Doctor Who Fans?

[Yuki-Anne]

Except, now that you've mentioned it...

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Why didn't they make a connection between Silence and the Great Intelligence? Like... that actually might have been kind of epic. But instead it was like, "Oh, our big baddie for the season is a kind of unintimidating bad guy whose butt we've already kicked twice." Honestly, I had completely forgotten about the so-called "Great Intelligence" by the time the finale ran around. For a "Great Intelligence" he wasn't that intimidating. Talk about anticlimactic.
And another thing was that the fan-sites and interviews and stuff were building up the Whisper Men to be this crazy scary "monster of the season," but they were nowhere near as creepy as the Silence guys. They might as well have been the Slitheen for as intimidating as they were. Why even bring this new supposedly creepy character into existence when it would have been a much scarier effect to have the Silence or the headless monks there instead? Or, if you wanted to build up a creepy villain, why not dedicate an episode to them instead of the stupid submarine story or the horrible Crimson Horror?

[GeneD]

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I have been very unimpressed with basically all of the villains is season 7, part 1 and 2. I try not to even hear about interviews and people saying this episode/monster/whatever is going to be the scariest/saddest/whatever new thing. I've mentioned this before but I hate being told how I should feel about an episode before I watch it. It bugs me like crazy and then I'm disappointed if the delivery doesn't live up to the hype. I get that this happens with a lot of media, and it's unavoidable when fans are hyping things, but I don't think it's good when the show's creators start to chime in.

And another thing, I know this started in the 9th and 10th's run, but people coming back from the dead/death reversal/dying repeatedly is starting to get old. In the finale alone, Clara starts her live-and-die-a-lot thing, Strax dies once and comes back, Jenny dies/disappears twice and comes back both times and River's death in the library is basically undone, at least for us, Clara and the Doctor. Expecting everyone to come back is taking the suspense out of the show.

[Yuki-Anne]

Yeah, I was kind of hoping that... SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Jenny was dead for good, because that whole team of characters just kind of bugs/bores me. Even Strax. But if Jenny was dead, I thought maybe Vastra would become a darker, more interesting character. But no... *sigh*

And does it bug anybody else that they're supposedly married but one is completely subservient to the other? Like, just imagine if Vastra was a dude. How many people would be crying foul on that?

[MomentOfInertia]

It might just be me but it seems like the show has gotten obsessed with the Doctor and his secrets. I mean it's reason able for a fair bit of the show to be about him, considering it's named after him; but I feel like we're digging into his past at the loss of what could be perfectly good stories about others.

I just, I want to see new worlds, the best episodes seem to be the ones where something comes out of nowhere (often the TARDIS) and we see something new. It seems like the more we see something the lass interesting it is. Clara is a good example of this; she was this neat character in the asylum, then she was okay in the Christmas special, and then after she became a regular she just seemed, less interesting. Weeping Angels are another example, they just got kind of silly by the end there; no longer scary on their own, we have to create a new weird thing for them to do every time.

I guess I want the show to be more like the opening scene in the new Star Trek movie. (mild) SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Explore the universe, meet new people, save them, run off a cliff.

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I might be picking on the weeping angels partially because that was an exceptionally lame way to get rid of Amy and Rory, the rest of it wasn't to horrible. Honesty I'm of two minds about that episode, I love the setup it's just the sort of crazy recursive stuff you can only do with time travel; just about every thing after that annoys.

Yeah, I was kind of hoping that... SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Jenny was dead for good, because that whole team of characters just kind of bugs/bores me. Even Strax. But if Jenny was dead, I thought maybe Vastra would become a darker, more interesting character. But no... *sigh*

And does it bug anybody else that they're supposedly married but one is completely subservient to the other? Like, just imagine if Vastra was a dude. How many people would be crying foul on that?

Ooh, that's an interesting thought.

[GeneD]

Yeah, I was kind of hoping that... SPOILER: Highlight text to read: And does it bug anybody else that they're supposedly married but one is completely subservient to the other? Like, just imagine if Vastra was a dude. How many people would be crying foul on that?

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Yeah, I picked up on that this episode when Jenny called Vastra Ma'am or something, but I can't say I've really thought about it before. There are a lot of people who've made statements around the idea that Moffat does not know how to write women and I'm sure this kind of thing will add fuel to that fire. Also, that bit in Crimson Horror where the Doctor kisses Jenny and she slaps him was just terrible. The Doctor needs to stop randomly kissing people, at best it makes everyone uncomfortable and at worst it's sexual harassment.

