# {New Dr Who Season, UK pace} \[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347 "2011-04-22T12:42:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Pantani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/87869e/32.png) [@Pantani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantani)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/341 "2011-05-15T19:07:33Z")
oh, and its now cannon that Timelords can change sex when they regenerate. All those years of speculation… ---
**Author:** ![vdgg81](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@vdgg81](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vdgg81)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/342 "2011-05-15T19:14:04Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > That’s a good point. On the other hand, I think that the Doctor might have been scared of the Silence more than he’s ever been scared of anything else that he’s come up against, simply because the Silence powers overwhelm his strong point, his brain. > > … I think that believably, it was genocide, or submit to being dominated by the Silence, and domination could lead to his death if the Silence decided that he was too unpredictable to let live. Yeah… I can understand that. That brings to mind another thing that bothers me: the Doctor nowadays is, by default, the most intelligent and knowledgeable guy around. Other versions of the character wouldn’t be scared by this kind of thing, because they accepted the universe was vast enough there needed to be smarter, weirder things than him out there. The Doctor should see the Silence as a challenge, not a personal threat. The reason he doesn’t is because he now sees himself as some sort of supreme authority. I miss a Doctor that is an explorer and who’s always learning, who wanders into trouble, instead of a superhero with all the answers who goes looking for trouble. The Doctor (to me) shouldn’t be an authority figure, he should strive to knock authority figures off their pedestals. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/343 "2011-05-15T19:23:06Z")
Anyone surprised the Doctor doesn’t receive email? I wish my snail mail could magically find me anywhere in the universe. I’d even settle for another state. I’m guessing the Doctor doesn’t fill out a daily mail forwarding card at the Gallifrey Post Office. 😃 I wonder how that little cube found the Tardis? It had to track him through time and space. I need a Timelord to teach my postman his tricks. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/344 "2011-05-15T19:32:38Z")
I unequivocally loved Gaiman’s episode. Suranne Jones was _wonderful_. The Tardis chose the Doctor, to go on adventures. I am happy with this. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/345 "2011-05-15T19:38:22Z")
Also, bunk beds. Doctor, sometimes you are utterly clueless, even if ladders \* are\* cool. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/346 "2011-05-15T19:48:05Z")
> [@vdgg81](#): > > Personally I dislike the concept of an intelligent and conscious TARDIS although I understand it’s been done before in the novels, with which I am not familiar. I’m a little uneasy about the idea myself, though it’s long been hinted at. It leaves the question as to whether a TARDIS is an artificial intelligence, some sort of naturally evolved creature, and whether or not being in a TARDIS is something a TARDIS has an opinion about. I had a thought they could be like hermit crabs, needing to find some sort of substantial shelter, in which case the Time Lords might have built them shells they found attractive or useful in exchange for them acting as transportation. It really leaves a bunch of questions even as it provides some answers. > [@](#): > > I also very much disliked the Doctor bragging about his destruction of the Time Lords and his cheering the TARDIS on as she killed House. An evil entity is threatening all of them and saying “I’m a bad ass, be afraid of me” and it’s suddenly bad for the Doctor to say “I’m not afraid of you, I’m an even worse bad ass than you.”? As for the cheering on the TARDIS as she kills House – we know for a fact House has killed and dismembered people, treated people as playthings, killed a multitude of TARDIS’s, played cruel games with Amy and Rory just for the fun of it, and is now threatening to kill all of them and eat Sexy the TARDIS… I’d say killing House comes under self defense. The Doctor doesn’t object to _self defense_ killing when there really is no other choice. Even if you could argue that House has to eat TARDIS’s or something like them, he _doesn’t_ have to torture other people, yet he does. > [@](#): > > _Doctor Who_ is becoming more violent every year. At the beginning of this season he arranged for the genocide of the Silence, which no other Doctor would have done. Actually, it’s not a _certain_ genocide. If the Silents go away and avoid humans they won’t be killed on sight. Yes, initially it must have been a bloodbath but the survivors could leave Earth and find someplace without humans to live if they want to survive. It’s a fate that can be escaped, unlike what happened to the Family of Blood. > [@](#): > > As to the ease with which House killed Time Lords… The Time Lords have never been a very impressive bunch individually. This. Without their technology they’re just ordinary mortal creatures. Smart, tough, sometimes resourceful, and regeneration is a great trick though that is clearly an outgrowth of their technology as well (attributed to Rassilon) but still quite mortal. > [@vdgg81](#): > > Yeah… but that’s my point! Most of these are recent examples. Tom Baker decided it would be wrong to commit genocide in **Genesis of the Daleks** when he has the chance to kill the first Daleks before they get a chance to develop. The Fourth Doctor also talks himself out of wiping out the Daleks preemptively because of the impact that would have on history and points out the alliances and cooperation between species brought about by having the Daleks as a common enemy. It’s not _just_ that killing a species entirely is wrong, it’s also about how much history would be undone and rewritten, resulting in who knows what? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/347 "2011-05-15T20:08:06Z")
