tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post8998813177436365973..comments2024-03-27T08:49:38.786-03:00Comments on Siskoid's Blog of Geekery: Doctor Who #708: Doctor Who (The TV Movie)Siskoidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-3387766870759240202013-11-01T13:31:46.367-03:002013-11-01T13:31:46.367-03:00As long as he doesn't get a send-off, the expa...As long as he doesn't get a send-off, the expanded universe stuff can go ANYWHERE. Lately, the 8th Doctor has been given a short-haired make-over and a darker streak following some tragedy (I'm not there yet in my BF audio listening, so watch the spoilers!) for example.<br /><br />(And yes, the story did take place in 1999... near future like the UNIT stories are supposed to be, and yeah, reality goes Y2K.)Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-40457066431071666362013-11-01T03:44:46.746-03:002013-11-01T03:44:46.746-03:00Not to interrupt the canon discussion, but wanted ...Not to interrupt the canon discussion, but wanted to wholly agree about McGann being a great attempt at a new Doctor. He had a certain energy that contrasted with McCoy's subtler "chessmaster" approach. In the earlier days of NuWho, I kept hoping we might get some flashback or re-visit between him and Eccleston - just to give him a proper send-off.<br /><br />Also - correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't part of the whole plot revolve around the fact it was supposed to be 1999 instead of 1996? It seemed like all shows with any sci-fi drama in the late 90's hinged on how pivotal the turn of the millennium was - Y2K bug, new era, and all that.Servohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16722280935789817607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-38627503492576962442013-10-31T08:47:06.061-03:002013-10-31T08:47:06.061-03:00Yeah, I never really understood all of that in The...Yeah, I never really understood all of that in The End of Time. RTD was usually so good at foreshadowing and all of that, it seemed a bit odd that his mother was just dropped in without explanation- a further Susan regeneration always made a bit more sense to me. And wasn't there also some story that Moffatt had some hand in the Gallifrey scenes too, suggesting he was going to refer to it at some point? Although to date he never has.Madeleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-36568601789742895142013-10-31T07:08:25.901-03:002013-10-31T07:08:25.901-03:00RTD meant for that mysterious Time Lady in The End...RTD meant for that mysterious Time Lady in The End of Time to be his mother, so it's been contradicted in INTENT, if not in dialog exactly.<br /><br />Bit like the looms.Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-61465174547895125402013-10-31T05:46:08.093-03:002013-10-31T05:46:08.093-03:00Yeah, at the time the half-human thing was a bit o...Yeah, at the time the half-human thing was a bit of a jolt for me, because of course I'd grown used to the idea of the Gallifreyan Looms in the novels and the idea that the Doctor had parents required a mental gear shift. It was more the fact he had parents rather than what species his parents were that threw me.<br /><br />I wasn't 100% convinced by it, though, because it had never been mentioned before, but I don't think I'd have been completely opposed to it if they'd gone somewhere with it. As it is, it was never mentioned again, even though the current run has confirmed the Looms are not in continuity (for whatever "continuity" actually means in a show like this one.)<br /><br />Thinking about it, as it's never been contradicted by NuWho, I suppose that strictly speaking and continuity-wise the Doctor has a human mother.Madeleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-43273542211324475682013-10-30T21:29:37.690-03:002013-10-30T21:29:37.690-03:00That control room is SO good. It's a real crim...That control room is SO good. It's a real crime that we didn't get to explore it more over the course of several episodes.<br /><br />I'm not a half-human hater either, and it would have been interesting to see where they would have gone with that. As it is, it's a bit of a sore thumb sticking out of the canon because nothing before or after it actually supports the idea.Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-1911230499888936042013-10-30T20:52:29.651-03:002013-10-30T20:52:29.651-03:00I might be the only one here who doesn't have ...I might be the only one here who doesn't have problem with the Doctor being half-human. It would explain why he's always hanging around earth.