Who?

[Mumpo]

Who?

Don't know about that last one, ian. Like I say, she's acting her cotton socks off but she's hit the glass ceiling of being Catherine Tate, which was most painfully obvious as the node turned to face the Doctor at the end of last week's episode. What should have been a supremely disturbing moment was rendered completely ineffectual because it had Catherine Tate's face.

Anyway, I need to watch the second part again before I can come to any conclusions, because it was impossible to pay attantion with the kids chattering in each ear. I suppose a barometer of the episode should be that the kids don't chatter throughout?

[Ginger Yellow]

Who?

I found the second episode a little less satisfying, but still miles better than anything else this season. Probably just the usual two-parter blues. Perhaps it's because I've had a week to reflect on the first one, so I was more likely to spot any weaknesses. Like, if you're going to keep shouting "Don't let your shadows cross!" all the time, you might want to check that you're not crossing other people's shadows, Doctor. And the whole Doctor Moon bit reminded me at first of a Buffy episode where she thinks she's in a mental hospital and the whole vampire slayer thing was a schizophrenic delusion. It was handled very differently, though.

[boris]

Who?

My kids were rapt - hope that helps. They even wanted to watch the Portugal v Turkey game, in the mistaken belief that there'd be another Who episode afterwards. Bless 'em.

[Mumpo]

Who?

I was a bit disappointed that Steven Moffat broke the number one rule "don't sideline your monster", because I think there was alot more tension to be generated from the whole shadow/darkness avoidance thing, tension that could have really been ramped up by encroaching darkness as the story built to a climax.

if you're going to keep shouting "Don't let your shadows cross!" all the time, you might want to check that you're not crossing other people's shadows

That's the problem, though - when the threat is something as commonplace as shadows, you have to be pretty meticulous with your lighting and with the movement of the characters. I don't know... I'm not saying that what we ended up with wasn't up to scratch, because the story went in some exciting and unexpected directions, but the chance for some real 'willies up' terror possibly seemed to go begging.

[Mumpo]

Who?

(I appreciate I may have phrased that badly)

[ian.64]

Who?

Don't know about that last one, ian. Like I say, she's acting her cotton socks off but she's hit the glass ceiling of being Catherine Tate, which was most painfully obvious as the node turned to face the Doctor at the end of last week's episode. What should have been a supremely disturbing moment was rendered completely ineffectual because it had Catherine Tate's face.

Hmm, I did find that moment a little irksome, but her histrionics seemed a bit toned down for this episode and she wasn't as grating as she usually is. Normally, when any episode's over, the residual discomfort borne by Tate's semi-comic gurning is a major irritant, but, I'll give her her due, she wasn't that bad in 'Forest of the Dead'.

[Mumpo]

Who?

I tell you one thing - if the trailer was anything to go by, then next week's episode could be a bit of a dark horse.

The Doctor is trapped, alone, powerless and terrified, on the planet Midnight. Soon, the knocking on the wall begins. Only a woman called Sky seems to know the truth – but as paranoia turns into a witch-hunt, Sky turns the Doctor's greatest strengths against him, and a sacrifice must be made...

I'm actually quite looking forward to another RTD story.

[Eggchaser]

Who?

Well, I've caught up now and I have to say that the last two episodes were the first in ages to genuinely make me wonder what the hell was going on and give me the creeps at the same time. Mostly it's one or the other.

[David Agnew]

Who?

King Mob wrote:

I tell you one thing - if the trailer was anything to go by, then next week's episode could be a bit of a dark horse.

The Doctor is trapped, alone, powerless and terrified, on the planet Midnight. Soon, the knocking on the wall begins. Only a woman called Sky seems to know the truth – but as paranoia turns into a witch-hunt, Sky turns the Doctor's greatest strengths against him, and a sacrifice must be made...

I'm actually quite looking forward to another RTD story.

So am I for a different reason - apparently, it's a companion-lite story.

[Mumpo]

Who?

It's a clear run of four RTD stories to the end of the season now, so I presume the 'cataclysmic' story arc is going to kick in.

[Disco Child Ballads]

Who?

Four RTD stories in a row? That's a bit much isn't it? Anyway was that Alexei Sayle I saw in the trailer for the next episode? It's kind of interesting as he once appeared in the "Old" series.

[David Agnew]

Who?

So, the twelfth episode, which they withheld the name of to keep us in suspense has had it's title officially revealed as 'THE STOLEN EARTH'. And it's about a battle for the fate of the Earth.

