Doctor Who, baby

[Head Mutant]

I think it's a rumor. I know that the new girl is coming back for the 4th series.

My wife loooooved the series finale, and actually didn't want to watch the 3rd series because of the lack of Rose (and her magical mystical tears that flow for every reason under the sun). I, however, found the episode "Girl in the Fireplace" much, much more moving.

[Hilasophy]

I don't really like the new girl. She's alright, but I have a really hard time believing she's on her way to becoming a doctor. Rose's idiocy made some sense because she worked retail without a college education. But this chick is just not doing it for me. Maybe if she was older and more mature , but she's just too young.

[sarahbot]

Were my life a romantic comedy, last week would have occurred ten minutes from the end. (I'm still alive & kicking, so it appears to not be. Praise be.)

Doctor Who has always been there. I've always read British books, and watched British TV, and later on read British blogs. But it was always just one of those weird references, like Marmite and jokes about the Welsh. Heck, the new incarnation of Doctor Who was advertised at least twice during every Coronation Street ad break this summer on CBC.

But still I ignored faithful, friendly Doctor Who. I looked to the flashier shows, like Battlestar Galactica, or those with a fine Whedon pedigree, like Firefly*. I'd seen a few minutes here and there of the old episodes, and even seen an entire episode of the first new season ("The Long Game," for the curious).

Then, one fateful crisp October day, my friend said, "You want to borrow my external hard drive? I've got some stuff on it you might like." And I was sunk. Finally, I noticed that - gasp! - Doctor Who had been there all along! How had I ignored the obvious? How had I not seen that there was a fine blend of comedy, pathos, sci-fi, action and love waiting for me, and all on the CBC! I don't even have the excuse of it being on a channel I don't get! Everyone gets the CBC!

All this is a very longwinded way to say that I really, really like Doctor Who. And Torchwood, but in a very different way. I've been speeding through seasons 1 and 2, but now have half of Torchwood and a few episodes of season 3, and am trying to slow down to draw this out for as long as possible. I've never had that sort of patience before.

(Also, I can't go back to Doctor Who right now after the end of the second season. I can objectively get upset over the way they ended things, but on an emotional level I just get all weepy and go BUT IT WAS SO SAD.)




*Please note use of narrative device. You can take my Firefly away when you pry the DVDs from my cold dead hands.

[CheshireKat]

Third series was in my opinion the best thusfar. Yes Rose's absence was felt, bitterly, but they made the brilliant choice of not sweeping her under the rug and instead had the Doctor dealing with the loss throughout the season, and giving Martha some serious jealousy issues. started out kinda weak, with the obligatory Dalek story kinda falling flat, but halfway through saw some of the most brilliant writing the series has seen since they revived it. The Human Nature/Family of Blood two-parter showcased Tennant's mad acting skills, and Blink proves once again that Stephen Moffat is the show's most underused secret weapon. Russel Davies is good, but everything Moffat does blows my mind.

Finally, the return of The Master: John Simms is so freaking good I'm gonna have to check out Life on Mars now. So at this point I'm greedily snatching up all things Who. I'm frothing at the mouth for the fourth and fifth series to come out in America faster than it the first three did. Also looking forward to Catherine Tate playing Donna Noble again as a proper companion. She made a great comedic foil for Tennant's Doctor in the Christmas special. Also, special treat, check out this skit from Comic Relief Britain:

youtube.com/watch?v=WxB1gB6K-2A

And Rose is coming back!!! SQUEEEEEE!!!!!

[DocD83]

I second the awesomeness of Blink, though Moffat is a bit hit or miss, I think. The Doctor Dances and The Empty Child? Meh.

Rose should stay gone, I think. I mean I liked her, but over 30 seasons and the Doctor has only lost one other companion. A little uncertainty about the ultimate outcome of each episode would be nice.

[sarahbot]

First: I am thoroughly pro-Moffat. I love Blink and Empty Child/Doctor Dances. ("Are you my mummy?" CREEPY.) I'm not so keen on The Girl in the Fireplace. It's all right, but certainly not head and shoulders above the rest of the show.

(Warning: below gets a bit manifesto. Feel free to ignore if you're not quite so zealous.)

OK, someone else has already spilled the beans about Rose, so I'm going to go ahead and spill my guts about it.

I HATE THIS. HATE HATE HAAAAAATE.

