Teebs wrote:I'd forgotten about the come ward, that does make it seem a bit nastier.
Moffat has a different slant on death, but there's still tons of death in his stories; dozens of people were dismembered by an insane AI to patch up its wrecked starship days/hours before "The Girl in the Fireplace" started, River Song and Co. had their essence downloaded into CAL but were still very dead in the real world, and hundreds died during the course of a air raid while Captain Jack's not correctly programmed nanogenes were wrecking havok (you see a Junkers bomber get shot down).
I thought its transformation effect was pretty well done with the way it got mixed up about which mouths to speak out of.
It assumed the form of Olivia Colman (castmembers from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are to NuWho what castmembers from RoboCop and Total Recall were to 80s/90s/early 00s Star Trek).
'Alright guard, begin the unnecessarily slow moving dipping mechanism...' - Dr. Evil
'Secondly, I don't see why "income inequality" is a bad thing. Poverty is not an injustice. There is no such thing as causes for poverty, only causes for wealth. Poverty is not a wrong, but taking money from those who have it to equalize incomes is basically theft, which is wrong.' - Typical Randroid
'I think it's gone a little bit wrong.' - The Doctor
I enjoyed it as a good introduction. I liked how the Doctor was Amy's imaginary friend because of the childhood encounter. Obviously there is a foreshadowing of a new "big bad". Interestingly they know things the Doctor doesn't and is aware that he is a TL. Maybe its because they are not from this dimension so they know something people from this dimension might not know.
So far good start for Moffat's run.
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As someone else said, I couldn't actually find anything particularly to gripe about whilst watching, even afterwards I can't find much to pick fault with. I could have happily lived without the RTD-style 'reference the finale from day one' thing, and the zany food thing went on a few too long. Dialogue was good, it got several chuckles. Overall I liked the new doctor. I did roll my eyes a bit at the wedding dress, but again, a minor nitpick based on past actions that may not be borne out. By reference to the last two series of RTD, a definite 5.
"...a fountain of mirth, issuing forth from the penis of a cupid..." ~ Dalton / Winner of the 'Frank Hipper Most Horrific Drag EVAR' award - 2004 / The artist formerly known as The_Lumberjack.
Evil Brit Conspiracy: Token Moose Obsessed Kebab Munching Semi Geordie
That was a very badass episode. Man, this looks like a great start, mangoes. Turns out Moffat can do awesomely epic, not just morbid and creepifying (though those moments in the house do qualify!), on the same "level" as RTD but WITHOUT RTD's ridiculous nonsense. Man, the Doctor! And AMY!
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
Also, guys. Did they use the previous seasons' background music in the episode itself, for this new season? Or is the background music all new? I know the theme is all new and stuff. But the background stuff?
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
Shroom Man 777 wrote:Also, guys. Did they use the previous seasons' background music in the episode itself, for this new season? Or is the background music all new? I know the theme is all new and stuff. But the background stuff?
New music, same composer, and although it was differentish, it was a very similar sound and you'd be forgiven for assuming that they'd reused the previous stuff. To be honest, that's a bit of a shame, given the new theme has all gone rather retro, admittedly not sure if I like it yet, but given that the whole thing is going back to the more retro doctor, retro tardis etc, it might have been interesting to have a completely new soundtrack.
"...a fountain of mirth, issuing forth from the penis of a cupid..." ~ Dalton / Winner of the 'Frank Hipper Most Horrific Drag EVAR' award - 2004 / The artist formerly known as The_Lumberjack.
Evil Brit Conspiracy: Token Moose Obsessed Kebab Munching Semi Geordie
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
Sorry, I meant a new style of music or a new direction of music rather than to suggest that the music wasn't new, there were definitely different themes being presented throughout the show, but given the effort made to revamp the theme tune into something completely new, it might have been interesting to depart from the bombastic RTD-era sound which we still got in this one. I mean I am judging on one episode, so it's hardly fair, but the new theme did seem a bit out of place, which is a shame, because it a) sounded interesting and different, and b) because I really got the impression from the new theme that he was trying to make a direct reference back to the older theme tunes from the 70's and 80's.
"...a fountain of mirth, issuing forth from the penis of a cupid..." ~ Dalton / Winner of the 'Frank Hipper Most Horrific Drag EVAR' award - 2004 / The artist formerly known as The_Lumberjack.
