Doctor Who IV - Everything Whovian - Would you like a jelly baby?

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

[ChrisIII]

New opening kind of looks like a somewhat more expensive version of the first Matt Smith one. Kind of fitting because the start of the theme seems to have a bit of a Matt Smith touch to it.

Also after watching a lot of classic WHO lately it's a bit weird that they kind of still don't use the faces in the credits (except for later Smith and Capaldi, except they were partly obscured). Sure it didn't happen in the Hartnell era (Although they did have a test version with it) but it was the norm for 21 years starting with Troughton (I think in season 5? Not sure if they did that in his part of season 4)


Wonder if the "The story so far" (At least for the Doctor and Donna) is a US exclusive or on the British broadcasting as well? Remember BBC America's Matt Smith stuff featured an intro narrated by Gillian/Amy.

The flashback clips they use kind of use a bit of a filter on the season 4 stuff, giving a bit more of a filmic look. Doesn't quite work on the Adipose ship, which still has the bad interlacing look some of the RTD 1.0 CG era effects often had.


Kind of funny that he almost thought the original Rose was back too-I mean, he did just run into Ace and Tegan again, but they weren't memory wiped or stuck in an alternate universe.

[Catlady in training]

That was great!

I have seen spoilers for the Meep being evil, but it was still a funny reveal with the change to completely psychotic. So, I guess no plush toys for Christmas after all?

Great to see Donna back and getting her memories back. That was probably the saddest part of DW for me, so I'm glad it got resolved, even after all this time. Next episode is supposed to be scary, can't wait.

[Derek Metaltron]

Wonder if the "The story so far" (At least for the Doctor and Donna) is a US exclusive or on the British broadcasting as well? Remember BBC America's Matt Smith stuff featured an intro narrated by Gillian/Amy.

It’s on the British version too, honestly I thought it was weird and out of place, since the Doctor literally tells the same thing later to the UNIT Scientific Advisor.

Otherwise a fantastic episode! All the cast was well done and outside the cop out with the meta crisis for a male bashing joke, they handled Rose as a character tastefully and excellently, happy she’s sticking around for the long term from her conversations post Anniversary. They got all the energy of the original RTD era with a modern spin. Love the new TARDIS set too, probably the biggest ever made?

They’re really teasing something for the next episode too…

[Deathstroke]

I enjoyed the episode. Seemed like they glossed over things a bit so they could move on to the next thing. The mention of Wilf was great.

Oddly enough, the thing with Rose 2 being non-binary and some of the dialogue about pronouns and such had me thinking, "Well, the conservatives / right wing nutjobs are going to have a handwringing field day."

[ChrisIII]

One thing I noticed-the Doctor says "It killed me" 4 times, the same number of regenerations he's had since Donna left. Wonder if that's intentional, both hinting at that and maybe the "Knock" again.


The new rotor kind of reminds me a bit of the "Five Doctors" redesign with the slightly 'segmented' look. The interior doors also kind of remind me of the X-men's " school basement" from the movies. Kind of looks like we're still getting a small scanner (TARDIS viewscreen) though which has pretty much been the norm for most of the series although I think Smith's first one had a big roundel one. Then again the scanner has never been quite that big, except for Mcgann's "planetarium" one.

The wig bit is something the Doctor also had in stones of blood, wonder if it's meant to be the same one.

Coffee machine could be a nod to Jodie's biscuit maker but also kind of a modern nod to the early serials with the Doctor's food dispenser. Or both.

As I thought we don't get the normal post-regeneration trauma stuff, possibly because the Doctor resolved it off-screen somehow or he's already 'used' to this body.

[Kirby101]

Better than anything with the last Doctor.

[tv horror]

Better than anything with the last Doctor.

What last Doctor? It never happened.

[Kirby101]

I didn't realize until the end that Rose was trans. I wasn’t paying attention when the boys taunted her. I think they should just leave it as this, and not do an "Afternoon Special". Make her just Donna's daughter and treat her as a character not defined by being trans.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

It's a fun romp. David Tennant and Catherine Tate did not miss a step.

The Metacrisis resolution felt too underwhelming given how much it was built up.

Having it being a recurring problem till the Giggle would've been better.

[Vegeta]

I honestly had no idea this was an adaptation of an old Doctor Who comic book weekly story. I pulled out my old 80's Marvel run and there it was in issues 1 and 2. It's actually quite faithful for an adaptation. (Just a different Doctor and the Donna Noble family now inserted into the adventure.)

Overall, I really liked the special. My only qualm is that the Sonic Screwdriver gets yet another upgrade. Now it can create force fields to protect the Doctor from attack. I preferred it when it was simply a tool the Doctor could use to rewire things or open (non-wood) doors, now it is a straight up magic wand.

[ChrisIII]

Overnight Ratings were about 5.08 million which were the best ratings since Jodie's first new years special (Resolution). Probably will get a boost from Iplayer and the overseas Disney+ stuff, especially since Disney seems to have some investment in the show.

Special was family friendly, so I'm guessing the next two are what RTD meant as a "not for kids". Guessing "Wild Blue Yonder" will be kind of similar to Impossible Planet/Satan Pit, Water of Mars etc. in tone.

Also fits nicely into post-2005 Doctor Who's usual pattern of starting each new incarnation with an Earthbound adventure (Usually modern day although "Deep Breath" wasn't) followed by a space one.

Curious thing about Fourteenth being different from Tenth, he seems far more open with his emotions (outright saying he loves people). Think he even seems to say something along the lines of that being new.


Kind of wondering if the BBC is going to merchandise Rose's stuffed WHO villains like the Dalek mutant. And the Meep of course.

[Kirby101]

One thing this brought to mind. The problem with how they portrayed the Doctor with Jodie. She always seemed one step behind and trying to catch up, pulling it out in the end. Tenet is two steps ahead and always seems more clever than who he is up against.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I don't mind the Sonic shield but I wish it was given more of a limit. So that's something they should do for series 14.

[ChrisIII]

Kind of reminded me of Mass Effect's "Omni-tool" a bit.

Pretty sure in Smith's era it was used as as some sort of energy weapon at one point. Also seemed to function as a "tricorder" a few times, although no text was visible it was possibly mentally downloading information into the Doctor's head or something like that.

Granted even without it they either had a substitute for it like the sonic lance (although I think that was destroyed as well) or giving McCoy weird powers like being able to heal or stun people with a touch (although that might be some variation on the Venusian stuff or light hypnotism the Doctor occasionally uses but not to the extent of the Master.).


Anything surfaced of Ncuti using it?