Pat
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Think that says it all!!
It was indeed AWESOME!
Okay, for us non-UK fans, I'm very jealous!
*Bouncing in my seat*Bouncing in my seat*Bouncing in my seat*
I can't wait!!!!
*Pat's head explodes*
Downloading the commentary track....
It was a fantastic episode. Of course it's all new compared to season 1 and my opinion could change over time but I think that was better than most of season 1's stories. And I certainly wasn't expecting the emotional bit right at the end. That has to rank up alongside the finales of Dalek and Father's Day.
Abersoch
I look at my cat in a whole new way now! Anytime she goes near the medicine cabinet, I'll be crapping myself!!
Although one doesn't condone such things (ho ho bloody ho), as soon as you can get a download my American cousins, get hold of it. It's a corker of an episode, a great launcher for Season 2 (or Season 28, whatever your preference).
Fighting the urge to listen to the commentary track...
Hmmm...I wonder why the commentary track is only 27 minutes long?
Pat
No idea but take my advice and resist the temptation. You wanna let this one unfold in front of you since you'll spend most of it thinking "oh my God...they've got [that]...and [that]... and ooh look, it's [that]"
Abersoch
Abersoch, you are a horrible, horrible tease!
Pat
Okay non-Brits, here's a line on a potential way for us to view New Earth.
Check out this fella's profile on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JasonUK
Make note of the bulletin listed on the left...
[QUOTE BY= actorguy] Abersoch, you are a horrible, horrible tease! [/QUOTE]
So I'm told 
That was fantastic! My two children watched in stunned, horrified silence! I loved it 
.
So it looked good, and it sounded good, but... (Spoilers for the rest)
The problem I had with it was similar to the one I had with "The Doctor Dances."
The Doctor mixes a bunch of crap together and pours it on himself, and suddenly he has a cure for everything, and not only that, but the cure happens within seconds. And is nicely transmittable.
It's just so last-minute-nonsense.
I mean I really liked the Rose/Cassandra character. Loved all the little comments about Rose's body... "Feels like I'm living in a bouncy castle.", etc...
It was all a bit "Matrix"-like there, with all the human vats. And I liked the whole premise - that the sick people were being healed by vat-grown humans who basically took on their diseases... or that's how I saw it.
And I liked the ending, as usual... touching scene with the 3D Cassandra...
My daughter said the funniest thing about it, though. She's 10.
She said "Cassandra finally understood something. Something got through her thin head."
That was worth the whole episode right there.
LOVED the cats. I hope we see them again. And I really liked the Face of Bo.
WOW!
yeah, Sean, I agree with you. It's a bit too convenient. However, how often did that happen on the classic series? Every week, I'd say. Reverse the polarity mumbo jumbo. I think this is just the next in the long tradition of...well, what you said. (trying to be spoiler free)
I also loved the face of Bo. The cats...meh.
What I enjoyed about this episode was the huge increase in humor from last series. I laughed out loud multiple times.
Samba.
Next week is the episode I have been waiting for. I can't get enough victorian era supernatural goodness.
[QUOTE BY= Louis]
WOW!
[/QUOTE]
Oh, I take it you've seen it then, have you?
Whatever the complaints, after all that breakneck humour and action, that final minute completely blew me away. Before this new series I'd never have dreamed I'd be left with a lump in my throat by a Doctor Who episode.
.
Wow, Abersoch, you didn't see "Father's Day"????
Sean.
Yep, I have seen it. After James gave a preview of it during our recording of Doctor Who: Podshock - Episode 35 right after it was transmitted on the BBC... I wasn't sure if was going to live up to the excitement and hype built up from James' spoiler-free comments. But it did. There were a couple minor pet peeve annoyances in it (I will save that for the review in Podshock 36), but overall, it was very good. The 2006 series has taken off on a good strong start. Bravo!
Cheers,
Louis
I'm waiting for part two Cats in Chains... 
This Doctor seems to have a lot of Pertwee in him... action, gadgets, technobabble-ish solution, but a bit of the others to varying degrees.
And the worry was that this was too weak to start the series, and to have Tooth and Claw go first. Now, if that was weak, then bring on the rest of the series!!! I can't wait for my plain vanilla DVD to arrive!
Taras
[QUOTE BY= tarashnat] ...
