Doctor Who Club of Australia

[Voc76]

Well thankyou, it's great to get some constructive criticism.
Overall I loved the concept of the episode I just didn't think it worked.
I do agree with you about the Empty Child though it's nice when writing trancends the medium it's in and you have such a great story and exictution that it could be used anywhere.

[Theta Sigma]

Saw the two ads for the episode, "Agent or Alien...." and "Scream, Run, Dance..." last night. Of the two I like the latter one as that was really fun to look at.

[phase5]

I have a feeling this one won't go down well wih a lot of viewers.

I've seen it a couple of times now and really quiet like it.
(Got the offical BBC UK DVD release weeks back).

It's very different. It's the episode you have when you're not having an episode.

Don't judge it too quickly, it may take more than one viewing to appreciate.

(Is it on in Papua New Guinea .......?)

Trailers? Trailers? Who's got the time to watch that much TV .....

[Speckled Jim]

For 19 years of my life I regarded Delta and the Bannermen as the lowest point of Dr Who - rotten script, horrible editing, awful acting, shoddy FX and absolutely bugger-all redeeming about it.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new winner.
At least the Dr was in DATB. When I watch a show called Doctor Who, I'd like to actually, y'know, see the guy occasionally. Five minutes of jaw-droppingly embarrassing Benny Hill humour at the start and a cringeworthy Star Trek-meets-Red Dwarf Circa Series VIII denouement doesn't cut it, RTD.
Hell, I'm so annoyed about this awful turd of an episode my hands are shaking!
Where to go to next? The utterly implausible, ridiculous, knock it up on a Friday arvo at the boozer script? The "humour" (it was humour, wasn't it?)? Or am I meant to be completely in awe of RTD because he equates being different with being clever, and fart jokes and Yorkshire accents with brilliant wit?
He got it horribly, horribly, horribly wrong here. And after such a brilliant two-parter! Please, RTD, I'm beggin' ya. No more writing. Please. I'm not saying Dr Who has to remain totally sacred - but if this is your idea of cutting-edge, sod off to Klom, or whatever rib-achingly hilariously named planet you care to mention.
Right. Done.

[montypython]

I agree with Speckled Jim. As general viewing, it was okay. It got a laugh out of me. But this is Doctor Who! I want to see him battling aliens and holding hands with Rose. I don't want to see Elton dancing to music I've never heard of and making out with a paver. I never thought I'd say this, but that was not a good episode. I'd been eagerly awaiting Russell T Davies's return to writing (he wrote some good ones last season), but this was just not good enough. We've only got a few episodes left. I don't want them to be wasted!

On a different note, I guessed Mr Kennedy would be from Raxicoricofallapatorius or thereabous. He was fat!

[Dazzler]

Hmm. Well. This is a difficult episode for me to review. My initial reaction to the beginning of the episode was of shock because I was surprised at the direction they chose to go with. It seemed interesting to begin with and I was actually kind of curious to see what was going to happen with LINDA.

But then I became weary of the camera angle and all that, I just can't enjoy an episode like that, so I was glad when they moved on to the story of LINDA and Elton. I was disappointed when I noticed the Doctor barely featured in it, but I also enjoyed the idea of seeing the Doctor through someone else's eyes.

I'm also getting tired of the Doctor solving problems with his sonic screwdriver. I was unhappy he brought back Ursula because it seemed almost cruel to let her life her life out as a tile. The Jackie/Elton dynamic was intriguing, it let us see how much Jackie missed having Rose around and how lonely she was.

I don't think this was one of Russell T. Davies best scripts, and not because of the new direction he took the episode in, but because I just didn't connect with any of the characters. That said, a second viewing might change my mind, as I felt that the Elton/Ursula dynamic had potential but it was taken up with Jackie most of the time for me to feel much sympathy for their relationship.

[Tegan]

[charlie]

I really enjoyed that. In fact I think it's my favourite this season save Girl in the Fireplace. I just love the characters in it. I almost wish the doctor wasn't in it at all apart from a few stills.
I'm sick to death of Rose

[Theta Sigma]

First of all I noticed in the poll, opinions on what people thought of this episode is more or less equally divided. Looks like it would become a debatable episode in years to come.

Written by Russell T. Davies eight episodes after his previous episode Tooth and Claw. Longest gap between two RTD episodes.
Marc Warren like Edward de Souza from the 1965 episode Mission to the Unknown gets to be the star of Doctor Who for this one episode. One difference though is that whereas Mission to the Unknown did not feature the Doctor or his then companions at all, the Doctor and Rose do have a limited appearance in this episode.
Like the cartoon like chase scene at the beginning.
Ursula's last name is Blake. There was a Major Blake in The Christmas Invasion also written by Russell T Davies. Couldn't RTD had come up with another name?
Mr Skinner is obviously named after Walter Skinner in The X-Files. In fact this episode has an X-Files type music.
The men (and women) from LINDA sounds like a take of The Man From UNCLE.
So fun seeing the group playing in a band.
Very funny how Jackie manages to meet the first four steps that Elton was about to take.
The Abzorbaloff appeared in this episode as a result of winning the Design a Monster contest for the series in Blue Peter. (Coindentally I saw an old Blue Peter segment on the Blake's 7 season 4 DVD very recently.)
Very funny Rose had a go at Elton even though the Abzorbaloff was right next to him.
The CBC credit I have noticed is now gone.
I actually liked this episode and is definitely much better than the 100th Andromeda episode Pride Before The Fall which I saw on FOX8 later in the night.

