love

Author Topic: Doctor Who  (Read 34838 times)

FifthCityMuse

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3375
  • Good work, sycophants!
Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #10 on: April 19, 2010, 01:19:13 AM »
I saw the new episode, and from someone who has loved the little bit of the new seasons he's caught, this new doctor seems totally awesome. Especially the last fifteen odd minutes. Can't wait to see more.

CSSCHNEIDER

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 4646
  • I Shoot Movies, Don't I?
    • http://csschneideraccounts.blogspot.com/
Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #11 on: April 19, 2010, 04:09:34 PM »
I wouldn't call myself a fan, because fan by definition is a shortened version of fanatic, but when I worked at the video store during college I unearthed 2 giant boxes of Dr. Who video tapes in a back room, and my boss let me take them home for a few weeks, seeing as he forgot he had them in the first place.  I had no idea where to start, so I just jumped in sampling a little bit from each Doctor.  Tom Baker won out and was my favorite, and I watched a bunch of his stuff, and found his whimsical take on the Dr. to be enthralling.

On Saturday my brother mentioned he was interested in checking out the new series of Doctor Who, since it started on BBC America that evening.  This took me by complete surprise, because I can't get my brother to watch most anything SCIFI.  I practically had to drag him kicking and screaming to Serentiy, which he LOVED, and now he LOVES Firefly.  So, I was game if he was.  Luckily BBC America ran the Ultimate Guide to Dr. Who before hand, it gave him a really well packaged introduction into the world, the characters and the mythos behind the Dr.  We both loved the first episode and Matt Smith in particular.  He's very charismatic and he exudes an old soul, which has already been mentioned as important.

As Collen pointed out, Karen Gillan's Amy Pond is really hot.  Just another reason for me to be excited about the show.

This will be the first time I've put an effort into watching Dr. Who weekly, so it should be interesting.
Taste is discerning, not all encompassing.

It's Not What You're Like, It's What You Like

Know the Difference Between Arts and Crafts

"Pain is Temporary, Film is Forever..." --John Milius

Winner! BFCS Iconoclast Award 2007

Tim

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 2399
  • Be excellent to each other
Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #12 on: April 19, 2010, 04:24:58 PM »
I grew up watching Dr Who, it was always one of my favourite programs. It was always hard to see a new doctor come along. I will be skeptical for at least half this series. Every Dr has a had time even getting close to Tom Baker, David Tennant has been the closest, although it took a while ;)

Other Dr Who spin-offs worth watching:
Torchwood - Fantastic series, much darker and sexier than Dr Who
The Sarah Jane Adventures - great for kids for whom the new series is just too scary.
plus there are some decent fan made episodes - using all the old school technology ;) I would have to dig them out to give you any titles however, perhaps another post.....
"Only cinema narrows its concern down to its content, that is to its story. It should, instead, concern itself with its form, its structure." Peter Greenaway

Colleen

  • Hot Fuzz
  • Godfather
  • *
  • Posts: 5906
  • Let's be careful out there!
Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #13 on: April 20, 2010, 10:50:51 AM »
CSSchneider- So glad you gave it a try!  When you have time, definitely go back and check out the previous seasons of Doctor Who since 2005, if you like the current incarnation then you'll almost surely like those as well, and a few episodes are some of my favorite SF on TV ever.

I wasn't quite as over the moon about the second episode (the one airing this week) but I still liked it quite a bit and as always, Moffat is able to make really scary stuff out of otherwise mostly innocuous objects (in this episode, the mechanical fortune readers kind of like the one in Big).  Haven't checked out any further (BBC ran the third ep this week) because the next one after that involves backstory of things I haven't seen on my Season 4 set yet.  So I have to catch up on that stuff as well.  It probably won't be necessary for new viewers to know all the older stuff but being, yes, a fanatic, I feel like I do.


CSSCHNEIDER

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 4646
  • I Shoot Movies, Don't I?
    • http://csschneideraccounts.blogspot.com/
Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #14 on: April 20, 2010, 01:46:32 PM »
When I lived in England I watched a bit of the David Tennant stuff and wasn't as thrilled with it.  I also watched the entire 1st series of Torchwood.  It was alright.  I liked the darker tone, but the acting wasn't always the best.  I'm hoping Smith really keeps me engaged.
Taste is discerning, not all encompassing.

