What's the state of play over the pond? We see the final episode this Saturday, and there's been some pretty intense/scary episodes leading up to it.

Has 'The God Complex' been screened there yet?

Yes, we're back to getting them about a day and a half after they air there. I wonder how many Whovians were looking up the word "petrichor" after the last episode.

+1

All the episodes with Roger Delgado as The Master are classics.

I've seen most of the newer episodes except the last season and they just don't do it for me.

I don't think they're bad but they just can't match the nostalgic feeling I get when I re-watch any of the classic episodes.

Hmm interesting conclusion. I was very close in what I was thinking was going to happen, but not quite right. I'll explain after the first American airing of the final episode.


Just finished a book covering the classic Dr Who, with an epilogue briefly covering Eccleston's entries and a little Tennant. Dr Who by Kim Newman.

Interesting read, recommended for all Who nuts (I think I'm becoming one of them).

My absolute fave was Tom Baker, plus I got to meet him when I was a kid which was beyond awesome.

I personally feel the episodes since Demons Run were awful and had no relevance to the bigger picture story which annoyed me and the conclusion of the story could have been so much better.

I would have loved them to have made something huge out of all of this which im sure could have been done leading to this big finale.

I did enjoy watching the episodes being a massive doctor who fan but i was dissapointed,

Overall I enjoyed this season of Doctor Who, but sometimes I find Matt Smith's face distracting. He looks like a changling from Deep Space Nine.

Anyone know an American source for the Doctor Who legos?

Didn't even know they existed. That's pretty damn awesome.

They've got a set of all eleven doctors as minis in an TARDIS looking case, but all the sources I've seen are British.

To tie two of my loves, poker and Doctor Who, together, my fiancee is going to take a poker chip and clue a figure on it for a card protector.

Personally I'd go with a Dalek or TARDIS card protector if I played any live poker

You might want to try and ask on the LEGO message board I came across.

Here's a post on Dr. Who.

http://messageboards.lego.com/en-US/...PostID=3801702

Thanks.

Ive become a serious who-head lately, and watching as many serials as I can find, in order.


Will post reviews

Doctor Who Regeneration 01 Series 001: The Unearthly Child (aka 10,000BC aka The Tribe of Gum)

This is the very first episodes of Dr Who, broadcast in November 1963 - The same day Kennedy was shot dead. It consists of 4 episodes of about 23 minutes each.

The first episode is distinct in that it introduces us to Susan Foreman, a mid-teenager who is judged a little odd by two of her teachers. She seems to know an awful lot about some things, things she really shouldn’t know, but then seems very ignorant of some everyday things any normal teenager would be well aware of.

The teachers go to her home, and find an old man who turns out to be her Grandfather, and they then stumble into the famous Tardis. The first episode ends with the Tardis taking flight and them ending up in a barren rocky plain, with an ominous man’s shadow in shot.

The remaining 3 episodes concern a tribe of cavemen, with a struggle for power over who can make fire. One caveman sees the Doctor light a match, and thinks he can make fire from his hands, and various to-ing and fro-ing ensues.

Like many episodes of the Hartnell era, it’s quite stagey, but it does move at a reasonable pace, and sets up the tension reasonably well. There’s lots here that will jar a little with anyone who knows their Who, such as the way the Doctor talks about the Tardis, the things the doctor does when they land (soil tests) which he never does thereafter, and so on. This is perfectly understandable and legitimate, of course, this being the pilot, and their just trying out different concepts/backstory for fit. Some things they get spot on, like the Tardis’s ‘disguise circuit’ failing. Overall, a recommend to watch, if nothing else as a curio.

Regeneration 1 Series 002 – The Daleks (aka The Mutants aka The Dead Planet)

This seven-episode run was the introduction of the Doctor’s longest-standing and greatest enemies, the Daleks. Whilst it’s stagey and slow compared with modern drama, it still holds up. Some bits are a little ridiculous (the pretty Thal race talking like blueblood luvvies, for example), but overall it’s easy to see why the Daleks had such an impact. I think it’s a reasonably supposition that some of the longevity of Dr Who is down to the clear iconography and character of the Daleks. Even small children can impersonate them, and they are clearly and purely evil and self-serving – about as villanous as it gets.

