43 replies to this topic

[DWF]

Spoilers

Quote

Part 1 of a 2-part story; Rose finds herself further away from home than ever before, on a desolate world in the orbit of a Black Hole. Trapped with an Earth expedition and the mysterious Ood, the time-travellers face an even greater danger as something ancient beneath the planet's surface begins to awake...

A planet orbiting a black hole.

[The Tyrant]

As I remember, that didn't turn out too well for SG-10, did it?

Since I, for one, have a near-obsessive interest in black holes, I am eagerly awaiting this one...

Edited by RichieTyrant, 02 June 2006 - 09:52 PM.

[DWF]

RichieTyrant, on Jun 2 2006, 10:52 PM, said:

As I remember, that didn't turn out too well for SG-10, did it?

Since I, for one, have a near-obsessive interest in black holes, I am eagerly awaiting this one...

Well there is one planet in Dr. Who's history that orbits a black hole, one that's supposely been destroyed.  

[Nialla]

RichieTyrant, on Jun 2 2006, 09:52 PM, said:

As I remember, that didn't turn out too well for SG-10, did it?

Since I, for one, have a near-obsessive interest in black holes, I am eagerly awaiting this one...

Apparently one of the members of the Earth expedition is an archaeologist. If it ends up with the group resembling an SGC team, I'm definitely going to have a giggle.

[bishop37]

It's dark and gritty and a rollicking good yarn. Cue cliffhanger!

5/5

P.S. Watch the Confidential as well, it's pretty interesting.

[Shaun]

Dark, gritty, scary and just oodles of fun! Murray Gold's music was excellent for this episode.

My first 10/10 for this season. I'm eagerly looking for to seeing the next part.

BTW anyone noticed that this two part story falls either side of 6/6/06?

[Nick]

Just a few minutes in to this one . . . and the whole "but that's impossible! planets can't orbit black holes!" bit is ticking me off. Yes they can.  Black holes are not magic.  Anything can orbit one.  So I'm going to pretend that they really said:  "but that's impossible!  A planet can't orbit a black hole this close, it'll be torn apart!!"



More later

-Nick

[DWF]

Nick, on Jun 3 2006, 06:52 PM, said:

Just a few minutes in to this one . . . and the whole "but that's impossible! planets can't orbit black holes!" bit is ticking me off. Yes they can.  Black holes are not magic.  Anything can orbit one.  So I'm going to pretend that they really said:  "but that's impossible!  A planet can't orbit a black hole this close, it'll be torn apart!!"



More later

-Nick

As I said there one planet in Dr. Who's past that did orbit a black hole

Gallifrey.

And I've been getting a feeling of a major story arc being developed on the show but we'll learn more as this story concludes.

Edited by DWF, 03 June 2006 - 06:08 PM.

[Nick]

K . . . finished this episode . . . interesting.

I was definately getting some interesting vibes about this one:

It's almost as if the writer was toying with the idea of making us think this is in fact Gallifrey, but there's been nothing concrete. The TARDIS falls deep into the pit of the planet, out of reach of the Doctor & Rose so they're trapped for the moment.  I know that Gallifrey supposedly orbits a black hole, and has the nucleus of a black hole in the core of the planet to power time travel, so there were certainly hints of that . . . but right now, it looks like this might just be a prison world for a Satan-like being.  Although, I think it would be interesting if they overcome the Satan angle and this winds up being the remnants of Gallifrey instead . . . I fear that this is going to be a one-off story and not contribute significantly to the arc, however.

And BTW, is Outpost Gallifrey EVER going to lift its restriction on new registrations to their forums?  I'd love to read more of the fan speculation on this season, but you can't even VIEW the forum without registering . . .grrr.

[DWF]

^^^About the spoiler I thought that might be case without even seeing the ep. but I think it could be more complicated than that. As to posting at OG, there could any number of problems with their new server or something I don't know what's going on, sorry.  

[NeuralClone]

Now THIS was a fantastic episode! So much better than last week's.

Also, is it me or did the sound effects for the doors sound almost identical to the door sounds used in the original DOOM game?

For anyone unfamiliar with DOOM, here's a quite rundown: you're a marine that ends up on Mars, which ends up directly over a dimensional portal to hell (long story...well, okay not really ). In fact, the exterior shots of the base in this episode look a lot like the maps shown between level transitions in DOOM. The inside of the base looks almost exactly like the inside of the base in DOOM 3, complete with the door sound effects found in the original game. Even the creepy voice beckoning to people sounds like something right out of the third game, as is the ancient alien race plot (complete with the alien writing).