<br /><br />Another lover of that Control Room. Were I rich and slightly more eccentric, I'd redecorate and set that up as my living room.jdh417https://www.blogger.com/profile/14541882649762424101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-8935321513752412982013-10-30T14:41:29.647-03:002013-10-30T14:41:29.647-03:00The commonly held beliefs are that either the fema...The commonly held beliefs are that either the female of the species has more control over her regeneration, either Romana was able to do this because she initiated the change as opposed to it activating as a failsafe against death, either it's the Doctor who's particularly rubbish at it.Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-24279695155839241272013-10-30T14:31:08.860-03:002013-10-30T14:31:08.860-03:00Alternate bodies are crafted from scratch, genetic...Alternate bodies are crafted from scratch, genetically customized for a specific purpose or aesthetic appeal, then shunted into (I think it was called) "infraspace", an other-dimensional wardrobe. Users had a brain implant which allowed to them switch bodies in an out of infraspace by use of a key word ("Kimota" in Miracleman's case, obliquely "Shazam" or "Kaji Dha", et al for others), which is obviously more convenient than Time Lord changing. <br /><br />Romana clearly had access to some sort of body-selecting option, tho whether she was just futzing about with her own DNA or using some sort of TARDIS technology to manage the changes, I dunno, I'm new here...Calamity Jonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800364546694770009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-48315922624854270872013-10-30T14:25:06.195-03:002013-10-30T14:25:06.195-03:00I remember reading about the TARDIS control room l...I remember reading about the TARDIS control room layout...how the walls facing the control panels corresponded with each other, so the index file panel's wall were giant file cabinets and bookshelves, the navigation panel was opposite a wall of maps and globes, things like that. <br />Damn, I loved that control room.Randalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-88604536834036106822013-10-30T13:54:26.262-03:002013-10-30T13:54:26.262-03:00I don't think so, although the looms might ser...I don't think so, although the looms might serve a similar purpose. Time Lord DNA seems like a complicated thing, with as many as 13 identities (or more?) overlaid (temporally?) on the same biological matrix, and "loomed" from the DNA of other Time Lords that make up one's "family".<br /><br />If there is a "storage" space for bodies, it's in the imprimatur's quantum state.<br /><br />Or something.<br /><br />How does Miracleman's closet work exactly?Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-3438655652447519822013-10-30T13:50:56.101-03:002013-10-30T13:50:56.101-03:00iunMaybe only tangentially apropos, but your menti...iunMaybe only tangentially apropos, but your mentioning Romana's varied regenerations and the claim that the Doctor can hop species; has there ever been any evidence that the Time Lords might maintain "body closets", a la the aliens of Moore's Miracleman? I've always enjoyed a variation of this idea in my, er, "headcanon" of the series...Calamity Jonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800364546694770009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-83620740741478340952013-10-30T12:00:02.141-03:002013-10-30T12:00:02.141-03:00NOW you're talkin'!NOW you're talkin'!Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-55522981294788763222013-10-30T11:58:58.724-03:002013-10-30T11:58:58.724-03:00Seven has probably done two very mastermind-y thin...Seven has probably done two very mastermind-y things immediately prior to regeneration. First, he has relocated the Eye of Harmony to his own Tardis somehow, and Second, he has made himself in some sense half-human. I suspect these are both in anticipation of what 8 (or 8.5) is going to have to do to end the Time War: being half-human rather than being off Gallifrey at the time is the critical factor that keeps him (and the Master, wholly human at the time) from sharing the exile of the Time LordsJeff R.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-83852443034992913182013-10-30T10:56:43.570-03:002013-10-30T10:56:43.570-03:00I've been calling for the reboot of Gallifrey ...I've been calling for the reboot of Gallifrey since The Sound of Drums, so I completely agree that's how it would return.<br /><br />As for the Doctor's human genes showing up because Time Lords are essentially humans, it would almost work if the Master wasn't the one to let that particular cat out of the bag. Of course, he's not even Time Lord at this point. He's a deathworm inside a human body (but one without human eyes). Still, an odd observation to make.Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-8556389897025595312013-10-30T10:47:26.837-03:002013-10-30T10:47:26.837-03:00I interpret the "half human" thing as no...I interpret the "half human" thing as not quite literal, but with at least a little truth to it, in some way that my dumb 21st century brain doesn't need to understand. I figure the Time Lords are what some offshoot of mankind will eventually become anyway. As soon as Donna Noble's DNA makes contact with some of River Song's, we'll see the start of things.<br /><br />Putting on my Moffat hat for a minute, that's how I figure Gallifrey will be "brought back": not as the Doctor remembers it, but at its beginning. That way it will exist again but be beyond the Doctor's reach. This way we can have our time-cake and chrono-eat it too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-25446532157102143072013-10-30T09:22:11.736-03:002013-10-30T09:22:11.736-03:00Great details to bring up Madeley! Visually, I don...Great details to bring up Madeley! Visually, I don't really have anything bad to say about the TVM.<br /><br />Snell: Obviously, the extracanon also tried to address this. A Time Lord-Dalek treaty is mentioned in Lungbarrow and is apparently responsible for the extradition. The Eight Doctors talks about his turning into a Morphant Deathworm. And the audio Mastermind shows the Master get grabbed by the Daleks in Ancient Egypt. No implicit contradiction between these stories, nor with the idea that it might be an untold chapter of the Time War. But is this chronologically before or after the 7th Doctor blows Skaro up?Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-12949887118940057582013-10-30T09:06:11.753-03:002013-10-30T09:06:11.753-03:00With nuWho hindsight, the Master being tried on Sk...With nuWho hindsight, the Master being tried on Skaro could be seen as a link to the Time Wars. The Time Lords turn him over to the Daleks as a peace offering (they want him for abandoning them all those years ago in Frontier In Space). But when he's resurrected after his execution, the Daleks see this as Time Lord treachery, a deliberate affront, and thus start the Wars. And then the Time Lords give the Master his new set of lives to help them, and...snellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06181997862745538999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-14908645737444344442013-10-30T07:39:01.027-03:002013-10-30T07:39:01.027-03:00Totally agree with CiB re. the half human thing. T...Totally agree with CiB re. the half human thing. There are loads of continuity glitches in Who, this is another one best filed away and not thought about. It's part of the nature of the show.<br /><br />I've always liked the episode, despite its obvious and glaring faults, and it's all down to McGann. He's so good, he completely elevates the material. Also, after watching the extras on the special edition DVD, I have a bit of a soft spot for the producer (whose name I forget), even though he added in all the rubbish elements. He just comes across as such an enthusiastic fanboy, I can't quite blame him for the way it turned out.<br /><br />I've actually always liked 7's death, basically for the reason you mentioned- he's the mastermind, always one step ahead, mindful of the games he's set up. The only thing that would ever get him in the end was something senseless and random that he couldn't ever predict.<br /><br />Weird coincidence: when McCoy approaches the console for the first time at the beginning, the orchestral motif sounds a lot like the 11th's iconic "I Am The Doctor" theme. It's such a striking similarity that both my wife and I noticed it at the same time.<br /><br />The new TARDIS interior is just beautiful. I wish we'd got some more McCoy adventures using it. I love the way the ship becomes almost a cathedral. In Lungbarrow, the penultimate (and best, to my mind) Doctor-centric New Adventures novel, the new interior is explained as the TARDIS taking on aspects of the Doctor's ancestral home, a touch I always liked.<br /><br />As for the eye motif, there's also the fact that when you see the Master's eyes at the very beginning (implied to be the Ainley incarnation's), they look like the transformed eyes from Survival...Madeleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-906702922711788792013-10-30T07:16:39.423-03:002013-10-30T07:16:39.423-03:00Thanks in part to my Big Finish fandom Paul Mcgann...Thanks in part to my Big Finish fandom Paul Mcgann is one of my favorite doctors. Like Colin Baker all you get from the TV appearances is the potential for him to have been a really good Doctor had he had better scripts to work with. Thank goodness, in both their cases, that Big Finish caused them to get those better scripts. Which, as far as I've heard, don't go near the "half human" thing. I think just sweeping it under the carpet and pretending it didn't happen is the way to go there. Bit like "Doctor Who is required" in that regard.CiBnoreply@blogger.com