The official; Doctor who thread

GigaToast wrote:I'm pretty new to the whole WHOniverse (that is a term, right?) thanks to Ska. So far I've seen about 3/4 of the Christopher Eccelston series, about 7 or 8 of the David Tennant episodes, and all of the episodes they've shown so far on BBC America of the Matt Smith series. So far I'm really liking what I've seen!

And i have no hatred for the Matt Smith Doctor like some do (looking in the general direction of Ska).
I'll definitely keep watching!

Frank M. Reding wrote:

Jherek wrote:
Where are those cute lizard guys in your pic from? Should I know?

No Jherek there's no reason you should know them but then again I don't think it was outside the realm of possibilty. I knew the others would know who they were though and get a big laugh out of it.

As superdoug said they are the Sleestak and they are from a cheesy/cheaply made 70's TV show here named The Land of the Lost.


And a total mind trip of a show it was too.

On any given episode it could have the characters having to deal with aspects of dimensional travel, time travel/paradox and on more than one occasion, a haughty alien with psionic abilities called The Zarn that looks like hes made up of little points of light.


And on top of all that they're surrounded by dinosaurs too.



For me though one of the coolest parts of the series were the pylons.


These things were scattered about the place and if memory serves they could affect the environment there as well as act as a doorway to other times/dimensions. Oh yes and they were bigger on the inside than they were on the outside.

What are your thoughts on the Matt Smith Doctor and the new season in general?

Frank M. Reding wrote:Do you really want an answer to that one?

Spoiler:

Foreigner_Man wrote:Well, saw 'Pandorica Opens.'





Damn! This was epic. Dunno how this is gonna get resolved, other than the fact that it has to involve

Spoiler:

The ending blew me away..Moffat just made RTD's Master S3 and Christmas '09 cliffhangers look obsolete. I'll talk more about it after I recover. Dang.

Oh, and congrats on your correct theory Jherek!

Spoiler:

Jherek wrote:

What are your thoughts on the Matt Smith Doctor and the new season in general?

Frank M. Reding wrote:Do you really want an answer to that one?

Well, I know I'm asking for trouble, but...yes.

Foreigner_Man wrote:^I think I could, he's no Tom Baker but he definitely won me over after 'Pandorica Opens.' It's his first year and he's just settling into the role too, but I'm really enjoying him.

You don't like the new 'Who' stuff? How come?

Frank M. Reding wrote:

Jherek wrote:

What are your thoughts on the Matt Smith Doctor and the new season in general?

Frank M. Reding wrote:Do you really want an answer to that one?

Well, I know I'm asking for trouble, but...yes.

No you're not asking for trouble, but if it will make you feel better I shall endeavour to express myself as dispassionately as possible.

How do I feel about Matt Smith and the new season? Would it surpise you to find I feel the same as I did about the previous two Doctors and the previous four seasons?

No? I didn't think so.

To put it bluntly watching Matt Smith's Doctor is about as interesting as watching paint dry. From what I can tell he brings nothing to the role whatsoever.

After watching Victory of the Daleks I emailed my friend in Kent and said (if I may be allowed to quote myself) "I know he's only five episodes in but given how they raved about him I expected him to just completely chew up the scenery. This was the guy they had to have. He was so perfect for the part." Remember all that? Can any of you honestly say you agree with their assessment?

Spoiler:

jaydee74 wrote:Thinking about things, I wonder whether or not

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Jherek wrote:

jaydee74 wrote:Thinking about things, I wonder whether or not

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Frank M. Reding wrote:

jaydee74 wrote:

I wonder if

Spoiler:

is behind all of this.

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Frank M. Reding wrote:I can just imagine Jherek right about now staring at his computer, choking on his tea and doing his impression of that guy from The Mummy yelling DON'T OPEN THE BOOK!!!

superdoug wrote:

Jherek wrote:Where are those cute lizard guys in your pic from? Should I know?

What are your thoughts on the Matt Smith Doctor and the new season in general?

Those are the Sleestak from the classic Sid and Marty Kroft kids' TV show Land of the Lost. They're cute now, but to a nine year old on Saturday morning, they could be pretty damned scary.

As to Matt Smith...I dunno how I feel about him, or the way he's written. He seems to avoid that super-fast talking that Tennant and Eccleston fell into, although he can do some pretty fast talking. He regularly reminds me of Peter Davidson's Doctor, although you all seem to agree that he's more Pertwee(?), which I don't really see apart from physicality.

I really don't know if I'm crazy about Moffat as show runner, however. While he's given us some brilliant episodes, I'm not seeing the over-reaching arc, and the 'crack in time' schtick seems terribly similar to the 'Bad Wolf' and 'There's something on your back' gimmicks used previously. I don't mind a season leading up to something, but I sort of agree with the UK mag Sci-Fi Now that states that there should really be more serial-type stories that take four or five episodes, and more real-feeling cliffhangers (and no more #@%&#@! SPOILERS IN THE PREVIEWS).

