# Doctor Who - Series Six - Part II **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860 "2011-08-24T03:38:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 33
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/641 "2011-10-07T02:24:10Z")
One more complaint… When the Doctor shows up wearing a cowboy hat, he’s in America, and we’re left to presume it’s because he’s in America. But then in the last couple shows, he gets handed the hat from Collin in the UK _before_ going on his last round of adventures. That makes no sense. The point of the hat was it was American. Also, Apollo spacesuit helmets do not open with the face open to the world. The visor lifts, but the inner clear screen is sealed. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/642 "2011-10-07T06:42:45Z")
The hat was a going-to-America gift from Craig. 'Cause we’re known for our cowboys, sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/643 "2011-10-07T06:43:09Z")
> [@CorneaGenii](#): > > 1. And now the Question, the oldest question, since the beginning of time, which must never be…asked or answered? If it’s just a matter of a name, then someone should tell the Silence that it’s already been asked and answered. The Doctor’s 10th incarnation told River Song there was only one time he ever could say it, which I took to mean he’d revealed it before to someone…and Silence did not fall, nor did the universe cease. So I sincerely hope it involves more than just his name. (And I still can’t get over how lame-ass the Silence appear as the new arch-villains. Arch-villains?!?) > > [/SIZE] I don’t think this can be surmised. The Doctor knowing specific circumstances are required for him to say his name does not mean they have already arisen. As what he told River at the wedding wasn’t his name, we have no solid evidence to prove that was what River said to the Doctor a milion episodes ago. The thing I’m interested in is WHY does the Doctor, have this restriction. Other Timelords have been able to reveal their name just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/644 "2011-10-07T09:34:54Z")
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, if we know his name then it kind of defeats the purpose of Doctor Who. If he says, “My name is Zaxtar.” Then it becomes: A: “Why is the show called Doctor Who?” B: “Because we don’t know his name.” A: “Yes we do, it’s Zaxtar.” Now, if there is an episode where he says his name, but we never hear it and no-one who hears it repeats it, then I guess I’m full of it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/645 "2011-10-07T10:01:31Z")
> [@Galwegian](#): > > I missed **Doctor Who Confidential** this week, so I’ve just caught this now: River Song’s timeline. > > Not sure if it’s aired everywhere else, so I’m just linking for anyone else who missed it. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcuDf25OuQo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcuDf25OuQo) That’s really cleared a lot of things up. But then [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9Q5baJ223M&NR=1) muddied it all again. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/646 "2011-10-07T10:39:29Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > One more complaint… > > When the Doctor shows up wearing a cowboy hat, he’s in America, and we’re left to presume it’s because he’s in America. But then in the last couple shows, he gets handed the hat from Collin in the UK _before_ going on his last round of adventures. That makes no sense. The point of the hat was it was American. Craig. And he gave The Doctor the hat when The Doctor told him he was going to America. > [@](#): > > Also, Apollo spacesuit helmets do not open with the face open to the world. The visor lifts, but the inner clear screen is sealed. Well, it’s not really an Apollo spacesuit. It just looks like one. It has life support systems which mean the occupant doesn’t need to eat, and it is able to control the wearer’s actions. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2011, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/647 "2011-10-07T12:33:40Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Obviously, your wife has never seen some of the vintage Who from the 1960’s and 70’s - the effects were even _worse_ at times. Classic Who had a great privilege. Whenever the writer or director said, “and then _this_ happens,” the producer wouldn’t say, “No! we can’t afford that!” but rather, “what the hell, give me another pint.” \*\*CorneaGenii \*\*and **Irishman** , just remember the key to enjoying Doctor Who, is three words: “Look! Monsters! Run!” ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/648 "2011-10-07T12:50:17Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > \*\*CorneaGenii \*\*and **Irishman** , just remember the key to enjoying Doctor Who, is three words: “Look! Monsters! Run!” I have another phrase that helps when dealing with continuity questions: “Why? Doctor Who, that’s why.” For instance: “Why are there three Atlantises?” “Doctor Who, that’s why.” ---
