The Official Doctor Who

[Sky Blue]

More info on most of the eps...spoilers of course...

Partners in Crime - Modern day London, and a brand new diet pill is being tested by the mysterious Adipose industries. Slogan: The fat just walks away! But, soon there are unexplained deaths, strange creatures in the shadows, and the Doctor starts investigating, little knowing that an old friend is also on the trail...

The Fires of Pompeii - Pompeii, AD 79. It's volcano day! But there's far more then Vesuvius to worry about: psychic powers are running rampant; a secretive Sisterhood conceals a horrifying High Priestess; and beneath the ground, vast creatures are stirring. This is where Donna truely comes into her own, challenging the Time Lord like no-one's ever done before, with one vital question: if he knows everyone is going to die, why can't he save them? There is no easy answer for the Doctor, as the Cult of Vulcan prepares to forge a new empire on Earth....

Planet of the Ood - Donna's first visit to an alien world. It's freezing! But on the icescapes of a distant planet, the greatest danger might be from the human race itself. When the Doctor meets the Ood again - he's determined to find out the truth behind their servility. But when an Ood's eyes turn red, you know you're in trouble, and the red-eye is spreading....But it's a savage world out there in space with soldiers and riots and betrayals - and for the Doctor, a terrifying encounter with a very big claw!

The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky - Return of Martha Jones. Back from Torchwood in her new job as medical officer for UNIT, a worldwide army dedicated to fighting alien menaces. But the menace is bigger than ever, as the threat of ATMOS spreads across the planet! Sounds like she needs an old friend, the Doctor! But he's about to meet an old enemy, as the Sontarans lie in wait. They're back, they are brutal and they are out for revenge...

The Doctor's Daughter - RTD refuses to say much about this episode. All he does is praise David Tennant, saying that this episode is his most spell-binding performance yet.

The Unicorn and the Wasp - In 1926, Agatha Christie mysteriously disappeared, only to be found ten days later with no memory of what had happened. Was it a nervous breakdown? A cry for help? Or perhaps a giant alien wasp? A classic murder mystery.

Silence in the Library/River's Run - Not much on this one either. Just "we've got two episodes of terror with an abandoned library, moving shadows, the gruesome Nodes, and the horrifying Data ghost - possibly the most spine-chilling scene I've ever seen!

Midnight - The planet Midnight is a leisure world! Golden spas, diamond landscapes, anti-gravity restaurants...what could possibly go wrong? But for once the Doctor's left powerless and terrified as the knocking on the wall begins....

Turn Left - The strands of Donna's story begin to draw towards a terrible climax as she finds her life, her family, her entire world being devastated. Only one person can help. but this time, it's not the Doctor - it's someone from a parallel universe, a woman thought to be lost forever.

Episode 12/Journey's End - The title for episode 12 is being kept a secret as it gives away too much. Threat is on the epic scale as an ancient enemy is resurrected and the whole universe if thrown into danger! Who are the children of Time? What is the secret of the Vault? And surely, this time, not everyone can make it out alive...?

 

[~Shard~]

Great stuff, thanks for posting that! Looks like it should be an interesting season. Between this and the final season of BSG I should be enjoying some good television for the next few months.

 

[DAC47]

Great stuff, thanks for posting that! Looks like it should be an interesting season. Between this and the final season of BSG I should be enjoying some good television for the next few months.

Don't forget the Torchwood finale on Friday which has been described by those who've seen it as "shocking and upsetting"
GULP

 

[Marble]

Don't forget the Torchwood finale on Friday which has been described by those who've seen it as "shocking and upsetting"
GULP

Funny, that's exactly how I would describe the show as a whole!

 

[~Shard~]

Funny, that's exactly how I would describe the show as a whole!

I have to admit though that Season 2 has been a lot more polished than Season 1 - I was honestly pleasantly surprised with it. It's all relative of course, as I still wouldn't classify Torchwood as a "great" show, but it did improve in its sophomore season so credit where credit is due.