It might just be me but it seems like the show has gotten obsessed with the Doctor and his secrets. I mean it's reason able for a fair bit of the show to be about him, considering it's named after him; but I feel like we're digging into his past at the loss of what could be perfectly good stories about others.

I just, I want to see new worlds, the best episodes seem to be the ones where something comes out of nowhere (often the TARDIS) and we see something new. It seems like the more we see something the lass interesting it is. Clara is a good example of this; she was this neat character in the asylum, then she was okay in the Christmas special, and then after she became a regular she just seemed, less interesting. Weeping Angels are another example, they just got kind of silly by the end there; no longer scary on their own, we have to create a new weird thing for them to do every time.

It's not just you and I agree about Clara and the Angels. I'd love an episode that's just a fun adventure without foreshadowing or hints about the next big mystery.

I don't want to be pedantic, but that's technically a Star Trek spoiler, so would you mind tagging it?

[MomentOfInertia]

Better?

[GeneD]

Yes, thanks.

[Yuki-Anne]

News regarding the show, and I don't know if this should be in spoiler quotes because it's real life: Matt Smith will no longer be the Doctor after this years' Christmas Special.

http://www.nerdist.com/2013/06/breaking ... octor-who/

Who do you think the next Doctor should be? Personally, I think Martin Freeman would be awesome.

PS I'd rather it was Steven Moffat who was retiring.

[Furen]

Who do you think the next Doctor should be? Personally, I think Martin Freeman would be awesome.

PS I'd rather it was Steven Moffat who was retiring.

Whoever it is, I want them to be a guy (regarding all those comments the doctor may be a girl) I don't think the doctor seems to fit as a girl, I also would want him to be the typical doctor we've had the whole way through, white English doctor.
I'm sure I'll change my opinion whenever the new doctor is revealed (assuming they hold up to the doctor standards), but that's just what I want to see.

I rather enjoy Moffat's writing style, any reason you'd like to see him retire?

[GeneD]

I'd like to see someone relatively unknown play the next Doctor. While I agree Martin Freeman would be awesome, I think it would be too hard for me to see the Doctor instead of Martin Freeman. Not that I think that he wouldn't do a good job, I'm sure he'd be stellar. On the points Furen raised, I'd prefer him to stay a man and British, anything else doesn't bother me.

[Yuki-Anne]

Actually I'm pretty sure it'll probably be someone most of us Americans have never heard of. They don't seem to get big names to play the Doctor, usually, so I think any of the British actors we currently know and love are probably out.

[Furen]

Which is what they've always made work, being why I want it to stay true.

[battletech]

New Doctor reveled this Sunday. http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2013/08/02/bbc-to-reveal-doctor-whos-new-doctor-sunday

[Yuki-Anne]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/doct ... matt-smith

Frankly, I'm not ecstatic about any of these people. I wouldn't mind seeing Idris Elba in the role but he's pretty well-known, so I really don't see that happening at all. I'm hoping the new doctor is none of the above.

[GeneD]

Does anyone else feel like those audition scripts were written with Matt Smith in mind? I mean, I can imagine exactly how he'd say those lines and it's difficult imagining someone else saying them without channeling a lot of Eleven...

I'm honestly not really familiar with any of the actors on the shorter list so I really can't say. I would be pleased if it's Andrew Scott but I haven't actually seen him in anything besides Sherlock either.

[battletech]

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0134922/Peter Capaldi is the new Doctor.

[Yuki-Anne]

I'm kind of glad he's not young and hot like the past two doctors. I'm sick of the flirty companion vibe.

[GeneD]

Yes, it'd be hilariously awkward watching a 20-something companion push him up against the TARDIS door for a kiss.

[Yuki-Anne]

...I just threw up in my mouth a little bit...

[GeneD]

Hehe, sorry Yuki-Anne.

Also, for the record, I am so on board with Peter Capaldi as the Doctor. Before the announcement I wasn't at all and I will miss Matt Smith a lot but I am really excited to see what he will bring to the table.

At the risk of sounding like an anti-Moffat broken record, here are two great posts about the new Who companions which put into words some of the problems I have with the latest ones.

