Doctor Who Series Three Discussion (spoilers)

[Robert Saint John]

[Gojira_2000]

[Robert Saint John]

[Gojira_2000]

[Shonokin]

Abaddon pretty much wound up being a red herring leading to an inconsequential nothingness (But maybe that was the point?), since it just sorta showed up in the last few minutes and then "poof". The John Carpenter/ The Prince of Darnkness / Lovecraftian mind control feel did lend a lot of creepiness to the last 2 episodes and definately ties it emotionally into The Impossible Planet dealing with this creature.

But I did like the overall structure, pathos and interweaving ties to The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances and possible overture to things to come. Along with the obvious leading towards the finale of DW S3.

So for a wrap on Torchwood, unlike Robert I liked it quite a lot. The deadly last 15 minutes he talks about my wife calls the WTF? part of the show and I do agree that the wrap ups are pretty weak on most episodes. I suppose being a fan of pulp horror and action (Lovecraft, The Shadow, Doc Savage, The Spider, G8 and so on) I'm so used to deus ex machina or even abrupt and non-sensicial endings that it doesn't really phase me too much. As long as it's entertaining, which I found it to be for the most part. And found alluring the more "human" ways in dealings with the foibles of everyday people.

I think the hypothosis of the show is "humans are the weakest link in human civilization" and I agree completely. No cheery upbeat DW endings to be found here and in fact underscores something about DW that has always been there but buried under it's primary "the Doctor always wins" optimism, which is that the universe is a disturbing and terrible place full of loneliness and nihlistic horror.* That doesn't mean just the fact that there's monsters to be defeated but the strength and failings of human individuals can bolster or undermine everything that is going on, but what we see here is mostly the failings.

Of course my main problem with the series as a whole is that the entire mission of Torchwood had been laid out explicitely as the branch of the government which not only collects alien technology but uses it as a function of what the service is all about. This was described in episodes such as The Chirstmas Invasion and Tooth and Claw as what Torchwood does. But the series itself seems to refute that to basically being the librarian to the technology with a complete hands off attitude that always leads to trouble otherwise. I think that is a rather bipolar attitude and needs to be straightened out. It should be one thing or the other.

* I feel this to be underscored by many, many plot points throughout the DW series where humans have fallen in his defence and he just goes on with his self imposed job without really publically morning the fact that people die around him. I think of this simply because I watched The Sontaran Experiment just before watching the Torchwood finale. In this DW serial we see another human take a deadly fall for the Doctor and though Sarah makes him acknowledge the fact, he sort of brushes it off though you see the sadness in his eyes about it. When looking at it like that you've got to wonder how much can the Doctor take of seeing horror and death before he cracks under it all. I think Torchwood has been a good way, via human vices and corruption, of showing a more down to earth reaction to such things.

[lhb412]

[Shonokin]

BTW, I saw the first half of Sarah Jane Smith Adventures and will hopefully see the rest sometime in the next few days. She might be 52 but I think she still looks great. The first half of the show just makes me think one thing though...

[StevenScrivello]

[Shonokin]

[jrichreturns]

[MireGoji]

I think that rumour was debunked by a BBC press release. The word was that David Tennant planned to leave in the middle of the fourth series, but I believe the production team are still waiting for a green-light on a Series Four commission. I believe the statement said that right now, David is committed to the series.

Ah, here it is:

[Enshohma]

[Shonokin]

I feel the same way, Troughton is my favorite Doctor. With Tom Baker and Chris Eccleston tied for second. Also I tend to like the type of stories he wound up in which a lot of reviewers seem to lament; the extremely isolated scientists attacked by a mysterious force scenerio.

Tomb of the Cybermen and Seeds of Death are two of my all time favorites and they are both Troughton era. And yeah, he was a wise cracker and Jamie was an awesome foil to work off of.

To sort of stay On Topic since this is the series Three thread; The article about Tennet quiting is in , which I think is sort of like the US version of The Enquirer or something? IE: not exactly a place to get truthful information.

Tennet's father has refuted the claim to some extent . Of course the BBC renews the series contracts season by season so I'd guess it's all up in the air until the time of contract signing on S4.

[Sam]

[lhb412]

[Gojira_2000]

[Enshohma]

[lhb412]

(POSSIBLE SPOILER!!!)
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So, what does everyone think about these big (and rather substantial) rumors that John Simm is playing The Master? I hope it's true. The Doctor needs a good, single archnemesis and such a person can make for very interesting DW. Personally, I really love the Deadly Assassin and Survival portrayals of the character. I hope they go with a portrayal similar to that.

[TheMaster]

[MireGoji]

[Gojira_2000]

Two Trailers are currently showing.

[MireGoji]

[Kailem]

There's a beast of a new trailer doing the rounds on BBC Interactive at the moment, but for those of you of the non-UK persuasion

[Destroyer D]

[StevenScrivello]

In the trailer, isn't the guy who appears after Captain Jack the guy from Life on Mars?