... Here in America, anyway. Yes, I've been downloading episodes as they've been broadcast in the UK, because the Sci Fi Channel can't bear to air any episodes of either Doctor Who or The Sarah Jane Adventures without editing out several key scenes per individual episode, but I'll only be posting about them once they air here, out of ... fairness to my fellow Americans, I suppose.

So, onto my brief but spoilerrific thoughts on "Voyage of the Damned" and "Partners in Crime:"

Two words, to sum up both episodes: Cougar companions.

Kylie Minogue was reasonably decent, but wildly overrated, as the special guest star of the latest Christmas special, but goddamn, does she still look good. It didn't help that the story itself was such a perfect recreation of all the big-budget Titanic-meets-The Poseidon Adventure disaster movie bullshit that I watch shows like Doctor Who to get the hell away from. Mr. Copper was awesome, though (in one of the scenes that got cut out, it was revealed that he wasn't any sort of recognized expert on Earth at all, but was instead simply a weary old traveling salesman, who had scammed his way into his job on board the ship, which was why he was so anxious to avoid the legal inquiries at the end of the story, not that Sci Fi felt that this was important to the plot, or anything).

Sledgehammer-subtle hint of things to come: Mr. Copper telling the Doctor that, if he could choose who lived or died, it would make him "a monster."

Meanwhile, Catherine Tate made a remarkably strong return as Donna Noble, striking a credible balance between the two most powerful, and conflicting, natural consequences of traveling with the Doctor: On the one hand, she seems to have become something of a self-taught, just-starting-out version of Sarah Jane Smith, since the Doctor opened her eyes to a lot of the possibilities that lie in wait out there; but on the other hand, without the far broader scope of experiences, resources and allies that Sarah Jane takes for granted, Donna's life back on Earth was bound to be much less of an adventure than our Ms. Smith's, so it makes sense that Ms. Noble would turn to seeking out the Doctor, and awaiting his unlikely return.

And goddamn, do Tate and David Tennant have great chemistry together. I'm no advocate for an asexual Doctor, but unfortunately, Russell T. Davies seems incapable of writing any sort of quasi-romantic couple, "requited" or otherwise, without turning them codependent, so as much as I love Martha Jones, Donna does a much better job of calling the Doctor on his issues. If Rose Tyler was the Jo Grant of NuWho, then Donna is NuWho's Tegan Jovanka ... plus, you know, with Peri Brown's tits, for good measure. And God help me, I am already shipping Ten/Donna.

But goddammit, why does Davies have to kill off all of his most MILFish villains? I demand that Miss Foster, Mrs. Wormwood and Yvonne Hartman all return, in the same episode, and have a "MILF-Off" contest against each other, which would be judged on the basis of competitive categories such as Fuckably Haughty Demeanors, and Most Seductively Repressed Wearing of a Business Suit. And then, maybe they could team up, to take over the Earth with their combined powers of Cosmic Cougar Hawtness?

As in my fantasies?

...

You know what? Let me start over. Hi! I'm Glenn Quagmire ...

Sledgehammer-subtle hints of things to come: Bees and planets both disappearing, and mentions of the Shadow Proclamation.

And when was the last time the Shadow Proclamation was mentioned? "Rose," the very first episode of the very first season of NuWho, in which the Doctor also mentioned that the home planet of the Nestene Consciousness was also gone. Now, I'm no Batman, but I can't help sensing that there might be some sort of connection there.

I'd love to hear about Rose's return and why she's mad and disipears (although I also don't want spoilers so I guess that's out). I'd love to find out what was cut from "Partners in Crime"

But no. All I get to read here about the episode is more reasons why you're into older ladies and want sex.

Sigh.

> ... Here in America, anyway. Yes, I've been downloading episodes as they've been broadcast in the UK, because the Sci Fi Channel can't bear to air any episodes of either Doctor Who or The Sarah Jane Adventures without editing out several key scenes per individual episode, but I'll only be posting about them once they air here, out of ... fairness to my fellow Americans, I suppose. > > So, onto my brief but spoilerrific thoughts on "Voyage of the Damned" and "Partners in Crime:" > > Two words, to sum up both episodes: Cougar companions. > > Kylie Minogue was reasonably decent, but wildly overrated, as the special guest star of the latest Christmas special, but goddamn, does she still look good. It didn't help that the story itself was such a perfect recreation of all the big-budget Titanic-meets-The Poseidon Adventure disaster movie bullshit that I watch shows like Doctor Who to get the hell away from. Mr. Copper was awesome, though (in one of the scenes that got cut out, it was revealed that he wasn't any sort of recognized expert on Earth at all, but was instead simply a weary old traveling salesman, who had scammed his way into his job on board the ship, which was why he was so anxious to avoid the legal inquiries at the end of the story, not that Sci Fi felt that this was important to the plot, or anything). > > Sledgehammer-subtle hint of things to come: Mr. Copper telling the Doctor that, if he could choose who lived or died, it would make him "a monster." > > Meanwhile, Catherine Tate made a remarkably strong return as Donna Noble, striking a credible balance between the two most powerful, and conflicting, natural consequences of traveling with the Doctor: On the one hand, she seems to have become something of a self-taught, just-starting-out version of Sarah Jane Smith, since the Doctor opened her eyes to a lot of the possibilities that lie in wait out there; but on the other hand, without the far broader scope of experiences, resources and allies that Sarah Jane takes for granted, Donna's life back on Earth was bound to be much less of an adventure than our Ms. Smith's, so it makes sense that Ms. Noble would turn to seeking out the Doctor, and awaiting his unlikely return. > > And goddamn, do Tate and David Tennant have great chemistry together. I'm no advocate for an asexual Doctor, but unfortunately, Russell T. Davies seems incapable of writing any sort of quasi-romantic couple, "requited" or otherwise, without turning them codependent, so as much as I love Martha Jones, Donna does a much better job of calling the Doctor on his issues. If Rose Tyler was the Jo Grant of NuWho, then Donna is NuWho's Tegan Jovanka ... plus, you know, with Peri Brown's tits, for good measure. And God help me, I am already shipping Ten/Donna. > > But goddammit, why does Davies have to kill off all of his most MILFish villains? I demand that Miss Foster, Mrs. Wormwood and Yvonne Hartman all return, in the same episode, and have a "MILF-Off" contest against each other, which would be judged on the basis of competitive categories such as Fuckably Haughty Demeanors, and Most Seductively Repressed Wearing of a Business Suit. And then, maybe they could team up, to take over the Earth with their combined powers of Cosmic Cougar Hawtness? > > As in my fantasies? > > ... > > You know what? Let me start over. Hi! I'm Glenn Quagmire ... > > Sledgehammer-subtle hints of things to come: Bees and planets both disappearing, and mentions of the Shadow Proclamation. > > And when was the last time the Shadow Proclamation was mentioned? "Rose," the very first episode of the very first season of NuWho, in which the Doctor also mentioned that the home planet of the Nestene Consciousness was also gone. Now, I'm no Batman, but I can't help sensing that there might be some sort of connection there.

