Doctor Who SE30E05: The Poison Sky [Spoilers]
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What kind of moronic political beliefs would you have to hold to include North Korea but exclude Russia?Stark wrote:Except it's been pre-established that in the Doctor Who world, the UN controls all nuclear weapon launch codes. Excluding them is just bad writing motivated by real-world politics.
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I can live with the Russian exclusion (which is weird) if its a plot point/explained later in the series (not holding my breath).
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I assume they just forgot it, rather than it being something deliberate. It's easily explained away - they never said they were firing every single thing they had, after all.Vympel wrote:I know it's already been stated, but I cant' get over how utterly retarded a "worldwide nuclear grid" is that excludes Russia, but includes countries with no ICBM capability to speak of, and hardly any weapons at all - India, Pakistan, North Korea. Are they on fucking crack?
I hardly think it's some sinister snub at 'nasty Russkies.'
Let's face it - the writers here aren't terribly competant this episode. I'm far more inclined to believe that Helen Raynor read her wikipedia list of countries with nuclear weapons wrong and the CGI folks shrugged and went with it...
Last edited by NecronLord on 2008-05-05 01:47pm, edited 1 time in total.
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That in itself is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard of in Dr Who, I don't think I'd trust the UN to flush a toilet, never mind hold the launch codes.Stark wrote:Except it's been pre-established that in the Doctor Who world, the UN controls all nuclear weapon launch codes.
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The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.
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The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.
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Utterly different UN. This one actually has serious power, and the armed forces to flatten any nation on Earth (Well, I'd assume the Valiant can project power rather effectively, certainly more so than a USN carrier group) I bet people are a lot more cooperative. The Norks might actually have humans rights in this world.Jade Falcon wrote:That in itself is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard of in Dr Who, I don't think I'd trust the UN to flush a toilet, never mind hold the launch codes.
My personal favourite explanation is to include DWM's The Flood comic in the canon, in which future cybermen scramble the Earth's nuclear weapons arming codes, to stop them going batshit when they seed the atmosphere with chemicals to induce severe emotional distress. Presumably UNIT took over after that, on a premise of being able to stop it happening again.
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The DW Earth has been attacked by Cybermen, Ice Warriors, Autons, Silurians, Sea Devils, Rutons, and others since the 1960s and I'm just talking about the old series. If you're lucky to go five years without some advanced civilization trying to conquer/convert/exterminate you, international cooperation against alien invaders is going to be your defence priority.
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She's in it for the full season, better stop watching unless you're in some sense masochistic.Chardok wrote:Set the atmosphere on fire.
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Rutans attacked before the 1960s (it was mainly a scout ship and their invasion fleet was likely a rescue ship), Ice Warriors will attack in the future. Unless there is some novel reference I am not aware of which is possible.Imperial Overlord wrote:The DW Earth has been attacked by Cybermen, Ice Warriors, Autons, Silurians, Sea Devils, Rutons, and others since the 1960s and I'm just talking about the old series. If you're lucky to go five years without some advanced civilization trying to conquer/convert/exterminate you, international cooperation against alien invaders is going to be your defence priority.
But your point stands. Earth has encountered aliens some of them hostile and it makes it believable that the world at large will cooperate. In fact we see way back in the 70's the UN exerting control over launch codes namely in the Tom Baker story "Robot" where terrorists steal the launch codes. IIRC the Brigadier explained the nuclear power countries giving over control of their launch codes as originally a way to descalate tension.
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Why do you hate Catherine Tate?Chardok wrote:All episodes where Tate does NOT die automatically get a 1.
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Assuming it is political beliefs and not just lazy writing then I could speculate it could be that Russian agents were alleged to have killed that ex spy on British soil with polonium ? sp, while NK hasn't done anything to the UK in recent memory.Vympel wrote:What kind of moronic political beliefs would you have to hold to include North Korea but exclude Russia?Stark wrote:Except it's been pre-established that in the Doctor Who world, the UN controls all nuclear weapon launch codes. Excluding them is just bad writing motivated by real-world politics.
Personally I find lazy writing more believable than the author being motivated by real world happenings.
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Oh well, whatever. It's stupid. On another note, I really liked when the UNIT commander shot the Sontaran. "Face me, sir!"
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Personally, I don't think we're looking at the full volley of Nuclear arsenals. The US's midwest/ west section was surprisingly vacant, so I think that was just the first salvo up on the board. Or it's a stupid mistake.
Of course, if they later explain why Russia's nukes aren't on the map (What do you mean a man in a blue box asked if he could borrow them?) that could also work.
