Doctor Who Starts Up Again on Easter

[Anenome]

Special 2-part mini-episode follows ;) Enjoy. It's rather clever too I must say. And Karen is, as always, teh hawtness redhead.

Also, the Brits apparently have something known as "red nose day" >_>

51JtuEa_OPc

RkmiefoRcfU

[Agnostic Pope]

WTF is Dr. Who?














:P

[Capt_Thad]

Kinda fell behind on this... Think I still need to finish the last season, and grab any specials that have happened since.

[Anenome]

Brit TV show. If you've never seen it you're seriously missing out. It's been going on for decades now over there. It's length is akin to James Bond in movies, it's just less well known here than Bond.

If you want to check it out, start with the 2005 series and go from there. The actual start of the series is in like 1960 and it's quite dated compared to the modern 2005 revamp, which is quite excellent.

The premise is that Doctor Who is an alien, essentially, the last surviving member of a race called the Time Lords that protected time-travel technology and used it freely in advanced ships such as the Doctor has. It also uses a special technology that makes it take a shape appropriate to the time that it travels into, but the mechanism got stuck as a blue police-booth when he traveled to 1960's Britain once, and he kind likes it that way so he left it :P

Since then he's adopted earth as a new home planet of sorts, protecting it from all the other aliens throughout the universe who may try to do us harm in one way or another, and who are indirectly responsible for basically all of our legends having to do with vampires, werewolves, and other fantastical creatures--all of which are actually rogue aliens trying to setup a colony here or survive and refugees on their own right.

The Doctor gets lonely and intermittently picks out a human companion to travel with him, though he never lets himself fall in love with them, though many have fallen for him.

He's currently travelling with Amy Pond, the redhead, and her fiance/husband, which has finally solved his problem of how to travel with humans without getting romantically involved with them.

It's a fun and campy series that anyone geek-culture kid should enjoy.

[Agnostic Pope]

The thing about long running series is that if I didn't see it all I will always be lost/uninterested. That and the fact that it's on the SyFy channel....I've seen a few episodes (10 between "seasons") and I feel out of place. That and the boring female they always put him with. It appears to be a series that has long since jumped the shark...but then again it is a Sci-fi show.

[Anenome]

The thing about long running series is that if I didn't see it all I will always be lost/uninterested. That and the fact that it's on the SyFy channel....I've seen a few episodes and I felt out of place. That and the boring female they always put him with. It appears to be a series that has long since jumped the shark.
Incorrect. It's had the same premise throughout. If you jump in at 2005, you won't be lost. Each season is a self-contained storyline. And because the doctor has to explain himself to each new girl he picks up, it all makes sense. Don't short-change yourself with that logic that's not true, don't make assumptions here. Especially with a series so sweet as this one.

I only say don't start with the 1960's stuff A: because I didn't. And B: because what little I went back and watched was very dated in both storyline and film technique.

Oh, one last thing you need to know: the Doctor's immortal enemies, the ones who wiped out his entire race: the Daleks.

[Agnostic Pope]

So...it starts all over again each time? It has no end then? Why?

[revelation]

That was cute! Didn't hear about the short.

Can't wait for the new series.

Also, can't blame Rory. Or Amy.

Brb, new fantasy.

[Anenome]

So...it starts all over again each time? It has no end then? Why?
He has an overarching mission, which is to stop the Daleks from taking over the universe, which they almost did. The Daleks destroyed the Time Lords, and basically the Doctor sacrificed his entire race in order to destroy the Daleks too. So, it's just a decision he has to live with.

So, he goes around exploring and stopping those trying to do to earth what the Daleks did to the Time Lords.

Until he discovers that a few of the Daleks survived! So now it's him versus the Daleks by himself. Those episodes get pretty interesting :P

The Daleks are a little arthropod-like race, like a squid or an octopus. They're soft-bodied, and so they must move about in technological shells which are virtually impervious to attack.

http://i.imgur.com/3u8nc.jpg

[Agnostic Pope]

^Ghetto Reapers.

[Gusj]

You're just confusing him, Anenome.

Just start with the newest series. The plots aren't terribly complicated and they're fun for the whole family. I haven't seen the new series with Matt Smith as the role of the Doctor yet, but I did see the Christmas special without any trouble. It was great btw.

