Doctor Who Rumormongering

[JonClarke]

Saw "The 11th hour" last night. I really liked it, the new doctor is good, and Amy Pond is magnificent.

I suspect the crack in space-time is the story arc for this series.

I wonder what the significance of Rory (who is surely in his early 20s) with an ID pass of himself issued in 1990 looking no different to what he does now, is?

I like prisoner zero, very different to the usual alien.

Great camero of Patrick Moore.

 

[CalliArcale]

Whoa -- now that's something I didn't notice. Interesting. It might be just a slip-up from the props department, but it could well be meaningful. Good eyes!

You're right about the crack. There was a crack seen at the end of "The Beast Below" and of "Victory of the Daleks". Didn't appear to have anything to do with the stories, so it's not a spoiler, but it's obviously important to the arc.

I'm very glad to hear you liked 11th Hour. I also liked Prisoner Zero, though I've heard others criticize it for being too boring (presumably because it never actually devoured anybody or anything on screen, but then, I prefer psychological terror).

I think they may be dropping more hints of the story arc; during Victory of the Daleks, it is established that Amy Pond has no idea what a Dalek is -- but should, because 11th Hour is set *after* the events of "The Stolen Earth". I think it's fairly certain that something has been messing around with time in some way.

 

[CalliArcale]

Latest Rumors and Such

FOX has now backed out of a Torchwood deal. However, the BBC remains interested in an American production of the show, and is shopping around.

Also, the first of four downloadable games which apparently fit into the Series Five story arc has been announced. It will be titled "City of the Daleks", will feature the "new look" Daleks, and will be available on the BBC website starting June 5. Voice acting is performed by the same people who play the roles on TV, and the games fit into the season's story arc. Script is by Phil Ford. The game will run on PC or Macintosh.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_100422_01/Adventure_Games_Launch_in_Sheffield

 

[JonClarke]

Whoa -- now that's something I didn't notice. Interesting. It might be just a slip-up from the props department, but it could well be meaningful. Good eyes!

Definitely intentional I think - the camera zooms in on it in the park scene. So I went back and checked it.

So we have a crack in space-time that the Dr knows nothing about, but prisoner zero does - "silence will fall". We have the Dr repeatedly over-shooting his landing zone (although that's almost a running joke). There is Rory's badge. Amy has no memory of the Daleks. Any other pointers for the future?

 

[CalliArcale]

We shall see.....though I think the Doctor missing his landing point was indeed more of a running gag than a hint. (The gag was repeated in "Victory of the Daleks", incidentally.) Steven Moffat has written a blog posting about the new series, and he says that the 11th doctor is not very good at piloting the TARDIS (rather like some previous Doctors I could mention), so this may be more an element of the character than part of the story arc -- though establishing this element of the character does afford certain storytelling opportunities down the road.

In this post, Moffat describes the Doctor as a cross between Indiana Jones and Stan Laurel. He's a bit accident-prone, and reintroduces some of the old goofiness -- in a good way, because that sort of goofiness is very useful to a scriptwriter. It gives you opportunities for relieving tension, and also provides plot devices and opportunities for unexpected drama when the Doctor says "oops" (more or less).

Definitely read this: there are no spoilers, but it gives a lot of insight all the same.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/2010/04/doctor-who-the-return-of-the-w.shtml

 

[pmn1]

Rumour is the TARDIS has stabilisers and brakes........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Itgr35za8s

 

[pmn1]

Cant resist it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q88kt_Vt ... re=related

 

[yevaud]

Interesting. Doctor Who regeneration was 'modelled on LSD trips'

Doctor Who's regenerations were modelled on bad LSD trips, internal BBC memos have revealed.

The Doctor's transformations were meant to convey the "hell and dank horror" of the hallucinogenic drug, according to papers published on the BBC Archive.

Regenerations were introduced in 1966 to allow writers to replace the lead actor. New Doctor Matt Smith is the 11th Time Lord.

The papers also reveal the difficulties of bedding in a new Doctor.

