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That was one of the better Christmas specials. I really enjoyed it.
Make sure you check out www.wheresthetardis.com, it is a cool little contest run by BBC America, I have a few ideas for it.
Enjoyed that immensely..the return of PC Pond especially.
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I enjoyed the fact that it was (as the title implied) a Who take on A Christmas Carol. One of my favorite Christmas stories.
I'm of the opinion that Mr. Moffat has big brass ones for even attempting to do a rework of Christmas Carol. I think that he actually managed to pull it off as well, although I'm not sure about the flying sharks, especially without the frickin lasers.
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I enjoyed the fact that it was (as the title implied) a Who take on A Christmas Carol. One of my favorite Christmas stories.I'm of the opinion that Mr. Moffat has big brass ones for even attempting to do a rework of Christmas Carol. I think that he actually managed to pull it off as well, although I'm not sure about the flying sharks, especially without the frickin lasers.
Yeah, the flying shark was pushing it. But then, it's Doctor Who so why the hell not?
Flying sharks..coming soon to a PbP near you...grins evilly
Flying sharks..coming soon to a PbP near you...grins evilly
The best christmas special evar!!!
Flying sharks are cool... along with the fez and bow tie.
Flying sharks..coming soon to a PbP near you...grins evillyThe best christmas special evar!!!
Flying sharks are cool... along with the fez and bow tie.
+1
I think the concept was cool but somehow didn't give me that "wow - that was great!" feeling. It was great that it was about Christmas rather than just set at Christmas but...I dunno. 7/10 but I can't explain why. Same as last year's (too much running around industriual waste sites but I excuse that for being a set-up piece).
Cheers
Mark
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Loved it, and as already stated, I loved that Christmas was part of the plot and not just tacked on.
I also liked:
2) PC Pond and Centurion Rory, without any definite answer as to why they were dressed that way, other than they were on honeymoon. :)
My second favourite Doctor Who special to date. Can't wait to see what comes out next year!
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Yet again Mr Moffett uses time travel, not just to get *to* the story, but as *part of* the story. Beautifully done. Brilliant episode.
One of the main reasons I have liked his stories. All too often Doctor Who (both nuWho and classic Who) have simply ignored the fact that there's a freaking TIME MACHINE sitting in the background, content to simply let it function as a mode of transportation from one episode to the next.
True, but having miracle devices around can lessen the drama and so have to be curtailed. (It's why they dropped the sonic screwdriver in season 19). The Tardis can become a bore if used to solve problems too often. And then of course there's the Blinovitch Limitation Effect....
cheers
Mark
** spoiler omitted **
BTW - is this really spoiler material now?
Cheers
Mark
** spoiler omitted **** spoiler omitted **
BTW - is this really spoiler material now?
Cheers
Mark
But does that person remember the Roman thing?
If so it kind of counts...
(I'm pretty sure that Rory remembers those 1854 years. Once the tardis rematerializes at the wedding, all his memories seem to flood back.)
Ah but is he remembering being an Auton or just his 'living travels with the Doctor? Does he remember dying in Silurian cave or has that been lost since it occured in proximity to a crack?
Bloody 'Moffat Cracks' - the whole of Doctor Who continuity is up for grabs. History can be different depending who you talk too - Amy doesn't remember the Earth being dragged through space but I bet Sarah Jane does.
Cheers
Mark
Chief Technical Officer
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It suddenly occurred to me that the Doctor has a companion now who's over twice his age.I'm not aware of any 1800 year olds on the TARDIS recently...
Captain Jack would be even older than that in "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End".
Key events:
- Assume he was in his 30s when he showed up in "The Empty Child." (I think that's a safe minimum...)
- After "The Parting of the Ways," went to 1869 and lived through to 2008(ish) ("Utopia" et seq)
- Went back to 27 AD and was buried alive/dying until 1901 (Torchwood: "Exit Wounds")
- Was kept in cryogenic storage in Torchwood vaults until 2008(ish)... ("Exit Wounds" again)
So even if there weren't any other events like that, that makes him at least 2150 in "Stolen Earth" (though he slept through 107 years of that).
The week before Christmas my wife and I made sugar cookies to share with friends and family. Our cookie cutter assortment is a hodge-podge of strange shapes. One of the ones we picked out to use was a shark. So for the week leading up to Christmas we had been joking about the "traditional Christmas shark cookies". It was a pleasant surprise to see a shark in the Doctor Who special which cemented our family's new Christmas shark cookie tradition.
I cried halfway through.
Scrooge: Why are they singing?
Doctor: Because we told them it might fix the ship.
Scrooge: Is it?
Doctor: No.
Scrooge: Then why are they still singing?
Doctor: Because we haven't told them.
Their biggest fault was that their most powerful scene got used halfway through. The rest of the show didn't come close to matching that, IMO.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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I cried halfway through. ** spoiler omitted **
Their biggest fault was that their most powerful scene got used halfway through. The rest of the show didn't come close to matching that, IMO.
What got me (for obvious reasons)
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Loved it!