This Doctor seems to have a lot of Pertwee in him... action, gadgets, technobabble-ish solution, but a bit of the others to varying degrees.
...[/QUOTE]
Agreed. I have been saying this since day one with David Tennant. I made various comparisons to Jon Pertwee and Spearhead from Space when I reviewed The Christmas Invasion... He's sort of Jon Pertwee meets Peter Davison (being a youthful Doctor).
Cheers,
Louis
I have to agree with Sean. I was digging everything up until the last minute crud really was a bit much. But....you know it's new Who and new Who is better than no Who.
Maybe I am in the minority, but I thought overall the stories in series 1 were more on the weak side then they were on the strong side. Too many sci-fi escapes that seemed too arbitrary. I thought the acting, scripting, characterizations etc. were what was strong....the stories were just not that satisfying to me. Especially the Bad Wolf resolution I thought was very unsatisfying.
This ep reminded me of Inferno from the Pertwee era...which I read as a target book back in the mid-80's and just saw recently.
This is my first post, but I just wanted to say I super enjoy podshock and have been listening to it every week for a couple of months now. Good show guys...thanks for re-igniting my passion for Who!
Mosh
[QUOTE BY= moshdaddy] I have to agree with Sean. I was digging everything up until the last minute crud really was a bit much. But....you know it's new Who and new Who is better than no Who.
Maybe I am in the minority, but I thought overall the stories in series 1 were more on the weak side then they were on the strong side. Too many sci-fi escapes that seemed too arbitrary. I thought the acting, scripting, characterizations etc. were what was strong....the stories were just not that satisfying to me. Especially the Bad Wolf resolution I thought was very unsatisfying.
This ep reminded me of Inferno from the Pertwee era...which I read as a target book back in the mid-80's and just saw recently.
This is my first post, but I just wanted to say I super enjoy podshock and have been listening to it every week for a couple of months now. Good show guys...thanks for re-igniting my passion for Who!
Mosh[/QUOTE]
Glad that you have been enjoying the shows! Welcome to the forums Mosh. Let me be the first to say that you will never get flamed here for expressing your opinion. We want our listners to come onto the forums/email/call because we want to hear what other fans have to say. Podshock is for the fans, by the fans (that almost sounds like a Harriet Jones quote!). Anyway, what I mean to say is that I am sure everyone here values each others opinion.
[QUOTE BY= seanhuxter] .
Wow, Abersoch, you didn't see "Father's Day"????
Sean.
[/QUOTE]
Yes, but it never had the same effect on me because it wasn't hard to guess what was coming (ie [SPOILER] the only way out of it was for Rose's dad to bite the big one). It was well acted and poignant but fully expected.
This one and Dalek got me because I wasn't expecting there would be a poignant conclusion right at the end. There was all this manic, campy action, humour and tension building up and then the show gets it's resolution and the characters are just cooling down and then .....WHAM!..... out of the blue it hits you with that completely sympathetic finale.
Ok, so not everyone likes RTD's sometimes light-hearted treatment of the new series but as a writer he excels at hiding the emotionally profound moments in among the action.
An excellant episode I thought so anyway looking at other forums I think fans are split 50 50 on this one.
Hey guys, thanks for the great website and the great podcast! I guess I could introduce myself as a long-time reader, first time poster…
I just watched New Earth, and I'm not sure what to think. I'll mull it around in my head and watch it again.
If "Dalek" only gets three Tardis-groans (I'd have given it five, like James ), then this gets just two (at least from me)!
I liked the beginning (just right for story one of a multi-part season…), and I liked the end (its nice to see that the Doctor *is* willing to give villains a second chance, and that he shows kindness to the dying instead of writing them off and allowing them to wallow in their last few moments of agony, etc.), but I didn't like the middle at all. I'm a big fan of both the new and old series, and I know that "deus ex machina" is the-beginning-and-the-end of many Doctor Who storylines, but I also found the "look, I can create a cure for every disease in the universe in just a few seconds!"-bit a tad unbelievable.
When I first saw the "matrix"-like cells when he was accusing the matron, I knew that he would save all of these victims. Of course, he would, he's the Doctor! (and I wanted him to save them!) I just wish that there was some more "depth" to how he did it. I think that the best Doctor Who stories are the ones with a bit more depth of conflict to them… saving the universe is hard work. It isn't always easy. Sometimes, people get hurt, or die, before it can all work out.