 

[DAC47]

I have to admit though that Season 2 has been a lot more polished than Season 1 - I was honestly pleasantly surprised with it. It's all relative of course, as I still wouldn't classify Torchwood as a "great" show, but it did improve in its sophomore season so credit where credit is due.

I would tend to agree
the second series has been much better
can't say i was to keen on the whole ZombieOwen plot line but there have been some really good episodes
overall it suffers from the same problem as new Who, the tone all over the place on minute is wise cracking comedy the next its gone dark & grim.
oh i really could do without the The Gwen/Rhys domestic arguments

but over all it has been a better second series and I'm looking forward to the final episode
(Hopefully spike won't do to much damage to my home town)

 

[~Shard~]

I would tend to agree
the second series has been much better
can't say i was to keen on the whole ZombieOwen plot line but there have been some really good episodes
overall it suffers from the same problem as new Who, the tone all over the place on minute is wise cracking comedy the next its gone dark & grim.
oh i really could do without the The Gwen/Rhys domestic arguments

but over all it has been a better second series and I'm looking forward to the final episode
(Hopefully spike won't do to much damage to my home town)

Yeah, the "Zombie Owen" thing was a bit much for me as well - too many inconsistencies with that arrangement. For instance, if he can't breathe then how can he speak? Speech is created by the vibration of air through the vocal cords, so... And that's just off the top of my head...

Yeah, the show still suffers from being schizophrenic at times (as you say, the mood swings are extreme), very cheesy at times and also very inconsistent at times, but it's still better than it was last year!

One thing I found ridiculuous in the finale though was how Jack was the only one of the four in the explosion who actually died, and conveniently he's the one person who can't die. The other 3 didn't die (how is that possible??) and Owen wasn't damaged by anything even though he should technically be as fragile as glass. Ah well...

Oh, and then there's the fact that Owen's memory should have been erased along with the hospital staff but it wasn't.

But I digress! Let's hope Who Season 4 is the best one yet!

 

[Sky Blue]

I have to admit though that Season 2 has been a lot more polished than Season 1 - I was honestly pleasantly surprised with it. It's all relative of course, as I still wouldn't classify Torchwood as a "great" show, but it did improve in its sophomore season so credit where credit is due.

I agree. It's a least watchable now.

 

[~Shard~]

I agree. It's a least watchable now.

Yes, let's not give it much more credit than that - it's gone from horrible to below average. Seriously though, it is definitely watchable and the overall production and writing seem to be better this season for the most part (above examples excluded).

It's still no Doctor Who though.

 

[Marble]

I have to admit though that Season 2 has been a lot more polished than Season 1 - I was honestly pleasantly surprised with it. It's all relative of course, as I still wouldn't classify Torchwood as a "great" show, but it did improve in its sophomore season so credit where credit is due.

Fair enough. To be honest I would like to see Who evolve more, so Torchwood does deserve "points for effort" in this area. Who seems to have been searching for a 'winning formula' over the past three years that has come to include 1) as much and as loud as possible, 2) people crying, 3) harsh segue or set piece [including weird out of place sentimentality, as in #2], 4) hyperbole with dates, names, and characterization, 5) undisguised pastiche, and 6) rushed or magical endings. Each season Davies's episodes seem better refined to fit more of these things in, more rapidly. Hell, Voyage of the Damned was practically nothing else!

Perhaps when a new showrunner takes over we'll see an honest attempt to address the show's cardinal weaknesses, like the Torchwood team must have done after series one.

 

[~Shard~]

Fair enough. To be honest I would like to see Who evolve more, so Torchwood does deserve "points for effort" in this area. Who seems to have been searching for a 'winning formula' over the past three years that has come to include 1) as much and as loud as possible, 2) people crying, 3) harsh segue or set piece [including weird out of place sentimentality, as in #2], 4) hyperbole with dates, names, and characterization, 5) undisguised pastiche, and 6) rushed or magical endings. Each season Davies's episodes seem better refined to fit more of these things in, more rapidly. Hell, Voyage of the Damned was practically nothing else!

