Doctor Who S5e13 "The Big Bang" [Spoilers]

[Werrf]

Also since Tardis's were destroyed during the Time War the doctor should have curious as to what made the destruction of his Tardis so deadly.

As to that, I'd imagine it's just a matter of how the Tardis was destroyed. I can't claim to be an expert, but I'd imagine that if you torpedoed and sank a nuclear powered aircraft carrier, it would not cause as much widespread devastation as if you futzed with the reactor enough to generate a reactor meltdownand the ensuing release of radiation. Tardises may well be similar, in that simply destroying one from the outside by first nullifying its defences and engines - as the daleks did in Stolen Earth/Journey's End - would cause a different kind of devastation than destroying its engines from within in such a way as to deliberately engineer the biggest possible explosion.

[Lost Soal]

Jacks Statement is in the opening credits, so you can probably ignore it unless you think RTD anticipated moffats storyline years before he even considered quitting.

[Darth Nostril]

And I'm pretty sure the BBC will handwave that away if the show continues to get them ratings

They already have, Big Bang 2 recreated the universe and Amy remembered the Doctor back into existence, who's to say everything is exactly as it was before.

"I thought that was your last regeneration"
"Ah, well yes, but seeing as I'm the last Time Lord in all of existence I made contingency plans back when I was recreating the entire universe, never hurts to be prepared. Now grab hold of something, the brakes aren't working"

[dragon]

Jacks Statement is in the opening credits, so you can probably ignore it unless you think RTD anticipated moffats storyline years before he even considered quitting.

Well been a while so all I rembered was him saying it but not when.

Also since Tardis's were destroyed during the Time War the doctor should have curious as to what made the destruction of his Tardis so deadly.

nsip Tardises may well be similar, in that simply destroying one from the outside by first nullifying its defences and engines - as the daleks did in Stolen Earth/Journey's End - would cause a different kind of devastation than destroying its engines from within in such a way as to deliberately engineer the biggest possible explosion.

Kind of like th way how in Star Trek when the ship were destroyed by enemy fire the explosion was no where as big as when there was a core breach.

[mr friendly guy]

The only thing that really bugged me about this is how none of the characters seem to give much of a shit about whatever it was that cause the TARDIS to explode in the first place. I mean, does anyone even acknowledge it, beyond River's mention of something else taking control of it? Obviously they're saving it as a future villain but the fact no one even goes "Hey, what the hell was that?" is kinda odd.

On the rooftop scene the Doctor mentions it and then says that will have to wait (which was fair enough because the universe was about to end, so finding out the mastermind could wait).

He again mentions it at the end as a kind of foreshadowing that the "big bad" is still out there.

[Eternal_Freedom]

They said something about the explosion being "at every point in space and time" which explains why it was so powerful - it wasnt just one TARDIS exploding, it was like every atom in the Universe was an exploding TARDIs, at every moment in history

That's a big bang

[Admiral Valdemar]

The way it was shown at the end of "The Pandorica Opens" implies it detonated every star in the universe, bar Sol, instantly as a supernova. The only reason Earth and Luna still existed and had a history up until 26/6/2010, is because they were at the epicentre of the event, with the exploding TARDIS acting as a sun, at least until the event finished that day and eradicated even that last bastion. There must be a way of using the TARDIS' engines to connect multiple points in time and space simultaneously and accurately enough to affect the core of stars. That's not something just anyone can do, but then TARDIS technology isn't just lying around either.

[Themightytom]

The way it was shown at the end of "The Pandorica Opens" implies it detonated every star in the universe, bar Sol, instantly as a supernova. The only reason Earth and Luna still existed and had a history up until 26/6/2010, is because they were at the epicentre of the event, with the exploding TARDIS acting as a sun, at least until the event finished that day and eradicated even that last bastion. There must be a way of using the TARDIS' engines to connect multiple points in time and space simultaneously and accurately enough to affect the core of stars. That's not something just anyone can do, but then TARDIS technology isn't just lying around either.