Evil Brit Conspiracy: Token Moose Obsessed Kebab Munching Semi Geordie
The CGI was horrible and I wish they'd try a non-hyperactive Doctor for once, but I still enjoyed Smith's performance (although he should work on distinguishing himself from Tenant a bit more) and I loved the new companion. The end-of-the-world plot was also done better than many of RTDs similar efforts, and I appreciate that they managed to set an episode on modern Earth and not put all the action in London for once.
Not quite up there with the classics of nuWho, but definitely better than anything we've gotten for the past couple of years.
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Good start. I personally dislike Smith still but maybe he'll grow on me.
I didn't much like the Doctor calling the aliens back just to masturbate on how great he is, and if that scared them off why he didn't just do that in the first place then have all the time in the world to deal with prisoner 0.
"No it's just Anacrap coming to whine and do nothing." -Mike Nelson on Anakin Skywalker
To give them their credit, from what I heard, there were significant budget cuts because of the economic climate, so the crap CGI was a necessity rather than a horrible screw up - I think the quote I heard was something along the lines of 'we wrote the stories, then did the best we could with the budget we have', rather than the other way round.
"...a fountain of mirth, issuing forth from the penis of a cupid..." ~ Dalton / Winner of the 'Frank Hipper Most Horrific Drag EVAR' award - 2004 / The artist formerly known as The_Lumberjack.
Evil Brit Conspiracy: Token Moose Obsessed Kebab Munching Semi Geordie
On top of Moose's points, complaining about bad visual effects in DW is somewhat similar to complaining about dampness and saltiness in the middle of the Pacific.
I wish they'd try a non-hyperactive Doctor for once
Given that the last Doctor who wasn't hyperactive in at least some respects was Pertwee, I'm not too bothered about it. It beats Ten's woe-is-me attitude hands-down.
I appreciate that they managed to set an episode on modern Earth and not put all the action in London for once.
That, apparently, was part of a deliberate push on Moffatt's part to get away from the impression that London is the only point on the planet that aliens are interested in.
I really, really enjoyed this episode, vastly moreso than anything I've caught of the last two seasons. I liked the back-and-forth banter between the Doctor and Amy quite a bit, she could be an interesting character, and indeed setting the action away from London was a good move as well. If they keep producing episodes of this quality I'll be a happy, happy man.
The CGI for NuWho has always been hit and miss; the CGI for those eyeball aliens was suspect, but I liked the crash landing TARDIS doing the fly over of central London and the new title sequence looks less blurry (also there was a surprising amount of actual model work in Season One that was left by the wayside). The cinematography looks more glossy and movie quality though, like Primeval.
'Alright guard, begin the unnecessarily slow moving dipping mechanism...' - Dr. Evil
'Secondly, I don't see why "income inequality" is a bad thing. Poverty is not an injustice. There is no such thing as causes for poverty, only causes for wealth. Poverty is not a wrong, but taking money from those who have it to equalize incomes is basically theft, which is wrong.' - Typical Randroid
'I think it's gone a little bit wrong.' - The Doctor
I wish they'd stop trying to foist that inappropriate music on me. It bothers the hell out of me. Doctor Who is not EPIC! GLORIOUS! WOW! no matter how much they try to make it that way.
Saw a clip of the episode toward the end, when the Doctor invites Amy aboard the TARDIS. Overall, I like the new console room set. Looks a lot more open without those coral branch supports and it's nice to see the hexagonal console back. Not sure if I'm wild about the idea of the console sitting on an upraised platform, since it still cuts down on the sweep of the set visually. But what they've got now is a decided improvement over the old set.
I did like the Doctor's reply to Amy's "I grew up": "We'll soon fix that."
I'll wait until I get to see the whole episode before commenting any further.
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Oil an emergency?! It's about time, Brigadier, that the leaders of this planet of yours realised that to remain dependent upon a mineral slime simply doesn't make sense.
—The Doctor "Terror Of The Zygons" (1975)
I think this Doctor is actually more calm and reserved than Ten. At least, when he's not in his weirder moments. His face, at least, is less kooky and more... dour and dorky.
Vympel - I think the bombastic theme of Doctor Who is part of the point. It sounds so grandoise and magnificent and stuff, and then we end up with some guy puking beans out and some little girl praying to Santa Claus.
What a great show!
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
I liked the new TARDIS interior and Amy Pond is easily one of the best looking companions the series has ever had. Ironically, I heard it on the radio today that some people were complaining because she is TOO good looking for the series.
