Doctor Who - Season 31

[adriane17]

Watched The Eleventh Hour at Jeremy Bentham's party at The Crosse Keys in The City with about 800 other Doctor Who fans.

As ever with the modern series everything seemed a bit frantic but it was immediately clear why Matt Smith was chosen to play The Doctor. Reminded me of my favourite Patrick Troughton. Karen Gillan also seemed well cast. All we need now are some decent scripts but the early signs are promising.

[Moderator]

Adriane -
We're getting some very positive feedback from your side of the Pond. What was the expectation of those 800 fans beforehand, and was there any sort of a post-ep discussion?

[adriane17]

Hi Barber

As you'd expect with 800 or so fans there was a good spread of younger fans (i.e. from 2005 on) and older fans (pre-1989) with even a fair number of crusties like me who remember watching An Unearthly Child back in November 1963.

The initial reaction was overwhelmingly positive which, even allowing for the fact that everyone was a fan of some sort, was a good sign. Obviously it is hard to get a feel for how things will go from the first episode of anything (although An Unearthly Child would be hard to beat as a scene setter). I didn't stop long after the broadcast but the mood was very good. The two leads seem excellent and as has been the problem with most modern Who for me if we get some decent scripts and a little less soap opera - although it was hard to judge the subtleties of the script in a cavernous pub it certainly didn't seem as soapy as a standard RTD episode - then it is hard not to see this as being unsuccessful.

Looks as if Doctor Who will still be on air when the 50th Anniversary comes along....

Adrian
PS - I'm Adrian in E17.

[Steve Evil]

NIce episode, but did they have to fuck with the theme song?

[adriane17]

The best version of the theme/opening titles was, of course, the original Hartnell though I loved the Troughton face titles too - but then I'm a boring old f*rt who prefers "classic" Who to the new stuff however good the latter sometimes can be....

[Steve Evil]

For what's its worth, I'm much happier with this week's episode than I was with last week's premier,

BUT:

Did they have to fuck around with the theme?

[FinderDoug]

I'm not one to go looking in the shadows for homage, so I won't say it's a conscious thing by the show's handlers - but I hear the New TARDIS has a feature one might consider... Ellisonesque.

But until I see for myself, I'm saying nothing more.

[swp]

I'm not one to go looking in the shadows for homage, so I won't say it's a conscious thing by the show's handlers - but I hear the New TARDIS has a feature one might consider... Ellisonesque.

But until I see for myself, I'm saying nothing more.

dude. seriously. dude!

yer killin' us here on the poor side of da big pond

[FinderDoug]

yer killin' us here on the poor side of da big pond

Dude, I squat right here in the Eastern time zone. But I hear things. It's just a decorative touch, nothing more, and I really don't want to spoil the moment for anyone else if it's true.

[Steve Evil]

Oh I know exactly what you're talking about, and I thought the same thing when I saw it. . .click, click, click.

[reddragon70]

There are a great many odd things in the newly regenerated TARDIS. Including what appears to be a launcher from a pinball machine. What its purpose is, I have no idea but I think its rather groovey. And though it may seem a little obvious, the time lord etchings all over the control desk is a lovely touch.

[Steve Evil]

Missed those. . .

[adriane17]

Victory To The Daleks last night was enjoyable but it's a shame we have to have another redesign and such a poor one at that - at least someone can sell a few gift sets I guess...

The two leads are great though!

[Steve Evil]

Here's what I thought of the new Daleks:

When I was a kid, the event of the milenium was the release of Transformers: the Movie (no, not the Michael Bay film). When we went to see it, we were shocked to see half the regulars killed off in the first ten minutes. That just didn't happen in kid's shows back then. When the film came out on DVD, the film's producers expressed surprise at the ensuing uproar: as far as they were concerned, they were just making room for the new toyline. It didn't occur to them that the six, seven and eight year olds in the audience had been watching these characters all their lives and might have gotten sentimentally attached to them. Nope, they were just clearing off an old toy line.

Now they're doing it with the Daleks. Just making way for new toys. Ugly, misshapen, lopsided toys, but hey, they're new! So they must be an improvement!

[adriane17]

I'm sticking with my set of Dalek Rolykins (originals of course) and my two Louis Marx 1964 Daleks...