Missed it on the telly (we actually got it out here in Australia the day after Christmas, but Family gatherings prevented me from being there). :(
So I had to take it away camping and watch it on my iPad the next day. :)
Noone's mentioned it yet, but how freakin' awesome does the next Season look!?!?!!!! I both hate and love those sneak peaks at the end of the Christmas special. I sooooo can't wait 'til the new Season starts. :D
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Loved it!
Missed it on the telly (we actually got it out here in Australia the day after Christmas, but Family gatherings prevented me from being there). :(
So I had to take it away camping and watch it on my iPad the next day. :)Noone's mentioned it yet, but how freakin' awesome does the next Season look!?!?!!!! I both hate and love those sneak peaks at the end of the Christmas special. I sooooo can't wait 'til the new Season starts. :D
what is also nice about season 6, is that this year they are planning on same day airing here in the States! we don't have to wait weeks for the episode here after it was shown in the UK.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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what is also nice about season 6, is that this year they are planning on same day airing here in the States! we don't have to wait weeks for the episode here after it was shown in the UK.Loved it!
Missed it on the telly (we actually got it out here in Australia the day after Christmas, but Family gatherings prevented me from being there). :(
So I had to take it away camping and watch it on my iPad the next day. :)Noone's mentioned it yet, but how freakin' awesome does the next Season look!?!?!!!! I both hate and love those sneak peaks at the end of the Christmas special. I sooooo can't wait 'til the new Season starts. :D
Yeah I know. Last year we got the Christmas Special in mid January and the year before that we got the Christmas Special 2 weeks before the Fist ep of the not-Season. :/
I'm likin' the in sync schedules a lot. :)
It suddenly occurred to me that the Doctor has a companion now who's over twice his age.I'm not aware of any 1800 year olds on the TARDIS recently...
Well, considering that all the previous televised series (but not books or radio plays, that have been mentioned) are considered Canon, still, The Doctor is actually a lot older than he lets on. It's never explicitly stated, but is very heavily implied throughout the Davison/Baker^2/McCoy episodes that The Doctor is a contemporary of Omega and Rassilon - and might have even been one of the original four Gallifreyans to venture through the Eye of Harmony (As the Ship's Doctor, no less).
If that was the case, he'd actually be millions of years old.
If it's not the case, he's still well past his original 13 regenerations, as evidenced in The Brain Of Morbius - when doing his brain-battle against Morbius, Morbius drags him back through his regenerations, which go thusly:
Tom Baker
Jon Pertwee
Patrick Troughton
William Hartnell
Some Other Dude
Yet another Other Dude
Yet another other Other Dude
Someone who looks suspiciously like Abraham Lincoln
Another Other Dude who is not the previous four dudes
BOOM, explodey machine...
(Before anyone drags in the "this was before the 13 regeneration limit was established" idea, that's not the case - it was established well before Brain Of Morbius)
Tack Davison, Baker^2, McCoy, McGann, Eccleston, Tennant, and Smith on there, and you have at least 16 regenerations...
Regardless, I've never bought that "900 years old" thing, especially since he's been claiming it for at least 200 years... ;)
(Before anyone drags in the "this was before the 13 regeneration limit was established" idea, that's not the case - it was established well before Brain Of Morbius)
Tack Davison, Baker^2, McCoy, McGann, Eccleston, Tennant, and Smith on there, and you have at least 16 regenerations...
Regardless, I've never bought that "900 years old" thing, especially since he's been claiming it for at least 200 years... ;)
Actually, the 13-regeneration limit was first mentioned in "The Deadly Assassin" which was after "Brain of Morbius". However, in "the Three Doctors", the time lords specifically referred to the William Hartnell Doctor as "the earliest". What it comes down to is just that the show has been inconsistent over the years! :)
Of course, for those who have seen the fourth season of Sarah Jane Adventures we know that...
As for the Christmas special, I really enjoyed. It's definitely one of the better Christmas specials.
Actually, the 13-regeneration limit was first mentioned in "The Deadly Assassin" which was after "Brain of Morbius". However, in "the Three Doctors", the time lords specifically referred to the William Hartnell Doctor as "the earliest". What it comes down to is just that the show has been inconsistent over the years! :)
I just watched Deadly Assassin last month and I don't recall that!
Twist my arm, make me go back and watch it again! ;)
Of course, for those who have seen the fourth season of Sarah Jane Adventures we know that...** spoiler omitted **
As for the Christmas special, I really enjoyed. It's definitely one of the better Christmas specials.
I haven't seen SJA4 yet. Drat!
Well, considering that all the previous televised series (but not books or radio plays, that have been mentioned) are considered Canon, still, The Doctor is actually a lot older than he lets on.
True - the Doctor's age has varied throughout the series. The seventh incarnation was saying he had 900 years of experience.
It's never explicitly stated, but is very heavily implied throughout the Davison/Baker^2/McCoy episodes that The Doctor is a contemporary of Omega and Rassilon - and might have even been one of the original four Gallifreyans to venture through the Eye of Harmony (As the Ship's Doctor, no less).
