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Post By
HH
In Reply To
CrazySugarFreakBoy!

Member Since: Sun Jan 04, 2004
Posts: 1,235
Subj: On season 4 (no spoilers after episode 1)
Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 at 10:30:05 am EDT
Reply Subj: Doctor Who, Season 4: And so it begins ...
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 04:10:15 am EDT (Viewed 364 times)


> ... 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.

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.

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

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

> 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.

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

> 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).

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."

> 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."

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

> 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:

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

> And goddamn, do Tate and David Tennant have great chemistry together. And God help me, I am already shipping Ten/Donna.

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.

> But goddammit, why does Davies have to kill off all of his most MILFish villains?

> Mrs. Wormwood is still out there.

> 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.

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.