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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Doctor Who: Silence will fall - the Doctor Who thread returns
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Rev per Minute
Shipmate
# 69
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Posted
Unless I am mistaken (and I often am), no thread for the new series has yet been started - so here it is.
Doctor Who returns this Saturday on BBC1 at 6.00 pm, with the Doctor meeting President Nixon (I see myself having to explain Watergate to my daughters). This year, we get two bites at the cherry - seven episodes between now and July, and six more in the autumn.
We also 'know' that one of the main characters will be killed - given that we have already seen two of them die, and a third has this awkward habit of regenerating, does that leave only one possible victim? And what (or who) will River Song turn out to be - mother, wife, mistress, Master?
Ooo-ee-oo...
[Gave in to my inner fan-woman and corrected title - Tubbs]
[ 17. June 2016, 14:40: Message edited by: Belisarius ]
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"Allons-y!" "Geronimo!" "Oh, for God's sake!" The Day of the Doctor
At the end of the day, we face our Maker alongside Jesus. RIP ken
Posts: 2696 | From: my desk (if I can find the keyboard under this mess) | Registered: May 2001
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
Judging from the trailers, this coming season looks like reaching a whole new level of weirdness.
"There are no monsters in the White House..."
"I want a swat team, a pot of coffee and twelve jammie dodgers..."
"My life in your hands...."
And I don't care if I am 48 - I reserve the right to be scared of sad clowns and grotesque dolls.
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
Well the BBC have issued some spoilers...
1. The first story is a two parter, featuring President Nixon and River Song. (Hello Sweetie.)
2. Stetsons are cool.
3. That's about it.
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Last ever sig ...
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Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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Tubbs
Miss Congeniality
# 440
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Posted
Time to hoover behind the sofa! ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif) I'm excited already!
Tubbs
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"It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it up and remove all doubt" - Dennis Thatcher. My blog. Decide for yourself which I am
Posts: 12701 | From: Someplace strange | Registered: Jun 2001
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
By the way - though one hates to be a pedant in Heaven - isn't it "Silence will fall"?
And be thorough with your hoovering, Tubbs - Steven Moffat claims that the bad guys in the first story are some of the scariest we've ever had!
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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Ferijen
Shipmate
# 4719
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Posted
You know that series trailer that came out about three weeks ago?
34/35 seconds in. Just saying...
Posts: 3259 | From: UK | Registered: Jul 2003
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Rev per Minute
Shipmate
# 69
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
By the way - though one hates to be a pedant in Heaven - isn't it "Silence will fall"?
Err... yes ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif) Hangs head in shame, realises that thread title will now haunt him for the rest of the series
Weather's nice today, isn't it? ![[Waterworks]](graemlins/bawling.gif)
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"Allons-y!" "Geronimo!" "Oh, for God's sake!" The Day of the Doctor
At the end of the day, we face our Maker alongside Jesus. RIP ken
Posts: 2696 | From: my desk (if I can find the keyboard under this mess) | Registered: May 2001
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Tubbs
Miss Congeniality
# 440
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Rev per Minute:
quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
By the way - though one hates to be a pedant in Heaven - isn't it "Silence will fall"?
Err... yes Hangs head in shame, realises that thread title will now haunt him for the rest of the series
Weather's nice today, isn't it?
No it won't. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Tubbs
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"It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it up and remove all doubt" - Dennis Thatcher. My blog. Decide for yourself which I am
Posts: 12701 | From: Someplace strange | Registered: Jun 2001
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
Looking forward to it. I think Moffat probably took on board some of the criticism of the last series, so I am hopeful that this series will be much better.
River Song insights are good. And there seems to be a lot of universal doom coming, which is always cool.
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Blog
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Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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sophs
Sardonic Angel
# 2296
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Posted
Have people seen the news? It's just been confirmed that Elisabeth Sladen has died. Rumour is that she was battling cancer.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
Posts: 5407 | From: searching saharas of sorrow | Registered: Feb 2002
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by sophs:
Have people seen the news? It's just been confirmed that Elisabeth Sladen has died. Rumour is that she was battling cancer.
Oh my goodness. Ms Sladen's Sarah Jane was one of the best, greatest things about the whole of the classic series. She was wonderful. I've never really followed The Sarah Jane Adventures, but she'll be missed, terribly missed.
