Doctor Who - Father's Day

[raven]

Hee. Every week at about this time, hathy_col and I have a good old-fashioned squee-fest, and it never fails to cheer me up no end.

Hmm. As Colleen said, it's hard to know what to think about this episode because it's so different from your usual fare. Stuff I liked:

-It wasn't ashamed to be about Rose, the companion, the mere human, and not the Doctor. It was her story.

-And that said, the Doctor is his usual self throughout and I never stop loving the Doctor's usual self. His egotism at the beginning - "I can do anything!" - is subtle. Heh.

-The landscape of 1987. I was born in an inner-city area in Britain in 1987, and the details of it were fantastic. The posters - "Thatcher fails to gain third term" - were typical of the BBC's subliminal political messaging. (As Colleen noted later, the Geocomtex website has "MED BIL ETOV" as its own exercise in subtlety.)

-The big hair!

-Rose's dad. While I wanted to hate him, I liked the Del Boy reference, and in the end I really liked him. He wanted to be a good dad, and he was honest enough to know Rose was lying to him.

-the Doctor's anger. While Rose potters about happily oblivious, the Doctor stands there, arms folded, radiating rage - even Pedar looked up and said, "He has issues, doesn't he?"

-The Reapers. I didn't think I'd like them either, but they were nicely creepy. They were creepier when you couldn't see them, though, if that makes sense.

-the Doctor talking to baby Rose. He does seem to have some sort of affinity for babies, and he was thoroughly adorable in this.

-Talking about families. It seems a little counter-intuitive that we should have a reference to the Doctor's own family and world in an episode where he comments he doesn't have anything like "two in the morning on a street corner." But I'm willing to overlook that on the grounds it was a really nicely judged moment. Squee for the Dance of Backstory.

-The setting. The church seemed oddly appropriate for no reason I can put my finger on - however, I noticed right from the start that the Doctor is older than the building! Go team me. But I did start getting a little wibbly when he yelled, "I'm the oldest thing here!" and stepped out as a sacrifice.

-The Doctor's death! Oh my god, as I said later, he gets eaten. At which point Colleen asked why he didn't regenerate. I said maybe he did, only we can't see him 'cause he's been eaten. And then she said maybe each chewed-up piece regenerates separately, so there's hundreds of little proto-Doctors marching around like in The Sorcerer's Apprentice. And then it started getting really silly.

-the conspiracy theory. The Doctor knew how to fix this all along, but didn't say, just to spare Rose's dad.

-And also, the dignified death of Peter Tyler. In the end, he can do what the Doctor couldn't, and despite being only human, can do it with the same grace. I really liked that.

Stuff I didn't like:

I don't know, really. It's just the whole thing hasn't gelled in my head yet. I think it's the sort of episode you can only really appreciate on a second viewing. A good one, overall. Confidential was fun, afterwards, what with all the references to big hair, the evolving character of the Doctor and the past Doctors' reactions to losing their companions. It's so sad, as Colleen and I agreed. So terribly sad. But then we got distracted into talking about Romana's schoolgirl hat.

Also: where was the bad wolf reference? My bet's on one of the posters. Anyone see it?

Comments

[maryavatar.livejournal.com]

The bad wolf was on one of the yellow smiley face posters :)

[cscottd.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen it yet, and it looks like I may not get to.

I am living in the states and Doctor Who isn't airing here (and doesn't look to be, in the foreseeable future).

I've been downloading episodes of the new series via BitTorrent until now, but The MPAA has decided to go on a rampage against TV download sites (http://www.livejournal.com/users/marcusdkat/11937.html) and the site I normally get my Torrent Link from has shut down.

I have really been loving the new series so far (and was particularly anxious to see tonight's episode, because in the previews it looked as though it might invalidate something I've already written in my Ficathon story).

Anyway... Sorry to rant in your journal.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I'm aware of the problem, as you're not the only on my flist ranting about it. We shall have to do something. Don't know what, but something must be done.

[cscottd.livejournal.com]

Honestly, if it were airing here somewhere, I'd be happy to watch it (adverts and all) instead of downloading it.

Likewise, if there were Region 1 DVD's available, I'd buy them (although I'd probably still want to download them too, just to see them without waiting).

I'm not trying to steal anything or cheat anyone out of revenue. I just want my Saturday night Doctor Who fix. :)

[trav28.livejournal.com]

I don't think the Doc died - I personally believe he was "removed" from time/or the time stream. Or perhaps his symbiotic link to the TARDIS took him to a different place?

[eternalwings.livejournal.com]

I loved it! Myself and mother were sitting sobbing on the couch but I think it's more hormonal in my case.
I hate being a teenager

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Someone on the comm just posted a link: boink (http://www.livejournal.com/community/new_who/105626.html).

[thedivinegoat.livejournal.com]

http://www.mininova.org/tor/42193

[cscottd.livejournal.com]

Thanks!!

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

The doctor was good with babies in his last incarnation too, Xan and Lily were sure of that :)

Also - http://www.livejournal.com/users/blue_jackal_/79826.html?nc=2
xx

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Go you for spotting it. :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*g* Awww. But it was sad, you weren't the only one.

[maryavatar.livejournal.com]

Me and the spawn compete to see who spots the bad wolf ref first. I won last night :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Friends-only link!

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

Oh sods.
Thats what I get for trying to be helpful when i'm sick *bleh*

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v98/BasilBrush/badwolf.jpg

Thats the link in the post i was linking too. yes.
xx

[culturedgoat.livejournal.com]

Was it just me, or was some of the writing a bit odd? The dialogue between Rose and her dad was baffling at times, and it seemed very awkward. What was the whole deal about the glowing Tardis key, and the monsters disappearing when they touched it? I found that the whole dynamics of how time travel works seemed to get a bit messed up in this one.

That said, it was utterly riveting - top quality fare. The reaper things were genuinely creepy - doubly so with the whole slightly gothic church setting and the fact they kind of looked like gargoyles. There was also something strangely eerie about the car perpetually appearing round the corner then disappearing, caught in an infinite loop.

Billie Piper continues to get on my tits though. Less Rose, more Doctor!

xxx