posted
I was watching a few of these on DRV and I was wondering..
Why doesn't the Doctor go back in time after he finds out who the bad guy is and stop them from killing everyone.
Have they established some kind of rule where you can't be in two places at the same time, or does have something to do with messing up the time line? If you stop the guy from killing everyone on Monday then you can't figure out who the killer is on Tuesday kind of thing.
I know lots of Sci Fi has covered the time travel thing, but I don't think I ever caught Dr. Who's reasoning.
Posts: 555 | Registered: Jun 2005
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I don't know if or how it was explained in the old series, but in the new one I seem to remember something being said along the lines that once the ship lands, they are effectively locked into that particular time line until it is resolved. There's an episode later on where the consequences of changing an historic event which you 'know' to be true, and which is the whole reason you happen to be in that place at that time in the first place, is explored.
Paradoxes are fun. Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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1)It would ruin much of the suspence and plot elements in the show.
(Like the time someone asked John Ford why the indians didn't just shoot the horses in the movie Stagecoach, thus stopping the people from escaping. His answer, "Then there wouldn't have been a movie."
2) Changing past time may change the future, or it may make an alternate future. So if Dalek A is killing 10,000 people, you could go back in time and stop Dalek A, saving that time-line's 10,000 people, but the 10,000 identical people on the other time line would be just as dead. It would be better to stope Dalek A from killing them all in the first place.
3) The TARDIS is semi-sentient, or at least its been hinted as such. It is extremely tempermental, not very accurate and has a tendancy to send the Doctor to where he is needed the most. As such, if he decided that he should go back in time and stop Dalek A before he kills 10,000 people he may end up somewhere or somewhen else, and have to save 30,000 Organians. WHile it seems he should have time enough to eventually go back and stop Dalek A, neither his memory nor his control of the TARDIS is accurate enough to insure he ever will get there.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I think the Doctor said once on the original show that the Time Lords voluntarily imposed laws on themselves against not changing the past too much, including against not stopping random disasters before they happen. Of course, a few episodes probably break that rule ...
The new series seems good enough, but the Doctor doesn't seem as funny as I remember him being in any of his lives in the old series. Part of this is probably that Christopher Eccleston acts a lot more lower-class than I think the Doctor would. The writers do deserve credit for making as dramatic a departure from the previous series as destroying Gallifrey and all the other Time Lords, though.
Posts: 781 | Registered: Apr 2005
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OK, sure, there have been and are great British science fiction writers. But that is distinct from British cinematic or TV ("tellie") science fiction.
Star Trek was far from the best sf, hardly comparable to the real literary genre, but it was acceptable, and certainly far better than Dr. Who, which is pretty pathetic compared to those literary authors that were listed. Can anyone name any British movie or TV science fiction that was worth anything? What I am saying here is that British screen writers and producers seem to be incapable of telling a good, dramatic or action adventure science fiction story. I might surmise that this is because none of them take science fiction seriously.
I will answer my own question and note one exception: The movie version of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was directed by British-born Stanley Kubrick, and the screenwriter is listed as Arthur C. Clarke. I submit though that since Clarke is a literary sf writer, this is an exception that actually proves my point.
Dr. Who has its place, I will concede, if you are in the mood for something campy to the point of being silly. The original Batman starring Adam West is comparable to Dr. Who.
[ March 31, 2006, 03:18 PM: Message edited by: Ron Lambert ]
Posts: 3742 | Registered: Dec 2001
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On a lighter note than the topic above - BT has employed Tom Baker to record every known sound combination and they are now using his voice to read out text messages sent to landlines. So obviously, there are a lot of people (with way too much free time) who are using said voice in, um... interesting ways.
On the topic above - if you consider 'The Prisoner' to be sci-fi, I consider it to be pretty good. But, quite honestly, I don't see why something has to be earnest and serious in order to be good, dramatic, or indeed 'worth anything'.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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What about Red Dwarf? That's one of the best shows ever.
And have you ever seen A Clockwork Orange? Or the first couple of original Frankenstein movies? Or Brazil (yes, directed by an American, but everyone else involved, including great screenwriter Tom Stoppard, was English.) Or The Quatermass Experiment (courtesy of BBC-TV)? Or the original version of The Time Machine?