Requiem aeternam...
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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Dafyd
Shipmate
# 5549
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by sophs:
Have people seen the news? It's just been confirmed that Elisabeth Sladen has died.
That is sad. I'd heard that they were winding up the Sarah Jane Adventures.
I was hoping to see her in the new series of Doctor Who, based on my guess as to who the big bad of the last series might be.
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we remain, thanks to original sin, much in love with talking about, rather than with, one another. Rowan Williams
Posts: 10567 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Feb 2004
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dorothea
Goodwife and low church mystic
# 4398
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Posted
Sad news about Elizabeth Sladen. I thought she looked rather thin and drawn. Great how she kept on working.
J
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Protestant head? Catholic Heart?
http://joansbitsandpieces.blogspot.com/
Posts: 1581 | From: Notlob City Limits | Registered: Apr 2003
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Hedgehog
Ship's Shortstop
# 14125
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by sophs:
Have people seen the news? It's just been confirmed that Elisabeth Sladen has died. Rumour is that she was battling cancer.
Oh, that is so sad. Just the other day I was watching the DVD of Planet of Evil and enjoying her commentary track. And the next one I was planning on watching is her (at the time) swan song in The Hand of Fear. I just may cry.
My little car is even named Sarah Jane out of fondness for her. I need to get a black ribbon to hang from the rearview mirror.
Rest in peace, Lis Sladen. ![[Votive]](graemlins/votive.gif)
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"We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it."--Pope Francis, Laudato Si'
Posts: 2740 | From: Delaware, USA | Registered: Sep 2008
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Gill H
Shipmate
# 68
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Posted
I loved her recent work. She took the character to a whole other level. I want to be as awesome as Sarah Jane one day.
Didn't we lose Nicholas Courtney recently too?
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*sigh* We can’t all be Alan Cresswell.
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Posts: 9313 | From: London | Registered: May 2001
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Og: Thread Killer
Ship's token CN Mennonite
# 3200
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:
... And there seems to be a lot of universal doom coming, which is always cool.
As long as its not that continuous angst about him being alone or mooning over the Doctor by a love lorn companion or the veneration of Rose Tyler I'll be happier.
I liked last season.
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I wish I was seeking justice loving mercy and walking humbly but... "Cease to lament for that thou canst not help, And study help for that which thou lament'st."
Posts: 5025 | From: Toronto | Registered: Aug 2002
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Rev per Minute
Shipmate
# 69
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gill H:
I loved her recent work. She took the character to a whole other level. I want to be as awesome as Sarah Jane one day.
Didn't we lose Nicholas Courtney recently too?
Yes we did. ![[Tear]](graemlins/tear.gif)
My daughters and I were always amazed at how young Lis Sladen looked, and we were all surprised by the news. It's funny how she appealed to both generations thanks to SJA.
I expect some acknowledgement of her death on Saturday after the first episode?
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"Allons-y!" "Geronimo!" "Oh, for God's sake!" The Day of the Doctor
At the end of the day, we face our Maker alongside Jesus. RIP ken
Posts: 2696 | From: my desk (if I can find the keyboard under this mess) | Registered: May 2001
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
Lis Sladen has had an amazing impact on the lives of at least two distinct generations of Doctor Who viewers, not to mention her popularity in The Sarah Jane Adventures. Last night, one of the DW fan websites clocked up over 1000 posts in their tribute thread withing about 4 hours of the news breaking. It's the number 1 story on the BBC news site, with over 400 comments in tribute there too. It's astonishing.
Yes, Nicholas Courtney, who played the Brigadier, died recently too, a wonderful gentleman by all accounts, though I never met him myself. Elisabeth's co-star, Ian Marter, who played Harry Sullivan, died quite a few years ago now, very young. One comment I read on another site last night quoted one of Sarah Jane's last lines from the classic series, as she's about to leave the Doctor - quote:
"...And I'll give your love to Harry and the Brigadier..."
I'd imagine there'll be something like a mention in the show's credits either this week or next.
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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Bob Two-Owls
Shipmate
# 9680
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Posted
I'm really quite saddened by this, I have met most of the classic Dr Who cast regulars from the Third doctor onwards but Elisabeth Sladen was always my favourite companion. I shall be watching The Hand of Fear tonight.
