RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media The Official Doctor Who thread

Not true. There was a big Sci-fi boom in the late 70's-80's. Or are you unfamiliar with the likes of Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, ET, Alien & Aliens, and The Terminator? It just that with other niche genres like Westerns, Noir, War, and Teen Sex Comedies that Sci-fi has moved in and out of the public interest depending upon what kind of Sci-fi they're being given. I mean, look at recent Hollywood movies that have done very well: I, Robot, Minority Report, Transformers, and War of the Worlds.

20 great sci-fi movies in the last few decades does not make up for the 5,000,000 bad sci-fi movies made every year (pretty much anything on the Sci-Fi channel).

But it definitely deflates your argument that Sci-fi has never been popular. The fact is that with any genre, you can name a shitload of terrible entrants into the form; and they'll far outweigh the good. That has no reflection on the genre itself. It just means that the people using it are inept in the actual medium they're working in (film, TV, books, etc.). How many shitty garage bands are there? Does that mean that we should classify rock or metal as being unpopular genres because not everyone creating material in those two genres are instant successes and multi-millionaires?

It has never been the most popular of genres, hence the big risk when Lucas and TCF released Star Wars.
What then happens is every other studio piggy backs off that success until everyone realises that they dont like sci-fi that much!

The music thing about metal/rock does not hold up.
Since the early 70s, whether it be old school metal, glam, punk, emo or nu-metal, there has always been a strong prescence in the media.
Sci-Fi films as a medium has always been hit or miss, which is why a film like T2 (remember the original was only a cult hit, not a huge success) is not marketed as sci-fi, but marketed as an action movie!

Its widely aknowledged that sci-fi tends to be a cult genre.

Did Minority report or I-Robot succeed because of what they were or who was in it?

Is Transformers marketed as a sci-fi movie or is it marketed as a toy spin off?

Because, at the time, Sci-fi was not a viable genre. Just like Westerns weren't big box office winners in the 90's with few exceptions. Then, they became very popular and made money.



They don't like Sci-fi, or they don't like the Sci-fi they're getting.



So why did hair metal die off the 90's and get replaced by Grunge? Why aren't all metal bands instant hits and millionaires the second they release an album?



Actually, The Terminator was a blockbuster hit. Roughly a seven million dollar budget and almost forty million in domestic box office returns for 1984. Anything with robots fighting, especially one made of liquid metal (a big part of the marketing campaign) is going to undoubtedly register as science fiction in any viewer's mind even if crosses genres into action.



I agree that shows like Babylon 5 and Stargate SG-1 tend to create a cult frenzy about it. That still does not mean that people outside of these Spock dressed masses don't watch these shows either. I've know many people who are, by far, not Sci-fi nerds or tend to grab onto a show just because it's Sci-fi who have enjoyed Star Trek, Stargate, and Farscape. It's not a genre shunned by the public. It's one that accepted and followed when the material is good, just like any other genre. And those movies succeeded because of the same reason that most Hollywood movies succeeded. Sci-fi is, once again, no different than any other genre or movie.

And I'd like to repeat that when you have robots fighting, especially if they're giant alien robots that turn into cars and jets, the concept of science fiction immediately pops into people's heads.

42

This was on tonight..The Doctor and Martha end up on a space ship that is due to crash into it's sun, and they and the crew have 42 minutes to prevent this from happening.. it was very good, very full of action.

I like .. a lot!

And the sub plot with Martha's mom is getting more and more intriguing.

The Doctor Dances

The conclusion to last Sunday's WW 2 episode..

it was magnificent!

The story was quite good. It moved quickly, and every scene moved the plot forward.. there was no dragging of story. Not one line or even one second of episode was wasted.

Loved how Jack had a big part in helping the Doctor.

Loved how the Doctor solved the mystery of the child and the nanite thingies.

And how elated he was that everything was put right at the end.

Jack adds a lot to the series.

Overall, this has to be the BEST episode I've seen.


Boomtown

Seen it before, loved this one, too.

And this time, the TARDIS itself saved the day.

Brilliant.

Micky ( to Jack ) :" What are you captain of? Innuendos? "

heh..
About time a gay (or in Jack's case, bi ) character was in the show.. not just for the sake of having a gay ( or bi ) character, but to have an excellent character who is " Quite flexible."

