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...or it may just be "Wank"...

This is the Moffat episode of the season, it's going to be sweet.

Moffat episodes are usually the highlights of the series for me so I have high hopes

It was a triumph!

It was so good, it messed up the reception on my telly so I couldn't here anything.

I'm off to tape a playground game of Mr Wolf and put it on the internet so the Beeb will give me money.

And that stupid bit at the end was stupid.

That was all the good bits of the new series, very few of the bad bits, and an added dose f smarts.  

I was surprised to find that even Tennants "Time wimey" stuff works when shorn of the tedious RTD masterplan elements.  Probably the first time he has actually convinced me as the Doctor, and even with him not really stepping too far from the character as RTD would ahve him.  Just goes to show how a shade of subtle can turn something from farce to fine.

Again, this one was more Sapphire and Steel than Dr Who in many respects, and I'm not sure that I'd rather have Dr Who be Dr Who and a new series of Sapphire and Steel be Sapphire and Steel, but even so, very good, and renewed my faith in the possibility that Who could quite easily mutate into something i could enjoy wholeheartedly without actually too much trouble

I liked it, although not sure what the point of the end bit was apart from to make little kids even more afraid of statues...

There was a nice touch where Sally moved in front of the statue and it changed as she passed.

- Steve

good and Sally was lovely.

Yeah, I think she would make a great Doctor's companion.

- Steve

"although not sure what the point of the end bit was apart from to make little kids even more afraid of statues..."

It was to make little kids even more afraid of statues.

Actually I really liked that they did that, like when Roahl Dahl tells us ugly old women are actually witches. You can't proove that they aren't

The statues no moving is itself a great idea, better than if we had seen people acting as statues - a great example of using suggestion and putting some thought into what actually makes scary things scary. The music wasn't too dominating as it usually is too.

However, the 'must remember to give myself a note in the future to send a message back' type stuff is always just as silly as it was done for comic effect in Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure, and that really should have been the end of it. Also, I just don't think you can have episodes of a show with so little of the main character in it, it just looks like they want to milk the show for more than they have time to film - which they have effectively admitted to.

Agreed about the Saphire & Steel thing. Even when there are good episodes they are often just so inconsistant within a series, especially when Earthbound - it doesn't make much sense at all when The Doctor gets so involved in the affairs of a few individuals on Earth. Who's going to see him wearing a poppy in space? Just make another show with people who have a function on Earth.

Hmmm...my boy is still not asleep...was a good episode though!!

Kudos to the people playing the statues as well.

I just thought they were multiple props rather than actors in prosthetics shown in DWC afterwards.

- Steve

Cheaper.

Best Doctor Who episode ever, in my opinion. Even better than last week's (the former Best Doctor Who episode ever).

After a very shaky start, the series is really picking up.

"He's tricked them!  They'll never move again!"  Well, not unless that light goes out - you know, the one that was flickering a moment ago.  And even if it doesn't, shouldn't someone move the statues somewhere well-lit?  With a lot of street lamps for when it gets dark?  Or is Sally going to keep replacing lightbulbs in that cellar for the rest of her life?  And her kids' lives, too.
The 'scientific' explanation for the creatures was unnecessary.  Why try to rationalise something so blatantly ridiculous?  I can only assume because they wanted to suggest science, and not fantasy, was behind the creatures.  Of course, these are merely NIGGLES, as opposed to genuine criticism.  Genuine criticism would be to ask about that bit at the end which virtually ruins everything that went before it.  The episode ends logically, with a reference to a previous event which now has a different meaning (as dictated by Hero's Journey 101 storytelling), but then inexplicably continues with a  sequence that amounts to loud dance music playing over a scene that screams "PLEASE BE CREEPED OUT, KIDDIES!  THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!"  I'm genuinely flabbergasted that this was stuck on - what were they thinking?  It defies logical analysis, as everything up to that point was geared towards creeping horror, not screaming hysterics.
Of course, if it was usual Who, I'd probably not be so bothered by it, but this was a great episode, and probably the best one yet.  That some script doctor was allowed to shoehorn in that end sequence leaves me more confused than anything else.  What was the point?

It's just like Terminator.
It's a paradox..............

Oh! and that's not a place where Para's go to catch a ride on a ship>>>>>>

Maybe they could see in the dark.