Don't get me wrong. I love Rose the character. I think her development over the two seasons (series...es?) is some of the best TV writing ever. She began as a bored shop girl who was content to let life slip away day by day. She had a boyfriend, a home, a job, some friends presumably - what else did she need? And then she met a stranger who transformed her world. She learned that the world was more than she'd ever imagined, to fight for what she believed, to seize the day. She saved the world. And yes, she fell in love.*

It's not a new observation to say that Rose was an audience surrogate. She's the only companion that we've known so well. (I'm not going to deny, I'm almost the exact same age as Rose, and certainly in the same point in my life.) And for people who'd never seen old Who, I think we fell for the Doctor at the same time she did.** Rose was just as vital a member of the TARDIS as the Doctor was - there's a reason any other companions only stayed for an episode or two in a row.

And then, everything went to hell in a handbasket. This was the story of how Rose Tyler died. The audience was assured there was no possible way, ever, ever, EVER, EVER[/i] that Rose was coming back. He burned up an entire sun just to say goodbye. And that's what made the end of "Doomsday" so hard to watch. It's undoubtedly among the top 10 of my favourite episodes, and yet I've only watched it one and a half times. It's very emotionally powerful, because of the fact that you know this is it.

And then the powers that be decide to pull the rug out from under you. "Oh, that? That amazing, sad, emotional, surprisingly sometimes funny punch to the gut? That? . . . . Yeah, we were only kidding."

It completely cheapens the impact of the end of series 2. I love Rose as a character, and I think Billie Piper's fantastic, but I just know there's going to some cheap gimmick to get Rose back, simply because she's Rose. No.



*O ho ho, I have views on this as well, but perhaps I shall save them for another rant.
**Actual quote from an MSN convo with a (male) (straight) friend last night, regarding a possible broken toe:
Sam: meh, im gonna go to a doc tomorrow... hoepfuly hell whisk me away to the stars....
Sam: is it wrong that the only man i want to whisk me away is actually 10 men?

[CheshireKat]

sarahbot said:

It completely cheapens the impact of the end of series 2. I love Rose as a character, and I think Billie Piper's fantastic, but I just know there's going to some cheap gimmick to get Rose back, simply because she's Rose. No.

Honestly I think that's a bit unfair. Whedon actually killed Buffy after all, and brought her back not only feasibly, but rather brilliantly, with a lot of lasting consequences. Rose is still alive, just in an aternate reality, piece of cake compared to death. The other thing is, Rose is only going to be in a few episodes, and we're dealing with a time lord here. Could be we're traveling back to a point before Rose was lost, or before she met the Doctor, or perhaps, she's only going to be in flashbacks. Until we actually see the circumstances surrounding Rose's return, we ought not to write it off as a mistake. Plus imagine the Doctor's reaction when he sees her again! Looking forward to that.

[sarahbot]

cheshirekat said:

Honestly I think that's a bit unfair. Whedon actually killed Buffy after all, and brought her back not only feasibly, but rather brilliantly, with a lot of lasting consequences.

Good analogy, but the consequences RTD established in Doomsday are more wide-reaching than the ones Whedon set out. When Buffy came back, she'd been ripped out of heaven and this upset her and her circle. It's been set out that the world would end if Rose came back.

As well, rumours I've been reading about the fourth season seem to say that there will be a Doctor-lite episode this series just like Blink or Love & Monsters that will focus mostly on the three companions with very little Tennant, so I think she's going to be there fully interacting with everyone.

cheshirekat said:

Plus imagine the Doctor's reaction when he sees her again! Looking forward to that.

Okay, and then my grinchy heart just grew three sizes. Especially with the Tenth Doctor - awwwww.

[CheshireKat]

sarahbot said:

Okay, and then my grinchy heart just grew three sizes. Especially with the Tenth Doctor - awwwww.

"Her name was Rose..."

Nobody emotes like Tennant.

[sarahbot]

Has anyone been watching the new series of Torchwood? I can't believe how much better it's gotten, and reconnecting Martha and Jack is one of the smartest decisions possible.

[penguinslovedw]

I love both Rose and Martha. They were both really great, and I especially love Martha. Think about it, in both "Human Nature/Family of Blood" and "Blink", Martha actually worked and got a job to support the Doctor and be near him. Unlike all the other companions, who just visit other times with the Doctor, she actually lived for real in those times with him. Total and complete kudos to her.

And I actually haven't seen much Torchwood. I watched almost all of the first season, and there were some good episodes. Can't remember the name, but I especially liked the one where the people in that small town were cannibals. That was scary as hell. Oh, and the one where that guy was trying to figure out how he died and only Gwen could hear him. But apart from that, the angsty emo-type romance of it all kind of turned me off.

To be honest, I've had a problem with the angsty romance in New Who as well, but maybe I should wait 'til I'm not quite so new to share my thoughts on that.

[CheshireKat]

So I'm using my scary mutant mod powers to bring this thread back from the dead, now that I'm fairly certain that everybody has gotten through series 4. What were your thoughts? Greatest Season finale ever, or shameless fan-pandering? Disappointed at Donna Noble's end? Now that we know the details of Rose's return how did it measure up to your expectations?

