Sleep-speaker

I absolutely adored the Sarah-Jane Adventures, and was very disappointed that it got creamed in the ratings. Which I think was partly the BBCs fault for a) showing it in a kiddies tv timeslot, and b) aiming and marketing the show primarily at kids. (Which I think has been their big mistake with this current season of Doctor Who too. I don't know how the audience share breaks down, but I bet most Doctor Who fans are over 16, and not, as the BBC seems to think, 8.)

Last I heard they are still going ahead with the season of Sarah Jane Adventures though, so fingers crossed we get more. (Oh, and it won't have K9 in at. Mostly because a seperate K9 spin-off is under production.)

You should definitely check out the last 2 episodes of WHo though. The best thing about it? Apart from the fact that they had an actual story this time with proper characters, Tennant was playing somebody who wasn't the Doctor. And all of a sudden he was acting again, he had subtlety and nuance. Which was really refreshing after all of his boggle-eyed antics this season.

I watched some of last season recently, and Tennants acting was *very* different. Whatever he is doing this season is new, and, really not good. Still, he's better than Robson Greene would be, who is the most recent rumoured actor to replace Tennant.

I miss Rose.

And the whole Martha Pining After The Doctor thing is beyond lame.

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It got creamed? Oy. That's disappointing. But good to hear that they're still going ahead with the series and that K-9 will NOT be in it. Seriously, the only time I'll be happy to see that dog again will be if he's getting sucked into that black hole...

I'm wonder if the awesome two-episodes in the second half of the season thing will be a Who staple after your comments. I'm thinking about the Empty Child two-parter, the Impossible Planet episodes, in Torchwood "They Keep Killing Suzie," and "Random Shoes," the two episodes that were GOOD. Huh.

I'm definitely curious to watch Tennant if he's actually acting again. But dear god, ROBSON GREENE?! Save us. Plus I thought he was only allowed to act on ITV... Plus he doesn't act so much as...sulk.

I miss Rose.

Me too, but not half as much as I miss Ace.

And the whole Martha Pining After The Doctor thing is beyond lame.

Really? Argh. And I liked her so much in the first episode in part because she just naturally assumed she was just as good as him and called him Mr Smith because he hadn't earned the title of Doctor yet... Bah. Humbug! HUMBUG SAY I!

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If I remember correctly it got something like 2.4 million viewers. Which was very disappointing compared to the viewers Who gets. But they did schedule it at early dinner-time on New Years Day with virtually no promotion.

Would be odd if the two-parter rule is the case, but also if I may add to it, the early-season two-parters tend to be rank. Aliens of London was bad except for the Doctor/Rose character stuff. The cybermen two parter in S2 was pretty awful. And the Daleks In Manhatten 2-parter this season was really really shit.

Another potential pattern: The third last episode in S1 and S2 were dreadful.

(I can't comment on Torchwood. I gave up in disgust half way through the Welsh countryside cannibals episode. I really wanted to like Torchwood, but everything about it I detested. Even Captain Jack.)

I hope the Robson Greene thing is just a rumour.

And yes, really, the over-riding character point of Martha now is that she has fallen in LURVE with the Doctor, and pines away because he doesn't notice her or even remotely think of her in that way.

Ho, very much, hum.

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If I remember correctly it got something like 2.4 million viewers. Which was very disappointing compared to the viewers Who gets. But they did schedule it at early dinner-time on New Years Day with virtually no promotion.

That doesn't sound so terrible considering it's a spin-off aimed at younger kids... I mean a lot of people probably figured it was just for children and not worth watching; I know I had a very child-oriented image of it in my mind - much more so than for "Normal" Who. Plus 2.4 million means that roughly one person in thirty in the entirety of britain was watching it. Feh. Ratings whores, every one of them!

Would be odd if the two-parter rule is the case, but also if I may add to it, the early-season two-parters tend to be rank. Aliens of London was bad except for the Doctor/Rose character stuff. The cybermen two parter in S2 was pretty awful. And the Daleks In Manhatten 2-parter this season was really really shit.

