Dr. Who

[Rian]

Oh, good! I'm glad it worked out for you (and your friend). I'm sure they'll love it - I like how it even makes the sound, so you can get your Doctor fix whenever you have the urge

I enjoy how ThinkGeek's write-ups encorporate whatever the theme is. For those who haven't followed the link, here's the description, which I thought was very clever and just chock-full of Dr Who references :

Throughout infinite time and space, you can always use more USB ports

I seek audience with the ThinkGeek Consciousness under peaceful contract, according to Convention Fifteen of the Shadow Proclamation. This is the vehicle of the Time Lord. TARDIS, or Time And Relative Dimension In Space has its chameleon circuit broken, so it's stuck looking like an old British Police box from Earth year zero-point-five-slash-apple-slash-five-zero, or 1950 by local reckoning. That, and it's become a 4 port USB hub a mere 11 centimeters tall.


This little blue box, really an immense multi-dimensional starship capable of ludicrous speeds, sits benignly on your desk, acting as a mere conduit of digital information for your computer. 480 megabits per second of data are shared amongst its four USB 2.0 ports along the base. Press the panel on the face, and the blue-glowing light pulsates and the Tardis' engine fires up. Don't worry, while the engine grinds away, we've time-locked the Tardis so it stays put - we don't want any accidental paradoxes, thank you.

It's not every day you can have your own piece of the Untempered Schism right there on your desktop, so be careful how you use it. The Bad Wolf is watching.

[Kiwi]

Okay I'm all caught up now.

We guessed the big reveal about two episodes in and decided it was too obvious - can't discuss it until Kiwi is up to date though

Ha, me too! I'd been speculating this possibility ever since the pregnancy stuff began. My weekly viewing companion wasn't so sure. A moment of sheer smugness and satisfaction for me when I turned out to be right. I loved that scene where the Doctor works it all out and is saying "but we ... and they ... and that means ..." Delicious stuff. Plus there were some cracker one liners in this episode:
Rory: "You mean Stevie Wonder played Paris in the 1800s?"
River Song: "Yes. But you must never tell him!"
The whole Doctor's death thing is the biggest talking point from here.
And now we all have to wait until September?!

[Rian]

I loved that Stevie Wonder line!

[Rian]

ok - who's seen the second-half season opener? Are we waiting for anyone to see it before we discuss it? I saw it last night - very fun! I love what they did with Hitler!

[Moonwood the Hare]

I saw it. And the USA had it on Saturday as well I gather. I don't think it will spoil things much if I say there was some interesting moral stuff on retributive justice versus redemption which would be of great interest to many on this site. Also my daughter worked out who Mels was a couple of minutes after she turned up and we said 'Not likely,'

[Kiwi]

I will continue to ignore this thread until, dammit, my poor little country gets its priorities sorted and decides when the next episodes will screen. I can't even find them on any impending schedules. So, don't wait for me, I'll catch up but I'm going to be a month behind, at the very least.

Oh, the pain!!!!

[Rian]

I'm so sorry, Kiwi - we need to take this up with the United Nations or something - it's cruel and unusual punishment to make Dr Who fans have to wait!!

In the meantime, I'll use spoilers - oh, wait, did Emery ever implement spoiler tags? I'll check :

[spoiler]this should be greyed-out[/spoiler]

edit - rats, he didn't! I'll go bug him.

[Moonwood the Hare]

On a slightly different theme has anyone else read Michael Moorcock's 'The Coming of the Terraphiles'? It's a Doctor Who novel.

[Rian]

Any good?

[Moonwood the Hare]

Well, I'm a long time Moorcock fan and it's clearly a Moorcock novel with Doctor who in it rather than a Doctor Who novel by Moorcock. The first third of it is a P. G. Wodehouse pastiche set thousands of years in the future and the rest is what Moorcock likes to call wide-screen baroque sci-fi. It's had rave reviews by the likes of Neil Gamen and I'd say it's worth a read but it somehow lacked what I treasure in the best of Moorcock. I wouldn't tell Mike though I think I've just persuaded him to read some Jack Williamson and I don't want to get on the wrong side of him! Here's Moorcock's tale of the novel from the original announcement that he was going to write it onwards and links to most of the reviews: http://www.multiverse.org/fora/forumdisplay.php?f=134

[Rian]

ok, thanks for the info

Just saw the newest one - "The Girl That Waited", IIRC - wasn't that the title of the original one? Anyway, very interesting premise, and much better than the last one, which was just a collection of scary things with no real story holding them together (I mean, what was that giant eyeball in the drawer?). It (last week's one with the alien kid) was a very good initial idea, but IMO just not developed well at all.

