Wait…Sarah Jane is getting a second series? More kid fare, I assume?
As someone who likes Torchwood and loves Doctor Who (but really hated in these episodes Sarah Jane’s kid and “Mr. Smith the computer”), should I assume that ‘Sarah Jane and Friends’ isn’t for me?
I think Davros was just another example of “creations turning on their master”, it was just kind of abbreviated in the episode. Of course, it’s not like Davros cared all that much, since he was going to get to build his Reality Bomb and destroy it all.
And I just hope on Torchwood Martha is a little less perfect and Mickey is a little less moronic - but his time on Alternate Earth Seven Billion and Thirty Three might have made him into more of a non-idiot I hope gets killed.
But then we’d have a deux ex that everyone would hate. I think the whole ‘Bad Wolf’ this time around was just a creepier/cooler way of saying, “Doctor, Rose is coming back, and it’s going to lead to something nasty”.
The whole time I was watching this episode I was thinking, “Don’t let it be Donna. Let it be Mickey or Jackie. Please please please” even though I knew that totally wasn’t going to happen. Poor Donna - for the post-Doctor woman it was pretty much a fate worse than death. And for Gramps - just broke his heart too.
I’m surprised I haven’t seen much mention of Davros being right about the Doctor. He had a pretty good point that the Doctor doesn’t use weapons and so his companions are forced to use them - or become them. How many deaths would be prevented over the millenia if the Doctor would stop being cute and just make the hard choice and act directly…instead of playing around and forcing one of his “children” to make a sacrifice or make the hard choice.
Am I the only one who’s gonna say ‘poor Doctor’? I mean, yeah, Donna’s memory being erased and all is bad, even though not for her, since she knows nothing of it… But the Doctor’s had to do it, and he remembers. And he’s had to let go of Rose, for the second time, and hit her up with a copy of himself. He’s more alone than ever now, despite Sarah Jane’s ‘you’ve got such a big family’ line.
That said, though, I really liked the episode, despite a somewhat underused Davros. I half expected to see Jenny showing up, as well, but also thought she’d have been introduced a bit more if she were to, and have had a bit more foreshadowing clinging to her.
The destruction of the Daleks may have been necessary, but I can also see the reason for the Doctor-brand self-righteous outrage: their immediate plan had already been foiled at that point, the reality bomb had been disarmed; doesn’t exactly make them harmless, but it also means that their extermination wasn’t absolutely mandatory.
Best line has to go to Captain Jack, once the ‘three Doctors’ had been revealed: “I can’t even tell you what I’m thinking right now.”
The thing is, the Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, was all ready to blast the “last” Dalek back in season one. And presumably the Eighth Doctor was the one who took part in the Time War and almost certainly actively took part in violent acts within it.
The Tenth Doctor seems to be trying to be a pacifist, in reaction to who he was, and it was Rose who seemed to bring that out in him. He’s not really succeeding very well, though.
Yeah, it would have been much more interesting to see what the sky looked like as the Earth was dragged through hyperspace. Of course the entire planet would have frozen without the sun. I suspect they just used up the entire effects budget by that time.
Oh Jack. I love you. I’d like a Tennant Clone myself.
Anyway, I actually liked most of the epidsode, although why the Dalek Supreme went along with the destruction of all reality I’m not sure. Yes, you will get rid of everyone else but I expect you’ll get awfully bored, that is, if it doesn’t wipe yourselves out as well. And Davros, well, he’s always been batshit crazy so I wasn’t surprised he’d want to do this little experiment. He’d die knowing he was right.
I also liked Davros pointing out the Doctor’s tendency to have his companions become the soldiers in his personal battles. I also think he should adopt Davros’ “Destroyer of Worlds” title. It’s kinda catchy.
As for Donna…I realize there had to be consequences for her absorbing all that time-lordy goodness, but I don’t see why remembering anything about the Doctor or the Tardis would cause her to die. It just seemed a bit of “let’s torture the Doctor just a little bit more” than he really needs.
And I actually found alt Doctor going off to live with Rose happily ever after a little disturbing. Oh, I understand why we can’t have two Doctors running around in the same timeline but the solution made me uneasy. It was like the Doctor gave his alter ego to Rose as a pet. “He’s perfect for you. He can be your willing boy toy, and you can get everything I won’t give you.” Alt Doctor was playing along, but he basically let his other self do all the talking. It just sat wrong with me.
The German Daleks seem to be getting a bit of cheer on other forums too, it was a hoot to hear them.
Perhaps if the Daleks had won on a few occasions, or at least the Doctor and Companions had to make do with a stalemate. Then, a few series down, we could have had the ultimate end of the Daleks, it might have had a bit more meaning.
It was an interesting throw back to the talk Davros had with the Doctor in Genesis of the Daleks. When it’s suggested to him, Davros finds the idea of having a virus that could wipe out all life in the universe in a capsule held between his fingers, which he could snap open.
