Chew

The Valeyard

This is it....the big finale!

Bcolon

I thought this Doctor was in the Christmas Special. Will Sci Fi be airing the special?

riley_dude

What can I say except this episode has everything a Sci Fan wants; Action, great character moments, cool effects, some really shocking moments and... war with the Daleks!!!
This is the most intense Doctor Who episode I have ever seen. Hopefully a llot of people will tune in even if they havent watched the entire season.

Josh-da-man

Spectacular episode.

All in all, this season had a few duds (and that can be said about almost any season of Dr Who), but it also had some of the finest stories the series has done yet: Father's Day, The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, and Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways.

riley_dude

Did you see it for the first time tonight Josh?

Panda Phil

Missed tonights broadcast, which is okay since I already own the series. Just wondering if Sci-Fi cut out the Doctor/Jack kiss.

riley_dude

With all the crappy B movies Sci Fi show on the network not to mention crumby reality show, they can surely show Men kissing. Not like it was a romantic kiss, more a kiss goodbye before they went off to war.

The Valeyard

Kiss was there.

Panda Phil

True enough, but I also know what spineless weasels these network types are. So terribly afraid they might offend someone. I loved it personally, so I'm glad they left it in.

Of course it's not just the US. Check out this bit of silliness from the UK.

riley_dude

I liked the kiss too!
Interesting article Panda. The scary thing would be if children couold no differentiate between what is real and what is not.

cdoug57

Thought this season and reimagining of The Doctor was very effective. As someone who was introduced to the fifth Dr (Davison) and slowly went backwards and forwards, I really enjoyed this Dr and I thought the series continuity (bad wolf) was a nice light touch that paid off very well. Fantastic ending, got a huge laugh out of the Ann Droid telling the dalek that "He" was the weakest link. Zap.

I see remarks about a Christmas episode, is that a part of the first or second season?

All in all a good start at the new millenial Doctor.

bluesix

is there anyone else who was incredibly UNDERWHELMED by this series?

Maybe my hopes were set too high by the amazing job they did reimagining Battlestar Galactica. Come to think of it, Id love to see what Ronald Moore would have done with this.

It just didn't seem that well done. The aliens were borderline cartoonish, the dialogue was corny and all the special effects were terribly uneven. Some things looked fantastic like the space scenes some of the other sets and then we got the Dalek creatures who looked like something I made out of Play-doh when I was 8 years old. ALL of the creature stuff looked horrible!

The storylines were awful. When they finally revealed who or what BAD WOLF was it was the biggest non-event of the series. There were some great ideas like the rich American collector and the TV satellite stuff but everything else just seemed half-baked. Maybe Russell Davies needed a script polish from somebody once they had the story arcs figures out for the season?

The acting wasn't even the problem. The actors themselves all seemed likeable enough. I've seen Eccleston in other stuff and kudos to him he gave it his all but the chemistry seemed strange. What exactly were they going for? Does he care for Rose because he loves her? See her as a daughter? Or maybe just as a pet? Nothing seemed to make sense because you couldn't define why they are together. Maybe if the pilot had done a better job setting things up this would have fallen together better.

As for the bisexual Captain Jack, well, at least we haven't seen that on TV before. I mean why even bother making him bisexual? So he can kiss them both? Big deal. That went nowhere. Maybe they were going for a GLAAD award.

With all the buzz from other forum members I was really expecting something slightly better.

RobLutter

Personally I feel that the season that's happening right now (Season 28) is about 10 times better than last season. David Tennant is a much better Doctor than Ecclesston, at least for me. (he's a lot more Tom Baker-ish)

That and Rose is finally not annoying the shit out of me.

In response to the post above... you've gotta realize that this show is done on a BBC budget. Watch the old Doctor Who and you'll greatly appreciate where they've come from. That said, the second season has a GREAT budget increase in the sfx department, so you will be much happier come around a year from now (or whenever / ifever they show it).

I bet they show 'The Christmas Invasion' (which is kind of like episode 0 of the 2nd season) with the rest of the second season (which is up to episode 9, showing tonight).

bluesix

thanks Rob Lutter

I suppose I'll hang in there since I still like these kinds of shows better than 95% else of what is broadcast

I really WANT to enjoy Dr. Who as much as everyone else seems to but this just left me disappointed.

I love sci-fi and have seen all of the Star Treks and Star Wars shows and I realize Dr.Who is its own animal but there should be SOME logic to the universe of the show. Maybe if they get into more of the doctor's background, being a timelord, the time war, etc. All we have gotten is bits and pieces but its almost like the writers havent even got it all figured out and don't know how they are going to present it to us. I'm assuming there is already some mythology to the show established.

