Who?

[jason voorhees]

Who?

Doctor Who Season 5

Prizoner Zero and The Big Eyeball - ***

1) The Tardis Spins Out Of Control Over London, Due To A Passionate Regeneration Lifted Straight Out Of A Michael Jackson Video. The Doctor Furiously Attempts To Fix It As He Hangs On For Dear Life. His Balls (or Whatever Organs, Sexual Or Otherwise, Time Lords Have In Their Lower Abdominal Area) Nearly Get Caught On Big Ben. Thus, Season 5 Begins.
2) A Tracking Shot Of The Red Roses In A Rustic Garden Complete With Moldy Fountains And Rusted Gates. A Lass Wearing A Little Red Riding Hood Prays To Santa Claus, and Promptly Investigates The Tardis When Her Prayer Is Answered. The Tardis Has A New Font. Classic. The Doctor Bullies Her Into Allowing Him To Raid Her Fridge, Whilst Criticizing Scottish Cuisine And Promptly Spitting The Food She Graciously Made For Him All Over The House .
3) They Walk Down The Hall. There Is A Crack In Her Wall. There Is A Call. There Is An Eyeball. Prisoner Zero Has Gall.
4) 5 Minutes Becomes 12 Years. The Girl Is Now A Lass, And Somehow Has A Police Uniform Despite Not Attending Police Academy.
5) Andrei Chikatalo Barks Like A Dog. He Makes Mean Faces.

It was a good enough start. Despite the same exact themes as the Girl In The Fireplace, the story was emotional enough and did a strong job in establishing Karen Gillan and the relationship that the Doctor will have with her (obnoxious prick teacher with girl with lonely outsider girl with childhood crush.) What really struck me was how Mr. Moffat literally allowed his entire childhood to ferment, and now we drink the product of that. Old knobs, analogue radio wave monitors, brass buckles and leather belts and wool jackets with bowties and keys and locks, The Tardis with the glass bubbles of auld, it’s the Restoration Hardware vision of Doctor Who.

The camera work is also sharper and more classic than RTD. If anything, it made me wonder how the vision of the show could be so vastly different. Who were the art directors ? Who is responsible for such a difference ? I know the “Are You My Mummy” episodes had this, but RTD always added some magenta or turquoise or creamsicle orange to the proceedings with a soft filter. Garish. None of that in this show. It’s all sharp lines and deep blacks and classic 1940s filmmaking. You almost expect the Doctor to walk into a mahogany paneled room with a Mafioso capo petting a white cat with a black tux with a red rose in the lapel. This cinematography is Godfather Good.

Moffat also made that choppy fast jump cut horror movie thing work as well (like Andrei Chikatalo with the dog and when Amy Pond was walking into the room with Prisoner Zero.) That’s one of my most hated modern filmmaking techniques, but somehow it worked (along with the scene when the Doctor was surveying the field of people looking at the spaceship.)

As pretty much everyone was saying, it was pretty much the same story out of Smith & Jones mixed with Girl In The Fireplace mixed with Christmas Invasion. Add Rory being the same style of lamer boyfriend from Blink (surely this was who Moffat really is in real life, always a day late and a dollar short when it comes to the ladies,) and right now I’m worried if what we got from Moffat the past 4 seasons was all there is. I certainly am hoping he’s not a Happy Mondays/Violent Femmes one-album wonder of Doctor Who writers.

But I like Matt Smith with his arms hanging like slabs of meat carcasses and his beady eyes and athletic ability. I like Karen Gillan’s broken heart and longing. I hope they can create some intense fireworks after this Doctor treats her like shit. I’m hoping it’s the Macho Man Randy Savage and Miss Elizabethization of Doctor/Companion relationships. That wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Save The Space Whale Riders - ***

Again, Moffat reaches back into his childhood at how ultimately creepy those seaside carnival mechanized fortune tellers are. And yet another nod to Girl In The Fireplace with Liz X’s mask (at first I thought she said “Lestat” as if that was a classic literary character, until I remembered Anne Rice isn’t classic yet.)

There were some very nice ideas in this. The fact that The Beast Below was an engine rather than an infestation. The fact that the mechanized Smiley Guys were a human creation, rather than an unholy menace, worked with the theme of the story. The Total Recall ending with the Queen.

