Doctor Who (again) [SPOILERS]

[Drolyt]

This.

You never know what sort of degree The Doctor might have picked up during his adventures. PhD in Chronology, perhaps?

It seems to be just the nickname he had on Gallifrey. If he has any sort of academic qualifications, he got it there, not a PhD on earth. Regardless, I'm certain there was an episode where he mentioned that he had medical training.

If I recall from the old series, his specialty was some sort of physics... the Rani kidnapped him for it or something.

[Kato]

Anyone who has a PhD gets to be called "Doctor", but if that PhD happens to be in, say, theoretical physics there's no reason why they should be any better at CPR than anyone you find on the street!

Well, of course, but he's 900 yers old. He never did look up how to do a CPR like ever? Heck, he's been travelling with humans for at least forty years or so and he never thought 'Hey, might be useful to know basic first aid'. (Okay, not that basic but still) It was really kind of stupid... gets more stupid the more I think about it, really. But well... Amy did good enough, I guess.

[comicshorse]

They have officially used up the number of times they can kill Rory until next season

All in all, okay. Some nice touches, I loved Amy's " I'm so cool, I even impress myself" little shimmy after she was twirling the cutlass

[Thufir]

Next week's however.

Spoiler

Show

Does anyone else feel like they're really pushing the Ood on us to be new 'classic' Who monsters? I kinda like 'em, but they're really showing up a lot.
My girlfriend also informs me next weeks is Neil Gaiman's episode, and I would've thought him a bit too original to be using the Ood like that.

Spoiler

Show

I don't think so. The Ood were introduced as a race that could be easily enslaved telepathically, so why not bring them back in that same capacity?

I too noticed 'the missing pirate'.

Were some other holes

Spoiler

Show

Why were the others with minor scratch injuries sedated but not the Doctor and co?
Why did the tardis get trapped except for plot expediency?

Spoiler

Show

I noticed the missing pirate initially, but assumed he'd reappear later and then forgot when action started happening.

And yeah, I assumed the TARDIS being trapped would be a big plot point. I assumed the siren was somehow causing all vessels in the vicinity to be becalmed, including the TARDIS. But then that wasn't brought up again. And of course it turned out that the ship being becalmed was just coincidental lack of wind. So, yeah, not particularly impressed by that.

In general this is becoming a pet peeve of mine with this season and the last one.
In a way it feels almost as though it is a case of 'guess which of the unexplored plot strands turns out to be important' than nice and well explained stories.
At the time I pointed out some of the plot pieces that seemed to be forgotten/ignored last series and whilst one (that I didn't notice) is being expanded upon (silence will fall) it still irks me.

This, however, I seriously disagree with. I can't think of any such points from the last series or the last two episodes, other than the abandoned Silence ship in The Lodger, and that I was always sure would be revisited.

Spoiler

Show

Was anyone else disappointed at the Doctor's reaction to losing control of the TARDIS? The entire show used to be based around the premise of him not knowing where he'd end up, and now he flees the TARDIS for just that reason?

Spoiler

Show

That made perfect sense to me. Sure, he doesn't mind not knowing where he's going, but he doesn't want to take off not knowing where he's going in the middle of a crisis like that one.
So he runs out the doors, because, as mentioned in The Pandorica Opens, if no-one is inside the TARDIS the engines shut down. But for some reason it didn't work.

[Weezer]

Spoiler

Show

That made perfect sense to me. Sure, he doesn't mind not knowing where he's going, but he doesn't want to take off not knowing where he's going in the middle of a crisis like that one.
So he runs out the doors, because, as mentioned in The Pandorica Opens, if no-one is inside the TARDIS the engines shut down. But for some reason it didn't work.

Spoiler

Show

Especially when Amy and Rory aren't with him. He doesn't mind being thrown into the unknown, he just doesn't want to abandon his companions.

[Mkhaiwati]

Spoiler

Show

I noticed the missing pirate, also. I assumed it was a missing scene since the missing pirate later showed up on the deck of the alien ship when going into space. Wonder who the pirates will plunder, there. (Try the Daleks; I heard they are easy.)

My theory with the eyepatch lady ties in with Amy's baby and the confused scan results by the TARDIS. Amy is being implanted from another time/universe/dimension/alien race/whatever.

In the Impossible Astronaut, eyepatch woman says (while looking to her side) "No, she is just dreaming" or something like that ("No, I think shes dreaming", maybe). Anyway... This episode she looks at Amy and says "It's fine. You are doing fine. Just stay calm." which could be interpreted as a nurse saying this to a patient after a procedure. "It" could be the pregnancy. The speakeasy is just Amy's brains method of understanding when the eyepatch woman checks in on her mental state.

