Doctor Who Club of Australia

[dave]

To be brief, I thought this was pretty silly. Everyone's been on the highway for 24 years or so, unable to get off, and no-one noticed?

After hearing rumours about the return of the Macra earlier in the year, I was happy to see that that was the case, but I didn't think they were utilised very well, and I didn't realise they were quite so huge. But they looked kinda cool.

So we finally get the last words of the Face of Boe and, predictably, they were 'You are not alone'. These words seemed to fly in the face of his calling the Doctor the last of the Time Lords in the preceding sentence, but continuity hasn't been a strong point in DW before, so why start now?

[Greg]

I thought this was a pretty good use of the standard Who 'base under siege' storyline - though obviously far from the first time it's been used in the new series, I'v never see a 'Kombi under siege' version before.

[SharazJek]

I thought the whole story was silly until I saw the Macra. I do agree that they weren't utilized in the story enough. Perhaps their enormous size could be attributed to their 'devolvement', but why were they there in the first place? Obviuosly they thrived on the car fumes but why/how did they get there in the first place. And if the Macra have evolved over billions of years, why hasn't the human race? Bah!! Schmevolution!!

Beautiful acting by Tennant when talking about Gallifrey.

And of course the obligatory gay political statement had to be made, this time with a pair of married pensioner lesbians. Yawn. Another unashamed attempt to program the minds of the family audience into accepting gay relationships as being normal. Can't we keep all this kind of rubbish in Torchwood?

[Tegan]

[arturo]

Wow! I'm wondering if I wached the same episode as everybody else. Personally I really enjoyed this one. Yes the idea of being stuck on the motorway was a "bit silly" but isnt a large amount of speculative fiction based on ideas that are a bit silly. The idea of sever traffic congestion that is endured in the hope of a brighter future is something that I really liked. Some of the people the Doctor drops in on are alittle unusual and the twee English gentleman was a little out of place. Loved the old ladies though.

Loved the development of the fate of New New York through the problems with the senate.Not sure that the Macra were really necessary but I suppose they were a good inclusion as a monster to provide a bit of a threat to Martha that didn't need any backstory that would get some of the old school fans squeeing.

Loved the return of Novice Hame, especially as she has become a Nun with a Gun. Boes demise was a little disturbing, my 6yo niece cried a little and my girlfriend cuddled in a bit closer as he lay like a dropped goldfish... love the grammatical problemwith his final message but what the heck, great story arc to come.

Really interesting story, combination of a big picture of an alien environment and peoples individual problems and a wonderful development of the relationship between Martha and the Doc. Is it just me being a bit too squee or has RTD's writing improved this year.

[meglos]

Really enjoyable, This is my favourite of the 3 so far. A good idea done well. It was good to hear the Doctor talk about Gallifrey a bit more and David Tennants acting is better than ever. It was good to see a monster from the classic series return that almost no one would remember. A bit sad to see the Face of Boe die, but really looking forward to the story arc, which I'm sure just about all of us can guess what it involves, still, I could be surprised

[FredDag]

I totally agree with the last two posts. This is the best episode yet in this season. Russell T Davies scripts get better and better. I was so glad that I avoided most the the spoilers for this season and was really surprised and happy that the Macra made a return. I'm sure these Macra aren't as brainy or just haven't had the chance same chances the few Macra that appeared in the 60's. Maybe there are different types of Macra and some are dumber then others. Anyway, they seemed a lot more of a threat then the clunky looking versions of the sixties, I think to get caught by a sixties Macra you need to stick you're head in there claws and wait for them to bite! The story was brilliant and as I thought, now the 10th Doctor has his own companion he's shining through! At last he's showing his true colours. Martha has finally grown on me by episode three and I'm really warming to her. A brilliant little story, with the perfect mix of comedy, action and scare.

[uhumanite]

I truely enjoyed it the most of this season. Far better than New Earth and The Doctor now realises Martha is important. Good old Novice Hame and Face of Boe.

"You are not alone."



5/5

[Todd]

It's an interesting story, which has a Paradise Towers/Greatest Show feel.

I enjoyed the tone of it all, especially on a 2nd viewing and it was way better than New Earth.

What Boe said was predicatable. And the Macra didn't need to be there at all but they were a nice nod to original series fans.

The relationship between Martha and the Doctor is developing nicely.

So far after 3 episodes a consistent start to the season with all stories being enjoyable in different ways.

[Hiruma]

I don't know what other people think of this view, but Ive always been of the view that Russell T Davies best scripts come when there isn't a great change in location. That is the characters are confined to a couple of locations and don't get to move around a lot.

I enjoyed this story, I particularly like any and all pieces of information that crop up about Gallifrey etc. The Doctors need to lie about what happened was especially interesting, it shows he still has a long way to go before he really trusts any of his new companions totally.

The Macra were likely brought in as part of a deal between the Government and the Macra for the fumes of the undercity (which they feed on). Seemed a logical route to take. However its likely the deal was pretty much one sided, the Macra had de-evolved. They were as much trapped as the Humans were.

Im looking forward to next week but after the trailer all I can hear now is that American accent from that Showgirl!.. yeeoch!

