Doctor Who (1963 - present)

Such as ...?

Well, obviously the production team WERE very inventive on a tight budget ... but wobbly sets and spaceships that are very obviously models always raise a smile with me. And the third Doctor's habit of knocking out adversaries with a karate chop whilst exclaiming loudly made me think of Austin Powers' 'Judo CHOP!' a bit too much .

Just saw the Christmas Special ... THE DOCTOR, THE WIDOW AND THE WARDROBE

The premise I loved - kids go into a sitting room, then into a box, which leads to a forest ... the whole Narnia-love train right there was brilliant. The whisper of the trees, the idea of the Wood King and Queen. The creepy living-christmas-bauble-things. It was creepy. Even the Doctor - I liked the outsider's perspective we got given on this one - seeing him from the other side.

And indeed the 'Why do they call them caretakers then?' and the fixing up of the various rooms warmed my heart. Madge going badass was also a high point - really reminded me of the Mama Bear trope which is always fun to play around in.

However how it was sorted out ... I dunno. It lost that 'tension'. I still enjoyed it, appreciated the happy ending but the first half was defs better. Still all around heart-warming, especially with the Pond appearance. That was adorable.

I really enjoyed it too, Fae ... proper heartwarming festive magic, if I can be forgiven a little sentimentality. The 'lost father' element of the story carried an extra resonance for me, for obvious reasons ... I'm not ashamed to admit I got teary-eyed.

Never be ashamed, BI. *gives you a big-Christmas-hug*

I have to say though the 'heartwarming festive magic' is spot on. That was what made this such a good Christmas Special. It was about Christmas. It was about family, joy, kids - it worked brilliantly and was a pleasure to watch. I have to say the last two Christmas Specials have been nice in that way that they both deal with Christmas very directly. (nice one, Moffat)

On another note I showed a friend of mine that ep - she has never seen a Doctor Who episode in her life and loved it. Loved it. She's going to work her way through Series 5 and 6 ... and then hopefully the others. :)

Good work, Fae ... there can never be enough 'Whovians'. :)

Probably one of my favourite Christmas specials since the one where Tennant took over and did the whole Luke Skywalker losing his hand thing. Festive, yes. Sentimental, yes. But not as sickening as previous years, and certainly nowhere near as irritating as most of them.

Thumbs up!

Bahaha, I never realised Tennant losing his hand was like that. :lol!:

I watched it again yesterday ... it was still cracking.

Sweet, poignant, funny, suspenseful, just scary and 'sci-fi' enough ... when Doctor Who's on form, little else on telly beats it. IMHO.

By the way, Tennant married the Doctor's Daughter over the New Year. Anyone notice?

Ravenstone wrote:

By the way, Tennant married the Doctor's Daughter over the New Year. Anyone notice?

Kinky...

Ravenstone wrote:

By the way, Tennant married the Doctor's Daughter over the New Year. Anyone notice?

Yep.

Good for him. :)

Today the BBC presented the new companion for the next Doctor Who series.

* Jenna-Louise Coleman’s first appearance will be in the Christmas special.

* “We saw a lot of brilliant actresses. But Jenna was the only person going faster than Matt – he had to keep up!” – Steven Moffat.

* Series seven will comprise of six episodes airing this year (including the Christmas Special), then eight airing next year – a total of 14. They’re described as “14 big, blockbuster-movie episodes – each a brand new epic adventure featuring new monsters and some familiar foes as you’ve never seen them before.”

* Moffat: “Amy and Rory will leave in a final encounter with the Weeping Angels in episode five. Not everyone gets out alive – and I mean it this time.”

* After the initial eight episodes in 2013, there will be more later in the year – exactly how many is still under wraps. Matt Smith is contracted for all the 2013 episodes.

* Jenna starts filming in May.

* The departure of Amy and Rory “doesn’t necessarily” mean that River is waving goodbye.

* Jenna auditioned with Matt, and says it felt very spontaneous and fun. “I had an enormous amount of fun in the room!”

* When she found out she had been cast, “I was in Marks and Spencer holding an avocado, debating what went best in a salmon salad.”

* Her flatmates had no idea until today: “It’s opened up a whole web of lies and I realise I’m a very good liar, actually, which is terrifying!”

* Says Steven Moffat, “It always feels like a miracle when you find the right person.” When he saw the two of them together, looking frightened, “It was an instant poster”.

* Moffat on casting: “It starts with you telling them who the character is. Then they tell you who the character is.”

* Jenna is frightened of spiders. Moffat: “I’ve written that down…”

* Moffat, from the press release: “It’s not often the Doctor meets someone who can talk even faster than he does, but it’s about to happen. Jenna is going to lead him his merriest dance yet. And that’s all you’re getting for now. Who she’s playing, how the Doctor meets her, and even where he finds her, are all part of one of the biggest mysteries the Time Lord ever encounters. Even by the Doctor’s standards, this isn’t your usual boy meets girl.”

I'm a bit disappointed that Amy is leaving so quickly...

To be fair Amy has been there for two Series and her storyline is wrapped up - I'm happy she'll be in there for a bit but still, time to go. And I love Rory and Amy.

/ I pray the new companion will be Donna-esque in a sense.

As in she doesn't actually fancy the Doctor, Fae? Rave'd be with you there, I think.

Yup. I second that motion

Blunt Instrument wrote:

As in she doesn't actually fancy the Doctor, Fae? Rave'd be with you there, I think.

Yeah basically.

BEST FRIENDS for the win. Because that is where the fun really is. Besides Eleven has River Song so it would just be another Rose/Martha/Ten-ish situation ... not exactly like that but will.

James Bond director Sam Mendes likens the movie franchise's longevity with Doctor Who: "That's why I mentioned the word in the press conference, 'regeneration' rather than 'evolving', because I feel it is like, you know, we have Doctor Who ... there's a geek answer ... and I was brought up on the idea of Doctor Who, who at the end of his final episode, he dissolves and a new actor pops up and he regenerates and it's a whole other character: sometimes it's an old man, sometimes it's a young man, but he just changes. I've always loved that idea." [Collider, 1 May 2012]

Virgin On Demand currently has quite a lot of vintage Who available to view. Now, I was too scared of the show to watch it as a kid, and by the time I was a teenager it just looked stupid to me. So I've been enjoying the opportunity to catch up with some of it ... have so far watched the Colin Baker story 'Vengeance On Varos', the McCoy story 'Ghost Light' (is it just me, or did he get both the worst version of the theme AND the crappiest title sequence? Poor sod ... good Doctor, though) and am 2 episodes into the Tom Baker story 'City Of Death'.

Wish I HAD been into it when I was younger ... it's clearly always been a hugely entertaining show.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/First-Preview-of-the-New-Series

New series preview, dunno how it escaped my attention until now.

First ep of the new series will be called 'Asylum Of The Daleks', and will feature EVERY type of Dalek the Doctor's ever fought :) .

Have watched more vintage Who on VOD, am currently enjoying the Pertwee story 'Planet Of The Daleks'.

Well, I just watched my first episode ever of DOCTOR WHO. The revived series is on Netflix Instant, and I watched the episode "Rose".

I honestly wasn't enthusastic, but I'll watch some more.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Well, I just watched my first episode ever of DOCTOR WHO.

You mean "An Unearthly Child"?

Largo's Shark wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Well, I just watched my first episode ever of DOCTOR WHO.

You mean "An Unearthly Child"?

My first episode. :)