# New Doctor Who (unboxed spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doctor-who-unboxed-spoilers/296396 "2005-03-26T21:24:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doctor-who-unboxed-spoilers/296396/21 "2005-03-29T03:30:52Z")
> [@MinniePurl](#): > > Anyone know what Rose said just before she swung on the chain? It started off “I haven’t got any O-levels…” (or maybe it was A-levels), and there was something in there about genetics, but we couldn’t understand any of the rest of it. > > Overall, I liked it. My g/f and I couldn’t make out all of it, but she was basically saying that she had no job and no future prospects. The word you heard as “genetics” was actually “gymnastics,” and she concludes the monologue with “I got the bronze,” ie, the bronze medal, indicating that she’s a fairly accomplished amateur gymnast (and that her heroics aren’t _quite_ as unbelievable as they look). ---
**Author:** ![Galanthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Galanthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galanthus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doctor-who-unboxed-spoilers/296396/22 "2005-03-29T08:46:15Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > My g/f and I couldn’t make out all of it, but she was basically saying that she had no job and no future prospects. The word you heard as “genetics” was actually “gymnastics,” and she concludes the monologue with “I got the bronze,” ie, the bronze medal, indicating that she’s a fairly accomplished amateur gymnast (and that her heroics aren’t _quite_ as unbelievable as they look). Actually I think what she sad was that she didn’t have any ‘A’ Levels but she did have the under sevens gymnatsics medel, she got the bronze. It’s a shame she didn’t say it louder as it was quite a funny line. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doctor-who-unboxed-spoilers/296396/23 "2005-03-29T09:16:19Z")
The message was : > [@Rose](#): > > I’ve got no A-levels…no job … no future … but I’ll tell you what I have got … (something) Street Junior School under-7’s gymnastics team. I got the bronze ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doctor-who-unboxed-spoilers/296396/24 "2005-03-29T21:16:56Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > And I don’t mind people saying they dislike it, as long as they make reasonable criticisms about what was wrong with it. Just saying “its crap” is no use to anyone. so tell me, what parts of the plot made no sense? Be specific, please. Sorry for taking so long to respond, Peter. I have just watched the show again (yes, I had set my video to record it) and while I admit that I enjoyed it more second time round, I still don’t think it’s worthy of a prime time BBC1 slot. It looks like what it is - an above average children’s drama. It felt to me like _Hollyoaks_ with monsters. Re nonsensical plot: - Why were the living plastic thingies so interested in Rose and her boyfriend, to the extent of crawling up five flights of stairs and hiding behind her sofa? (wait a minute - hiding behind the sofa… was that an in-joke?) Was it just because she happened to have been in the vicinity of Dr Who, once? I didn’t get that part. - Anyway, the whole idea of thought-controlled plastic… how’s that supposed to work? - The Plastic Monster liked our planet because of all the dioxins and toxins, or something. And because its “protein planet” had died out? (not sure if I heard that bit right, but the dialogue was often muffled). Is the trick to being a Dr. Who fan just to ignore this kind of bollocks? - When Dr W. was invoking the Fourth Directive of Plarg to the Plastic Monster, the monster shut him up by suddenly revealing the captured Tardis. How did it move the Tardis into its lair, and why was Dr Who so upset? I could have used some subtitles during this dialogue, to tell me what the hell was going on. Other stuff I didn’t like: - Bad editing. The wrestling with the shop dummy at the end, while we waited for Rose to, like, do something, went on too long. Likewise the cutting between Rose and her Mum as the Brides of Plastic advanced on her. Considering that the programme as a whole felt so rushed, they could have saved valuable seconds there. Earlier on, there were at least one too many double-takes in the admittedly funny “spot the big circular thing” scene. I could go on. - Background music. Lousy mixture of generic dance-synth and suspense-synth, sounded like something produced by the groovier wing of the BBC Radiophonics Workshop circa 1988. And it was ever-present, often inappropriate, almost always bad. They definitely should fire the music guys. - No suspense. For example, the plastic-arm-behind-the-sofa scene. It would have been much more supsensful if we had seen the plastic arm climbing up from the basement and secreting itself behind the settee. As it was, it was just faintly amusing horror-slapstick. Have these people heard of Hitchcock? - Generally ropy production values. The wheelie bin effects were just poor. Plastic monster in the pit was OK-ish. Flying shop-dummy arm, not sure if that was intentionally bad so I’ll let it pass. Scenes of mass chaos with robots on rampage actually consisted of about four robots taking their own sweet time over exterminating about two people. Everything was shot through some kind of soft-focus filter, maybe to give it a dreamlike quality but it just looked cheesy to me. Poor incidental music, see above. Poor delivery of lines - I sometimes struggled to make out what the actors, particularly Billie Piper, were saying. A better director, or one with more time/money, would not have settled for what we got. What I did like: - good jokes - the internet Dr Who conspiracy nerd. Nice, affectionate piss-take, I thought. Shame they killed him. OR DID THEY? Actually, yes they did. - storyline was contained within one episode. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doctor-who-unboxed-spoilers/296396/25 "2005-03-29T22:29:44Z")
I am an American with no bittorrent, but I have seen clips of the show from the bbc’s site, and the making of the show radio program on the same site [http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/video/index.shtml](http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/video/index.shtml) . They have answered a few question, and I am impressed. > [@Usram](#): > > - Anyway, the whole idea of thought-controlled plastic… how’s that supposed to work? The dish broadcast instructions from the Nestene Consciousness. I have a DVD of the episode that introduces them, [Spearhead from Space.](http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/spearheadfromspace/) . Also, it’s explained [HERE](http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/broadband/mediawrapper/consoles/drwho?redirect=console.shtml&nbram=1&bbram=1&clip=pack1-ep1clip_16x9) > [@](#): > > - The Plastic Monster liked our planet because of all the dioxins and toxins, or something. And because its “protein planet” had died out? (not sure if I heard that bit right, but the dialogue was often muffled). Is the trick to being a Dr. Who fan just to ignore this kind of bollocks? It doen’t seem like nonsense to me. After all, if ‘There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea’s asleep and the rivers dream, people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there’s danger, somewhere there’s injustice and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come on, Ace, we’ve got work to do.’ , then why not a proten planet. Also, the trick to being a Whovian, (the stupid american name for "fans of the programme"0, is the realize that it is the “children’s programme that adults maintain isn’t” > [@](#): > > How did it move the Tardis into its lair, and why was Dr Who so upset? Because, while it is an extradimensional machine, it is also it’s own outside, and as such can be lifted by several people working at once. This has been seen in the original episodes. Other stuff you didn’t like: > [@](#): > > sounded like something produced by the groovier wing of the BBC Radiophonics Workshop circa 1988. Perfect! > [@](#): > > Poor delivery of lines - I sometimes struggled to make out what the actors, particularly Billie Piper, were saying. Sounded fine on the “making of” radio show I heard and on the clip. Maybe Canda’s TV station isn’t doing a good job of broadcasting the signal. > [@](#): > > What I did like: > > - good jokes > - the internet Dr Who conspiracy nerd. Nice, affectionate piss-take, I thought. Shame they killed him. OR DID THEY? Actually, yes they did. > - storyline was contained within one episode. I can’t wait to see it. I am going to find a friend with broad band and see if I can’t get it from them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doctor-who-unboxed-spoilers/296396/26 "2005-03-29T23:06:21Z")
Fair enough. Man, are you going to love the new episode. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doctor-who-unboxed-spoilers/296396.md?page=1)