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

A question for 'Socket (formerly Roymondo)' (I won't ask why...or mention middle fingers...)

RTD has stated that when he was a kid he always wanted to be the companion rather than the Dr (and this has been borne out in the new Dr Who series.)

Is this a gay thing or just an RTD thing?

Though as I remember your first crush was Adric presumably you were wishing you could have been the 5th Dr?

Also, and it's been said elsewhere too: RTD sets up these amazingly huge invasions with millions of daleks (and Cybermen) and then conveniently has a fairly Deus Ex Machina way of getting rid of them:

Rose in 'Bad Wolf', being sucked into the void in the next one and being obliterated by the fastest typist in Croydon.

With greater CGI possibilities they actual scenarios that can be created become bigger than the 'human sized' potential solutions.

I have to say though that the Dr Mark 2 killing the Daleks this time was the right thing to do as it mirrors the whole Genesis of The Daleks where he decided not to. What galled me a bit was the Dr Mark 1 said Dr 2 was too dangerous and that he had comitted genocide etc and had to be calmed down. Um, how the hell was Dr 1 going to solve the problem of millions of Daleks in millions of ships flying around ready to destroy the universe?

Get all the ships to form a circle and convene a meeting of the AA 'Annihilators Anonymous'. 'Hello, my name is Caan and I'm an annihilator. It's been 16 millenia since I blew up my last planet.'

Good old Dr Mark2 I say.

I'm with you on that DDD; it isn't knowing about the Doctor and the things that happenend when she was with him that will kill her but *remembering* that she was involved will kill her. That possibly sounds impossible but, if you look at what the episodes have told us, there's no reason to suspect that her friends would be wondering what she's been up to and we know that her family know. I don't want to go into it too much but I can elucidate if required.

I did actually mean Donna haters!! Confusing character and actor in that post. Apologies.

Actually, if you watch her comedy its not the LCD. It may be crude but there is still real ability and insight in the writing. The Comic Relief sketch that she did with DT as Lauren was superb because it turned the whole character on her head showing the intelligence behind the couldn't care less exterior. As a teacher I recognised that so clearly, because in the sort of classroom that Lauren inhabits any sign of intelligence is jumped upon. I may be going out on a limb but I would say she is in the Victoria Wood league of writing although, as I said, much cruder.

I honestly think that acting wise she beat everyone else into a cocked hat with the Turn Left story. That was stunning. I get the impression that the people who thought of her 'comedy persona' wanted to find a reason to dislike the character.

Lets face it, if you watch Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise or even Laurence Olivier they all come with baggage and if you can't see beyond it you will dislike the character they're playing. I for example find Olivier unwatchable but would expect someone who was an Olivier fan to tell me that I was missing a screw. Still isn't that the point of a really fine programme, to divide opinion and start discussion?

Finally, I love the fact that shes never seen Star Wars and that she didn't know who Davros was. Its for that reason that she brought so much freshness to the character. Remember that the worst companion ever was an avid sci-fi buff!!!!

SBE

Just saw this on iPlayer last night, and was blown away - possibly because I was expecting to be let down and so wasn't.

My only disappointment was the 'one companion will die' thing - it's a stretch to say that Donna has died. To the extent that I was wondering whether they actually meant Rose had died.

When Davros was talking to the 'children of time' on the screens, I thought Davros was going to make the Doctor choose between Martha blowing up the Earth and Captain Jack wiping out half the companions, giving a payoff to the 'choice' theme of the series - but no such luck.

I am now officially giving up trying to spot future plotlines

CT has redeemed herself in my eyes - not to the extent that I'd actually want to see more of her character, but she was way better than she was in the first few episodes. Oh, and I noticed her ring for the first time.

Overall, the best season finale so far.

Gif

I think the companion who died for good was Rose, fitting in with her 'death' in Doomsday. I really liked the scenes on Bad Wolf Bay, it was a nice epilogue to the conversation the Doctor and Rose last had there. Thought the snog was a bit much though.

Am I the only person who enjoys the music? Most weeks people complain about how it's too loud and intrusive, but I really like the time they've taken to give each season and most characters their own theme - I think it adds a lot to the whole experience - and one of my favourite games in the early episodes is to spot what the Big Bad's theme is going to be, kind of like a musical Bad Wolf.

I've liked Catherine Tate from the start, but I think she proved that she's the best of the New Who Companions in these two episodes. I'm pretty certain that we haven't seen the last of her though.

Was disappointed that the Shadow Proclamation didn't reappear - what a waste they were in the end, all that build-up for no pay-off. And Jackie - what was the point of her?

Hello all! I've waded through the backlog and have this to offer up as much of what I would say or argue has been covered...

Unless I miss my guess, it's the *knowledge* of what she is that the doctor removed, so she *is* still half timelord.

