# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/141 "2010-05-17T12:34:32Z")
> [@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. In the words of one of my favorite Doctor Who writers: “Look - Monsters! Run!” ---
**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, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/142 "2010-05-17T16:57:50Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > 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. > [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > In the words of one of my favorite Doctor Who writers: > > “Look - Monsters! Run!” 😃 Or from a non-Who source, “A wizard did it.” ---
**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 17, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/143 "2010-05-17T17:41:05Z")
I thought _Time of Angels_ was fun and scary. I thought the Doctor a bit more commanding and in control even when out of control or without a clue. In hindsight (isn’t it always so much easier then), It would have been funnier/stranger if the Doctor had told them to jump and land on their backs. 1) it’s stranger, 2) it makes you think down instead of up, and c) when they jump up what’s keeping them from landing on their heads and snapping their necks? I thought the forest was fun (but too large to fit in the ship - oh, well). But what’s with the Star Trek tie-in with borgtrees? The appearance of the crack to save the day didn’t dawn on me as bad, just as a non-sequitor. The Doctor used the Angels’ absorbing of the power to his advantage and even if there was no crack, the Angels would have fallen away. However, the Crack wiped the Angels from existance and the clerics return, so it doesn’t make sense the bishop didn’t. We could assume he had more experience with time-related matters - so just as the Doctor/Amy/River didn’t forget, the bishop’s “condition” might not change either. It would have slightly spoiled his soliloquy anyway. Amy seems to be in flux as-it-were, so I grant a bit of leeway in that sex-farce. I do like that a companion has the stones to say “Hey, this is a terrific guy, I want him” but it also makes her a bit flighty and sluty if only because she is supposed to be getting married! Maybe she’s just Cracking up a bit. ---
**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, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/144 "2010-05-17T21:18:02Z")
I’m really curious what throwing herself at the doctor was all about. Is it a character flaw, or is it a problem with the space-time continuum? :dubious:😃 ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/145 "2010-05-17T21:57:24Z")
Is that crack in the Universe making you horny? /Austin Powers 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/146 "2010-05-17T22:25:26Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Weird. Goofy and befuddled seem like two adjectives that fit the Tenant version pretty well. Not sure how we can have such different ideas about Tenant’s character! > > (Befuddled, in Tenant’s case, only typically as a sort of pretense, though. But a well-and-often maintained pretense. I’ve interpreted the Smith version of befuddledness in the same way.) I didn’t see Tenant as goofy and befuddled. He was often confused, deliberately confusing, and/or angry, but he wasn’t goofy. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/147 "2010-05-17T22:49:45Z")
Amy’s already doubting her marriage, and has been reunited with the man who, despite only meeting her twice before, has been the biggest influence on her life, and he’s taken her off on a grand adventure (albeit one that almost killed her), then told her she’s _special_ (although he didn’t realize yet just _how_ special). And as several other Companions can tell you - the Doctor is simply _irresistible_. A character flaw? Sure - highly impetuous, if nothing else - but this particular expression of that character flaw isn’t particularly inexplicable. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/148 "2010-05-17T23:28:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Amy’s already doubting her marriage, and has been reunited with the man who, despite only meeting her twice before, has been the biggest influence on her life, and he’s taken her off on a grand adventure (albeit one that almost killed her), then told her she’s special (although he didn’t realize yet just how special). And as several other Companions can tell you - the Doctor is simply irresistible. > > A character flaw? Sure - highly impetuous, if nothing else - but this particular expression of that character flaw isn’t particularly inexplicable. I agree; and add in the “OMGaw fate, he showed up the night before the wedding to take her away” factor and the flirtyness she’s been showing the last couple of episodes (she was VERY interested in divining whether River was his wife, she pouted at him when he wanted her to wait where it was safe) and you can’t say this wasn’t unforeshadowed at all. Something else I thought was interesting - River apparently hadn’t met Amy before. So, does that mean that the next time they meet, Amy is not his companion anymore? Goof speculated about, confirmed by the date at the end of the episode: Amy’s “present” is 2010. According to her, 'twas 14 years ago when the 11th Doctor first crashed in young Amy’s yard, yet in the series premiere’s [opening scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NPDRKxLLPk), the Millennium Dome and the London Eye are both visible, neither of which had been built yet in '96. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/149 "2010-05-18T04:47:24Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#): > > But what’s with the Star Trek tie-in with borgtrees? You didn’t hear them? “You will be aspen-illated!” No? Okay. It caught us to for a moment, but then we realized it was much more likely just a fancy name for robotic trees (they had wiring inside). Cyborg; K-9 would have been a dogborg, etc. ---