Maybe Davros was about to be exterminated by his ungrateful Daleks, when he was able to say “Hold hold, I’ve got an idea” and they listened for once.
It felt a bit wierd too, that was a bit of a deus ex machina for that particular plot. Will it keep Rose out of the specials to come?
IF they decide to bring the Daleks back; they need to make them menacing again. They need to actually win. Perhaps they can have recurring appearances throughout a series, causing mayhem and moving on before the Doctor could catch them, leading on to a showdown in the final episode.
I think they should have killed Donna. It would have helped with the ‘pussy Darleks’ problem and been a less painful resolving of the characters arc.
I didn’t like this episode too much. I thought episode 11 was much better than the final 2.
I understand the complaints that this episode added to the idea that the 'Daleks are pussies", but let’s all keep in mind that before the Doctor showed up they presumably wiped out 26 planets and took out pretty much the entire military of the Earth.
They’re pussies compared to Three Doctors, but that’s it.
That doesn’t really work, though. In season one the “bad wolf” references were due to Rose eventually becoming the living deus ex machina and rewriting time and space to plant clues. The Bad Wolf Bay was the Doctor in the second season choosing a location for the message that he knew she would be able to find because she would understand the reference.
So the cliffhanger this season means that Rose back in season one planted a pile of clues in her past (which didn’t really make sense to begin with) and then went, “Oh yeah, I’m going to be turning up again three years down my own personal timeline so I better plant one really huge sign for the Doctor before he encounters me that one time instead of the year’s worth of tiny clues before the big one.” Yes, she could have done it, but it makes even less sense than when she did it before and it didn’t go anywhere for the storyline in season 4.
We didn’t see that, though. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. Maybe they took them all in what amounts to “simultaneously” given their frame of reference and just zipped over to Earth since they were hunting for the Doctor and friends. We didn’t see any of what they did except show up and be completely ineffectual.
Thinking of ways to make the Daleks a threat again I am reminded of one of their first episodes “The Chase”. I remember watching it as a child and finding it particularly thrilling mainly because the Doctor and companions spent quite a bit of time running for their lives, except the Daleks had a time machine of their own so as they went all over time and space trying to get away the Daleks were always one step behind them causing death and mayhem in their wake.
While I don’t want the new series to spend time rehashing old concepts the Daleks need something like that again. “We’ve got killer technobabel and we’re not afraid to exterminate!” doesn’t make them threatening.
GOD, I hated that episode… The cliffhanger last week was amazing, and this week seemed unbelievably contrived…
I thought it was strange that he said Donna couldn’t live as a Doctor/human combination, but he sent off the Doctor/Human creation with Rose - no problem… What, he isn’t gonna die quickly like she would have?
And I am horrified with what they did to Donna… The character was wonderful, and grew so much only to be sent back to be a Catherine Tate character…
I saw an episode of Confidential talking with Billie about her need to borrow older Doctor Who DVD’s to remember how to speak like Rose… I’m going to need to borrow older Who DVD’s just to bleach this horrid mess of an episode from my mind!
I too wondered what Davros and the Daleks planned to do with just 20 odd planets for the rest of eternity, once they had exterminated the populations there really wouldn’t be much to do. Seems kind of counter-productive really. Maybe there was a second phase to create a Dalek only universe. They did it with a galaxy once before although I don’t know if this counts as being cannon or not.
You’re correct in that Davros is crazy and would die to prove a point (virus discussion in Genesis of the Daleks).
I did like when they were pushing the Daleks around. It was fun.
Good episode, but was I the only one who was hoping for a more menacing menace? “The Darkness” could have been something using the Daleks… oh well. And the Doctor has committed genocide at least a few times- remember the Arachnos? I did like that Rose and the Doctor got to be together, but that’s going to be a strain, isn’t it? He’s a Time Lord with human ageing and no TARDIS.
Good point, quite an oversight when you think about it.
My thoughts were that they would likely go mad after a few centuries of marching around the 27 planets with nobody but themselves and then they’d spot minute differences between themselves and start a civil war.
It was reminiscent of stories of old when there was always a mineshaft available to dump a Dalek down, especially when their vision was impaired
Doesn’t the other Doctor have a Timelord brain that’s also running human software, whilst Donna had the human brain operating at Timelord levels, and hence her problem.
Actually, I think they did that in the old series even with other races of beings to persecute. Something about the Davros followers vs. the Dalek Supreme followers. They’re just disagreeable all around really.
I will be happy if we don’t see them for a very long time, despite Davros being one of my favorite over the top megalomaniac villians. I will also be very happy if a companion sticks around for more than a year or two, and doesn’t traumatize the Doctor in the process.
I’d be estatic if they were not female or in love with the Doctor. Or just bring Donna back.