With this in mind plus all the ring malarkey, is it entirely unlikely that the master may manipulate her as a very handy tool? I mean, she has all the information if he can play her right and he'll be running a fine line with using her enough without bringing back the memories. And maybe she will end up sacrificing herself in the end, same as all the other have, when the doctor has to remind her so she can save the day/shake off the master's influence or risk losing everything. She'd make a fantastic puppet for a malevolent being, wouldn't she?

I hope Dr. Song is left well alone.

I hope the docor goes it alone for a little while because of the grief and guilt thing.

I suspect the doctor's daughter would be a fantastic 'time-travelling Buffy for 8-14 year olds' type series, an after school treat in the place of Maid Marion or whatever tripe they put on for kids after school nowadays. Think about all the possibilities for strong girly kick-ass scenes, finding ways around physical confrontation as problem solving, meeting all sorts of people and problems across the galaxy. I think it could work very well, whether I like it personally or not is another matter...

Oh, and lastly, I was under the impression that RTD is staying for 2009 and Moffat takes over for the new series *after* the specials...

just to bung my 2p into the Donna/CT thing.
Still don't like the Donna character. Just jars too much for me. Plus:-
CT - well, as I've said here before, providing one steers her clear of certain emotions and situations in which she come sover all comic chav, she can act. She's not the greatest by any means, but she can pretty much do what is required for Doctor Who.

The whole "If she remembers her head will explode" thing was a tad bizarre. Presumably, from now on if the Noble family need a prescription they will be careful to say they are going to their GP, in order to avoid saying "The Doctor"

Thanks for the stats, Jim. Isn't that ?!

I wonder how long it will be before somebody starts another Doctor Who thread in Ask . I can never usually find the Doctor Who Group when I want it.

Mol

That's because it's one mouse click behind the rest of the site...

Mol

Traveller in Time trying to imagine the knowledge someone will have after travelling for nearly a thousand years in space and time. . .
"It is just some knowledge the Doctor removed.

Well I can imagine your brain wants to expand beyond the skull containing all the Timelord knowledge. Considering she became just a 'little bit' hyperactive I also imagine the fuel use of such brain is not entirely compatible with the human biology "

I heard on the radio tonight that RTD wants a female timelord next time and he want's, get this, Amy Winehouse to be the new Dr, right Russell, fantastic role model you picked for the kiddies there

That's actually a rather egregious misrepresentation of what he actually said. Here's the actual interview: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/07/television.bbc

quote:

He is not a man to shy away from controversial comments, and says Tennant's eventual replacement should not be female. "I am often tempted to say yes to that to placate everyone but, while I think kids will not have a problem with [a female Doctor], I think fathers will have a problem with it because they will then imagine they will have to describe sex changes to their children.

"I think fathers can describe sex changes to their children and I think they should and it's part of the world, but I think it would simply introduce genitalia into family viewing. You're not talking about actresses or style, you're talking about genitalia, and a lot of parents would get embarrassed."

Typically though, Davies can't help imagining Lesley Sharp or Judi Dench in the role, adding that he thinks Amy Winehouse would be "brilliant".

endquote

So you see, in context, it's not quite the same thing. I wouldn't be surprised if the interview actually went like this:

RTD: "It's fun to imagine someone like Lesley Sharp or Judi Dench playing the Doctor"

Interviewer: "How about Amy Winehouse?"

RTD: "Ha Ha Ha. Brilliant!"

(I'm only surmising here, but I bet my version is closer than 'AMY WINEHOUSE IS THE NEW DOCTOR OMG')

Thanks for taking the fun out of it Jim

Traveller in Time on top
"Well taking the fun out of it at least beat the reported irregular heartbeat and tatoos ( ..wiki/Amy_Winehouse ). Kind of alien for The Doctor "

RTD's quote:

"I think fathers can describe sex changes to their children and I think they should and it's part of the world, but I think it would simply introduce genitalia into family viewing. You're not talking about actresses or style, you're talking about genitalia, and a lot of parents would get embarrassed."

Says more about him than parents...it's a sci-fi show. A change from a man to a woman wouldn't require any embarrassment for parents. The explanation if a kid asks 'Why is the Dr a woman now?' is simply. Timelords can change to Timeladies if the want to. A child knows that a dad and a mum are different and leave it at that.

Not... a *double* heartbeat?

Gif

Starbuck changed from male to female in the new series of Battlestar Galactica, but that was only to be expected in the age of sexual equality, plus they wanted a 'Babe' for the boys to drool over, the girls had Apollo and Gaius and they needed something to draw in the boys. They must know that they are going to loose over 50% of their demograph if the Doctor becomes a woman and there will be outrage from hardcore fanboys if the Doctor regenerates into a timelady

Never going to happen.
Never.
Lalalala.

*away from bad conversation!*