# Doctor Who Season 5 US pace thread. \[No Spoilers until US Airing\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 19, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640 "2010-04-19T17:00:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/121 "2010-05-10T14:11:46Z")
So is the juxtaposition of River / Pond just a coincidence? Or is there some connection there that we don’t know of yet? ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/122 "2010-05-10T15:02:49Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > Anyone care to speculate how Dr. Rivers is actually related to Doctor Who? It seemed like more of a “she kills him”\* than a “she marries him” to me. > > \*Seeing as the Doctor can regenerate, it’s not too much of a game-ending twist. I like the possibility, anyway. Since the Doctor met her when she died, I always thought River could meet the Doctor when the Doctor “dies”. Not necessarily that she killed him, but if she killed him through accident or inaction it would give her character a sense of guilt which would change to sorrow. She would come to know he regenerates, but she would know that this “version” had died along with his unique perspective. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/123 "2010-05-10T15:04:42Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > I missed what The Doctor said, what happens when you look an angel in the eyes? They can enter you. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/124 "2010-05-10T20:12:32Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > The Doctor never hooks up with a homely girl, does he. 😃 I’m curious as to how expensive Amy’s lovely little country house would be in real life small town England. Could Amy really afford to live there on a kiss-a-gram girl salary (or maybe the Aunt still pays the bills)? > > As for Matt Smith, enjoyed him more than I feared given some of what we saw in the trailers… > > Looking forward to the Stone Angels. He DOES hookup with homely girls. That’s why he was off the air for all those years.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/125 "2010-05-10T20:33:15Z")
[YouTube: Gratuitous shot of Zoe at 2:00](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ1C0srVcLA) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/126 "2010-05-10T21:21:51Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#): > > [YouTube: Gratuitous shot of Zoe at 2:00](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ1C0srVcLA) 😃 Oh, lovely. I remember watching that when it was first broadcast. Of course, I wasn’t old enough to fully appreciate it in those days… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/127 "2010-05-11T00:56:22Z")
I prefer [a different sort of cleavage](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_PagFuKWxA). ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/128 "2010-05-11T14:11:43Z")
> [@ryobserver](#): > > I assumed the tea-serving and such was part of the Daleks’ Cunning Plan–making themselves look helpful and obedient so they would be accepted. The joke being that they can’t even say “WOULD YOU LIKE SOME TEA?” without making it sound like a threat. My wife found a bumper sticker online that has a picture of Daleks with the caption, “YOU DO NOT REQUIRE TEA” underneath. Just wanted to say. ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/129 "2010-05-12T21:00:56Z")
I just saw _Time of Angels_. I had fun with it and look forward to more. What strikes me is that Matt Smith is not projecting an ineffable sense of leadership and command that the other Doctors have. For instance, when River says “I learned from the best” and then disses him (and it’s cute) with “Too bad you were out that day” I got a feeling from Matt like “Here she goes again, I hope nobody is watching” rather than an expected “Silly girl, trying to provoke me, now, back to the problem at hand”. It’s not just his reaction to River. It’s with the Bishop too. The Doctor doesn’t need to tell the Bishop to shut up (I think that’s what he did). The Doctor commands a situation and takes over because he knows more. I loved Matt’s action in the pilot at the table with young Amy. The “That must have been some scary crack” after listing why Amy is usually so brave. That’s the Doctor understanding a situation. Similary when they land on the New UK (on the Star Whale). He is in teaching mode with Amy describing how to be aware of your surroundings. Totally in command of the situation. The Doctor may be thrown for a loss, but, like the end of _Time of Angels_ he needs to act like he knows the answer so that he then thinks of one. I will like to see how Amy’s character develops with the Doctor. Right now she’s on a great adventure and wisecracking and having fun. That comes through. What hasn’t really happened is her getting to realize that there are real dangers out there (despite saying so at the end of _Victory of the Daleks_). The Doctor needs to find “the answer” with the Companion unknowingly providing the “crucial clue” rather than the Doctor failing and the Companion rescuing the situation. For example, the Doctor needed to think to try to talk to the Star Whale instead of not having thought of it and having Amy convey the entire idea. And the Doctor needed to realize that Amy could convince Bracewell rather than think he’d failed and Amy step in to save the day. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/130 "2010-05-12T23:15:21Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#): > > I will like to see how Amy’s character develops with the Doctor. Right now she’s on a great adventure and wisecracking and having fun. That comes through. What hasn’t really happened is her getting to realize that there are real dangers out there (despite saying so at the end of _Victory of the Daleks_). Don’t know if I agree with you about that - I think Amy got a real good idea that there are Scary Things Out There when she went face-to-face with the Angel. That scene might be the best one yet in this season - you saw the transition from curiousity to puzzlement to fear to terror as the Angel slowly came closer. A truly scary scene, and _very_ well done. That said, I think you’re right that Matt Smith is not yet demonstrating the competence of the Doctor, nor the depth. But it’s still the first season, and I’m willing to give him some time. ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/131 "2010-05-13T13:33:33Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Don’t know if I agree with you about that - I think Amy got a real good idea that there are Scary Things Out There when she went face-to-face with the Angel. I need to see more in Angels part deux and the next episode if Amy sobers a bit a continues to realize there are Scary Things out there. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/132 "2010-05-15T21:46:14Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#): > > I need to see more in Angels part deux and the next episode if Amy sobers a bit a continues to realize there are Scary Things out there. I kinda think she will. First there was the whole brilliant Angel recording scene, and then her thinking that her hand had turned to stone and she couldn’t flee. In that scene she was clearly preparing herself for death. Her reaction to this, and her reaction to the Angel who was attacking through the television (“Doctor…what will it do to me?”) suggests that there is steel not too far under her surface. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/133 "2010-05-15T21:53:30Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > I kinda think she will. First there was the whole brilliant Angel recording scene, and then her thinking that her hand had turned to stone and she couldn’t flee. In that scene she was clearly preparing herself for death. Her reaction to this, and her reaction to the Angel who was attacking through the television (“Doctor…what will it do to me?”) suggests that there is steel not too far under her surface. It’s iffy. I think the shooting the episodes (and even scenes) out of order really hurts the continuity on her character. I don’t really think it counts as a spoiler to say that some people in the UK thread think that she sometimes doesn’t even act like she remembers what happened in the last scene, let alone the last episode. And maybe they could blame it all on the timey-wimey stuff caused by the crack. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/134 "2010-05-16T19:02:27Z")
Another episode! And… [SPOILER]It turns out I was right. But still, what does it mean? Will the doctor be permanently dead? That would be horrible… no more Doctor Who. I’m hoping for regenerate —and I doubt that the BBC would kill off a successful franchise like that. It’s a property that they can always drop and go back to in a decade, if it loses popularity.[/SPOILER] ETA:I thought the priest’s death was pretty epic. But having the angels move on-camera made them less scary —the idea should have been that, when there are BBC video cameras on them, they can’t move, but when there aren’t… ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/135 "2010-05-16T19:36:47Z")
Anyone watch part 2 of the Angels story yet? Spoiler Alert! Pretty good, I thought, though I do have some quibbles. One is I felt it was kind of a cheat not to actually show how they went from the cave floor to the hull of the ship. Didn’t want to pay for the special effects, I guess, so they just described it afterward. Also, I didn’t really buy that the Angels would be fooled by Amy with her eyes closed, but moving as though she really could see. I guess they weren’t completely fooled, actually, but it seemed kind of a dumb idea. Nice bit of internal consistency to have the angels doom themselves by draining the ship’s power and thereby shutting down the artificial gravity. I didn’t see that coming. I’ll miss “Angel Bob” though–he was growing on me. ☹ I’m still really loving the River Song character–she is a great foil for the Doctor. Anyone know of a Doctor/River timeline anywhere online? Surely someone has made one, and I keep getting confused about her past and his future and all that. I enjoyed the last part with Amy and the Doctor and her telling him about her upcoming wedding. After the whole deal with Martha quietly longing for the Doctor but never acting on it a few seasons ago, it was nice to see Amy just throw herself on the Doctor and plant one on him. His embarrased reaction was great, too. I especially loved this exchange - The Doctor, realizing that tomorrow in Amy’s timeline has something to do with the crack in time: “_We’ve got to get you properly sorted out!_” Amy, laying on the bed and still trying to seduce the Doctor: “_That’s what I’ve been telling you!_” ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/136 "2010-05-16T22:52:15Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I’m still really loving the River Song character–she is a great foil for the Doctor. Anyone know of a Doctor/River timeline anywhere online? Surely someone has made one, and I keep getting confused about her past and his future and all that. We’ve only seen her once before, in the library episode, in which she effectively dies. [Wiki](http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/River_Song) ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/137 "2010-05-17T03:07:07Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It’s iffy. I think the shooting the episodes (and even scenes) out of order really hurts the continuity on her character. I don’t really think it counts as a spoiler to say that some people in the UK thread think that she sometimes doesn’t even act like she remembers what happened in the last scene, let alone the last episode. > > And maybe they could blame it all on the timey-wimey stuff caused by the crack. Having just last night seen “Flesh and Stone”, I get what you are saying. I really thought that her encounters with the Angels were going to sober Amy up. The whole extended sequence of her listening to the clerics fall into the time-crack, and then walk through a forest full of Angels with her eyes closed was nerve-wracking. And she sold the line about wanting to go home - I thought, she’s lost her nerve. But then she takes the Doctor home and tries to schtupp him? _Jarring_ change of tone, in my view, and the whole sexfarce aspect of that scene made me lose a bit of respect for the character. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/138 "2010-05-17T04:05:37Z")
I thought the Angels part 2 episode was weak. Too many inconsistencies. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/139 "2010-05-17T05:29:03Z")
If the angels never existed, shouldn’t Octavian be alive because if they never existed, then they weren’t around to kill them anyway? Actually, shouldn’t everyone who was killed by the angels be alive? And if they never existed, then the never would have chased the Doctor, Amy, River, and the clerics anyway. Actually, if the Angels that went though the crack never existed, the whole adventure should have changed, or never happened at all. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/140 "2010-05-17T11:29:03Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > If the angels never existed, shouldn’t Octavian be alive because if they never existed, then they weren’t around to kill them anyway? Actually, shouldn’t everyone who was killed by the angels be alive? And if they never existed, then the never would have chased the Doctor, Amy, River, and the clerics anyway. > > Actually, if the Angels that went though the crack never existed, the whole adventure should have changed, or never happened at all. Sort of like the Star Wars Christmas Special or Galactica 1980? They obliquely addressed it–Amy asks why she can remember and the Doctor says something along the lines of her being a time traveler now, so she sees things differently. I took that to be recognition that things get a bit weird when you mess with the timey-wimey stuff, so don’t expect rational explanations for everything. Wink. Wink. Squint. Squint. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640.md?page=8)