[lockwoodx]

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_li80zkojDY1qi748xo1_500.jpg

[Anenome]

You're just confusing him, Anenome.

Just start with the newest series. The plots aren't terribly complicated and they're fun for the whole family. I haven't seen the new series with Matt Smith as the role of the Doctor yet, but I did see the Christmas special without any trouble. It was great btw.
Matt Smith does a great job. He's my favorite Doctor of the new series by far. The series has trended more and more towards an athletic, good looking, younger Doctor, and Smith brings back that nutty-professor quality it'd been lacking of late.

But he's still not a redhead :P

[revelation]

Smith brings back that nutty-professor quality it'd been lacking of late.

I'd say that'd be more thanks to Moffat than anything. Davies was a bit...bipolar...in his run.

Matt Smith does a great job. He's my favorite Doctor of the new series by far.

I definitely liked him better than Tennant in his first season, but my favourite is Eccleston. Maybe it's because he was the first Doctor of the relaunch, maybe it's because Tennant and Piper had the chemistry of oil and water...But I really enjoyed Eccles' crazy-ass, grin-at-random take on the character.

Plus the jacket was pretty sweet.

[Anenome]

Eccleston basically embodies what I don't like, the Doctor as captain of the football team Doctor. Blah. The name's Who. Doctor Who. No thanks. I'm glad he only did one season, or was it two.

It didn't ruin that season for me at all, I mean that was my first encounter with the series in 2005, he did a good job, just when Smith came around, he acted the Doctor in a way that hasn't been paralleled. And it's just spot on. 10th doctor was quite good too, and I loved the female lead from his series, the black girl, I think her name was Martha Jones? Adorable.

Keep him geeky and lanky and a brainiac and we won't have any trouble :P Both Matt and Karen are among the best Doctor team-ups in a long time. That last redhead from season I think 2008 was... just, no.

Well, my frame of reference only extends to 2005, so take it as you will :P I'm out of my depth before that.

[revelation]

...and I loved the female lead from his series, the black girl, I think her name was Martha Jones? Adorable.

Yep. That was my favourite series in the Tennant lot. Awesome, awesome series. He and Martha had a great chemistry. I really have no idea why they decided to bring on Catherine "YELL REALLY STUPIDLY AT RANDOM MOMENTS GOD WHY CAN'T I JUST SHUT UP AND DIE" Tate.

That last redhead from season I think 2008 was... just, no.

Right. See above!

[Chimpbot]

Eccleston basically embodies what I don't like, the Doctor as captain of the football team Doctor. Blah. The name's Who. Doctor Who. No thanks. I'm glad he only did one season, or was it two.

It didn't ruin that season for me at all, I mean that was my first encounter with the series in 2005, he did a good job, just when Smith came around, he acted the Doctor in a way that hasn't been paralleled. And it's just spot on. 10th doctor was quite good too, and I loved the female lead from his series, the black girl, I think her name was Martha Jones? Adorable.

Keep him geeky and lanky and a brainiac and we won't have any trouble :P Both Matt and Karen are among the best Doctor team-ups in a long time. That last redhead from season I think 2008 was... just, no.

Well, my frame of reference only extends to 2005, so take it as you will :P I'm out of my depth before that.

You probably would have hated the Third Doctor, played by John Pertwee; that incarnation was a practitioner of "Venusian Aikido"...which was essentially karate. While this incarnation was very intelligent and used loads of gadgets, he'd muscle his way through a situation when it was necessary.
Eccleston was a bit of a throwback to this, in that he tended to be a little more violent and actually brandished a rather large weapon at what was thought to be the last Dalek in one episode.

Stopping the Daleks, while exceedingly important, isn't his sole mission; he's essentially the self-proclaimed protector of the universe, which is why he's always been considered a rogue Time Lord; they tended to be much more "hands-off" than The Doctor. He was even trapped on Earth for a time by the Time Lords for his constant meddling; they basically tossed up a barrier around the Earth that prevented the TARDIS from leaving. He could still travel through time, but only on Earth.
The Doctor has many, many enemies...and he's feared by most "evil doers" across the universe; I believe it was Smith's first appearance as The Doctor where he allowed those aliens that were going to blow up the planet to basically read his memory...at which point they just ran off because of how many nasty things he's single-handedly stopped over the years.