Posts: 1262 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Eigon
Shipmate
# 4917
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Posted
Apparently there's going to be a 15 minute tribute to Lis Sladen after The Impossible Astronaut on Saturday.
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Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.
Posts: 3710 | From: Hay-on-Wye, town of books | Registered: Aug 2003
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The Revolutionist
Shipmate
# 4578
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Posted
I'm so sad to hear about Lis Sladen. Sarah Jane was a wonderful companion. I'm glad that there will be the tribute programme after Saturday's Doctor Who, over on the CBBC channel at 6.45pm.
From the trailers and publicity, the new series is looking great. In the latest Doctor Who Magazine, Steven Moffat says that with the previous series, they were still trying to reassure people that it was the same show as under Russell T Davies, but now they've established the new Doctor and new look, they're going to be much more ambitious in terms of building ongoing storylines, and aiming for more scares and creepiness. Sounds good to me!
Posts: 1296 | From: London | Registered: May 2003
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Alaric the Goth
Shipmate
# 511
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Bob Two-Owls:
I'm really quite saddened by this, I have met most of the classic Dr Who cast regulars from the Third doctor onwards but Elisabeth Sladen was always my favourite companion. I shall be watching The Hand of Fear tonight.
So am I. Sarah Jane was always THE Doctor Who girl to me.
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'Angels and demons dancing in my head,
Lunatics and monsters underneath my bed' ('Totem', Rush)
Posts: 3322 | From: West Thriding | Registered: Jun 2001
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alaric the Goth:
quote:
Originally posted by Bob Two-Owls:
I'm really quite saddened by this, I have met most of the classic Dr Who cast regulars from the Third doctor onwards but Elisabeth Sladen was always my favourite companion. I shall be watching The Hand of Fear tonight.
So am I. Sarah Jane was always THE Doctor Who girl to me.
Yes I think I agree. There were others, but they were just taking the role of Sarah Jane. I think she epitomised the Doctors companion perfectly - young and attractive, but feisty and capable too - a contrast and yet a match.
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Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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maeme
Apprentice
# 16362
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Posted
I was sorry to hear of Liz Sladen's passing. As a Dr Who companion she was great! She had her own personality and intelligence but she never tried to upstage the Doctor. Sarah Jane we will miss you! Best episode "Seeds of Doom"
Posts: 1 | From: Wisconsin | Registered: Apr 2011
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Jahlove
Tied to the mast
# 10290
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Posted
On a happier note, Neil Gaiman has written one of the episodes for the new series - NERDGASM!!!
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“Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.” - Mark Twain
Posts: 6477 | From: Alice's Restaurant (UK Franchise) | Registered: Sep 2005
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Eigon
Shipmate
# 4917
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Posted
And it's called The Doctor's Wife....
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Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.
Posts: 3710 | From: Hay-on-Wye, town of books | Registered: Aug 2003
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Surfing Madness
Shipmate
# 11087
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Posted
So what did people think? My inital reaction is I'm not feeling that hooked. I was expecting to be scared and I wasn't but maybe as the plot develops I will be.
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I now blog about all my crafting! http://inspiredbybroadway.blogspot.co.uk
Posts: 1542 | From: searching for the jam | Registered: Feb 2006
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Dafyd
Shipmate
# 5549
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Posted
I think there was rather a lot of set-up for things happening in the next episode (or even later in the series) and not a lot of things happening in the episode itself, if that makes sense.
So it both felt busy and at the same time uneventful.
I suppose most sf fans would have seen the big twist about half way through coming as soon as the Doctor said 'Don't interfere'.
I enjoyed it all the way through pretty much, but I agree it never really gripped.
[ 23. April 2011, 21:25: Message edited by: Dafyd ]
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we remain, thanks to original sin, much in love with talking about, rather than with, one another. Rowan Williams
Posts: 10567 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Feb 2004
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
Moffat has imposed some tricky constraints on future developments, though, hasn't he? 200 odd years of Matt Smith with no companion, no regenerations, followed by a very terminal death.
I wasn't very stressed about the who was going to die, because some of the trailing press releases included thoughts from all four major members of the cast from later in the series.
Penny
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
Good monsters - modelled on 'The Scream'
I'm not sure if the characters' lack of reaction to them (due to instant amnesia) will help the suspense 'tho. It's hard to 'look through their eyes' when they see nothing!
