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

[ChrisIII]

Hopefully the spider story is better than the other Doctor Who stories with Spiders (Planet of the Spiders had a fun first act, but kind of got bogged down with the alien planet stuff, and "Kill the Moon" was just weird.)

[Jim Kelly]

As I re-watch the old DOCTOR WHO episodes, I think that having more companions worked better back then because it was serialized and the characters were often separated from each other for long periods. Like in LORD OF THE RINGS, you're seeing these different characters in different places handling their own end of the plot. And originally, I don't think the Doctor was supposed to be the main protagonist--he was one of the group and it was actually Ian Chesterton that handled all the heavy action stuff--and even after that when Doctors got more athletic, the companions still handled a lot of the running, jumping and punching.

[Indian Ink]

I'll be watching the Rosa episode with mentally pursed lips and raised eyebrows ( hoping they don't do a Marty McFly, where he gave black Americans the idea for rock n roll.) The other thing is, most people were racist back then, but still good people. It was just part of the gentrified social class system. Everyone knew their place (or at least wanted to get back to a better version of that place after the war) and where the Blacks were in it. That's the quiet horror of it I think; that most racists weren't, angry Nazi types. Just good people with faulty notions. Hopefully DR Who will carry it off, and I think they will, but I don't know if I'll enjoy it until the second watch.

[Indian Ink]

The suspension of disbelief muscles were straining to braking point with the Ghost Monument. First, they're rescued from the vacuum of space seconds after arriving, and then the second ship has a barely controlled crash landing (without tracking the first ship) but still manages to crash within metres of the the first team on a rocky planet large enough to have an earth type gravity and thus would presumably be about the size of earth.

[The Darknight Detective]

I'll be watching the Rosa episode with mentally pursed lips and raised eyebrows ( hoping they don't do a Marty McFly, where he gave black Americans the idea for rock n roll.)

Well, the late, great Chuck Berry, at any rate. It was ridiculous then when I first saw it and still is today.

[Jokerz79]

Well, the late, great Chuck Berry, at any rate. It was ridiculous then when I first saw it and still is today.

It also broke what was almost a perfect time travel story with no paradoxes.

[The Darknight Detective]

It also broke what was almost a perfect time travel story with no paradoxes.

Right. Replace Johnny B. Goode with Rock Around the Clock (a monster hit back in '55 that would have been well known to teens in November of that year) and everybody would have been happy.

[Jokerz79]

Right. Replace Johnny B. Goode with Rock Around the Clock (a monster hit back in '55 that would have been well known to teens in November of that year) and everybody would have been happy.

It also ask the question he changed history but if he inspired Johnny B Goode than he always went back in time even in the original timeline for him to know the song which makes no sense.

[The Darknight Detective]

It also ask the question he changed history but if he inspired Johnny B Goode than he always went back in time even in the original timeline for him to know the song which makes no sense.

That and Berry memorizing the song perfectly despite not hearing the whole song over the phone in the first place.

[Kirby101]

It is the classic "bootstrap paradox"
You can Google it.

[Jokerz79]

It is the classic "bootstrap paradox"
You can Google it.

Except with a bootstrap paradox history doesn't change it's maintained.

[Jim Kelly]

I think it's mean of the DOCTOR WHO fans to go down the beach and kick the sand castle of the BACK TO THE FUTURE fans. How would you like it if someone did that to your sand castle? I'm just saying.

[Kintor]

I'm excited for this week's episode, Rosa is shaping up to be the biggest internet shitstorm of the year. So let's party!



It looks like the BBC is trying to keep a lid on the advance reviews, which is never a good sign. Just have to see how America reacts once leaked clips of the UK broadcast find their way to Twitter and Tumblr.

[Somecrazyaussie]

As I re-watch the old DOCTOR WHO episodes, I think that having more companions worked better back then because it was serialized and the characters were often separated from each other for long periods. Like in LORD OF THE RINGS, you're seeing these different characters in different places handling their own end of the plot. And originally, I don't think the Doctor was supposed to be the main protagonist--he was one of the group and it was actually Ian Chesterton that handled all the heavy action stuff--and even after that when Doctors got more athletic, the companions still handled a lot of the running, jumping and punching.

I agree with this to a degree. The serial format used during the classic series was absolutely tailor-made for multiple companions. The show as it is produced now? Not so much. I mean, we are heading into the third installment in a 10 episode series and Yasmine has been an absolute background character so far (although that looks to change with Rosa and the India themed episode later on.)

The cutdown of companions during the classic run was initially a cost-cutting measure (why pay for 4 regulars when you can pay for 3 or 2?) But I think the production team recognized that it was hard to give everybody something to do each story (at a time when stories ran 6 or 4x 25 minute episodes.) Once Jaime joined the TARDIS crew, Ben kind of faded into the background (on account that half his material was given to Jaime to accommodate his last minute addition.) After a few stories, they were going to write him out completely and just have Polly and Jaime (Anneke Wells had decided to leave anyway. So they both went.)

But every time they have tried 3 plus companions in the show, one character ends up suffering underdevelopment. Heck, how many stories did we have where Nyssa was couped up in the TARDIS? So far, for me, Yasmine is that character. Which was something I dreaded upon learning there would be 3 companions.

[Jim Kelly]

I think Yasmin will emerge as more compelling as this series goes on. Because she is interesting already, even with the little she gets. It's Ryan who is not needed on the voyage. I'm already bored with him. This reminds me of when the Doctor took Adam along even though he didn't really feel the guy was companion material, just because Rose wanted him to do so. Not that Ryan is as bad as Adam turned out to be, but he just doesn't have the goods to be a great companion, whereas Yas and Graham do.