> [@Lissla\_Lissar](#): > > Mr. Lissar just had a thought about why House could mess with Amy’s head and not Rory’s- Auntie touched Amy and said, “House loves you.”. Telepathic connection? > > Anyway, great episode. We watched it with two kids crawling over us and will need to rewatch it later. …my personal pet theory is quite simply that it wasn’t the House playing with Amy, it was the Big Bad, or whatever it has been thats been playing with Amy’s head for the last few episodes. ---
**Author:** ![vdgg81](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@vdgg81](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vdgg81)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/348 "2011-05-15T20:11:30Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > An evil entity is threatening all of them and saying “I’m a bad ass, be afraid of me” and it’s suddenly bad for the Doctor to say “I’m not afraid of you, I’m an even worse bad ass than you.”? Putting it like this, it’s not so much that it’s bad (which I don’t think it is) as it is wrong for the character. It’s not something I feel is appropriate for the Doctor to say, especially considering how much trouble he’s had with living with the Time Lord genocide. You can then counter that it’s not bad characterization, it’s just different from the one I’d like, to which I’d have no answer. > [@Broomstick](#): > > As for the cheering on the TARDIS as she kills House – we know for a fact House has killed and dismembered people, treated people as playthings, killed a multitude of TARDIS’s, played cruel games with Amy and Rory just for the fun of it, and is now threatening to kill all of them and eat Sexy the TARDIS… I’d say killing House comes under self defense. The Doctor doesn’t object to _self defense_ killing when there really is no other choice. Even if you could argue that House has to eat TARDIS’s or something like them, he _doesn’t_ have to torture other people, yet he does. I’ll agree that House is evil, but in the past that’s been no excuse for the Doctor. If Amy or Rory had done it I’d have had no problems with it, it’d have been a normal human reaction, but the Doctor should be held to a higher standard and historically has held himself to such a standard. Also it’s not at all clear it is self-defense. House appears to have already been defeated when it happens. Even if it is self-defense, the cheering is in bad taste. > [@Broomstick](#): > > Actually, it’s not a _certain_ genocide. If the Silents go away and avoid humans they won’t be killed on sight. Yes, initially it must have been a bloodbath but the survivors could leave Earth and find someplace without humans to live if they want to survive. It’s a fate that can be escaped, unlike what happened to the Family of Blood. I agree with both points. I’ll also agree that these were defensible decisions (though I’m not at all sure about the Family of Blood). Still, they strike me as unnecessarily vicious and violent for the Doctor. He’s never been a strict pacifist, but he’s always preached the employment of minimal force and always tried to explore alternatives other than force. > [@Broomstick](#): > > The Fourth Doctor also talks himself out of wiping out the Daleks preemptively because of the impact that would have on history and points out the alliances and cooperation between species brought about by having the Daleks as a common enemy. It’s not _just_ that killing a species entirely is wrong, it’s also about how much history would be undone and rewritten, resulting in who knows what? This is true. But still, it all begins with the Doctor’s reluctance to use violence and with his disgust with the idea of genocide. More importantly, he questions if he has the right to make this decision. Note that in this story, unlike his usual MO, the Doctor is on a mission for the Time Lords and his mandate is explicitly to destroy the Daleks before they can become a force for evil and chaos in the universe. Even then he’s unsure if he has the necessary authority to play god. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/349 "2011-05-15T20:14:42Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Actually, it’s not a _certain_ genocide. If the Silents go away and avoid humans they won’t be killed on sight. Yes, initially it must have been a bloodbath but the survivors could leave Earth and find someplace without humans to live if they want to survive. It’s a fate that can be escaped, unlike what happened to the Family of Blood. It’s definitely not a certain genocide. Recall that as “the Impossible Astronaut” begins (minus a few throw-away bits), Amy & Rory have resumed their normal lives for months and meet up with the Doctor (1103 year old version) & River in Area 51 in their home time period, which is presumably the modern day. While they are picnicking, Amy sees a Silent standing in the distance. It’s only after the Doctor is killed, and they meet the younger Doctor that they travel back in time to 1969, when the “genocide” takes place. So, there was at least one remaining Silent as of 2011. Also, regarding the Doctor’s “death” - in each episode so far, we’ve seen the Doctor make some presumably off-handed remark about “only living once” or “everybody’s got to go sometime”, eliciting awkward glances between Amy & Rory. During most of these exchanges, the focus is on Amy & Rory’s reactions. But ISTM that the Doctor is dropping quite a lot of “off-handed” remarks about “only living once.” I think he already knows about (or has even already planned) his “death.” ---
**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 15, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/350 "2011-05-15T20:20:48Z")
Tardises are grown. It’s not AI. It’s just I. (I’m not reading the rest because I’m behind and don’t want spoilers.) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/351 "2011-05-15T20:38:43Z")
