...NEW DR WHO TOINIGHT, EPISODE 13, THE PARTING OF THE WAYS. 18/6/05...

[Richmond Clements]

Well, I was thinking that the Emperor Dalek may not be dead.
After all, it did calim that it could not be killed, that it was, after all a god. What if this was true, and it was?

[House of Usher]

One thing the writers/producer seem to have overlooked is that the Daleks must still exist in various points in history. For one thing they have had time travel, I'm sure of it. And for another, all the Doctor's previous adventures can't be presumed not to have existed, can they? So that means the Daleks must still exist at points between Genesis of the Daleks, Day of the Daleks and Daleks Invasion of Earth and after, so the Doctor could still end up face to face with Dalek fleets from before the Time War took place?

[paulvonscott]

The thing is, the Daleks might not be here for the next series (or so we are told!  would they tell us), so I think it's safe to assume that the Daleks aren't gone for good.

It's a good point about the other Daleks the Doctor has encountered.  I had wondered if the time war had been somehow stretched to encounter them all.  It's a bit mind boggling.

The doctor said he'd know if there were survivors.  But the Master is off in another dimension, and did the meddling monk and the rani get involved?  That's very geeky, and I appreciate nothing could probably have been further from RTD's mind when planning this series.  And of course that line might have just been a bit of heartfelt belief from the doctor.

My theory is the master will come back, press the fast return button, and the daleks and the time lords will be back, and we'll see the time war play out.  I love Time Lord and Gallifrey stories, and think for the moment they are sealed in their own little bubble of improbability, just waiting to be released.

Best of all, I don't know, have no idea.  We'll just see what comes along.

[paulvonscott]

Oh and one thing from Outpost Gallifrey, via the Sun.  I'm so convinced it's nonsense, I'll post it up.

"Rumors abound, mostly in a report in Saturday's The Sun, that the BBC has approached Elisabeth Sladen to reprise the role of Sarah Jane Smith along with her robot dog K-9 in next year's Doctor Who season. The Sun quotes Russell T Davies as saying "Talks are under way with Elisabeth Sladen to revive the iconic character Sarah Jane Smith, who is remembered by a whole generation of Doctor Who fans." However, there's no additional confirmation about this quote or the report itself."

You know, I think I'd shed a tear over that if it came to be.  My favourite assistant (TM), a lovely ending with the Doctor the first time round, K9, that loveable box on wheels, and the memory of the incredible (in a good bad way) theme tune from K9 and company.

[Eric Plumrose]

On a par with Resurrection of the Daleks: superficially exciting but pointless.

Although my brain was disengaged (intentionally or not, I can't remember), the final episode annoyed me more than the previous week's. Anti-climactic. Illogical. Stupid. Look, obviously I wasn't paying attention but the Daleks are off destroying entire continents in mere moments yet it didn't occur to them that blowing up the space station might be a better idea when the Doctor lets slip that he's gonna create a Delta-Goodhram plot device. So Rose is Fenri . . . Sorry, Bad Wolf, cool idea, yet she can only use the vortex to leave obscure clues across time. What's 'Bad Wolf' got to do with anything? Even given that she's tripping her tits surely she could have come up with summat useful? Ah crud, somebody explain it to me 'cos I really can't be arsed to re-watch this tosh.

Then there's the trite heroics. And all that wonderful stuff about consequence completely ruined by having everyone (presumably) come back to life. Yeah, so what if the Doctor dies? He's got the power of regeneration, for fuck's sake!

The whole concept of the Daleks as religious zealot is far more interesting than Nazis with sink plungers but the dialogue -- of all things, given that this is Russell! -- ends up being sub-Life of Brian. And all that bollocks about purging these new Daleks of their humanity when they're all just as irrational as the wankers who gather outside the Big Brother house and cheer the latest eviction.

On the plus side, Tennant looks quirky and fun.

[ARRISARRIS]

...that idea of the doctor bumping into Sarah could work, he could meet her as she is now and dicover K9 needs a bit of DIY and thus we get a new K9...

...and at the same time they could sort out just exactly when those u.n.i.t. stories of the Pertwee era were set...

[Banners]

How come the chain didn't break when they used the tow-truck, as it had with the Mini? Surely, irrespective of the force doing the pulling, it was the chain and not the vehicle which was the, ahem, 'weakest link'...?

M@

[The Amstor Computer]

"the Daleks are off destroying entire continents in mere moments yet it didn't occur to them that blowing up the space station might be a better idea"

Forcefield around the station. Can't remember where it was mentioned, and as you aren't going to watch it anyway, I'm not going to take the time to check.

"What's 'Bad Wolf' got to do with anything?"

It's the name of the media company, and the first thing she notices when she exits the TARDIS, "possessed" by the Vortex.

"And all that wonderful stuff about consequence completely ruined by having everyone (presumably) come back to life."

They didn't; Jack did.

"Yeah, so what if the Doctor dies? He's got the power of regeneration, for fuck's sake!"

But it's still a big change for him, and for Rose. As was said at the end, she would never see him - in that form - again. It certainly upset the hell out of most of the kids who watched, because they obviously got that point - the Ninth Doctor was gone, and he wouldn't be back.

"the dialogue -- of all things, given that this is Russell! -- ends up being sub-Life of Brian"

In your opinion. I thought the Emperor Dalek dialogue was pretty damn good, and there are some fantastic lines in there (the "Filleted... pulped... *sifted*" one was a particular standout, helped along by the fantastic vocals of Nicholas Briggs)

...and yes, Tennant does look good :-)

[The Amstor Computer]

Hmmpf - I know, that was a bit iffy. I think a more elegant solution for opening the TARDIS could have been found.

[Richmond Clements]

Have to agree. The Dalek dialogue was fucking brilliant.

'You may not leave my presence!'

'Predict! Predict!'

Lovely stuff.

[Artificial Idiot]

I rather liked the Emp. Dalek's dialouge. He really gouded the Doctor along, really tried to get under his skin...

And of course accompanied by his Dalek chorus he was even better!  

And yes, I read it as only Jack being brought back to life. Though I'm not sure I agree with that... It *did* really drive home the point of what she was saying, and how are we going to find out what the fragger did in his two years of missing life if he's dead?

[Tiplodocus]

What really made no sense to me was that if the Timelords all have this wonderful Tardises (Tardii?) that have all got this vortex/heart thing in the middle of them then surely it would have been a piece of pish for them to wipe out the daleks yonks ago.

I know the whole series had been gradually revealling the power of the Tardis and on the surface it looks like clever writing but for me it was just a bit weak.

I felt pretty let down by the ending - but on the whole I think the series had more "Wow" moments than cringe-inducing moments and came out on top.  

For a first season, I think they did well - can't wait for it to hit it's stride.

[paulvonscott]

"how are we going to find out what the fragger did in his two years of missing life if he's dead?"

Er, meet him at another point in time before they met him originally.  As he had his brain wiped, it would explain why he wouldn't know them.

[Oddboy]

Watched the William Hartnel pilot episode yesterday...
So... the first three dimentions are height, width & depth - okay. The forth is time - check.
And the fifth is space, is it?

And with that I counter anyone complaining about cod-science in the latest series - which was bloomin' marvellous!

[Conexus]

Cod science? in what episode did the doctor and Rose meet any sentient,technologicaly minded fish- and what was so objectional about the piscine science- was it like some naff role reversal thing were the sentient fish people, caught humans and used their technology to make them dumb and putting them in glass bowls or eating them, only for the doctor to save them all as he he is not affected by the dum,bness ray due to his Gallifreyness