pseudowho: SilentStrider: Submitter, please come here so I can smack you.

*points disingenuously at The English Major*

I know he's trolling, but for fark's sake is it getting annoying.

The trolling is annoying, but Waters of Mars? Really? That felt like the weakest of the specials.

Anyone who gets so emotionally attached to one Doctor and then insists that all others suck in comparison is a complete idiot.

Unless, of course, the Doctor to whom you are attached is Tom Baker. ;~)

Ninja_Pancakes: Matt Smith gave the Doctor a restart, which is what the regenerations are about

Aye - it is a rather nifty device for the series as a whole that allows it to refresh everything... truely the major reason the show has been able to survive this long, and even more marvelous that it kinda came about by accident, or at least, not by original design.

pseudowho: Planet of the Dead was a bit meh, Waters of Mars swerved violently between being fun and being annoying (ultimately settling on annoying with the ending), and while there were parts of End of Time that I enjoyed, it is the first Doctor Who episode to EVER make me glad to see a Doctor go.

I always felt that was deliberate - ever since we got him back, the Doctor has been on the verge of a breakdown, from Nine losing it when confronted with a surviving Dalek onwards. The thing about him being called Time Lord Victorious... while I remember the statement, it didn't click with me that he was actually saying he was changing his name, that it meant so much to him. It started with Nine and carried into Ten - the idea that Nobody Dies, that somehow he could beat Death somehow. While on the surface Nobody Dies sounds like a great idea, but when you do something like what he did to Donna - wiping her memories and reverting her back to the small minded person she was before he met her, rather than letting her die as the fully grown DoctorDonna - that was just too cruel, and at least to me, a fate worse than death.

(It probably ties in with the dark turn that Torchwood took at roughly the same time. I think, deliberately or not, Harkness is in a way, the dark-mirror reflection of the Doc. While Jack knows he cannot die, it does not bring him comfort nor answers.)

So anyway, the whole DoctrDonna thing was a cheat anyway (the fake-out chiffhanger will-he-won't-he-regenerate was a dramatic/writing cheat, but that aside) as he really should have regenerated there. So it goes to his head, in the remaining time, that he is Time Lord Victorious. And fittingly it's when dealing with his brother Time Lords that he's put back in his place.

There was a lot about this in the Virgin books New Adventure series, where a lot of the writers of the current series also had novels published. A lot of the themes (or complete stories) that ran through those books are showing up in the revived show, which is no surprise. While I can't remember which book(s) it was in, somewhere it was reveled that that Seven had argued within himself with Eight - Eight thought his time was due and Seven should hand over the reigns. An odd thing, to be sure, where you really have to treat the idea of the Doctor more as a bunch of individuals in a time-share body, rather than the same guy with different faces.

That's the cool thing about Stephen Moffat being at the helm now - he was very involved with those New/missing Adventures books, and his really were good stories, so it has me in high hopes about the series over all.

/farking at work about Doctor Who... isn't teh internets great!
//hey everyone! There's a lot of people already in here showing up in my favourites list with a light blue colour :)

Also, I know you were just yanking our chain about Matt Smith, Subby pseudowho, but...

TFA:
The award is the first for Russell T Davies. Doctor Who has previously won three Hugo Awards, all for stories penned by current Showrunner Steven Moffat. In 2006 'The Empty Child'/'The Doctor Dances'; in 2007 'The Girl in the Fireplace'; in 2008 for 'Blink'.

...I think that's a pretty good sign there's gunna be more Hugo Awards, since it's more about the writer than the performers.

But yeah... you were looking to start a MY DOCTOR IS THE BEST DOCTOR flamewar? ;-) If so, then I'm throwing down with Sylvester McCoy!


Underused and saddled with some poor stories to be sure, but still, he gave us Ace, and the foundation that there was more to the Doctor than meets the eye...

pseudowho: /submitter
//actually likes Matt Smith a lot as the Doctor



...well, until you outed yourself, anyway.

David Tennant was a great Doctor, Matt Smith is a great Doctor. Can't we all just get along?
Still, that video Tenebreux posted reminded me that the cheese factor was rather high, especially in series 2. I'm glad there was a bit less of that later on.

/I always thought the biggest part of Billie's face was her teeth.
//They stick out even when she's not smiling! ack!
///still would

Thought the episode was pretty meh overall, but was saved by the last ten minutes. Thinking the Doctor had finally snapped was epic. And the ending was nice a dark.

Still, what the hell. I'll take that win!

forteblast:

David Tennant was a great Doctor, Matt Smith is a great Doctor. Can't we all just get along?