Perhaps when a new showrunner takes over we'll see an honest attempt to address the show's cardinal weaknesses, like the Torchwood team must have done after series one.

Well said, that's all quite accurate. 'Who' does seem inconsistent to me as well. There's some really good stuff, but then some not so good stuff too. Human Nature, Blink... and then the resolution to last years' finale?? As for Voyage of the Damned, that was simply embarrassing. I know it's Christmas and all, but please!

Ah well, at the end of the day I still enjoy it. However when you take a look at a serious, dark show with excellent dramatic writing such as BSG, you see how great sci-fi can really be done.

Toss Firelfy in there as well.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Human Nature, Blink... and then the resolution to last years' finale?? As for Voyage of the Damned, that was simply embarrassing.

Five episodes there (if we count include the other half of the Human Nature two-parter, The Family of Blood). Three fantastic episodes, classics up there with the very best of them – and two dodgy ones.

Remind me – which two did Russell T Davies write again?

 

[~Shard~]

Five episodes there (if we count include the other half of the Human Nature two-parter, The Family of Blood). Three fantastic episodes, classics up there with the very best of them – and two dodgy ones.

Remind me – which two did Russell T Davies write again?

Haha, exactly. Yup, I thought the last half of the season was especially good, up until the last episode and then the Xmas Special. I guess we'll see how things go with the new companion - that should change up somethings at least.

 

[Marble]

Remind me – which two did Russell T Davies write again?

Precisely. Is this a personal style do you think? Are his other sci-fis like The Second Coming or Dark Season this schizophrenic?

 

[DAC47]

RTD comes in for a lot of stick for his writing ,some justified some not
but i think his main approach is that he's writing a show for kids
i know his is heretical to a lot of hardcore fans of the show, but kids are the main target audience for the show and always have been.
I'm sure he could write darker stuff if he wanted to but i think he gives that job to the likes of Moffat / Gatiss / Cornell etc because he prefers to do the romps and the end of season epics

oh judging from the clips I've see on episode one i'm sure he'll come in for a real pasting tomorrow
cute aliens ahoy

 

[BlakTornado]

Well, Torchwood Series 2 was surprisingly good, in my opinion. While series one was pretty good, it was nowhere near as good as series 2. Plus series 2 was less sexually orientated, which was better... although the scene in "Adrift" where Jack and Ianto where together when Gwen walked in was a bit unnecessary in my opinion. Still, a lot better than the last series.
But I agree with the people above, it is too inconsistent. Such as at the end of Series 1, Owen was bitten by the Weavil and started to become one, yet there was no mention of this until the Zombie-Owen scenario, and even then it was made out that beating death caused it - which apparently it did.
On the other hand, the finale of the series was well thought out and it worked very well, with good plot twists. Shame there was no Doctor-Related clip like last time, though. Would have been nice.
Still, it has given me highish hopes for Doctor Who series 4. It's a shame that several episodes in the last series had let it down. While I think the Master was a superb character, they just didn't think of a clever and intuitive way of reversing everything that happened. Reversing time is almost as bad as saying that Martha woke up to realize it was all a dream.
While it's fantasy Sci-fi, there still needs to be that level of realism to keep it all together... which is why I think Torchwood has actually surpassed Doctor Who in some areas, even if it IS a spin-off. At least in Torchwood, there is no "God"-like character that can just do whatever he pleases to save the day. Which is why I think the Who episodes of Series 3 with the Scarecrows was excellent; because the Doctor couldn't just go "Ah, they're whatevers from the planet whereever, and if we do this to them then they'll fly away in their space ships". There wasn't as much of that, if any, in series 1. The only time was when Rose absorbed the Time Vortex and all, but it wasn't a cliche or expected then.
Also, the whole continuous theme thing is becoming stale. It was good for the first series, then it was blatantly obvious in the second series. Then in the third series, it was less obvious, but almost completely obvious towards the middle. No theme please, this time.
Ah well, we'll have to wait until 6:20 tomorrow to find out... but honestly, I think Catherine Tate is going to ruin it. She ruined the episode she was in last time around, so I doubt it will be any good this time.
And the writers will do something stupid, I bet.