Anyway, this newest one (with the handbots) was much better. Interesting choices that had to be made at the end - but that's what I like about Doctor Who - the best ones have a coherent storyline that makes sense within the Whoniverse, plus funny stuff, sad stuff, and scary stuff. Rory's line to the Doctor was esp. good - "You're making me be you!" or something along those lines - IOW, he had to make a difficult/impossible choice where there was something bad no matter what.

I loved the little Rory robot, and how Amy "disarmed" him! I think the older Amy made the right choice, although certainly difficult, And I loved how the handbot's line "This is a kindness" changed - at the beginning of the story, the "kindness" of the robots was bad, but at the end, it was indeed "good" That was very poignant, and very Dr Who.

[Moonwood the Hare]

Are people aware that the Christmas episode of Dr. Who is inspired by the Narnia books and entitled 'The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw I feel I may have influenced Steve Moffatt just a little bit http://cslewis.drzeus.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9165 Back in 2008 I posted this on the old Into the Wardrobe site:

In the last few series of Dr Who the Doctor has met Shakespeare, Dickens and Agatha Christie. In each case the period has been carefully chosen - for Dickens during a period of disillusionment at the end of his life. For Shakespeare early in his career - he is seen as a sort of Elizabethan rock idol. For Christie at the time of her mysterious disappearance early in her life in order to get the twenties feel. In each case there is a science fiction plot with alien invasion and especially with Shakespeare and Christie their lives are drawn into this. In the case of Shakespeare the aliens use his grief at the death of his son as a channel for their invasion in Christie's case the alien absorbs one of her plots and sets out to kill people accordingly.

So here's my question. If the good doctor were to meet Lewis when would you have that happen and how would you entangle a sci fi plot complete with either time travel or alien invasion or both into Lewis's life?

Incidentally - fanatics will know that Lewis died on the day the first episode of Dr Who was broadcast.

later I added

'Yes,' said Queen Lucy, 'In our world too, a Stable once had something inside that was bigger than our whole world.' "

This is clearly based on time lord technology - Lewis had encountered a tardis. Of course the large wooden box had landed in a gloomy attic and he mistook it for a wardrobe.

And someone else said:

What a creative topic! Yes, as noted, the series has included great literary figures, so why not Lewis? That would be a fantastic episode and should be sugggested to the producer. Perhaps a link to this thread?

Maybe the Doctor needs the help of the Inklings and stops in at the pub for one of their readings. He would fit right in! He could hear some of the Lord of the Rings or The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe being read to the group. In fact, the Doctor would love it so much, he would have a hard time keeping his mind on his mission. There's a scholar and a philosopher in him to be sure. Lewis, Tolkien, Williams, and the others must help Dr. Who figure out how to vanquish some menacing evil from another world wreaking havoc on Oxford with their language, mythological, and literary expertise. It could also include little details from their works like a broken sword, a healing liquid, etc. . . .

And it could end with Dr. Who venturing into a wardrobe with a huge grin on his face.

So how about some royalties Mr. Moffat. Actually this draws attention to a difference in approach between Steve Moffat and R. T. Davies. Davies was more a modernist taking the Doctor back in time to meet these literary figures; Moffat is postmodern and recreates the fictional worlds of others. So Davies takes the Doctor to meet Dickens; Moffat recreates 'A Christmas Carroll' in space.

[Rian]

That's cool! I had forgotten about the Christmas special because I haven't seen any ads at all for it - I hope it's airing here ...

Good luck on the royalties ...

[Kiwi]

I watched the Christmas special last week. Plenty of bonkers fun as usual. (A bit odd seeing Bill Bailey plonked in the middle of the episode, but entertaining.) Overall I didn't enjoy the latest series quite as much as the first Matt Smith series. Some super high points and some okay stuff. It was all a bit of a tease and a let down with the way they resolved the Doctor's "death" storyline. Having said that, I am definitely enjoying Matt Smith as the Doctor. And Amy. I think she's one of the most interesting companions ever. And Rory. Okay, I still love it. Still one of my favourite shows ever.

[Rian]

I'm still having a lot of trouble with Matt Smith I try and try, and get somewhere, then I see an old episode with Tennant or even Eccleston, and poof! I don't like Matt Smith anymore.

I think part of what I liked about Drs 9 and 10, and is mostly missing in Dr 11, was their strength, and their sadness. Dr 11 just seems like he's bumbling around the universe in a mindless mode most of the time. Now that's an essential part of who the Doctor is, but the other doctors had this strength element thing, where you could picture them in the Time War standing up for what is right, and the sadness thing that comes from things like that. Smith is just consistently lacking that, for me at least. He is too often in the bumbling mode.