[small pumpkin m]

Except that Joy DOES Remember the previous times. IIRC, she basically repeats her initial statement, then says "Wait, but I just said that". It takes them a moment to realize they just suddenly remembered seeing the Silence before.

Pretty sure she doesn't. You might be right in that she remembers saying that, but she doesn't remember the Silent itself, and the doctor (not The Doctor) they get to treat the wounded Silent has a conversation along the lines of "what is this, who treated it?", "You did", "what?".

[BRC]

Okay, so the Episode

Spoiler

Show

Was Grade A Doctor Who Mediocre, with the execution severely outstripping the script. Captain Awesomeface (as I will refer to him) was amazing, but to be honest, it seems like an episode that started with a good idea (Siren attacking a pirate ship) and then got left to gather dust while they did other stuff. Then, when they needed a script, they rushed turning the idea into a script, and to be honest, it shows.

I'm okay with the whole "Automated Doctor teleporting people into sickbay" thing, the tissue sample, the Anasthetic Song, all that stuff. Yes they were technobabbling a square peg into a round hole by trying to include every aspect of the Siren/Black Spot myths, but I'm willing to accept that. I don't watch Doctor Who for the science.

However, what happened to the TARDIS. I understand that they needed it gone in order to move the plot forward, but that just kind of happened randomly. Also, the whole "Overlapping Universes two ships in the same place" Thing was just too much for me. If they had the Alien ship underwater, that could have worked, but "The Universe is Leaky" is just...yeah.

Not to mention that the characterization seemed to end at "Pirates are Cool". The guy they had playing Captain Awesomeface tried his best, but really, he didn't have that much to work with. It sounds like they wrote the character to be the disneyworld version of a pirate captain (Right down to an irrational and all-consuming obsession with gold), then accidentaly gave the role to a good actor.

Come to think of it, the whole "Why did he turn Pirate" thing sounds like it was supposed to be an actual story that would end with us learning that he is a noble man who was forced to turn pirate by something or other and is trying to hold onto who he once was. However, that got scrapped, and instead we get "He Really likes Gold". I assumed that silver medallion thingy that got such a significant shot in the beginning would serve a bigger purpose than later being something shiny for the Siren to jump out of.

However, the episode was worth it, because it ended with Captain Awesomeface flying around in a spaceship with a crew of swarthy Brigands.

[zimmerwald1915]

Well, of course, but he's 900 yers old. He never did look up how to do a CPR like ever? Heck, he's been travelling with humans for at least forty years or so and he never thought 'Hey, might be useful to know basic first aid'. (Okay, not that basic but still) It was really kind of stupid... gets more stupid the more I think about it, really. But well... Amy did good enough, I guess.

Actually, the Doctor's pretty astute not to have bothered to pick up CPR. Among other things it's intended to be a stopgap measure to keep people alive until more advanced care becomes available rather than recussitating them all on its own, and it's not terribly effective at that. One thing you almost never do is remove someone from advanced care and start CPR, which is what they showed in the episode. Heck, most CPR instructors know and freely admit that it's an unreliable and dangerous technique. What made this even more difficult to swallow was that they didn't move Rory from an advanced care facility to, say, back onto the pirate ship where they could be expected to have to rely on CPR: they moved him into the Tardis. I have a very hard time believing that in all that space there's no other, different, form of advanced care available in the Tardis that would not have the drawbacks of the alien ship's.

Not to mention that it's used incorrectly in the episode. CPR's supposed to be used when there's no pulse or respiration, not to pump water out of the lungs.

[Drolyt]

Not to mention that it's used incorrectly in the episode. CPR's supposed to be used when there's no pulse or respiration, not to pump water out of the lungs.

I thought of that, but I then decided Rory must have already drowned by the time the mermaid thing saved him, so he had no pulse. Didn't they say he wasn't breathing? Most first aid authorities say to go ahead and start CPR if there is no breathing, since laypeople often have trouble determining if there is a pulse.

All that said, yes, TV has strange ideas about CPR. I understand why they removed him from what you are calling "advanced care", but what I don't get is why they didn't go get a defibrillator or, better yet, some super Time Lord medicine. Time Lords have two hearts, but they otherwise have a similar vascular system, so I'm not clear on why Time Lord Tech couldn't be used to restart Rory's heart.

[Kato]

Well, I don't want to dwell on medical discussions here but if I recall my last first aid training (which happened quite a while ago) isn't CPR used for both restarting pulse and breathing? Not sure about getting water out of lungs but as I understood it wasn't the problem just Rory bbeing hooked up to the machine which replaced the function of his heart and lungs so they just needed a... well, a reboot. know in real life CPR is something just to assist until madical care arrives (in most circumstances) but isn't it also used to that extent if no pulse or breathing is present e.g. after an electric shock or such?