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
I loved it. A slightly more sombre Doctor than last season, a nicely settles-down Amy and Rory, and River finally being given more to do than timey-wimey stuff and innuendo - her conversation with Rory towards the end of the episode was very effective, especially when she said something like, "One day I know I'll look into his eyes and he won't know me - and I think it'll kill me."
I like the direction Moffat's taking - for the first time in a very long time I genuinely can't see what might happen next, either in this story or in the rest of the series. Though I imagine something will happen so that Matt Smith won't be tied into a 200-year contract.
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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Emma Louise
Storm in a teapot
# 3571
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Posted
It all seemed a bit "time travellers wifey" really doesn't it. And presumably the big awful thing river did was kill the doctor at some point? Or something similar.
I found it a bit boring but thought it might be setting up for later shows so will stick with it.
I remember from a past series he had a daughter - did we ever hear how that happened? I've completely forgotten.
Posts: 12719 | From: Enid Blyton territory. | Registered: Nov 2002
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Eigon
Shipmate
# 4917
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Posted
He got cloned against his will, to produce the daughter, who pinched a spaceship and went off to have adventures of her own.
I thought it was very good - and just because he was companionless at the end doesn't mean he's spent 200 years without a companion. I think he invited those particular companions, and his earlier self, because they needed to go and solve this particular problem. And also because he remembered it happening that way.
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Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.
Posts: 3710 | From: Hay-on-Wye, town of books | Registered: Aug 2003
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Joshua Bell
Apprentice
# 16323
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Posted
Verrrrry interesting. I have to say I always found the space-time paradoxes and puzzles much more interesting than the basic 'army of aliens' themes. Of course the whole idea from last series with the rift has only been half-resolved, so how (if at all) that fits in with the Doctor being dead or not will be interesting to see. I too suspect that Song killed the Doctor, though whether permanently or just to make him regenerate is a good question. I think the thing to bear in mind is that History is never really solid with the Dr. We'll have to see what happens!
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[Clarification: I am coming from the perspective of a member of the CofE.]
twitter.com/joshuacampana
Posts: 34 | From: Derbyshire and/or Hampshire, UK | Registered: Mar 2011
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Dafyd
Shipmate
# 5549
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
I'm not sure if the characters' lack of reaction to them (due to instant amnesia) will help the suspense 'tho. It's hard to 'look through their eyes' when they see nothing!
I agree. I think that is part of what makes it less immediately gripping. It gets more scary as you think about it afterwards.
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we remain, thanks to original sin, much in love with talking about, rather than with, one another. Rowan Williams
Posts: 10567 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Feb 2004
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Surfing Madness:
So what did people think? My inital reaction is I'm not feeling that hooked. I was expecting to be scared and I wasn't but maybe as the plot develops I will be.
The closest the plot got to scary was the scene in the Tardis where Amy broke the tension by mentioning fish fingers and custard.
And why can't the BBC do cliffhangers? To show the little girl in the spacesuit after the shooting was the last scene is a spoiler too far.
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Last ever sig ...
blog
Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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Og: Thread Killer
Ship's token CN Mennonite
# 3200
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Posted
Good to see Blank Reg, and his son, acting. Always liked Blank Reg. Rest of it...standard Moffat stuff although I wish they would get River off the moping thing bit. Looking forward to Rory having a blow up about him being the Tin Dog.
Watched the Sarah Jane tribute. Got the distinct idea from that that Davies attempted to recreate the love for the character of Sarah Jane in Rose and forced it waaaaaaay too much.
I look forward to a companion that doesn't have to save the universe in order to be considered important. They've painted themselves in a box with that lately and its a little tedious.
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I wish I was seeking justice loving mercy and walking humbly but... "Cease to lament for that thou canst not help, And study help for that which thou lament'st."
Posts: 5025 | From: Toronto | Registered: Aug 2002
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Robert Armin
All licens'd fool
# 182
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Posted
Not deeply moved, I'm afraid - too much happened, too quickly at the start. All of that can't stand, as others have pointed out, unless the franchise is going to wind up completely. And I'm still unconvinced by Smith. I watched Christopher and his kind a few weeks ago, and loved all of it, except for Smith's performance. I'm not quite sure what I want a Doctor to do to me, but he's not doing it.