I think your suffering from an overdose of 'Cartmel Masterplan'. There is a line in Rememberance of the Daleks where the Doctor claims he is "more than just a Time Lord", but that was cut (So maybe I should have said there isn't a line). Real referances to the Doctor having an even more mysterious past than he already does took place in Virgin Publishing's New Adventures range (i.e. not canon). Even then the Writing Bible for that range stated that the Doctor was not 'The Other'.
(Before anyone drags in the "this was before the 13 regeneration limit was established" idea, that's not the case - it was established well before Brain Of Morbius)
Navior is right. Even if he wasn't watch The Deadly Assassin again! And Regeneration as a term in the show wasn't even used until Third became Fourth.
I now have a mysterious urge to watch The Brain of Morbius tonight!
Cheers
Mark
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Navior, I think the Doctor was joshing / lying about the 507 thing.
In any case, the 12-regeneration limit has been set so well by now, that I would expect it to be a big deal when --I hope-- the thirteenth actor to play the Doctor decides to leave the show. The breaking of that barrier ought to be more dramatic than usual, ought to involve the High Council of Galifrey, probably ought to reflect back to the entire history of the character, and, you know, if it involves the Keeper of the Matrix, that would just be a plus.
Navior, I think the Doctor was joshing / lying about the 507 thing.
Undoubtedly. But it does add fuel to the fire in the never-ending debates about the Doctor's regenerations and age. :) Russel T. Davies, who wrote the episode, has said that he threw the line in there just to flame the fan reaction!
Whatever the case, I also have no doubt that once the 13th Doctor reaches the end of his time (and hopefully the show will last that long), there will be a fourteenth Doctor. I'm not sure how they'll handle it though. The 12-regeneration limit has never been stated on the new show. In order to make a big deal out of more regenerations, they would have to set the limit up in advance, preferably before the 13th Doctor, and they're running out of time to do that.
I think your suffering from an overdose of 'Cartmel Masterplan'. There is a line in Rememberance of the Daleks where the Doctor claims he is "more than just a Time Lord", but that was cut (So maybe I should have said there isn't a line). Real referances to the Doctor having an even more mysterious past than he already does took place in Virgin Publishing's New Adventures range (i.e. not canon). Even then the Writing Bible for that range stated that the Doctor was not 'The Other'.
Actually, I'm not. I have been watching Doctor Who since the 70's (I like telling people I've "liked the show since before it was hip"), own quite a lot of official BBC retrospectives (including Doctor Who: A Celebration - a very definitive work), and others.
In the show, you have lines such as:
Morgana Le Fay: "Would you like me to tell them, Doctor? About you and Rassilon? And the DARK TIMES?"
McCoy Doctor: "Go ahead! It won't matter, and it won't change anything! I'll still be the --"
Ace (Interrupting): "Professor!"
Or Omega, way back in the Pertwee era:
"You... look very familiar..."
It's not from the novels that I speak, but from verifiable televised sources.
Not to say that I think I'm 100% right, or that I won't change my view, but when I say there's a ton of evidence in the show, there really is. ;)
Navior is right. Even if he wasn't watch The Deadly Assassin again! And Regeneration as a term in the show wasn't even used until Third became Fourth.
Uh, actually... The Hartnell/Troughton change was the first use of the term, used again in the (now sadly lost to the annals of time) 2nd to 3rd changeover.
But yeah, I must respectfully admit that Deadly Assassin is as Navior mentions. I've updated my internal files about that. ;)
I now have a mysterious urge to watch The Brain of Morbius tonight!
Do IIIIIIIIIT!
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Chief Technical Officer
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...as evidenced in The Brain Of Morbius - when doing his brain-battle against Morbius, Morbius drags him back through his regenerations, which go thusly...
While the producers at the time admit that they were poking in that direction, canon currently suggests that all of the non-Doctor faces in the battle were incarnations of Morbius.
More importantly, every other multiple doctor flashback scene—as well as things like the drawings in A Journal of Impossible Things ("Human Nature")—pretty clearly indicate that the 11 standard incarnations are all of them.
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Chief Technical Officer
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...Regeneration as a term in the show wasn't even used until Third became Fourth.Uh, actually... The Hartnell/Troughton change was the first use of the term, used again in the (now sadly lost to the annals of time) 2nd to 3rd changeover.
Mark is correct. The first time the word "regeneration" was used was "Planet of the Spiders." In "The Tenth Planet," Hartnell merely said something about his body "wearing a bit thin" before he collapsed, and in the next story, "Power of the Daleks," Troughton referred to it as a "renewal." The transition from Troughton to Pertwee, which was forced on the Doctor by the Time Lords in "The War Games," was called a "change of appearance."
And none of the regenerations are "lost to the annals of time." The final episode of "The Tenth Planet" is lost, but the regeneration sequence itself exists due to its inclusion in a 1973 episode of Blue Peter, and a segment of the scene before the actual regeneration exists thanks to a fan pointing his 8mm film camera at the TV screen. All of the other regeneration episodes exist in full.