Someone, please... Say it ain't so!
Link: Dark Horizons
What a chuffin' rotten way to start the day.
Tis true.
Shows truely dropped to Hale and Pace level now
Link: Beeb conformation
Terrible news.
I am a Dr. Who fan but haven't made much comment on it on this forum....until now.
I thought this series was the worst so far of New Who with very few good episodes, but the news that Catherine Tate will be the new companion is just awful.
She was crap in the Christmas episode she was in and the thought of a whole series with her just depresses me.
The shark jumping is truly upon us now I fear.
Hmmm - i think the problems with Tate are more that the story she was in was pretty rubbish than her acting abilities. She seems a pretty decent actor.
Good to see that RTD is once again thinking outside the box when it comes to companion types! :/
Can you really have an entire series of shouting?
Seems like they're going to give it a go.
- Steve
WEll, i suppose the other problem is Donnas character - only the best travel with the Doctor apparently ( though to be fair, thats a pretty hateful and odd 'rule' on RTDs part - more of his superheroing of Who) but here we have a character who revels in ignorance, having no interest beyond whats going on in her own life. Now, maybe the idea was that she learnt somehting in the story she was in, or will learn something in the series... but its a pretty unlikeable character to start with.
OFFS!
As long as she can RUN!!!
Watcher: I'm actually quite liking the idea the way you present it.
The idea that ignorant Donna has her eyes opened to a larger world going on around her is quite a nice one.
Bet RTD doesn't do it.
He'll probably go for more unrequited love & shouting instead.
Sob !
mind you i was appauled at the idea of billy but she done good... but not this gobby cow, bollocks.
Haven't repled to the other thread but... the reason i kept watching the show, even though i'd get more and more dismayed, was
(A) my son is SO into it and its neat to sit on the sofa with him on a Saturday, and help him collect the cards etc
(B) i held hope that sometime it would, just in some small way, approach the show that i loved as a nipper.
But it never did. This last series started well, and i started to get me hopes up.
But then the Dalek thing happened and it slid, and slid and slid.
And slid.
Now with the Tate harridon its slipped right over.
Think my son's on his own from now on.
mind you i was appauled at the idea of billy but she done good...
exactly, so you never know. of course, i had pretty much given up on the show by then so i haven't seen the x-mas ep
It seems to me no-one wants linger on this show for very long, aware of how the sci-fi genre can be the kiss of death to a career, especially in high-profile campy roles (plus the long hours demanded by special effects and of course having to perform some absolutely dire episodes then having to gushingly praise RTD in public). It annoyed me greatly how little they bothered giving the companions an actual reason for being there, other than it being RTD's childhood fantasy, and that 'Doctor Who has a girl assistant'. I didn't and couldn't watch much of the last series - was there actually any point to her character? It might sound like an odd question but it is kind of the point of drama.
The whole point of Martha was that she could never be Billie, the nations sweetheart and the best actress in the world.
Why does she follow the Doc? 'Cos she wants to.
Bump.
Of course, all the "ignorance and shouting", may just have been a) her character BEFORE the Doctor comes into her life and b) a well-judged attempt to give the post-xmas dinner audience something special ("ooh look, it's that 'bovvered' girl in dr who. that's funny!") WITHOUT doing a crass comedy skit.
After all, by the end of the episode, Donna was a completely different, softer and more thoughtful character.
Now, for me, The Runaway Bride was the absolute worst this new Dr Who has got- and I hated every loathesome second of it. BUT, it was then followed up by the strongest thirteen episodes in the show's entire 44 year history, making up the best series of the show since that copper first shone his torch through the fog. I see no reason to believe that Russell Davies should suddenly spectacularly drop the ball and shoehorn in a character like Donna as she was, without developing her even further than the xmas special's closing scene. SO I trust him and can't wait to see it.
All that said, it's a shame Martha has gone for the time being. Even more so that those rumours of her "sacking" came about. It's put a nasty spin on the whole thing. But I ask you- if you were going to sack an actress for "being crap" (as the Sun said), would you write dialogue about her in her final episode, like "this assistant is useless- all your others in the old days were great, especially Billie!" (I'm paraphrasing, but that's basically what The Master said). Of course not. RTD has plans for Martha- just you wait and see.
Steev
"it was then followed up by the strongest thirteen episodes in the show's entire 44 year history, making up the best series of the show since that copper first shone his torch through the fog."
You really must tell me where to get some of that crack you're smoking.
Cheers
Jim
i'm going to reserve judgment til i've actually seen her. the christmas episodes are a bit crap with the robot santas and killer christmas trees! The main thing is (i hope) she doesnt love the doctor like rose and martha did and will be more down to earth and if she is a bit unlikeable why not? it didnt stop turlough and adric...not sure about kylie though.
In all seriousness- please don't allude to my smoking drugs again. As someone who has worked long and hard with those unfortunate enough to become dependent on drugs and alcohol, I find that extremely offensive.
I appreciate that it was just a crap, childish and cliched attempt at humour, but really- please don't. I've lost enough friends to drugs and alcohol, so I don't use either.
Steev
"please don't allude to my smoking drugs again"
No offence intended. My apologies.
Jim
I just rewatched the Tate episode and, silly Raknos plot and Robot Santas aside, it wasn't that bad - or more to the point, Tate really wasn't that bad. Donna came across as a pretty interesting character, and refreshingly unfazed by the Doctor after (before) Martha's hero-worship. I certainly wouldn't dismiss her before she gets going. My real worry is the dueling-banjos crescendo of shouting that might (will) emerge, and yet again being strong-armed into watching that heap of childish crap Torchwood by Martha's involvement. I understand taht RTD is trying to cross-promote his series, and fair enough for trying, but surely the BBC can see the immorality of encouraging the same fanbase addressed by their CBBC 'Who programmes to watch the (im)mature antics of Torchwood?
Martha's got a nice arse.
I'm not sure if I'm going to be even watching it, but it would be refreshing if RTD can get over the tether of the family.
It would make a change to have a companion with no ties, or nothing to lose, who has no need for a mobile that they can phone home from any era.
- Steve
Martha's got a nice arse.
RAC, Martha's got a nice everything!
"It would make a change to have a companion with no ties, or nothing to lose, who has no need for a mobile that they can phone home from any era."
Yeah I remember that from when I was still trying to watch it, yet no explaination at all was to come. What absolute, turgid bollocks.
Theyre repeating the last series again ove rthe next fortnight on BBC3.
I watched the first one on Friday, and there, encapsulated in one scene, was the core problem with RTD logic.
Basically, RTD tells you what to think, even if it doesnt fit the facts:
The Doctor tells martha that the hospital has been transferred to the moon by the Judoon, alien police types, as they are after a criminal and have no jurisdiction on Earth. Then Martha asks what crime has been commited - "trespassing on the moon?"
This is obviously the most stupid guess that could ever be made given the facts she's just heard. Does the Doctor say "Have you been listening to a word I've just said?" or does he say her guess is "brilliant" (or words to that effect)...