In an internal memo dating from 1966, producers outlined how the original Doctor, William Hartnell, would be transformed for his successor Patrick Troughton.

It also tackled the "horrifying experience" of the regeneration.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8616413.stm

 

[pmn1]

This week's episode with the Weeping Angles - awesome just ******* awesome.

And I will leave it at that.

 

[JonClarke]

This week's episode with the Weeping Angles - awesome just ******* awesome.

And I will leave it at that.

The weeping angels are just chilling, I will look forward to seeing them in two weeks time. I gather that the next two episodes are fairly average - maybe Steve Moffatt is a better writer than director?

edit - just watched The Beast Below - not bad at all.

 

[CalliArcale]

I liked "Beast Below" even better the second time I watched it.

I just saw "Time of Angels". AWESOME!!! Definitely some good strong Moffatt writing there. Shades of both Blink *and* Silence in the Library. (Especially the creepy feeling of knowing the monster could be anywhere, could get you at any time, and you won't see it coming.)

Yev: thanks for sharing that article! That was fascinating. It is interesting how each Doctor has faced basically the same reaction from fans. They always take a while to get used to him.

Now here's a few that I'd like to share. ;-) Fans in England only were furious when the climactic cliffhanger of "Time Of Angels" was spoiled by an animated Graham Norton bouncing across the Doctor's face to advertise "Over the Rainbow", which follows Dr Who on BBC1.

http://gallifreynewsbase.blogspot.com/2 ... orton.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8643684.stm

 

[CalliArcale]

Two quick bits:

First off, the title of Episode Eight has been confirmed as The Hungry Earth. Any connection to the Tractators of "Frontios"? Probably not.

Radio Times had an interview with Alex Kingston, who plays the dashing River Song. She has one interesting revelation: even she doesn't know whether or not River Song is actually the Doctor's future wife, lover, or *what*. She briefly had a theory that she was actually his mother, but her attitude seems to be a little too intimate for that, and so she is not playing it that way. She hopes Song ultimately turns out to be "Mrs Doctor", but at any rate, we certainly won't find out next Saturday.
http://gallifreynewsbase.blogspot.com/2010/04/radio-times-kingston-interview.html

 

[CalliArcale]

I wonder what the significance of Rory (who is surely in his early 20s) with an ID pass of himself issued in 1990 looking no different to what he does now, is?

According to the Tardis Index File, Steven Moffatt has gone on record about Rory's ID pass -- it's a screwup, not a clue.

However, the same article also indicated that there are apparently five things to look out for in "The Eleventh Hour", and the crack is just one of them. (Scroll to "Story Notes".)
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Eleventh_Hour

 

[JasonChapman]

Cant resist it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q88kt_Vt ... re=related

Class :lol:

 

[CalliArcale]

Only tangentially related, but I figured I'd put it here as well. David Tennant & Patrick Stewart starring in the RSC production of Hamlet, on PBS tonight -- and then on the Web!

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/hamlet/preview-the-film/956/

 

[jryle1234]

:?: Still have the same question, out here in the Seattle area we do not get BBC on comcast, if poss. SF whould work but how can I find it, time -station etc :?:

 

[JonClarke]

Victory of the Daleks:

Bit naf in places but interesting in others. Great the Daleks win for once. I liked the new look Daleks - obviously technologically and racially superior to the genetically degenerate rust buckets they exterminated. But how?

Next week - return of the stone angels and River Song. I can't wait!

 

[CalliArcale]

jryle1234:
I'm afraid SyFy has not purchased any Doctor Who. BBC America has it exclusively in North America, so if you don't get BBCA, your only alternatives are BitTorrent and waiting for it to come out on DVD.

JonClarke:
Well, you have to bear in mind that Doctor Who is more of a fairy tale than a hard sci-fi story. "Alien tech" will explain practically everything. So, how did that work? To quote the running gag of "Curse of Fatal Death": "We will explain later."

 

[lildreamer]

Victory of the Daleks:

Bit naf in places but interesting in others. Great the Daleks win for once. I liked the new look Daleks - obviously technologically and racially superior to the genetically degenerate rust buckets they exterminated. But how?