[Eldan]

Spoiler

Show

Come to think of it, the whole "Why did he turn Pirate" thing sounds like it was supposed to be an actual story that would end with us learning that he is a noble man who was forced to turn pirate by something or other and is trying to hold onto who he once was. However, that got scrapped, and instead we get "He Really likes Gold". I assumed that silver medallion thingy that got such a significant shot in the beginning would serve a bigger purpose than later being something shiny for the Siren to jump out of.

However, the episode was worth it, because it ended with Captain Awesomeface flying around in a spaceship with a crew of swarthy Brigands.

Spoiler

Show

Yeah, I was wondering about the Captain. I'm not sure if that was the script, the director or the actor, but the captain (forgot his name) had a lot of significant glances and facial expressions whenever the gold was mentioned. I fully expected a story like "I was trying to buy medicine for my sick wife" or something. So, I'll just assume that was the point, just left out.

Same for the medallion. The way they treated it, they seemed to think it would protect them against the siren. For just some superstition, it sure got a lot of screentime.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Okay, so the Episode

Spoiler

Show

Come to think of it, the whole "Why did he turn Pirate" thing sounds like it was supposed to be an actual story that would end with us learning that he is a noble man who was forced to turn pirate by something or other and is trying to hold onto who he once was. However, that got scrapped, and instead we get "He Really likes Gold".

On the other hand they didn't force a sympathetic motivation down our throats and were brave enough to make him sympathetic and flawed. Not that it worked well at all.

[Mauve Shirt]

Spoiler

Show

Dangit, this was the first episode of Doctor Who my sister watched and it was incredibly disappointing. And she'll probably remark on the similar plots when I make her watch The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances. But I suppose for a first episode it's good that it was pretty removed from the main plot of the series.

[Leecros]

Was it supposed to be a big revelation that the Pirate Captain in question was

Spoiler

Show

Captain Avery

because for some reason that didn't come as a huge surprise to me...

[Androgeus]

Was it supposed to be a big revelation that the Pirate Captain in question was

Spoiler

Show

Captain Avery

because for some reason that didn't come as a huge surprise to me...

I don't think so, I don't really know anything about the dude but I remember reading that it was him before the episode aired

[Drolyt]

Well, I don't want to dwell on medical discussions here but if I recall my last first aid training (which happened quite a while ago) isn't CPR used for both restarting pulse and breathing? Not sure about getting water out of lungs but as I understood it wasn't the problem just Rory bbeing hooked up to the machine which replaced the function of his heart and lungs so they just needed a... well, a reboot. know in real life CPR is something just to assist until madical care arrives (in most circumstances) but isn't it also used to that extent if no pulse or breathing is present e.g. after an electric shock or such?

CPR is used to keep blood and oxygen flowing when there is not heartbeat. It doesn't actually restart the heart directly, but it keeps the body going and there is about a 2% chance the body will restart the heart on its own in those conditions. I don't think the Doctor and Rory would have taken those chances (Rory at least should know better).

[Thufir]

Further thought on the episode having watched Confidential:

Spoiler

Show

Apparently they were specifically trying to include just about every pirate cliche they could think of. Perhaps this explains why the plot lost out a little.

[The Big Dice]

Further thought on the episode having watched Confidential:

Spoiler

Show

Apparently they were specifically trying to include just about every pirate cliche they could think of. Perhaps this explains why the plot lost out a little.

Spoiler

Show

It doesn't explain how the director could take a location as awesome and evocative as a genuine sailing ship, on the water on a perfect night, and completely fail to put any kind of excitement or atmosphere into the proceedings. And the BBC are supposed to be good at period drama.

Cliches are cliches because they get used to much, not because they don't work. In fact, see the classic episode, The Pirate Planet for how pirate clishe was done well. Albeit in a sci-fi rather than period setting.

[Kato]

Spoiler

Show

It doesn't explain how the director could take a location as awesome and evocative as a genuine sailing ship, on the water on a perfect night, and completely fail to put any kind of excitement or atmosphere into the proceedings. And the BBC are supposed to be good at period drama.

Cliches are cliches because they get used to much, not because they don't work. In fact, see the classic episode, The Pirate Planet for how pirate clishe was done well. Albeit in a sci-fi rather than period setting.

Waaaait, di you just list Pirate Planet as an example for a good serious Who episode? I'm not going to say it's bad but it's... well... it's ridiculous. (Not only on the pirate part) I think the latest episode wasn't trying to make that much of a joke of itself.