David Tennant was easily my favorite of the recent Doctors; he was typically very light-hearted and fun, but had a wonderfully brutal vengeful streak. My favorite episode(next to the Werewolf episode), was The Family of Blood; he punishes the villains of that episode by giving them a hellish form of the immortality they desired. He pushes one out of the TARDIS into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy, wraps another in unbreakable chains forged in the heart of a dwarf star, traps the third in every mirror in existence, and suspends the last one in time, forever, as a scarecrow.
I crapped my pants at the end of that episode, because it was one of the few times where they showed just how friggin' powerful a pissed off Time Lord can be. It was awesome.

[Agnostic Pope]

David Tennant was easily my favorite of the recent Doctors; he was typically very light-hearted and fun, but had a wonderfully brutal vengeful streak. My favorite episode(next to the Werewolf episode), was The Family of Blood; he punishes the villains of that episode by giving them a hellish form of the immortality they desired. He pushes one out of the TARDIS into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy, wraps another in unbreakable chains forged in the heart of a dwarf star, traps the third in every mirror in existence, and suspends the last one in time, forever, as a scarecrow.
I crapped my pants at the end of that episode, because it was one of the few times where they showed just how friggin' powerful a pissed off Time Lord can be. It was awesome.

NERDGASM! (What episode is this? I want to watch it)

[Chimpbot]

NERDGASM! (What episode is this? I want to watch it)

It's a two-parter, starting with episode eight of the third season. They're called "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood".

[Anenome]

You probably would have hated the Third Doctor, played by John Pertwee; that incarnation was a practitioner of "Venusian Aikido"...which was essentially karate. While this incarnation was very intelligent and used loads of gadgets, he'd muscle his way through a situation when it was necessary.
Yep, sounds awful :P I went back and watched some of the 1960's movies, including the first appearance of the Daleks with Peter Cushing as the Doctor I think it was. Pretty hilarious, with the little Susie child doing most of the intellectual heavy lifting and the Doctor playing as an old professor in his 70's, feeble and barely able to survive the situation. It was a pretty slow and badly plotted movie, with laughable Daleks and all :P Good times.


Eccleston was a bit of a throwback to this, in that he tended to be a little more violent and actually brandished a rather large weapon at what was thought to be the last Dalek in one episode.
See, AP, one of the Doctor's signature traits is that he is totally wits over brawn. If he can't solve it with wits, it's not worth solving or he'll find another way. Some of the best writing in the show is because of this value system the Doctor holds. He's totally physically non-coercive, even arguably when he should be. Because of that, he doesn't carry a weapon, he carries the iconic sonic screwdriver, which can do all sorts of things, but only actually gets used as a screwdriver like once in the entire series :P Usually it's knocking out computers, or rewiring ATM machines or somesuch like that. It's occasionally a bit of deus ex machina.


Stopping the Daleks, while exceedingly important, isn't his sole mission; he's essentially the self-proclaimed protector of the universe,
Truuuuuue, but if he could accomplish that one thing, I think he'd consider his life complete and the rest would be a vacation. They are his ultimate nemesis. Everyone else he considers beneath him as an atagonist and barely takes seriously, especially the way that Smith and Tennant played the Doctor.


The Doctor has many, many enemies...and he's feared by most "evil doers" across the universe; I believe it was Smith's first appearance as The Doctor where he allowed those aliens that were going to blow up the planet to basically read his memory...at which point they just ran off because of how many nasty things he's single-handedly stopped over the years.
Yes yes yes! That was a truly truly fantastic and well written episode! I so wished I'd written it. It begins with Amy Pond as a little girl, he then promises to come visit her in 5 minutes because he's having trouble with his time machine. Well, there's a small problem, he comes back 13 years later :P She's been seeing psychologists ever since, and him showing up against freaks her out :P (this is all for AP's benefit). And then the way that episode wraps up, as you describe, with him just going, "You know who I am and what I've done, right? (they scan him) Run." and they run :P Fantastic. The genius of that episode was that he'd broken his sonic screwdriver so they couldn't use that to get him out of the jam :P


