Has anyone been watching the latest season of Doctor Who with Matt Smith? I caught a couple of episodes on TV but missed some, so I ended up downloading them all this weekend (and then having a six hour Who marathon!).
I've been mostly impressed with the stories, and now want to do an Eccleston-Tennant marathon (four glorious seasons of Whovian goodness!)
I have seen every episode of the new doctor who accept last weeks. Only one episode behind.
It is fun to watch. Even with the actors changing so often.
So far it's really not grabbing me, I don't know why...
Quote from: Lazybones on June 07, 2010, 04:34:18 PM
I have seen every episode of the new doctor who accept last weeks. Only one episode behind.
It is fun to watch. Even with the actors changing so often.
Well... You could always download all of the old stuff? I have a 200gig drive I can't find a power cord for that is chock-full of it.
I gotta say, the new millennium put much better special effects in Doctor Who :)
Quote from: Thorin on June 07, 2010, 05:56:53 PM
I gotta say, the new millennium put much better special effects in Doctor Who :)
Well, it couldn't be underfunded 70s British public broadcasting forever!
With such a gigantic cult following over the last 40 odd years you'd think it would have gotten star treatment long ago.
Ya it has moved up to campy lex
Level cg, however the effects seem to be improve every season.
Quote from: Lazybones on June 07, 2010, 10:24:17 PM
Ya it has moved up to campy lex
Level cg, however the effects seem to be improve every season.
I think it's somewhere between
Lexx and
Farscape with hints of
Battlestar
I think the special effects still fall flat sometimes. The Weeping Angels (creepy moving statues) are top-notch. Prisoner Zero from the series opener was alright, but had that computer-animated look to it. The alien monster from the Vincent Van Gogh episode looked like cheap 1994 computer-generated crap.
Looking back across the new series, that same pattern appears - sometimes the special effects are great (skies turning black from flying Daleks?!), sometimes you wonder if the studio is at the end of it's funding and waiting for new funding to arrive.
Quote from: Thorin on June 08, 2010, 09:52:10 AM
The Weeping Angels (creepy moving statues) are top-notch.
That is an excellent example of where not seeing the monster is more frighting than seeing a poorly animated one completely.
I think I generally find the episodes where the aliens / monsters are done with practical effects instead of CG are better, however there are exampled of that looking bad as well.
What about the episode where the clockwork robots where going back in time and stealing body parts. Or the library where the shadows instantly reduced people to bone?
So I decided to have a Doctor Who summer with my kids, and we started watching from the first episode of the new millennium. I'm proud to say my kids know what clockwork robots you're talking about!
Although there have been kids coming into my bed in the middle of the night lately. Hmm, I wonder if that's connected.
Oh, and I've made sure to download all the little specials - for instance, there's a seven minute special between the last Eccleston episode and the first Tennant Christmas special. The kids got a kick out of watching a seven minute show.
We've watched 19 separate episodes and specials so far, and according to Wikipedia we have 56 to go. Good lord, I just realized there are 75 "new" Doctor Who episodes already!
That's really cool, half of what makes Dr. Who magic when you are a kid is being scared by it, then the addiction spreads...
I recently discovered we had missed a few of the specials, it was a nice to have some more dr who to watch.
Quote from: Lazybones on June 08, 2010, 11:30:35 AM
Quote from: Thorin on June 08, 2010, 09:52:10 AM
The Weeping Angels (creepy moving statues) are top-notch.
That is an excellent example of where not seeing the monster is more frighting than seeing a poorly animated one completely.
I think I generally find the episodes where the aliens / monsters are done with practical effects instead of CG are better, however there are exampled of that looking bad as well.
What about the episode where the clockwork robots where going back in time and stealing body parts. Or the library where the shadows instantly reduced people to bone?
I really agree with that! The last one we saw was on a planet orbiting a Black Hole, and there was a beast trapped inside the core, and well you didn't see it until the very end! once you saw it, the whole scary effects, made in between, literally disappear! That beast looked like one of the best aliens from the
Fourth Doctor!
I dunno, The Beast looked much better than anything from the fourth doctor. Still obviously computer-generated, though:
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/gallery/s2_08-09gallery/800/the_beast.jpg)
Oh man, you reminded me that that scene is an homage to a much earlier (Pertwee?) episode! I'll try to find a screen shot later.
A lot of people criticize Dr. Who for its cardboard sets and gravel pits but you really have to grasp how little money they had to spend on special effects and even with that the amazing writing still shone through and made it great. In fact, that's what I think has really set this reboot apart from other Sci-Fi series, the writing has been pretty good coupled with some decent effects has made some great television.
Edit: Okay, I *think* the serial episode was "The D?mons" (1971). I'll have to find some clips as my collection skips the Troughton/Pertwee years (hard to find)
so now that Season Five is done (as is Season Six) I guess it's okay to post this...
Doctor Who: 47 Years in 6 Minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szHO-wEmvio
(by the Fine Bros -- April 15, 2011 ... so only up to the end of Season Five I guess).
Doctor 1 to 7: 2:45 minutes
Doctor 8 to 11: 3:25 minutes
As a long time fan, it's a bit irritating...
Nice find.
And on-topic.
<slow clap>
They had more details on the newer doctors than the old ones, though.
