Caught up on Doctor Who...
About a week ago today I caught up with Doctor Who (it took me about 2 months or so in all), and I've been meaning to post here since about my thoughts on the specials and season 5...
The Specials:
( Tell you what...I bet you're going to have a really great year! )
The Specials:
( Tell you what...I bet you're going to have a really great year! )
I hated the specials. Waters of Mars was the ONLY one I could tolerate and in my head-canon TEoT NEVER happened at all. A lot of this is because of my love for Donna. She was the BEST thing about the RTD era.
Her relationship with the Doctor was the first Doctor/Companion relationship that felt comfortable and natural to me. (Rose was too needy and Martha was too busy pining to reach her full potential.) My love for Doctor/Donna is epic and enduring. So thats why I loathed the ending they gave her with a flamey passion. The Doctor took away everything they did together, everything that she accomplished and the woman she was, and in the end he just left her like that? He didn't fix her? He's a Time Lord, a master of time itself and he couldn't lock himself in a bubble somewhere and come up with a solution? Really? REALLY? Sorry, but I call bullshit.
And to add insult to injury he bought her off with a fucking lottery ticket. Because obviously money will bring back the light to her eyes and the joy to her soul. Cash will make Wilf not mourn the granddaughter she became and the fact that she's been forced, through no fault of her own, to settle for this kind of half-life. Yeah, of course. Money fixes everything.
That right there made me hate RTD and the Tenth Doctor. I loved him before that. But that sort of thing? That's not the Doctor I knew. Thats why I refuse to deal with TEoT at all. I can't handle what they turned the Doctor into.
The ONLY thing that was worth watching in those episodes was Wilf and the Doctors interactions. The bit in Cafe? Forget it. Killed me dead.
So yeah, in my head-canon the Doctor fixed Donna and they're still travelling in some alternate universe.
*takes a breath*
That said, I fully accept and adore Eleven. Matt Smith owns my soul. He's a breath of fresh air after the specials. I loved series 5 and the ending? Dead. Just dead. The bit with little Amelia when he was sitting next to her and just talking. He could have regenerated right then and I would have been happy. I'm just pleased we get more instead.
Like you, I think Amy needs a little work. I like her a lot and I give her a lot of leeway but I think she needs some more acting lessons because she can be really stiff sometimes.
Rory, however, is the best thing since sliced bread. I love having a male companion again.
It's funny you should say you disliked River in these two eps because I couldn't stand her in Ten's eps. Rivers interactions with Eleven are, IMO, much, much better than with Ten. I prefer her now and I love the way she is with Amy. She really grew on me.
I can't wait to see what they do in Series 6. I'm sitting here twitching in anticipation for the xmas special :)
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Sorry - that got a bit long! lol I apologise for my rambling...I tend to get carried away by Doctor Who.
But Yay! New Doctor Who buddy!
*huggles*
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I hated the specials. Waters of Mars was the ONLY one I could tolerate and in my head-canon TEoT NEVER happened at all.
Hmm, I find that interesting if you were tired of angsty!Ten, that the only special you like is the one where he's like the most angsty, barring TEOT perhaps...
Her relationship with the Doctor was the first Doctor/Companion relationship that felt comfortable and natural to me. (Rose was too needy and Martha was too busy pining to reach her full potential.) My love for Doctor/Donna is epic and enduring. So thats why I loathed the ending they gave her with a flamey passion. The Doctor took away everything they did together, everything that she accomplished and the woman she was, and in the end he just left her like that? He didn't fix her? He's a Time Lord, a master of time itself and he couldn't lock himself in a bubble somewhere and come up with a solution? Really? REALLY? Sorry, but I call bullshit.
Yeah, I did love the Doctor/Donna friendship as well, though obviously I can't agree on it being the first relationship that felt natural and comfortable to me (since you've probably noticed that I ship Doctor/Rose like FedEx! ;)). As for Donna's fate, while it was very sad, and I wished she could have been around another season (although then 10 would have needed to been around another season), I don't think it's all that unbelievable that he couldn't have found a way to fix her...he may be the Doctor, but he can't fix everything and everyone, he's not really a God. (Though the thing in TEOT where she didn't actually die like he said she would if she remembered was dumb and a cop-out). And what caused her having to have her memories taken away in the first place was pretty epic and made Donna so nice and important, which I liked...
