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

Ben Browder.

Not so sure I wanted to be put through the emotional morality thing again. Tennant-Doctor did that enough, thanks.

Hmm. I have a feeling that I want Doctor Who to be fluffy.

I would be a very happy girl if Ben Browder (shaved) would come back as the next incarnation of The Doctor.

I'm surprised but that episode didn't really do it for me. Not sure why because there were loads of elements I liked but it just didn't really seem to hang together for me.

FB

Yeah. Can't put my finger on it, but yeah, it didn't quite work.

Oh yes, and GB - only if he could pull off a convincing accent from somewhere in the UK. Or remained mute. A Doctor can't be American for more than a cameo. *nods*

No, that episode didn't really do it for me, either. Nothing specific, it just wasn't all that exciting, I suppose.

It doesn't help that I can't ever see Adrian Scarborough in anything without seeing Pete from Gavin & Stacey. For some reason he's just stuck in that character wherever he goes!

I did find it interesting when the Doctor was shouting about all the people dead because of his mercy. It maybe goes some way to explaining his apparent lack of mercy recently.

Deb

This episode was a little off the mark for me too. I thought for a moment that rather than the Doctor concentrating on the people that died due to his mercy, a parallel might be drawn between the darkness of Adrian Scarborough's character and the Doctor's dark side.

Kahler-Jex mentions something about, through his evil acts he saved his race from annihilation, whilst in comparison the Doctor is responsible for the destruction of the Time Lords.

Just at this point the Doctor marches Kahler-Jex over the boundary to meet his doom. I initially thought this was because the Doctor didn't like the metaphorical mirror that was held up to him, rather than getting uppity about showing mercy.

It seems that the saying 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions' is especially apt for the Doctor.

One more thing....that deep, slightly strange voice used for Kahler-Mas, the cyborg is getting a tad over used in Doctor Who.

I didn't quite work for me either. There was a lot to like but for some reason it didn't catch. It seemed a little shallow, which is pretty surprising given that Toby Whithouse wrote it and his previous offerings (God Complex, Vampires in Venice) had a real depth to them.

It was also quite by-the-numbers: no real surprises.

I've been trying to think of why the episode didn't work as well as it might have. It had interesting themes to explore, a fun setting that they played with nicely, characters with depth...
What is building in my head is an idea that it was a bit "tell-don't-show". Too many times, the theme is stated explicitly to us, rather than us being allowed to work it out for ourselves. Kahler-Jex saying the Doctor was like a mirror to him, Amy saying this was what happened when he travelled without a companion, even the Basil Exposition bit about the nature of Kahler-Jex's crimes, all tended to lead us around by our noses. "In case you're not keeping up, THIS is what's going on in this scene."
I know it's a lot more difficult to do this stuff with that degree of subtlety, but in Who I've generally been able to trust them to take up that challenge, and especially in the Moffat era.

I liked the episode, but was very disappointed that Ben Browder wasn't in it much. When Dr Who returned in 2005, I remember how after Dr Who Confidential, they started to show episodes of Farscape on BBC3 (or was it still BBC Choice then?), so Dr Who and Ben Browder have definitely gone well together. (I missed out on Stargate as it started during the 3 or 4 years in which I didn't own a television, and never managed to catch up.)

<BB<

Hell flipping yeah!

THat was more like it!

Bosh!

FB

It was fun, wasn't it? Really laugh out loud silly in places (still got the Birdie Song stuck in my head) then got serious. Loved it.

And loved seeing Brian Cox unexpectedly

Oh, but next week. I won't say in case anyone doesn't want to know, but for me, they're about as scary as you get. I'm gonna need to move the sofa away from the wall so I can get behind it!!

Deb

Wow. That got me.

I'll give Karen Gillan her due, she was a rubbish actress to begin with but she's really learned and improved over the past few years. She gave an outstanding performance. Helped, of course, by Matt Smith who always puts in a good performance. "Your were the first. The first face this face saw and you're seared onto my hearts" was such a great line, wonderfully delivered but contains within it a huge dollop of foreboding: 'seared' is interestingly ambiguous word. If they wanted to say something positive they could have used engraved, or etched or carved but instead they used a word that includes burning and undertones of pain.

It's nice to see where Rory gets his Rory-ness from (and, in turn, River gets her Rory-ness from): Brian Pond has managed to become legendary in just two episodes. Though he was also a vehicle for mass foreshadowing and I'm not sure I can take a tragedy.

I was surprised a bundle of people on the spaceship were killed but nobody even acknowledged that they existed; The Doctor roused Rory and his dad but nobody else.

This one didn't work for me (although there wonderful bits, like The Doctor painting the fence, the talk by the river, and Rory's dad painstakingly watching the cube). It seemed to be trying to do too many things at once and failed to engage me on any of the threads as a result.

I thought the Ponds were going to retire, I really did though!

I,m glad others liked it though.

Did anybody else think that, in reality, 99% of the cubes would have been landfill within a couple of months?

I did wonder how they managed to stay around the dustbins for months on end, but then assumed that the dsutmen were on strike again.

I must admit to thinking that the Shakri spacecraft looked very similar in style to Centauri ships in Babylon 5. I'm a no-hope , aren't I?

<BB<

So, late to the conversation, but my (not sure why that smiley's not working on preview):

So far, four good episodes, but no great ones. The first Ep (the Dalek one) came close, but didn't quite hit the heights of Dalek, Blink, 42, Impossible Planet, etc, etc.

Also, no obvious theme to the series so far (apart from Amy and Rory leaving, of course). Which is nice, in a way, after last season, but I'm sure there must be something coming... isn't there?

Also - any guesses whether Amy dies in tomorrow's ep? Cliffhanger ending? Season set-up?

Gif

<> agreed

And the trailer is *really* scary

Where are we with River Song? Is she still meeting the parents backwards?

Oh, indeed.


Sets us up for the next chapter...


25th December anyone?