It’s just that as of now, I’m still afraid that Moffat may not have much else (especially seeing the Scary Statues coming back along with a WWII story. I mean he’s literally repeating everything he’s done. RTD at this point was a lot more original, if overblown.) I’ve seen all of this before, and all I can hope is he’s getting it out of the way early. In other words, I hope he’s working out what he would’ve liked to have done if he was executive producer with those stories from seasons 1-4. I also would’ve loved to have the Smiley Guys be an unholy infestation. They needed to be with the Beast and the Ood on that mining planet. Save the Space Whales should’ve been something different. I agree with Lyra, these guys could’ve been the next Scary Statues. They coulda been contenders.

On the other hand, when the Doctor criticized Amy, however, it made me look forward to her knocking his teeth out. Here this guy fucks up her entire life, seduces her into going with him, gets pissed when she looks out for him and says he’s going to take her home, then she has to pick up his spirits at the end. Moffat has given Gillan so much more to do than Martha Jones. This is what I was talking about with Freema Ageyman being a good actress who wasn’t given much to do. Gillan is better in the role, because the story she was given is better. There’s a lot brewing that can cause some extreme fireworks. I certainly hope we get that payoff.

[Yoss]

Who?

three for the Waters of Mars, four for The End of Time and then only three for The Eleventh Hour? Blimey, takes all sorts.

I didn't begrudge RTD that twenty minute segment at the end of The End of Time either, after everything he'd done for the programme. That didn't make it any less nauseatingly awful though. Bring back the good old days - "Goodbye Doctor", "Oh is that you off? Cheerio then". Sadly I don't think Moffat is going to steer us that far away from Hollywoodesque sentimentality either.

[Mumpo]

Who?

As I remember saying, a better writer would have cut those pre-regenerative flashback scenes into the main narrative - thus creating a sense of mystery - rather than loading them into the end of the episode and unbalancing the entire episode.

I was wondering whether the next season of Doctor Who might benefit from jettisoning the time-honoured 'one writer one story' method and adopting a script-by-committee approach, where Moffatt, heading his most trusted inner cabal of writers, thrash out story concepts and bounce around ideas for plot and dialogue, then pass the components on to a nominal credited writer to assemble. OK, it could lead to a surfeit of manufacturers having a negative impact on the product, but it could also mean that a lot less half-baked arse gets churned out.

Or they could just get Terrance Dicks in to write each story.

[jason voorhees]

Who?

Yeah Yoss, I felt End of Time was RTD in very good form (keep in mind I gave Doomsday about 38 stars,) and the Eleventh Hour was good but not Moffat at his best.

Mumpo, that would've been neat, like Taylor suggesting the beginning of Family of Blood being at the beginning of the second episode instead of the first.

Royal Aeronautics Force vs Color Me Baddaleks
**

When a Dalek isn’t as imposing as a Winston Churchill impersonator, you’re in trouble. Again, Steven Moffat going on his “Greatest Hits” tour. Only this time I’d watch 3 hours, make that 6, of the little boy in a gasmask wandering alone down the bombed out streets of London instead of 40 minutes of Winston Churchill and a Union Jacked-up Dalek and the most brilliantly filmed yet idiotic dogfight ever and Daleks straight out of New Jack City.

I mean this is getting kind of ridiculous. We really need an ending from the Fifth Element ? It’s one thing to lift shit from great films, but Luc Besson’s worst ? Then how the fuck did they build those fucking spaceplanes in 3 minutes ? C’mon now. At least show that they were already built, or show them on the blueprints. Shit like that just doesn’t fucking fly.

I loved the Dalek Victory poster at least. The acting of the robot Scot was also pretty good. I’m just hoping that’s the last we see of these Daleks before they Sex Me Up.

The Angels Hath Been Watching Too Much J-Horror – Part I
***
The Ring ? The “ghosting” from The Shadow Library ? The Angels again ? Lord have mercy this is getting quite underwhelming. I mean it’s filmed brilliantly, and there’s enough tension, but please can’t there be something that makes me feel like this series isn’t a Greatest Hits compilation.

That said, at least I watched this at 11pm, so it was nice to feel some real tension. The actor for Bob was also great, and his part was well-written. “I’m trying to confuse you” indeed. Moffat also did a great job in upping the “oh shit” factor as it went along. If you’re going to top Blink, it’s going to have to be even more innovative. Kind of like Aliens with Alien, when they sent in a group of Marines with huge guns….oh.

Thas What I’m Talkin’ Bout, MOTHAFUCKA – Part II
************************************************** ***********
************************** ½

Finally. Whoa. Whoa Momma. (Lights Cigarette, relaxes on pillow.)

