|
|
Post by librarylover on May 21, 2009 22:53:47 GMT
If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only have one episode starring David Tennant, which one would you choose, and why?
Frankly I'm going to have to think about this one for awhile.
|
|
|
|
Post by Stripes on May 21, 2009 23:14:12 GMT
I was thinking this and I thought either Unicorn and a Waspe or Partners in Crime.
I want happy Donna and Happy Ten.
|
|
|
|
Post by poetry on May 24, 2009 6:03:14 GMT
Blink. Blink is pure genius. It uses time travel more effectively than any other episode I've seen, I love the main character, I love that the Doctor and Martha are side characters yet essential to the story, i love the monsters, I love how incredibly smart the story is, and most of all I love that it made me terrified of statues for weeks. I am not easily scared by television, but Blink managed to be pants-wettingly scary. I've got to give it credit for being able to hijack my emotions so completely.
|
|
|
|
Post by magnusgreel on May 24, 2009 14:10:14 GMT
I just taped Blink and watched for the second time. I'm not close to following it, but I sense things lurking in the story that are going to bother me. My first questions would be how looking at a being could hurt her/him, and what the statue-aliens were doing there in that house on Earth at all. All these things might be explained but I can't tell yet. What I'm afraid of is that DW has turned into a show about magic, perhaps because of Harry Potter's influence.
The only Ten stories I'm definitely won over by are the three that finish Tennant's second season, Oblivion etc., so I choose that for my electricity-free desert island.
|
|
|
|
Post by Stripes on May 24, 2009 14:29:00 GMT
I just taped Blink and watched for the second time. I'm not close to following it, but I sense things lurking in the story that are going to bother me. My first questions would be how looking at a being could hurt her/him, and what the statue-aliens were doing there in that house on Earth at all. All these things might be explained but I can't tell yet. What I'm afraid of is that DW has turned into a show about magic, perhaps because of Harry Potter's influence. The only Ten stories I'm definitely won over by are the three that finish Tennant's second season, Oblivion etc., so I choose that for my electricity-free desert island. um, magnus i don't get what you are saying about Blink. Do you mean you don't understand why people CAN'T look away from the aliens? What's wrong with magic? I like magic, even in DW. kxewniofberghvilncaskdlcne;sdovhfeasrfhdi.olv why am i bothering? I can't stand people who take this show seriously so why argue with them? |
|
|
|
Post by clocketpatch on May 24, 2009 19:17:39 GMT
It's quantum physics Magnus, not magic (though the two do seem to cross a bit, even in real life). The Statues are like Schrodinger's Cat; they can only exist when no one is looking at them. But, once you blink, they come to life and send you back through time. It's very clever I thought and a good use of strange science taken to the next level. I mean, it is a bit magical because in controlled tests scientists have only been able to do these weird quantum things with single atoms, much less huge statues, but there's just enough basis in truth to freak me right out. And thus I was left afraid of statues for a week. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the characters didn't blonk though (keep one eye open and then switch to the other eye and back and forth...)  But I suppose if I were being chased by scary statues I probably wouldn't have the presence of mind to do that either. Or who threw the rock at the beginning of the story... |
|
|
|
Post by magnusgreel on May 24, 2009 20:08:10 GMT
It's quantum physics Magnus, not magic (though the two do seem to cross a bit, even in real life). The Statues are like Schrodinger's Cat; they can only exist when no one is looking at them. But, once you blink, they come to life and send you back through time. It's very clever I thought and a good use of strange science taken to the next level. I mean, it is a bit magical because in controlled tests scientists have only been able to do these weird quantum things with single atoms, much less huge statues, but there's just enough basis in truth to freak me right out. And thus I was left afraid of statues for a week. Are you serious about this? Did they say that it was connected to this phenomenon you're referring to? Or are you funning me? The only thing this even remotely reminds me of is the business where observing can alter what's being observed, and I don't remember anything about that right now. I have huge gaping holes in my knowledge of everything. Maybe I'll Google this for a minute or two. And Newton, if my need for DW to be science fiction and not be turned into a magical fantasy show bothers you, well, I'm not going anywhere, and I'm not changing in this regard, so get used to it, I guess. Magic is fine, as long as that's part of the premise of the film or program. It was not part of DW until RTD revived DW and decided that (sometimes, once in a while) anything goes. Caring about science fiction is very different from the kind of nerdy fannish nitpickiness you're thinking of. Generations of intelligent, literate, creative people have had very strong feelings about it. Doctor Who is hardly pure science fiction, and often SF isn't central to a story, but SF is one of the basic crucial parts of DW, even when it's not so apparent. Even if a person isn't SF-minded at all, there's still often a dramatic problem with magic, at least the anything-goes variety that doesn't follow rules. I need to stop now though. |
|
|
