New Series of Doctor Who

[nakamura]

Well I thought tonights episode was a bit poor overall. The plot was wafer thin and dull, only the twist at the end was any good with reveal of what the siren was. Also the moment with Amy and Rory right at the end was totally undramatic and poorly acted. It felt like she gave up far too soon.

Next week looks better.

[Flabio]

Yeah, pretty average really, but with a nice little twist in it.

It's Gaiman's next week isn't it?

[PeteJ]

Yeah pretty average after the first two weeks, but I think the show needed a more light hearted tone to keep everyone watching. Felt that the 'twist' was quite neat but it tried to hard

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to be a 'Girl in the Fireplace', where as it came across as a bit silly. The idea of pirates in space is, of course, always going to be cool.

. It was a rushed, forgettable, episode, but if every episode was a dark as the previous two then the show would never get to continue.

[Neon Ignition]

Inoffensive fun that ep, nice to see the whole series won't be wibbly wobbly timey wimey. Next weeks is Gaimans and looks quite good.

[Brad]

Tonight's episode was rubbish. Poor acting by everyone too.

[abigsmurf]

Was ok-ish, pure filler.

Also: anyone else notice that one of the pirates just dissapeared? The one that was going to leave but got cut and had to stay.

[Neon Ignition]

Yup I spotted that, I read a bit back that the Pirates ep was supposed to air late this year but was moved up so I'm guessing his disappearance was due to rushed editing to cram in the pregnancy scene.

[QualityChimp]

Right, is Rory a robot or not?

In the first episode, the Doctor called him Rory the Robot twice

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new and old version

, but he's the lamest robot I've ever seen.

What gives as it's all been glossed over, really?

[Neon Ignition]

At the end of Series 5 events reset so the series never happened and Amy's parents were revived. After a while Amy resurrected the Doctor and the memories hence her, the Doctor, Rory and River can remember S5. As a result Rory is human (as his death never happened) but somehow has the memories of the robot version too. It's a very messy way of trying to bring him back but I'm glad, I like Rory more than Amy, lol

[Neon Ignition]

BBC have confirmed they'll air the final 3 Sarah Jane eps late this year

[Decider-VT]

Smith was a bit too "Tennanty" in this episode. Lots of chummy backslapping, although the look on his face as

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the TARDIS vanished and left them stranded

was rather funny.

[Neon Ignition]

I wish he was tennanty, lol. At times this series it feels like he's dialling up the quirky eccentricness which will end up defining his Doctor but means there's not much of the dramatic from him. He's still never felt like a force to be reckoned with given he's 'The Oncoming Storm'

[Decider-VT]

I should probably state that I hated Tennant's Doctor, precisely because of the overly dramatic element. The overemoting final? (and the wimpy regeneration) was just embarrassing. I really like Smith because he plays up the quirky, "alien" element, although he's also taken a cue from Tennant and made his Doctor a bit too friendly. I'd really like to see a slightly more aloof side to him.

[Neon Ignition]

I'm finding his morality a bit weird this regen too. Like was pointed out in the 2 parter, he seems strangely okay with Rivers killing spree antics which seem at odds with the character and he knows a lot less about things than he used to. I'm glad they dialled back the drama elements as it was getting too heavy late in the Tennant run but at times it's felt overly light when something major happens. I did like Tennants regen though, though it seems odd that it bothered his incarnation so much and not the others it introduced an element of sacrifice to the mechanism of Regeneration rather than it being an outright get out clause explaining better why a Time Lord would try to avoid regenerating if possible.

[Decider-VT]

I'd argue that the sacrifice of Tennant's regen was knowing that he'd have to leave his friends behind, although this idea is significantly undermined by the Eccleston/Tennant transition. Probably a case of real life moving a bit too quickly for the series' budget there, anyway- not like they'd have been able to scrap it all and start again.

As for Smith's Doctor condoning River's actions... well, there was that flirting beforehand but I think he's still fascinated by her and he certainly didn't object to

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that kiss

. Perhaps he's puzzled by her and what she'll come to mean to him, and the romantic element could be a strong influence. Despite the sexual tension, the fact that he doesn't trust her (from the speech in the first episode of the two-parter) is fairly significant. It could be that she's the Doctor's downfall, as he drifts from his traditional values to something far more ambiguous and dangerous, which could possibly tie in with

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the new Time Lord

. Maybe love could be the Doctor's undoing? It's possible that

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Amy's presence in that photograph means that she takes custody of the Doctor's child, instead of necessarily having it herself, and the TARDIS scans at the end of the last couple of episodes could be red herrings. The Doctor's death in the first episode could leave the new Time Lord effectively orphaned, if the Doctor has been killed and River is in prison. Destitution is also too miserable a fate for the child to have, so it could be that the Doctor needs to alter his own future to save his child from a relatively grim life. It'd be a bit of a blow if he accidentally erases her from existence at the end of the series, though.