Marc Warren will soon be seen as Dracula in the new BBC version of the vampire legend alongside Girl In The Fireplace guest star Sophia Myles and executived produced by Julie Gardner.
http://drwhoaustralia.org/board/viewtopic.php?p=14532#14532

[Commander]

I wanted to give this poor but Christmas Invasion still takes the cake for that one...

...Get rid of him.

From my perspective, RTD is the exact opposite to JNT. Both were charged with revitalising the show - and both have gone about it sooo differently.

Story ArcsE-Space, Master and Guardian trilogies were pretty good - each were different but at least had some interesting ideas. Bad Wolf was fine as it was often well concealed or subtle, however Torchwood is bloody annoying. I might also add that in two of RTD's three season three proper stories - two have included references to Rose and Bad Wolf.

Get out of Jail Free Card
Whereas one saw the cheapening of the series via the sonic screwdriver, the other has introduced it as a Time Lord's best friend.

Your TARDIS or mine?
Whereas one drew on the platonic working relationships between the Doctor and his companion/s - best evident with 4th/Romana II and 5th/Nyssa, the other has created a romance between 10th/Rose and made the companion (in the eyes of some) insufferably annoying.

Minors
Characters dont have the time to fill out and capture the imagination of the viewer. This is the fault of the 45 min format, which is understandable as people wont want to spend a month watching the one story, but that dosent detract from the fact that the secondary characters are dull.

Time Lord pets
I hoped never to say this, but Rose has the Doctor on a leash. Remember the times when he'd be the last one out - now we get "Someone wants a word with you?" *a glare* and a snide chick having a go at them when there's a defenceless guy getting harrassed by a pudgy alien. If aliens were watching this from above, theyd think Rose was the Doctor and the Doctor was her uppety sidekick.


Tennant's Doctor has so much potential, but the experience, one I had really looked forward to this year, has been cheapened by certain aspects of his disposition towards average joes, whilst being positively romantic with his companion.

I wont go into my opinions on the humour during the last 10 minutes of the episode.

I did however draw two positives from Love and Monsters. Peter Kay was good, perhaps under used - but I was really pleased with the performance of Marc Warren. I have a lot of time for this guy - a great actor (watch Hustle) and one that could have made a decent companion for the Doctor. I also liked one part of RTD's script the connection between this episode and 'Rose' from S1. The thoughts shared by Clive and Elton about Doctor and the death associated with him I was pleased to see.

Regarding Rose - she still manages to annoy even with only a few minutes on screen, I think all these adventures have made her forget that non-time travellers have feelings too.....

Ill finish my ramble with what Elton SHOULD have said:

Rose: "You upset my mum - no-one upsets my mum"
Elton: "Im not the one who ran away with an alien and left her behind"

(edit: grammar)

[Speckled Jim]

[Firestarter]

I have to admit I really wasn't impressed with this episode. In all honesty, I personally felt this was the worst Dr Who episode I have ever seen!!!
The acting was second rate, the story was crap and where the hell was the Doctor??? All in all I'm getting very frustrated with the latest series.


BTW The sooner Rose is killed off the better.

[arturo]

The best thing about this episode is that it has divided fandom and created some really interesting debates about what doctor who should be.

Personally I liked it (no surprises there) and found Elton to be one of the most endearing characters to emerge in series 2, if they hadn't of completed his story so thoroughly I would have liked to see him return.

The idea of telling a story from a different perspective appeals greatly to me, it is interesting to see how people who are often marginalised and left on the sidelines of a story would react. The humour of the episode was appropriate, mainly because it was largely based around character (except the arse joke).

I thought that it presented an interesting portrayal of Jackie and agree with Daves comments about her pulling power. I'm not sure I like the costume for the Absorbalof, It looked a little dodgy during the chase and I hateed the Scooby Doo chase at the beginning.

Personally I like the fact that they are prepared to mess with the format a little. While it may not be to everyone's liking I thought it was a gamble that paid off.

[SharazJek]

[Speckled Jim]

[Sulp Niar]

How d'you mean? I didn't see the Dwarf links. Maybe I'm just not analytical enough.

I really enjoyed this episode. It was perfect through its runtime. BUT as with all the best things in life, I think on second viewing it's likely to lose some of its magic. Just as Jonathan Creek or Wire in the Blood episodes aren't as good on second viewing because you know who the killer is. The experiment is innovative, but I can't see it holding up as brilliant. I'll have to wait 'til I rewatch it.

Overall it was great though, and I actually really liked the old Jacks in this one.

[SharazJek]

I think he may be meaning that the final eps of Red Dwarf weren't very well thought out.

However, series 8 of RD is perhaps one of my favourite, so I guess a lot of it comes down to taste.

[Wester]

Far be it for me to go along with the crowd, but i really did not like this one. The monster was just not believable - well the nice human teeth were a giveaway!. sorry 4/10.

[Chris]

This story confirms my belief that Russel T Davies is a good writer, but a horrible one for Doctor Who. I read that Mark Gatiss isn't even writing for series 3 yet Mr Davies will probably write 3 or so! The very thought is enough to nearly make me cry.

[Speckled Jim]