Hard to believe I was indifferent to the show at first, as I love it now, about as much as when I first started watching Dr Who in 1983.

I forgot to mention that the song Rose and The Doctor danced to is "Moonlight Serenade ", performed by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra, about 1941.

The Empty Child/Doctor Dances is one of the best Who stories ever made. Period. And, Captain Jack is the twenty-first century "Brigadier". He's one of the most solid characters Who has created in the entire history of the series...

this was supposed to be a really good Dr Who video but I could noty get it to work the right way,damn...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkmK88VBIzA&NR=1

The problem with new Who is Russell T Davies really can't write science fiction. He is great with characters but the plots always fail at the end with a big shitty deus ex machina.
The third series was fairly average until the second two parter, then it was great until the finale. It was only the episodes that broke the new formula that worked, longer stories, hardly any doctor in one episode!I'd love them to do a Christmas special old style, 4 half hour episodes with time for the story to develop and flow, and a lot less running down corridors with the camera at a funny angle!

Yeah, we only have to put up with RTD for one more season, I believe. I'm REALLY hoping Moffat gets the spot. His shit is damn near flawless...

Human Nature

Spoilers!






























Something or someone called " The Family " is able to pursue the Doctor and Martha across time and space.

The Doctor erases his memory and alters his biochemistry so as to appear human.
He has a pocket watch that, once Martha ( who still retains all her memories of the TARDIS, etc, ) opens it in the presence of the Doctor, who now has the job of teacher at a boarding school in 1913 England and believes this is all he is.

The Doctor falls in love with a woman; Martha is upset.. because it was not her that he fell in love with!

A kid at the school steals the watch and gets the Doctor's memories instead.

The family has landed nearby, and is taking over or duplicating townspeople. They are looking for the Doctor. They go to a dance where the Doctor, Martha and the kid who stole the watch are at.

They know from their spies that the teacher is actually a timelord.

They grab and put a gun to the head of the woman whom the Doctor loves, and to Martha's head.. and give him a choice: Which one do they kill?

THis is part one.. and we must wait two weeks to see part two.

I like this one a lot!

Yeah, this was where the 3rd season got good. Barely puts a foot wrong until the finale.

I think the only mis-step Season Three made was that gawdawful Dalek two-parter. That was easily one of the worst Who's I've ever sat through in the history of the entire series. It was like Time & the Rani with a big budget. Horrid!

Human Nature is, indeed, one of the finer episodes ever crafted. I can't believe SciFi is making people wait two weeks to see the finale. It's a damn great story, no matter. :yep:

BTW, Jerry....did you catch the pics in John Smith's book he had made? If not, peer below...

Heh, thanks, Pro, I missed those pics! That is the other regenerations! Cool!

I did catch the doodles of the Tardis.

Yeah, Human Nature is a great one. I hate the two week wait, but whatcha gonna do?

Bad Wolf/Parting of The Ways

Was just on PBS again. Terrific episode! Wish they could all be that good!

I swore I was not going to record any more shows after Star Trek, but I am going to do so with Doctor Who.

Coming September 8 !

And I intend to start a seperate thread for it.

Torchwood Coming to RKMBs Media Forum - on Sept. 8.

It's shit.

Spoilers!

I know Nowhereman already brought this up but here it is again:

Billie Piper:






Freema Agyeman:





Catherine Tate:

SPOILERS JERRY!






And again, I don't watch Who for the female eye-candy. If Tate is a good companion, then she's a good companion. If she's not, then yeah she's worthless. But, I'll actually wait and watch the episodes before I make judgment. Say what you will about Tegan (and we have), but she is considered the definitive Davison companion. I'm okay with this type of shift. Not every one has to be a supermodel. Besides, Freema's back halfway through the season...

I like Freema, glad you told me she will be back.

Catherine Tate looks interesting.

Tegan was whiney and always wanted to leave a new planet as soon as they'd arrive on it, but I kinda like her.

I hated Tegan. The Doctor barely tolerated her.

Anyhow, I watched Blink for the first time today.

It was very good.

I liked Sarah Jane and Leela a lot; they were both excellent companions.

They were also both uber hot.










Though I'm sure you probably didn't notice that.

Hey, just because I am gay doesn't mean I don't appreciate beauty in all it's forms, be it a man, a woman, a flower, a sunset, blah blah blah...