It occurred to me that although blinking might have been out of the question, they could have avoided straining their eyes by looking at them with only one eye open at a time.

I'm talking about Sally and whatsisname in that last sentence, of course.

...the Doctor is such a 'NICE' man that all the people sent into the past have to stay there, to serve the one and only purpose of passing messages onto Sally. And like the punishments to the family of blood and last years live head in a pavement, the Doctor really does have a MEAN and SADISTIC streak that really is unbecoming...

...however a very good creepy story...

Nah, he's making the best of bad situations. As the other characters were. If anything there's a lot of fatalism going on.

The episode was a blinder. Martha stole the show for me with her butting in.

Best bit of TV all year. A bunch of us watched it round at a mate's house and we all loved the fact they did that sequence at the end to scare the shit out of all kids in the future.

Only problem with it was how she got the Tardis key thing, other than that - brilliant.

Two good episodes on the trot; when is this season finishing?

Enjoyed that, and yes Sally was lovely, very reminecent of Jo, who was also lovely.

Another great episode with very little Who in it, like the one with Peter Kay from last series.

He shouldn't be in it more often if we get this sort of show.

No doubt RTD will be along again soon to spoil it all with another shit episode.

Just watched it on trusty old home-taped VHS...

Loverly, wannit? Even the mock science was, while not in any way believable, at least a bit of a nod and a wink to all the quantum/Schrodinger/indeterminacy stuff. Tasty.

Next week: Captain Jack! And explosions! Wowza.

Sally
(http://photobucket.com"%20target="_blank)

The resemblence is uncanny!!

the Doctor really does have a MEAN and SADISTIC streak that really is unbecoming...

Isn't that supposed to be a plot point in the last few episodes?

the Doctor really does have a MEAN and SADISTIC streak that really is unbecoming...

Isn't that supposed to be a plot point in the last few episodes?

...im saving myself for a second viewing but this episode really sticks in your mind, cant stop remembering bits, while im here, does anyone else think it has a passing resemblance to The Ring??? but in a good way...

The best of the season so far, but what I expected from Moffat. There were a few plot holes which kind of stopped making it as good as it could have been.

One of my personal irritations kicked in with the crap-looking stone (of the angels), which always looks rubbish in telly nowadays like cheap Styrofoam (see every grave in every soap for the last ten years).

What was the t-shirt slogan? I expect there's some on ebay already.

Oh and 'timey-wimey', fuck off.

Angels stolen my TADRIS i guess?

Amusing, if not 100% work safe image based on this episode now showing on B3ta.com.

Link: The Doctor was right...

"No doubt RTD will be along again soon to spoil it all with another shit episode."

Saturday, 7:00, BBC1

i thought it was brilliant, these episodes where the DR just pops into someone elses story really work for me, even tho we missed the first 10 minutes, i was confused how the tardis dematerialised & left the folks in the ring of statues tho.. i should pay more attending to the techy stuff.

>"No doubt RTD will be along again soon to spoil it all with another shit episode."

>Saturday, 7:00, BBC1

Oh yeah, my heart sank when I saw the preview: back to normal then, I thought.

One of the best episodes so far, I reckon.  Somebody told me that Martha's off soon.  Anyone know if there's any truth to that?

The only report I saw was said to be from The Sun.

Freema Agyeman stated that she hadn't been sacked, although someone pointed out that she could have only been contracted for one season, and that S4 could be partially a search for Martha.

So, nothing concrete really - although judging by Blink, Carey Mulligan, who played Sally would be an excellent replacement if she wanted to do it.

- Steve

Yeah- I thought so too.  At a push, he could take her boyfriend on as well.  I think Freema's getting a a bit of a raw deal if she was sacked, mind.

He could at least have come back at the end and said thank you or something.  Considering all the trouble Sally went to, and the Doctor not being averse to going back in time to wiggle his tie at complete strangers, he seems like a bit of an ungrateful cunt, to say the least.

The Doctor strikes me as being a bit of a cunt all the time (I won't make a list), perhaps it's his flippant manner over everything, vanity, sarcasm and lack of gratitude that he has a time machine... but it seemed a particularly off when in the Lazarus episode he started lecturing that professor that dying after a certain number of years is part of being human. It would be a bit like if I lectured someone in a poor part of Africa that dying aged 30 was part of being African. It wasn't a good episode and I actually think perhaps the writer may have forgotten that he isn't actually human himself.