Scott NIGHT CHILDREN: THE BLOG. Come see!

The short story on Rose is that we have no clue how or why she's returned. I'm not even sure that the look on her face qualifies as "mad." I could give you some casting spoilers for the end of the season, though, if you want ...

And what got cut from "Partners in Crime" was a rather sweet scene with Donna and her grandfather Wilf, up on the hill, where he kind of gently asks her what's wrong, in a much more non-judgemental way than her mother Silvia did - "You seem to be drifting, sweetheart." That's when Donna tells him how she met "this one man," without actually naming him as the Doctor, and laments the fact that she "let him get away." Wilf encourages her to keep looking for him, citing her childhood stubbornness - "When we told you that you couldn't go on holiday, you ran away! We had to have the police out after you!"

Just in case you didn't catch it, Donna's grandfather is the old man who was running the newsstand in "Voyage of the Damned," when the Doctor disappeared in front of him, so it's implied that part of the reason why he has his telescope is because he and Donna are both kind of looking for evidence of the same man, without even realizing it.

And proportionally, I actually spent quite a lot of time in the previous post, talking about the non-sexual aspects of those two episodes, so I think I'm entitled to some slack.

It really is a shame that the episodes are being cut down. They're missing out some of the bits that make the stories so much fun.


I was pleasantly surprised that she can actually act. Nothing I've seen her in before led me to that conclusion.


I think that was the intention, though. Apparently the key words Davis gave his team at the tone meeting were "Disaster Movie".


There was an interview with him in Dr Who Magazine which basically transcribed what the actor said when they pushed a tape recorder under his nose. "Am I getting paid for this? No? Well bugger off then."


I thought that harked back to the Time War and maybe the Medusa cascade as well as foreshadowed.


She's put in some strong performances so far, elevating some mediocre stories to better-than-average.


They seem to have great chemistry in their own personas too. Look for a radio show the two of them did together where they interviewed each other; it;s hilarious (and I wish I could remember its name). Tate's views on SF are very amusing.




Actually it was in The Christmas Invasion, but then it was Rose who mentioned it, her "stolen words".

> Now, I'm no Batman, but I can't help sensing that there might be some sort of connection there.

Could be.

The missing clip is posted at the link below. Fast forward about 3 minutes 15 seconds in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRox65i4nfw&feature=related

I was being a jerk. I was at an amusment park all day and it fried my brain. Still, that's no excuse.

Thanks for posting on this.


> The short story on Rose is that we have no clue how or why she's returned. I'm not even sure that the look on her face qualifies as "mad." I could give you some casting spoilers for the end of the season, though, if you want ...

> > And what got cut from "Partners in Crime" was a rather sweet scene with Donna and her grandfather Wilf, up on the hill, where he kind of gently asks her what's wrong, in a much more non-judgemental way than her mother Silvia did - "You seem to be drifting, sweetheart." That's when Donna tells him how she met "this one man," without actually naming him as the Doctor, and laments the fact that she "let him get away." Wilf encourages her to keep looking for him, citing her childhood stubbornness - "When we told you that you couldn't go on holiday, you ran away! We had to have the police out after you!" > > Just in case you didn't catch it, Donna's grandfather is the old man who was running the newsstand in "Voyage of the Damned," when the Doctor disappeared in front of him, so it's implied that part of the reason why he has his telescope is because he and Donna are both kind of looking for evidence of the same man, without even realizing it. > > And proportionally, I actually spent quite a lot of time in the previous post, talking about the non-sexual aspects of those two episodes, so I think I'm entitled to some slack.

Scott NIGHT CHILDREN: THE BLOG. Come see!

Scott NIGHT CHILDREN: THE BLOG. Come see!