Doctor Who Season Finale Discussion (SPOILERS!!!)

[Heradel]

As I've said earlier, I think that Doctor Who is now finished. I don't want to "wish my life away" until 2010. I can't believe the gap year is being allowed to happen! I'm sure there would've been mass outrage if this had been announced in 2006, but the way it's been done, there has been very little resistance. 

I still think you're overreacting.  Calm down, Chicken Little, the sky is not falling.

[edit]

I don't want to "wish my life away" until 2010. I can't believe the gap year is being allowed to happen!

This is absolutely ludicrous.  You make it sound like we're all going to put our lives on hold for a year while we wait for the next season in 2010.  Some of us have books to read, films to see, games to play, pools to swim, bikes to ride, hills to climb, partners to sex, and a whole slew of other activities besides watching one television program.

Each new post of yours makes it harder and harder to take your position seriously.  Seriously, just stop.

That's a bit harsh.

[stePH]

That's a bit harsh.

Maybe so, but I'm seeing somebody here with a slightly broken sense of proportion who could use a reality check.

[Chodon]

That's a bit harsh.

Maybe so, but I'm seeing somebody here with a slightly broken sense of proportion who could use a reality check.

I feel the same way about all Anime.  So there. 

[stePH]

That's a bit harsh.

Maybe so, but I'm seeing somebody here with a slightly broken sense of proportion who could use a reality check.

I feel the same way about all Anime.  So there. 

Your message does not parse into my computer.  Please repost in BASIC.

[ChiliFan]

That's a bit harsh.

Maybe so, but I'm seeing somebody here with a slightly broken sense of proportion who could use a reality check.

I feel the same way about all Anime.  So there. 

Your message does not parse into my computer.  Please repost in BASIC.

To me it's like this. Doctor Who was off air for so long that I thought it was dead and buried. How amazing I felt when I heard it was coming back, then even better when it appeared. Unfortunately, I'm depressed about various things in my life at the moment and Doctor Who cheered me up. I also have to be 2 years older instead of 1 year older before I can see the next series of Doctor Who. It's only about 1 hour per week for 25% of the year, so there's plenty of time for the other activities people need to do.   

To put it another way, here's a newsflash.

"Hello, this is a newsflash from ITN (i.e. Independent Television News, not BBC). We've just heard that the BBC will be cutting its production of TV programmes by about 28%. More details as soon as we get them.

Here's another newsflash from ITN. We've just heard that the BBC isn't cutting production of TV programmes by 28%, only about 28% of those TV programmes *worth watching* will be cut. There will be no new series of Doctor Who in 2009 and Torchwood will be  cut from 13 episodes to 5. Casualty, Holby City, Eastenders and Click will be unaffected. The money saved will go to fund some new sitcoms on BBC3. Following on from the success of Primeval, the ITV management are rumoured to be planning some new TV series in a similar vein to Doctor Who and Torchwood to take maximum advantage of the situation".

10 PRINT "Will there be a new series of Doctor Who in 2009?":INPUT A$

20 IF A$="N" THEN GOTO 30 ELSE GOTO 40

30 PRINT "Doctor Who is finished!!":END

40 PRINT "Long live Doctor Who!"

[Alasdair5000]

That's a bit harsh.

Maybe so, but I'm seeing somebody here with a slightly broken sense of proportion who could use a reality check.

I feel the same way about all Anime.  So there. 

   See, despite being an anime reviewer for a while now I've always been a bit sort of...cautious about some of it.  Don't get me wrong the incredibly predictable list of classics (Appleseed, Akira, Spirited Away etc) are some of my favourite films but I always had a bit of cognitive distance from it.

   I got sent Ah!My Goddess to review last month.  And watched it all inside about a week.

   Yeah.  I'm hooked now.

   As for Who, I liked that quite a bit.  Some very nice character touches, a couple of fun nods to the original series and a sense of scale and scope, as well as some ridiculously tidy plotting.  A couple of things happened that I would really, really have preferred not to have happened but as season finales go, that was great.

   Oh special thanks should also be made to Ellen, who warned me, on my return from holiday, that watching the Who, House and Grey's Anatomy episodes from that week one after another would be a VERY VERY bad plan.