The comparisons are far too numerous for them to be a complete coincidence. I'm not saying Doctor Who copied DOOM or stole everything from it, but it certainly seems like someone on the staff has played the games. Of course, DOOM is hardly the only hell/devil reference in this episode. It was just the reference that stood out most for me since I just replayed DOOM 3.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to next week's episode.

ETA: And the Ood definitely look a lot like Dr. Zoidberg.

Edited by NeuralClone, 04 June 2006 - 02:28 AM.

[Smitty]

Unexpected error, I got your Unexpected error right here!

Edited by Smitty, 04 June 2006 - 02:10 AM.

[Smitty]

Yeah Doctor Zoidberg but also the Pak'Mara from Babylon 5.

-cs™

[bishop37]

Why couldn't the Doctor summon the Tardis with it's key, as he did in "Father's Day"? That's what I want to know!

[NeuralClone]

bishop37, on Jun 4 2006, 05:26 AM, said:

Why couldn't the Doctor summon the Tardis with it's key, as he did in "Father's Day"? That's what I want to know!

That's a good question... Perhaps he tried and it didn't work due to all the interference? Remember that they seemed to be having some trouble with the TARDIS when they first arrived.

Edited by NeuralClone, 04 June 2006 - 12:30 PM.

[Nick]

Also, in the beginning of the episode when the Ood were surrounding them, I noticed he brandished his sonic screwdriver like a weapon again.  He's done this several times (I especially remember him pointing it at Lady Cassandra when she was possessing Rose).  I figure he's just trying to look menancing, but does anyone know if the sonic screwdriver *can* in fact be used as a weapon directly?

(I have to admit, for a moment there in the Cybermen episodes when he blasted the Cybermen I thought that was the sonic screwdriver at first )

-Nick

[DWF]

Nick, on Jun 4 2006, 02:25 PM, said:

Also, in the beginning of the episode when the Ood were surrounding them, I noticed he brandished his sonic screwdriver like a weapon again.  He's done this several times (I especially remember him pointing it at Lady Cassandra when she was possessing Rose).  I figure he's just trying to look menancing, but does anyone know if the sonic screwdriver *can* in fact be used as a weapon directly?

(I have to admit, for a moment there in the Cybermen episodes when he blasted the Cybermen I thought that was the sonic screwdriver at first )

-Nick

I think he used the power source from the TARDIS to increase the power of the screwdriver against the Cybermen and yes it can used as a weapon.

[bishop37]

NeuralClone, on Jun 4 2006, 06:29 PM, said:

bishop37, on Jun 4 2006, 05:26 AM, said:

Why couldn't the Doctor summon the Tardis with it's key, as he did in "Father's Day"? That's what I want to know!

That's a good question... Perhaps he tried and it didn't work due to all the interference? Remember that they seemed to be having some trouble with the TARDIS when they first arrived.

That's entirely possible, but as it's not addressed in anyway in the actual episode, then it's a plothole.

[Nialla]

The previews and minor spoilers I'd read were giving me a Stargate fangirl giggle. We had an expedition from earth on another planet, complete wtih an archaelogist, digging for an alien artifact. And alien language that looked vaguely Ancient.

Then the chief scientist and the Doctor discover what reminds me of the capstone used over a Stargate from the movie, complete with the alien language around the edge. And something Evil is going to come through it. Oh, and the ethicist is named Danny/Daniel. Not sure how much, if any, was intentional, but I was amused by it.

The episode itself has the look of Alien(s) in a way, but the story is less monster-bursting-from-your-chest and more creeping-horror-from-beyond a la Lovecraft. The alien Ood look vaguely Cthulhu-like, and there's lots of reference to extraterrestrial pre-human civilization and an Old God coming to destroy the universe. Not a Lovecraft expert by any means, but it did have that sort of vibe to it.

[Nick]

DWF, on Jun 4 2006, 02:38 PM, said:

I think he used the power source from the TARDIS to increase the power of the screwdriver against the Cybermen and yes it can used as a weapon.

I only realized that after he explained it in the getaway van, although I think he used the power cell directly--couldn't quite tell, but it seemed like that was all that was in his hand.

Nialla said:

The previews and minor spoilers I'd read were giving me a Stargate fangirl giggle. We had an expedition from earth on another planet, complete wtih an archaelogist, digging for an alien artifact. And alien language that looked vaguely Ancient.

Then the chief scientist and the Doctor discover what reminds me of the capstone used over a Stargate from the movie, complete with the alien language around the edge. And something Evil is going to come through it. Oh, and the ethicist is named Danny/Daniel. Not sure how much, if any, was intentional, but I was amused by it.

Hehee, when they saw the trap door thingie I was thinking "That's just about the same size as a Stargate . . ."  As for the Lovecraft vibes, I see what you mean--although during the episode I wasn't thinking Cthulu so much as Pak'Mara in reference to the Ood.

-Nick