Next week - return of the stone angels and River Song. I can't wait!

what was interesting was Amy was not aware of the Daleks - as the new Doctor infered - how can one not be aware of a race of aliens that captured your planet and flung it to another part of the universe and skipped it 1/2 second out of phase with normal time... (clue) fracture in space where all the fractures are appearing both in time and space....

the crucible that forged the new Daleks contained the genetic information from the future event - remember they fell through a crack in time as well, therefore the ship contained Deveros genetic material and data - thats why they were superior.

I wonder when the Doctor returned the Earth and caused the Daleks to explode that caused the rip in time...or is this an angle to the parallel earth and they are hopping across dimensions again....or is the Void expanding causing our Universe to tear open...hmm...

 

[JonClarke]

Yes, the stolen Earth was something too big to overlook, even if they had overlooked any othr alien invasions.

And I do think the ideal of Dalek specialisation is good one, new ideas in Dalekdoom are needed, which is why the Cult of Skaro was so interesting and why I wish we would see the Heavy Weapons Dalek again.

I wonder how far you could push the idea of genetic specilaisation without endangering the idea of Dalek racial superority? Of course the Daleks are almost eusocial anyway, perhaps it is not a problem.

Just over 24 hours until I see the weeping angels again....

 

[JonClarke]

Argh! I don't think I will ever go near another statue.... Or blink. Or look at one too closely.

 

[CalliArcale]

Last night, I watched "The Pandorica Opens".

OMFG!!!!!

That was really really unexpected. But when the big "reveal" came up at the end, it made perfect sense -- the whole season had been building to it, but had also neatly misdirected us to expect something else. Incredible, and awesome. And not just one massive plot twist -- there were three! I hate to say what, as the US viewers won't have seen it yet, and almost anything I say at this point will be a spoiler. But it was very very good.

 

[JonClarke]

Last night, I watched "The Pandorica Opens".

OMFG!!!!!

That was really really unexpected. But when the big "reveal" came up at the end, it made perfect sense -- the whole season had been building to it, but had also neatly misdirected us to expect something else. Incredible, and awesome. And not just one massive plot twist -- there were three! I hate to say what, as the US viewers won't have seen it yet, and almost anything I say at this point will be a spoiler. But it was very very good.

I don't expect such language from you Calli!

But it must have been good.

I have only got as far as Vincent and the Dr. I cried.

 

[pmn1]

Last night, I watched "The Pandorica Opens".

I hate to say what, as the US viewers won't have seen it yet, and almost anything I say at this point will be a spoiler. But it was very very good.

Hello Sweetie...

Nice refernce to Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy there.....

 

[lildreamer]

Last night, I watched "The Pandorica Opens".

OMFG!!!!!

That was really really unexpected. But when the big "reveal" came up at the end, it made perfect sense -- the whole season had been building to it, but had also neatly misdirected us to expect something else. Incredible, and awesome. And not just one massive plot twist -- there were three! I hate to say what, as the US viewers won't have seen it yet, and almost anything I say at this point will be a spoiler. But it was very very good.

Oh Calli.....I have a surprise for ya what if you could own your own TARDIS

http://www.fanexpocanada.com/post/view/ ... -TARDIS-66

The good news: this Ninth Doctor-era TARDIS is going up for auction June 23 at Bonham's. The bad news: there's only one of them...and it will cost you a pretty penny.

Here are the details from Bonham's:

Lot No: 142W
Doctor Who: Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor,
A complete Tardis prop, circa 2005,
of painted rasped wood panel and glass construction, the base having painted parquet effect floor, panels fastening using bracket and bolt, having a pair of hinged doors, on with Yale® lock, with windows to doors and signage to front, top section of Tardis with removable 'Police Box' signs, interior of Tardis roof with a number of miniature lights, and further interior lighting, the roof with removable lamp to top, height approximately 10ft

Estimate: £8,000 - 12,000


still going no claims yet....