# Doctor Who Series 7 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859 "2012-08-27T21:04:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/201 "2012-09-18T07:54:22Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > Not the best episode, nor the worse. Just a little meh, for me. Still, some good quotes, like always: > > \*Doctor: Anachronistic electricity. Keep Out signs. Aggressive stares. Has someone been peeking at my Christmas list? Oooh, and this is at least the second reference to Christmas lists this season too. Umm, guess they’re foreshadowing that we’ll have a Christmas episode? 😉 > [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > Don’t feel bad, I hated the first episode of the season and didn’t much care for last week’s, either. I was starting to think I should drop my Doctor Who subscription on Amazon and just give up on the whole thing. Fortunately, I thought this one was really good, and it restored my Who love. I don’t like people who come into a TV thread and say nothing but negative things or declare that each episode is a jump-the-shark moment, but no one likes everything. Ah, thank you. I did actually like the first two, maybe watching the third with a hangover wasn’t a good idea.. > [@Gyrate](#): > > As long as it’s not Amy and Rory causing it. At the end of Asylum, were we supposed to assume that their tender moment completely defeated their imminent Dalekification or is that something still to pull out of the bag later? Or did I miss something? I did wonder about her still-possible Dalekification when she pulled a gun on the Doctor (but again, I’d missed so much of the episode by then, I’ve no idea of context). ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/202 "2012-09-18T17:35:22Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > Doctor: I speak horse. He’s called Susan. And he wants you to respect his life choices. I loved that line. Also: “Don’t swear.” It was a good solid episode. It was nice to see Ben Browder in the Who-verse. I also liked that the opening and closing narration talking about an angel that fell from the sky turned out to be the Gunslinger instead of the Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/203 "2012-09-18T17:37:23Z")
So far I’m not that impressed. I liked the first episode, although I felt that it needed a bit more time to make the story work better. I thought the second episode was pretty poor, with little interesting about it. I suppose I’m not a big fan of the action-packed “adventure” episodes. The third was an improvement, but I didn’t love it. As happens all too often, it seemed like they had a good premise but fleshing it out into an actual episode didn’t produce amazing results. It’s as if the writers come up with cool ideas (“An alien cyborg in the Wild West!”) but can’t be bothered to make a good story out of it that doesn’t have a thousand contradictions. And I know a few people mentioned they liked the horse jokes, but I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. I know I’m being very negative, but I do actually generally like Doctor Who. That and the food are my favourite things about Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/204 "2012-09-18T21:44:16Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > Oooh, and this is at least the second reference to Christmas lists this season too. Umm, guess they’re foreshadowing that we’ll have a Christmas episode? 😉 I saw Christmas references in all three episodes so far - something is up… ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/205 "2012-09-18T22:28:25Z")
I think the ring of rocks and sticks around the town was a mistake, dramatically speaking. Once I realized that the cyborg had placed it there as his “line in the sand,” all I could picture was him awkwardly trying to construct it, at night, with one arm. Probably shuffling around on his knees as he tries to get them placed just right so they don’t fall over. Good thing no one happened to go outside during the (what must have been ) several hours it took him to build that thing. He’d probably have had to flee the planet in embarrassment. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/206 "2012-09-19T16:37:33Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > DOCTOR: And when you say that you’re both thirty-one years old do you mean that you’re counting . . . everything? > > AMY: Yeah. > > RORY: Of course. > > DOCTOR: Even the boring times? Even when you’re _asleep_? > > AMY: Yeah. > > DOCTOR: [Starts punching buttons and pulling levers on the TARDIS CONSOLE] And I let you spend all those months by yourselves living in that stupid little house in Leadworth? I thought I was doing you a favor! Well now that I know how short those pitiful human lives of yours are, I think we’d better make sure you spend them doing something _exciting_ for a change! That was really good. You caught the Doctor’s voice almost perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/207 "2012-09-22T20:01:40Z")