*boggles* Good god, you're right! I didn't see the Manhatten two-parter. I know that at the time I thought that was a shame because the art-deco dalek sounded AWESOME, but then I heard how bad it sounded and...feh.

(I can't comment on Torchwood. I gave up in disgust half way through the Welsh countryside cannibals episode. I really wanted to like Torchwood, but everything about it I detested. Even Captain Jack.)

Oh, god, I almost quit halfway through the cannibals episode. That was just beyond insulting and horrifically bad. Especially since the first fifteen minutes or so were genuinely creepy... OH HOW BAD IT WAS GOING TO GET FROM THERE.

But I watched the next episode and...shockingly...it was pretty good, and it kept getting better. Until we hit "Combat" (The third from last episode!) which was just. Well. It wasn't as insulting to real live human beings as the cannibals episode but it was such. a. waste. of. space. It was a ripoff of Fight Club that missed every single point of Fight Club. Oh I'm angry just thinking about it.

And yes, really, the over-riding character point of Martha now is that she has fallen in LURVE with the Doctor, and pines away because he doesn't notice her or even remotely think of her in that way.

That's a total waste of Martha's character. Though quite interesting in terms of the Doctor since apparently the new series isn't going to quite go the way of having every companion be a romantic interest. Hmmm.

But in general...yes. Ho hum.

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I caught a promo for the rest of the season a couple weeks ago and I'm very excited by some of the upcoming guest stars.

And I liked her so much in the first episode in part because she just naturally assumed she was just as good as him and called him Mr Smith because he hadn't earned the title of Doctor yet... Bah. Humbug! HUMBUG SAY I!

No, no, now it's like he is now the MOST AWESOME THING EVA! Forget medical school and family it's ALL about the Doctor. God, I miss Rose.

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Are the Captain Jack episodes starting soon?

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No clue, but I saw him in the previews and thought he might be able to help salvage the season. I also Derek Jacobi who I've always liked as an actor. No clue what part he'll be playing or when...oh, just thought to check imdb. He pops up in Ep 11, in two weeks, along with Jack. Woo!

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Jack is 10, 11, and 12. From what I heard last. Definitely the last 2 though.

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imbd has him for 11,12, and 13, but no information for 10 so he could be in as many as four.

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Ah, I miscounted then. Thought there were 12 eps this season. :) It's 11, 12 and 13 then.

I bet his appearance in 13 is just a short snippet of him being picked up in Cardiff.

Whcih I've already seen because they showed it on Johnathan Ross when he was interviewing the guy.

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Jack's last scene on Torchwood involved him hearing the TARDIS, smiling, and then disappearing. So, yeah, I'm assuming the Doctor will drop him off back home.

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madenglishbloke.livejournal.com

Plus I thought he was only allowed to act on ITV... Plus he doesn't act so much as...sulk.

just as long as he doesnt sing **shudder**

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Still, he's better than Robson Greene would be, who is the most recent rumoured actor to replace Tennant.

O_o

Good grief, NO. Though I've been wavering quitting 'Who' all together so...

I'm in the very, very tiny minority in that I didn't really like the last two eps. I will admit they were better crafted then what came before them and I did like the kid from Love, Actually and the nurse. Actually, what I think I liked best about them was their willingness to stand up to the Doctor/his other self. I liked Martha when she was introduced, but the constant fawning is getting on my last nerve. And can someone explain to me how she gets to make the big declaration to the Doctor after knowing him for all of a week or two when others don't get that opportunity until they leave the show?

(And I know Becka is a spoilerwhore so I can vent about all this. ;)

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Indeed I am a spoilerwhore!

And god, don't force the dilemma of whether or not I'll EVER watch DW again if it's Robson Greene (okay, I'm kidding myself. I will. But I'll be crying. And not just on the inside.)