[stePH]

Maybe so, but I'm seeing somebody here with a slightly broken sense of proportion who could use a reality check.

I feel the same way about all Anime.  So there. 

   See, despite being an anime reviewer for a while now I've always been a bit sort of...cautious about some of it.  Don't get me wrong the incredibly predictable list of classics (Appleseed, Akira, Spirited Away etc) are some of my favourite films but I always had a bit of cognitive distance from it.

I might be more than a little partial to anime, but really it's nothing more than a visual style to me -- content-wise it's no different from film or other styles of animation.  Some is simply awesome, some is mediocre, some flat-out sucks, and it spans every genre.  So (if Chodon was addressing me in particular) I don't see that I have any problem perceiving reality in proper proportion in that regard.

And while on the topic, I've been loving Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.  I still want a Tachikoma to drive to work.

[Alasdair5000]

She's a cyborg!

Her partner's grumpy!

They fight crime!

I love that show.  It's like NYPD Blue with extra cybernetics.

[stePH]

She's a cyborg!

Her partner's grumpy!

And a cyborg. 

[stePH]

10 PRINT "Will there be a new series of Doctor Who in 2009?":INPUT A$

20 IF A$="N" THEN GOTO 30 ELSE GOTO 40

30 PRINT "Doctor Who is finished!!":END

40 PRINT "Long live Doctor Who!"

10 PRINT "Will there be a new series of Doctor Who in 2009?":INPUT A$

20 IF A$="N" THEN GOTO 30 ELSE GOTO 40

30 PRINT "Wait for 2010; in the meantime there will be four specials in 2009 in addition to the 2008 Christmas special.":END

40 PRINT "No.":GOTO 30

[ChiliFan]

10 PRINT "Will there be a new series of Doctor Who in 2009?":INPUT A$

20 IF A$="N" THEN GOTO 30 ELSE GOTO 40

30 PRINT "Doctor Who is finished!!":END

40 PRINT "Long live Doctor Who!"

10 PRINT "Will there be a new series of Doctor Who in 2009?":INPUT A$

20 IF A$="N" THEN GOTO 30 ELSE GOTO 40

30 PRINT "Wait for 2010; in the meantime there will be four specials in 2009 in addition to the 2008 Christmas special.":END

40 PRINT "No.":GOTO 30

I wonder if anyone here can reprogram these short programs into Javascript or MS Visual BASIC. That would be a big help to me.

[Heradel]

Boolean dr2009 = False;

private static Chilifan(boolean dr2009){
     if (userint=="Will there be a new series of Doctor Who in 2009"){
          if (dr2009){
               system.out.println("Doctor Who is finished!!");}
          else{
               system.out.println("Long Live Doctor Who!");}
     }
}

private static stePH(boolean dr2009){
     if (userint=="Will there be a new series of Doctor Who in 2009"){
          if(dr2009){
               system.out.println("Wait for 2010; in the meantime there will be four specials in 2009 in addition to the 2008 Christmas special.");}
          else{
               system.out.println("No.");}
     }
}

[stePH]

Boolean dr2009 = False;

private static Chilifan(boolean dr2009){
     if (userint=="Will there be a new series of Doctor Who in 2009"){
          if (dr2009){
               system.out.println("Doctor Who is finished!!");}
          else{
               system.out.println("Long Live Doctor Who!");}
     }
}

private static stePH(boolean dr2009){
     if (userint=="Will there be a new series of Doctor Who in 2009"){
          if(dr2009){
               system.out.println("Wait for 2010; in the meantime there will be four specials in 2009 in addition to the 2008 Christmas special.");}
          else{
               system.out.println("No.");}
     }
}

You seem to have omitted that mine says "Wait for 2010; in the meantime there will be four specials in 2009 in addition to the 2008 Christmas special" under any condition.  Something that Chilifan seems to keep forgetting.

