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Official Doctor Who New Series Discussion (spoilers)


The Shadow
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That episode wasn't all that great. People were vomiting out their own brains so it kinda redeemed itself there but otherwise : sucked. I get it, Doctor Who. Slavery is wrong. Telepathic magic is wonderful. Those Ood-costumes from last year were cool so they had to be brought back. But howsabout having the main characters do something for once instead of just stumbling into trouble for no reason and then stumbling out again? Every single thing which happened in this episode would have happened whether or not the Doctor was there. The most you can say is that if it wasn't for the Doctor maybe maybe that Ood Sigma guy would have forgotten to undo those explosives around the big Ood Brain thingmabob. Everything else just went according to plan with nothing the Doctor did mattering in the slightest.

 

"Oh, Doctordonna, your song will stay with us forever." For what, Oodfolk? They just got in your way a little.

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OK, I only had time to catch a few minutes of tonight's episode, but noticed several major improvements over series 1 and 2 right off:

 

1. More assured directing and camera work.

 

2. Special effects, while still not the show's strong suit, seem far less dodgy/laughable than before.

 

3. Sets and creatures (fat blobs?) look deliberately stylized, rather than cheap by necessity.

 

4. Pretty sure I heard a real trombone (as opposed to that awful synthidental music I've come to expect from the series), and the dialogue/sounds/music mix seems fairly balanced (or, at least more than it was).

 

Did I just happen to step in at all the right moments, or have there really been a lot of major technical improvements to the series in the last year? Or does the show just look and sound a lot worse on DVD?

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OK, I only had time to catch a few minutes of tonight's episode, but noticed several major improvements over series 1 and 2 right off:

 

1. More assured directing and camera work.

 

2. Special effects, while still not the show's strong suit, seem far less dodgy/laughable than before.

 

3. Sets and creatures (fat blobs?) look deliberately stylized, rather than cheap by necessity.

 

4. Pretty sure I heard a real trombone (as opposed to that awful synthidental music I've come to expect from the series), and the dialogue/sounds/music mix seems fairly balanced (or, at least more than it was).

 

Did I just happen to step in at all the right moments, or have there really been a lot of major technical improvements to the series in the last year? Or does the show just look and sound a lot worse on DVD?

 

I'm puzzled you still mention the effects. Since the show came back it's been top notch in that department. I mean, what other sci fi show has better effects? Sometimes BSG has some stellar dogfight scenes, bu then when the toasters come on screen it's like entering Toon Town. Looks awful.

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Oh come on! The BBC has always had the worst effects in the world. As Dr. Who has gotten bigger fame and a bigger budget, their effects have indeed improved, but they have NEVER been anywhere close to your average American sci-fi show.

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Oh come on! The BBC has always had the worst effects in the world. As Dr. Who has gotten bigger fame and a bigger budget, their effects have indeed improved, but they have NEVER been anywhere close to your average American sci-fi show.

 

Wow. I just cannot agree with that. You mean to tell me *Stargate* looks more, I don't know, "polished" than new Who?

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You see we actually couldn't give a rats ass whether it looks good or not. Only whether it is enjoyable.

 

This weeks was a pretty good set-up-i-sode. The Sontarins are easily the best old skool enemies of Doctor Who. The viscousness of the Daleks, but with that bit of class and intelligence thrown in for good measure

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Oh come on! The BBC has always had the worst effects in the world. As Dr. Who has gotten bigger fame and a bigger budget, their effects have indeed improved, but they have NEVER been anywhere close to your average American sci-fi show.

 

Wow. I just cannot agree with that. You mean to tell me *Stargate* looks more, I don't know, "polished" than new Who?

 

 

Okay, no. Stargate is poop, that's true. But Battlestar, any of the Trek shows or Firefly is infinitely better.

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You see we actually couldn't give a rats ass whether it looks good or not. Only whether it is enjoyable.
Who's "we?"

 

And how can the way a show looks not affect its enjoyability? Aren't we dealing with a visual media here?