[Thufir]

Spoiler

Show

It doesn't explain how the director could take a location as awesome and evocative as a genuine sailing ship, on the water on a perfect night, and completely fail to put any kind of excitement or atmosphere into the proceedings.

Well, I have no need to explain that since I disagree with your premise there.

[Kato]

You know, it's kind of late and unrelated but I found the little Who shout-out in the most recent South Park episode quite amusing. (There, they did it. They made me mention South Park in a forum about Doctor Who. Oh my god, what did I do.)

[The Big Dice]

Well, I have no need to explain that since I disagree with your premise there.

So you think the scenes on the deck of the ship in the latest episode of Who were both interesting and exciting? Have you ever seen The Crimson Pirate? Or one of those movies with Johnny Depp? Or Captain Blood? Or any adaptations of Treasure Island?

It shouldn't be hard to make a pirate ship look interesting. But whoever the person who directed The Curse of the Black Spot was, (and the Black Spot was taken directly from Treasure Island, even if it was filtered through Pirates of the Caribbean for the effect) he needs to go watch some pirate movies before ever being allowed near a pirate scenario ever again.

Waaaait, di you just list Pirate Planet as an example for a good serious Who episode? I'm not going to say it's bad but it's... well... it's ridiculous. (Not only on the pirate part) I think the latest episode wasn't trying to make that much of a joke of itself.

Serious no. Embracing the cliches and making them entertaining, yes.

Anyway, here is a review that kind of sums it all up, really.

[Kato]

Serious no. Embracing the cliches and making them entertaining, yes.

Anyway, here is a review that kind of sums it all up, really.

Well... the thing is, I think CofBS was more trying to be serious than PP. Much more. I'm not going to say it was awesome but decent enough and just because they didn't take the rather easy way of turning everything into a joke doesn't mean PP was a superior adaption in every way. They were just taking different angles, imo.


Though, I read that review before and it really didn't agree with it. Maybe a few sentences but overall the writer might have even seen a different episode than me. But that's just me, really.

[Closet_Skeleton]

I just remembered what really pissed me off this episode when watching it.

The sound the flintloch pistol made when fired.

A little verasimilitude can go a long way to making people believe more in a flimsy premise.

[comicshorse]

That assumes people know what sound a flintlock makes and I really think most don't

[Dienekes]

Well... the thing is, I think CofBS was more trying to be serious than PP. Much more. I'm not going to say it was awesome but decent enough and just because they didn't take the rather easy way of turning everything into a joke doesn't mean PP was a superior adaption in every way. They were just taking different angles, imo.


Though, I read that review before and it really didn't agree with it. Maybe a few sentences but overall the writer might have even seen a different episode than me. But that's just me, really.

My problem is that many pirates had a legitimate reason to go on the account, they were often royal sailors or slaves who were brutally mistreated by their captain and their merchant backers. Quite a few pirate ships got their start by mutinying against tyrannical captains and even then they would often spare captains that the crews they boarded regarded as fair. If you're going to make a serious pitiable pirate there is a lot of information to use. Instead we got, he likes gold. He murdered innocents. Apparently we're supposed to find him pitiable. He wasn't, but I have to admit the actor did a decent job with what he was given, and made himself seem pitiable.

[Weezer]

I just remembered what really pissed me off this episode when watching it.

The sound the flintloch pistol made when fired.

A little verasimilitude can go a long way to making people believe more in a flimsy premise.

I noticed it too, made me cringe for a moment.

[BRC]

My problem is that many pirates had a legitimate reason to go on the account, they were often royal sailors or slaves who were brutally mistreated by their captain and their merchant backers. Quite a few pirate ships got their start by mutinying against tyrannical captains and even then they would often spare captains that the crews they boarded regarded as fair. If you're going to make a serious pitiable pirate there is a lot of information to use. Instead we got, he likes gold. He murdered innocents. Apparently we're supposed to find him pitiable. He wasn't, but I have to admit the actor did a decent job with what he was given, and made himself seem pitiable.

I got the impression that the captain was supposed to be a lovable over-the-top stereotype, full of "Yarr"'s and "Scallywags" and "Shiver me Timbers". We were supposed to find him fun, of course he was just motivated by a love of gold, he's a pirate.
Then somewhere along the line they gave him to a good actor, and he got mixed with the tragic story of a noble man who has fallen to Piracy. The result was the Tragic Story of a Noble Man who has fallen to Piracy...because he really really likes gold.

[Giggling Ghast]

On a positive note, I liked this Monster of the Week.