David Tennant was easily my favorite of the recent Doctors; he was typically very light-hearted and fun, but had a wonderfully brutal vengeful streak. My favorite episode(next to the Werewolf episode), was The Family of Blood; he punishes the villains of that episode by giving them a hellish form of the immortality they desired. He pushes one out of the TARDIS into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy, wraps another in unbreakable chains forged in the heart of a dwarf star, traps the third in every mirror in existence, and suspends the last one in time, forever, as a scarecrow.
I crapped my pants at the end of that episode, because it was one of the few times where they showed just how friggin' powerful a pissed off Time Lord can be. It was awesome.
Wait what? What year was this, season 2009? I don't seem to remember anything about this, and I guarantee I saw all the Tennant stuff. Was Family of Blood the Italian vampire episodes?

[Anenome]

My favorite might be when they travel into the future and the people there take a DNA sample from the Doctor and make a daughter for him, all grow'd up, roughly 20 years old. Kinda wish they hadn't just made her expendable, she'd be a pretty great traveling companion for him :P

Maybe I just love that concept though because that episode wasn't incredible. The living statues one was pretty good. Hmm. The shadow fish... the space station on the day the sun blows up was pretty good, with the woman who'd had so many face lifts she was now just a stretched face on a rack, hahaha.

[Kreigmstr]

I really liked the Christmas special they had this past Christmas. The Pandorica one where all of his enemies band together to imprison him to prevent him from destroying reality was pretty good too.

I prefer Tennant over Smith and I didnt like Eccleston at all. When I was a teenager I tried watching some of the original shows on a recommendation and found it about as boring as the BBC mini-series of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Agnostic Pope...check out BBC America. They've been playing episodes from all the "new" Doctor Who's twice a day. 11am and 5pm est. I think right now they are working through the David Tennant episodes. Also you'll notice that the actor who plays the Doctor changes. They explain this away as part of the regeneration process that makes him nearly immortal. When he does something that should kill him it starts a regeneration process that changes his appearance.

[Anenome]

I really liked the Christmas special they had this past Christmas. The Pandorica one where all of his enemies band together to imprison him to prevent him from destroying reality was pretty good too.
The Pandorica was pretty great. I was wondering where they'd be going with that all season, the little rip in the fabric of time. Still, the end of the last season I thought was a bit cheesy, with Rory as the replacement Roman troop, and 'if you remember they can come back' to her wedding thing.

Still, writing time travel stories of any sort is incredibly difficult to pull off, and Doctor Who is at its most clever when it creates stories that integrate time paradoxes and effects. Usually they short-circuit the issue with a taboo against going back in time to change things that just happened.


I prefer Tennant over Smith and I didnt like Eccleston at all. When I was a teenager I tried watching some of the original shows on a recommendation and found it about as boring as the BBC mini-series of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Yeah. Still that was then and this is now, and now rocks ;) Golden age of television.


Also you'll notice that the actor who plays the Doctor changes. They explain this away as part of the regeneration process that makes him nearly immortal. When he does something that should kill him it starts a regeneration process that changes his appearance.
Right, I never quite got around to mentioning that did I. It's pretty clever, AP, basically the Time Lords are immortal, or have something like 12 regenerations. But that number is thought to have reset with the 2005 reboot, so with Smith he's on his 3rd incarnation :P Which begins with him wondering if he's a ginger this time and being yet again disappointed that he's not :P Clever way to explain actor changes in any case. Bond apparently doesn't need any such mechanism :P

[Anenome]

In the mini-episode I posted above, they flout one of the rules of time travel, that information cannot come out of the void. They completely cheat that rule, mostly to save space and time :P

For instance, if the Doctor's past version of himself told him which proper lever to pull, how did he think of it in the first place? Well, you have to assume a past incarnation that we're not seeing apparently spent some time figuring it out and we're actually somehow ahead of time, or something? And then that incarnation ends up never existing because he then gives the information to himself? Err? Yeah. Yeah, right :P

There was a similar issue in Star Trek when they go back in time and Scotty gives the people back then the recipe for transparent aluminum. Well, you wonder, if Scotty gives it to the past, and the past gave it to Scotty, who came up with it in the first place?