Scroll down:
http://gingerhaze.tumblr.com/post/57317 ... characters

http://gingerhaze.tumblr.com/post/57352 ... -you#notes

[Yuki-Anne]

the Doctor affects every single part of their life, he shows up and gives them a brand new nickname like The Girl Who Waited or The Impossible Girl, but those aren’t the names of people - it makes them into human plot devices, little precious trinkets that the Doctor collects. He TELLS these girls who they are. He just sits there and monologues about how special they are and they’re just like, okay.

THAT'S what bothers me so much about Clara! (aha moment here) I didn't mind Amy because she had enough personality to pull it off, and in the end she did make her own decisions, like marrying Rory and SPOILER: Highlight text to read: choosing to go back in time and live out her life with him, which, I still say that episode wasn't that well done but it was a good ending for the two of them. But pulling the same thing with Clara, making everything she is about the Doctor and giving her another kitschy "Girl" nickname, is just annoying. And she feels like she's trying to have so much personality that she ends up having none at all. Every one of her lines feels like it was written for Amy, and therein lies the problem. Neither of them is an entirely distinct character. Karen Gillan breathed life in to Amy Pond and made her a likeable character in spite of Moffat, but Clara is too similar. It's like what Moffat's doing with the Doctor; every new Doctor is written the same way as the old Doctor, but it works because it's supposed to be the same person. But he's writing companions the same way, and that is just fail.

When's the last time we had a shy, unsure companion? Somebody who didn't know what was going on and wasn't going to pretend that she did? I think that was part of Rose's appeal. She had no clue what was going on and she didn't pretend that she did. As time went by she got more confident. She figured out what she wanted and she wouldn't take no for an answer. She messed up. She discovered. She grew. Like the person in this article said, most of the time when she messed up we were sitting there going, "Yeah, I'd probably do that too." I enjoyed Amy's character but she almost never did anything that I could sit back and say, "Yeah, I'd probably do that..."

And that's why I hate Clara. She's exploding with so much "personality" that I can't say a single thing about who she is or what she wants in life. To travel, I guess? But she never does anything or reacts in any way similar to normal people.

Also have you noticed how, with Moffat, the companions ceased to have any family? Their parents are gone for whatever reason, and also for whatever reason, it has no bearing on who they are as characters. Okay, Clara wants to travel because something about a leaf and her mom or something. I don't know. And that's the point. I can remember several years later what Rose's mom is like, how she was annoying and just a little bit trashy but genuinely loved her girl. I can remember something about Martha's family, too; how they fought the Master back in their own subtle way. And I definitely remember Donna's mom and grandpa. Heck, Donna's Grandpa is one of my favorite minor companions. But it's only been a few months and I remember next to nothing about Clara.

[AngelicTotoro]

I got into DW last fall, watched it on netflix with my sister. I absolutely adore it, classic who is also amazing.
My favorite is 10, my sister loves 11. I also really like 2, 4, 5, 9 and 7 is awesome-sauce. (basically I like most of his regenerations.)

Anyway, I'm rather happy about Capaldi becoming the 12th doctor, I think he'll do I great job. (I just have this feeling. And I'm kind of also glad that he's a bit older then we're used to nowadays, because now we'll have less doctor fangurls. (hopefully anyway.) ...Not that doctor fanbois are any less annoying at times.

[battletech]

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special has a name "The Day Of The Doctor" November 23rd

[goldenspines]

There is a significant lack of hair flip from Ten, but I'll forgive it because I'm too excited for this. I've been hyped since I first heard that Ten and Rose were going to be in it. Thanks for the update, Battletech!

[Yuki-Anne]

...the hair in this picture is just too much. Too much hair. Too stylish and stuff. I guess it's like, a prerequisite for being a Doctor; you've got to have cool/distinctive hair or something. Plus, I'm with goldy. RIP hair flip. :'(

[battletech]

Lost episodes found. http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/10/11/missing-doctor-who-episodes-found

[battletech]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hRy2N2CMhQ
Day of the Doctor 50 year trailer.

Wow! So much packed into this.

[Yuki-Anne]

Well, I'm interested to see where they're going with this.

[goldenspines]

I'm sure some people have heard about this already, but if you don't live in a place to get BBC and don't have BBC America, there are selected screenings of the 50th Anniversary special at selected theaters, some in 3D as well.
This article doesn't have a full list but a lot of the screenings for the 23rd have been sold out, but the 25th is still available if it's in your area. Check on Fathom Events to see if they are selling tickets for a theater near you.


Or, you know, you can always wait. >_>

[Yuki-Anne]

Not in Japan. Never in Japan, because Japan is run by Daaleks.