This was what I was waiting for. This is the be-all and end-all. Let’s just start with the dialogue. How wonderful are the Doctor and Amy when they just talk ? Their rhythms, their cadences, their chemistry. Then when you have River Song as 3rd fiddle, you’re really cooking with gas. Then when you have the Angels being able to communicate how they’re sadistically laughing at Amy’s fear, you’re cooking with a nuclear volcanic Big Bang explosion.

Regarding the crack in the wall, the Spanish equivalent of saying “this is the shit” is “la raja.” It means “Crack of the ass.” The development of the crack was la raja. It upped the ante in a way that was unanticipated, and yet furthered the story way past the Angels.

Any great screenwriting has that element of Wile. E. Coyote or Sylvester the Cat getting pulled through every conceivable trap, getting crushed under every tire, falling off every cliff, and put in the worst possible predicaments imaginable. It’s safe to say Amy was in a worse one. The angels running for their lives away from the crack before realizing she was flopping blindly around on the ground was so very friggin’ fine. Oh yeah, and the cause of Amy’s blindness and reversing the concept of “Blink.” Man, that was so needed.

What innovation, what creativity, what drama, what writing, what acting. What a chess match, what strategy and tactics. What a shifting battlefield and actors brilliantly reacting to the changing terrain and realities. Then to end it like they did, with a Scottish seduction. Let’s just say I’m happy Amy survived.

[jason voorhees]

Who?

Venice Wins The Fifth Season’s Historical City That Doctor Who Will Visit Designation
****
Another great bit of writing and timing from Matty Smith at the beginning of the cake-popping scene. The guy is developing such a unique sense of timing that’s incredibly quirky and delicious. I would love to find out how much of this was him reading the script or what lines were improvised or how his whole take on the character was developed with Moffat. The line barked at Rory as well in the Tardis, the wink to all of those decades of “but it’s bigger on the inside” was hilarious. I also love the Chasing Amy style of logic in the Doctor giving Rory the same experiences as his fiancé.

What really made this episode wonderful for me was Lucian Msmati’s performance as the father who realized he made the worst mistake of his life, Alex Price’s performance as Francesco – the flashiest mommy’s boy in the galaxy, and ultimately Helen McCrory’s performance of Lady Calvierri…which started out as so nastily heelish that I couldn’t wait to see her die, then ending so sympathetic that I couldn’t believe she and her fishes wouldn’t get the chance to live. The script was pretty damn good.

Then add in Rory’s scene criticizing the Doctor with the “you make people want to impress you” scene, and subsequent heroic transformation from an “imbecile” to his direct confrontation of Francesco and one of the more hilarious usages of Yo Mumma in the show, and it was one of my favorite historical pieces since the Charles Dickens one.

Amy’s Choice
************************************************** ****
Sure, the Dreammaster was DW’s version of Q, that intergalactic idiot who existed to fuck with Captain Picard on Star Trek:Next Generation. And yes, this was DW’s nod to Dead/Alive, Peter Jackson’s best horror film about a lad who ends up with a house full of elderly zombies infested with the Monkey Virus.

But man, was this some Borges ‘Dream Within a Dream’ goodness. Just a marvelously intense piece of drama, and something like Midnight that would work well as a stage play. This was Thank God I Survived My Car Crash good. This was Depression-Curing Good.

While Amy is wonderful as the lead, Rory is becoming incredibly important to the success of the past two episodes. His ability to move past being a personalitiless dweeb to quietly confident braveheart has been a wonder to behold. It’s not false at the end that Amy is in fact in love with him, because he’s a man who will stand by her to the death.

I’ve said that Rory had to be who Moffat thought himself to be. Always in the shadow of those that were braver, more good-looking, funnier, and charismatic; and always finding themselves like Roy Orbison in Running Scared, that song of the Beta male confronted with their beautiful partner’s Alpha male ex coming back for their woman. However, always containing a bravery and humanity and love beneath the Gargamel adam’s apple and long hook nose and gangly limbs.

The love triangle between the Doctor-Amy-Rory is intense for how quickly it shifts and how volatile the shifts are. The Doctor is abusive, using his power and experiences to show how he’s the boss, but not self-centered enough to use Amy and cuckold Rory. (Granted, he may be so sadistic that he’s actually setting up a contest in which he could win Amy fair and square, but even that works if Rory wins because the Doctor set up a situation that he could not really win and he could justify it.) Amy is trapped between the male of her dreams and the man who is actually a man. Rory is trapped between who he was and who he may yet become.