Well, you have to assume that Scotty went back before the formula had been invented and gave it to them, and that if he hadn't done that, that some future person eventually invents transparent aluminum so that the formula doesn't come out of the void, and that Scotty changed the future and his own past by giving to humanity at that point. Scotty didn't see any reason not to do it, because the guy he told it to was the guy who was listed in the history books as inventing in. But that was Scotty's past. He'd already change the past in the future! So of course it was that guy.

What Scotty really ended up doing was stealing the invention from the actual inventor, who gets wiped from history entirely, and giving it to someone else, and never realizing what an awful thing he'd actually done :P

But since this is all just hypothetical nerd-speak, who really cares, right?

[revelation]

*lots of words before this*

But since this is all just hypothetical nerd-speak, who really cares, right?

That and this episode was written for Comic Relief to raise money...so I'm not really sure they were too worried about any of that. :p

[Anenome]

That and this episode was written for Comic Relief to raise money...so I'm not really sure they were too worried about any of that. :p
It was a rather clever idea in any case, moving the Tardis into itself :P

Anyway, still waiting for someone to explain Red Nose Day rather than me going to look it up. Ruins all the fun somehow.

[revelation]

It was a rather clever idea in any case, moving the Tardis into itself :P

Anyway, still waiting for someone to explain Red Nose Day rather than me going to look it up. Ruins all the fun somehow.

No idea about the UK, but over here it's a day to raise money and awareness for children with SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Only reason I can think of why the red nose was adopted here is because it's silly by nature so it probably sticks out/gets remembered for.

Unfortunately, until you mentioned Red Nose Day, I actually forgot we even had it here until I thought back to highschool when we had to do some charity stuff for it. Awareness for the whole day really has dropped off here.

But yes, again, for the UK, not a clue sorry.

[Anenome]

You know I really don't like Amy's relationship with Rory that much :P I mean, the guy's such a loser that he's distracted by looking up his own wife's skirt at her panties. I mean, I guess they're still newlyweds at this point, but shouldn't that only be that thrilling for virgins or something :P Plus, he's weak generally. Doubt that marriage would last :P

I'll bet they move her out of the lineup the second the change is decided by having her get pregnant :P Ah, sad day that will be. I love this Doctor/heroine lineup nonetheless ;) I hope this duo stick it out for at least 5 seasons ;)

[Kreigmstr]

The Pandorica was pretty great. I was wondering where they'd be going with that all season, the little rip in the fabric of time. Still, the end of the last season I thought was a bit cheesy, with Rory as the replacement Roman troop, and 'if you remember they can come back' to her wedding thing.

Yeah. But honestly I can over look a bit of cheesyness in exchange for the clever way they handle long term plot points like the rip. I really like the way they have him tie it all togther at the last minute and leave you feeling like everything went according to plan. No matter how convoluted the plan. :D

[Chimpbot]

Wait what? What year was this, season 2009? I don't seem to remember anything about this, and I guarantee I saw all the Tennant stuff. Was Family of Blood the Italian vampire episodes?

It was the two-parter where The Doctor essentially "locked" his Time Lord self into a watch, effectively making himself human. It was from the third season...so, Tennants second season as the character.

[Anenome]

Still doesn't ring a bell. So, 2008.

[Chimpbot]

Well, go make that bell ring. It was a great story and the ending is just too deliciously badass for it's own good. It's fairly low-key in terms of presentation, but the punishment he lays down on the "bad guys" is just...epic.

[Anenome]

Wait, and he doesn't remember being a Time Lord right, half recall...

[revelation]

Wait, and he doesn't remember being a Time Lord right, half recall...

Yep. He's a teacher in Martha played a maid who kept a close watch on him. Set in a boy's school (I think...) around a year or so before the first world war.

There was an army of scarecrows they had to fight off...

It actually was a brilliant two-parter. It was nominated for a Hugo, from memory.

That entire series was brilliant, from start to finish.

[Abednigo]

I started watching the series a few months ago, starting with the new ones from 2005 (thank goodness they're on Netflix Instant). I'm almost done with series/season 2. I love this show and David Tennant is absolutely brilliant as The Doctor. I love the continuity too. Others have said it, but you don't need to have watched the other 700+ episodes to make sense of it. When they started up again in 2005 they really made it easy to start for someone who had never seen the show. Sure I've done a little research of my own since (like finding out how the Dalek are part of British pop culture). It's all part of the fun.