|
Post by librarylover on May 24, 2009 20:29:35 GMT
I choose that for my electricity-free desert island. Fortunately, in a crossover that even Nostradamus couldn't have foreseen, you were shipwreaked with Professor Roy Hinckley, famed scientist and Boy Scout leader. He managed to salvage enough wreakage from the S.S. Minnow to cobble together a portable DVD player. As if that wasn't an impressive enough example of creative anachronism, he then built an electrical generator using nothing but three coconut shells and the underwire from one of the 14 bras that Ginger had packed for a three-hour tour. (In case any of you don't understand the preceding bit of insanity, watch a ridiculous 1960's show called Gilligan's Island. And yes, if you watch the very first episode you will find that I have correctly named the Professor. Believe me, I'm not proud that I know this, but this is an example of my mis-spent youth.) |
|
|
|
Post by clocketpatch on May 24, 2009 20:53:19 GMT
Are you serious about this? Did they say that it was connected to this phenomenon you're referring to? Or are you funning me? I'm not funning. From Wiki, because I can't remember the exact quote; "The Doctor explains that he and Martha Jones were transported to the past by the Weeping Angels, beings that feed off the potential time energy of others. The Angels are "quantum locked", allowing them to move incredibly fast when unobserved but cannot move when watched, and thus warning Sally not to blink when they are around." And here's the link to the entry on the specific bit of quantum craziness they're exploiting: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Zeno_effectIt's also well worth remembering that Blink was based on a short story which I haven't read but I seem to understand had a more explicit scientific base which needed to be paired down for television purposes. |
|
|
|
Post by magnusgreel on May 25, 2009 11:59:48 GMT
Thanks very much for all that cp.
I hate that sort of elimination or reduction of SF content, as if it's something to be embarrassed about or an impediment to storytelling. People interested in SF should be considered a crucial part of the audience for an SF program! As for everyone else, why not encourage a desire to learn, by presenting these ideas in an engaging way? Why not treat that as a challenge?
If they're going to revive the image of DW as a children's show, then why not treat learning as part of the adventure of life that DW is about? Not deadly dull dry book learning, but the other kind, the kind that makes people want to write SF.
I also think it's poor storytelling in general to rush through the reasons for the story, whether they're scientific reasons in an SF story, or more down-to-earth reasons in a more conventional story. Besides, the bits they're rushing through are the bits I'm interested in!
|
|
|
|
Post by jjpor on May 25, 2009 20:53:36 GMT
Favourite Ten episode? That's hard, actually. Er, can I edit together all of the Davros bits from Stolen Earth/Journey's End and then get RTD and co, at enormous expense, to write/shoot a completely different ending? One which involves Rose being exterminated? Repeatedly? And more creepy reminiscing/flirting between Davros and Sarah Jane? That'd be great. ;D
More seriously; I do like Blink for the characters and the dialogue and the fact that, for once in NuWho, they actually use time travel as a plot point. I do sort of agree with Magnus, though, that the Weeping Angels very much gave the impression of being something the writer thought was a really cool concept for a monster, and then filled in the "scientific" rationale for afterwards. Still, overall I liked it because it was different, and I like that whole second half of Season 3, really, from Human Nature right through to Last of the Time Lords, a really good run of good stories. They _almost_ did something similar with the last four or five eps of Season 4, but that ending on Journey's End sort of ruined it for me.
|
|
|
|
Post by magnusgreel on May 27, 2009 2:26:59 GMT
I haven't been able to look into the Blink link Clocket gave me, though I will.... if there's a good SF concept to it, I think Blink ought to have been a two-parter to give it room. Daleks in Manhattan could have given up some of its air time I think.
|
|
|
|
Post by poetry on May 30, 2009 5:42:54 GMT
Daleks in Manhattan is a blight on the institution of Doctor Who and science fiction in general. It ought to be smitten out of existence. As a proud New Yorker and lover of all things beautiful and decent in sci fi, I find that two-parter personally offensive. I could write a whole essay about the problems with that episode. Who on earth thought it would be a good idea to put that on air? Oh, yes, RTD.
Anyway, to keep this post on topic, you really ought to watch Blink, Magnus. It is my favorite Doctor Who story ever, and it does make scientific sense from a quantum mechanical standpoint. It falls apart under close analysis, but holds up as a general concept. The time travel is brilliant, the monsters are terrifying (worse than the gas mask children, even) and Sally Sparrow is a wonderful companion-that-wasn't.
|
|
lynda
Auton Daisy
Posts: 480
|
Post by lynda on May 30, 2009 17:19:33 GMT
My old roommate that'll be my roommate again this fall continues to surprise me in which parts of Doctor Who she ends up liking. I've shown her season 3 and 4, and she told me that Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks was her favorite Martha episode. She also liked the handy!Doc and Rose bit in Journey's End, even though she doesn't know who Rose is due to not having seen seasons 1 and 2.
...I'm not sure why I said that in this thread.
|
|