In addition, this story was remade into a motion picture in 1965 with Peter Cushing playing the Doctor (in this, billed as ‘Doctor Who’)

Recommended to anyone with any interest in TV history or sci-fi.

7.5/10

Regeneration 1 Series 3: The Edge of Destruction (aka Inside the Spaceship aka Beyond the Sun)

This two-episode serial is quite unusual. It only features the 4 main principals, and is set entirely on the Tardis. The story is that the crew awake disorientated, and slowly realise it’s a race against time to figure out what’s wrong before the Tardis is destroyed.

It’s an odd one, especially the first part of the first episode, where the cast act completely disorientated, repeat things like they can’t remember what they said, and so on. As it goes on, they get more lucid, but various issues arising from earlier serials come to a head. The doctor shows distrust of Ian and Barbara, thinking they are trying to sabotage the ship, but slowly realises he’s wrong, and how valuable his new crewmates are. We also get a setup of the Tardis being more than a machine, having some sort of innate intelligence.

However, it’s very slow and rather tonally hysterical in places (in that the acting is overwrought and much too melodramatic). Worth a look for Whovians though.

5/10

DR WHO - THE MOVIE

Apparently this is in the pipeline, involving different actors etc from the BBC TV production

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118046098

Not sure I like the sound of this, especially the use of American writers.

Last time that happened was the Paul McGann TV movie, and they royally screwed over the internal logic of the established Who universe.

I think that after Pond came along the series went up in shreds. Yes she may be cute, but just seems a little too dumb, intense and annoying. The writing in general got much much worse.

Actually turned a roommate on to the show recently. Currently in the middle of season 2 :P

Regeneration 1 Series 004 Marco Polo

Rather over-extended story (spanning 7 episodes) about Marco Polo encountering the Tardis crew and taking their ‘flying caravan’ as a gift for the Kublai Khan. This was a really-drawn-out, wordy story, that meandered about for much of its running time, with repeating sections where Marco Polo is writing his journal, as we hear voice-over that sounds like it was lifted from a basic school history primer on Marco Polo.

This also wasn’t helped by the fact that the video for these episodes has been lost, and only the audio remains – but was helped by the fact the version I saw had colour photos of the action (or photos that near enough gave an idea of which character was talking etc), and it was fun to see these characters in colour for a change. Not much fun, as it tries to be worthy and historic, but comes off as stuffy and boring for long stretches. It is interesting to hear some 1960s phrases/expressions/ways of talking though.

3.5/10

Dr. Who feature film: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15730665

From above BBC link:


David Yates, who directed the last four Harry Potter films, told Variety magazine he is working on developing a feature film with the BBC.

He said the film would take a fresh approach to the show, which first appeared on TV in 1963.

Yates said it would take "two to three years to get it right" as the show needs "quite a radical transformation".

"Russell T Davies and then Steven Moffat have done their own transformations, which were fantastic, but we have to put that aside and start from scratch," he said.

Yates is reported to be working with the head of LA-based BBC Worldwide Productions, Jane Tranter.

A BBC spokesman said: "A Doctor Who feature film remains in development with BBC Worldwide Productions in Los Angeles.

"The project is unlikely to reach cinemas for several years and as yet there is no script, cast or production crew in place."

Doctor Who began in 1963, and seven actors played the Doctor before the show was dropped in 1989.

After a TV movie in 1996 - starring Paul McGann - the TV series returned in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston in the lead role. David Tennant took over in the same year.

The sixth series of Doctor Who, starring Matt Smith as the Doctor, was broadcast on BBC One earlier this year.
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If done right would be great. Wondered why this hasn't been done before. (I'm not counting TV movies).

-Zeno

There were 2 movies made in the 60s with Peter Cushing
/nerd

Where Bernard Cribbins (later Donna's granddad) first appeared in Dr Who

(and Roy Castle though I dont think he re-appeared)

It was probably unwise to post this. But thank you for the information anyway. Who knows, it may become useful someday when I am pounding down ale in some English watering hole and the cheeky tart that delivers the pints is a Dr. Who fan.

-Zeno

Trailer out for the Christmas special, The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qN9X...e_gdata_player

Doctor who is way to big of a story for one movie or even three movies

There is no way to do it right

However it could still make money

Dr Who was first broadcast 48 years ago today.