Also, I'm not crazy about every episode centering around Earth or Humans. Previous Doctors went all over the universe and time, helping all sorts of human-looking aliens (and some not-so-human-looking). But all we get are 'Earth is awesome, and humans are brilliant' thrown at us left and right. We get it. You're trying to make the show accessible to the common man. But, I think after four successful series, you've got the audience in place to do a little exploring of the Doctor's universe, which is literally infinite.

But, I have liked this series over all. I enjoy Amy as a Companion (though I wish she -would- turn out to be a Chronal-Arched Romana on an E-Space Earth), and I really liked Rory as a Companion (and was it me, or did the Doctor seem to have a bit of a love for our intrepid male nurse, as well?). I can't wait to get along further, and see what else is in store.

Foreigner_Man wrote:This a bit embarrassing, but what's E-space?

It was not a parallel universe as that term is generally understood, having its own astronomy and unique inhabitants. However it wasn't quite a perpendicular universe either, since it had Humanoids and other sentient life forms that where similar to ones of N-Space; thus it was more of an oblique universe or pocket universe. The Doctor's companion, Adric, originated from E-Space and travelled with the Doctor back to N-Space where he ultimately died (DW: Earthshock). The Doctor's longtime companion, Romana, chose to stay in E-Space along with K-9 Mark II rather than return to N-Space with the Doctor and Adric. (DW: Warriors' Gate)

E-Space was visually distinct from N-Space in that it possesses an unusual greenish tint. It was also smaller than N-Space. (DW: Full Circle, State of Decay)

Locations in E-Space apparently had negative co-ordinates, where N-Space was positive

On his return journey to N-Space the Doctor and his companions passed through a strange white void known to its most frequent inhabitants, the Tharils, as the Gateway.

Jherek wrote:

Frank M. Reding wrote:

Jherek wrote:

What are your thoughts on the Matt Smith Doctor and the new season in general?

Frank M. Reding wrote:Do you really want an answer to that one?

Well, I know I'm asking for trouble, but...yes.

No you're not asking for trouble, but if it will make you feel better I shall endeavour to express myself as dispassionately as possible.

How do I feel about Matt Smith and the new season? Would it surpise you to find I feel the same as I did about the previous two Doctors and the previous four seasons?

No? I didn't think so.

To put it bluntly watching Matt Smith's Doctor is about as interesting as watching paint dry. From what I can tell he brings nothing to the role whatsoever.

After watching Victory of the Daleks I emailed my friend in Kent and said (if I may be allowed to quote myself) "I know he's only five episodes in but given how they raved about him I expected him to just completely chew up the scenery. This was the guy they had to have. He was so perfect for the part." Remember all that? Can any of you honestly say you agree with their assessment?

*whispers* Frank, would it surprise you to hear that I sorta kinda agree with you?

I do wonder how bad the other auditionees must have been. As you know I was sold on Nu Who by Ecclestone's bravely gritty take on the ninth, post Time War, battle weary Doctor.

By the time we got to Tennant it was apparent that RTD's idea of the Doctor was the Tinkerbell Jesus that Doctor Ten became. I couldn't wait to see him go and cheered and groaned in equal measure when he put us through that emotional wringer of a regeneration.

I like what Matt Smith is attempting. And remember, my critique of any actor is tempered by the fact that I'm an actor myself, one that was inspired to take up the craft by William Hartnell's Doctor as much as by Laurence Olivier or Marlon Brando.

But 'attempting' is the right word. Smith is giving us an idea of how an actor might play the Doctor, His performance is certainly one of the most self referential I've seen. It's like he's got a checklist of Doctory alien mannerisms to get through. I've commented on this before but I've not seen so many visual refrences to previous Doctors as in this season.

Jherek wrote:

I'm gonna give this some thought and post a long essay on why it's possible to like Nu and Classic Doctor Who simultaneously.

*adopts laconic voice denoting an attitude of English Irony*

I'm sure you're all looking forward to that.

Foreigner_Man wrote:

Frank M. Reding wrote:

Okay. I can understand why some people don't care for NuWho (though i personally enjoy it).

I still hope to hear your assessment on this new season once it concludes, even if it is 'opening the book'.

superdoug wrote:

Frank M. Reding wrote:I can just imagine Jherek right about now staring at his computer, choking on his tea and doing his impression of that guy from The Mummy yelling DON'T OPEN THE BOOK!!!

I love ya, Frank, but the line is actually: "No! You must not read from the book!"

Frank M. Reding wrote:

Wait wait wait wait wait (see what I did there)

Am I reading this right? Are you saying you DIDN’T like Tennant’s Doctor? I thought you were crazy about him like most everyone else seemed to be. As for his regeneration scene it was a very emotional but unnecessary indulgence. Having regenerated nine times (or ten if you count The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End) before why should this one be treated any differently. Were we to assume that this Doctor was better or more important than the previous ones in some way?

Frank M. Reding wrote:I can respect and appreciate that. And though I don’t like to brag I do know a little something about acting myself having played the lead in my fifth grade class musical.

Frank M. Reding wrote:I guess I haven’t been paying that close of attention then because I never noticed.

Spoiler: