Doctor Who IV, The Tin Dog Options

[Drifter]

That was quite a strong opening episode, I too liked the whole miming scene, the Doctor making it clear with Donna theres to be no hanky panky but we all know theres a kiss coming from her somewhere down the line although I doubt it will have the same connotation as the others.

All in all though, I loved it!

[Zoe]

the Doctor making it clear with Donna theres to be no hanky panky

Ha!

I'd say it was more the other way around. She'd already made it bloody clear she didn't fancy him, before he brought up the whole "all my assistants fall in love with me" problem. Oooh, they're arrogant these timelords.

[Hamish]

Yeah, pretty enjoyable. I think Smith and Jones was a great episode on it's own and the best series opener, and first episodes are always the hardest to write but Partners in Crime was much better than the first two.

Wilf (Gramps) is amazing and Cathrine Tate was, yeah, good. I mean, yeah. I'm looking forward to having a totally new dynamic in the pairing.

Rose was... there. So, is that the series arc? Will all episodes end in Rose walking around looking sad.

I loved the Adipose plush toys on DW Confidential though. I want one.

[Starscream`s Gho...]

It's nice to see Jigglypuff getting work again...



I think I'm coming round to JJJ's assertion that Doctor Who is one of the worst things on TV. I enjoyed watching 'The Daleks' on BBC4 far more than the series 4 opener.

[Atara]

I will eat my words, Tate has promise as a character, so, so glad there isno lame ass love story, and a shiver went up my spine when the 'bad wolf' base line kicked in... I look forward to whats coming.

[Everlong]

Great Episode. "Martha Fancied me" and the funny squelch when the cab ran over the adipose

And was a fantastic surprise at the end! This series is going to be bloody good

[Hamish]

It's nice to see Jigglypuff getting work again...

I think I'm coming round to JJJ's assertion that Doctor Who is one of the worst things on TV. I enjoyed watching 'The Daleks' on BBC4 far more than the series 4 opener.

Well I love both and love the show and am very happy loving it.

I think anything that gets very popular will have people saying it is the worst... Titanic love it/loath is not the worst movie ever made and yet it constantly tops Worst Movie polls just because it is more famous that some ghastly films...

[Starscream`s Gho...]

It's got nothing to do with it's popularity.

It's got everything to do with being poorly plotted, badly scripted, and the main villains being as threatening as a rice pudding.

They've obviously learned nothing from Human Nature/The Family of Blood - they were brilliant in every way. To see last night's offering, you'd think they'd never happened.

[Svein]

You know what... It's not often that don't like an episode of Who, but that was a real pile of wank! It had positives... I like Tate, Tennant and Cribbins... but there was never any real sense of danger... The storyline was awful and the creatures were toooooo cute... They reminded me of the rabbits in Wallace and Gromit, and to me seemed like a marketing gimmick... oooh... we make these really cute and all the kids will want them... I really have to agree with Starscreamer here...


However, I did like the miming scene, and the "mate" scene... I like that the Doctor is going to have a real fiesty companion, who we probably haven't seen since Tegan, or maybe Ace. I also like the ending... Not how I imagined it was going to go down...

And the clips from next week look like it's back to how it SHOULD be...

Perhaps RTD should just have Moffet write all future Who episodes from now on!

[Raven]

Whilst it was a distinct improvement over Voyage of the Damned and Last of the Timelords, I can't say I was hugely taken with last night's episode (I'm not saying it was a bad episode, it just didn't think it was very impressive).

I think, for me, it was simply a case of more of the same, there wasn't anything particularly different about the story to differentiate it from half a dozen others that Davis has written - he really is king when it comes to light-weight froth.

On the more positive side Catherine Tate was good, and I like the way she and Tennant work as a pairing, it will be good to see how that develops over the course of this series.

I was surprised at the appearance of Rose as well, though not to the *gasp!* levels of some! I hadn't expected to see her so early in the run.

Apparently there isn't an overall arc in this series, like the Bad Wolf, Torchwood or Saxon ones in previous series, there will simply be something taken forward from each episode into the finale. What's the betting that the element from this story wasn't Rose, but the missing birthing planet? The Adipose were supposed to be some kind of malleable genetic lifeform, I wonder how easy it would be to turn them into Daleks?

[Drifter]

I thought Tate did a bang up job, she made a better impression on her first episode than Freema did with hers although towards the end of the last series Freema was actually quite good.

Although I did like the opening episode, I wasnt sold on the Adipose look, they looked too kidsy, if thats a word. I wouldnt want Tate's character falling in love with the Doctor, its been done before and I would prefer to see episodes sans all those 'I wonder if he likes me like that' crap.

We all know its Rose he wants though he'll never say it himself.

[Zoe]

The SF plot was shit, RTD's nearly always are and I expected no more, but the rest of the epsiode was great. I particularly liked the early scenes of their parallel investigations, which was a really nice bit of structuring. After they were reunited it was predictably good fun and I'm very fond of their dynamic. The Rose reveal was a fantastic bonus, as was the adorable Cribbins waving.

All the Adipose stuff was utter bollocks, but as an opening episode to reintroduce Donna and kick-start the new series, I thought it was very successful.

After Freema, Tate's, more experienced, acting chops are most welcome and I think she got the tone spot on. The miming was a joy. I could do without another bloody irritating mother though, especially one that looks about 10 years older than her. Just how young is Donna supposed to be?

Why is episode two always a stupid historical romp, with some character actors pretending to be famous historical figures? Episode two looks exactly the same as the Shakespeare one, but in ancient rome.

[Hamish]

You also have to understand that this episode isn't an adult sci-fi drama, it is a family adventure show and so they have to cater for the kids watching. The Adipose, I bet, were a huge hit with them and that is fantastic news.

[Atara]

They still sucked though.

Kids like having the shit scared out of them, least I did.

[Zoe]

Kids aren't stupid, it being a family show is no excuse for Davis' weak grasp of what makes a decent story. Kids like good, and often quite complex, stories. I have no problem with the Adipose themselves, my Mum has already said she wants one as a pet, but the story (as ever) made no sense, had no sense of peril, no twist, no nothing. It was just an excuse for some comic special effects, running around and shouting. It wasn't as bad as '42' or 'The Shakespeare Code' or 'Daleks in Manhattan', or fucking-Trinny and Susannah-fucking-bots... actually comparatively it was a great work of science fiction storytelling.

Luckily he did everything else really well, mainly the reintroduction of Donna, and was supported by an excellent cast.

We all know we'll probably have to wait for Moffat's double bill before we get a decent story, but for me at least there's plenty to enjoy in the meantime.