So, thankfully, a completely new idea, and nothing we've seen in previous series. Phew.

[hobbes]

Who?

Maybe it's about a planet made of cake and they just misspelt it?

[Guest]

Who?

Was it just me who heard The Doctor say to the River Song character something along the lines of "How did you know that?, you would only know that if i told you my real name!" I never realised he had another name! Think will have to watch this again on the BBC iplayer to see if he did say it and get it verbatim, unless somebody else can verify it.

[Guest]

Who?

I thought he said that there was only reason he'd tell her his real name. I took it as meaning they were married/siblings/she was actually the doctor in a womans body... they've a big connection of some kind.

[Ginger Yellow]

Who?

Is this more Messiah stuff (secret name of God and all that) or is it just standard Who-lore?

[Wyatt Earp]

Who?

Neither, really, according to Moffat: the Doctor's name has always been a bit of a mystery, and he thought it would be fun to make it a lot of a mystery.

[David Agnew]

Who?

The suggestion was always that he took the name of The Doctor, because it was the closest pronouncable thing to his real name.

It's also the second time Moffat's referred to it - when The Doctor read Madame Du Pompadour's mind, she commented about it.

[Lucy Waterman]

Who?

There are a number of different explanations about the Doctor's real name.

1. In the 1979 story "The Armageddon Factor", the Time Lord Drax calls the Doctor "Theta Sigma" or "Thete". Although there is nothing in the story to suggest this isn't the Doctor's real name, fans don't normally accept it as such, possibly because Drax only appears in Parts Five and Six of "The Armageddon Factor", and the story is so shit and long that few fans have ever got to the scenes with Drax in before they turn it off. Even Peter Haining switched off during the five minute silent conversation between K9 and the computer Mentalis.

2. In the early 70s Piccolo book "The Making Of Doctor Who", authors Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks suggest that the Doctor's real name is a collection of hieroglyphic symbols. While this theory is attractive, in that it creates the possibility of Prince being a Time Lord (or maybe even a future incarnation of the Doctor, somewhere between his twelfth and final regeneration), the decision of Hulke and Dicks to give over a whole chapter of their book to a vicar to talk about the Doctor and Christianity casts doubt on their credibility.

3. In The New Adventures novel "Lovecraft's Tits", acclaimed author Dave Herbert* definitively revealed that the Doctor's real name was "Adrian".

*Also author of "Semiotics and Silver Nemesis: The Cult of Cartmel", now available as a PDF.

[Purves Grundy]

Who?

Everyone knows that Doctor is the Doctor's surname. And loads of monsters and villains have called the Doctor by his first name, too. It's Neil. Most of them also use his middle name, Biformi.

[Guest]

Who?

Neil Biformi Doctor!, brilliant Purves, got some weird looks when i nearly choked on that one!

[Mumpo]

Who?

Well, well. Who would have though it? RTD announces departure from Doctor Who - fandom breathes collective sigh of relief. His annointed successor's much-anticipated effort is widely held to fall short of the mark, and RTD delivers the coup de grace by penning possibly the greatest story of this or the classic series. Astonishing.

[Yoss]

Who?

I can't agree with that. If I was a bit picky with last week's episode it's because I judge Moffat by higher standards - and I thought it was widely held to have been excellent anyway?

This week's was good too, especially for an RTD episode; but it's not one that makes me all curious or makes me want to watch it again, particularly. Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead is still the high point of the series.

[David Agnew]

Who?

Yeah, Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead fell short of Moffat's mark, because in some respects it felt like a greatest hits package. That's more a critism of RTD as exec producer, because he labelled Moffat 'The King Of Terror', and gives him the scary one of the series to do. So, if a guy with no background in horror runs out of ideas for a bit, repetition isn't a major crime.

That was easily RTD's best, by a long chalk. Nice slow build up, into what was almost a Twilight Zone episode. One of my bigger critisisms of RTD has been when he's tried to use new monsters, and how they often underwhelm, but by making this one a psychological enemy, rather than a physical one was a good idea superbly executed. In some ways the ending was a little lacklustre and brief, but the episode wasn't really about that - it was more the morality tale about how when there's fear people turn to an easier target. This time, the immigrant in the shape of the Doctor.

Excellent production from Phil Collinson too. Getting the speech in sync when Lesley Sharp has to speak in time with seven other charactres was a great performance to.

[David Agnew]

Who?

Oh, and by far Catherine Tate's greatest ever performance. If anything, she was on screen just a minute too long.