It seems that there's something of a consensus on the Martha-Fawning which is a real shame. But hey, like you and the last two episodes, I'll cling to the hope that I'll be in the minority who disagrees about her? *hopes fervently but...without much actual hope*

And she's said she loves him already?! When?! ...did he look awkward? Please tell me he did! Cos he deserves to, that young hussy...

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Technically, she didn't tell the Doctor she loves him she told the other person who he thought he was (long story) that she's in love with the Doctor even though he doesn't love her and that she hoped that he wasn't going to remember any of this. Of course, he did, and she explained that she really didn't mean it and she just said all that to reach him and shock him back into being himself or something like that. Then he said 'Oh, of course' blah, blah even though he knew she was lying.

I thought the Doctor was actually an ass after he became his old self again. Another long story, but he asks the nurse who fell in love with the other him (John) to come along and be his companion which left me going WTF? The bright side was, she got in a great shot at him. :)

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Agreed, that scene where he asked the nurse was just.... totally squick. I think the Doctor had some sort of breakdown when he lost Rose, because he was VERY squick in the christmas special when he was asking the bride to run away with him too.

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Interesting point. He has become rather quick to ask people to tag along with him now even though it makes no sense to ask these people to do so. What could the bride have offered him? And the nurse was in love with John, not him, so to remind her of the man she lost every day seems just plain cruel. He seemed to relent rather easily to Martha wanting to travel with him, but I was willing to accept that because he does need someone and she was the most logical choice.

It would be great if the show would delve into the Doctor's desperate attempts to fill a void in his life, but I'm not holding my breath.

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No, I'm not holding my breath either. For whatever reason RTD seems to be reluctant to delve into those sorts of deep questions, instead preferring to give us uber lame countdown clock episodes where the sense of real-time tension is heightened NOT ONE TINY BIT by cutting away to the clock every 45 seconds.

Bah.

There were all sorts of interesting hints in S2 of them foreshadowing what Rose was going to be, and how important she was, and primarily her task in reminding him that he is Not A God. (Because now he is the last, it will be tempting for him to develop a God-Complex.)

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Oh god I WEEP for the unused forshadowing in that Queen Victoria episode.

In fact I'm seriously considering posting the first five pages I have of an epic fic I will obviously never finish but the fact I even wrote speaks VOLUMES (for I nearly never write fic unless I am driven to it by great in this case, disappointment) which is all about Rose after she gets stranded in the AltVerse. I always wondered if she thought he was coming to rescue her, and then she's just left, on this beach.

Anyway, the fic is all about the Bad Wolf and the heart of the TARDIS and being stuck with chips for the rest of her life. And it's about how there's three shades of everyone - Rose's Mum, Rose's Dead Not!Mum, Rose's CyberMum, or Rose's Dead Dad, Rose's Not!Dad, and the Dad Rose always imagined. Or the 9th Doctor, the 10th Doctor and the Doctor who shows up in the fic. Rose herself, her younger sister, and the girl the Doctor brings with him. And...and I run out of plot for it sometimes, but I know the premise well - that the TARDIS kept the part of itself in Rose's heart quiet while she sailed with the Doctor, but once she's away... What then? How else did she hear the singing and the call through the last crack in the universe? It was the TARDIS singing to its fractured self.

And the AltVerse 9th Doctor shows up - and I have good reasons why its him and not the 10th - thinking he's found another surviving Timelord except who he finds is Rose. Who's not really Rose anymore, any more than the girl he's travelling with is. Because over time her family's died and she's becoming something else, something caged on a single planet.

And in the end it's going to be the Doctor and Rose looking at each other, almost enemies and almost friends, across all the devastation she's (they've) wreaked and he says something like, "I don't do domestic," and she answers, "Good, cos I don't anymore either."

Ugh. I wish this stupid story would get out of my head, or at least get itself a decent plot so I can get it out onto paper. Blergh.

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SO MUCH UNUSED FORESHADOWING!