The thing is, Donna had to stop traveling with him eventually--nobody can stay with the Doctor forever especially not on a TV show like this that's about to have a new showrunner with a clean slate. She either had to a) die (would you have wanted that?) or b) get separated in a tragic way like Rose, or c) end up at home feeling desolate wishing she could be back in the TARDIS. Given how horrified she was at the thought of returning--the way she was begging and pleading with the Doctor not to take her back there, I'm not so sure that having her memories wiped was such a terrible thing at least as far as her not having to live stuck on earth wishing she was still with the Doctor. I don't know that Donna ever could have been happy living at home but remembering all that, do you? So I don't know, it was very tragic and emotional end for her, but at the same time not so bad perhaps. And as I say above, I like that she finally finds a decent guy and gets to have that wedding she wanted long ago, when we first met her...(I like coming full circle and stuff).
And to add insult to injury he bought her off with a fucking lottery ticket. Because obviously money will bring back the light to her eyes and the joy to her soul. Cash will make Wilf not mourn the granddaughter she became and the fact that she's been forced, through no fault of her own, to settle for this kind of half-life. Yeah, of course. Money fixes everything.
I don't think that was quite what they were going for with that. I didn't fully understand it, but it had something to do with her deceased father, which is where Ten got the raffle-ticket from. j And I think it was supposed to just be a nice little gesture/wedding present anyway. I wouldn't call what Donna has a "half-life", she can't remember what came before, and she's found happiness at last with a husband who cares for her, and with her family and such, what really would have been a half-life is if she had been forced to stay on earth REMEMBERING everything, IMO. And IDK in TEOT she didn't seem that far off from the Donna that we grew to love in season 4, even if she forgot everything, I don't think the effect all those events had on her would necessarily wear off so easily...(talk about unpopular opinions!)
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Like you, I think Amy needs a little work. I like her a lot and I give her a lot of leeway but I think she needs some more acting lessons because she can be really stiff sometimes.
Yeah, exactly, though also IDK, I still don't entirely get her, maybe it's the cracks in time's effect, but IDK. Like, who is a kissogram for a living? (And who kisses other people for a living when they have a sweet boyfriend like Rory?) Has she gone to school or anything? I still feel like Amy is something of a blank slate, and I hope we learn more about her and what her deal is in season 6...
Rory, however, is the best thing since sliced bread. I love having a male companion again.
Yeah, I was just rewatching the D/R/J scenes from The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, and Boom Town, they really did have a great dynamic with a third male companion like Jack there, and I wish we could have had more of that....D/M/J was great as well. Again, I'd really love to see Jack return and meet 11 at some point...
It's funny you should say you disliked River in these two eps because I couldn't stand her in Ten's eps. Rivers interactions with Eleven are, IMO, much, much better than with Ten. I prefer her now and I love the way she is with Amy. She really grew on me.
IDK, I just feel like she was more smug/smirking more in her first two epps of season 5, perhaps because she knew then that the Doctor had already met her and felt more sure of herself...*shrug* And I liked her red hair better cuz I'm shallow like that But again, she was more tolerable for me in the final episodes, but I'm still not sure about her relationship with the Doctor overall...
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I actually loved angsty!Ten. I didn’t mean to give that impression. I just didn’t like him when he was angsting over Rose.
Yeah, I did love the Doctor/Donna friendship as well, though obviously I can't agree on it being the first relationship that felt natural and comfortable to me (since you've probably noticed that I ship Doctor/Rose like FedEx! ;)).
My issue with Rose as a companion wasn’t Rose herself. She was a good companion. They had good interaction and characterisation. There was nothing wrong with that. And her ending was one of the best companion goodbyes in Who history. It was heartbreaking and epic and awesome.
The issue I had with Rose (and this wasn’t her fault obviously) was that they wouldn’t let her stay gone. They just kept bringing her up over and over and over again. The whole reason Martha wasn’t as strong as she could have been was that she was mooning after the Doctor who was mooning after Rose. I don’t think there was an episode apart from maybe Blink where Rose wasn’t mentioned. I actually felt that it was disrespectful of Roses part in the Doctors life. It was a perfect ending and it would have been fine to have left it there. But they just kept pushing it and pushing it. That’s how I felt anyway.
As for Donna's fate, while it was very sad, and I wished she could have been around another season (although then 10 would have needed to been around another season),
I agree. Donna could only have been Tens assistant. I don’t think she would have worked with Eleven.
