Doctor Who (again) [SPOILERS]

[Thufir]

So, the new series starts in a week and a half, and the Doctor is back on the cover of the Radio Times, so it seems a thread is in order.

There have lately been an assortment of new videos going up on the BBC's official Doctor Who website. Talking to Steven Moffat and the actors, trailers and previews and so on.

It seems the two-part opener is set to be something pretty impressive, but my own curiosity is most massively piqued by episode for, written by Neil Gaiman and entitled The Doctor's Wife. Now that's got to be something interesting. And naturally in his brief episode guide for the Radio Times, Steven Moffat revealed absolutely nothing about the plot.

So, people! Thoughts?

Edit: To quote River Song: "Spoilers."

[Gaelbert]

My guess would be the Doctor goes somewhere, and accidentally gets married by some sort of local custom. At least, that would be my guess if someone besides Gaiman was writing it.
The Doctor's granddaughter Susan hasn't been getting much love in the new series. I wonder how long it'll be before there's a reference to her.
And to cap off the speculation about the Doctor's relatives, Steven Moffat specifically made sure the Doctor's daughter wouldn't die at the end of the episode, so he would be able to use her in the future.

[Icewalker]

Added note, I believe Karen Gillian is going to be on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson tonight?

[The Big Dice]

And to cap off the speculation about the Doctor's relatives, Steven Moffat specifically made sure the Doctor's daughter wouldn't die at the end of the episode, so he would be able to use her in the future.

Georgia Moffet, daughter of fifth Doctor Peter Davidson, has a daughter with David Tennant.

[Starscream]

*ahem*

SQUEEEEEEE!

Looking forward to it. Love Matt Smith's Doctor (so far), love every story Moffat has written (again so far) and love everything Neil Gaiman has ever done (screw "so far", he's awesome in perpetuity).

I forget if we had a thread on the Christmas special. What did you guys think of it? Personally I thought it was great, if a little free with the series' usual laws of time travel.

[Gaelbert]

I haven't seen the Christmas special unfortunately, but if you're looking for scientific rigour in your time travel, you've come to the wrong series. Remember, this is the trope namer for "Timey Wimey Ball of Stuff."

[The Big Dice]

I haven't seen the Christmas special unfortunately, but if you're looking for scientific rigour in your time travel, you've come to the wrong series. Remember, this is the trope namer for "Timey Wimey Ball of Stuff."

Considering that Blink was where the term came from, and it only really got mentioned again in a Children in Need special, I don't think a trope is at all appropriate. And if it has become a trope, it now sucks by definition. Because anything popular enough as a device to become a trope is by definition a cliche.

The Christmas Special was a bit meh. Heavy on the schmaltz, heavy handed time travel as an alternative to plot, lots of re treading ground that The Curse Of Fatal death already walked. Hopefully the new season will be better, but I'm wondering if Moffat can handle the sheer quantity of stuff he has on his plate these days.

[Syka]

So excited.

Yesssss.

[Timeras]

Considering that Blink was where the term came from, and it only really got mentioned again in a Children in Need special, I don't think a trope is at all appropriate. And if it has become a trope, it now sucks by definition. Because anything popular enough as a device to become a trope is by definition a cliche.

Blink only gave the trope its name.
"Timey Wimey Ball" is just an expression for the common occurence of time travel related inconsistencies within a story.
Giving that a name doesn't make it better or worse.

[dehro]

I'm still not sold on the latest incarnation of the doctor, but I'll have to wait and see, I guess..plotwise and companion-wise the job has been top notch quality, so far.
on a sidenote, I just found out that the "first new" doctor has been dubbed in italian and is now on tv over here... the italian voices are... less than inspiring when you've seen the original.. but good enough for a newbie, I suppose.

[The Big Dice]

Blink only gave the trope its name.
"Timey Wimey Ball" is just an expression for the common occurence of time travel related inconsistencies within a story.
Giving that a name doesn't make it better or worse.