... I have an epic fic idea for Rose post-finale too. Which, like you, I really feel driven to write b ecause dammit, I want more closure for Rose.

Because yes, I agree, the altverse will definitely have had an alt-doctor. And Rose will have realised this. And as soon as she put herself back together, she'd have set off single-mindedly to find the other Doctor.

And maybe in the altverse, the TImelords weren't all destroyed, and they are managing their side of the universe, so that portals can be re-opened...

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I'm not at the stage of quitting, it's still about the only thing on tv I actually watch in the week. But this season has been massively disappointing.

You know I really thought Martha would be gay, to avoid the Doctor/Companion issue.

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That would have worked surprisingly well. Then they could have convinced Billie Piper to come back for a special one-off and then Martha could have fallen in love with her too and then the Doctor and Martha could have wandered love-lorn through space-time forever, and you know, bonded over being in love with the same person. And stuff. Yeah.

I'm...torn. On the one hand, I feel really bad for Martha and irritated at RTD for doing that to a character with potential. On the other hand, I'm massively relieved that the Doctor isn't falling in love with every companion. And even if it's just happenstance, I can really understand the character development between PTSD 9th Doctor falling for Rose - the only point at which I could see the Doctor falling for a companion, and the very lonely 10th Doctor (but the Doctor who's so much more immature, who's moved beyond the sobering effect of being personally responsible and onto the raging, temper tantrum, attention seeking aftermath) holding on to Rose like a vice. Seeking to replace her at every turn with no regard for the feelings of the replacement, while also desperately denying that's what he's doing. And no one ever can replace Rose because no one else will have done what she's done. And the 9th Doctor in his mind will be irritated with everyone who follows.

But...I doubt that was the intention somehow.

It's odd. I don't really think Rose is particularly unique in terms of her character, but her placement in Companion!History makes her unique. She has to be that important or parts of the story and the various characters' psychologies just don't work.

And now I'll stop getting all long-winded and serious at you. Honest!

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I still daydream and hope and pray that Billie Piper can be convinced to return. Is it bad of me to hope that her career stalls and she's forced into returning to Who?

Did you know they had plans for a Rose Tyler Defender Of The Earth spin-off show? It was one of the things they put on the table when they were offering Billeh huge pay raises to stay with the show and not quit. The offer of her very own spin off show.

Instead they made Torchwood.

*mutters darkly*

And yes, I agree, Rose was absolutely unique, and I'll be very disappointed if we see the Doctor falling for another of his companions. Because despite a lot of fanwankery, I am convinced that the Doctor really did love Rose. And vice versa.

(And I will forever remain a little annoyed that Rose never got to hear him say it.)

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spiralsheep.livejournal.com

is it bad that I watched the Invasion of Bane holiday special of the Sarah-Jane Smith Adventures and liked it more than most of the recent Doctor Who episodes I've been watching? (K-9 notwithstanding...)

No, that sounds fine to me...

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Good, good. Just checking.

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i_kender

He just...yells and acts "zany".

Yep, that's exactly how I felt, and why I've missed seeing any of this season apart from the first ep. Which is a shame, because I actually *like* David Tennant! Just not when he's playing the Muppet Doctor ;)

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The muppet doctor! I love it! Genius description!

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i_kender

Haha! :) Maybe the Jim Henson company should do a spin-off?

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I would so watch that! Though I can't decide if it would be better to create and all-new-muppet-Doctor or if there should be like a Muppet Christmas Carol with Gonzo as the Doctor and Kermit as the Master! (Or maybe the other way around...)

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i_kender

The first one, definitely! An all-new Henson Who (not necessarily Muppet-style, but some kind of puppet, naturally)

Oh lord, but your second suggestion has set off a weird chain reaction in my head now:

EcclestonWho = SamTheEagle... ;)

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Is it just me or were the effects on the big bad Bane Mother and her Banelings alot more impressive than most of the rather ropey CGI effects seen in the last 3 seasons of doctor who.

K9 fan ay!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAI_b6DRnFA

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