# Doctor Who 4x12 The Stolen Earth **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581 "2008-06-28T17:42:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/21 "2008-06-29T13:26:33Z")
Ah! So he was! Okay, that’s that one solved, and his company is therefore to be trusted. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/22 "2008-06-29T17:15:41Z")
I’m getting some very pretty screencaps from this ep. Now, time to watch for content! But I do believe the pickled Doctor hand is the ‘gun in the first act’. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/23 "2008-06-29T18:33:01Z")
I’m sorry but this episode was a huge pile of shit, it was Who with its Ritalin taken away from it. I got seriously fucked off when Tennant did his trademark talking excitedly to the point where _I couldn’t actually understand him_, that really doesn’t help move the story along. As I said in the previous thread this was a serious Nu-Who reunion and that in itself does not a good episode make. And for the love of GOD Russell, enough with the “But you can’t use the wibble wobble woo woo, it’s far too dangerous!” with people looking shocked and terrified, it’s such a crap way to create tension. As for the whole slo-mo run, I was actually counting out loud for how long it would take for a Dalek to show up and shoot one of them (although I guessed it would be Rose who bought it). Mega contrived. Gah, I’m seriously not impressed. I admit I was taken aback by the regeneration which made me immediately think “Wow, they kept THAT quiet”. Guess we’ll see what happens next week (the resolution had better be improved on this week). ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/24 "2008-06-29T20:17:07Z")
[QUOTE=Illuminatiprimus] Gah, I’m seriously not impressed. I admit I was taken aback by the regeneration which made me immediately think “Wow, they kept THAT quiet”. Guess we’ll see what happens next week (the resolution had better be improved on this week). [/QUOTE] As opposed to Star Trek stories, Who second parters always seem to come off a lot better. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/25 "2008-06-30T10:23:34Z")
True, but the end of series two parters always suffer from the RTD deus ex machina syndrome. Let’s hope he resists the urge to do another Bad Wolf, Paradox Machine type thing this time. It is very similar to Star Trek, i.e paint yourself into a corner and then have to come up with a technobabble solution to save the day. I would be interested to see the reaction of the world post Dalek invasion rather than settling back to a world similar to ours so that they can tie Torchwood into events happening here. Maybe the reaction of the human race would prove Harriet Jones right. I hope the appearances of the other Doctors doe go ahead, I’ve always been quite partial to the anniversary episaodes with mulitple Doctors. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/26 "2008-06-30T11:26:13Z")
I picked up The Five Doctors not too long ago (as much to see the awesome [Raston Warrior Robot](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmVuIWffmM4&feature=related) as anything else), some of the Doctors play well against each other, but if you want to see a bit of that, the short special [Time Crash](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xVT0ln8oiU) does it quite well in much less time. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/27 "2008-06-30T14:16:01Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] I picked up The Five Doctors not too long ago (as much to see the awesome [Raston Warrior Robot](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmVuIWffmM4&feature=related) as anything else), some of the Doctors play well against each other, but if you want to see a bit of that, the short special [Time Crash](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xVT0ln8oiU) does it quite well in much less time. [/QUOTE] I’ve got the Five Doctors, but thanks for the link to Time Crash, I missed it when it was on tv. ---
**Author:** ![Sri\_Theo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sri\_Theo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sri_Theo)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/28 "2008-06-30T14:45:07Z")
Was anyone else pretty disappointed with the Shadow Proclamation. Compared to how reverently they’ve been spoken off before they seemed rubbish. Hopefully they/it will get to show off a bit more in the next part. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/29 "2008-06-30T14:55:50Z")
[QUOTE=Sri Theo] Was anyone else pretty disappointed with the Shadow Proclamation. Compared to how reverently they’ve been spoken off before they seemed rubbish. Hopefully they/it will get to show off a bit more in the next part. [/QUOTE] Besides various mentions (that seemed to involve treaties), do we know anything about them/it? Is it strictly a Nu-Who thing, or was is there before? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/30 "2008-06-30T15:11:01Z")