**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 18, 2010, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/150 "2010-05-18T06:15:22Z")
> [@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. As I’m always fond of saying “There’s a [wiki](http://tardis.wikia.com) for that.” Specifically, the [timeline](http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/River_Song#River_Song.27s_Timeline) is here. Careful about scrolling up once she appears in other episode across the pond. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/151 "2010-05-19T01:03:12Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > Amy’s “present” is 2010. According to her, 'twas 14 years ago when the 11th Doctor first crashed in young Amy’s yard, yet in the series premiere’s [opening scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NPDRKxLLPk), the Millennium Dome and the London Eye are both visible, neither of which had been built yet in '96. You mean the view from an _out-of-control time machine_? Speaking of time, didn’t anyone else find it intriguing when River asked the Doctor for an explanation and he saic “Amy’s time,” and then we heard the phrase again near the episode’s end? Obviously we were meant to take that as the time of Amy’s wedding, but that’s not the only interpretation. “Time is running out… what if time \*could \*run out?” Who or what has been running out this season? “It’s all about you.” What is this show all about? “The most important thing in the universe is that I get you sorted out.” What’s so important for the last of the Time Lords to sort out? OK, it’s probably too abstract and goofy to be the real explanation of anything but… Amy’s time? ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/152 "2010-05-19T01:11:57Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > You mean the view from an _out-of-control time machine_? > > Speaking of time, didn’t anyone else find it intriguing when River asked the Doctor for an explanation and he saic “Amy’s time,” and then we heard the phrase again near the episode’s end? Obviously we were meant to take that as the time of Amy’s wedding, but that’s not the only interpretation. > > “Time is running out… what if time \*could \*run out?” Who or what has been running out this season? > > “It’s all about you.” What is this show all about? > > “The most important thing in the universe is that I get you sorted out.” What’s so important for the last of the Time Lords to sort out? > > OK, it’s probably too abstract and goofy to be the real explanation of anything but… Amy’s time? I think it was the time of her wedding. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/153 "2010-05-19T12:01:49Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > You mean the view from an _out-of-control time machine_? > > Speaking of time, didn’t anyone else find it intriguing when River asked the Doctor for an explanation and he saic “Amy’s time,” and then we heard the phrase again near the episode’s end? Obviously we were meant to take that as the time of Amy’s wedding, but that’s not the only interpretation. > > “Time is running out… what if time \*could \*run out?” Who or what has been running out this season? > > “It’s all about you.” What is this show all about? > > “The most important thing in the universe is that I get you sorted out.” What’s so important for the last of the Time Lords to sort out? > > OK, it’s probably too abstract and goofy to be the real explanation of anything but… Amy’s time? > [@Nobody](#): > > I think it was the time of her wedding. June 26, 2010. Does anyone know the scheduled UK broadcast date for the season finale? ---
**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 19, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/154 "2010-05-19T17:07:37Z")
Does any one else miss the days when the Doctor’s companion’s were just that - companions - and not the focal point of the operation of the Universe. In this revived set of series, it’s happened with Rose (“Bad Wolf”), Donna (that whole Doctor/Donna thing and the song of the Ood), and to some extent Captain Jack (becoming immortal. Probably. Unless he really is the Face of Boe, which means he eventually does die.) Seems like Martha was the only one of the new companions that really was a companion and not the basis for a story arc. Not that I don’t like the new episodes. (In fact, I think they’re more enjoyable because of the better writing and production values resulting from a higher relative budget.) I’d just like the companion viewpoint to be one of wonder and astonishment, and being sometimes helpful to The Doctor. ---
**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 19, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/155 "2010-05-19T17:13:22Z")
> [@Sean\_Factotum](#): > > Does any one else miss the days when the Doctor’s companion’s were just that - companions - and not the focal point of the operation of the Universe. Yes. I liked it when the Doctor travelled as his whim (and his and the Tardis’ Karma) took him. He could say let’s go to the theatre and they could find Weng Chiang and the Peking Homunculous without it being integral to the fate of the companion. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/156 "2010-05-19T19:23:11Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > OK, it’s probably too abstract and goofy to be the real explanation of anything but… Amy’s time? > [@Nobody](#): > > I think it was the time of her wedding. > [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > June 26, 2010. Well, yeah, as I wrote: “Obviously we were meant to take that as the time of Amy’s wedding, but that’s not the only interpretation.” I thought it might be fun to ponder that “Amy’s time” could also mean “Amy is time.” Apparently my idea of fun is not universal. > [@](#): > > Does anyone know the scheduled UK broadcast date for the season finale? Not sure if that date has been formally announced, but part 1 of the finale airs [June 19](http://www.bafta.co.uk/event.html?Pevent=com.othermedia.bafta.model.BaftaEvent-L-6198635), so part 2 should air June 26. > [@Sean Factotum](#): > > Does any one else miss the days when the Doctor’s companion’s were just that - companions - and not the focal point of the operation of the Universe. I know what you mean. At this point it would be less of a shocking twist if Amy turned out to be an incarnation of a fundamental aspect of the universe than if she were just an ordinary Scottish orphan. (Actually, it would be kind of cool if Boring Rory turned out to be the special one. It would break away from what has become the standard expected outcome while still paying off the whole countdown to June 26 and the importance of getting Amy’s feelings sorted out.) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/157 "2010-05-20T02:31:41Z")
