...NEW DR WHO TONIGHT, 24/06/06, 7pm, FEAR HER...

[The Amstor Computer]

Watcher --

I suspect he's being pushed to give this particular performance - perhaps as Colin Baker says he was pushed to play the Doctor in a certain way?

Paul --

Well, if you're a miserable old bugger, then I guess I am too. I've been quite disappointed by this series, in spite of some good episodes.

Looking back over the first series I can pick out 10 or 11 episodes that I really enjoyed, and I'd be happy to watch the whole series again. This series has had a far lower hit rate - Tooth & Claw, School Reunion, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Idiot's Lantern, the Impossible Planet/Satan Pit and perhaps the upcoming season finale are the only episodes I'd want to revisit right now, and I'm not sure how well they'd stand up on a second viewing.

My feelings about the show at the moment are perhaps best summed by telling you that last year I would be eager to see each new episode, and it would be the highlight of the Saturday. This year I've found myself thinking, "well, I could always just watch the repeat..."

[The Amstor Computer]

The frustrating thing is that I don't think there's been a bad episode that couldn't have been very easily fixed

Quite. Given that they have some pretty talented people working on the show who have shone in other productions, I'd suggest that it appears that fixing these particular problems ranks fairly low for the producers.

[Wils]

I agree about the ease of fixing.

I think this episode would've been great if it had a Tales of the Unexpected vibe to it instead of the Chucklevision one RTD foisted upon it.

[Leigh S]

The beauty of outing surly comic book staff on a 2000Ad website is the fact they seem to resolutely point their noses up at the comic, while simultaneously beating off over Moore, Morrison and Millar...

Still can remember the shock and disgust expressed by one Nostalgia and comics staffee when they saw a regular buying something 2000AD - "YOU buy 2000AD?!!?" followed by a "whats it like?" comment when she realised the guy seemed vaguely offended by her disgusted tone - there are a number of copies on the shelf there, me dear, if you really want to know...

Still at least N&C (belatedly) had all the current GNs in, including Fiends

[Leigh S]

ooop  -wrong thread - just to say on topicwise, that Tennant seems to be choosing this OTT angle himslef - for instance, the worst so far for me was the drunk scene in GITF, which tennant insisted on reinstating after wiser heads had said nay.  

i wonder if the problem isn't fans running the whole show, from producer to main actor - i feel they are prone to pushing the envelope either to prove they arent anal fans, or to add "layers" that the general public couldnt give two hoots about.  If you look at the audience appreciation figures, the "trad" episodes seem to go down slightly better with the general public - I suspect a "non fan" production team would probably play it even closer to the original format, as they wouldnt necessarily feel "fan embarassment" and a need to validate their hero as something less "geeky" to the wider audience.  I suspect the wider audience are just as pissed off with the Emo and DTs Malletness - certainly thats the feedback i get from people who enjoyed series 1 but are kind of losing interest with series 2.  That said, the viewing figures so far suggest more people watching and better AIs, so maybe theres a call for a modern day Mallet!

[Leigh S]

i think teh perfect example of what Im feelign about the fannishness of series 2 especially comes from The Girl in The fireplace - that one line:  

"I'm the Doctor and I just snogged Madame De Pompadour" can be translated as:

"I am Steven Moffatt, and I really want to upturn this asexual nonsense that those intolerable geeks in fandom who I dont want to be associated with insist on clinging to like some well worn teddy"

and

"I was a Who fan, but now I am actually playing the Doctor, and I've scored with this hottie actress!"

[ARRISARRIS]

...the trouble with the good Doctor is his show is trying to appeal to a far to wide audiance, this weeks show was clearly for the under 10's, where as the next 2 are for older viewers and the fans, any other thoughts???...

[dweezil2]

For some reason the detective slant in the episode brought to mind Sapphire and Steel. Not a bad concept, but way to much schmaltz. Next weeks looks peachy, though.

[Banners]

That was a concept looking for a story. I'm not sure they found one.

And worse, they have the entirity of space and time to play with, but they set an episode in a contemporary British suburb and focus on a bedroom...

The episode was completely underwhelming, and ill-deserving of the sentiment that was clumsily fastened to the ending.

M@

[Adrian Bamforth]

I think the problem from the start of the show was the hype - by being featured on everything - kids TV, tabloids, Radio Times etc (and by being pitched at small kids who don't necessarily care about the story) the show was made to be a big success without it having to be any good. Now no-one wants to criticise Russel T Davies because the show is a hit and because they are being granted so much access to the show.

I think if the show were new there would be a lot of confusion over exactly what it's trying to achieve, and they would have to put in some actual motivations for the characters. Now it's a hit Davies can do exactly what he likes and no-one dares say that his episodes are awful.

ADE

[Lobo Baggins]

That was a concept looking for a story. I'm not sure they found one.

It might have worked a bit better if they had actually spent any money on it - specially the idea of drawings coming to life.  When the Doctor said he could only draw stick men, I was hoping that one would turn up.  That would have been REALLY creepy...

In fact, just having a glimpse of a stick man turning up to drag people off into the 2D world rather than just vanishing would have made the story unforgettable.

[Banners]

Indeed, the cocnept itself wasn't explored, apart from that flying scribble. Essentially, it should have been a lot like the video for "Take on Me" by a-ha.

M@

[DavidXBrunt]

Agreed. Nice idea, shame about the realisation.

Could have been a Dalek gun without actually being attatched to a Dalek seeing as how the story involves Torchwood, gatherers of alien Flotsam and Jetsom and looters of the dead in The Doctors wake.

Two guesses as to what could happen next involve Cybermen vs Cybermen and Cybermen verses/with an alien from Season One.

[Steve Green]

It's a shame, I liked the idea. I thought the scribble would have been better if it had shown to be more dangerous, like the Christmas tree in The Christmas Invasion.

If they'd had the budget, I think this would have been quite cool -

http://www.themonsterengine.com/art.html

not necessarily that people are captured on paper, more that they're transformed into a distorted child's version of themselves.

- Steve

[House of Usher]

I've only just watched it. Very obvious faults with it, but I still found myself gripped.

:-/

The dialogue, especially the mum's, was terrible. No-one really speaks like that. Too rhetorical. Not enough cartoon animation. Too much touchy-feely nonsense. And the live news broadcasting was unconvincing.

And the direction was lacklustre. From the very start, with tracking shots following someone pushing a pram right to left switching to following an old lady pulling a shopping trolley walking left to right, then lighting on kids playing football, I thought "oh dear..."

But never mind, it did the job, whatever it was.

Not too happy about the trailer giving away probably the best bits, if not the whole, of next week's episode...