So I assume Venus and mercury also survived but somehow invisible because Stars are apparently a myth...

The doctor is more and more bitching about getting old. He's certainly acting as if he's getting closer and closer to the end of his life, which from his perspective would be regenerations. there's nothing wrong with predicting that it will become a plot point because its an aspect of Dr. Who that hasn't really been explored yet, what would the doctor do if he were completely mortal? Tennant sort of touched on it, because his incarnation of the Doctor didn't want to die, and was facing his death, this was interesting because, in facing his death the 10th kind of went crazy! he messed around with events past and future after a life of chastising others for wanting to do so. He also let his regeneration build up until it became downright destructive. he got a warning from the Ood and pretty much ignored it...
So yeah i kind of want to see what will change when the doctor has no regenerations left because after this IS his next one.

Also I don't think I miscounted, I was including the bio clone crap no. 10 pulled off. the jerk used two lives and barely let go of a third...

Doctor 1 >regen 1 >Doctor 2 >Regen 2 >Doctor 3 Regen 3> Doctor 4 >Regen 4 >Doctor 5 >Regen 5 >doctor 6 >Regen 6 >Doctor 7 >Regen 7 >Doctor 8 >Regen 8 >Doctor 9 >Regen 9 >Doctor 10 >Regen 10 channeled into hand which becomes clone through biometachrisis >Regen 11 >Doctor 11 eventually dies >Regen 12 Final Doctor.

If that was Davros' voice in the TARDIS he could have been trying to destroy the universe and when the Dalek was restored he was trying to prevent the doctor from saving it. it could be Davros from before 10 got him killed, or he could have escaped somehow outside of reality, and reality had to be destroyed to permit him re-entry. I wouldn't mind seeing a Davros vs new Daleks war.

They were explained when the doctor was running back through the flashes as they closed. When the Doctor came back in 'Flesh & Stone', that wasn't the doctor from a few moments earlier, but from Big Bang.

Incidentally, the explanation I heard about the ducks was they were a clue, because 'Without ducks, the POND doesn't make any sense'.

Yeah. My mind was blown.

Good heavens man! Amy parent's = Ducks?!?!?!?!?!?

[Pcm979]

Aaaand now all the papers are going nuts about the dropped ratings. Never mind that it was the most watched program on BBC HD ever, or that the combined scores (BBC1, HD and iPlayer) are the same as the combined scores for Journey's End, or that the show was up against the World Cup and a nice day to be outside with no regular time slot, or that Tennant's first season had a lower audience figure until people got used to him too. But noooo, the papers really want a scandal and now it's a sign of the End Times.

God I hate the media.

[Manus Celer Dei]

Jacks Statement is in the opening credits, so you can probably ignore it unless you think RTD anticipated moffats storyline years before he even considered quitting.

The idea that it would turn out that what Jack was referring to is whatever goes down with River is kind of dumb, and not at all what I meant. I was thinking more along the lines of Moffat deciding to deliberately use a phrase that was repeated several times in Torchwood's first series as a way of saying "Hey, guess what we're going to be seeing again soon?"

Also, RIP Fez.

[Big Orange]

As for the episode, something that struck me: One of the reasons I liked it so much was because it wasn't trying to slam you over the head with how EPIC this was. The Pandorica and Big Bang V. 2 were easily the most epic things that the new series has had to deal with so far, but instead of pulling an RTD and making sure that everyone mentioned every five seconds that this was EPIC and WORLD SHATTERING and, perhaps, WORLD SHATTERINGLY EPIC!! or, maybe just maybe, EPICALLY UNIVERSE SHATTERING! It was played low key, everyone knew it was a big deal, but they didn't dwell on it and everyone stayed in character, and it made it feel very nice.

I was rolling my eyes as River Song forcing a Dalek to beg for mercy though. There's also an interesting inversion of a RTD season finale cliche' when there's more menace and danger about the Daleks and Cybermen when there's just one of each, abrubtly ditching the fleets and armies of them halfway through the story.