This is just what I can think of off the top of my head. I know there's more, but I don't think you can write off an entire culture just because you don't like Dr Who.
Posts: 563 | Registered: Feb 2006
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And Doctor Who has officially pulled me back into scheduling TV into my week. That hasn't happened since Last Comic Standing two years ago. Unfortunately I must learn, once again, to deal with the dreaded "To be continued."
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Oh, come on. That literary, relevant, significant stuff is wonderful. But, so is Doctor Who. I like both. Sometimes it is just as important to loosen up and have a laugh as it is to be all serious and analytical and highbrow.
Actually, Doctor Who reminds me of an old American tv show that never got any respect at all, The Monkees. On one level they are both almost kiddie shows, with laughs and clowning around and abundant silliness. On the other hand, if you pay attention and listen closely there is some fairly pointed social and political comment going on. This is true of the Doctor (or at least of the current series running of SciFi), just as it was true of The Monkees back in the late sixties.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I will not bash British Sci-Fi, as I am aware of some great work as mentioned by others. I will bash all incarnations of Dr Who and agree that Batman the 60s TV series pretty much personifies everything I hate about it. This includes over the top campy, bad acting, horrible almost non-existant production values, writing that a twelve year old could do, boring, unintelligable story telling, and etc. No amount of "pointed social and political comments" or "relavance" can salvage such gross problems. Seriously, what is it that people like about them? I just don't get it.
On the other hand, I am tending to like this new version. It is better on all the things listed as wrong about the old versions. My dislike of the other versions had me worried I wouldn't have anything to watch on Friday for a few months.
Posts: 2207 | Registered: Oct 2003
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While I like Dr. Who, I never did like Batman. Not the 60s version, not the movies. Just not. Doesn't have anything to do with "campy", however, just never liked the character.
And I never saw that much of Dr. Who in previous incarnations to form an opinion other than that it was fun to watch. I'm really enjoying the current Dr. Who running on SciFi. I like the writing - lots of smart-butt remarks. I like the actor playing the Doctor - I'd already noticed him in the film "Elizabeth". I like that the Doctor is not too all-knowing, he's somewhat vulnerable, and he has a sort of childlike ability to take a gleeful pleasure in things that should be pleasurable. However, he also has that jaded edge that a 900-year-old would have to have developed - for instance in the way he was perfectly willing to have "her flatness" (can't recall the character's name) go splat despite Rose's plea that he help her.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Something very disturbing has happened to me, after watching my fourth episode of Doctor Who. I discovered that I am beginning to feel a certain fondness for the show! My literary taste has suddenly gone south! It started to get to me--the grating sound like a defective washing machine as the Tardis phases out or in; the wide, delighted grin on the Doctor's face in the midst of adventure; even the zany campiness and utter irrationality of the way people behave; not to mention the total nuttiness of the aliens. It's sucked me in! I seem to hear the voice of Patrick Stewart intoning, "Resistance is fu-tyle!" I'm doomed!
Posts: 3742 | Registered: Dec 2001
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Oh, the Tom Baker episodes were mostly wonderful! You have to be cool to get it, though, which a few of you so painfully aren't. Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Question - When do you know that you've become a total geek?
Answer - When you're watching 'Serenity' and immediately assume that the scene where Mal tries to fight the Operative with the screwdriver is a shout-out to Doctor Who. And then you remember that Joss Whedon said in an interview you once read that he's never watched Doctor Who, so it can't have been. And then you realise that you know and care about what Joss Whedon watches on TV. And then you go and post this on the internet.
Not that I'm talking about myself here. No... it was a friend of mine. In fact, it was a friend of a friend, really, I hardly know her... oh dear. Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I can't believe that Joss Whedon hasn't watched Doctor Who, it seems kind of along the lines of what he would/might (?) like.
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Last nights episode was great. The guy who played Shaun in Shaun of the Dead was a villian, and made a pretty good one, too. Kudos to him.
Posts: 9754 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Yeah, I love Simon Pegg. I mean, Shaun of the Dead was great, but after seeing him play such a different character, and do it so well, I'm convinced he's a brilliant actor. I kind of want to see Mission Impossible 3 now just for him.
He kind of reminded me of Bud Cort in that episode. I don't know why.