It's Not What You're Like, It's What You Like

Know the Difference Between Arts and Crafts

"Pain is Temporary, Film is Forever..." --John Milius

Winner! BFCS Iconoclast Award 2007

Dave the Necrobumper

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 12730
  • If I keep digging maybe I will get out of this hol
Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #15 on: April 20, 2010, 02:31:38 PM »
When I lived in England I watched a bit of the David Tennant stuff and wasn't as thrilled with it.  I also watched the entire 1st series of Torchwood.  It was alright.  I liked the darker tone, but the acting wasn't always the best.  I'm hoping Smith really keeps me engaged.

The first season of Torchwood was a big disappointment, so much so I gave up on the show (before the end of the season), but I may have to revisit it after hearing so much about the Children of Earth story.

Katebo

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1399
  • Shiny!
    • Sound on Sight TV
Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #16 on: April 20, 2010, 05:05:55 PM »
I tried Torchwood on some friends' reviews and was absolutely disappointed. They said season 2 got better, so after episode 2 or 3 of season one, I tried out the season 2 premiere. It was better, but not good enough to get me to watch the season. After the rave reviews for "Children of Earth", I caught up with that and watched the last two episodes (almost) live- it was excellent. So good, in fact, that I went back and watched and (mostly) enjoyed the first two seasons of Torchwood. I'd highly, highly recommend "Children of Earth", as long as you like your sci-fi dark.

Colleen

  • Hot Fuzz
  • Godfather
  • *
  • Posts: 5906
  • Let's be careful out there!
Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #17 on: April 20, 2010, 05:13:48 PM »
I watched both seasons of Torchwood and plan to watch Children of Earth but I've never been as enthralled with it as I have been with Doctor Who (or, for that matter, the Captain Jack character as he appears in Doctor Who vs. Captain Jack on Torchwood--it's necessary for his expanded role in the series but he's just not as much FUN as he was on Doctor Who).

Part of it is that it's darker, part of it is that I want to slap most of the characters upside the head anywhere from a few times (Jack) to just about every time they are on screen (Owen).  The only one exempt so far is Ianto--no, wait, hold on there was that thing with not telling anyone about his ex-girlfriend, that deserved major slappage.

However, there were definitely episodes that crackled and made the sloppier ones worth slogging through, but so far it feels like Torchwood's overall potential hasn't been lived up to.  Not sure what the future for it is what with John Barrowman making inroads in US TV and Torchwood itself having been pretty well shattered (literally and figuratively) between the end of Season 2 and the events of Children of Earth, but if it comes back (or appears in a US version) I'll stick with it, at least for now.

CSSCHNEIDER

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 4646
  • I Shoot Movies, Don't I?
    • http://csschneideraccounts.blogspot.com/
Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #18 on: April 20, 2010, 08:35:04 PM »
I was thinking about my last post today and I really slighted David Tennant.  I loved him as the Doctor, but never really loved his companions, or the adventures that I saw.  I'm gonna give him a fair shake though, Colleen.  I'm gonna watch him sometime soon.  I just don't know if I can get through Katherine Tate's minging character.  Everytime I see a clip of her on Dr. Who it grates on me.  I'm not a huge fan of hers, but loved her in Starter for 10.  Go figure.
Taste is discerning, not all encompassing.

It's Not What You're Like, It's What You Like

Know the Difference Between Arts and Crafts

"Pain is Temporary, Film is Forever..." --John Milius

Winner! BFCS Iconoclast Award 2007

Dave the Necrobumper

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 12730
  • If I keep digging maybe I will get out of this hol
Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #19 on: April 20, 2010, 08:42:56 PM »
I have agree with you, Donna is not my favourite companion, very irritating. I found the stories generally good in the Tennant days, I just got annoyed by the continual reappearance of the Daleks (and a little bit with the reappearances of Rose). I love them as villains, but don't claimed to have wiped them out, then have them appear, to be wiped out, then have them appear, etc.