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Keeping fit was an obsession with Fr Moity .... He did chin ups in the vestry, calisthenics in the pulpit, and had developed a series of Tai-Chi exercises to correspond with ritual movements of the Mass. The Antipope Robert Rankin
Posts: 8927 | From: In the pack | Registered: May 2001
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Mmm, ok, am I the only one who watched the Doctor get shot and thought "Oh good" and briefly hoped for a more likeable regeneration?
I'm getting rather turned off by his being full of himself at times. And I know it's Easter but was it really necessary for the Doctor to die, then be resurrected, appearing in an eatery in front of his disciples, I mean companions, after which he has to go and save the planet?
The monsters were a bit like a cross between an Ood without tentacles and a Dementor, but glad to see they were wearing suits for the occasion. The thing to have done would have been for someone looking at them to yell out a description to someone in earshot who wasn't looking at them, take a pic on the mobile phone, then get the hell out of there and then be reminded by the person who hadn't seen them.
Altogether a bit too much going on in the first episode, and really, Amy being pregnant? Again? But River Song is a pleasure to watch as always and the best thing about this series.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Dafyd
Shipmate
# 5549
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
I'm getting rather turned off by his being full of himself at times.
The Doctor is full of himself in every incarnation. I think the Matt Smith incarnation is actually one of the least full of himself, after Peter Davison and Paul McGann (though Paul McGann was never in anything we recognise as canonical *cough*).
quote:
The thing to have done would have been for someone looking at them to yell out a description to someone in earshot who wasn't looking at them, take a pic on the mobile phone, then get the hell out of there and then be reminded by the person who hadn't seen them.
Only Amy saw them for long enough to work out that she couldn't remember them. And she did take a picture on her phone. True, she didn't call out a description to the secret service man outside - but I assume she's been around enough to realise that redshirts are less than useless against aliens in Doctor Who.
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we remain, thanks to original sin, much in love with talking about, rather than with, one another. Rowan Williams
Posts: 10567 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Feb 2004
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Robert Armin
All licens'd fool
# 182
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Posted
quote:
though Paul McGann was never in anything we recognise as canonical *cough*
Indeed. Best to forget that unsavoury little affair methinks.
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Keeping fit was an obsession with Fr Moity .... He did chin ups in the vestry, calisthenics in the pulpit, and had developed a series of Tai-Chi exercises to correspond with ritual movements of the Mass. The Antipope Robert Rankin
Posts: 8927 | From: In the pack | Registered: May 2001
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tessaB
Shipmate
# 8533
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Posted
I seem to be in a minority here. I found the idea of aliens that you forget as soon as you look away really creepy. Just think, you turn to run away from them and then forget there is anything to run away from, thus allowing them to creep up on you from behind and Oh God I just had to look round then!
Re River, particularly liked 'I can be quite a screamer, now there's a spoiler for you' or words to that effect.
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tessaB
eating chocolate to the glory of God
Holiday cottage near Rye
Posts: 1068 | From: U.K. | Registered: Sep 2004
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Hedgehog
Ship's Shortstop
# 14125
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Posted
I liked the concept of aliens that you immediately forget. What I hated was, once again, timey-wimey stuff.
Pretty much all last season (and especially near the end) was this playing with time stuff. "He's a time traveller, he can free himself from an inescapable prison so that he can come back and free himself." Followed by the Christmas story: "He's a time traveler, he can jump back and forth to change the bad guy into a good guy." Now we get the new season where, hey, "He's a time traveler, he can arrange for his friends to go back and keep him from dying."
Yes, WE FREAKIN' GET IT! He's a time traveler. Move on to some other plot line for G-d's sake! As I have said before, there are VERY FEW writers who can truly handle the idea of temporal paradoxes and finish with a satisfying logical resolution: AND ABSOLUTELY NONE OF THOSE WRITERS HAVE EVER WRITTEN FOR DOCTOR WHO!
This is why the original series was so brilliant. They set it up that the TARDIS was essentially uncontrollable so that you could not use it to pull crap like this. I miss those days. I miss the days when history absolutely could not be changed. If you died, you died. No cheap escape clause like now.