I don't think Moffat has robbed the tension and danger out of Doctor Who by making people come back to life - I get the impression that those who died in the episodes before the Universe was destroyed by the Cracks have stayed dead, Amy's parents, Rory, and the Doctor came back because Amy Pond had a direct and strong emotional attachment to them (not those expendable redshirts from "The Time of Angels"-"Flesh and Stone", the Saturnyne homeworld, etc). And Amy certainly didn't think about that stone Dalek that got killed by River.

I wonder if that leather Time Bracelet is Jack's Bracelet? He supposedly ends up a giant head after many millennia, so he's going to ditch his lower body eventually, with no use for a Time Bracelet. Anyway Torchwood is coming back, which is good news for the most part, after the critical and ratings success of the surprisingly excellent '09 mini-series (I found Torchwood's first season to be largely too goofy for adults and teens, too gory and sexualized for kids, while the following series was just bland).

[Crazedwraith]

They did say they actually cut it off his arm as in there was a severed hand tere. So I don't think his face of boeness apllies. However given Jack regenerated being blown to bits by a bomb I don't think a little delimbment is going to bother him that much.

And if it was jack's time bracelot then it will explain wh he doesn't just up and leave torchwood if he ends up there again next series.

[Lost Soal]

Jacks bracelet doesn't work remember. The Doctor disabled it.

[Crazedwraith]

I thought he fixed in Children Of Earth? And then used it to depart earth.

OR did he just use it signal some alien spaceships? I forget.

[Big Orange]

He used it to signal an alien barge passing through the solar system, so he got beamed up. Anyway it's a terrible fanfictiony idea to assumed the Time Bracelet that River Song bought from some criminals was the Time Bracelet, Captain Jack got his device from the Time Agency a loose organization of time travelling operatives and adventurers that went anywhere.

[dragon]

He used it to signal an alien barge passing through the solar system, so he got beamed up. Anyway it's a terrible fanfictiony idea to assumed the Time Bracelet that River Song bought from some criminals was the Time Bracelet, Captain Jack got his device from the Time Agency a loose organization of time travelling operatives and adventurers that went anywhere.

Might be interesting to do a spin off of the time agency, showing the adventure of time agents in various time periods, give us a glimpse of how normal mortals deal with the issues that occur.

[Themightytom]

He used it to signal an alien barge passing through the solar system, so he got beamed up. Anyway it's a terrible fanfictiony idea to assumed the Time Bracelet that River Song bought from some criminals was the Time Bracelet, Captain Jack got his device from the Time Agency a loose organization of time travelling operatives and adventurers that went anywhere.

Might be interesting to do a spin off of the time agency, showing the adventure of time agents in various time periods, give us a glimpse of how normal mortals deal with the issues that occur.

Yeah you could have them travel in a big blue box and pick up Companions and Solve Mysteries.
Why not add a little futuristic dog that does things for Scooby Snacks..

[Bedlam]

What I'm wondering about now is Rivers time line between the Angels two parter and the final two parter. At the end of the Angels story River indicated that for her that story took place after the end of the season and she remembered what had happened. However, what happened was that the universe got destroyed and replaced with a copy, thus did River: -

1) Remember something different happening that what actually occured? i.e. from her point of view the universe was not destroyed and remade because that didn't happen in the pre distruction universe.

Or

2) Has River travelled from Universe to Universe from the post distruction to the pre distruction universe

Or am I just looking at this wrong in some way?

[Plekhanov]

I bow to others' superior knowledge of multiple turkish hats.

Did anyone see the BBC's Glastonbury coverage last night? Orbital did their cover of the Doctor Who theme, with Matt Smith appearing onstage (and assisting with the knob-tiddling, it appears). Pretty cool.

Dammit now I'm even more annoyed I was working when orbital were on.

Still Doctor Who turned out to be very enjoyable when I finally got home to watch it.