"You are an enemy of the Daleks. You will be Exterminated."
"Am I bovvered?"
*pshowww*

In a way, I want that to happen because I don't really like Catherine Tate but it will just ruin it. And no doubt, it will happen... at LEAST once.
And Billie Piper is apparently coming back. Great.


/long post.

Summary: Torchwood was good. Make Doctor Who as good as it and don't ruin series 4 by using Catherine Tate's Catchphrases.

 

[Marble]

I think The Sarah Jane Adventures has a good thing going with only two-part episodes. Episodes of the original series of Who were longer and often more complex than the new because they had a useful length. After all, Who has to introduce most of its characters and wrap them up in a single story, usually.

 

[~Shard~]

I think The Sarah Jane Adventures has a good thing going with only two-part episodes. Episodes of the original series of Who were longer and often more complex than the new because they had a useful length. After all, Who has to introduce most of its characters and wrap them up in a single story, usually.

Yeah, this is one reason why I still prefer to old series format with the classic Doctor Who. For whatever reason the stories just seemed a little more epic and involved for me as a result, partly due to aspects such as character development. Some of the stories just seem too short and the problems too simple, as they obviously are handled within a 45-minute timeframe. I enjoyed the end of last season, where we essentially had a 3-hour finale, however then they pulled a little dues ex machina in my opinion which put a sour taste on the whole thing.

Here's hoping Tate doesn't ruin it, and that Piper's return isn't itself too cliche and leads to more groaning and ing.

 

[Mac-Addict]

EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my god o.0 speechless.
ROSE OHMY GOD! When you saw the back of her head I just knew it was her! And then she walked away and disappeared o.0 It was so insanely well written
And wow Catherine Tate can act!

 

[bartelby]

What a dull 1st episode. Tate is already annoying me.


There was some great overacting by some of the extras too.

 

[Mac-Addict]

What a dull 1st episode. Tate is already annoying me.


There was some great overacting by some of the extras too.

Arh! How can you say that xD I thought it was brilliant, the whole mothership thing was a bit out of place but still!

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Standard first episode fare, really. so-so episode – it had its moments but really just an introduction to the upcoming series, introducing the main pairing and all that.

We'll see how things pick up over the next few episodes.

 

[TheAngusBurger]

Hm...not a great deal of excitement in that one-I was expecting the creatures to mutate into some huge fat-blob and go around demolishing London or something...oh well.

And could someone remind me of the finale last series? I've forgotten...(I know, shame on me)

Teh Burgeh

 

[Jaffa Cake]

And could someone remind me of the finale last series? I've forgotten...(I know, shame on me)

• The Master takes over the world.
• He makes the Doctor really old and wizened.
• The Master's alien allies kill loads of folk.
• Martha saves the day by getting everyone to say 'Doctor' at the same time.
• This makes the Doctor returns to youth and everything reverts to a pre-alien invasion state, as if by magic.
• The Master gets shot, has a strop, refuses to regenerate and dies.
• The Doctor burns the Master's body on a pyre, leaving only his ring which is picked up by his wife/the Rani/Sarah Lancashire/Rose/Davros.
• Martha decides to stay behind and faff about with Torchwood instead.

I should be a BBC script editor, me.

 

[gothiquegirrl]

• The Master takes over the world.
• He makes the Doctor really old and wizened.
• The Master's alien allies kill loads of folk.
• Martha saves the day by getting everyone to say 'Doctor' at the same time.
• This makes the Doctor returns to youth and everything reverts to a pre-alien invasion state, as if by magic.
• The Master gets shot, has a strop, refuses to regenerate and dies.
• The Doctor burns the Master's body on a pyre, leaving only his ring which is picked up by his wife/the Rani/Sarah Lancashire/Rose/Davros.
• Martha decides to stay behind and faff about with Torchwood instead.

I should be a BBC script editor, me.

heehee

You should have asked if a Christmas Special recap was needed too!