The Dreammaster was also outstanding. What a rotten turd of a conscious being. Like any great cockroach that can’t be stomped, he knows how to ratchet up the obnoxious statements once he gets on an obnoxious roll. It’s not enough to stick someone, it’s not enough to twist the knife, it’s enough to hold up a mirror to the knife that’s being twisted and talk about how it feels to be stuck with a knife that’s twisting. What a great character and acting performance.
What else is there to say other than I’m sorry I doubted Mr. Moffat, and he certainly has put together a wonderful season with wonderful actors working off wonderful scripts.

I’m high.

[jason voorhees]

Who?

The Welshdrillers vs The Sleestaks
** 1/2
Again, Rory stealing the early scenes. I certainly hope we can see a lot more of this guy. He’s a perfect foil to Smith, in a completely different way than Mickey was to Doctor 1. Because Rory is a lover and not a fighter, he relies on sneak attacks and timing against the Doctor. The war he wages against him is guerrilla. The scene of Rory and Amy waving to the Doctor was appropriately spooky as shit as well.

Not the best group of humanoid support staff, or at least the worst since BoomTown. It’s kind of tough to cheer for any fossil fuel nonrenewable resource drillers, even if they do have a multi-cultural relationship or a grandkid who can’t read due to his dyslexia.

Great graveyard scene, great sneakattack on the female Lizard in the Meals on Wheels truck, and…that’s about it. I just wasn’t feeling the Sleestak Land Of the Lost underground Lizard People, or the hostage alien a la M. Night Shamalayan locking one of the aliens in Signs in his pantry.

Cold Blood
***
Well, I certainly hope those foreshadowings at the end show that Rory will be back, because there was so much more that could be done with that character. He was shaping up as one of the great male companions. But as much as I hated the Lizard People and that dumb negotiation and the mom seen as a bad person because she killed that green git for talking shit about her dead son and husband and father, at least they had one of the better endings around.

Smith frantically getting Amy to remember Rory was outstanding. The best part of the show is that they took the relationships of Amy-Rory-Doctor and made every single one of them ring true. It rang true when Amy wanted to bang the Doc, it rang true when Rory hated the Doctor for taking his girl, it rang true when Amy kissed Rory, and it rang true when she realized she loved him. By the end, with the Doctor frantically trying to save Rory – even though it wouldn’t have made one bit of difference to anyone in the universe if he hadn’t – rang true as well.

The best part of Rory learning to appreciate the travels with the Doctor and Amy was that like any love, you eventually have to end up liking something that you never thought possible. Because he loved her, he traveled with her and put his life at risk. Because he was ultimately a hero, he sacrificed himself. The final scene of Amy forgetting, then waving to herself on the hill, and The Doc’s reaction to that, was quite spooky and memorable and as brilliant as this season is shaping up to be. The final bit with the Tardis was awesome.

Vincent Van Gogh vs A Monster More Scary Than His Ear
** ½ (3 stars before that clownfoon ending.)

This one was the little episode that could. It dealt with enough issues (madness, depression, suicide,) and had to tread carefully as to not be too condescending or patronizing. While it was quite patronizing at times, the chase through the alley with the rearview mirror was as inventive an action set piece that the show has had, and the final scene was sad enough. Smith’s line about winning was quite poignant. I also enjoyed the scene of them looking at the night sky. Very tough scene to film without being too mawkish or tacky.

Then the ending. I was already having such post-traumatic feelings towards Bill Nighy after the horrific abortion known as Love, Actually, so it was already distracting to see him. Needlesstosay, seeing him discuss Van Gogh to Van Gogh to Coldplay certainly did not help. At this point, I’m not sure if another 50 Shaun of the Deads in a row will save him.

The Lodger
******************
What is interesting is how Moffat used the Shakespeare tragedy/comedy route to great effect, as in when the principals would have a tragic problem, then the characters of the servant or lower classes would have a similar yet comedic problem. While Rory and Amy wasn’t such grand theatre, it certainly was a lot more deep than what Craig and Sophie had to deal with. Thinking about it, they may have even been doppelgangers. A nurse and a kissogram. A call center operator and a secretary. No one knowing how to say ‘I Love You.’ All that really separated them was a crack in a girl’s bedroom.