My favorite bit about the closing of "The Doctor Dances" was what the Doctor says about death (I won't spoil it exactly here…). But he says something, and you know how happy his is about how he resolves the situation, because you know that he knows that it isn't always this easy and that it doesn't always work out so well like it could there.
All in all, I'm thrilled that season two has finally started! I may not have been so thrilled about "New Earth", but I have enough residual good feelings about "The Christmas Invasion" to have faith that this season will rock, and rock even more than season one did! And I love David Tennant, although Bille Piper got a bit more range of expression in her script this time around, I think.
[QUOTE BY= netamisakima] ... I also found the "look, I can create a cure for every disease in the universe in just a few seconds!"-bit a tad unbelievable.
When I first saw the "matrix"-like cells when he was accusing the matron, I knew that he would save all of these victims. Of course, he would, he's the Doctor! (and I wanted him to save them!) I just wish that there was some more "depth" to how he did it. ...[/QUOTE]
Now, quite a few people are having a problem with this, but logically, the Doctor just took all the cures for the diseases that the Sisterhood had developed and used them on the "lab rats" that had those diseases. The main contribution of the Doctor's was a delivery system. Then again, I found the Doctor very Pertwee-like, as I mentioned above, and sure, the solution seems a bit rushed, but that is becuase the main climax of the story is Cassandra's growth. Once she experienced the loneliness of the clone, her loneliness did not compare.
Taras
.
Spoilers
My main problem remains with the silly last-minute nonsense ending. No one can deny, (I think) that this was a gorgeous episode, complete with all the great Who stuff, except a reasonable ending.
This is exactly my problem with "The Christmas Invasion" - A Satsuma.
A Satsuma, tossed at the big yellow "Drop a tiny edge of the spaceship where the leader happens to be standing and only that" button.
The ending was badly contrived.
I like RTD's character writing, but the man can't conceive of a good plot ending to save his life. He needs to get consultants in to help him with his actual plot, and leave himself alone to do the character writing.
I hope the next one is as beautiful as this one, without the stupid silly ending this one had.
I swear, I thought he was going to say "Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once! Everybody lives!"
Sean.
[QUOTE BY= seanhuxter] .
So it looked good, and it sounded good, but... (Spoilers for the rest)
The problem I had with it was similar to the one I had with "The Doctor Dances."
The Doctor mixes a bunch of crap together and pours it on himself, and suddenly he has a cure for everything, and not only that, but the cure happens within seconds. And is nicely transmittable.
It's just so last-minute-nonsense.
[/QUOTE]
Especially given that the stuff looks like water mixed with food colouring in plastic bags. Maybe The Doctor had some nanogenes left over. It's also been suggested that timelords have their own nano-symbiotes in some places, though never in the broadcasts AFAIK.
[QUOTE BY= seanhuxter] .
I mean I really liked the Rose/Cassandra character. Loved all the little comments about Rose's body... "Feels like I'm living in a bouncy castle.", etc...
[/QUOTE]
There's also when Rose first walks out of the elevator into the basement. At first it looks like she is going to walk blind into an obvious trap. But instead she goes for picking up something sharp and pointy (same approach to weapons as the cats.)
[QUOTE BY= mpe]
There's also when Rose first walks out of the elevator into the basement. At first it looks like she is going to walk blind into an obvious trap. But instead she goes for picking up something sharp and pointy (same approach to weapons as the cats.)
[/QUOTE]
Yes, I liked that. I cheered! Yeah, Rose! That's my girl!
Because that's who Rose is, and that's why the Doctor chose her.
Sean.
First cut on the UK ratings: 8.0 million with 38.6% audience share. It was Saturday's most watched program, beating Casuaty by about 1 million viewers!
Taras
[QUOTE BY= seanhuxter] [QUOTE BY= mpe]
There's also when Rose first walks out of the elevator into the basement. At first it looks like she is going to walk blind into an obvious trap. But instead she goes for picking up something sharp and pointy (same approach to weapons as the cats.)
[/QUOTE]
Yes, I liked that. I cheered! Yeah, Rose! That's my girl!
Because that's who Rose is, and that's why the Doctor chose her.
Sean.
[/QUOTE]
I too really liked the fact that she did this...