 

Okay, no. Stargate is poop, that's true. But Battlestar, any of the Trek shows or Firefly is infinitely better.
Yeah, pretty much -- at least from an effects/directing standpoint. I like Who as a show waaay more than all but the original Star Trek though. Better dialogue, stories, characters, etc., go a long way towards making up for the inferior special effects and 'splosions.
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You see we actually couldn't give a rats ass whether it looks good or not. Only whether it is enjoyable.
Who's "we?"
I think LG confirms I speak for most people who watch Doctor Who in the UK. Not all, but a good majority I feel

 

And how can the way a show looks not affect its enjoyability? Aren't we dealing with a visual media here?

Its TV! I just want to sit down and be entertained for about 50 minutes then go off and do other things!

 

If I want big visual effects I will watch a movie or an American based show. In Doctor Who I just want a bit of fun. I still watch old school Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee stuff, the effects and cotumes are completely rubbish but thats part of the entertainement! It means you can rely on the story a little more.

 

It worked for god knows how many years in the 60's, 70's 80's and seems to be working again now.

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I take it you've never watched Red Dwarf then? The effects are really naff, but it doesn't matter.
Why so? I'm not a fan of the show, but have seen Red Dwarf before. I'm not bothered by the effects there, either (probably due to the fact that it's a comedy, and a certain leniency I give to shows made before 2003).

 

Its TV! I just want to sit down and be entertained for about 50 minutes then go off and do other things!
Understandable. I remember defending Enterprise on those grounds in an argument with Tank years ago, so I'd be a hypocrite to get all high fallutin' with you there...

 

If I want big visual effects I will watch a movie or an American based show. In Doctor Who I just want a bit of fun. I still watch old school Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee stuff, the effects and cotumes are completely rubbish but thats part of the entertainement! It means you can rely on the story a little more.
I still enjoy Baker (and Troughton and Pertwee) episodes, too, but c'mon -- we're not talking about the '60s and '70s, we're talking about the here and now. As viewers, we've been spoiled by years of improving production standards and technical polish. I don't begrudge anybody their ability to watch the newer episodes of Doctor Who without occasionally wincing at the directing/special effects/etc., I'm just saying that as much as I like the show, there were times in the first two (new) series when it bugged me.

 

Oh, and before I forget the main point: I was also saying that after seeing Series 1 and 2, it looks like the show's made some huge leaps forward in the areas of directing/sound/effects/etc., so I was actually (believe it or not) paying a compliment!

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What do they cut out, typically, Gman? About 5-7 minutes?

 

I'm sure this is sacrilege, but there are a lot of Who episodes that could stand to be trimmed... I didn't know they were doing it, but part of me enjoying its run on Sci-fi prolly has to do with the (forced) tighter editing...

 

:eek:

 

(it would be cool to have seen the "house gods," though)

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What do they cut out, typically, Gman? About 5-7 minutes?

 

I'm sure this is sacrilege, but there are a lot of Who episodes that could stand to be trimmed... I didn't know they were doing it, but part of me enjoying its run on Sci-fi prolly has to do with the (forced) tighter editing...

 

:eek:

 

(it would be cool to have seen the "house gods," though)

 

In the season finale of S3, they cut out a pretty major scene with the Master (where they play the Scissor Sisters song), a scene I thought was key to showing just how bizarre and mad the Master's mind had become.

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What do they cut out, typically, Gman? About 5-7 minutes?

 

I'm sure this is sacrilege, but there are a lot of Who episodes that could stand to be trimmed... I didn't know they were doing it, but part of me enjoying its run on Sci-fi prolly has to do with the (forced) tighter editing...

 

:eek:

 

(it would be cool to have seen the "house gods," though)

 

As Transducer stated, in Last of the Time Lords, the sequence where the Master dances to the Scissor Sisters and quasi tortures the Doctor was omitted. Even worse, a major plot point where the buildup to rebellion involving Jack and Martha’s family was cut out. So, when they did rebel, it made no sense. There were a bunch of other minor edits as well, totaling about 15 minutes.

 

Last night’s edit was not as important because it was just the 6-month epilogue involving the family was cut, that I noticed.

 

After last season’s blasphemy, I wrote a very long email to Sci-fi but got no response. Last night, I thought about emailing the BBC but at the official board over at the Sci-fi site, they are saying that the edits are from the BBC. So, who knows why this is going on. At least the episodes are full when the DVDs are released.

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