> [@Slade](#): > > Let me see if I’ve understood this. > > Say for the state of argument that the Dr collected Amy and Rory from their home at noon one day, and took them off on an adventure which (from their subjective perspective) lasted one month. In order to avoid anyone noticing Amy & Rory had “disappeared” for a month, the Dr then returns them home at - let’s say - one minute past noon on the same day they left. > > In that situation, Amy & Rory would have physically aged one month, but their next-door neighbours by only one minute. > > Is that how Amy and Rory’s faster aging works? OK, now I’m confused again. In the Cubes episode, Amy and Rory each have friends remind them that they DO often disappear for months at a time - these months presumably being filled by their adventures with the Dr. This implies that a seven-week adventure would see them return after seven weeks of conventional Earth time had passed, and that they’re therefore ageing at the same rate as you and I. Then, later in the same episode, the Dr takes them off on an adventure involving the newly-built Savoy Hotel and Henry VIII, which he says took them seven weeks of personal time to complete, but still returns them to the wedding party soon enough for no-one to even notice they’d been gone. Which implies the faster ageing mentioned in my earlier post. If the Dr can return them to the party that quickly, why doesn’t he do it all the time? And if he does do it all the time, then why would anyone notice Amy and Rory had been “disappearing” at all? I know this doesn’t remotely matter, and that it’s probably just something where the writers assume time works however they need it to work for any given one-liner. The show’s science-fantasy rather than hard science fiction, after all, and probably the only sensible answer is “a wizard did it” - in this case, a somewhat unpredictable wizard called the Tardis. All the same, if anyone can offer an internally-consistent model of how Amy and Rory’s ageing process works relative to their next-door neighbours’, I’d love to hear it. Has any series of the show ever set out any consistent approach on this question? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/208 "2012-09-22T21:22:40Z")
> [@Slade](#): > > OK, now I’m confused again. In the Cubes episode, Amy and Rory each have friends remind them that they DO often disappear for months at a time - these months presumably being filled by their adventures with the Dr. This implies that a seven-week adventure would see them return after seven weeks of conventional Earth time had passed, and that they’re therefore ageing at the same rate as you and I. > > Then, later in the same episode, the Dr takes them off on an adventure involving the newly-built Savoy Hotel and Henry VIII, which he says took them seven weeks of personal time to complete, but still returns them to the wedding party soon enough for no-one to even notice they’d been gone. Which implies the faster ageing mentioned in my earlier post. > > If the Dr can return them to the party that quickly, why doesn’t he do it all the time? And if he does do it all the time, then why would anyone notice Amy and Rory had been “disappearing” at all? > > I know this doesn’t remotely matter, and that it’s probably just something where the writers assume time works however they need it to work for any given one-liner. The show’s science-fantasy rather than hard science fiction, after all, and probably the only sensible answer is “a wizard did it” - in this case, a somewhat unpredictable wizard called the Tardis. > > All the same, if anyone can offer an internally-consistent model of how Amy and Rory’s ageing process works relative to their next-door neighbours’, I’d love to hear it. Has any series of the show ever set out any consistent approach on this question? I think the problem you’re having is that you’re missing the one element of inconsistency in what is otherwise a perfectly straightforward and consistent scenario, viz. the Doctor. Yes, he _can_ return them to more-or-less where and when he took them from – if he remembers, or he can be bothered, or he doesn’t get distracted by something else happening… The time travel is consistent - the Doctor isn’t. It’s the one thing that’s consistent about him. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/209 "2012-09-22T21:52:23Z")
Fair enough. On one level, as I said, that is the only sensible answer. You call your wizard the Doctor and I called mine the Tardis, but essentially we’re saying the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/210 "2012-09-22T23:11:03Z")