I have to say BRAVO to Billie Piper in this episode... she really pulled it off with what she had to do and portray in this episode.
Cheers,
Louis
Thanks James!!
I agree with everything here....The acting was spot on by Billie and crew. I really like David Tennant's Doctor. He seems less coy than Eccleston. And less heavy...in a good way. I just find the execution of the plots very unsatifying....Though I enjoyed the ride.
I wonder what the target demographic they are trying to hit. There was a ton of sexual innuendo in the show, but are they also trying to make it accessable to kids?
I like the emotional moments, but they sometime seem to come at the expense of logic. Chip going back and seeing Cass....wouldn't that then tbe on the celluloid. Seemed like an easy way out.
Maybe I am just older than I was when I was watching Doctor Who and the logical fallacies that seem to be so much a part of the classic series that didn't bother me when I was 13, now rumple my feathers at 33.
Oh well. I am just glad there is something to complain about.....!
Mosh
[QUOTE BY= moshdaddy] Thanks James!!
I like the emotional moments, but they sometime seem to come at the expense of logic. Chip going back and seeing Cass....wouldn't that then tbe on the celluloid. Seemed like an easy way out.
Mosh[/QUOTE]
Chip not being on the film isn't the part that bothered me. In fact, he wouldn't, if the clip ended a good deal prior to his arrival.
However, why wouldn't Cassandra remember the robed stranger? Perhaps she did. Perhaps she didn't. But it's most likely she did. She did say, didn't she, that that was the last time anyone told her she was beautiful... I imagine it was Chip that said it, and it meant so much to her she remembered it for the rest of her life.
As for this talk about why Cassandra would, after having 800 surgeries (give or take by now) to be flat, she was tired of it, and in reality envied Rose's body (who wouldn't?) like I'm sure Michael Jackson would give up his entire fortune to have his normal "Billie Jean" face back, but can't really have that, and therefore won't admit it, even to himself.
I'm still miffed by what I'm going to coin from now on as the "Satsuma Solution" to the major plot problem.
From now on, if I see that in future episodes, you'll see me referring to it.
Perhaps we can go back over the first season:
1) Rose - Nope. No Satsuma solution there. The end was logical.
2) The End of the World. Not really a Satsuma Solution, just what we now can call a "Galaxy Quest" puzzle ending - the unnecessary spinning blades.
3) The Unquiet Dead - Nope. No Satsuma there. It was all set up rather well with gas, and that's how it ended.
4,5) Aliens of London - World War III. No Satsuma there. Well, Mickey being able to hack a missile strike is a BIT of a Satsuma, but not beyond the realm for SciFi.
6) Dalek. No Satsuma there. None necessary, really.
I won't go on past what's aired on Sci Fi for now...
So for the rest of the season I'm on Satsuma Watch... who's with me?
Sean.
Everything said here is exactly right and I have never liked cats anyway
The Satsuma Solution
:-)
Sean.
[QUOTE BY= seanhuxter] However, why wouldn't Cassandra remember the robed stranger? Perhaps she did. Perhaps she didn't. But it's most likely she did. She did say, didn't she, that that was the last time anyone told her she was beautiful... I imagine it was Chip that said it, and it meant so much to her she remembered it for the rest of her life.
[/QUOTE]
Chip is modelled on her favorite pattern, which was the last one to call her beautiful! Self fulfilling prophecy...
Taras
[QUOTE BY= tarashnat]
First cut on the UK ratings: 8.0 million with 38.6% audience share. It was Saturday's most watched program, beating Casuaty by about 1 million viewers!
Taras[/QUOTE]
And it was up against Harry Potter too. Not too shabby.
Well if I've got this right there should be another picture here:
The Doctor prepares his latest square orange
Cheers, daveac
I am with you on the Satsuma solution. No more blast it!
finally finished watching the ep.
I didn't really have a problem with the ending like many seemed to. After Cassandra moved in & out of the Rose and The Doctor, and the "Flesh," then back to Rost then to Chip... well, she admitted she could get a bit of feel off of the hosts minds, so experiencing other peoples views/convictions/wants/needs would have changed anyone, even Cassandra. We know she was definitely touched by being inside the "Flesh." So, maybe being inside Chip also showed her what true, abiding love was (even as creapy as it was). I liked that after experiencing REAL human (or just humanoid) emotions for the first time in millenium, she realized that she could accept dying.
