Dr. Who

[Ironwood]

I have previously conceded that the lassie in question is rather attractive.

Indeed, it was pretty much the only reason to tune in at Christmas, though the Sontaran was awfully amusing.

[Fraeg]

I have previously conceded that the lassie in question is rather attractive.

Indeed, it was pretty much the only reason to tune in at Christmas, though the Sontaran was awfully amusing.

 dont' forget:  Lesbian Lizards !!!   

[Ironwood]

EDGY AND EXTREME !

Or not.  Possibly just utterly retarded.

[HaemishM]

At this point, showing a gay-married couple has just become a requirement for any story written by Moffat. It might not be so annoying if it didn't feel as forced as the once-an-episode man-kisses from Torchwood.

[Evildrider]

At this point, showing a gay-married couple has just become a requirement for any story written by Moffat. It might not be so annoying if it didn't feel as forced as the once-an-episode man-kisses from Torchwood.

I thought that was all Davies, cuz Moffat doesn't have anything to do with Torchwood.
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[HaemishM]

Right, Davies is Torchwood and Moffat isn't. I was just comparing the stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb-shoehorned-in feeling I get from both circumstances.

[apocrypha]

I fell asleep halfway through watching this. Thought it was painfully formulaic and uninteresting.

My other half heard Moffat being interviewed about it on Radio 2 a few days beforehand and he was apparently saying that because it was a Christmas special it would have to have snow, and Victoriana, and a love interest element... so he basically wrote it to formula from the outset.

If I can be bothered to watch the half I slept through I'll make a judgement on the whole thing.

[Ironwood]

To be brutally fair :  The Christmas specials have become formulaic anyway (and kinda always were, seeing as you have to shoehorn, you know, CHRISTMAS in there) so it's not a good judge of anything except nice lassies arse.

[Surlyboi]

And a lovely arse it was.

[apocrypha]

No argument from me there 

[Surlyboi]

New ep. Beware the wifis.

Oswin is still super hot. That is all.

[Threash]

She's actually hotter now than she was.  Great episode, lots of great lines and a good story.

[Ironwood]

A shade too much Moffat, but I'll agree that it wasn't all that bad and she's utterly, utterly enormously attractive.

[Khaldun]

I thought it was pretty good fun. Also nice to see the Doctor actually win a battle of wits with an enemy without a lot of yelling about being the Onrushing Storm and all that.

[apocrypha]

Yep, I have to agree, not a bad episode. Much better than the Christmas special which I fell asleep halfway through watching despite the presence of the ridiculously-pleasant-to-watch JLC.

Interesting aside, David Hobby (writer of the Strobist lighting blog) has just posted an entry praising Dr Who for its lighting. I half agree with him. Some of the times it's amazing, sometimes I think it's excessive and unsubtle. Blink is a great example of the good lighting but all the ones with garish pink/blue/green gels on the lights leave me cold.

[JWIV]

A shade too much Moffat, but I'll agree that it wasn't all that bad and she's utterly, utterly enormously attractive.

Agree with this completely. 

[Surlyboi]

It has gotten me to change my wifi network name though...

[Bunk]

I'm usually pretty forgiving, but that was one of the most ludicrous episodes of Who I think I've ever seen.

[Khaldun]

I thought there were good bits in it but the structure of the plot was really slapdash and the last act was more like RTD than Moffat in its excesses.

[palmer_eldritch]

One thing I did like was that it looked for a moment as if he was going to defeat the monster by saying I AM THE DOCTOR!!! and giving a little speech about how he is the most amazing thing in the universe - yet again - but this time it didn't work.

[Ubvman]

One thing I did like was that it looked for a moment as if he was going to defeat the monster by saying I AM THE DOCTOR!!! and giving a little speech about how he is the most amazing thing in the universe - yet again - but this time it didn't work.

So true. 

As they say, you're in trouble when you start believing your own PR releases. It's one thing for the bad guys to underestimate the Doctor but it's another kettle of fish for the Doctor to be so full of himself. The 11th Doctor keeps on reminding everybody around him (bad guys and companions) how awesome he is IMHO. Ya he is, but still...

[Surlyboi]

Ultravox? Do they split up?

Any show that references Vienna and Hungry Like the Wolf in the same episode works for me.

[Mrbloodworth]

First two episodes of this were rather terrible. Fuckin Flash Gordon Who.

[Threash]

So far i think both have been far above average.

[Ironwood]

Very difficult.

[palmer_eldritch]

I liked this one a lot more than the last one. I'm also enjoying the subtle teasing about Clara - when the Professor asked her what she did when she wasn't going on adventures she didn't want to answer, and while her reluctance was perfectly natural in the context of the story it also reminds the viewer that she's a mystery.

[Khaldun]

I thought this was a very good episode--rather a nice updating of not just the Troughton villain but also of the structure of Troughton's usual stories. Loved the call-back to the stupid HADS system.

[Evildrider]

Something about this season just isn't catching my attention.  Other than Clara being a hottie.

[Bunk]

I get the impression that there is supposed to be another aspect to her, some mystery we don't know - but they don't have enough material for it, so we are sitting through filler episodes first.

I think the other problem I have is that I found the version of her character as presented in Asylum of the Daleks to be a far more interesting person.

[apocrypha]

I think one of the problems is their insistence on it all being single episodes. In my memory most, if not all, of the old Dr Who's were 4-parters possibly with even longer runs for season finales. While they were only 30 mins long or so it still gave more time to develop stories and settings a bit more.

The switch to single, 45-minute episodes makes it feel cramped and rushed. The locations are all throwaway as are 99% of the characters.

What's also lost of course is the Flash Gordon-esque cliffhanger that you used to get at the end of each episode.

[Tmon]

It may have just been the way PBS aired the old Dr Who shows, but I don't recall there being any overarching story to a season.  There were call backs and recurring villains/adversaries but for the most part the stories were all self contained.  I kind of miss that with the new run of Doctors.

[Ironwood]

Yeah, I think the arcs are a major stumbling block.  They're either good, or they're annoying.

And, to be brutal, I can't really think of a good one.  Even the original bad wolf was kinda...silly.

[palmer_eldritch]

It may have just been the way PBS aired the old Dr Who shows, but I don't recall there being any overarching story to a season.  There were call backs and recurring villains/adversaries but for the most part the stories were all self contained.  I kind of miss that with the new run of Doctors.

Traditional Dr Who rarely hard arcs. There were a few exceptions.

[Khaldun]

There is a very very small class of serials in the history of this show that were neither too compact or too padded. Mostly people forget how absolutely padded even the best old Who storytelling could be. I still love some of my favorite Pertwee and T. Baker episodes but even those had a ton of repetition and hit-you-over-the-head narration.

I do think they should look at the recurrence in Pertwee's stuff as an interesting model--say, the way that the Master kept showing up without it being an "arc" per se.

[Ironwood]

Yeah, I agree - but look at what they did there;  They turned The Master stuff into the Arc of All Arcs.

Which turned out to be HUGELY RETARDED.