I can’t recall anything before about them, I was a bit disappointed to see it was merely the Judoon again. Questions though, why did the Doctor have to speak in an alien tongue with the Tardis so close by? And why was the Shadow Proclamation so ignorant about the Time Lords, even the Sontarans have heard of them and the Time War, which was supposed to only pass over the heads of lesser races. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/31 "2008-06-30T15:37:13Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] Questions though, why did the Doctor have to speak in an alien tongue with the Tardis so close by? And why was the Shadow Proclamation so ignorant about the Time Lords, even the Sontarans have heard of them and the Time War, which was supposed to only pass over the heads of lesser races. [/QUOTE] Well, while I agree that the Shadow Procamation should be better informed, the Sontarans have actually successfully invaded Gallifrey before, so they certainly knew of the Time Lords. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/32 "2008-06-30T16:19:05Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] Well, while I agree that the Shadow Procamation should be better informed, the Sontarans have actually successfully invaded Gallifrey before, so they certainly knew of the Time Lords. [/QUOTE] That, and they personally knew The Doctor, considering him a huge threat and killing him to be a huge victory. The Shadow Proclamation? Who knows? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/33 "2008-06-30T16:27:00Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] Questions though, why did the Doctor have to speak in an alien tongue with the Tardis so close by? [/QUOTE] I thought maybe it was just the code word, not actually a piece of language… ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/34 "2008-06-30T16:38:07Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] The Shadow Proclamation? Who knows? [/QUOTE] I bet they know what evil lurks in the hearts of men. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/35 "2008-06-30T17:40:00Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] I bet they know what evil lurks in the hearts of men. [/QUOTE] Nah, if they knew, they’d proclaim it. Then everyone would know. -Joe, considered shoe-horning in a “500 miles” joke, decided against it ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/36 "2008-06-30T23:47:09Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] Well, while I agree that the Shadow Procamation should be better informed, the Sontarans have actually successfully invaded Gallifrey before, so they certainly knew of the Time Lords. [/QUOTE] I haven’t seen that story yet, but IIRC they were backed by another higher race. Even so, they’re aware of the Time War somehow. The Shadow Proclaimation should have been all over it given that the lesser races were winked out of existence at the drop of a hat. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/37 "2008-07-01T09:17:01Z")
[QUOTE=Sri Theo] Was anyone else pretty disappointed with the Shadow Proclamation. Compared to how reverently they’ve been spoken off before they seemed rubbish. Hopefully they/it will get to show off a bit more in the next part. [/QUOTE] Yes, they were built up to be so much more and then it turns out we had already seen them in Series 3. Great dissappointment and completely ineffectual. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/38 "2008-07-01T09:22:19Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] I haven’t seen that story yet, but IIRC they were backed by another higher race. Even so, they’re aware of the Time War somehow. The Shadow Proclaimation should have been all over it given that the lesser races were winked out of existence at the drop of a hat. [/QUOTE] The story is the Invasion of Time, available as part of the Bred for War dvd collection. Not one of the best stories, a bit slow and not much going on as I remember. With the exception of the Time Warrior I’ve always found the Sontarans a bit overrated. The high points were the TARDIS swimming pool and giant carnivorous plant. The Sontarans did not have the backing of a higher race. They were the higher race backing another group of aliens (the Vardans I think) who could travel along radio frequencies or something. Not watched it for a while, not in a rush to watch it again. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/39 "2008-07-01T18:20:40Z")
[QUOTE=Stryfe] Yes, they were built up to be so much more and then it turns out we had already seen them in Series 3. Great dissappointment and completely ineffectual. [/QUOTE] Is there a reason to believe that the Jadoon were “The Shadow Proclamation” and not just convenient hired muscle they use as guards? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581/40 "2008-07-02T08:09:29Z")
No, I suspct that the Judoon are only the hired help, but the woman in charge appeared to be a normal human (oid). Space Police might be a more apt description. Shadow Proclamation has all kinds of dark undertones that just weren’t reflected in the programme. I originally thought that the Shadow Proclamation was a treaty signed up to by the time active powers of the DW universe, but it appears not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-4x12-the-stolen-earth/454581.md?page=3)