Why? What species is the writer?

I'll rephrase it: It wasn't a good episode and I actually think perhaps the writer may have forgotten that THE DOCTOR isn't actually human himself.

This was easily the scariest episode of Who I've seen since childhood, it genuinely left me freaked out and I even had nightmares. I'm lucky my girlfriend is understanding enough to be woken up at 3 in the morning because I was too freaked out to walk to the toilet on my own. Seriously, I wasn't that scared watching it but it seems to have traumatized me in some way.

I'd be gutted if Martha left, she's hot to trot and  gives me a reason to watch when things get a bit dull. Also, with the last 3 episodes not really featuring the Dr properly my young nephew is starting to lose interest, so they're gonna need to pull the kids back in as viewers soon I think.

Sorry. That was particularly obtuse, wasn't it?

I think Freema's been fine, I'm not sure where these negative reports are coming from.

I thought the big problem with Rose was that it was severly overbalanced towards her family, and although there's still some connection with Martha and her family, it's not been as intrusive.

- Steve

I think Freema's been great, showing good acting skills well above what she showed in her bit-part from last season's Dalek-Cyberman episode.  Hope she stays, but a 2nd companion wouldn't be a bad idea...especially Sally.

Where do they sleep on the Tardis?  I used to get the idea that they spent time on the Tardis when travelling, but you don't get the same feeling these days.  I mean they have to sleep, poop, wash, etc. somewhere.

It looked in the first episode that they were doing something radical and returning back to (presumably) the original idea of the Tardis merely being an HG Welles-style time machine rather than a home which seemed to be the implication of the old series...though they never went on to explain where they did sleep etc when it would have been just the right opportunity, and it's still totally ambiguous. We're left with a Tardis which is, despite all the design which went into it, is even less homely then the last one. Chair, anyone?

Is it my imagination or do I remember as a kid there was a big labyrinth INSIDE the Tardis where people got lost? Did they also ever show living quarters?

They showed all-sorts...I remember Romana trying on different outfits in her room.  I think there was a lot of corridors in at least one episode too.

Just did a wikipedia on it (I really should be working) and apparently there was a wardrobe (read really big room) in the 'Christmas Invasion' episode.

"They showed all-sorts"

boo!!!

>Is it my imagination or do I remember as a kid there was a big labyrinth INSIDE the Tardis where people got lost?

It was in Invasion of Time. I feel like some sort of ubergeek knowing that.

"They showed all-sorts...I remember Romana trying on different outfits in her room. I think there was a lot of corridors in at least one episode too."

Must be something in the water as I was thinking about this the other day as well.  I seem to recall Tom Baker walking along some sort of gantry/walkway that was high up on a wall somewhere inside the Tardis.  I can't have been that old and I might be just confusing it with something else- but I've always assumed that the inside of the Tardis is massive since then, with lots of rooms and wotnot.  Infact, call me crazy, but I'm sure I remember a swimming pool- although I'm willing to let that go as some kind of beer fuelled dream.

"swimming pool" tardis -> Google

Result =

That sounds like a Peter Davidson episode but it was outside of the tardis with a lot of running about alon white pillared walkways.

bet that left a mess after the TARDIS was shaken about by the statues last week...what does the thing weigh?

Hurrah- not mad after all!

Do you have a letter from a Doctor (or The Doctor) to that affect...if not...

The Tardis can adjust its weight to suite the local gravity and surface of wherever it materialises... ie has heavy as the scriptwriters want it to be.

heh..thanks!

There's a bit where Romana said it weights like 60 zillion kilos or something but that's clearly rubbish as its been shifted about by a few people on more than one occasion

Check this - a comic maker.

Cool. Anybody bothered to register for it?

Link: Who comic maker

the Doctor really does have a MEAN and SADISTIC streak that really is unbecoming...

Isn't that what we were promised in the first christmas episode

I've had a crack at the comic maker (started off as something to do with the kid, but then I had a 'proper' go).  It's not very versatile, but it was fun.

Tried getting the boy's picture on there...it doesn't work particularly well...I wouldn't bother!

Link: Death Sat 1

scary, the old time paradoxy thingy, bet zillions of kids not going to bed and saying 'i scared mummy' that night !