I think most here agree. Save for one trollmitter.

Seeing as Waters of Mars was actually my first episode of the show, I can't really count Tennant as 'my' Doctor; I have to claim Smith as mine.

I'm still here.

Wish BBC America, or the PBS affiliate, would give me some classic-era episodes. Haven't gotten a chance to see Baker in action, or, really, anyone pre-Eccleston.

Good on Will McIntosh for winning the best short story award. It was good SF.

New Series: 1. Smith; 2. Eccleston; 3. Tennant, but I like all three.

I'm catching up on the old series (partly thanks to a link from here when I lurked), and Pertwee and Tom Baker take the lead in my book so far.

I also find myself liking Colin Baker's Doctor in spite of his smug, jerkoff attitude and weak scripts. I think it's because he doesn't seem to take shiat from anyone. I feel like he's unpopular because he was such a jarring departure from earlier Doctors. And the weak scripts, as mentioned before. Good Doctor, bad stories.

Dumb-Ass-Monkey Which brought us to Doctor 11. He's the first Doctor since Tom Baker that I truly feel is "My Doctor". Because the writing team allowed him to drop 99% of the baggage and come back as The Doctor we remember from our childhoods. The one who could travel the universe, explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations. His companion wasn't a lovesick bore. It was fun again, dammit!

Absolutely agree. It is fun again.

Seen on Wil's tweetstream:

I liked Waters of Mars, but... smash-cuts onto the text of fake wikipedia articles with loud music cues does not make good TV.

Who's Doctor Who?

Seriously, TEM, stop it. You are officially annoying.

The Hugo Award is like the Razzies for sci-fi, right?

Dumb-Ass-Monkey:

Watch the Doctor 9 shows again. Look at the seething anger and bottomless sorrow he's able to so subtly display. As the last Time Lord, the sole survivor of the Time War, god only knows what atrocities he witnessed, what brutalities he committed. That's why he (The Doctor) didn't just want, but needed a companion. He needed that grounding influence.


I got that feeling watching it too, ( which I just did a few days ago. Only have The End of Time left and I'm caught up on the new series) you get the feeling that its not just being alone behind him having companions he knows he NEEDS someone to stop him sometimes. I will say this for Tennant he can pull off the "crazy eyes" look to perfection you can feel the pain and hate in his eyes.

The end of Waters where he tries to be a god but fails to factor in Free Will.


Priceless.

Personal favorite assistant. Doc Marten's boots and an affinity for C4....

Though I have a bad feeling this is going to suck, like my girlfriend at the movie theater bathroom.
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I don't recognize this Doctor guy, but his fezz is familiar.
nevertheless you all seem to know him, so i shall bow tie your experience.

HumbertoEcho: Personal favorite assistant. Doc Marten's boots and an affinity for C4....

Here here!

/I agree with all of the above

10 has been my least favorite of the reboots, with 11 over 9. Just MO, your mileage may vary.

I like Matt Smith, however I think that Moffatt is feeling his way around being in charge and setting up things. Some episodes are extreme meh however. But hes written some of the best ones of the Davies era so I think it will work out.

also

Romana. (but shes not as hot as amy.)

MrLint: Romana. (but shes not as hot as amy.)

Romana I is far hotter than Amy.

Gosling: Wish BBC America, or the PBS affiliate, would give me some classic-era episodes. Haven't gotten a chance to see Baker in action, or, really, anyone pre-Eccleston.

Join Netflix. They have a bunch of serials streaming and most of the rest available on DVD (they don't seem to have Shada, though).

ghost_who_walks: ...I think that's a pretty good sign there's gunna be more Hugo Awards, since it's more about the writer than the performers.

Indeed. for years the Hugo for best script was given out based on the scripts rather than the produced show/movie, which lead to some interesting awards, as the end product doesn't always resemble the screenplay.

The English Major: The Fourth Karamazov: pseudowho: SilentStrider: Submitter, please come here so I can smack you.

*points disingenuously at The English Major*

I know he's trolling, but for fark's sake is it getting annoying.

I did NOT submit this. Check the profile if you don't believe me.

You need to make what you told me in the last Doctor Who Thread a public declaration in your profile. "If you see a headline bashing Matt Smith, it isn't one of mine." It's the only way the meme has a chance of dying.

I found the last few series with Tennant to be near unwatchable, and wasn't able to get through each series in full before giving up 3 or 4 episodes in. I watched Matt Smith's series all the way through and enjoyed most of the episodes.

Should the blame be laid with the actor or the writers? I think it's much more a problem of crappy scripts and plots.

Needs MOAR pics of Amy Pond regardless!