few other races in the Doctor Who canon who use time travel to a significant extent, are rumoured to be part of all this.
But after the war, he's basically it. There may be other Gallifreyan survivors out there, but as far as Time Lords are known, he's the last one.
And this was a fantastic episode, which I enjoyed far more than the first one. It demonstrates the high budget quality of this show's potential. It also has great scripting, while (like Farscape) keeping things grounded in the present day. Next we're heading to 1860s Wales for some zombie action, and we'll have had past, present and future.
And the iPod gag was great.
As for the TARDIS - some people have been complaining about the look and use of odd bits of garbage as controls (the bicycle pump, desk bell, a stroller wheel to set the time, etc.). It think this also ties in with the lack of a home planet you can pop in at occasionally to get spare parts (which I'm sure he's done in SOME incarnations), to say nothing of the link to the Eye of Harmony that powered all TARDISes. There's probably a gerbil in an exercise wheel somewhere too). Since the TARDIS (so far) seems to have only the one console room, it may indeed be all that's left, and he's been maintaining it with stuff he's found in a scrapyard in Totter's Lane, or something. Mind you, Rose is going to have to get dressed in period costume SOMEWHERE...
posted
Um... couldn't he just travel back in time to Gallifrey before it was destroyed?
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
Nope. In Doctor Who, time travel itself is rarely a plot point in a given story - it is simply the method the heroes use to reach the next story. Whenever they went to Gallifrey, it was always in chronological terms, sequentially with the progression of the series. I had actually thought that Gallifrey itself somehow was out of step with the rest of the continuum, but that probably isn't the case...
There was one episode, following the death of one of the Doctor's companions, that another companion demanded they use the TARDIS to save him before the ship he was on blew up. I don't remember the exact reasons they didn't do it, but the Doctor got pretty angry at the suggestion. In another story, the Doctor was sent to interfere with history and destroy the entire Dalek race - and he didn't.
Causality is rarely an issue in the Doctor Who universe, and I guess this is why - they simply don't use time travel directly to fix things. One of the beauties of the concept, I guess. In this episode alone, the Doctor could have used the TARDIS to save everyone sans major paradoxes a la "Bill and Ted", but they just don't do that.
posted
A thought has occured to me: the Doctor claims to be "the last of the Time Lords", "the only survivor". Presumably, he means that everyone on Gallifrey went boom with the planet. But are we meant to take his assertion literally, or is he just effectively alone? In other words, should we assume that he has some reason to believe that the Master, the Rani, K'anpo/Cho-je, the Monk (he could have eventually fixed his TARDIS), etc. are all gone as well?
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Lee: One thing I forgot to mention is this Universal Translator field the TARDIS supposedly generates. . . Has that ever been mentioned before?
I don't remember anything about a translation field, but the TARDIS has been shown to have abilities and be able to affect people before. Didn't it bring the two companions from the TV movie back to life? Added to that (and my memory might be completely off here) didn't Hartnell's doctor have to get back to the TARDIS in order to regenerate? Am I right in remembering something about the TARDIS helping the process along?
So a translation field isn't such a stretch if it can bring people back to life - certainly makes more sense than Trek's universal translator anyway.
Also, excellent thought on the TARDIS perhaps being diminished from what it was due to the lack of repairs/power from Gallifrey. I was struck on watching the first two Ecclestone episodes that whenever the TARDIS was in flight (for want of a better term) it seemed to have a lot more shaking and rumbling than previous incarnations - compare, for instance, with McGann's TARDIS (or any of the previous ones), which seemed quite sedate when cruising along - no shaking for the most part, no rumbling and no needing to hold on to something while it was in flight. The new TARDIS seems to be a bit more of a boneshaker, needing a lot more work to keep it running. Indications of damage from the war, perhaps?
-------------------- Quidquid latine dictum sit altum viditur
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
I recall there being something about the tardis that facilitates Regeneration (recovery more than anything else I think), but we've seen the Doctor regenerate outside the tardis, so it's obviously not essential.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Certainly not essential in the general run of things, no, but I recall something about Hartnell's doctor being so old and physically weak that he needed the TARDIS to get the process going - basically he was too weak to regenerate on his own having pushed himself too far fighting the Cybermen in "The Tenth Planet".
Makes sense in a way - regeneration has got to put a drain on the body - so a Time Lord that is too weak might not be able to start the process without some external force giving a nudge in the right direction.
-------------------- Quidquid latine dictum sit altum viditur
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Mark: Thanks for the reply; I haven't seen any Docter Who for about a decade, so I don't really remember much!
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
The translation thingy was brought up way back in "Masque of Mandrgora", when the Doc matter-of-factly asks Sarah-Jane if she's ever wondered why everyone speaks English. The producers on Stargate use the same excuse, but have yet to tell anyone.
There are various programs streaming online on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Wales that delve a little into the TARDIS' state. Basically, it's the Doctor's car that he has not taken to the dealership in centuries, explaining why there's all sorts of crud everywhere...
posted
If I remember correctly, Sarah was being mind-controlled somehow. When she asked the Doctor why everyone speaks English, he explained that the TARDIS was doing it. But he later (after she was back to normal), he explained that, when she asked that, he realized her mind had been tampered with, because she's not supposed to notice it.
I guess we can assume it's just another part of the TARDIS that's starting to malfunction, and that's why Rose noticed it right off.
As for the regeneration, Troughton said, right after ceasing to be Hartnell, that it was a function of the TARDIS. However, he was in the full depths of Post-Regenration Flakiness, so it doesn't have to be taken seriously. But there's nothing to prove that regeneration isn't technologically-facilitated, either. In fact, if it were a purely biological reaction to near-death, how did Romana force a regeneration right after the Key to Time series? Gallifreyan Suppuku?
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
The EU suggests that some people CAN force a regeneration if need be. The novelization of "The Twin Dilemma", Colin Baker's first story, tells that typically Gallifreyans regenerate themselves mostly for the hell of it, to pass the centruies on their terms rather than waiting for old age to trigger it. This is supported in at least one episode ("The Invasion of Time", I think), where one Time Lord nonchalantly asks another if he's due for a regeneration.
Anyway, in the novelization it suggests that one can force a regeneration, but that it has limitation. The story goes that once upon a time, a Time Lord happened to regenerate into such a beautiful body, that it was good for your social stature just to be in his general vicinity. Then one day, a freak accident caused him to regenerate into an utterly plain body. He forced himself to regenerate again in hopes of getting back some of his lost beauty, but he oveloaded his system and came out a twisted crone of a man. Trying again, he ended up an oozing, disgusting blob, and upon his final attempt the resulting monstrosity was ordered destroyed by the Council.
Non-canon, but just as fun a speculation as any other.
"This is supported in at least one episode ('The Invasion of Time', I think), where one Time Lord nonchalantly asks another if he's due for a regeneration."
Huh. I always took that as a bit of a joke. Kind of like asking someone "shouldn't you be dead by now?".
Registered: Mar 1999
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