aaahhh. Gotcha. Thanks, I never really thought about it that way.
I ahem “acquired” the next couple of episodes. I am loving Eccleston as The Doctor and I really like the chemistry between him and Rose. Damn shame that he’s only around for one season. I won’t spoil them for anyone, but IMHO the next episode is just so so, but the two after that are real nail biters. I’ll be interested to see what you all think.
The new guy is very good as well so it’s not that much of a problem. There was a xmas special episode on BBC which introduced him and he was very promising indeed.
I thought pretty much the exact opposite of that. 
It’s ok. There’s no shame in being wrong. 
According to Outpost Gallifrey, the ratings were good. That always helps.
Stupid, perhaps pointless question, but:
Does the name “Gallifrey” come from anywhere, or was it made up for the show? Does it mean anything in terms of the syllables in old/middle French or English?
The name was made up by series writer Robert Holmes. It has no etymologic significance that I know of.
Well, on the couch but behind the cushions.
Even more so, there are a few episodes with good HARD Sci-fi stories and stuff to give little kids nightmares. Dr. Who was always about that. (EX TER MI NATE!)
These episodes are so … short. I’m used to settling down for at least an hour and a half to enjoy the good Doctor’s adventures.
They used to be shorter. Adventures used to be four or six or whatever episodes of half an hour.
Exactly, they used to be 90 minute or 2 hour stories, albeit split into multiple episodes. These stories are much shorter, though yes the individual episodes are longer.
You’re not American, I presume? Over here, the public broadcasting stations would stitch all of the episodes of one story into one gigantic mass. It was like getting a new Doctor Who movie every week!
Occasionally even longer, say five hours, necessitating two 90-minute movies when shown in the US.
Erm…two 150-minute movies.
I’m less concerned about the stitching together as the overall shortness.
Dr. Who stories were varying lengths (especially in the early days, where they ran between one and 12 episodes), but settled down by the third doctor to four episodes of about 22 minutes per show (with one six-episode story a year). The vast majority of stories were four episodes each, which fits into 90 minutes when edited together. There was nearly always a cliffhanger at the end of each episode.
But cutting out a half-hour of story time, though, it requires either a simpler plot or short, quicker scenes. You don’t have as much a chance to get to know peripheral characters, and see less of them. It’s bound to affect the storytelling, especially since, with room for commercials, it looks like the running time is probably only slightly more than two episodes of the old show.
I agree completely. I don’t even have anything to add to what you said. I much prefered the old format, stitched together or not.
Sorry I didn’t start another thread yesterday for “The Unquiet Dead.” I was doing duty at my baby sister’s birthday party looking after 13 eight-year-olds. I meant to start the thread beforehand, but didn’t manage. Having seen finally seen the episode on DVR, though, and since there seems to be sustained interest, I went ahead and started this thread, even though it’s late.
As far as the issue of episode length goes, I’m not sure I don’t like this format better. I haven’t seen that many classic episodes as an adult, but from what I have seen, it seems that even the best stories often had awkward pacing. They veered between ubearably long scenes of running through tunnles and rushed and out of place climaxes. I think the problem was not the legnth of the overall stories, but the shorntness of the individual episodes, which just weren’t able to build enough steam before having to put someone in danger. As a result, the movies often lost focus and momentum as the Doctor wasted time until suddenly and without reason to he had to rush in and confront the villain at the end of 22 minutes. I’d rather see more two- and three- (or even four-)part stories made up of 46-minute (or whatever it is) episodes. The best of both worlds!