I've seen a couple of less than favorable reviews and I wonder if it's that the hardcore sci-fi only folks aren't digging the character stuff as much. Not sure.
From what I can tell, there are some who don't like the over-the-top Master stuff, because from their POV, that sort of villain was last in style in the 70s... on Doctor Who.
But I think it was quite clear that TPTB wanted to have a "mad Master" and not just a supervillain who wants to rule the universe or whatever.
I also feel bad that we've never gotten the same chance to get to know Martha's family like we did with Jackie and Mickey.
I watched the original series when I was teen, and I don't recall any of the companions then going home so much. Not that they never did, it just wasn't so often that you got to know their family well.
I think one reason we knew Rose's family so well was simply a budget saving concept. Setting so much of the series on modern-day earth would certainly be cheaper, and it would also give more characters to ask the stupid questions to get new viewers, as well as old ones who need their memory refreshed, up to speed.
The scenes of Galifrey were just gorgeous and I'm really hoping that RTD has a long-term plan for giving us a clearer look at the Time War.
IIRC, there were episodes set on Gallifrey in the past, but we only saw interior shots of buildings, not any outdoor views. They were gorgeous though.
I got my Torchwood revalation scene between Jack and The Doctor. YAY! I'm so glad they didn't just gloss over Jack's involvement with the organization. It was also a nice revelation about Jack's place in Torchwood. For all intents and purposes he runs the place now. In honor of The Doctor. GUH!
I liked the Master revealing the connection without outright saying Torchwood, leaving Jack to explain it to the Doctor himself.
If I understood it correctly, Jack sort of stepped in and took over in the aftermath Canary Wharf, which is what I'd been thinking might be the case. He might have been aware of them and/or involved with them in the past, but Canary Wharf gave him an "in" to basically rebuild it in a new image the Doctor would (mostly) be proud of.
My only canon niggle is how all this ties into the Torchwood finale. Right now, it doesn't quite synch up, but RTD has managed to pull off stuff like this before.
I wonder if that line about Jack fancying the Doctor is what made John and David squee like schoolboys.
More than likely. And I would have paid money to see the squee. ;)
There's an additional layer to the angst too, since Jack keeping the Doctor's hand to be able to find him gave the Master part of the weapon he needed. I have to wonder if that's why Jack gave Martha the teleporter instead of going back with her, tracking down his team, and coming back to save the day -- guilt that his own actions caused the Doctor's downfall, so he wouldn't leave.
I do have a plot question. Did The Master use Lazarus' technology to age the Doctor simply to incapacitate him, while pushing him closer to another regeneration? I mean it's not as though he's going to just die of old age and that's that.
I think it's just a method to incapacitate him, to force the Doctor to see the destruction of earth while he literally is unable to fight. IIRC, Gallifreyans are long-lived even without the regenerations, so while he's old, he may be decades away from death and regeneration. I did a little checking, and the Doctor has been aged 500 years before in a few moments and was still alive, so there's a precedent if they want to use it.
In the original canon, each Time Lord only got 13 regenerations, and we're on 10 now with the Doctor. However, the Master is already beyond 13 now and is at least at 15. He had a time there where he was bodyhopping to stay alive because he was out of regenerations. If the Time Lords revived him to fight in the Time War, did that reset his number of regenerations?
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2007-06-25 12:04 am (UTC)From what I can tell, there are some who don't like the over-the-top Master stuff, because from their POV, that sort of villain was last in style in the 70s... on Doctor Who.
But I think it was quite clear that TPTB wanted to have a "mad Master" and not just a supervillain who wants to rule the universe or whatever.
I also feel bad that we've never gotten the same chance to get to know Martha's family like we did with Jackie and Mickey.
I watched the original series when I was teen, and I don't recall any of the companions then going home so much. Not that they never did, it just wasn't so often that you got to know their family well.
I think one reason we knew Rose's family so well was simply a budget saving concept. Setting so much of the series on modern-day earth would certainly be cheaper, and it would also give more characters to ask the stupid questions to get new viewers, as well as old ones who need their memory refreshed, up to speed.
The scenes of Galifrey were just gorgeous and I'm really hoping that RTD has a long-term plan for giving us a clearer look at the Time War.
IIRC, there were episodes set on Gallifrey in the past, but we only saw interior shots of buildings, not any outdoor views. They were gorgeous though.
I got my Torchwood revalation scene between Jack and The Doctor. YAY! I'm so glad they didn't just gloss over Jack's involvement with the organization. It was also a nice revelation about Jack's place in Torchwood. For all intents and purposes he runs the place now. In honor of The Doctor. GUH!
I liked the Master revealing the connection without outright saying Torchwood, leaving Jack to explain it to the Doctor himself.
If I understood it correctly, Jack sort of stepped in and took over in the aftermath Canary Wharf, which is what I'd been thinking might be the case. He might have been aware of them and/or involved with them in the past, but Canary Wharf gave him an "in" to basically rebuild it in a new image the Doctor would (mostly) be proud of.
My only canon niggle is how all this ties into the Torchwood finale. Right now, it doesn't quite synch up, but RTD has managed to pull off stuff like this before.
I wonder if that line about Jack fancying the Doctor is what made John and David squee like schoolboys.
More than likely. And I would have paid money to see the squee. ;)
There's an additional layer to the angst too, since Jack keeping the Doctor's hand to be able to find him gave the Master part of the weapon he needed. I have to wonder if that's why Jack gave Martha the teleporter instead of going back with her, tracking down his team, and coming back to save the day -- guilt that his own actions caused the Doctor's downfall, so he wouldn't leave.
I do have a plot question. Did The Master use Lazarus' technology to age the Doctor simply to incapacitate him, while pushing him closer to another regeneration? I mean it's not as though he's going to just die of old age and that's that.
I think it's just a method to incapacitate him, to force the Doctor to see the destruction of earth while he literally is unable to fight. IIRC, Gallifreyans are long-lived even without the regenerations, so while he's old, he may be decades away from death and regeneration. I did a little checking, and the Doctor has been aged 500 years before in a few moments and was still alive, so there's a precedent if they want to use it.
In the original canon, each Time Lord only got 13 regenerations, and we're on 10 now with the Doctor. However, the Master is already beyond 13 now and is at least at 15. He had a time there where he was bodyhopping to stay alive because he was out of regenerations. If the Time Lords revived him to fight in the Time War, did that reset his number of regenerations?