**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:** [October 7, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/649 "2011-10-07T13:38:00Z")
“Continuity - schmontinuity. Get me another pint.” ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/650 "2011-10-07T16:11:06Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > One more complaint… > Also, Apollo spacesuit helmets do not open with the face open to the world. The visor lifts, but the inner clear screen is sealed. But how are astronauts supposed to lift their visor and report: “Houston…the air here…it’s normal…I can breathe!” I’m sure NASA would never overlook such a dramatic-license design flaw. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/651 "2011-10-07T18:37:12Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > \*\*CorneaGenii \*\*and **Irishman** , just remember the key to enjoying Doctor Who, is three words: “Look! Monsters! Run!” My favorite makeup/costume from Classic Who: [Web Planet](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrrzSGEXsjI). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/652 "2011-10-07T18:40:08Z")
> [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](#): > > As what he told River at the wedding wasn’t his name, we have no solid evidence to prove that was what River said to the Doctor a milion episodes ago. If you watch the episode with 10 in the library, at the point where River knocks the Doctor down and handcuffs him to the wall, and then is going to sacrifice herself to save him, that is when he tells us that she told him his name, and makes the comment about there only being one time he would, he could, tell his name. He’s not talking to anyone else but River. Lying at that point serves no perpose, as she’d just say “No I didn’t, you silly.” Clearly she learned his name at some point and whispered it to him to get his attention and trust. We still don’t know what the circumstances he mentioned are, or why he has restrictions, but we do know she told him his own name. > [@Candyman74](#): > > Craig. And he gave The Doctor the hat when The Doctor told him he was going to America. Right, He was in Britain and got the cowboy hat, rather than, say, the Doctor coming to America, and finding a cowboy hat in an American store, and acquiring the cowboy hat because “cowboy hats are cool”. Actually, probably not a store, since he doesn’t tend to buy things, but somehow come across it in America. Getting the hat in the UK is stupid. Get the hat in America, then it’s a souvenir from his trip. > [@](#): > > Well, it’s not really an Apollo spacesuit. It just looks like one. It has life support systems which mean the occupant doesn’t need to eat, and it is able to control the wearer’s actions. Yes, it’s a modified Apollo suit, so of course they modified it to allow the helmet to open. Easy fanwank. I just see too many Apollo suit replicas that do that. Of course it’s not a real Apollo suit, the stuntman wouldn’t have been able to walk in it. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/653 "2011-10-07T20:42:03Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > My favorite makeup/costume from Classic Who: [Web Planet](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrrzSGEXsjI). 😃 Good lord - that’s, like, the special effects of the first season of Red Dwarf crossed with an episode of the [Bugaloos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bugaloos) ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/654 "2011-10-07T23:16:56Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Good lord - that’s, like, the special effects of the first season of Red Dwarf crossed with an episode of the [Bugaloos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bugaloos) Well, in their defense, it was 1965. I give them props for attempting a story with no humanoid aliens but yeah, it was pretty bad. Summer stock theater bad. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/655 "2011-10-07T23:20:45Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Good lord - that’s, like, the special effects of the first season of Red Dwarf crossed with an episode of the [Bugaloos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bugaloos) Don’t be dissin The Bugaloos, I had a crush on Joy when I was seven.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/656 "2011-10-07T23:58:57Z")