Tropes inherently make things worse. If it's a trope, it has been reduced to something that no longer has meaning. For example, what exactly does the following phrase say to you:

"Jenkins... chap with wings, there. Five rounds rapid."

If it suggests a trope, you're missing the point. If it suggests that the conventional military is trying to deal with something it is not equipped to, in both physical and psychological terms, you're getting there.

The problem with tropes, and especially with TV Tropes is, everything becomes smaller when it's a trope. It goes from "Wow, that was awesome!" to "Oh it's just a..."

And that makes sadface sad.

[Dvandemon]

I formally disagree, The Big Dice, and would submit that such thoughts are wrong. If you would like to continue and/or rebut, do it elsewhere so as not to derail the thread of my most favorite Sci-Fi series.

[The Big Dice]

I formally disagree, The Big Dice, and would submit that such thoughts are wrong. If you would like to continue and/or rebut, do it elsewhere so as not to derail the thread of my most favorite Sci-Fi series.

This is my earliest memory. And quite frankly, using TV Tropes, especially a page that doesn't actually have anything to do with why I dislike TV Tropes so intensely, to try and rebutt my comment about the reductionist quality that TV Tropes brings to everything it touches is putting the cart before the horse.

[Gaelbert]

You're really missing the point if you think that anything that's a trope is bad. You will have tropes in any story. You can't avoid them. It's quite possibly literally impossible.
When you call something a trope, you're not actually changing it. You're putting a label on it, a label that helps you build context from other works.

[The Big Dice]

You're really missing the point if you think that anything that's a trope is bad. You will have tropes in any story. You can't avoid them. It's quite possibly literally impossible.
When you call something a trope, you're not actually changing it. You're putting a label on it, a label that helps you build context from other works.

When you put it on TV Tropes, you reduce it, taking away all meaning. It goes from being a device, a tool to tell a story, to being a trope. A buzz word. That's all TV Tropes gives you, buzz words removed from all context and the with lists of places that examples of that buzz word might be found.

And that's why TV Tropes is nothing but reductions. It takes things and makes them smaller so they fit on lists.

[Helanna]

When you put it on TV Tropes, you reduce it, taking away all meaning. It goes from being a device, a tool to tell a story, to being a trope. A buzz word. That's all TV Tropes gives you, buzz words removed from all context and the with lists of places that examples of that buzz word might be found.

And that's why TV Tropes is nothing but reductions. It takes things and makes them smaller so they fit on lists.

Tropes are only buzzwords if you use them like a buzzword. Which some people do, yes, and that's bad. But most people use them to describe an element of a story, which is more what they're meant for. Instead of saying, for example, "Character X used to be a bad guy. Then he was sent to spy on the good guys by pretending to be a good guy, but he ended up really liking the good guys and in the end he turned good for real", you say "Character X Became the Mask. Simple. Now anyone who doesn't know what it means can look at the link, or if they want more specifics they could ask. It doesn't cheapen the story in any way, it just acknowledges the fact that many story share common elements, and gives these elements a name so they can be discussed more easily.

Anyway, I can understand if you don't like TV Tropes, since a lot of people don't, but I really fail to see how something being added to TV Tropes actively makes the original worse.

[Dvandemon]

And that's why TV Tropes is nothing but reductions. It takes things and makes them smaller so they fit on lists.

You say that like it's a bad thing. Philosophies and concepts aren't inherently bad, and even then aren't wholly abhorrent.

[bloodtide]

It seems the two-part opener is set to be something pretty impressive, but my own curiosity is most massively piqued by episode for, written by Neil Gaiman and entitled The Doctor's Wife. Now that's got to be something interesting. And naturally in his brief episode guide for the Radio Times, Steven Moffat revealed absolutely nothing about the plot.

So, people! Thoughts?

Well, lets see they could:

1.Have The Doctor meet another doctor(like, sigh, a famous one from history) and then be caught up in some plot with that doctor's wife. For example, the wife is an alien who helps her husband with 'breakthroughs'. Or she is a 'mind vampire' eating his smart brain.