Of course, we can still experience Lady Cass through the joys of time travel at her most evil and in-human.
But, what I've got to ask: what's with The Doctors glasses? That seemed strange to me at the Christmas Invasion too. He put on glasses to see the TV; here he put on glasses when going through the ward to see what was in the drugs.... strange affectation.... Granted, he looks adorable in the Buddy Holly frames, but still... you wouldn't think the Doctor was farsighted...
Perhaps he simply has astigmatism. All the best people do
Abersoch
[QUOTE BY= mad4plaid]
But, what I've got to ask: what's with The Doctors glasses? That seemed strange to me at the Christmas Invasion too. He put on glasses to see the TV; here he put on glasses when going through the ward to see what was in the drugs.... strange affectation.... Granted, he looks adorable in the Buddy Holly frames, but still... you wouldn't think the Doctor was farsighted...[/QUOTE]
Perhaps it's the last effects of his regeneration. He did say in the Christmas Invasion episode that he was woken up too soon.
I don't think it's a way of letting David Tennant wear glasses - as on Ready, Steady , Cook he was using knives without putting glasses on.
Cheers, daveac
[QUOTE BY= Abersoch] Perhaps he simply has astigmatism. All the best people do
Abersoch[/QUOTE]
Not a bad theory
No matter what it is, I'll get over my issue soon enough (though I admit that I'll probably still be looking for how they use the glasses as "props" in future eps!)
I watched the episode last night and I have to say that it wasn't one of my favorite episodes.
I liked the premise, liked the beginning, but deus ex machina solution to make everything right was just so unbelievable that it took me out of the episode. I just shook my head at the screen and went, "Yeah, right." It's like "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow."
I did enjoy the production value of the episode--although the blue screen of New New York City looked really fake to me--but the costumes and the sets looked very good for a Who episode.
This wasn't one of my favorite episodes. And I'm trying to stay netural on David Tennant's portrayal of the Doctor until I see more. But he screams a lot when he wants something to work out his way and I'm not liking that. Seems really lame. But I don't want to get into any major details to ruin the show for others.
Yes, I enjoyed watching it and it was a good episode but I'd only give it 3 out of 5 Tardis grinds.
good chatter as aways with RTD, but weak story, but still very good, the cats are a AA+, the SFX are revolting in parts - as a first story I'm happy, but the next episode looks like a classic - I hope so !!!!!!!!!
I thought it was a good mix of tension and laughter but I an quite excited by the Tardisode and clips of the werewolf episode next week... It looks very dark.
I am looking forward to Tooth and Claw as well. I love a good werewolf story. This one looks to be along the Lines of Horror of Fang Rock...ie you have an alien that crash lands and get confused with a local legend that kills people. Will be interesting to see how they compared, besides much better effects these days of course.
Cheers,
Russel
I think you are right Russel. I think that they may have realised that there is quite a palete of story types that can be drawn upon...
I also think that it may have the gothic aspects of 'Talons' in terms of the filming style.
I have a place booked behind my sofa.
Yes it definately looks like it will be a gothic tale be sure but I doubt David Tennant will be wandering around with a deer hunter hat on Like Sherlock Holmes. It looks to be a period piece set in Victorian times so it will be interesting if Rose wears a dress like she did in the Unquiet Dead.
Cheers,
Russel
Bring on the Spooky Doctor Who Stories 
Okay, don't know why I've not read this somewhere or thought of this before, but is this the same "New Earth" from "invasion of the Dinosaurs"?
Heh, okay, I REALLY misremembered this episode. Still, good thing my faulty memory made me dig it up. What a fantastic story. Shame "Dinosaurs" is mostly remembered for the really bad dinosaurs. They're quite beside the point. Nothing "new" about the New Earth here, I guess.
I believe it is actually New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New Earth... or was that just the city... New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York?
I can't recall now.
Cheers,
Louis
[QUOTE BY= Louis] I believe it is actually New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New Earth... or was that just the city... New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York?
I can't recall now.[/QUOTE]
I think that's 15th New York since the original. So would that be the 16th York? Or do we have to count the York in Upper Canada as well?!?
Taras
The Gallifreyan Embassy - Forum
http://gallifreyanembassy.org/portal/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=3108