Official Doctor Who Thread

Not much of Doctor Who crosses into Torchwood. Besides Martha Jones appearing in it. But if I recall there is a reason for that, with Torchwood being more adult oriented, and Doctor Who having kids and adults for fans.

Jack still needs to meet Matt Smith Doctor though.

Originally posted by Mindset
I just started season 2, and I'm finishing season 4 of Dr. Who.

How should I watch them together?

Well, it's not super-important either way, but I'd finish Season 2 of Torchwood first. Technically it happens first, and some small stuff like the Torchwood characters that show up in the DW finale, reflect the order. Then finish Season 4 of DW before you watch Season 3 (Children of Earth) of Torchwood. Shit goes down in Children of Earth that isn't reflected in the DW Season 4 finale. Other than that, it doesn't really matter. The synching of Jack running to the TARDIS is the only other "synch point" between the two series, but you're already past that.

So to put it in order:
DWS1
DW S2
DW S3 up to and including Blink
TW S1
Final 3 episodes of DW S3
TW S2
DW S4
DW Specials / TW Children of Earth
DW S5
TW Miracle Day (S4)
DW S6
DW S7

And again, most of this doesn't matter. Once you're done with season 4 of DW, you can watch them in any order and you're good. But chronologically, this is roughly where everything happens.

So, it's back. I'm thinking Clara might be a clone of his granddaughter (bit of a stretch I know) or some sort of program. Or wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff, which they'll no doubt bombard us with throughout the season.

That's a heck of a stretch...

Time stuff is more likely. Clara's situation is similar to Scaroth the Jaggaroth's from City of Death... which happens to be Moffat's favourite story. He had been split through time and was living in many timezones at once- though a big difference was that he was aware of it.

It may, perhaps tie into the anniversary in some way. The Great Intelligence as a recurring villain- last seen in the 1960s- is certainly pushing the series in a nostalgic direction, as are some other upcoming returning bad guys.

I find sci-fi writers to be a bit cowardly these days, all talk and no action type of thing, so I'm almost certain that they'll give us the typical, time-travel nonsense, Matt Smith talking fast whilst pointing the sonic screwdriver at some machinery, cameo's from ex cast members, type of season finale that doesn't actually adequately explain the season but will nonetheless be set to a roaring score.

I recently caught up with all the series and while pretty much is straight forward I'm lost on the series 6 finale. Apparently the Silence was preventing the asking of the question "Doctor Who?". What's the meaning of the question? (his name?)

That's a new mystery of Moffat's, so you can speculate away. All he has ever said about his name before is that humans would have difficulty pronouncing it. Moffat has played a bit with the mystery of the Doctor's name before, as you likely noticed. It is unknown if this is related.

I can't see them doing anything more than just play about with the idea of his name though, to reveal it would be bordering on crime for some fans. I personally have never been curious to know his name, as I always imagined that they would never reveal it. If anything, I'd like his name to be something like, Adoll Fitler, which for obvious reasons he kept quiet.

Really good episode, I thought. Felt like business as usual, which can only be a good thing imo.

Originally posted by Jedi Sheriff
I personally have never been curious to know his name, as I always imagined that they would never reveal it.

I wanna see the master and davros make their respected returns soon

The beginning of that episode was very good, I love it when The Doctor goes to some hustling, bustling planet/space station filled with alien life, guess it reminds me of Mos Eisley.

Just got around to watching the first three episodes of part two, first one good, second one just did not work for me and the Ice Warrior one was better. Why do certain Russians come across as wanted to blow the West up?

BTW: David Warner was funny in a good way.

The second episode (The Rings of Akhaten) has become the new whipping boy of the franchise- particularly hated in the fan forums.

The writer is new to Who, though this Saturday's episode is by the same guy. If it is a dud as well, his crucification by the manic fans will be complete.

I started to talk about Akhaten the other day and ended up realizing how cheesy it was. At least they gave Clara more to do than they did in the submarine in the next episode. She felt entirely like a 3rd wheel (or 2nd...I guess the Doctor is a unicycle).

Also, I'm from the future. The Doctor's name opens the Time War, and Clara is Rose's daughter...somehow. Write it down. I haven't read a single fandom thread - I assume those have been guessed already - but they're my hypotheses.

Well, as it turns out, the manic fans have been much more welcoming of Neil Cross' second episode (technically his first- he wrote it before Rings). So, I guess he will not be guillotined. Nonetheless, on average ratings right now, Rings is a contender for the lowest rating ever on Gallifrey Base

In fact, the rating right now is higher than I would put it (much as the rating for Rings is lower- it wasn't great, but I didn;t think it was THAT bad). I thought Hide was just ok a reasonable idea but weirdly inconsistent on mood. I liked Cold War, though as it was such a classic-styled episode I was a bit of a shoe-in for that one.

Interesting looking one next week!

Incidentally, the first half of Hide was so much of a homage to the classic Nigel Kneale story The Stone Tape that it was actually blurring the line between homage and outright plagiarism. The bit with the note about stopping the screaming found amidst the cans of spam is directly taken from Kneale.

Don't they, like, not care about writer reception? I mean, Moffat got his gig because he hit about 4 straight home runs with Eccleston and Tennant, but, for example, Mark Gatiss is still around. Has someone actually been axed solely from fan reaction?

Gatiss is exceptionally popular in nerd circles in general, and would have brought Who back himself if he had had the same pull as RTD. The Unquiet Dead is actually seen by many as the first decent story of the new run (Rose was surprisingly poorly received). Cold War has also just gone down pretty well, so Gatiss is secure there. He's also writing and helming the new drama about the creation of Who that is showing this year as part of the anniversary (and looks very good, btw). So despite a few duff stories- with Victory of the Daleks being the big disappointment- he remains popular.

But, for example, Helen Raynor got absolutely torpedoed for Evolution of the Daleks (which was dire), and they had her back for The Sontaren Stratagem (which was average). RTD wrote an entire section of his book called 'Bastards' in discussion about how Raynor was treated (pretty much the dark side of fandom there), so the answer from RTD was a definite no, he does not care.

That said- Ashley Graham, who wrote Fear Her, which to my mind is the worst story of the entire New Who run and was voted similarly by Doctor Who Magazine (a more sane place than the forums), was never used again. That's not necessarily cause and effect, as he does other work, but I think it's very hard to see him trying again after that.

Only 8 minutes in, and already liking the newest episode.

Loved that ending, really raped the rest of the episode.