Doctor Who; The Wild Blue Yonder ( 60th Anniversary Special 2)

[nixie]

I thought introducing Isaac Newton at the beginning was rather pointless.
Did think they where caught in a time loop, overall it was enjoyable.

 

[Dave]

I haven't seen this yet as I haven't had time tonight, but X (formerly known as Twitter) has gone crazy because of the actor chosen to play Isaac Newton. As someone said there, there have been Australian's playing Queen Elizabeth and William Wallace and no one complained. However, I'd take a leaf from the book of Ridley Scott and just ask, "Were you there?"

It looks like it was pretty manic, and did we get to see Bernard Cribbins again as we had thought we might?

 

[nixie]

It looks like it was pretty manic, and did we get to see Bernard Cribbins again as we had thought we might?

We did, rescued it for me,,

 

[Pyan]

The dedication was a nice touch, I thought.

 

[Ursa major]

Setting aside the silly prelude, I thought this was a genuine improvement on the (already more than okay) previous episode.

I thought it was, at times, quite intense and scary (I can imagine myself as a child thinking about hiding behind a sofa) both before and after the... er... appearance of the aliens, so a return, in a way, to the early days.

Oh, and what happened to the sonic screwdriver was somewhat of an antidote to what we saw last time.

 

[MemoryTale]

I thought this one was OK, but the mystery was better than the resolution for me. It occurred to me not long after watching that

Spoiler

The TARDIS could have returned at any point during the episode. Since the Captain had already set up the creature's defeat, their only hope was the Doctor and Donna figuring out the Captain's plan. If the TARDIs swoops in to remove them from the equation, the creatures lose.

. Unfortunately realising that kinda put a downer on this episode.

 

[AE35Unit]

Just watched it, loved it. We both noticed a few Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy references too.

 

[Ursa major]

Spoiler: Response to the spoiler

You are assuming that the TARDIS's behaviour is for the reason the Doctor gave rather than simply yet another example of it behaving for another reason (such as it possibly being under the influence of the Toymaker), as it did in the first episode (by materialising only a few metres away from Donna, something that the Doctor would not have asked it to do).

 

[Dave]

I thought it was a innovative use of special effects for once - and addressing many of the real problems that shapeshifters must have in their impersonations. I also agree with @Ursa major that it would be genuine 'hiding behind the sofa' experience for the target audience.

However, was the Captain the only crew aboard that ship until she walked out of the airlock? What happened to the rest? Where did the shapeshifters evolve/come into being if not from our warm and noisy universe?

As for the cliffhanger - it looks like some kind of mind control to me.

 

[Matteo]

Saw the recording of this earlier this morning. Overall it was a good one. The Isaac Newton bit was dumb - though nice that Donna then referred to it as "mavity".

Bit worried that there was a reference to

Spoiler

the Doctor not being from Gallifrey - was hoping that was going to be quietly forgotten...

Nice to see Bernard Cribbins.

But the dialogue was very, very quiet. I had the volume cranked up to hear what they were saying.

 

[sule]

The first half (of the main story) I liked as a sort-of standard Doctor Who Mystery Box plot and thought the solutions were solid (although the pacing of said reveals was a bit too fast to have a real impact).

Agree with the above that the kind of explanation which I will accept for the TARDIS's behavior is "it was malfunctioning," and not the one the Doctor gave. Maybe they could have treated it as a paradox: "The TARDIS can't come back unless there's no danger, and there's no danger if we're not here, but as long as we are here there is danger..." but they didn't so no points.

Agreed that dialogue was super quiet, had to have subtitles on to understand a lot of it.

Good performances from the leads, I thought Tennant's Not-Thing was particularly well-done. The guessing games were decently captivating, and the episode moved past it (I thought) only a smidge after they'd started to get old.

The Newton bit was clearly just to set up a couple of jokes, so I gave it a courtesy laugh and moved on. (Not really expecting 100% historical accuracy from Doctor Who)

Spoiler: dumb side thought

Did anyone else think it was weird that last special the Doctor was chastised for incorrectly assuming an alien's pronouns, yet in this episode he immediately knows that a dead alien is a "she"?

Maybe it's just me, but I thought the reason "Mrs. Bean" was 'funny' was because of Mr. Bean? Discuss.

 

[BT Jones]

Better than the previous episode, for me. Liked the mystery. Liked the dark imagery of being on the edge of the universe with no start in sight. Thought it could have been darker (visually, and mood-wise). But had the bones of a classic Who episode.

 

[Brian G Turner]

It was interesting enough - the Newton opening seemed pointless. As for the Tardis disappearing - haven't we seen that before?? It made it feel like the worry was entirely manufactured. The aliens were interesting - could tell that wasn't Tennant as soon as he entered the room the first time, as his body language was all wrong. Reminded me a lot of the episode from Season 3 when Tennant was only a small planetary rover and something was outside, then one of the passengers started imitating the Dr. However, a far bigger budget this time, though I'm not sure it was exactly needed. Oh, and lots of running - mustn't go more than an episode or two without most of it being running.

EDIT: Thinking about it, I wonder if the point of having a black actor play Newton was meant to prepare us for having a black actor play the Doctor?

 

[Elckerlyc]

It was interesting enough - the Newton opening seemed pointless.

The Doctor still used to word 'mavity' in the latest episode. So, perhaps, it is something they will get back to.

EDIT: Thinking about it, I wonder if the point of having a black actor play Newton was meant to prepare us for having a black actor play the Doctor?

Maybe, together with 'mavity', these are hints that 'current' events are happening in an alternative reality.