This also used the Tony Soprano dream of the silhouetted person on the stairs to great effect. This was one scary motherfucking baddie. Such an original premise that was quite unsettling. What a great final scene. It was also some of the finest acting by Smith. The stolen penalty kick may have been the most hilarious moment on the show thus far.

It set up the Seinfeld situation (or any odd couple sit-com,) and blew everything out of the water. The characters were perfect, the acting was perfect, the climax was perfect, the script was perfect, and the twist ending was perfect. Immaculate, immaculate episode. 17 out of 6 billion + indeed.

[hobbes]

Who?

You know, I reckon you and me watch Dr Who through the same eyes, JV.
We agree on pretty much everything, right down to not thinking much of the Welsh drillers episode, whereas on here it was lauded and quite liking the Venice episode where on here it was panned.

[jason voorhees]

Who?

That's why in New Orleans it's known as Hobbesian Rightness.

I was reading all the comments as each episode finished. I'd have to remember "middle of page 45...middle of page 45" then "top of page 48...top of page 48" to start reading. I didn't comment on anyone's outstanding write-ups yet, because it's tough enough to write these right now. But I'd love to if I get the chance.

It was funny, because seeing everyone's top 10s I knew I'd love one or two of the bottom dwellers, and not like one of the top ones. It's just the way it always works. Fear Her will always be Fear Her, but I'm shocked that Tooth and Claw gets mentioned as being in the same league.

The show and storylines are so varied with so much history, expectations, modern sensibilities and realities, that it will always have something for everyone and will have something to turn off everyone.

[jason voorhees]

Who?

The Pandorica Opens
******************************************** 3/4

Loved the opening. If you’re going to have some dodgy decisions regarding characters or episodes along the way, at least include Winston Churchill and Liz 10 and Vincent Van Gogh and make them part of something really important. “See ! They really weren’t all a waste of time !”

Alex Kingston has firmly sunk her teeth into River Song, and that certainly worked wonders for her and the show. While with The Shadow Library the show was lucky to get someone of her caliber, she didn’t really deliver what she was capable of. With Angels II she seemed more confident in her new post-prison persona, but in this episode the show and the actress were on perfect footing with a perfect rhythm. She’s now developing into someone I look forward to. The Moffat-era Captain Jack (although I hope we see him again as well.)

Loved seeing Stonehenge, where the demons dwell, as a character. Loved Smith’s confusion as to what the box actually was – because if the Doctor don’t know, we sure as hell don’t know until it’s here. It was a nice take on The Doctor always explaining to the companion “this is the most terrible foe I’ve ever faced,” because if he doesn’t even know what he’s going to face we know he’s going to be at a loss to beat it.

The Octopus Cyberhead was outstanding. I would hope they do an episode just with the head a la Dalek. In 1 minute Moffat made the Cybermen more threatening than they ever were before. RomanRory’s scene with the Doctor was again top-notch comedy (the finger flip of the chest was as good as anything in silent film,) and I loved the explanation of RomanRory as well. It was very Hitchhiker’s Guide.

Smith using his carnival carny routine to all of the bad guys in the galaxy was hilarious. It was so funny to see how arrogant and confident he was in his bluff, when he was about to get called worse than any call he’s ever got taken on.

The climax was just pure magic. Acting magic between Rory and Amy, tension magic a la River Song realizing the books on the desk in Amy’s room had a similar relation to Keyser Soze’s bulletin board reading and then subsequently not being able to get out of the Tardis, the box opening as the Romans turned to Autons, and then geekboy magic a la the Brilliant Baddie Battalion. The problem with slo-mo montages is that they’re used so much for shitty dramas trying to be deep…and quite frankly they’re trying to show that they’re as brilliant a scene like this by using the slo-mo walk.

To have the Doctor realizing how horrible it is that these monsters would team up together, and his reaction to each bad guy closeup was…you know, fill in the superlative blank. One of my favorite moments ever. It was also Smith’s last acting challenge. He has danced around and eyebrow flashed and wrist flicked his way through each problem all season…not this time bitch. You’re gonna scream. It was the Old School Doctor Locked Up And Up Shit’s Creek moment.

You think back to the Doctor telling the Daleks that he’s going to rescue Rose with no plan, the Cybermen coming through the tunnel, and you have to figure this one’s right up there with season-ending cliffhanger. It was a cliffhanger of auld. A cliffhanger as auld as Saturday afternoon matinees in the peanut gallery. Brilliant stuff.