Hey, I liked the Bugaloos, too - but let’s face it, there’s a _reason_ it only lasted one season. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/657 "2011-10-08T17:45:44Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Getting the hat in the UK is stupid. I don’t find it so. I find it inconsequential. I really - no matter how hard I try - find it impossible to care where he got the hat. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/658 "2011-10-08T22:49:38Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > I don’t find it so. I find it inconsequential. I really - no matter how hard I try - find it impossible to care where he got the hat. 😃 Yeah, really, this was a case of someone really looking for something truly ridiculous to complain about. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/659 "2011-10-08T23:09:19Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > My favorite makeup/costume from Classic Who: [Web Planet](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrrzSGEXsjI). 😃 I think that [the Curse of Peladon](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8wuwa_the-curse-of-peladon-part-2_shortfilms#rel-page-4) might give “Web Planet” a run for it’s money. The “curse” in question is no doubt the awful wigs that all the Peladon planet natives were forced to wear. This serial is also infamous for the alien known as Alpha Centauri, otherwise known as the Big Green Penis. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/660 "2011-10-09T01:26:13Z")
> [@CorneaGenii](#): > > They then put River Song into the suit in the 51st century. Unless it was very well preserved, I’m assuming it had to have been a recreation. Otherwise, the suit would’ve been at least 3,031 years old. Again, no other humanoid spacesuit design in 3,000 years? They appear to have time travel, since they took River back to the 21st Century. I assume they took the space suit from the 21st Century to the 51st, and stuck River in it there before returning her, rather then using a 3000 year old suit. > [@](#): > > 1. What was the point of River Song? Why were MK and the Silence so keen on using her? The suit was automated. She didn’t have control over it. The Silence could have used anyone, and it still would’ve killed the Doctor. If it had to be someone the Doctor knew, why not Martha, Donna, Craig, etc? As you say below, they wanted to use a Time Lord, or the closest they could get. As they discover by scanning her at Demon’s Run, she does appear to have some kind of Time Lord powers. > [@](#): > > 1. What was the big fuss over Melody Pond being a human/Gallifreyan hybrid? At no point was it significant to the plot of killing the Doctor. She is not a Time Lord, meaning able to see past, present, & future. Actually, I would think she does have some of those kind of Time Lord attributes. Her relationship with time and the Doctor does seem different than anyone else we’ve encountered. And they’re not only trying to kill the Doctor, they’re trying to create a fixed point in time, so that it always has to happen. Presumably that’s why they want someone timey-wimey rather than just any old schmoe. > [@](#): > > While we’re on that, after Mels regenerates into River, she says she was conditioned and trained for one purpose. When exactly was that? When she was in the suit from which she was trying to escape? I think so. While she was being raised in the orphanage by the Silence. > [@](#): > > 1. And now the Question, the oldest question, since the beginning of time, which must never be…asked or answered? Must never be asked… but apparently they’re referring to it never being asked at a specific time and place, on the Fields Of Wotsit at The Fall Of The Eleventh. Because if it’s asked there, it can’t be refused to be answered. It’s not that it can never be asked, or never be answered, but for some reason the Silenece are hell bent on it not happening there and then. > [@](#): > > If it’s just a matter of a name, then someone should tell the Silence that it’s already been asked and answered. The Doctor’s 10th incarnation told River Song there was only one time he ever could say it, which I took to mean he’d revealed it before to someone…and Silence did not fall, nor did the universe cease. The Silence that will fall is meant to be the Doctor’s silence. Nothing about the universe ceasing. Their aim is to keep the Doctor from answering that question on the Fields Of Flibbertyjibbit. (Apparently, although I’m still not sure why everything went silent at the end of The vampires Of Venice.) My questions… Why did the Tesselecta act so naturally like the Doctor, when every other time it acted like a robot. It couldn’t be that he was driving it, he was sitting in the eye. Why did they get married again? How did the River from the crash of the Byzantium (which is an adventure that happened in the old universe, before it was rebooted in the Big Bang, and featuring an Amy that never existed - our Amy’s first trip in the TARDIS was on her wedding night, even though she regained the memories of the other universe’s Amy) get over into the Universe v 2.0? Are there 2 different Amys running around the Universe now? Does that mean there are 2 Doctors as well? Hey, look! Monsters!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860.md?page=32) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860.md?page=34)