Best quote from the video was about River Song: "It's a classic boy-meets-girl-who's-already-met-boy-and-maybe-married-him-in-the-future story". I gotta say, Alex Kingston played a great self-assured part-time companion to the doctor, but her reverse timeline (as compared to the Doctor's) was pretty confusing for a while.
Quote from: Mr. Analog on May 08, 2012, 11:58:32 AM
Doctor 1 to 7: 2:45 minutes
Doctor 8 to 11: 3:25 minutes
As a long time fan, it's a bit irritating...
I hear ya. I also didn't like that they called it the UNified Intelligence Taskforce without any mention of it originally being the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. I mean, are they not even Whovians, just reading off a script or something?
Quote from: Thorin on May 08, 2012, 12:26:42 PM
Quote from: Mr. Analog on May 08, 2012, 11:58:32 AM
Doctor 1 to 7: 2:45 minutes
Doctor 8 to 11: 3:25 minutes
As a long time fan, it's a bit irritating...
I hear ya. I also didn't like that they called it the UNified Intelligence Taskforce without any mention of it originally being the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. I mean, are they not even Whovians, just reading off a script or something?
I reckon...
Ah well I can't say I'm surprised lol, still a pretty good summary of everything up to now
/get off my lawn
another "look back on all the doctors"
http://culturepopped.blogspot.ca/2010/11/whos-who-of-dr-who.html
and a bunch of other doctors:
http://culturepopped.blogspot.ca/2012/03/pop-cultures-greatest-doctors-in-jars.html
(the blog above = holy crap there's TONS of cool Pop Culture inspired indie art there!) (for example: http://culturepopped.blogspot.ca/2009/11/pop-culture-character-alignment.html , http://culturepopped.blogspot.ca/2010/10/lets-do-time-warp-again.html )
Craig Ferguson explains the success of Doctor Who:
"the triumph of intellect and romance, over brute force and cynicism"
http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMZa8RMty9M
Pretty much, it's always been brains and friendliness vs brawn and ugliness.
I 'unno, I remember Tom Baker wielding a sword and punching people and stuff. And I remember pretty dark and cynical episodes recently, with David Tennant traveling alone.
Quote from: Thorin on July 05, 2012, 03:08:44 PM
I 'unno, I remember Tom Baker wielding a sword and punching people and stuff. And I remember pretty dark and cynical episodes recently, with David Tennant traveling alone.
Ah, that would be "The Seeds of Doom" but I think he was using it in self defence in that case.
perhaps the magic "can do anything electro-mechanical" screwdriver thingie had dead batteries?
lol
I knew you'd know which serial I was talking about :) There was also The Christmas Invasion, where he duels the Sycorax leader to defend Earth. He spares the Sycorax leader's life, who then tries to backstab him, so the Doctor kills him. This is one of the reasons why I say Tennant's doctor was definitely darker and less forgiving.
There's been other ones that he resorted to physical violence in as well, and the Eccleston / Tennant doctors were actually pretty mean to aliens. "I'll give you one chance to leave this planet", and all that.
True, I'm a bit fuzzy on the new Doctor Who serials...
Quote from: Darren Dirt on July 05, 2012, 03:43:40 PM
perhaps the magic "can do anything electro-mechanical" screwdriver thingie had dead batteries?
Good ol' Deus Ex Screwdriverus!
I just decided* to do a rewatching of the Smith/Gillan episodes starting last night ... my brain is mush now (just finished the "which dream world is real?" ep, really reminded me of the Xfiles with the hallucinogenic-digestingplants. And in both, a significant character "dies".
So when is the final series with this group premiering... #forgothowawesomeitwas
PS: 2-parter with the angels = holy crap I forgot how tense and exciting and perfectly written/shot/acted/edited it was!
*okay it was a pretty natural decision, after accidentally getting hooked into watching Craig Ferguson interviews Thursday lunchtime, and seeing one with Karen Gillan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnyawXOfj5s) and eventually a related video filled with short clips from her doing "bit parts" in "The Kevin Bishop Show" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_cahQdr9So) and remembering how fun she is to watch in Whoville...
I _think_ the new series premieres August 25th; I'll be watching the torrent sites for it that day (found it, http://mgeitf.co.uk/home/MGEITF/programme/2012-programme.aspx, click the Saturday 25th tab).
The kids have been re-watching select episodes, although out of order. Keep in mind, Gillan leaves the show this season, but Jenna-Louise Coleman will handily replace her (I think her companion name will be Clara). This season is different than most of the new Doctor Who - it doesn't start with a Christmas special.
The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone was a great two-parter, agreed.
The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood was another great one, reimagining the Silurians (they used to have three eyes back in the Third Doctor's days).
I liked pretty much any episode with Alex Kingston in it - she did a great job playing Melody Pond / River Song / The Doctor's Killer / The Doctor's (Hinted At) Wife (she's not). What a great twist of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff that she was named after herself!
Quote from: Thorin on July 07, 2012, 12:52:02 AM
I liked pretty much any episode with Alex Kingston in it - she did a great job playing Melody Pond / River Song / The Doctor's Killer / The Doctor's (Hinted At) Wife (she's not). What a great twist of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff that she was named after herself!
Agreed, she has such an over the top personality at times but you can tell a lot of that is a response to inner conflict and whatnot. Plus Alex is a great actress, I remember her playing VERY different characters on both "ER" and "Flashforward", always convincingly.