The setup with her being a childhood admirer of the Doctor and now a wedding dress with lots of Doctor stuff leaves me with the horrible thought the show will do another romantic intrest. I suspect Amy Pond is going to marry whoever they kept mistaking the Doctor for. Some cartoon dude that looks like the Doctor...
Hmm, suppose we will have a dual Matt Smith episode where everyone gets confused between the Doctor and the fake. With the lost Amy Pond getting to kiss and otherwise fool around with them both to satisfy the folks that get off on watching the Doctor get it on with his companions.
That said, we seem to have the return of River Swan so if things are true to form she should be the Doctors 'romantic intrest' and we get to hear what the Doctors name is eh ?
The rest of it didnt interest me much, the montage of the Doctor and the reveal to his new look was pretty good but I'm not liking Matt Smith. I want a Doctor thats older and can carry themselves properly. There has been too much of the goofy Doctor with David Tennant and that initial food scene irritated the fuck out of me.
Finally gotten around to seeing it (damn schedules), and I enjoyed every minute of it. I was fully apprehensive at first, especially since, even after a year of knowing who will be The Doctor and his companion, I'd still not really warmed to them. What a difference an episode makes.
I'm actually looking forward to the rest of the season now. Sure, there are things I can gripe about, like more Daleks and the possible cheapening of Moffat's classic Angels, but if this is any indicator, then we can still get something fresh and well made. Iffy CGI and trying to shake Ten's personality quirks aside, or some rather samey use of cues from previous soundtracks, I don't see the major downers that RTD brought to the fray being present here.
I could be totally wrong, yet after the dreck of the last season and the hit and miss specials last year, I find this episode was without any real flaws. I do like the new TARDIS console and general look, and Amy is easily the hottest companion of NuWho, and probably the most like the Doctor without being all lovey dovey and grating like Rose/Martha, or as totally opposed to him as Donna.
Er I assumed the wedding dress meant to imply that she was getting married to that intern guy the next day, hence her asking if the Doctor can bring her back to next morning no matter where they go (this she asks of a time traveller who's most accurate time hop to her knowledge lands him two years late, but I digress).
"No it's just Anacrap coming to whine and do nothing." -Mike Nelson on Anakin Skywalker
Gramzamber wrote:Er I assumed the wedding dress meant to imply that she was getting married to that intern guy the next day, hence her asking if the Doctor can bring her back to next morning no matter where they go (this she asks of a time traveller who's most accurate time hop to her knowledge lands him two years late, but I digress).
Yeah, the music seems to make it a big reveal, which suggests creepyville, but I think the point is that she's marrying nurse-dude (or Jeff, but he's probably too busy hanging out with Patrick Moore or something).
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PREDATOR490 wrote:The setup with her being a childhood admirer of the Doctor and now a wedding dress with lots of Doctor stuff leaves me with the horrible thought the show will do another romantic intrest. I suspect Amy Pond is going to marry whoever they kept mistaking the Doctor for. Some cartoon dude that looks like the Doctor...
I got the impression that she had made up the cartoon dude based off her memories of the Doctor, so it seems unlikely that there actually is a double to him.
It would be funny if the Doctor did get her back in time for the wedding just because it would be completely unexpected based off past history.
I don't get that. I mean, she did regad him as a "sorta boyfriend" or something.
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
Meh, I remember a scene from one of the trailers showing Amy Pond kissing the Doctor so I'm going to remain skeptical about how this relationship is going to progress.
As for the Daleks, I'm actually interested in seeing these new versions since they appear to be something new. The Time War Daleks were just a load of shit that had to be removed quickly because they were too powerful to hang around much. I suppose these Daleks are going to be the 'rebirth' for the new series like the Cybermen and I'm kinda amused by the Union Jack on it.
Maybe these Daleks will be good guys fighting on behalf of UNIT...
I suspect Amy Pond is going to be getting a substantial following due to her looks so I will give credit to the producers for their superb ability to pick out such a lovely hook. The intro REALLY needs to be reworked though, it was extremely wierd and the music off puting. Might get used to it over the season but I was not impressed.
Anyone got an idea when the episode was set relative to the present?
There were 3 time zones involved: -
1 - Young Amy
2 - 12 years later, the majority of the story
3 - 2 years later, the final 5 minutes
Now assuming any of these are more or less the present for the viewers i.e. 2010 is it time zone 2 or 3? Was the majority of the story set 2 year ago making it more or less the same time that Donna left earth or was the end section set 2 year in the future i.e. 2012. Or none of the above?
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