[DTH]

Well, speaking as a long-time Doctor Who affecionado, I had very mixed feelings about this series. But then that's been my attitude towards v2.0 throughout.

Let me start off by saying that I *love* Doctor Who to the very core of my being, so even if Doctor Who was filmed on a shoestring budget and starred Moose from Frasier as the Doctor, I'd still watch it.

Donna Noble started off annoying (Runaway Bride) but, by the end of the series, became a great companion for the Doctor. Her story arc was fun, meaningful and tragic.

Unlike Martha or Rose, who kind of stood there with stars in their eyes whenever they looked at the Doctor, Donna wasn't afraid to give the Doctor a piece of her mind. She became something of a conscience for him and that's very important for a character that is arguably the most powerful being in the universe.

As for the stories, there were some bad ones but there were also magnificent ones.

My greatest thing from this series was how it was demonstrated what the Doctor does to people. How he changes them. He whisks them away from their mundane lives, shows them the universe and then drops them (I mean, he actually just left Sarah Jane behind back when SJ left originally!).

Sometimes, they find a way forward with their lives (one companion even stayed on Gallifrey to get married to another Timelord) and others aren't so fortunate (one word: Adric). But all of them are forever changed in some way.

S4 really went to town on exploring that and, for me, this was SO important to maintaining the Doctor's mystique whilst opening him up to us. That was genius. I think the most telling point of Doctor Who ever was Sarah Jane threatening to destroy them all with her warpstar. I mean this is *Sarah Jane*, a reporter from the '70s who spent most of her time being chased by androids and talking to a robot dog. Thanks to the Doctor, she has become someone willing to sacrifice her own life and that of other people in the name of the Doctor!

I also liked how they resolved the Doctor-Rose relationship in that episode, even if it was a First Rate MacGuffin. All I can say is that I was choked at the end of The Stolen Earth and the wait for the season finale was one of the longest weeks of my life!

The Steve Moffatt story was absolutely brilliant. Which is good because he's head writer for Doctor Who as of Season 5.

FYI: Season 5 won't be a full series like Seasons 1 to 4. It will be a few specials (a la the Christmas ones) as David Tennant is taking a break.

He's been doing a lot of acting recently.

/Moment of Bragging

I actually took my girlfriend to see David Tennant and Patrick Stewart in "Hamlet" at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

We had front row seats.

It was more awesome than you can possibly imagine.

/END Moment of Bragging

[CheshireKat]

As far as the resolution of the Rose storyline, (aside from the fact that I think it could lead into a really cool episode after Tennant moves on and we have an 11th doctor who breaks into that alternate verse again and we get a Tennant/Piper cameo), I think it was a pretty brilliant choice not to give an overly sappy happy ending or yet another tragic separation. Instead we're left not knowing how to feel, not knowing how it's going to go between Rose and Doctor Hand without a Tardis and without the promise of an action-packed adventurous life. (One scripted development that didn't make it into the episode was a scene of the Doctor breaking off a piece of 'coral' from the Tardis and giving it to his double to grow a new Tardis).

I'll definitely miss Catherine Tate as Donna. I agree it was a nice change to have a companion that wasn't constantly pining for the Doctor. Her storyline was powerful though. Unlike Martha, Rose, Sarah Jane, or even Mickey, Donna isn't left a better person by her encounter with the Doctor, but rather sent back to her mundane everyday life, with no memories of the heights she reached. My question: is she better off than any of the doctor's other companions who are just left behind never to live that life again?

Either way I'm starting my campaign for Sally Sparrow as the next companion. Or else Jenny.

Speaking of Jenny, has anybody else thought of the full repercussions of the doctor having a Timelord daughter out there? I could easily envision a whole new race of Timelords and a New Gallifrey, meaning that even traversing the Void would be within reach. You listening, Moffett? Gimme a job!

[DTH]

Ha, Blink is one of the greatest Doctor Who episodes EVAH! I'm telling you, Steve Moffatt as the head writer for Doctor Who? Best. Thing. Ever.

The "Doctor's Daughter" ... The episode was ok but I wasn't keen on the character. I'm not sure where they can go with that without making it really cheesy. Worse, I didn't really believe the Doctor's reaction to it, so I'm not really sold on it all.

Now, are you ready for the worst development ever?

David Tennant has announced that Season 5 will be his last as the Doctor.

Check it: Doctor Who News

I'm actually all for him leaving. He's been one of the best doctors ever and I'll really miss him in the role but everything he is says is exactly right. If he goes, he'll have a career beyond Doctor Who. If he doesn't leave now, he never will and I wouldn't want him to go the way of Tom Baker...