This may be a stupid question but how can the box travel with House without a Tardis to power it? ---
**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:** [May 15, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/352 "2011-05-15T20:42:48Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > This may be a stupid question but how can the box travel with House without a Tardis to power it? By the ineffable, unquantifiable power of the Time Lords. (I.e. A wizard did it.) ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/353 "2011-05-15T21:01:40Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > [spoiler] The actress that played the Tardis was so very good. > I was hoping that the older control room would be a more classic one. It would have been fun to see an old old one. > > [/spoiler] Me too, it would have been fun for me to see them turn up in Peter Davison’s control room, he being my first Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/354 "2011-05-15T21:08:52Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > This may be a stupid question but how can the box travel with House without a Tardis to power it? Well, House is already fairly in sync with the TARDISes, if he/it feeds on TARDIS energy. He’s also obviously been studying TARDISes for a long time, and may have practiced flying them around his own universe substituting his own soul and mind for that of the TARDIS, just in case he ever needed to move on. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/355 "2011-05-15T21:15:43Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’d hope Rory doesn’t really hate Amy. It would take a lot to push him to that extreme. Keep in mind that if he was stuck there, and forced to hate her, it’s not like it happened because he was just locked in another room. He was (presumably) tortured by The House the entire time. I think the Cybus universe (and other dimension hopping) was a big deal because they were parallel universes. This pocket universe, on the other hand, was just a small pustule on our universe. Totally different. I also didn’t have a problem with The House killing Time Lords. Across all of time they’d it managed to kill a couple hundred. A couple hundred across all of time? I’m sure slippery bathroom doors have killed more than that. > [@chrisk](#): > > Well, House is already fairly in sync with the TARDISes, if he/it feeds on TARDIS energy. He’s also obviously been studying TARDISes for a long time, and may have practiced flying them around his own universe substituting his own soul and mind for that of the TARDIS, just in case he ever needed to move on. Yes, it’s quite clear that the only reason House left its own pocket universe was because there would be no more TARDIS coming to feed it. Presumably it could have left long ago, it just didn’t see a reason to do so. Until no more meals were going to be delivered. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/356 "2011-05-15T21:46:13Z")
**"Pull to Open"** Brilliant. I never noticed. Never ever, all these years. And it’s so damn obvious - you’d never build a box that size with the door opening _inward_. Anyone else gobsmacked? ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/357 "2011-05-15T21:51:34Z")
> [@TPWombat](#): > > **“Pull to Open”** > > Brilliant. I never noticed. > > Never ever, all these years. > > And it’s so damn obvious - you’d never build a box that size with the door opening _inward_. > > Anyone else gobsmacked? I’ll never admit it, even if it were true. So of course not! -Joe ---
**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:** [May 15, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/358 "2011-05-15T21:54:18Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Tardises are grown. It’s not AI. It’s just I. I’m wondering - how are you so sure? Because the TARDIS sure looks an awful lot like a construct, doesn’t it? > [@DSeid](#): > > This may be a stupid question but how can the box travel with House without a Tardis to power it? Perhaps House and TARDIS’s are related types of creatures? They both feed on rift energy, after all… ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/359 "2011-05-15T22:05:01Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I’m wondering - how are you so sure? Because the TARDIS sure looks an awful lot like a construct, doesn’t it? The pot my ficus lives in is a construct too, but the ficus is living. -Joe, doesn’t actually own a ficus, can’t remember the name of the plant on his filing cabinet ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347/360 "2011-05-15T22:10:29Z")
> [@TPWombat](#): > > **“Pull to Open”** > > Brilliant. I never noticed. > > Never ever, all these years. > > And it’s so damn obvious - you’d never build a box that size with the door opening _inward_. > > Anyone else gobsmacked? Actually I had just noted it for the first time at the start of the episode as The Doctor was standing with the door push inwards with the complete sign “PULL …” in frame next to him. I don’t think it was a coincidence that it was never framed in a way that it called attention to it before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-dr-who-season-uk-pace-edited-title/579347.md?page=19)