I don't think it's all that unbelievable that he couldn't have found a way to fix her...he may be the Doctor, but he can't fix everything and everyone, he's not really a God. (Though the thing in TEOT where she didn't actually die like he said she would if she remembered was dumb and a cop-out). And what caused her having to have her memories taken away in the first place was pretty epic and made Donna so nice and important, which I liked...
The issue I have with it is that he didn’t even try. He just said, “No, can’t be done!” and that was that. I personally don’t believe that the Doctor would do that at all. That felt totally OOC to me. But then it’s possible my opinion is coloured by the fact that I wanted her back so badly.
(You’re completely right about that being a cop-out. It was lame lame lame.)
Yes you’re right that the end of series 4 was a good ending but I needed for her to get put right again. I HATE the fact that she didn’t get a choice. (I’ll go into this in a minute.)
The thing is, Donna had to stop traveling with him eventually--nobody can stay with the Doctor forever especially not on a TV show like this that's about to have a new showrunner with a clean slate.
Oh I had no issue with Ten leaving or with Donna leaving too. I would have liked to have seen a Moffat/Tennant/Tate series but we can’t always have nice things can we?
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I think she would have been fine on Earth, as long as it was her choice. That’s the key thing for me. He took away her choice. He stripped her of everything they did together and left her with a massive gap in her memories and no say in what her life might have been.
As for her dying, well, in the moment before he took her memories, she knew exactly what he was going to do and she said no. She told him not to do it. And he did it anyway. She wanted to stay, knowing that it meant her death, she wanted to keep them anyway and he took the decision away from her. That’s so many different kinds of wrong I don’t even know where to start.
So yes. I would have been fine with her dying. Because she would have been fine with it.
And as I say above, I like that she finally finds a decent guy and gets to have that wedding she wanted long ago, when we first met her...(I like coming full circle and stuff).
But my chief problem with this is that she knew better. She knew there was more to life than just those things. She wasn’t that same person we met anymore after travelling with the Doctor but he took that away from her. What she was left with was a situation she might have wanted once upon a time but not one she wanted after getting out and seeing the world.
IDK…there are so many opinions on this.
I don't think that was quite what they were going for with that. I didn't fully understand it, but it had something to do with her deceased father, which is where Ten got the raffle-ticket from. j And I think it was supposed to just be a nice little gesture/wedding present anyway.
I don’t know either to be honest. It just felt…cheap to me. Like he was buying her off. “I’m sorry you have this huge gap in your life, but nevermind, have lots of money instead.” Again…that’s open to interpretation. I like the touch with her Dad though. That was nice.
I wouldn't call what Donna has a "half-life", she can't remember what came before, and she's found happiness at last with a husband who cares for her, and with her family and such, what really would have been a half-life is if she had been forced to stay on earth REMEMBERING everything, IMO.
I can’t agree with this. This part of TEoT says it all for me:
Doctor: Right. [watching Donna pack the car] Is she happy? Is he nice?
Wilf: Yeah, he’s sweet enough. He’s a bit of a dreamer. Mind you, he’s on minimum wage, she’s earning tuppence, so all they can afford is a tiny little flat. [as Donna unlocks the car] And then sometimes I see this look on her face. Like she’s so sad. But she can’t remember why.
Doctor [sadly]: She’s got him.
Wilf: She’s making do.
Her own grandfather thinks that she’s making do. He knows her better than anyone and he says she’s in pain. I just don’t see how that’s a good thing.
Anyway!! Onwards to the new series.
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Yes this! I think she’ll be fleshed out a lot. The finale left a lot of room for that.
Again, I'd really love to see Jack return and meet 11 at some point...
I don’t know if that’ll happen to be honest. I hope it does but I think Jack is very much an RTD character.
IDK, I just feel like she was more smug/smirking more in her first two epps of season 5, perhaps because she knew then that the Doctor had already met her and felt more sure of herself...*shrug* And I liked her red hair better cuz I'm shallow like that But again, she was more tolerable for me in the final episodes, but I'm still not sure about her relationship with the Doctor overall...
I think that’s what makes River interesting. I like what they’re doing with her. Her potential and someone important in his life. I have a theory that she’s going to turn out to be Romana, maybe even the Rani. I also think she’s going to kill the Doctor and force him to regenerate. That’s been hinted at so I’m curious to see where that leads.
And now I will shut up cos this is waaaaay longer than I intended! Lol *smish*
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