New Doctor Who

Getting prepared for this season, Pete? :)

 

It looks like my unofficial preview source is still going, and I have more bandwidth now than when last season was on, so yep, prepared here ;)

 

Picked up yet another new episode.... :)

 

I don't know about everybody else who posts and lurks in this thread, but I've watched the BBC cinema trailer for S4 dozens of times. There's a better quality one that's been posted on Youtube here. Enjoy!

 

I don't know about everybody else, but I'm pretty excited about Doctor Who Season 4, which starts this Saturday, April 5th.

 

Not sure about the giant wasp thing - it reminds me too much of The Green Death's giant fly and not much better in terms of SFX - I would have expected CGI to do a better job than that!

 

heh I just picked up The Green Death about 4 posts ago, so fx of the wasp won't bug me too much :) (hmmmmm....I wonder if RTD is going to give us an upgraded version of the BOSS?)

....the part of the trailer that does worry me is Rose coming back....pleasepleaseplease don't mess it up Russell....

 

Here's a review Season 4 Ep 1 I posted on another site (WARNING: spoilers!)


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On a scale of Excellent, Good, Average, Fair and Poor, I give it a Good. I agree with you on most things you said, Matt, but I didn't mind the Adipose at all. Not every alien, although they weren't exactly aliens, needs to be a monster in the Whoniverse.

In addition to seeing you know who, which made me channel my inner 10 and say, "What?! What?!", I feel like we're being setup to see more than just you know who later in the season.

 

The Adipose would have been much better if they hadn't had limbs and faces; if they were just blobs of animated fat slithering about they would have been much more convincing; as it was, they just looked silly.

 

hmmmm.....definitely the weakest first episode for a season in the new batch. The whole Doctor and Donna going in and out doors and just missing each other thing at start seemed to be just padding to take it up to episode length...and unlike Love & Monsters we couldn't even blame it on just being Elton's recollection of events. Story-wise I think even Time Crash was more solid :tonofbricks:

Couple of other bits and pieces:

The Doc throwing that other sonic screwdriver in the bin towards the end. Like a spare screw-driver floating around doesn't have potential to come back and bite him later.

Rose. Sure it's great to see her, but I've still got the worries I've had since it became official Billie was coming back for a few episodes... 1) Gaps between the universes are Ghostbusters level bad (Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.)...2) Wouldn't have the Doc had the TARDIS working over-time looking for any gap between the universes and generally been trying every trick in his book to get her back - or at least send another message? But there she is a block or two away - and whether in the flesh or a hologram it's still a gap there somewhere...Oh well, just have to wait and see on that one I guess.

On the plus side: 10nant & Tate worked well enough with what they had - for Tate I'll say surprisingly well...sorry Catherine but I didn't think you'ld be up to it. I just hope the writers remember to keep the Doc & Donna "just mates" for the rest of the year though...or poor 10 will have a lot of explaining to do when Rose comes back ;)

So on the cc scale I'ld give PiC a Fair½-Average (2.5-3 out of 5).

Looking ahead it seems like it will be a very "interesting" year...*cough*#6*cough*

 

While I think the Pompeii episode will be interesting and likely very good, I'm really looking forward to the Sontaran story.

 

The ones that have me majorly hooked already are the Sontaran episode (welcome back old 'friends'), The Doctor's Daughter (do they mean....?!), and Journey's End (to quote wiki quoting RTD "the series finale had been planned for four years previous to its airdate")

 

The Fires of Pompeii - wow kids....who can spell "Instant classic episode"?! :thumbs: The first 5/5 of the season - and only two shows in too :D

One of those episodes with a bit for everyone.

The dueling diviners scene would make for a great sermon illustration.

Kids will be chasing each other around with water-pistols for a while after this one (although that scene gave me a fear that the Doctor will start drawing random items from his (bigger on the inside) pockets when the need arises.)

Donna and the - well ... let's call it the plunger scene to save spoiler colours - was a moment that easily put her up there with the best of the other great companions.

And there was even a Fawlty Towers in-joke in there :D

 

Fires of Pompeii was excellent. Best line of the show: "I am Spartacus." :laugh:

Not sure I see a problem with this, Pete. Both 2 and 4 were known to bring out all kinds of stuff from their pockets. Although I don't remember the story, 4 brought out a jawbone once.

Definitely. At the beginning of Christmas Invasion, I didn't particularly like Donna. As that story wound on, I grew to like her, and I would have had no problem with her going away with the Doctor. After FoP, I love me some Donna Noble. I know a lot of fans were concerned about Catherine Tate in that role, but, no need to worry. She's fantastic.

**** here there be spoilers ****
What do you guys make of these?

The Master: "That fabulous Doctor. He sealed the rift at the Medusa Cascade. Single-handed."

Evelina: "...your real name is hidden; it burns in the stars, in the cascade of Medusa herself."

Lucius (to the Doctor): "She is returning."

Lucius (to Donna): "There is something on your back."

I wonder if we'll see the Master in an episode this season, or maybe RTD is setting up one of the 2009 specials with the Medusa Cascade thing.

**** end of spoilage ****

Fires of Pompeii is Excellent.

 

Better. Much better. Good bit of moral duelling between the Doctor and Donna.

What was the Fawlty Towers reference? Oh, yes, "She's from Barcelona

 

Add "Planet of the Ood" to the list of instant classics. Fantastic.

 

Lots of concentration camp references: the slavery, the snow-bound landscape. I thought Tim McInnerny was splendid

 

Anybody else catch the Doctor's reference to The Sensorites? In between the time I saw The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit and Planet of the Ood, I've seen a bit of The Sensorites. When I first saw one, I thought they were some sort of distant relative of the Oodkind.

In addition to the statement made at the end of PotO, there's also a pattern developing that started at the end of FoP.

 

Did you notice after the announcement about the Doctor's song ending soon, the Ood started singing Rose's theme?