[Sulp Niar]

I can't believe it. I've got this all wrong; after looking forward to Series Two, it disappointed. After dismissing the upcoming Series Three, I've been shocked at how good it is so far. With the next story looking great and interesting, could we possibly have four good stories in a row?

Gridlock was fantastic. There are inevitably parallels you can draw with Star Wars (Coruscant, "You are not alone" is like "there is one other") and Judge Dredd (the news reporter's look, the entire setup), but who cares about plagiarism when it works so well? I should also mention that there's a bit of Red Dwarf in there because of "Bliss". Ha, and since the male kidnapper looked like Matt Bellamy from Muse, it was too easy to make "Bliss" jokes.

Er, but I digress. What's great is that the Doctor is often as helpless as Martha in this new world. Unlike, say, Anakin's leap from a podcar in Attack of the Clones, the Doctor has to jump down one by one. I liked this. I also liked the sardonic idea that, if we do fly in hovercars in the future, it'll be slower travelling than it is today because of traffic jams. People live in their cars. It almost seems too natural a progression. Seriously though, RTD has really thought this one through. This New New York is fascinating - buy emotions (any chance of a Cyberman tie-in?)! Give birth to kittens! I liked the idea that the parliament was completely dead. That'd make Question Time bearable viewing wouldn't it?

The returning characters didn't annoy like I expected them too. The Face of Boe is the obvious one... his secret was obvious too. To be honest, I was hoping for something a bit more shocking... like, "I am not the Face of Boe... I am the Master and you will obey me! Ugh!" *dies*. Or, "Doctor you are not alone... you see, you have a companion named Martha Jones." "Right, thanks Boe my man!"

I should also mention that Tennant's acting is more low-key these days, and hence better. Like McCoy, he seems to get less believable the less excited he gets. Which is why I enjoyed the moment where he hugged the Nurse then let go of her.

And the Macra, yeah. Not in that much actually, so their return was surprisingly nothing. They could have been any crabs. Still, they were effective.

Overall, quality. Keep this up, guys!

[Theta Sigma]

Although Gridlock was not the action packed adventure that the trailer at the end of The Shakespeare Code made it out to be, Gridlock however has a lot of heart in it.
Upon seeing the Macra I have to admit that I didn't recognise them until I saw the credit at the end "Macra created by Ian Stuart Black". It was very unexpected to see them here.
I also didn't expect to see guest star Ardal O'Hanlon as a cat.
Quite a sad send off for the Face of Boe and was moved by the dialogue between the Doctor and Martha at the end.

[Fenric]

Gridlock, for me, was a pretty good story, considering that the previous "The Shakespeare Code" was such an annoyingly uninteristing plot.

In "Gridlock", the Face of Boe is realised as a character much better, the Macra are fantastic, and the plot works- although when you examine it more closely, it can be rather lame.

[Ohica]

I liked this show as I have liked all I"ve seen so far. I love that we are finally free of the Mr and Mrs Doctor show and as someone said, David can spread his wings a bit with the acting skills. I thought his feelings of responsibility for Martha dawning on him was done well. I like that we have the realism that they are still both strangers to eachother. I wondered how dumb these people were to think that they could get anywhere on this freeway. The lesbians were on it for 24 yrs. I have also found that there is a bit of tokenism with the gay references. I think there's at least one per episode. He seems to have a thing for good looking black people as well. The drug/mood thing was done well too, leading us into the underlying problem with the city. The Face dying was a bit tragic and his comments could mean just about anything. I'd like to think that the Doctor is not the last of his race. Surely some of them weren't home that day the planet got blown up. I was also bemused by the Doctor's description of Gallifrey. WE've seen Gallifrey. The grass is green.....pretty barren really. NOt to mention the deserts and sand dunes we saw in Leela's day. Must be an environmentally diverse place. I liked the originality of this episode and I am finding this series a real breath of fresh air.

[Greg]

Just a note to those who have see the whole series: please don't say anything about the Face of Boe and his final words that will give away later developments.

For those who haven't... you've got some surprises in store!

Back to our regularly scheduled discussion.

[Commander]

RTD's best single-parter? This could well be. At the beginning I was asking myself, "how could this possibly work?" but surprisingly it was tied up neatly at the end of the episode.

Face of Boe...whilst I quite like the concept, I thought was a bit gooby in NE, and again in Gridlock.

Next week's episode looks like a typical new series Skaroian ep - good.

Series Three is certainly impressing me so far. I'd say that, overall, it will be my favourite, as the next two-parter goes head-to-head with Aliens of London/WW3, which, as we all know, was a pathetic first try at a double-ep.

[montypython]

[Greg]

The burnt orange sky and silver-leafed trees were mentioned by the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan, way back in The Sensorites in 1964.

[Odnet]

As usual RTD has great ideas but he seems to have to rush the endings. I find that his stuff always seems to come to a sudden and not always fitting finish. However I did find the way that The Doctor starts to tell Martha about the Time War and it fades to black quite well done. Martha needs to hear about it but we don't again.
I did think that the kittens were weird. I mean surely they would be Humanoid like the Cats are. After all the Mother is human. And why is the year so far in the future? If Mankind has hardly moved on in that many years then there must be serious lack of creative people around.

[ADAMK]

A nice piece on Gridlock can be found here:
http://www.freewebs.com/shabogangraffiti/gridlock.htm

cheers,
Adam.