> [@Slade](#): > > Fair enough. On one level, as I said, that is the only sensible answer. You call your wizard the Doctor and I called mine the Tardis, but essentially we’re saying the same thing. Mmm… not really, if I understand you. You seem to be saying that the problems with Amy and Rory’s personal timeline are an arbitrary plot convenience that needs to be hand-waved away by some assumed quirk of the operations of the Tardis. My point is that they’re a consistent and predictable result of the Doctor’s established behaviour and personality (or indeed, personalities – if there’s one thing that all his incarnations have in common it’s a hit-and-miss approach to putting his companions back where they belong). In other words: it’s not a bug, it’s a feature. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/211 "2012-09-22T23:33:36Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > I think the problem you’re having is that you’re missing the one element of inconsistency in what is otherwise a perfectly straightforward and consistent scenario, viz. the Doctor. > > Yes, he _can_ return them to more-or-less where and when he took them from – if he remembers, or he can be bothered, or he doesn’t get distracted by something else happening… For example, one time he brought Rose back after a short adventure, one year later than he intended to, leading to missing persons reports, etc. Rose, in that case, aged only a few days, while her friends and mother aged one year. ---
**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:** [September 23, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/212 "2012-09-23T00:04:12Z")
> [@Slade](#): > > If the Dr can return them to the party that quickly, why doesn’t he do it all the time? The [answer is](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2Sd9RIhxP4&feature=player_detailpage#t=392s): [QUOTE=Eleventh Hour] Doctor: Why did you say six months? Amy: Why did you say five minutes? [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/213 "2012-09-23T00:28:20Z")
Is it just me, or has this Series felt a lot more old school (or at least old school Nu Who). We got episodes taking place primarily on or around Earth, featuring companions’ family members, and the Doctor dealing various government entities. All of which Moffat has mostly avoided so far. Plus, other than a little bit during this episode, there has been very little timey-wimey going on. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/214 "2012-09-23T00:49:33Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > DOCTOR: Doesn’t count. No of course not. I wasn’t doing anything. > > AMY: So what, time only “counts” for you if . . . what, if you’re having fun? > > DOCTOR: [Suddenly paying attention to the PONDS] Let me ask you something. You two are–what, how old? > > RORY: Thirty-one. > > AMY: Yeah, we’re thirty-one. > > DOCTOR: And when you say that you’re both thirty-one years old do you mean that you’re counting . . . everything? > > AMY: Yeah. > > RORY: Of course. > > DOCTOR: Even the boring times? Even when you’re _asleep_? > > AMY: Yeah. > > DOCTOR: [Starts punching buttons and pulling levers on the TARDIS CONSOLE] And I let you spend all those months by yourselves living in that stupid little house in Leadworth? I thought I was doing you a favor! Well now that I know how short those pitiful human lives of yours are, I think we’d better make sure you spend them doing something _exciting_ for a change! I love that this conversation basically happened. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/215 "2012-09-23T02:36:13Z")
I really enjoyed this episode, but the ending seemed quite rushed. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/216 "2012-09-23T02:46:04Z")
I was underwhelmed by tonight’s episode. There were too many loose ends. The doctor can’t detect seven huge spaceships hovering around earth for a year? No one noticed a little girl sitting in an emergency room for six months? If the cubes are doing all the intelligence gathering, why is the little girl there anyway? By the same token, why are the orderlies kidnapping patients? And why didn’t the Doctor make an effort to save the kidnapped patients before the ship exploded? If the aliens exist in all space and time and are trying to stop the humans from expanding into the universe in the future it seems like they should already know so much about humans they shouldn’t need the cubes. Brain death occurs pretty fast after heart failure. You can’t defibrillate people half an hour later. The whole thing felt sloppy. I liked the Brig’s daughter though. I hope she’s a reoccurring character. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/217 "2012-09-23T02:51:12Z")
I need to just set up a macro about how much Rory rocks. So where’d they go? Ah, here’s the portal into gods-know-what-dimension, _exeunt_. Wasn’t even wearing the centurion uni or anything! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/218 "2012-09-23T02:51:54Z")
The orderlies with the “big mouths”… where have I seen that before? ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/219 "2012-09-23T02:54:38Z")
Those ‘Prisoner Zero’ zombies from 11’s first episode, the name of which oddly escapes me? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859/220 "2012-09-23T02:59:10Z")
Possibly - I was thinking I saw it from a movie or another TV show. It’ll probably come to me sometime in 2014… IIRC, it had to do with people being changed. Damn, this is going to bug me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-7/632859.md?page=12)