DOCTOR WHO - DOOMSDAY

[Dark Jimbo]

Tonight at seven, peeps... I can't bloody wait...
It may be written by RTD, it may turn out to be a load of old donkey cack, but whatever else it's still CYBERMEN AND DALEKS!!!!!!!






(And apoligies to ARRISARRIS for blagging the thread, I know he seems to like getting these first. No hard feelings) :)

[SamuelAWilkinson]

I have to admit, my hopes aren't high.

[Floyd-the-k]

I've just seen the first Tennant Who episode here and my hopes are....oh well, we'll see. Like Jimbo says it's Cybermen and Daleks, what could be better? any chance they'll throw in Sontarans as well?

[paulvonscott]

I got a buzz out of seeing the daleks pop out of their voidship, and I'm guessing they weren't gay daleks either, I'll probably always get a buzz out of seeing them.  I don't think it's too much to ask for some sort of story to back it all up, but we'll see.

[ThryllSeekyr]

'The Christmas Invasion'


I gotta say that the longer episodes that stand alone a more satifying than watching the old half hour cliff-hangers that almost finished as they started.

This episode was a touch of Highlander and the Alien leader ( Not the Docter!) reminded me of another certain 2000AD character. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Sycorax.jpg/800px-Sycorax.jpg">

[Floyd-the-k]

a touch of Highlander

thankfully so small a touch I didn't notice

[Bico]

PAH!  You're all nerds - nitpicking over the minutae of some kids' programme.  Me and all my mates here at the offices of The Sun think you should all grow up and get lives.  Preferably one involving football and the sexualisation of young girls.
ING GER LUND, etcetera.


How long do you think the show will coast along on the goodwill generated by its recussitation?  As far as I can see, most people watching it are only doing so because its percieved as harmless fluff by all and sundry, but casual viewing will carry it only so.  In order to maintain interest with viewers in the long run, a show has to change and evolve, to offer something new - Who doesn't seem to be evolving with time, from what I can see, although the term 'maturing' might be more accurate.  It seems stuck in a rut of fart-gag mentality and sub-par soap operatic emo shit.  Stampy robots and space-devils need to do more than mince past the camera while Tennant does panto with the sonic screwdriver for a show to qualify as sci-fi.
Casual viewers will eventually move on to other things, while long-term viewers will need to feel they're not watching the same old rubbish over and over again, otherwise they'll tune out.  Even sci-fi fans have standards - however low.

[paulvonscott]

Well, the show costs the BBC a lot of money, at some point it's probably going to get cancelled.  Not neccesarily because it's bad, just because there will be a time when the money could be seen to be spent more wisely.

[Buttonman]

I bet with the DVD and foreign sales this will be a real money spinner for the Beeb, and that they'll run it into the ground as they are so devoid of new ideas - celebrity show jumping anyone?

[Dark Jimbo]

I think they need to find some sort of over-arcing plot thread again, like in the first series. Personally I didn't much like it, but at least there was the whole Bad Wolf foreshadowing that build up to the climax, and that also brought some resolution to the whole Time War background.

While much better, this series has had... well, very little. The Doctor and Rose just continue to bum about time and space a bit aimlessly, for no particular reason, until the series ends. (And constantly crowbarring in the word 'Torchwood' is not an over-arcing plot thread).

[wrighty47]

Personally I can't wait! Even the poorer episodes are head and shoulders above most other things on tv! Roll on the announcment for series 4 (should be any time soon)!

Alan!

[The Amstor Computer]

Well, nice to see the complaining about New Who in general is in early this week - that leaves the rest of the thread to discuss the episode ;-)

Charlie Brooker had a rather good piece in The Guardian today about Who. Apart from sounding eerily familiar, it's nice to see a critic coming out in print to note some changes they feel need to be made. I've posted a chunk of it below, as I tend to agree with a lot of it & thought other boarders might find it interesting:

As for series two as a whole... well, it's been bumpy. My series three wishlist runs as follows:

1: Curb the zaniness. David Tennant's Doctor alternates between "boggle-eyed schoolroom wacko" and "concerned intergalactic statesman" almost without warning. There's too much of the former, not nearly enough of the latter, and precious little in-between. A bit of mucking about is fine; too much and it all starts to resemble The Adventures of Timmy Mallett In Space.

2: Enough deja vu, already. Too often, the Doctor seems scripted as a seen-it-all-before smartarse hell-bent on greeting every creature, artefact, space station and gizmo with a loudly over-familiar "oh, it's YOU" bordering on the camp. At its worst, this is a bit like going hol holiday with someone who's visited your destination before, and behaves like a squakwing tourist guide the whole time you're there, pointing out the best cafes and choosing from the menu on your behalf until you feel like ramming their digital camera up their arse, just so they'll be able to take home a picture of something they haven't seen before. I know the Doctor's been exploring the universe for eons, but a touch more humility would be nice.

3: More two-parters, please. Several three- and four-parters wouldn't go amiss either. Partly because it'd be nice to give some of the stories more space to breathe, and partly because I'm presuming the economies of scale involved might make it possible to do away with the occasional "cost-cutting" talky episodes altogether.

4: More episodes directed by Euros Lyn. Not only were his episodes the most visually interesting, but his name sounds like a space station and therefore looks really cool in the credits.

5: My suggestions for next companion: Bez; Wayne Rooney; the entire cast of Channel 4's Coach Trip; a purple CGI blob with a retractable anteater's proboscis, voiced by Tim Westwood; Lisa Simpson; Chloe from 24; Charles Kennedy; Pink.

6: More scary monsters. OK, so tonight we're being treated to an all-out bundle between Daleks and Cybermen. That's great. But some new regular nasties would be nice. Not the Slitheen; they're just silly. I want to see an all-new race of humourless, fascistic bastards worthy of ranking alongside the old favourites. Oh, and they should be armed with drills. Not lasers. Drills.

7: Stop the continuity announcers talking over the end credits so we can hear the theme tune properly.

Anyway, that's my two penneth. Said gripes and suggestions are, of course, borne out of love. Although I found myself in the uncomfortable position of utterly hating one episode this series (the Love and Monsters wack-a-thon starring Peter Kay), and although it's a series aimed primarily at an audience yet to experience puberty, it's still the most consistently inventive, lovingly-crafted British drama on TV. Fact!

[Dark Jimbo]

Well, nice to see the complaining about New Who in general is in early this week.

You criticise most the things you love.

[The Amstor Computer]

Indeed.

(Must make it clear, the "complaining in early" bit was meant as a jokey comment, not a dig at anyone)

[Will I. Cooling]

Who thinks they'll bring back The Master next series? They seem to be in a groove of bringing one major bad guy back each series.

And I'm looking forward to this, although the series has nothing on the previous one (primarily due to the fact that Tennant is nowhere near as good as Ecclestone) you've gotta love Daleks vs Cybermen super-war. Although how they'll do it justice in an hour is beyond me.

Will