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...NEW DR WHO TONIGHT, 02/06/07, 7:10pm, 'THE FAMILY OF BLOOD'...

Started by ARRISARRIS, 02 June, 2007, 08:37:21 AM

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ARRISARRIS


The Monarch


LARF

Now that was the BEST episode of Dr Who I have ever had the privledge of watching, and the only one that brough tears to my eyes at the end. Genius!

Goaty

i never cry at doctor who before, and after the end, i did! very brilliant episode!

VisibleMan

Very good episode! Best since TIP at least.

A story that follows it's own logic, good characterisation, given time to develop and no silly "broad" humour.

If I really *had* to be picky though, the Family were a bit thick to not notice the button-pushing... I did like their punishments though.

Smiley

The usual gurning, histrionics and occasional naff bits but overall pretty good. Despite the rubbish villains and monsters, the character bits throughout the story were absolutely top notch, especially concerning the Doctor. Even the headmaster had a moment to shine before fulfilling the token turn-up-'n'-snuff-it role.

And how good was Jessica Stevenson?

Leigh S

It was OK, but let itself down with a Return of the King style profusion of endings and struck some odd notes that for me, felt rather off.  I liked the idea the Doctor had ran for their benefit, but surely one singular fate for them all would have been a bit less.... silly than what we got.  Plus, the idea the Doctor would go to such lengths to devise and execute a number of different eternal 'punishments' is just.... wrong IMO - very Times Champion bollocks.  That and making your main character a "God" when the beauty of Who is surely that he's renounced any authority and power that being a Timelord bestows to become a wanderer.  Just like the Half human stuff tries to justify the Doctors liking of Earth in the TV movie, the Times Champion stuff tries to elevate the Doctor into something 'more than a Timelord' that I think diminishes him and his adventures.
 
Anyway, better to have cut down and streamlined the various endings and beefed up the main plot a bit more... next weeks could be good though  

Cthulouis

Why exactly did the doctor need to execute these creatures that had by their own admission really really short lifespans?

pauljholden

He didn't execute them, he punished each of them by making them immortal in various ways and imprisoning them without a hope of escape.

Having said that, as that part was narrated by one of the bad guys I'm inclined to think that it was a mythological spin on their real punishments told by generations of the family to each other.

I thought it was a fucking great episode - perfect in every way. (or the good so outweighed the bad that any bad is irrelevant).

I just wish I was 10 years old so I could go around tilting my head at funny angles in sniffing loudly.

- pj

Will I. Cooling


It it was amazing; probably the best doctor who episode (old and new) that I've seen. The stuff when John Smith is deciding whether to become the doctor again is heartbreaking. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.
The I is for 'I can't remember the password to my other account' or Ian. One or the other.

Buddy

Liked it if a bit over sentimental.

So the boy isn't the Master.

Was the Master in the watch (it seemed to be talking to him in Sam Tylers voice) so is the master now hiding in the Doctor?

Freema Agyeman is growing on me but I'm put off by the whole unrequented love thing she's got with The Doctor (although why The Doctor seemingly fell for kipper faced Rose and has no interest in the much more sexy Martha is the real mystery here).

So to sum up... more of this sort of thing and less of RTD's gushing. Roll on next year when RTD leaves the series, lets hope some one like Paul Cornell get the chance to inject some life into the series.

Adrian Bamforth

I must try and watch it this week, it looked very good from what I saw though I wish you could press a button on the remote and switch the music off.

Quirkafleeg

The Tardis dematerialisation effect at the end was shockingly bad! They did a better job back in the 70s.

And the punishment things were very off. The Doctor should never be such a nasty bastard.

There was some other rubbish like nasal ventriloquism or whatever it was supposed to be, but overall a good episode.

Adrian Bamforth

"There was some other rubbish like nasal ventriloquism"

Nah, that is actually how The Doctor speaks these day.

Smiley

And the punishment things were very off. The Doctor should never be such a nasty bastard.

Why not? The way I saw it, he runs away at the start with a set of priorities, to save Martha foremost, then to save himself. That's a given. He's basically a good guy. At the end it's explained that he also wanted to save them from himself (and in a way them from themselves) so we learn that his flight suggested a lot more urgency because he was glose to just giving up and punishing them. That makes his desire (more like agony) to remain as John Smith all the more significant.

They wouldn't leave off and killed less for their self-preservation than for fun, so he loses it. Hence the seperate punishments. Once would have been enough but this was for his gratification, not their betterment. It's one of those "Who's really suffering here?" things. They got off comparatively lightly and learned a shitload of irony into the bargain.

At least that's how I see it. (No the pun wasn't intentional.)

Pity about the end of season spoilering re: the identity of its villain. I'd have thought it'd stay off the weekly threads. Hope it's still just speculation.