> [@Sean\_Factotum](#): > > Does any one else miss the days when the Doctor’s companion’s were just that - companions - and not the focal point of the operation of the Universe. In this revived set of series, it’s happened with Rose (“Bad Wolf”), Donna (that whole Doctor/Donna thing and the song of the Ood), and to some extent Captain Jack (becoming immortal. Probably. Unless he really is the Face of Boe, which means he eventually does die.) Seems like Martha was the only one of the new companions that really was a companion and not the basis for a story arc. I would agree. It was my understanding that the role of the companion is to essentially serve as a surrogate to the audience. And The Doctor, while known to certain individuals and groups like UNIT, was mostly an anonymous figure. They would land the TARDIS in the middle of some situation situation (typically two warring, undermanned outposts on an alien world within walking distance of each other or some installation under siege by some monster) and somehow avoided being summarily shot on sight by a sentry. The Doctor would charm everyone into fixing the problem and the companion(s) would mostly be along for the ride or serve as a source of dramatic tension when they got capture. I’m not crazy about the companion as Nexus of the Universe and The Doctor as Great Mythical Hero to All. Another beef. I understand budget issues, but why has military technology stopped at the 21st century? Every future army or security force still uses Kevlar helmets and body armor and guns that look suspiciously like modern Belgian sub-machineguns (which are usually completely ineffective). I suppose an fanwank could be made that they are made of some sort of future space-Kevlar and smart bullets or something. But why can’t they invest a little bit in making future soldiers not look like they were outfitted from a British Army/Navy store? At why does The Doctor and his new companion look like reoccurring characters from Gossip Girl UK? ---
**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 20, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/158 "2010-05-20T03:01:23Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I would agree. It was my understanding that the role of the companion is to essentially serve as a surrogate to the audience… Not quoting the whole thing not to waste space. Anyways I think that might be the reason the Companion is getting to be special. People in the audience want to feel they are special, too. People want the human to save the day sometimes. I just think they go overboard with it. That said, I really like the way they pulled it off with Martha. She’s still an ordinary human, but actually contributed a lot. You buy that her experience alone has made a her a stronger, better person. As much as people rag on it, the finale with the way she fooled the Master was really cool. While I could believe that the Doctor gave her ideas on what to do if she got captured, there’s no way he communicate all the details in that short a period, especially because he wouldn’t have known them. And, as much as people want to complain, it really wasn’t a deus ex machina, as the satelites were forshaddowed throughout. The problem is just that there is no explanation given for why psychic power can reverse aging. And all you’d need is a bit of forshaddowing for that, too. Have the Master say, “You think all that psychic energy used in regeneration will keep you forever young. Well, not with this,” before he zaps him. Or, if you want something less obvious, have a character on before this episode who looked young because she drained the mental energy from other beings. Something. ---
**Author:** ![yastobaal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/258eb7/32.png) [@yastobaal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yastobaal)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/159 "2010-05-20T07:25:45Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > Not sure if that date has been formally announced, but part 1 of the finale airs [June 19](http://www.bafta.co.uk/event.html?Pevent=com.othermedia.bafta.model.BaftaEvent-L-6198635), so part 2 should air June 26. Take that date as confirmed as we brits generally do not have breaks in tv schedules (excepting US imports). ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640/160 "2010-05-20T13:49:55Z")
> [@Sean\_Factotum](#): > > Does any one else miss the days when the Doctor’s companion’s were just that - companions… How many companions have had a thing for the Doctor? I’ve seen a good amount of classic Who, but I don’t remember if Adric ever had a man-boy thing for Baker. Barbara giving ‘grandfather’ the eye? Sarah Jane? Romana? Trillian? (okay, that was silly, but the she would have made a great companion.) Rose did. Martha did. I thought Donna’s complete rejection of him as too skinny and their protestations to anyone’s suggestion of a relationship were brilliant — they allowed her to be a character in her own right. And now Amy. I’m getting a bit sick of the pedophile vibe they’re sticking in, and I’m sorry to see that the Hollywood-esque need for Every. Fucking. Show. to have some romantic tension between the leads (I think there’s even a thread on that) has crept into the Doctor. Or am I wrong and they routinely wove in a quasi-romance between the Doctor and his companion? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-season-5-us-pace-thread-no-spoilers-until-us-airing/536640.md?page=9)