pubs
I just now realized the connotations of the “return of Sarah-Jane” thing. When it comes down to it, essentially the Doctor dumped her. He left her behind. And come to think of it, she never really met any of his other companions — aside from Harry, of course. Jo left at the end of one season; Sarah-Jane showed up at the start of the next. And after the Doctor left her, he went off alone for a while. From beginning to end, she had the Doctor essentially to herself. So just as it will be a bolt from the blue for Rose to gel that the Doctor has had previous companions, meeting Rose will also be something of a first for Sarah-Jane.
Didn’t realize how tidy and self-contained this whole story is. Almost like it was waiting for closure. The K-9 issue just helps, as how often has the Doctor thought about a companion after moving on? For the most part, this is who he is — right here, right now. Except when it comes to Sarah-Jane. Then he can’t escape the past.
Between this thread and stuff like the revelation that the Time War was going on all through the old series, from Genesis on, and taking pains at every opportunity to make some actual sense out of the TV Movie, the new series is bringing a whole new dimension and context to the series as a whole. Not unlike, uh, the first Sonic Adventure?
A retcon that actually works well is a rare and special joy. So, um, could you be more specific about this whole Time War was always happening thing? Links?
I just went to the British Food Store thing up on California and Larkin, with the inflatable Dalek in the window, and bought some Jelly Babies. They’re… hard to compare to anything. They look like Turkish Delight. They’re in powdered sugar, and have a harder shell where they’ve been exposed to the air. Inside they’re sort of like a fruit slice or a Chuckles or something, except more tender. Very distinct, strong, appealing, kind of old-fashioned flavors. Definitely a predecessor to modern gummi whatevers, though more charming.
Oh, about the Time War: it’s not written about much on the Internet. Davies wrote about it to some depth in the 2006 Doctor Who Annual, which is sort of a special year-end thing put out by Doctor Who Magazine for the last several decades.
The deal is, the Time Lords effectively picked a fight during Genesis by sending the Doctor back to cease them from ever having existed — the first attempted blow of the War. Pretty much every subsequent Dalek story (including some of the Big Finish audios) gets tied in somehow. Then the weird bit at the beginning of the ’96 TV Movie, where the Master is brought to trial by the Daleks, is explained by saying the Time Lords offered the Master as a sort of a political bone, to put off outright hostilities a little longer.
Eventually the conflict came to a head somewhere offscreen between ’96 and 2005. The thing is, remember all those lines about how “all along, underneath you, there’s a war going on” and how the Time War was “invisible to lower species”? Well, there it was all along. We just didn’t see it.
There are lots of more specific details that I don’t remember. I wonder how to get ahold of that annual. I know that the Monsters and Villains book (which, somehow, I found at my local Borders) has a lot of backstory for the Face of Boe and the Slitheen family that later turned up (or is about to do so) in the series itself — and that’s pretty darned interesting.
Yes, but can anyone explain the Sonic the Hedgehog Cartoon?
Maybe?
Well, the Doctor basically destroyed Skaro in Remembrance, which would seem to me to be a pretty major event in the war. Unless we’re to believe that BBC novel about how it was all a trick. But since everyone involved was constantly traveling in time and I think the destruction of Skaro was time-displaced too, I suppose the events could have been scrambled up in a different order for all the parties to the conflict.
…And I guess one could also argue that Davros’s machinations from that era constitute a separate-but-related Dalek civil war that the Daleks might consider, in the end, a distraction from the main conflict…
RESPONSE A:
You know, my parents are going to be in San Francisco for the first half of next week. Should I warn them about the inflatable jelly baby shooting Daleks?
RESPONSE B: Yay stories!
I actually just started watching the latest Doctor Who series on the SF channel. I like it so far!
The fact that Rose is pretty hot helps.
All these threads have been popping up lately on forums dedicated to the show, whining that Billie Piper is way too fat.
…
Wow.
Anyway, yeah. I’m pretty impressed with how Sci-Fi is handling it, overall. Mind that in general, the first series gets better as it goes along. Once you hit episode six, you’re pretty much through the “learning period” of production and it’s all downhill at rocket speed. Episode seven seems like a road bump at first viewing, though it’s necessary. Then eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen — always topping itself over the previous week, setting a new standard. It’s kind of ridiculous.
And series two looks like it’s poised to be several steps above that, even.
Yes. They are dangerous.
I mean. If you want them to pick up any jelly babies, the store’s on California and Larkin, on the north side of the street. About half a block from the ATM. Mind, the pizza place between the two is one of my favorites.
Are you saying I’m not concise enough?
Yes, you’d think that would incline them to respond in similar force. I can’t remember offhand the plot details of the other ’80s Dalek episodes. The other “Re-word” stories. They mostly seem to be about, as you note, Davros’s factional squabbles.
Davies also cites the Sixth-Doctor Big Finish audio “The Apocalypse Element”, which is essentially about an attempted Dalek invasion of Gallifrey, as the start of out-and-out hostilities.
Conciseness is often overrated. I’m saying I have no idea why that anecdote was there. The presence of a Dalek in the window seems incidental, and I’m still not even sure what Jelly Babies are.
…
Ahh. Ok. I looked it up, and to my surprise found the answer to both my questions.
You know, there’s an import candy shop near campus that has a lot of overpriced stuff from Britain. I could probably find some there… if I was really that interested.
Maybe it’s because I’ve never really watched any Doctor Who to begin with, but even the second episode seemed pretty over-the-top.
Also, Rose does look a little squishy, but I find that a plus!
I admit her pants in the first couple of stories make her butt look a little big. Even so — lawdy, she’s a perfectly healthy (and attractive!) weight.
The next two episodes (today and next week; it’s a two-partre) are… interesting. They, along with the first episode, were the first ones shot. (It was all out of sequence; they’re all from the same recording block, with the same director and everything.) At this point they didn’t quite have the tone down yet — so you get a mix of some brilliant pieces and some other bits that… could have used a little more work.
In general I like the story, though. Especially on the character front, there’s some pretty amazing stuff going on. Some of the special effects are indeed neat-o. Just be prepared for some wobbly costumes and childish humor. In context it works okay.
Well The Long Game was “supposed” to be there to give Eccleston and Piper a break in filming since they were hardly in it. It has the big pay off at episode 11, but for the sake of new viewers I’ll leave it at that. I personally liked it as I’m a mark for Simon Pegg anyway.
Yeah, the Billie is fat discussion is really rather frightening and well rude actually. Compared to anyone on the WB, yes she’s heavier. But here on Earth Prime, she’s a lovely young woman that is far too good of an actress to have been a teen pop star.
Did you see the new Confidential yet or was the Sarah Jane musings from magazine articles?