...NEW DR WHO TONIGHT, 15/04/06,7.15pm, TOOTH & CLAW...

[McNulty]

I didn't like this episode because of the attitudes shown by the Doctor and Rose and by the introduction of Torchwood.
The Doctor and Rose did not take the life threatening situation seriously enough, even when people were getting torn apart by the space werewolf, they seemed more impressed by the wolf itself.
Queen Victoria establishes Torchwood to battle the Doctor if he ever returned to Britain. So why have they done nothing to stop him up to now? And why were they happy to have him situated with U.N.I.T. all throughout the Seventies? There are too many problems with continuity because of this development.
I prefered last week's episode.

[judge dreddd]

Odd stuff with the werewolf saying rose was / had seen the wolf stuff. mmm, torchwood, unsure on that, sounds more like a 'x-files' place, or something

If the last series was anything to go by then torchwoods mission changed, things change, i suppose the doc was seen as a threat and now as a friend.

[Grae the puppetmaker]

As much as I enjoyed the intro, on reflection it just doesn't seem to gell with the rest of the episode. Almost as if at some point during the script meeting someone said "Wouldn't it be cool if the monks knew kung-fu!" and everyone else said "Wow! Cool! We can really show-off our FX budget now!"

Good episode though.

[pauljholden]

Call me a sad old git (which I am) but I just re-watched it while listening to the commentary and there very specifically say that the
[spoilers ahead]









set up in this episode of torchwood pays off in the last couple of episodes of this series - so could be a corker

I really enjoyed it.

- pj

[Keef Monkey]

Loved it tonight, thought the effects were great for a BBC show, although there may be some truth in them not spreading the effects budget evenly through the whole series. By that I mean this week they made me believe a werewolf was running amok whereas last week they couldn't make it look like someone was falling off a ladder. But I guess that's part of the Dr Who charm.
Really enjoyed this episode and can't wait for next week!
This will be showing my ignorance, but I thought I heard someone mention that there was a connection to 2000ad? A friend of mine reckons they share some writers or something. And who's this RTD guy when he's not writing Dr Who?

[SamuelAWilkinson]

The conversation between Rose and the werewolf seemed to link to the bit where Rose got super-time-powers at the end of series one. There's the obvious fact that they're both bad wolves, but the wolf also talked about her being as bright as the sun, or something. Which she was.

Tenuous, but I thought it was there.

[judge dreddd]

nature is red in tooth & claw, most roses are red

ahh ,yesss, she is a werewolf really !!!!

mmmm

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

I agree with everyone, esp. McNulty. I loved the episode. I thought it a vast improvement on the previous week.

My only criticism is that this one, and to an extent the one before, relies too much on a chase as a means of creating tension. And, the whole werewolf thing (and the zombie patients last week) could be a bit much for kiddies. Is there a danger of the BBC alienating part of its audience because adults think it is too OTT?

Mrs X, who is probably representative of the non-geek majority, argues pretty damn convicingly that the Doctor is just too manic. I gotta agree - unless he calms down, he's going to grate. Tennant is more OTT than Eccleston. Which brings me to my first criticism: Why has the Doctor's character not changed? Previously there were always changes to minor character traits to differentiate one incarnation from the next not here.

Presumably either (a) the first scripts were written for Eccleston; or, (b) the production team didn't want to depart from the Eccleston character too soon. Either way, me not likey.

In particular, I think the tone of the Doctor and Rose was too wrong. They should have been concerned for the people being killed, not just tossing off over seeing a monster.

Maybe they are setting up a chummy relationship so that the Doctor feels the consequences (so overtly alluded to by Queen Vic) more when Rose gets the chop later on.

Which brings me to my personal saddo speculation.

I think Rose is the Master. He was last seen in the 90s movie (which is canon). In that film, he possesses people and is trapped in the Eye of Harmony. Which was last opened by Rose. So, there you go.

That set-up, incidentally, allows Rose to be a recurring character should Piper leave. She could then be in a few epidsodes a season, or miss a season but still return.

Which is what the BBC has said she will do from the third season on.

[Artificial Idiot]

I remember Russel T. Davies saying that he was writing the Doctor as the same character, and relying on Tennant to bring in the difference.

I quite like Tennants manic edge, I just feel like he takes the world too lightly. But on the other hand, when he gets serious, he seems to get deadly serious. And when he panics or is overwhelmed, he seems to fall apart... Which is quite worrying, I'd like to see that little trait cause trouble for him in the future.

I quite liked this episode on the whole though, although the introduction of Torchwood was a pretty clunky, poor ending - Much like the kung-fu monks were a clunky and poor start. The rest of it though was top class.

[VampiraJen]

a bit to much for kiddies??  people were getting ripped apart.  werewolves are cool, who doesn't like them?  

loved this ep.  the wolf looked top notch, but just a touch dodgy in some wide shots.  you know, we did see rose reacting to that soldier who was 'buying them some time' getting torn apart.  although there was a bit  of a 'been there done that not scared at all' feel from the doctor.

next week didn't look that hot really.  i hate k9.

Anyone else think the ninja monks were the spit of the dudes who dance around and pretend to have a fight sometimes in the BBC 1 stings?

its all i could think.  and what was with the dodgy camera work, things moving a bit faster than they should and all that?

[SamuelAWilkinson]

If Rose was the Master, surely Cassandra would've noticed there was someone else in there when she possessed her body?

[The Amstor Computer]

Overnights are in, and this ep scored around 8.9 million viewers. The BARB final figures for episode 1 should be in fairly soon.

[Keef Monkey]

I don't really think it's gonna scare kids any more than it did years ago, when I was a kid watching it I was absolutely terrified week after week.

[petemaskreplica]

I thought this was an absolutely wonderful episode.

It was very well paced, managed to justify everything that happened without relying on Basil Exposition, created some genuine tension, and balanced the humour and drama excellently. I was particularly impressed with the way the running gag of Rose trying to make Victoria say "We are not amused" was resolved with her and the Doctor being upbraided by the queen. From what I gather, one of the important story arcs of this season is the Doctor and Rose's over-confidence eventually having grave consequences, and if that's true, I think the seeds of that were very well sown here.

Surprisingly, the thing that least impressed me was the werewolf itself. I mean, it was very well realised, and full credit to the special efects bods, but part of me did wish it had been a bloke running around in a big hairy suit :)

Really looking forward to next week. If they can make a robot dog seem a credible proposition in 2006, frankly they can do anything ;)

[Buddy]

Excellent.