Of course, if they later explain why Russia's nukes aren't on the map (What do you mean a man in a blue box asked if he could borrow them?) that could also work.
Because she is a horrible, screechy old han with...just...BLECCH. her character constantly bitches and she shits on the dialogue at every opportunity. She's needs to be fed to the Ravenous Bugblatter beast of Trall. She's not at all spunky like the previous companions, and is nothing but a drag on any storyline she's in. And the constant "I WANNA GO HOMELOL PSYCH!" is tiresome and annoying.NecronLord wrote:Why do you hate Catherine Tate?Chardok wrote:All episodes where Tate does NOT die automatically get a 1.
1.
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It's still better then The Planet of the Ood. It's like the writers are trying their best but they can't really figure out what to write.
Is it me or does Dr.Who have a fixation on everyday false miracle-items? Diet pills? CO2-reducing technologies that you can build in every car (I really liked how Doctor pointed out that by reducing the CO2 you will encourage car use and make oil run out faster)?
Is it me or does Dr.Who have a fixation on everyday false miracle-items? Diet pills? CO2-reducing technologies that you can build in every car (I really liked how Doctor pointed out that by reducing the CO2 you will encourage car use and make oil run out faster)?
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I'm wondering how much damage the whole flash fire in the air caused?
I'm guessing it wasn't very nice for any birds flying around, not to mention planes. Would it have damaged the Ozone layer at all?
I'm guessing it wasn't very nice for any birds flying around, not to mention planes. Would it have damaged the Ozone layer at all?
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Just because UNIT could shoot down a few Sontaran foot soldiers in a minor skirmish it doesn't mean that they could handle the Sontaran mother ship which was all set to open up on earth till the Doctor intervened.dworkin wrote:I liked the Doctor's cry of "You cannot fight Sontarans!" followed by UNIT demonstrating that yes, they bloody well can.
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Dr.Who isn't a sci-fi show in the sense that it takes science seriously: Dr.Who takes its devices, situations, props ,environments and occasionally themes but not its core philosophies.I'm guessing it wasn't very nice for any birds flying around, not to mention planes. Would it have damaged the Ozone layer at all?
It's difficult to tell when its bad writing or just complete ignorance, but Dr.Who doesn't and hasn't taken science seriously in a long while. From what little I know about Dr.Who (that does seem more like a juvenile fantasy for lonely woman from time to time, at least the new series) universe, science is handled like magic and the story is more like mythology then the logic-driven plot of classic sci-fi.
So asking something like whether that fire would damage something is irrevelant: I think the entire forum pretty much agreed that device used is retarded ("atmospheres do not work that way!").
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Considering that Doctor Who is supposed to be a family-oriented show with children as a core target audience, criticizing it for not taking something seriously is amusing.Zixinus wrote:Dr.Who isn't a sci-fi show in the sense that it takes science seriously: Dr.Who takes its devices, situations, props ,environments and occasionally themes but not its core philosophies.I'm guessing it wasn't very nice for any birds flying around, not to mention planes. Would it have damaged the Ozone layer at all?
It's difficult to tell when its bad writing or just complete ignorance, but Dr.Who doesn't and hasn't taken science seriously in a long while. From what little I know about Dr.Who (that does seem more like a juvenile fantasy for lonely woman from time to time, at least the new series) universe, science is handled like magic and the story is more like mythology then the logic-driven plot of classic sci-fi.
So asking something like whether that fire would damage something is irrevelant: I think the entire forum pretty much agreed that device used is retarded ("atmospheres do not work that way!").
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It is, however, valid to criticise it when it's not internally consistent, as Stark is usually pretty eager to do.
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Why?General Zod wrote:Considering that Doctor Who is supposed to be a family-oriented show with children as a core target audience, criticizing it for not taking something seriously is amusing.
No, seriously. The first seasons were able to keep the inconsistent, comic-book mumbo-jumbo to a minimum AND tell an interesting, powerful story about redemption, despite being kids shows. Saying 'lurl kids show' strikes me as saying 'I have no expectations and no standards, so I like it'. It's clear that the 'kids show' has become less consistent, less well written and less focused over the last four years, so clearly within 'kids show' is both 'good and sophisticated' and 'name-dropping lazy writing claptrap'. Thus, when describing quality, whether it's a kids show or not is irrelevant.
Then again, people have convinced me that season 4 might pull a season 3 and get some good stuff in around the halfway point (the primary evidence: No More Helen Raynor Crap), so maybe I'll watch some more... but just not The Fanboy Bewbs.