Totally agree. I think that the fact that that so many people seem unable to relate to anything not set in an urban environment (indeed, in some cases don't even seem to believe that village life still exists) is rather sad. People should get out of town more often, maybe then they'd see there's more to life.

OK, I am persuaded that there could be underground people hibernating undisturbed for millions of years...you do have to suspend some belief/disbelief. The fact they spoke English etc etc. That is taken as read in a programme of this sort. Maybe if it had been set in Mexicao rather than Wales...

But I do still say it seems old-fashioned to me, and it is not just to do with the rural location. Survivor was largely rural and that felt more current (although an adult programme)

The lizard people propel me back to a simpler plot-time, and perhaps that is why it feels old-fashioned. Perhaps it was the way it was done - stick someone in a lizard suit and say action. Would Torchwood have done that - eh no.

The more I read on these, and other forums, about Doctor Who, the more I think that people just simply aren't listening to any of the dialogue.

It was QUITE clearly explained in this episode that everyone had left the village, and that most people who work on site commute in. As was the fact that the only people living in the area were the family of the guy who goes missing.

And, to further add to the facts this isn't unheard of. There are places all over the UK that used to be mining communities that have simply shut down with the closure of the mines. Very few people remain there, and there are lots of streets in places like Manchester where rows of houses sit, empty. You can buy a whole terrace for the sort of money you'd spend on a studio flat in London. The same is quite possibly true of Wales.

And what was said earlier, the story needs to have a small group to work at all.

Yes, it was very clearly stated that everyone commutes in, and only Mum, Dad and Son live in the village. I felt it was a bit odd (even though there are plenty of examples of underpopulation around, as Phoenix states), and it seemed very unnatural.

Interesting comparison that Jagged makes, about that crystal cave. I saw some photos of it on the news a while ago, and it flabberghasting. Fluid building on the lungs of people who visit the cave, because it's so humid ... ALIEN!

I didn't have any of these problems, I felt the dialogue and the boarded up houses were enough. However didn't the Torchwoord Institute drill to the centre of the earth, as seen in The Runaway Bride?

i remember watching a documentry on those caves-completely stunning.
And it it does make you wonder what else we haven't discovered yet.

Yes, but in Wales?????

Cave amazing, though. Thanks for the link.

I would also add that the opening establishing shot showed you the whole of the village and slowly panned down to the one street with 5 or six house and you could see that all bar 2 were boarded up.

Why not in Wales?

SM seems to be choosing his environments, at least in some episodes, to emphasise the fairy-tale aspects of DW.

Most traditional tales take place in;
villages (TEH, AC)
forests (FAS)
caves (TOA, THE)
or involve mythical beasts (TBB)

I'm sure I can find a relevance for vampires and daleks if I try hard enough!

Iain Stewart, in the clip, said the cave was discovered by accident, so there might be hundreds......thousands of them under our feet, even in Wales.

What an amazing thought.

Well part of the point was that those caves were found in an area that had been heavily mined/ was mined out. Just like Wales.

But Wales?

The geomorphology of Wales just woulld not support that kind of underground community..ahem.

Maybe Cornwall.

Sorry, I just find it bizarre. Yes, I am the type of person on prefers holidaying abroad to home.

So weird, I was just looking at photos of that cave yesterday for an entirely different reason. (A packet of cheese-strings told me Niagra Falls froze over in 1911 and I googled that).
<3 that cave.

And the cold blooded thing is an interesting point.

The TARDIS translates automatically doesn't it?.. Even so though, I find it odd you'd point that out about the one race who has long lived on earth and met humans before, rather than say all the aliens who 'spoke english'.. this is the one case where they could have learnt english fairly easily compared to actual aliens, what with being situated under the UK and having met the Doc and ppl before.

Oh yeah... :S
Was it was in London though? Maybe its only if you drill right above their city..

Exactly my thoughts. Wow.

Its one of my little niggles about this Ep you saw the rundown houses in the background.
but theres LOADS of sites in wales that are old Pits and no houses around at all.

It did seem a very stupid location and did cheapen the episode they used some CGI to create the new 'drill' that could have been used to much better effect on an Opencast site.

Because I thought they had been hibernating, and for how long?

In any case, this doesn't really matter whether they after how many years hibernating spoke modern English. - or even Welsh! How do you learn if you don't interact with people - and do they knick "teach yourself English/lizard"

I don't expect to think about it that hard.

I didn't know the TARDIS translated - for all people not just the Doctor?

But it doesn't bother me that everyoen can understand oneanother - it makes things so much easier in drama....

Actually, you've got a point. The Tardis would translate for Rory, but would it translate for Ambrose and her Dad?

And, why is she called Ambrose? It''s a man's name. It kept annoying me because I thought I was hearing it wrong.

Have you not watched the 2005 series? It seemed that only one family lived on the whole of the Powell estate. How come when the Tardis landed only Rose, Mickey or Jackie ever ran out to see what was happening? This was particularly obvious in "The Parting of the Ways".

The translation field seems to work for not only the TARDIS crew but also anyone in their immediate vicinity, without them noticing it. It was established back in 1976 that the fact that no-one notices is actually a part of its function (when Sarah Jane asked how she could understand Italian, the Doctor immediately knew she was being mind controlled, because under normal circumstances the question wouldn't have occurred to her).

What on earth has "if it was in mexico" got to do with it? They are 21 kilometres underground, not in the bed and breakfast in the next village. And they were living millions of years ago. Do you know NOTHING about the world? Do you know where the term "Silurian" came from? You can google it, you know. The UK has some really interesting geologic features. And you can visit really wonderful places that are spectacular and lovely. I like visiting amazing places in the world but I also love the wonderful sights and interesting things available in these islands.

And please: they spoke english. ffs. It's a science fiction show. They have to have little things like, for example, the TARDIS translating. Just so that every week we don't have to have a story where nobody can understand each other. And how is that a criticism of this particular episode? Is this the first time you've noticed that?

And as for the rest of this thread about "it looked cheap", the empty village, why no hundreds of extras etc etc. My word. Does nobody actually watch the f**lng show before coming here to witter on about things that are fully explained or so bleeding obvious or trivial that it doesn't deserve comment. Part of the entire feel of the episode was that they were cut off and the few people left behind in the church are the representatives of humanity. So we get to see how they deal with their prisoner when the Doctor isn't there to shepherd them. So the script writer didn't want hundreds of people milling about so he can ratchet that drama up. And in any case, hundreds of people milling about won't help make that part of the story any better.

And well, oh for heaven's sake. Just watch the bloomin' show folks. Try not to get distracted before posting.

And, yes, the 8 minutes deadline not perfect - the writer wanted to explain why they couldn't just get in the TARDIS. Not perfect but nearly EVERY episode suffers the "why don't they just use the TARDIS" problem. The magic wiring up of all the surveillance stuff in 8 minutes not exactly believable but hardly a huge problem. And it included a lot of great stuff like the Doctor interacting with Elliot. This was all lovely. Why quibble?

I am a Mr Grumpy Face.

Ooh yes! There was a documentary series on, I think, BBC 4 or 2 earlier this year where the chap looked at how the earth has been shaped (wind, water, earth etc). He (whover it was) did a fair section on that cave. Mind boggling. A great set of programmes and some magnificent photography. Thanks for the reminder.

Wales is a perfect place to film DW, you got mines, quarries, bleak landscapes built up cities. It just needs the writers imagination and the production team to get a great location. My brother-in law lives in Brecon and I believe they filmed at his uni glamorgan (?) I think and at a church in Brecon. I thought I recognised the church that the Hungry Earth was filmed at. Does anyone know the name of it?