Doctor Who Reactions: "Doctor Who" (SPOILERS)

1)I always had my doubts about the Daleks putting the Master on trial - surely, if they decided he'd done them any dirt they'd just exterminate them? Maybe it was all a set-up to get at the Doctor.

2)The Dalek voices sound goofy in this.

3)I like this version of the theme music.

4)I was glad they kept it "in continuity".

5)"The Time Lord has thirteen lives..."

6)"And nearing the end of my seventh life..."

7)I also liked the TARDIS console room in this.

8)I see that McCoy finally got rid of the question mark jumper, which he loathed.

9)And the Seventh Doctor wanders out into a hail of bullets.

10)I hate being on pager.

11)"I am not like you!"

12)The probe scene is fairly nightmarish.

13)The regeneration scene was fairly good.

14)This really was unlike any Doctor Who we had seen up to that point - both in production values and story structure.

15)And again the Doctor steals clothes from a hospital.

16)Roberts does "creepy" well.

17)"Somehow I don't think the Second Coming happens here." "Right. You think He's gonna go to a better hospital?"

18)"You have to get me out of here before they kill me again!"

19)"I am not Bruce."

20)The Doctor had a father.

21)I like the the way they realized the Cloister Room.

22)That's not quite the way the Eye of Harmony was originally defined. I like the explanation that it's a link back to the original Eye on Gallifrey.

23)The infamous kiss!

24)"I am the Doctor!"

25)"The Doctor is half human. No wonder..."

26)"She kiss as good as me?" "As well as you."

27)"He's British!" "Yes, I suppose I am." Maybe his mother was British.

28)I sure hope that cop never catches up with Grace later.

29)"The road's still blocked." "This is an ambulance."

30)"Doctor Bowman"?

31)"I'm half human on my mother's side."

32)"Its cloaking device got stuck on a previous misadventure."

33)Ashbrook does "possessed" well.

34)"I always dress for the occasion."

35)Why would it take a human to open the Eye?

36)"I have wasted all my lives because of you, Doctor."

37)"Life is wasted on the living."

38)"What a sentimental old thing this TARDIS is!"

39)Gallifrey is 250 million light years from Earth. Well, was.

40)And he hits the console.

41)Hey, Tony Dow was the visual effects producer.

Overall, I was glad to see this again - I found it quite enjoyable. Shame McGann never got more of a run on TV.

I watched the first episode of "The Mutants" last night, but I also watched the first of the special features dealing with the movie, which I found quite interesting, particularly the behind-the-scene politics, the list of actors considered for the role, and the unused bible and initial plot. I plan to save the movie for the weekend and will likely have more to say after I watch it, but regarding your first point, does it particularly say the Daleks put the Master on trial? I thought it said the Doctor was coming from the Master's trial on Skarro. Couldn't it have been the Thals? Perhaps Skarro is now home to some inter-galactic seat of justice or something. In any case, because the trial was held there, I took that to mean the Daleks no longer live there.

Replies

Jeff of Earth-J February 9, 2011 at 9:42am

I watched the first episode of "The Mutants" last night, but I also watched the first of the special features dealing with the movie, which I found quite interesting, particularly the behind-the-scene politics, the list of actors considered for the role, and the unused bible and initial plot. I plan to save the movie for the weekend and will likely have more to say after I watch it, but regarding your first point, does it particularly say the Daleks put the Master on trial? I thought it said the Doctor was coming from the Master's trial on Skarro. Couldn't it have been the Thals? Perhaps Skarro is now home to some inter-galactic seat of justice or something. In any case, because the trial was held there, I took that to mean the Daleks no longer live there.
The Baron February 9, 2011 at 9:44am

The Doctor's opening narration says that it was the Daleks. Also, when the Master is "executed", you hear mechanical voices saying "Exterminate!" over and over.
The Baron February 9, 2011 at 9:46am

Doubtless they were executing him because he stole the bleeder valve from their Time Destructor.
The Baron February 9, 2011 at 9:51am

One of my theories was that it was a surviving group of the "good" Daleks from the end of "Evil of the Daleks" who were sharing Skaro with the Thals at the time.
Figserello February 9, 2011 at 10:14am

regarding point 14, I'd say it was very American, but not in a good post-HBO way. American tv became amazing shortly after (alas!) this was made. This TVM felt like it was made by the same folks who made 'Murder, she wrote' or something.

Its a fun episode though. McGann is great as the Doc. The inconsistencies with canon don't bother me, either because I'm not passionate about the Doc in that way, or because its a show where so much happens off-camera that anything is consistent enough.

I wonder is there any chance at all of McGann appearing in the current show?
The Baron February 9, 2011 at 10:20am

I suppose anything's possible - I'd love to see him in the new show.
The Baron February 9, 2011 at 10:21am

As for the "continuity" stuff - being an obsessive nut, I enjoy obsessing nuttily. :)
Figserello February 9, 2011 at 10:25am

I'm not the biggest fan of the new show runner, but if anyone was going to do a fannish, time-twisty paradox-laden team-up between doctors 8 & 11 properly, it would be him.

Strangely enough, being able to relax and cite 'good daleks' and Thals for the seemingly tricky plot elements is coming out the other side of nutty obsession to the same shrug of the shoulders as the rest of us!
Jeff of Earth-J February 9, 2011 at 12:18pm

Point #14 is discussed in depth in the first of the extra features. The final consensus (and I agree) is not to look at the TV movie as a failed pilot, but rather a means by which Doctor Who was put back in the public eye in the midst of a 16 year dry spell. Although the movie didn't spawn a television series, it helped to launch a very successful and quite good audio series. The TV movie establishes Paul McGann's "street cred" as the Doctor, and I would love to see him reprise his role someday on the small screen!
The Baron February 9, 2011 at 12:40pm

I haven't watched much of the extras, yet. Between this and "The Mutants", I'll be watching the extras and listening to the commentaries into the weekend. just in time to see what extras they put on the "Christmas Carol" DVD next week.

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