Amph Doctor Who Discussion (Russell T. Davies returns)

The Doctor, in The Curse of Fatal Death.

 

Fair point!

But I said "person", not Time Lord.

And I was thinking 2005 onwards.

 

Would it be Reinette?

 

Racist!

 

FTFY.

 

Again, I got it wrong. First person to be killed.

This is turning out to be more hard work than I'd imagined!

 

Emphasis added.

As someone who is Australian I can vouch for the fact that Janet is an Australian actress (of Queensland origin) and that the accent you're referring to is a genuine Australian accent. I do agree that it's rare that the vowels are pronounced and strained so harshly, but you will find in Australia there are certain areas that are prone to particular takes on the accent. In QLD, Northern Territory and generally rural or mining towns, it's the typical Crocodile Dundee/Steve Irwin accent. "Hey, mate", "what's goin' on?", "cheers," etc...you still do get that. In Western Australia there strangely seems to be some British sensibility to the accent. I know a few people from Perth and all of them have that slight British twang to their accent. At the same time, I must admit that there still exists a perception as to what constitutes the quintessential Australian.

At University, oversees students seem to take a liking to me as they'll come up for a chat or sit next to me in lectures. Without fail, at some point they will ask either how long have I lived in Australia or when i'll be going back home. I point out to them that I was actually born in Melbourne and have lived here all my life. Their surprise seems to stem from the fact that I don't have certain characteristics about me. Their opinion seems to be informed by the fact quiet, well spoken, well-dressed, not following football. They also perceive my accent to be British (I think this stems from my years of schooling in a Private Church of England Anglican School where the teaching traditons stemmed from the exclusive private school model in England).

Case in point, despite all the bad, cliched Australian humour out there, in some regions of Australia, Tegan's accent was spot on. But, it's not the only accent going around either.

 

Ah. So the first non-Time Lord to die by another's hand, and not the ravages of time?

Written by Steven Moffat.

Would it be one of the explorers in Silence in the Library by the Vashta Nerada? Or you mean an actual character character?

 

4.04: Planet of the Ood

"Funny thing, the subconscious. Takes all sorts of shapes. It came out in the red-eye as revenge. Came out in the rabid Ood as anger. And then there was patience. All that intelligence and mercy focused on Ood Sigma."

I'm actually enjoying Series 4 a lot more than I remember and it may in fact end up being better than series 3. To begin with, Catherine Tate is just nailing it with her performance because of the intensity and compassion she brings to Donna. All of this feeds effortlessly into the chemistry between Donna and the Doctor. David Tennant is also making the biggest impression on me as the Doctor too. I think the reason why I didn't take to his performance so much back then was because there was so much hype surrounding his take on the role and most of it was attributed to his looks or charm. In hearing so much about that, you can't help it feel that's all there is to him. But now that the hype for Tennant has cooled quite significantly since, i'm really seeign the character for who he is and...maybe he wasn't so overrated after all. I'm even starting to prefer some qualities in him to Eccleston's Doctor. My favourite moment in Planet of the Ood had to have been when he is in the cage, only to remark that he imprisoned himself ahead of his captors.

Planet of the Ood is a great episode. Out of any species the RTD era gave us, the Ood are my favourites because they start off as devices for the villain but end up having this compelling back story. In a way I kind of consider Planet of the Ood to be a prequel of sorts to The Satan Pit two-parter because Planet of the Ood explores their origins and how their customs were exploited against them. The setting is also really good as it feels like a 1990s James Bond film in the luxurious but industrialised surroundings. The hardboiled militaristic feel to the episode helps to add to the anguish of the episode. Meanwhile, Tim McInnerny (of Blackadder fame) plays the disenchanted, damaged businessman who is still haunted by his childhood spent with his father expertly. Another thing to note about this episode is that out of any episode in the revived era, this has got to have the most gross-out moments. I'm talking the peeling of the skin off the skull, the transformation of man to Ood, especially with the spitting out of the brain. But it's not so much what you see but what you hear. Eeeww, it still makes me cringe. If I had to nit-pick, I just wish they went with a better design for the Ood brain that was trapped in the circle, it looked too much like a human brain. Maybe something more alien or maybe if we didn't see the brain at all but instead just saw the facility or machinery that it was insulated in by the corporation for their own interests which is what could have inhibited their song.

Apart from that, this episode got nothing wrong.

5 out of 5

 

I'd say Series 4 on a whole has more mediocre-good episodes than anything else. With Midnight being the standout perfect episode to me.

 

I used to think the same too but so far, apart from Voyage of the Damned, it's been really good. Even Partners In Crime is a little better than I remember it being. Though I don't expect to enjoy The Doctor's Daughter too much, I always considered that the low point of the season.

 

Ah I see. Didn't realize that there is more to an Australian accent than what pop culture simply shows.

 

That would be Nancy's son (the first gas mask zombie who's name is escaping me at the moment). His death was off - screen, but it's believed he died when the building he took shelter in was bombed, he was later resurrected via nanogenes.

 

Fires of Pompeii! One of the best episodes in season 4.

 

New writer for S8?(possible spoilers)

 

Ahh, you could well be right there. The reason I ask is because I was reading a book which stated that Angel Bob was the first person to be killed. That didn't ring true for me.

 

Craig Ferguson interviews Billie Piper

 

*headdesk* I missed it. How the hell did I miss it? *whaps her cable guide with a cyber newspaper* Bad Cable Guide! Why didn't you list Billie Piper as one of Craig's guests?

 

Because most Americans don't know who she is unless they've seen Doctor Who?

 

So Billie Piper is okay coming back for a Rose 10.2 spin-off series. No idea if it will happen but I want Jack Harkness in this somehow. Alternate version if need be.

 

Probably not likely to happen (Not unless RTD were to become involved since he was the one that wrote them off into Pete's World), and based on last season of Torchwood, I'm not sure I'd want him touching Rose/TenII. Leave them with the happily ever after that RTD claimed they did in The Writer's Tale.

 

Hell no.

 

I'd rather watch an "A Town Called Mercy" spin-off

 

Starring Susan the genderqueer horse.

Could be good, actually...

 

If we get an officially BBC licensed Rose/Meta Crisis Doctor spin-off before getting a brand new 8th Doctor telemovie/special, i'm walking.