h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Oh yes...and stil not sure about the return of Red Dwarf.

I enjoyed the new RD's, I'm currently watching Polymorph on Dave

New RD was waaaay too heavy on the self-promotion. Few good lines though.

"She didn't see that coming. I did."

Gif

Missed the Water of Mars trailer so I just watched it on youtube. That looks good. Looks like there will be some non-Doctor eye-candy for us ladies too!

I didn't think last night's was as good as I was expecting, but I did enjoy it. The 'dead people in my hair' was terrible, as you've all said, but other than that I thought Christina was pretty good.

Sorry, I think you're making too much of one line. It didn't even grate with me. The whole episode was a romp, no more, no less. It doesn't need to be analysed, just enjoyed. For my money it was the perfect feelgood Easter special/200th episode.
10/10
SBE

I liked it , not much to dislike really apart from the 'dead people in my hair' line . The new doctor is going to find Tennant a hard act to follow . Oh yes and it was in HD

I really enjoyed that episode, far superior to the Christmas one with the cybermen. The hair line was a bit weird yeah, but I blame the writers for that one because otherwise I thought Michelle Ryan was superb, a good match for the Doctor as well.

The whole fly thing worked quite well I thought, but them dying so suddenly was a bit 'let's get them out of the way now'. Lee Evans wasn't too bad either, pretty much what I expected.

There's a few references in there though. The prophesy one obviously, which means that when the Ood said it it may not have referred to River Song (someone suggested that somewhere), but we probably know what's going on with that. The knocking one reminded me of Midnight a bit, and also the Master, it wouldn't surprise me if they brought him back somehow.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I didn't mind my mum being in the room at the end and having to explain what was going on to her. Good stuff from Russell T Davies and the other writer. I now have high hopes for the rest of the series and I hope I'm not disappointed.

Absolutely enjoyed it. Simple story, well-executed. Agree with the Stargate/Raiders comment; though not so much TombRaider.

Liked the Michelle Ryan character, but did get a slight bit irritated that she is incapable of delivering any line without smiling. It makes showing and anger and disdain rather more difficult to interpret or believe. That said liked her intelligence and interaction with the Doctor. Liked the "Ok we need to pick a leader ..." stuff.

Still don't really know why they went all the way to Dubai just for some sand ...

Probably to avoid the use of masses of CGI to make the rest of the desert.

And another thing I've just remembered, didn't he say he stole the TARDIS? There have been a lot of hints like that throughout Series 4, like 'I've been a Dad before' and about his name and stuff like that. Do we reckon this is hinting at the future, or filling in pieces of the past?

I thought that the original series always went with the convention that he stole the TARDIS. Posssibly even dating back to the end of the Patrick Troughton era, and The War Games. Almost certainly I think Tom Baker mentioned it to Romana.

Here we are ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/wargames/detail.shtml

"The War Chief is a Time Lord who left [Gallifrey] after the Doctor. He recognises the Doctor. The Doctor states that he had 'every right' to leave the Time Lords' planet. The Doctor's TARDIS was stolen. The Doctor notes that the machine's 'directional mechanism' is faulty, hence he has been unable to pilot it correctly."

The end sequence of Arc of Infinity (iirc) has Tegan gawk "You mean youre going on the run from your own people in a stolen TARDIS?" (or words to that effect.

The (fifth) Doctor replies "Why not? After all, thats how it all began..."

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Uh oh,http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7995726.stm is the rot starting to set in?

I quite liked the Planet Of The Dead (apart from the flying bus) but it will be criminal if they don't bring Michelle Ryan back again. Besides, would the Doctor really allow all that alien tech to stay on 21st Century Earth in the hands of a career thief?

I thought there was a lot of similarity to Catwoman in the Christina character. Adam West always played up the sexual chemistry thing between Batman and Catwoman. A similar, opposite side of the tracks, forbidden fruit type attraction could be played on with Christina De Souza and the Doctor if they bring her back again. She's already delivered the 'I like it extreme' double entendre so the precedent has been set for some flirty fun.

Regarding Red Dwarf - the final wage packet, does anyone else think that Craig Charles and Chris Barrie deliver all their lines as if they really don't want to be doing this anymore?

"Uh oh,http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7995726.stm is the rot starting to set in?"

Nah ... I think it's a consequence of Talent having a standard Saturday night audience against anyone must the 'fans' knowing that it's on.

And with the BBC showing the Special on all three days of Easter ... Sunday (BBC Three), Monday (BBC One again); my guess is that your average family would plump for Talent over Dr Who; knowing they'll get to watch it on a later showing.

The two shows have a relatively mutually exclusive audience (certainly not in the way that say "Britain's Got Talent" and "X-Factor" would have). ITV have had that kind of family entertainment programme scheduled into Saturday evenings for the past six months plus.

Meanwhile I think the Special has been relatively poorly advertised. Most of us weren't sure what day/time it would be shown over Easter. I've hardly read anything about it in the news or the web. I don't your 'casual' regular viewer would necessarily remember to watch.

I believe they do 'aggregated' ratings later so we should see Dr Who surpass Talent with the extra viewers.

Doctor Who was one of the few programmes I've seen 'as broadcast' this month. Mostly I use Sky+ to record it and watch it later. It was only because as a fan of the show I was keen to see it as soon as it was available. I still recorded it even though I was watching it.

Don't forget - Who never usually tops the ratings. I dont think any of the specials have been #1 for the whole week (could be wrong about the S4 climax though). To be #2 for the week is peak performance, not 'the rot setting in'.

Gif

My kids weren't so upset about the bus driver as they were about the insects. We all *really* liked them. In fact, it was nice not to have anything "evil" going on for a change.

But up to the point where the bus started flying it was all a bit .. dull. Plus I was distracted by trying to work out why a bus from Oxford Circus to Victoria would be going through a tunnel that long. And I imagine that Transport for London will be a bit miffed at the idea that it's possible to pay *after* boarding. With diamonds.

I did like Lee Evans. I knew I knew who he was, I just couldn't work it out.

A particularly good DWC, we thought.

Mol

yep, was ok. Felt like a bit of scene setting for the next ones (waters of mars looks good) and liked the cloister bell going off again.

Michelle Ryan - I think I must be in a minority here, I didn't find her character overly convincing. Just seemed two-dimensional if that to me. A mean not bad or awful or anything, but could have been a lot better.

And maybe they should have used a sand pit rather than a desert if it meant the cgi bus could be a bit better.

But hey, I enjoyed it so I can overlook those. Oh yes, completely forgot Lee Evans was in it until he showed up, he was ok too surprisingly.