I can honestly say I haven't had this much fun with a TV show in a long time.

[Anenome]

Yep. He's a teacher in Martha played a maid who kept a close watch on him. Set in a boy's school (I think...) around a year or so before the first world war.

There was an army of scarecrows they had to fight off...

It actually was a brilliant two-parter. It was nominated for a Hugo, from memory.

That entire series was brilliant, from start to finish.
Roight. Yeah. Remember that part. Still don't remember the scarecrows :P Were they literal scarecrows? >_> Right, WWII.

I really liked the episode where he ends up being the Queen of England's imaginary friend who comes out of the fireplace, haha.

[Anenome]

One day I will write a Doctor Who episode ^_^

[Agnostic Pope]

You better make me trip balls.

[Chimpbot]

I started watching the series a few months ago, starting with the new ones from 2005 (thank goodness they're on Netflix Instant). I'm almost done with series/season 2. I love this show and David Tennant is absolutely brilliant as The Doctor. I love the continuity too. Others have said it, but you don't need to have watched the other 700+ episodes to make sense of it. When they started up again in 2005 they really made it easy to start for someone who had never seen the show. Sure I've done a little research of my own since (like finding out how the Dalek are part of British pop culture). It's all part of the fun.

I can honestly say I haven't had this much fun with a TV show in a long time.

The old stuff is great to revisit for those of us who grew up watching it...but you really can just start with the 2005 series and do a little bit of catching up via Wikipedia.
Really, the only important characters you need to read up on are The Master, the Cybermen, the Daleks, Sara Jane and K-9 and the Time Lords. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few important characters/groups/events from the old series...but those are the biggies.

[Radiozo]

About time. Dr Who IS the best show on TV by far.

[Anenome]

Well, there's Dexter. And Archer... Mythbusters...

[Abednigo]

The old stuff is great to revisit for those of us who grew up watching it...but you really can just start with the 2005 series and do a little bit of catching up via Wikipedia.
Really, the only important characters you need to read up on are The Master, the Cybermen, the Daleks, Sara Jane and K-9 and the Time Lords. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few important characters/groups/events from the old series...but those are the biggies.

I just looked up characters as they appeared on the new shows. Like when Sarah Jane and K-9 showed up I loved looking for info on Wikipedia. Same with the Daleks. Reading the background info on them was almost as fun as watching the show.

I finished season 2 last night. What a fantastic (and surprisingly emotional!) finale! The Genesis Ark was simply spectacular when it was revealed what it was. And Rose and The Doctor's time on the beach at the end was very moving. Of course I loved the final seconds and The Doctor responding to his surprise guest. LOL! Can't wait to start Season 3.

I need to figure out how to add BBC America to my cable lineup so I can catch the new episodes when they start. At least DVR them so I can watch them once I get caught up.

[Anenome]

Yes, I really, really loved Tennant and Rose. That was a great dynamic. She's wonderful. The way they split them up was after all pretty amazing.

I had to laugh when her mother's all "You haven't called in two years!" and Rose is all like, I've been gone only 5 minutes >_>

[Abednigo]

Yes, I really, really loved Tennant and Rose. That was a great dynamic. She's wonderful. The way they split them up was after all pretty amazing.

I had to laugh when her mother's all "You haven't called in two years!" and Rose is all like, I've been gone only 5 minutes >_>

They really tricked me in the intro to that two parter though with Rose narrating that this was how she died. I was on the edge of my seat. That really hasn't happened to me in a TV show since Lost.

[Anenome]

Oh god, compare it to anything but Lost! This show actually makes sense! And has a point! lol

[Kreigmstr]

A little necro here for a good cause. New season starts tonight 9est on BBC America!!

[Gusj]

It also aired on BBC1 6pm (2 hours ago). It was great!

[Kreigmstr]

Can only get BBC-America and BBC news here unfortunately. But we get a nice marathon of Season 5 as a lead up to tonight. :D

[Anenome]

A little necro here for a good cause. New season starts tonight 9est on BBC America!!
Noice! Ty!
_____

[Kreigmstr]

NP. Tonight was pretty convoluted....wondering how they are going to resolve the scene by the lake. :D