Doctor Who: 2007

A new companion, and will we finally find out the message from the Face of Bo?

And will the Master make his triumphant return?

Only time will tell…

Spoiler-riffic preview from BBCi.

Wha-? Tomorrow? But I haven’t finished Torchwood yet!

Or maybe I have.

It doesn’t get better. It gets worserer and stupidider.

See if someone has a fan-edition of Torchwood with all the non-Gwen scenes cut out.
If not, don’t bother. It’s not like a trainwreck; it’s like the Challenger disaster.
You don’t even want to watch THOSE remains.

The Best Of Torchwood is the first half of the first episode, where Captain Jack reappears and there’s still hope remaining for the series. It’s all downhill from there.

Conversely, Doctor Who is still fun. Looking forward to seeing it this evening.

I tried a couple episodes after Eccleston left but it just hasn’t been the same. I still nominate him as best Doctor ever.

Tennant is great. Eccleston was great too, but too emo. Not entirely Eccleston’s fault of course, but it started to get on my nerves. I think he lasted just long enough. Happy go lucky Doctor with a dark past is way more fun than dark brooding Doctor who broods on his brooding darkness while wearing black leather.

I really like Tennant. I love his enthusiasm for everything, and the way he marries it so well to the darker elements. Ecclestone did dark really well, but his cheerier moments (with a few notable exceptions, like The Doctor Dances) tended to fall back on really, really annoying gurning.

Tennant’s problem is the exact opposite of Eccleston’s:

Eccleston excelled at the serious side of the Doctor, but often went over the top with the goofiness (i.e. all the regrettable mugging). His best comic bits were the ones he underplayed.

Tennant has a sly touch with the comedy, but sometimes fails to pull off the melodramatic moments (i.e. all the unfortunate shouting). His best dramatic beats are the ones he underplays.

In my mind, Tennant edges out Eccleston, but only because his weaknesses come up less frequently than Eccleston’s, which is due in large part to how the Doctor is being written. If Eccleston’s Doctor had been written with the crankiness of Hartnell or Davison, he might have fared better (see: Eccleston’s character on Heroes).

He hasn’t shown up yet. We’re only on episode 6 or so of Heroes over here.

Um. Oops.

You’re discussing Doctor Who, which airs like eighty years earlier in the UK than it does in the US, on a message board that is populated mostly by people in the US. Obviously most people in this thread are downloading the show. I don’t think you need to worry about whether or not Heroes has aired in the UK yet.

No, he’s discussing Heroes - a show that only recently started in the UK - in a thread about Doctor Who - a show that starts this evening. It’s one thing to avoid spoilers by avoiding show threads - Lost, 24, BSG, Heroes itself… you go into those threads knowing that the people posting are further into the story and you get what you deserve - but I’m sick to fucking death of having people ruin plotlines in unrelated threads and websites (not here specifically) just because I prefer watching TV on my sofa instead of in my study.

(Not that this one counts - Eccleston appearing in a show is hardly a spoiler - but not everyone who posts here is in the US, and shows that rely on their mysteries are made at least a million times less fun by someone popping into the wrong thread and spoiling the answers)

Ok, I guess that’s fair. This isn’t the Heroes thread.

As for the show, 'twas fun. RTD’s plotting remains absolutely godawful, but it’s got that same infectious cheer to it.

Eccleston was the best doctor since Jon Pertwee. Maybe the best one ever. I’m happy that Tennant is decent, and really good at times, but he’s really bad at acting serious/angry – the show is (intentionally) goofy enough, without any drama devolving into pantomime, which is why I’ve always preferred the doctors who played the serious moments straight (Pertwee, Hartnell, Davison and Eccleston).

Tell your brethren to start the torrent uploading!

It wasn’t bad. Very nice alines, nice bit of design on the uniforms I thought.
Not exactly Iain Banks, but better than most TV sci-fi.
Tenannts the best thing about it.
The new assistant has exactly the same accent / voice as rose though.

… and the first of the subtle references to the Master make their appearance in this episode.

Other fun bit of trivia is that they explain Martha and Adeola (Army of Ghosts) being played by the same actress by having Martha talking about her cousin Adeola who disappeared in the battle of Canary Wharf.