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"We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it."--Pope Francis, Laudato Si'
Posts: 2740 | From: Delaware, USA | Registered: Sep 2008
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Dafyd:
Only Amy saw them for long enough to work out that she couldn't remember them. And she did take a picture on her phone. True, she didn't call out a description to the secret service man outside - but I assume she's been around enough to realise that redshirts are less than useless against aliens in Doctor Who.
True, but I was thinking that a natural human reaction would have been for River to call out to Rory and warn him and give a description of what she was looking at. However, River may not be human and this is all fiction, so I suppose we'll all just have to wait for Amy to make a phone call then discover the picture on her phone.
I agree the "let's just use a different time stream to get round the death problem" is annoying - too facile a way of getting out of any situation. "With one bound, Jack was free."
(And speaking of Jack, I wish they'd bring him back. He, River and the Doctor would be a quite interesting combination - how would Amy cope with that I wonder!)
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
Loved the aside when the Doctor mentioned visiting Easter Island and Amy(?)'s reply 'They all worshipped you there.' Best appreciated while seeing the Doctor in profile.
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Brian: You're all individuals!
Crowd: We're all individuals!
Lone voice: I'm not!
Posts: 12927 | From: The Pool of Life | Registered: May 2001
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Dafyd
Shipmate
# 5549
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
True, but I was thinking that a natural human reaction would have been for River to call out to Rory and warn him and give a description of what she was looking at.
In order to do that you have to know not to take your eyes off what you're looking at. (Is this a Steven Moffat theme?)
I'm not sure that the natural human reaction isn't to get out of there and describe what you saw to the other person once you have the safety of numbers.
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we remain, thanks to original sin, much in love with talking about, rather than with, one another. Rowan Williams
Posts: 10567 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Feb 2004
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
I enjoyed the homage to other SciFi TV and films, from the Men in Black suits of the Aliens to the blue torchlight (very X files). The way the astronaught moves was a bit 2001 too. Overall I came away with the impression that although there were pleanty of good bits, the episode as a whole was less than the sum of it's parts. I think Stepehen Moffat was spending too much energy on setting up a story arc, and not enough on the episode itself.
Shame as it could have been a lot better.
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Last ever sig ...
blog
Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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tessaB
Shipmate
# 8533
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Posted
I sort of agree Balaam but I often find that with two-parters. Usually by the end of the second episode I'm hooked on the whole story. Here's hoping it's the same this time.
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tessaB
eating chocolate to the glory of God
Holiday cottage near Rye
Posts: 1068 | From: U.K. | Registered: Sep 2004
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The Great Gumby
Ship's Brain Surgeon
# 10989
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Dafyd:
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
True, but I was thinking that a natural human reaction would have been for River to call out to Rory and warn him and give a description of what she was looking at.
In order to do that you have to know not to take your eyes off what you're looking at. (Is this a Steven Moffat theme?)
I'm not sure that the natural human reaction isn't to get out of there and describe what you saw to the other person once you have the safety of numbers.
Agreed. That seemed entirely reasonable. The episode as a whole was unsatisfying (at least at first viewing - I haven't had a chance to revisit it yet) because there was too little clarity about what was going on and too little "clear and present danger" to build up any suspense. The alien things were disconcerting, but not as scary as promised, and too similar (in a less scary way) to the weeping angels. Even at the end, the girl in the spacesuit was revealed too late to create tension, and in the context, it's hard to believe that a real girl has really just been shot with a real gun.
As for the broad theme of the Doctor's death, it didn't do much for me. The very end of the entire series is never going to be revealed like this, and Moffat has plenty of form in the rewriting history stakes, so this is obviously going to be one of those times when, for various handwavy reasons, history can be changed. Even though that's pretty transparent, it could still be OK if he hadn't been so keen on that concept in the past - law of diminishing returns definitely applies here, and it ends up being yet another "X happened, but it's all going to change, so it won't happen" storyline, which leaves one feeling somewhat jaded.
I'm prepared to believe that it'll get better from here, and I'd much rather a slow-burning start that develops over time than a thrilling opening that doesn't ultimately deliver, but so far, the only good thing about this episode is that after several attempts, the tedious River Song finally has a purpose - to provide didactic plot exposition when the Doctor can't because he isn't allowed to know the plot. They should have just shot her instead.
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The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. - Richard Feynman
A letter to my son about death
Posts: 5382 | From: Home for shot clergy spouses | Registered: Feb 2006
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