[jason voorhees]

Who?

Big Bangin
************************************************** *********************
************************************************** *********************
****
I remember a 60 Minutes episode about Albert Einstein’s theory that stars exploded outwards in the Big Bang, then were going backwards for a bit, before shooting off faster and father away from each other. He dismissed it as his worst theory, before it was essentially proved in the 90s. Eventually, there would be no stars in the sky, because they’d all be too far away from each other to see. This was the first thought in my head seeing the teachers dismissing Young Amy’s star painting.

I loved the opening bit with Big Amy coming out of the Pandorica, as it was one of those perfect solve-the-cliffhanger-and-get-on-with-it bits. I also loved the nod to the first episode, complete with the red pinwheel and Prayer to Santa. I suppose Prizoner Zero was able to tell the Doctor about the Pandorica, because 0 was in on all of the meetings with the Daleks and the rest of the BBBs.

Then this was the Rory I’ve been waiting for. It’s one thing to show how much the two really love each other, but to show the depth of love he has for his woman was something else. The 2000 years guarding the box, only to trade in the Centurion costume for the Mall Cop outfit was both hilarious for what it was and it’s comment on modern society.

What I’ve loved about all of Moffat’s episodes has been the always-granite-strong inner logic. Seeing the Doctor zap around in his fez for the opening scenes, and then seeing him do it in one scene on the stairs, was so much fun and so perfect for Matt Smith. Moffat gave tons for his actors to do in both episodes, and they were all magnificent.

For once, the Daleks didn’t elict an “oh great, here we go again,” and brought back the magic that they had in Dalek. They’re just so much stronger when they’re so much fewer. This busted-up fossilized Dalek with that magnificent “rreessstttooorrrrrrrrre” roar was as great as the Cyber head in the last episode. Again, Moffat showing that monsters are scariest when they’re brave and have nothing to lose.

Moffat’s greatest touch was in the forest scene in Time of the Angels II. I remembered watching it at the time, thinking “whoa, that came out of nowhere how the Doctor was incredibly passionate after he was so blasé a second ago,” touching his forehead to Amy’s. Now we know why. After all of the touches and flashbacks and memories of scenes from the previous episodes, it truly tied everything together in a way that hasn’t been done before. Again, by bringing Winston Churchill in with the Scottish Dalek, it suddenly made that episode so much more vibrant.

The final scene in the Pandorica with Amy was incredible and cinematic as fuck (Did he say “got you” as a means that he did something that he would be remembered ? I couldn’t really understand most of the dialogue before he launched himself into the Tardis,) and man, that final monologue talking to Baby Amy in the bed was as wonderful a monologue as it gets. What a performance by Smith. Absolutely dizzy, bemused, sad, misty, thrilled, and stoic. His final act as a conscious being is telling a bedtime story to a child. How the Doctor should be.

Amy’s remembrance of the Doctor was both her finest moment on the show (again, Moffat giving his actors something to sink into) and the finest cinematography. The Tardis appearing and imaginary friend bit wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t about that in the end. It was about someone remembering her life and who she lost and loved. The goodbye wave and the three headed off in their tuxedos was as perfect an ending as I could hope for. I know we’re seeing River Song again, and hopefully we’ll see that Dreamlord again.

I’m so happy. Happy I lived long enough to see this. Congrats to Mr. Moffat, Matt Smith, Karen Gillian, Arthur Darvill, and Alex Kingston for this wonderful work of art. Wow.

[hobbes]

Who?

The Octopus Cyberhead was outstanding. I would hope they do an episode just with the head a la Dalek. In 1 minute Moffat made the Cybermen more threatening than they ever were before.

Oh man, when Amy asks what it's like being assimilated and the Doctor gives her some guff "it's like..." and then sort of as an aside as he turns away "only screaming..." Real shiver down the spine stuff.

[Yoss]

Who?

A pedant writes: I think you may have misremembered some of the stuff about Einstein. His "worst mistake" was the Cosmologicval Constant that he introduced to counteract the fact that his equations seemed to predict an expanding universe at a time when the idea seemed an odd one, but that it was so was proved by Hubble well within Einstein's own life (which is how he was able to make that worst mistake assessment); the other bit there, with the universe undergoing a second major phase of expansion in the initial moment after the Big Bang is Inflationary Theory, which now seems to be accepted as necessary to make the Standard Model work (or at least it was last time I read anything about it, but I'm far from an expert). This has all been developed long after Einstein though.

