...NEW DR WHO TONIGHT, (MAYBE!!!) 14/04/07, 7.40pm, GRIDLOCK...

[LARF]

Well I thought it was a feckin brilliant episode, one of the best.

So there!

Poor face of Bo :-(

[Lobo Baggins]

Well I thought it was a feckin brilliant episode, one of the best.

So there!

I also enjoyed it - although, as per usual with RTD scripts, it doesn't stand up to scrutiny very much.  With just a few changes (well, one would have done!), it could have been an all time classic - the Macra should have been their former Machevellian selves and engineered the whole situation; destroying the Overcity by creating the Bliss Virus, then using the dermal patch things in combination with the hologram character to mind control the Undercity population, so they've got a ready supply of noxious gas and the occasional snack.

In fact, the story makes a whole lot more sense if you think that's what they are doing and the Doctor just never finds out...

[Banners]

:: there was hardly any forced emotion in it

Eh? What about the singing of the hymn and, of course, the obligatory tears? The frustrating thing seems to be that Doctor Who offers the potential to tell stories about anything and set them anywhere, yet we get unimaginative, clunky and superficial nonsense.

Saying that, it's an odd contradiction - the show is very enjoyable, but rarely any good.

M@

[Bad Andy]

Maybe that should have been 'there wasn't as much forced emotion as the series usually drowns in.'

[Tiplodocus]

So Russel T Davis, if you read this please take note. You're shit at writing Dr Who... let someone with a bit of wit about them take over the writing/producing chores because you are clearly out of your depth.

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure this tactic will work.  

Also I think it may be an idea to include phrases like "I think" or "In my opinion" in your request.

[Leigh S]

Yeah, Lobo - to my mind its the only explanation that makes sense

The gridlock only came into being after the virus (24 years ago, and the old ladies had been amongst the first to join 23 years ago).

someone had to tell poeple that the motorway was their way out - the only people who had anyhting to gain by telling people this was the Macra.  and there is someone telling tehm the motorway leads to salvation - the hologram for one, and theres rumours and talk of jobs outside that must come from somewhere .

Boe didnt get anything by maintaining that illusion - he'd have been better supporting them for as long as he needed (until the virus cleared) and then telling them to start digging!

since there's no reasonable explanation for people expectations of salvation on the motorway - no-one ever gets off and theres strong rumours of monsters - it makes no sense that anyone would persist in the belief there was for a quarter of a century.  Now, if the Macra were behind it, it all makes sense...

I can only think that was the original intention, RTD thought "I can do a story with no baddies too" very late in teh day, and didnt think through the implications of this decision on his scripts - why else use the (previous masters of mind-controlling manipulation Macra?  I suspect if I'm right about the above, it was an attempt to save time by losing their conspiracy subplot.  Now, spread over two episodes, with the Doctor investigating the mystery (and not just being info-dumped the answers), this could have been another Empty Child style modern classic

as is, it's nonsense, no matter how enjoyable you might find the other elements.

[Buddy]

Tips, I'm not convinced it will work either,  just sounding off.

[Lobo Baggins]

Yeah, Lobo - to my mind its the only explanation that makes sense

Yeah, the annoying thing was that when the Doctor said 'Macra!' I though 'Aha!  So, it's the malevalent macinations of the misanthropic Macra! Now it all makes sense! Can't go wrong with a giant fibreglass crab the size of a mini etc' but it turned out it was all a load of coincidences after all.

Again.