2.Do a touching emotional story where The Doctor breaks down and talks about his family. Maybe something reminds him of it or such...he finds the long lost family room of the TARDIS.

3.A bag guy tried to steal The Doctor's memories, and brings up the old family ones.

4.Either of the two above can lead nicely into a 'flashback episode' where we'd see The Doctor on Gallefrey, married and all, like 800 years ago.

5.The Doctor might do the old 'save the woman from the snake pit', and it will turn out she is a 'pure woman' and now that The Doctor has touched her, he MUST marry her....... (Or River Song tricks him into marriage.......or, or The Rani comes back(she picked up The Master's ring after he died, right) and does a marriage plot)

[shadow_archmagi]

Going to go ahead and make a new thread; I'd like to discuss this with you, Dice!

[Gaelbert]

Going to go ahead and make a new thread; I'd like to discuss this with you, Dice!

Done and doner.

[The Big Dice]

Tropes are only buzzwords if you use them like a buzzword. Which some people do, yes, and that's bad. But most people use them to describe an element of a story, which is more what they're meant for.

Actually, they are meant in a very different way from the way TV Tropes uses them. A trope is actually a figure of speech, such as a metaphor, hyperbole or irony. What it is not is some pithy title given to story or plot elements that are barely connected other than by this tenuous name.

Anyway, I can understand if you don't like TV Tropes, since a lot of people don't, but I really fail to see how something being added to TV Tropes actively makes the original worse.

It doesn't make the original worse, it makes all the things associated with that particular trope that much smaller and less dramatic. TV Tropes takes iconic moments and turns them into buzzwords.

[Tiger Duck]

I'm excited, can't wait for it to begin again.

Watched Blink again, and now I can't sleep

[comicshorse]

"Jenkins... chap with wings, there. Five rounds rapid."

If it suggests a trope, you're missing the point. If it suggests that the conventional military is trying to deal with something it is not equipped to, in both physical and psychological terms, you're getting there.

Interestingly I always took that to represent the determination of the Brigadier and UNIT. Despite faced with a creature they have no idea about they're still determined to get stuck in and risk their lives to defend their planet

[Dienekes]

Very excited, I'm loving this new series. I'm rather liking the current doctor, more than Tennant actually. Because, bow ties are cool.

That and surprisingly, I'm rather liking Amy and Rory. I tend to be a bit unimpressed by the companions in the series so far, but for some reason these two got me interested in them.

I also propose a challenge. Can this season go without Daleks? Now don't get me wrong, I love Daleks, they're awesome. But they're becoming a bit overplayed. The first Dalek we saw took on the doctor and the military and only lost because it gave up. Since then it seems like the writers have just been creating larger and larger armies of Daleks with the Doctor adding in some reason why they're currently "more dangerous than ever" to make the episode have tension.

Or they make the Cult of Skaro

Spoiler

Show

too stupid to use the kill switch on their drones before 3/4 of their team was dead.

Let them rest for a season, let some tension build for them to appear later.

[Demon 997]

I believe theres some weird contract thing were they have to use them every season. Can someone confirm that, or did my brain make it up?

[The_Admiral]

No your brain did not make it up unless mine did too

[Eldan]

I think I've heard that, yeah. Daleks have to show up once per season or they lose the copyright to them, or something.

[The Big Dice]

Interestingly I always took that to represent the determination of the Brigadier and UNIT. Despite faced with a creature they have no idea about they're still determined to get stuck in and risk their lives to defend their planet

That's another angle on it. And of course there's the famous line "Just once, Doctor, I would like to encounter an alien menace that is not immune to bullets."

[Archonic Energy]

Well, lets see they could:
...
she picked up The Master's ring after he died, right
...

no. that issue was delt with in tennant's final christmas special...

[Dienekes]

I believe theres some weird contract thing were they have to use them every season. Can someone confirm that, or did my brain make it up?

Well, my challenge fails before it starts.

Pity really, I just hope that the episodes there in are awesome I suppose.