I agree Rose was annoying but not nearly as much as her boyfriend and mother. I'm a fan of British TV but those working class British accents really do get grating after a while!

I have caught a few episodes of the old show on PBS so I realize this is all a new updated version. It's really not the special effects that bother me, altho they can be distracting if done poorly.

How about the Captain Jack show? Are they showing that yet? I'm more excited to see what they do with that I think.

Also curious, why did they have to switch doctors after only one season? Was Eccleston worried about getting sterotyped? The new Doctor at least seems more believable as a love interest to Rose if thats what they are going for.

RobLutter

Ecclesston wanted to focus more on a film career. I believe he only wanted to do one series from the start (and the BBC wants this thing to run for a while [Tennant is already signed for series 3]).

The show gets around 8-9 million viewers per week in the UK, so I can't see it going off the air anytime soon. It's a bonefide hit.

Captain Jack's show... "Torchwood" is going to be starting sometime this fall. I believe the last I heard, it is projected to start around October and run between Who seasons. There's been a lot of buildup this season for that show... lots of tie-ins with the current storyline.

It's going to be post-watershed too, which allows them to be a lot more violent and sexual than the Doctor can be.... so it should be quite interesting!

Groucho

I agree that Season 2 is better. Season 1 revived my interest in the show. Season 2 revived my obsession.

bub2000

Well, CBC and BBC Wales. But yeah, it's not like the CBC did a whole lot anyway.
They're not even airing the second series yet.

Josh-da-man

Yeah, I've been watching it (for the first time) on Sci-Fi.

Being a long-time fan of the old series, I tried to go into this one as unspoiled as possible. All I knew going in was that there were "Bad Wolf" references hidden in the episodes (though I kept myself unspoiled as to what they meant) and that the Doctor would regenerate in the final ep. of the season.

davidoflondon

The end of the 1st season (Parting of the Ways) was followed by a five minute charity special filmed for a charity telethon Children in Need. This aired October 2005 (in the UK).

Children in Need: Synopsis



That was then followed by a 60 minute (actual airtime probably around 90 mins with adverts) Xmas special aired Xmas Day in the UK. The episode title was The Christmas Invasion

The Christmas Invasion: Synopsis



The second season then started four months later in April. The Christmas Invasion is formally listed by the Beeb as episode 0 of season two.

For those interested the Beeb have confirmed there will be another Xmas special this year (2006) with season three starting next spring (in the UK). No word, as yet, have been given as to whether they'll be another special for this year's Children in Need.

Superman07

Well I just finished this one myself. I may have seen a few Dr. Who episodes late night over the years, but it never really caught my eye. I think it was a little too strange for me, and it seemed so bland. However, I really liked this series (first time through on Sci-Fi). I may have missed a few episodes, but I don't think any of them were really that bad - wasn't keen on the Sliterin plots though. Really liked the Two-parter that introduced Jack, as well as the finale.

I really like Eccleson, and was sorry to see him go. Granted it was 10 seconds of screen time, but I'm not sure I'm going to like this new Dr., but it sounds like he is better. Perhaps I'll try and find the first ep of series 2 to see how it plays out. Is it necessary to see that x-mas special? Does series 2 keep the plot going?

Groucho

Superman07, I would argue that The Christmas Invasion is essential viewing, for a variety of reasons.

riley_dude

I think the point they were trying to get across, was that in the future sexality is not the issue it is today. Not a bad message for the kiddies .

Sorry you missed that.

I was hoping for some type of reunion between the Doctor and Rose and Jack (Do they even know he is alive?) but I hear that is not going to happen.

Regarding the 2nd season, I am enjoying it. I haven't decided if it is better than season 1 but I sure am enjoying it.

wmansir

Russel Davies and at least one of the other writers is gay, in fact one of the re-occurring topics/debates on the Outpost Gallifrey forums is the "gay agenda" for the show. Some people see it in almost every episode.

It doesn't really bother me, but it does explain a few things for me. The Doctor and Rose's relationship is so weird (do they love each other?, don't they?, is it platonic love?, has the doctor felt this way before? etc) that it actually makes more sense if you replace Rose with a sexually confused 13 year old boy (perhaps named Russ) and say, Tom Baker. From the Doctor's perspective Rose is very immature and perhaps, being human, as taboo for a Time Lord as homosexuality is to the seemingly strait adult male in modern times.

riley_dude

So with all the straight writers on various other shows and they write all their characters, does that mean their is a Straight agenda?