Matt Smith as Dr Who

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Phoenix
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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by Phoenix »

chrissmillie wrote:ex deus machina
Just for clarification purposes, Chris, it is deus ex machina, which is Latin for God out of the machinery. The Romans got the phrase from the Greek theos ek mekhanes. I quote here from my New Oxford Dictionary of English. In Greek theatre, actors representing gods were suspended above the stage, the denouement of the play being brought about by their intervention.

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tony ingram
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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by tony ingram »

Digifiend wrote:Yesterday's episode mentioned suicide, and the BBC had to put the Action Line details up over the end credits. That's a first. An episode like Vincent and the Doctor wouldn't be possible on CBBC. I've never seen a CBBC show use Action Line.
No, though Grange Hill did on at least one occasion.

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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by kezandluke »

chrissmillie wrote:Time to put it on CBBC
I think it'll be a while before it gets to CBBC - particularly with 5 million people tuning in for every episode. I think this series has been extremely hit and miss, but I don't think Smith's performance as the Doctor has faltered at any point.

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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by Lew Stringer »

kezandluke wrote:
chrissmillie wrote:Time to put it on CBBC
I think it'll be a while before it gets to CBBC - particularly with 5 million people tuning in for every episode. I think this series has been extremely hit and miss, but I don't think Smith's performance as the Doctor has faltered at any point.
Agreed. It doesn't help that some of the continuity errors and "oddness" in the stories are deliberate as will be explained in the finalé.

I enjoyed the Van Gogh episode though. The highpoint of the series so far I thought and Tony Curran's performance was superb.
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Digifiend
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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by Digifiend »

tony ingram wrote:
Digifiend wrote:Yesterday's episode mentioned suicide, and the BBC had to put the Action Line details up over the end credits. That's a first. An episode like Vincent and the Doctor wouldn't be possible on CBBC. I've never seen a CBBC show use Action Line.
No, though Grange Hill did on at least one occasion.
I guess that and Byker Grove were the only ones which ever might have needed to use Action Line - and both got axed because CBBC's age demographic was lowered. You'd never see a CBBC show raise issues which need the Action Line number to be displayed nowadays.

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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by AndyB »

The CBBC age restriction appears to have directly led to Grange Hill being cancelled. Phil Redmond was not happy about the age restriction stopping him from doing a traditional hard-hitting storyline for the last series, and I get the impression his heart wasn't in it as a result.

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Digifiend
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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by Digifiend »

Byker only finished a year earlier, so the age restriction probably killed that off too. And that's why Doctor Who doesn't belong on CBBC - it's aimed at all ages, not just under 12s. That was the whole point of creating The Sarah Jane Adverntures, which although appealing to adults, is aimed at that low age group.

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tony ingram
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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by tony ingram »

kezandluke wrote:
chrissmillie wrote:Time to put it on CBBC
I think it'll be a while before it gets to CBBC - particularly with 5 million people tuning in for every episode. I think this series has been extremely hit and miss, but I don't think Smith's performance as the Doctor has faltered at any point.
It's actually more like six to seven million per episode. There have been concerns raised about the ratings dipping to four or five million, but only because reporters who don't understand the ratings system are still insisting on taking the overnights as the final figure. In fact, since there has been a consistent time shifted rating of between one and two million per episode (a huge jump) due to more people using other methods to watch the show, like Sky+, the final ratings have yet to drop below six million and several episodes have scored higher this year than in Tennant's last couple. The overnights are increasingly irrelevant.

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Muffy
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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by Muffy »

"The Lodger" is my favourite episode of this new series so far.

Lots of funny moments eg. the little bag with lots of cash, the 'air' kissing, talking to the cat, finding the Doctor standing in for Craig (James Corden) at the office with that moving kitchen spoon, the omelette, the shower scene, kings arms team - lovely, lovely

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Peter Gray
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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by Peter Gray »

Well that was confusing But fun...

time travel can get complicated....
loads of great ideas in this episode..
like the Tardis being the sun..and young Amy painting stars like Vincent Van Gogh...
Also Rory standing guard all those years...

Just great ideas..

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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by grumpy old man »

I loved the women in his “family” ganging up to destroy his fez.

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tony ingram
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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by tony ingram »

This series has been a revelation for me, the first one I've really enjoyed since 2005. And I've just worked out the linking theme: memory, the importance of remembering the past and how it contributes to our sense of identity. It's been obliquely alluded to throughout the series: the continual nods to past Doctors, particularly the first, reinforcing that this is the same man; Dr Bracewell's implanted memories, and later Auton Rory's, giving the two artificial men humanity; Liz 10 and ultimately Amy showing the effects of having ones memories taken or lost; and eventually the universe itself saved by a memory held in the Pandorica and the Doctor resurrected by the memories of his faithful companions, which I can see as a metaphor for the resurrection of the show itself in 2005, brought back by the love of writers who are themselves long term 'faithful companions': fans!
Or am I overthinking this too much?

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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by colcool007 »

tony ingram wrote:This series has been a revelation for me, the first one I've really enjoyed since 2005. And I've just worked out the linking theme: memory, the importance of remembering the past and how it contributes to our sense of identity. It's been obliquely alluded to throughout the series: the continual nods to past Doctors, particularly the first, reinforcing that this is the same man; Dr Bracewell's implanted memories, and later Auton Rory's, giving the two artificial men humanity; Liz 10 and ultimately Amy showing the effects of having ones memories taken or lost; and eventually the universe itself saved by a memory held in the Pandorica and the Doctor resurrected by the memories of his faithful companions, which I can see as a metaphor for the resurrection of the show itself in 2005, brought back by the love of writers who are themselves long term 'faithful companions': fans!
Or am I overthinking this too much?
Good take on it, but you are definitely over-thinking this one too much! :lol:
I started to say something sensible but my parents took over my brain!

Brendan McGuire
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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by Brendan McGuire »

Tony, that is a wonderful analysis. I think you're absolutely spot on.
I love this Doctor's certitude in the face of virulent opposition - "Fezes are cool."

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Re: Matt Smith as Dr Who

Post by Digifiend »

I hear the Doctor's getting a new costume next year. Think it'll include a Fez? Of course it was only there so you tell when it was a future doctor in earlier scenes! :lol: At least the scene in the Byzantium two-parter where the Doctor had lost his jacket and suddenly had it back makes sense now.

It also looks like series 6 will go back to having family scenes like the RTD era did - as Amy has parents now. Augustus, Tabatha, what a choice of names!

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