Posts: 563 | Registered: Feb 2006
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Wow. I've never seen a more off-base review than the one for the new Dr. Who on IGMS.
quote:I understand that Dr. Who has a fanatical following, and for those people, I expect the show will be very popular and will remain a hit. But while it'll please those fans, I doubt it's going to make many new ones.
Pretty much the opposite has gone on. Lots of people who never really liked the show seem to be pulled into this new version. Swing and a miss....
Posts: 14 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Bella, have you seen the new Cybermen episode that's showing over in the UK? How're the "new" Cybermen?
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Well, actually we're only half way through the episode, since it's a two-parter. And the first episode was more about setting up the conflict, so they only appeared for a moment right at the end. Next week looks like there'll be lots of Cybery goodness, though. The costumes look pretty good, I think, although personally I'd say the borg are still scarier. And unfortunately the evil genius who created them is played by an actor who was in a very long running comedy show, so I'm having a bit of trouble taking him completely seriously.
The scene where the Cybermen were made from... (well, I won't spoil it if you don't know), managed to be incredibly funny and grizzly at the same time.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Just watched "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances." Fun!!
With the show's faster pace, it's harder to catch some of the dialogue bits (what with the English accents and all), when it's out on DVD I'll have to watch it with subtitles on...
A cute thing on the BBC's Doctor Who website = they have a panel of kids rate each episode for how scary it is (1 = Mildly Scary, 5 = Terrifying), here's a samplePosts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I thought that The Empty Child was one of the creepier episodes of a TV show that I've seen in recent years. I had some issues with the episode as a whole, but it still gave me non-literal goosebumps.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I personally can't wait for the new episodes to show here in America. I never got to watch the original Doctors and I'm sorely dissapointed. I had some friends tell me about it and it sounded like something right up my alley. I'm glad that there are new episodes for me to get in on. I think my favorite quote from the new series (it's in my sig on another forum) is this:
The Doctor: You lot. You spend all your time thinking about dying, like you're going to get killed by eggs, or beef, or global warming, or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible. That maybe you survive. This is the year Five billion... and today is, hold on... This is the day the sun expands. [Grins] Welcome to the end of the world..
Posts: 15 | Registered: Jun 2006
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Grrrr! I move into an apartment complex with no Sci-Fi channel and they change the doctor on me! Evil people.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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They change doctors with some regularity, Kwea! Whether or not the actor is any fun makes or breaks the show. My favorites of the episodes I've seen are the Tom Baker ones from long ago. Of course I haven't seen any since Sylvester McCoy, (whom I did like) so I can't say about all these newfangled Doctors.
Didn't he run out of regenrations yet? He's only supposed to get 12.
The quotes were always one of the greatest things about the show. Of course, Douglas Adams wrote some awesome ones for it. Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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The new Doctor is good. He's a little more child friendly than nine - more hyper, louder, hugs people a lot, tends to bounce off the walls a little more. But Tennant is a good actor, IMO.
Of course... MAJORLY HUGE SPOILER!!!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Who knows what the new companion will be like? ! ! ! ! ! ! ! SPOILER OVER.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I found a couple of episodes featuring the newest doctor posted on youtube, but that was a month ago, and there have been no updates since then. Whoever it was that posted them apparently isn't making a regular thing of it (this isn't a bad thing, but I wish he'd stuck it out just a littl longer--one of the episodes is a two parter, and he only posted the first one). From what I saw, the new doctor seemed pretty solid. Not the most brilliant portrayal of the character I've ever seen, but also far from the worst.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Tennant is really good as the Doctor. The episodes this season are not as consistent as the First season but the highs were much higher while the lows were a bit lower. They experiment with the format a bit (an almost entire episode with only vague glimpses of the Doctor...he is the focus of the show but NOT the main character, if that makes any sense...very divisive...some like me loved it while others hated it). I hope SciFi picks it up this year. I hear it may run opposite the new Battlestar. That would be a good pairing, I would think.
Posts: 896 | Registered: Apr 2003
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OMG just saw the last two episodes of this season!
AWESOME!! There were those guys... and the other guys... and they were fighting... and he said... and she... then he showed up... and they... GAAAHHH!!
posted
I actually cried a bit during the Christmas Invasian where they were like he is the only hope for mankind... I only cry like... once or twice a year. Odd that it was a television show that made me do it.
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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