The Cosmological Constant has been resurrected from time to time in various forms, but mostly only to give publicity to theories that have some similar effect, not because it really has anything to do with Einstein's original.

(Oh, and there would still be stars in the sky because it's galaxies rather than stars that are moving away from one another. Galaxies are held together internally by gravity. Roughly. Ish. Please don't quote me.)

But anyway, glad you liked it all, and glad you liked Matt Smith especially because he is indeed great. I hope these rumours about him only doing two series turn out to be false.

[Dink]

Who?

Apparently Steven Moffat has been tweeting to deny the rumour (although he does caveat it with "no promises").

On 19 Jun 2010, at 18:14, Steven Moffat wrote:

Oh, I don't know how all that started, it's complete nonsense. I'm having the time of my life, and so are Matt and Karen, and I like to think it shows - no promises, but no plans to leave either. You may quote me.

[jason voorhees]

Who?

Thanks Yoss.

The only thing I could find in :30 seconds was NPR having an article about the Cosmological Constant and Dark Energy. In the 60 Minutes piece, they made a very big point of showing the stars disappearing from the sky.

[Ginger Yellow]

Who?

Yeah, Yoss has it more or less right. The cosmological constant turns out to be dark energy, in the sense that if you tweak the value you can produce the accelerating expansion we've observed since Einstein. I'd better leave the detail to the experts

Inflation theory, the extremely rapid expansion of the universe in the fraction of a second after the big bang, was developed mainly by Alan Guth in the 80s.

[jason voorhees]

Who?

I'd love to see the episode again.

Ratings from Oz (from the Doc Who News Page
Matt Smith's debut series has concluded in Australia. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's decision to 'fast-track' the latest series of Doctor Who has been vindicated by excellent ratings, the series receiving its highest consistent Australian ratings since its return in 2005 (and probably ever). The series averaged 928,000 viewers in the five major capital cities over thirteen weeks (these figures also do not include regional, time-shifted and iView viewers) and was normally the ABC's top-rating program of the day. TV Tonight reports that The Big Bang averaged 976,000 viewers in the five major capital cities, again despite stiff competition from the commercial networks. Yet again it was the ABC's top-rating program of the day, rating higher than its popular Sunday 7pm news and Little Dorrit, being the ninth highest rating program for the day overall. The corresponding Confidential Cutdown also rated an exceptional 732,000 viewers in the five major capitals.

[Uncle Ethan]

Who?

Thanks JV. I had enjoyed the series but started to wonder if I was mad after reading some of the posts on here.

[Ginger Yellow]

Who?

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's decision to 'fast-track' the latest series of Doctor Who has been vindicated by excellent ratings,

Gee, who'd have thought that if you don't put an unnecessary delay on a cult show you'd get fewer people stealing it?

[Uncle Ethan]

Who?

Esepecially ones watched by geeks (insert smiley thing). We were months behind on the last series.

[Ginger Yellow]

Who?

That was supposed to be implicit in "cult show".

[jason voorhees]

Who?

I was also surprised by BBC America's decision to keep the show for itself instead of selling it to the Sci-Fi Channel. That decision was a disaster as well:

'Doctor Who' breaks BBC America records;
Curt Wagner on 04.19.10 at 8:46 PM

Saturday's return "Doctor Who" set viewership records for BBC America, drawing an average viewership of 1.8 million people to the network. That makes the debut of the new Doctor and his companion, Amy Pond--played by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan--the network's highest rated broadcast ever, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

[Ginger Yellow]

Who?

And yet even BBC America inexplicably delays its US broadcasts of Who for two weeks, losing viewers for no good reason.

[jason voorhees]

Who?

Yeah, but at least it's not a 6-12 month wait like it was for ScyFy or SciFi or however they spell it now.

And almost right on cue regarding the finale's usage of Stonehenge...

[jason voorhees]

Who?

Well, getting back to that, how exactly does the Beeb make it's money off of the show ? Couldn't a reason to delay it for overseas markets was that it would interfere with dvd sales ?

edit - and if BBC America shows commercials, wouldn't it take time to edit the show ?

[Ginger Yellow]

Who?

Well they don't sell DVDs in the two weeks between airing it in the UK and the US. Nor is it aired live in the UK. I'm sure they've got time to edit around ad breaks between filming and the first broadcast.