I used to get mean boners for Sarah Jane. I was like, twelve, or something. I probably got mean boners from wind shifts and a sneeze. Anyway...

Jaburg, I can't believe you hadn't watched Blink yet. Moffat continues to crank out the pure gold.

Doc...you are surprisingly quiet about Who these days. I mean, besides our mutual hatred of RTD, that is. Talk to me about Who. What have you liked? Disliked? Have you seen the entirety of Season Three yet? Speak Fellow Whovian!

Paul McGann (The 8th Doctor) gives props to the current series, and Tennant:

• According to the original rumors, BBC considered re-launching the show through a series of tele-movies based on the 1996 movie that was produced in conjunction with the American Fox network. If the tie-in project was to go ahead, the standalone stories would have bridged the gap between the classic "Doctor Who" years with the current series, and it would've do so without any known villains.
  
  McGann told fans at the event that his time as The Doctor simply kept the franchise warm following the cancellation in 1989 with something new to keep the fans interested. And that interest is perhaps one of the reasons the series has been such a success. But to him, the main reason the show is doing so well is because of actor David Tennant.
  
  "It’s come back because of that handsome floppy-haired bastard," McGann later joked. "I really really like him. I think he’s brilliant. And what’s more, he is a huge ‘Doctor Who’ fan and so he’s really passionate about it. I should be honest with you; I was never a huge fan. I watched a few things and ‘Doctor Who’ was one of them but I wasn’t completely passionate about it. But for David Tennant, it’s like the job of jobs to him.
  
  "You know, if they never gave him another job, just that one, he’d be perfectly happy for all his life. You know it’s in good hands with him and he’s a wonderful actor."
  
  Despite his high opinion of Tennant, McGann admitted that his original impression of him as an actor was slightly different, but when he was cast as The Doctor that opinion changed completely.
  
  “I’ve only met him once," McGann said. "I met him backstage at national theater and I was introduced to him This was about four years ago, before he was doing 'Doctor Who.'
  
  "After about two or three minutes since he’d been introduced to me I thought he was actually quite rude because he just stood in front of me and said nothing. I was beginning to feel quite uncomfortable actually. And do you know what it was? He wasn’t being rude, he was completely in awe because I was Doctor Who.
  
  "So anyway later, six months later when he gets the gig it makes complete sense to me," McGann said with a laugh.

Honest and classy!

I've already given my opinion of season three pages back. You even commented on it (insert pot hurts memory joke #297). I've got nothing new to add since I've seen nothing new. Other than the fact that I wasn't doing shit at work today and started streaming The Talons of Weng-Chiang through my Netflix account.

Talons Of Weng Chiang is a great Tom Baker episode.

I wasn't impressed with Talons the first time I saw it. I'm rewatching it now, I'm four episodes in.

My favorite Tom Baker episodes:

The Pirate Planet

Horror At Fang Rock

Robots Of Death

Seeds Of Doom

Face Of Evil

The Ribos Operation

The Hand Of Fear

The Invasion Of Time

Genesis Of The Daleks


and a few more whose names elude me at the moment.

Mine are; Genesis of the Daleks, City of Death, Androids of Tara, The Invasion of Time, Face of Evil, The Creature From the Pit, Shada(or rather what there is of Shada)

Apparently, Tennet's contract is not only up at the end of the 4th season, but he's signed a contract with a theatrical company that could keep him busy during the next season of Whom filming.

THere's also apparently a Davros story next season with Davros pre-wheelchair with Ben Kingsley rumored to take over the Davros character.


Davidson is supposed to make an appearance as his Doctor during the Children in Need speicial that may also lead into a whole episode in the actual season.

The Brigadereer & Unit are supposed to show up in Torchwood before reappearing in the regular Who show.

With Davies approaching his last season, he's supposed to finish the Time War concept to leave an open slate for the following team.

I would very much like to see the return of Brigadeir Lethbridge Stewart and Unit.

Hope Sgt. Benson will return,too.

My favorite Jon Pertwee episodes are:

Inferno

Planet Of The Spiders

Carnival Of Monsters

Day Of The Daleks

FRontier In Space

Planet Of The Daleks

Claws Of Axos

The Mutants

The Time Monster

Spearhead From Space

The Three Doctors

Colony In Space

What about Liz Shaw & Mz Potato Head?