Dr Who

[Keith Robinson]

Your signature also quote's Roy Batty's epitaph in Bladerunner

Oh, THAT's where it's from! I knew it was familiar and I kept reading it thinking it would come back to me. I could have asked Moose but hey, I saw it as a personal quiz! But yes, the "Time to die" bit is suddenly very clear in my head.

But Dave, aren't you put off by the terrible Vangelis music? It's very dated now, and it kind of made me squirm when I saw the movie last.

Is the Final Cut the same as the Director's cut I saw years ago? That was the version without the voice-over and with a darker ending.

Back to Doctor Who: I've now seen Human Nature (part two is Family of Blood this Friday) and it was really good, a vast improvement over the rest of this series so far. Is it because it's in two parts? The pacing is so much more relaxed and I think that's half the trouble in the series -- the frantic running around is just too much. Give me a slow build anytime. The scarecrows look good, although they shamble like most Who monsters. But the real star is David Tennant as a clueless, ordinary "human." Very good.

[davejeffery]

Your signature also quote's Roy Batty's epitaph in Bladerunner

Oh, THAT's where it's from! I knew it was familiar and I kept reading it thinking it would come back to me. I could have asked Moose but hey, I saw it as a personal quiz! But yes, the "Time to die" bit is suddenly very clear in my head.

But Dave, aren't you put off by the terrible Vangelis music? It's very dated now, and it kind of made me squirm when I saw the movie last.

Is the Final Cut the same as the Director's cut I saw years ago? That was the version without the voice-over and with a darker ending.

Back to Doctor Who: I've now seen Human Nature (part two is Family of Blood this Friday) and it was really good, a vast improvement over the rest of this series so far. Is it because it's in two parts? The pacing is so much more relaxed and I think that's half the trouble in the series -- the frantic running around is just too much. Give me a slow build anytime. The scarecrows look good, although they shamble like most Who monsters. But the real star is David Tennant as a clueless, ordinary "human." Very good.

Keith

Sorry but I loved the music to Bladerunner. But that's personal taste for you!

The DVD due out later this year is 'Bladerunner - The Final Cut' and is slightly different to the director's cut that came out a few years ago. Ridley Scott has added other footage but that terrible 'voice over' remains evicted from this version too!

As you can probably guess, Bladerunner is my all time favourite movie and it's innovator, Phillip K Dick, one of my all time favourite Sci-Fi writers.

[Moose]

I thought the scarecrows were really creepy . The guy playing .. what's his name, the schoolboy who got possessed - was brilliant. The second part is even better I think.

[pbsausie]

Who here is a fan of Doctor Who?


My earliest memories of the programme is the broadcast of Season 26 on the ABC - i have vague memories of The Curse of Fenric and Survival

[Eddie Muir]

There's lots of recent posts about Doctor Who on the General Natter Room thread, pbsausie.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I suddenly remembered this old Doctor Who thread so I've grafted your posts onto it, pbsausie and Eddie.

I haven't yet watched Matt Smith as Doctor Who but I thought that David Tennant brought a real sparkle and energy to the role. I was sorry when he announced he was leaving. As a child I loved Tom Baker's quirkiness and hardly ever watched Doctor Who again after he left. He was succeeded by Peter Davison, who was so firmly fixed in my mind as vet Tristan Farnon (All Creatures Great and Small) that I couldn't accept him as the Doctor. I wonder how those 1970s episodes would stand up nowadays? I don't recall the storylines being as emotional as the more modern ones, and of course special effects were far more limited back then. As far as assistants go, Sarah Jane is the one I remember best from childhood and it's nice to see my son enjoying the spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. More recently Rose and Donna were both excellent, I thought - arguably two of the best assistants ever.

My son has the Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant series on DVD so I'm currently watching the Christopher Eccleston ones, many of which I missed when they were first shown. I've just seen the two-parter about the gas masks, which is perhaps the best so far. Pity it's got John Barrowman in it though - he comes across to me as so smug and plasticky. I also enjoyed the episode featuring Charles Dickens and the story in which Rose meets her father (Father's Day). One of The Sarah Jane Adventures is very similar indeed to Father's Day.

I'm thinking of collecting some of the Tom Baker episodes to see how they compare. I remember one about a monster consisting of a brain in a glass globe, and another one in which a hand comes out of the ground and tries to grab Sarah. Oh, and one about some dinosaur-like creatures roaming the moors. I also recall encountering the word "android" for the first time while watching Doctor Who. Anyone know the titles of those particular episodes, or recommend any others?

[pbsausie]

The stories you're looking for are

The Brain of Morbius

The Hand of Fear

Terror of the Zygons

I'm thinking of collecting some of the Tom Baker episodes to see how they compare. I remember one about a monster consisting of a brain in a glass globe, and another one in which a hand comes out of the ground and tries to grab Sarah. Oh, and one about some dinosaur-like creatures roaming the moors.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks, pbsausie. That's a great help!

[Moonraker]

Amazing clips of tomorrow's Doctor Who episode!

[pbsausie]

There's one Geordie that i would like to see given the "meets the Doctor" treatment, just for the themes they could explore, but the writers would never dare.

[Moonraker]

Thanks for sharing that with us!

The new series just keeps getting better. Vincent and the Doctor (BBC One, Saturday) was the best yet, imo. It was an emotional roller coaster, and who could have failed to be moved when the Doctor and Amy (Oh, what an incorrigible flirt) took van Gogh to Paris to hear what the modern-day expert was saying about his paintings and him as a person?

I also love the links with the past. Those prints of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton took us right back to the beginning - sheer class.

If there is a fault, it lies with the monsters. These huge, scaley creatures belong to the Baker years. But maybe that's the idea?


Karen Gillan, as Amy Pond

[Yak]

Nigel - I also though this Saturday's was the best yet - great stuff. Still not totally convinced by MS but he seems to be getting more into his stride. At first he did not seem to know how 'his' Doctor was going to be - I felt he was copying Tennant a lot. He's growing into the role though.

[Keith Robinson]

We just watched Amy's Choice here, and while I liked the idea of the episode and the characters and everything, once more the show gave us hideously frightening terrifying monstrosities such as old people standing around with vaguely menacing looks on their faces. This lack of real danger just lets the whole show down time after time. Even the vampires in a recent episode moved slowly toward the Doctor as he backed away. All they did was hiss and hold up their clawed fingers. It was only when the Doctor turned and ran that the vampires thought, "Ooh, [censored], he's getting away, we should have pounced during the ten minutes or so that he was standing still in front of us." This is very Scooby-Doo-ish in my opinion.

That said, I really like the new Doctor and REALLY like Amy. Even my wife (who sings along to the theme tune with the words, "Lo-ooo-serrrrrr" Jim Carrey style) admits to liking the characters. She loves the weeping angels. So I sit there wanting it to be a good episode, delighting when it's creepy and clever, but cringing with embarrassment when old people with zimmer frames open their mouths and funny little stiff eel type things poke out in a non-threatening and sadly laughable way. Did the writers even think about the logic behind these creatures?

And now I hear there are scaly "old-style" monsters coming up soon? Oh lordy.

[Bannerman65]

Might be tthe Silurians you're thinking of, Keith.

[Moonraker]

If you're not bowled over by the two-parter featuring the Silurians and absolutely knocked out by Vincen and the Doctor, Keith, you'd better give up! These two stories are definitely the best of the New Who series to date!