[Admiral Valdemar]

As the score won't be out for a bit, someone did a Sunshine and extracted the (fairly Lost-esque scene) background music from "The Pandorica Opens" and put it on YouTube here.

[Big Orange]

How do you rate Smith's first season? Not quite as ground breaking as Eccleston's only season, but marginally better than Tennant's second season, with Steven Moffat keeping a pretty even keel and doing an overdue change around with the show's tiring formula despite this season feeling somewhat bland in places (lacking some of RTD's brash confidence), while Matt Smith could've done worse as the Doctor and his performance was helped by him working with (generally) fresher story material and sharper dialogue. Here's my rating breakdown of the episodes this year:

Season Five

"The Eleventh Hour" - 8/10
"The Beast Below" - 7/10
"Victory of the Daleks" - 6/10
"The Time of Angels"-"Flesh and Stone" - 9/10
"The Vampires of Venice" - 8/10
"Amy's Choice" - 10/10
"The Hungary Earth"-"Cold Blood" - 5/10
"Vincent and the Doctor" - 9/10
"The Lodger" - 7/10
"The Pandorica Opens"-"The Big Bang" - 10/10

And here's an indepth, semi-negative review of Season Five:

Geroni-meh…!

Matt Nida looks back at Series 5…
It all started so well.

Expectations – fan and public alike – were high for Doctor Who’s return in 2010. With The Eleventh Hour, the new team confidently delivered the best season opener since the show was revived in 2005. Better still, the opening twenty minutes – where the newly regenerated Doctor meets the child Amelia – ranks among the most magical Doctor Who sequences of all time.

But by early June, something was bothering me. I was finding the series a mixed bag at best, and distinctly underwhelming at worst. Where did it all go wrong?

Let’s deal with the successes first – of which there are several. First and foremost is Matt Smith’s triumphant performance as the Doctor. Following David Tennant’s superstar portrayal was never going to be an easy task, especially for an actor as young and early on in his career as Smith, but he not only obliterated any doubts as to his suitability for the role but has delivered probably the most surprising and nuanced interpretation of the character since Tom Baker.

CLICK LINK TO SEE REST OF REVIEW

[Shroom Man 777]

I loved the finale. I'll go watch it again, in fact!

[Admiral Valdemar]

It's hilarious how many people are coming out saying this will be the death blow to the series, when this finale just gone had an equal share (and during a World Cup, no less) compared to previous ones, and how season four was somehow not seen as blowing chunks.

Sure, there were some doozies, but overall I find the fresh new Doctor and companion selection and general feeling far better than the last two seasons.

[NecronLord]

Without going into specifics, I found that this season had some real stinkers, and I can't (aside maybe from the finale) think of anything as stand out awesome as Doctor Dances/Blink/Silence in the Library/Satan Pit etc.

On the other hand, aside from going a little beyond my limited taste for British jingoism, it didn't have any diabolical clunkers either. So I'm a little ambivalent. I think more in terms of 'I liked this aspect of $episode' and so on for this season.

[Drooling Iguana]

The problem with this season is the Stephen Moffat hasn't yet found a Stephen Moffat.

Back in the RTD days, no matter how bad the majority of the episodes were you always new that when it came time for Moffat's story you'd be in for something special. Unfortunately, Moffat doesn't seem to be able to turn in the same type of quality when he's writing nearly half the season and the rest of the writers this year were distinctly average.

Luckily, he did manage to find an absolutely amazing actor to play the Doctor, which is enough to keep me watching even when the writing wavered from mediocre (in episodes like The Beast Below and Vampires in Venice) to downright awful (Victory of the Daleks and The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood.) I'm hoping that things might improve as the new crew finds their footing, but seeing as how the show's quality went steadily downhill in each season of RTD's run I'm not going to hold my breath.

Still, after season 4 and the specials I was ready to give up on this show, and it was only the knowledge that there'd be a major shakeup in cast and crew this year that kept me around. While season 5 certainly hasn't lived up to my more optimistic expectations, it was good enough to make me to stick around for season 6.