[stePH]

Coming back to this to note something from "Turn Left" ... I got tired of waiting for Skiffy to air the next episode so I downloaded the final four episodes.  Then I listened to the associated podcasts from Doctor Who Online (T&T) and Pancast (Alasdair), and one or both noted that during the "Poison Sky" segment when Rose is telling Donna about the sacrifice of the Torchwood team, a subdued version of the Torchwood theme plays in the background.

When Skiffy finally ran the episode in the US, my wife and I watched it again, and since it got by me the first time I was listening for it, but Rose did not mention Jack, Ianto or Gwen this time!  And of course there was no music from Torchwood.

Makes me wonder how much else I've missed watching Skiffy's airings instead of going straight to the source. 

[Sandikal]

They finally aired the last episode on SciFi last night.  It was awesome!!!!! 

[stePH]

They finally aired the last episode on SciFi last night.  It was awesome!!!!! 

Wiping Donna's memory was a really shitty thing to do.  She knew what she was asking for, and it was very selfish and disrespectful of the Doctor to turn her back into Miss Milquetoast against her begging him not to.

Of course, he was probably still smarting from Davros' taunt about how many people have died for him.  The montage of the past four years alone was pretty impressive.


[edit]
Oh, and ... paging Mr. Alasdair Stuart ... Mr. Alasdair Stuart to the front, please ...

Still waiting for your "Who Pancast" for the last two episodes.  The wife and I have been really enjoying the previous installments.  (yes, I heard the latest Pancast this week ... are you off the show for good?)

[Loz]

You should go and find the 'ihasatardis' community on LJ, amidst all the DW/'Mighty Boosh' crossovers, which are made of WIN btw, they have a number of responses to the Donna mindwipe. Still, considering how key the Doctor's companions have been to saving everything at the end of seasons one of them had to get it in the neck eventually, and Catherine Tate was too big a star to stay with Doctor Who for too long.

[stePH]

Still, considering how key the Doctor's companions have been to saving everything at the end of seasons one of them had to get it in the neck eventually, and Catherine Tate was too big a star to stay with Doctor Who for too long.

So why not respect her wishes and let her die with her memory intact?

[Liminal]

Still, considering how key the Doctor's companions have been to saving everything at the end of seasons one of them had to get it in the neck eventually, and Catherine Tate was too big a star to stay with Doctor Who for too long.

So why not respect her wishes and let her die with her memory intact?

This is way late to the conversation, but I totally agree. I think giving her the choice and respecting her wishes would have been best. At the very least he could have bothered to convince her to save her own life by using her mother and grandfather as leverage. Giving her choices, letting her be complicit in her own destiny seemed to be what her whole season was about (choosing to help him in Pompeii, choosing to hear the Ood, turning left, etc.), and to turn around and steal all that agency from her was hugely unsatisfying.

[Heradel]

So why not respect her wishes and let her die with her memory intact?

This is way late to the conversation, but I totally agree. I think giving her the choice and respecting her wishes would have been best. At the very least he could have bothered to convince her to save her own life by using her mother and grandfather as leverage. Giving her choices, letting her be complicit in her own destiny seemed to be what her whole season was about (choosing to help him in Pompeii, choosing to hear the Ood, turning left, etc.), and to turn around and steal all that agency from her was hugely unsatisfying.

But that's the Doctor. He isn't human, he's above and detached from humanity. The number of times he's saved our race's sorry behinds from [insert rote villain] and helped bring out the best in his human companions... and he's been saved too, and found as much wonder in us as we have in him, but he's still the Doctor; a detached presence making life and death decisions, and in some sense of the paternalistic view of doctors around his creation, he knows best. Or at least he thinks he does. He finds wonder in that meager human life, enough that allowing that to continue is better than death with the knowledge of him (in that way, he's as harsh a critic as any artist is of his own work, substituting himself for art).

[Loz]

British newspaper The Sun which, despite hating the BBC always has the scoops on it's shows, are claiming that both Catherine Tate and John Simm (The Master) will be making seperate reappearances in the show. They have been wrong before though, such as claiming that Ben 'Gandhi' Kingsley was playing Davros.

[Heradel]

Totally mostly off topic, but this cat has been taken over by the aliens from Blink:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/muLIPWjks_M&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/muLIPWjks_M&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0</a>