Dr. Who? Anyone?

[Pippa]

I think the decision to have no two parters this year has backfired badly.  45 minutes is too short a time to develop characters other than the leads and everything feels a bit rushed.  Storylines are thin as you cannot build any complexity in that time frame.  It is also difficult to build tension.

These episodes are equivalent to the filler stories during the Davidson era, two parters such as Black Orchid and The Kings Demons.  Writers such as Terrance Dicks used to hate six parters as they were too long and they had to effectively split the story into a 4 part segment and a two part segment (e.g. The Seeds of Doom, 2 parts in Antartica, 4 parts in the UK).  No one was happy about the two parters, hence two three part stories in the McCoy seasons.

I think the best format is one story over 2, 45 minute episodes (the equivalent of the old 4 part story).  This gives time for subplots, not too rushed a pace and more complicated storylines.

[Princess Rachel]

that was a pretty good story this week, but looking forward to next week...

[Pica Pica]

Nightmare in Silver was the first one I've really, really liked in ages.

[Dovahkiin]

The Crimson Horror and Nightmare in Silver are my favourite episodes this series.

I wish they had two parters as well. I love it when I have to wait for the end of the story and I'm held in suspense. I used to write fanfiction in between two parters, trying to guess at the ending. xD

[Pippa]

If yo uwatch the best classic who, you had complex story characters beyond the principal artistes.  Lightfoot and Jago in The Talons of Weng Chiang, Scorbie in the Seeds of Doom, etc.  Now all you get is characters based on rough sketches. 

I'm also not happy about the development of the cybermen.  they are rapidly becoming nothing more than another bunch of Robots.  They also now seem to owe a lot to the Borg in Star Trek.  Given that the Borg were a rip off of the original Cybermen, it is curious that the new cybermen are rip offs of another show's villian which itself was a rip off of the cybermen.

When Kit Pedlar and Gerry Davis created the Cybermen their was a distopian sadness at their core.  These were beings forced by circumstance to replace organic organs and limbs with mechanical spare parts.  To survive this they disposed of emotion.  They were created at a time when medicine and technology was making things like heart and liver transplants possible.  They were creatures who's planet had run out of resources, desperate to find a new home.

It seems that all this back story has been ditched and we have nothin more than the equivalent of the Cylons in the original Battlestar Galactica.  Today we live in a world where Kit Pedlar's vision is coming true.  People have attached themselves to computers and implanted computer chips into themselves, we are starting to use stem cells to grow replacement organs.  We have developed limbs for amputees which are closing in on providing a mechanical alternative to the real thing.  This is what Pedlar and Davis were thinking about and they questioned whether this could go too far.  I would have thought that concept would have been enough to bring new life to the Cybermen.

[Jayne]

I liked this weeks show, i've always had a gripe with the ponderously slow movements of the Cybermen.
If you can upgrade yourself then why make your new body slower than the old one? Seeing the Cybermen moving quickly brings back the menace that they've lost over recent years.

[Charley Bea(EmeraldP)]

While I like some of the new 'additions' to the cybermen I agree with Pippa on alot of things as it does feels like they have lost their original menace and intent and at times do feel like those in charge have forgotten they came before the borg(least I know why I like the borg now). That said I do feel that at times they swapped from looking mechanical and looking plastic so while that could be taken as a gripe they originals were like that and these days anything hi-tech seems to use plastic covering then metal anyway...cars anyone?

Also I noted the doctor's outfit matched what he will be wearing in the 50th anniversary special so good to know they are establishing it early even if it is only a change of waistcoat/vest.

[Princess Rachel]

totally amazing episode and wow what an ending, roll on the 23rd of November...

[Anna++]

I did NOT see that ending coming.  188 days until the next episode!

[Charley Bea(EmeraldP)]

Interesting Omissions made in the episode one in particular was odd considering the rumors that are circulating.

[Anna++]

I wonder if we need a new Doctor Who topic with a "Spoilers " tag where we can discuss rumors and upcoming stuff...

[Charley Bea(EmeraldP)]

Probably lol

The Whispermen were meh I guess, but then it is hard to find a monster that 'frightens' me anyway in anything.

[Shodan]

I wonder if we need a new Doctor Who topic with a "Spoilers " tag where we can discuss rumors and upcoming stuff...

I'm kind of surprised we don't have a spoilers bbcode that fold up the text in a spoilers box. It's good for other things, too, like large pics, huge strings of text, that kind of thing.

[Edge]

I just got caught up on all the new seasons. I didn't like the second half of season 7 all that much, but that could be because I really like Amy and Rory.

[CalmRage]

I discovered this show only recently. Can't get the DVD's anywhere in germany, though.  Edit: Matt Smith quits Doctor Who
New Doctor in 2014

[Pica Pica]

Au revoir Matt Smith, bon voyage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/Matt-Smith-to-leave-Doctor-Who

[ZoeM]

Twelve is imminent!

What if they have a female Doctor this time?

[Charley Bea(EmeraldP)]

This has to be BS cause he already confirmed he was filming the christmas special in september and then returning early next year to film series 8, why say that if he had already decided to leave.

If it is true then shame cause to me he has been the most like the doctor of old since well number 8(he counts) I was hoping he'd stick around for another year at least to beat Tennant's record. All I can say is it better be a bloody good send off.

[Anna++]

Twelve is imminent!

What if they have a female Doctor this time?

Search for "curse of the fatal death" on youtube...

[CalmRage]

I hope the next Doctor will seem just as awkward as his predecessors.