I thought the episode was very good, it had everything humour, emotion etc. I only hope when David Tennet takes over it has the same feeling. I would hate for the show to lose the humour side of it.

Am i the only one not looking into the bad wolf thing? Or do you have had to watch the previous series of Dr Who to get it.

That's a good point actually, I've only ever heard about the bad wolf thing from reading posts on here. Is there a background to it?

Still havn't found the forum I referred to earlier, but if I remember correctly, people commented that the bad wolf stuff has something to do with a character called Fenric. My memories of old Who are vague so I don't really know anything about this, sorry!

The big bad wolf theory

From episode one
there have been references
to the big bad wolf
through certain characters

no connection spotted
but constant references to bad wolf
big bad wolf etc

and then it got painted
on the tardis last week

its either a red herring
or
it means something
to the story

hope that helps

:yawn:
Did anyone else miss the glaring clue?

They are a kind of 'space-mafia.' A collective. A Family. The Doctor pinned one of their own weapons on them and they all suffered? Did everyone else really miss this? Watch the beginning again.

I remember reading RTD saying that he wanted a new recurring ememy.

Much as I dislike the Slitheen and their constant farting, I'd
say that the rest of their planet would want revenge, especially after the Doctor wiped out a faction of it. Especially if they're a collective intelligence, which they seemed to be.

The Big Bad Wolf

Ep. 1 - The Nestene Consciousness may, or may not , have mouthed the words 'Bad Wolf'
Ep. 2 - The Moxx says 'Bad Wolf scenario' quietly
Ep. 3 - Whats'ername says 'You've seen the Big Bad Wolf' to Rose
Ep. 4 - A kid spray paints 'Bad Wolf' on the TARDIS

So, each week a new and more obvious reference, then...

Ep. 5 - Hmmm, well, nothing obvious...

Actually I like the 'House being Blown Down' reference but it is quite obscure. Then again, as a plot point it didn't really make much sense so maybe they had to keep it in to continue the 'Bad Wolf' theme...

However, the BBC have registered badwolf.org - do they have plans ? Or are they reacting to Fan Hype ? Contrary to some observers, I'd be surprised if RTD or even the BBC Press Office pay much attention to these boards.

And to answer a previous poster, I believe filming on the current series ended only a couple of months ago. It is common for British TV series to be completed before a single episode is shown - not always, but often, due partly to how long we Brits take to shoot TV shows. [Soaps aside, natch...]

Not basing this on any of the crazy theories around here, but the Slitheen monsters took quite a bit of money to make (suits, CGI) etc....I would see that kind of money as an investment, and therefore wouldn't be surprised if they returned in the next series purely for financial reasons (hate to put a bit of reality into this thread).

[quote=DariiusDax]The Big Bad Wolf

However, the BBC have registered badwolf.org - do they have plans ? Or are they reacting to Fan Hype ?



As the domain was registered on the 30th November last year, it wont be reaction to Fan Hype... Seems more planned than that.

Didn't miss it, it just didn't seem to make any sense. Other than a way for the writer to get ALL the characters out of jeopardy at once! But it was, allegedly, caused by their compression units so only the ones on earth with the units would be affected.


I do hope not. As noted before, the CGI Slitheen were actually pretty good, mainly because you didn't see them in close up. But the guys in suits looked like, well, guys in suits on 'It's A Knockout' complete with comedy arms!

Personally, I don't see why their planet will want revenge. Their story seems told to me. I will be surprised if we see them again.

Fair point, although the CGI would be an additional cost next time too so maybe they'll return and it'll be all men-in-bad-suits to save money! But, I think you are right that if they return it'll be the next series.

But, I do hope not!

Well, as I said, they seemed to have a collective intelligence, and I remember RTD saying he wanted a new recurring enemy. Seems pertinent to establish them in the first series, and as a 'collective' the rest of their planet would know the Doctor has defeated them.

Much as I dislike the Slitheen, I can quite see them coming back.

I'm still intrigued by the theory that the Slitheen were working for a "higher power". They did seem too childish (as characters, not just in a comedic way) and over-excited to have thought their way through the whole "Galactic recession" thing on their own. They may not end up being the best recurring characters but I doubt we've seen the last of them...

Have to agree... the slitheen costumes were shit... i nearly burst out laughing when one there hands caught on something and the rubber fingers started wobbling around!... terrible aside from the CGI elements.

I don't agree with the argumet that they'll re-appear solely because they cost a bit to make... remember, this isn't Doctor Who of yesteryear... this series has a serious amount of disposable budget! and also.. there were some far more effective aliens in episode 2 that looked genuinely fantastic, but half of them got incinerated on Platform 1... judging by the quality of them, i doubt it'll be the slitheen that will be RTD's returning enemy...

Well, it does make a change from "oh shi......" I suppose

Surely they have displayed a collective stupidity Very little of what they did displayed much intelligence. I would hope that if RTD was going to create a new, recurring enemy he'd create one that was actually smart as well as dangerous rather than these lumbering buffoons. Maybe the person The Doctor thought was long dead will be the new enemy.

Time will, as they say, tell

It will be interesting looking back on these discussions once the entire series has run. Personally, I don't think all of the questions raised by all the episodes will be answered. At least not this year...

The CGI was great - and I suppose time will tell.

I think it may be the Gelth who are the recurring enemy. Episode 9 (The Empty Child) features corpses who won't die and have gas masks on, so that's probably a bit of a clue.

Yes, I personally think it will be the

Time will indeed tell - we got there together!

Agreed - I think too many people will be looking for answers at the end of this series, where there won't be any. They have to leave things for further series to resolve.

Good point - I want the 'Adherents of the Repeated Meme' to return. They looked cool and are cheap to make

Am I the only person who doesn't think that this series has a lot of money behind it. Certainly, I don't think it has a 'serious' amount of disposable budget. And I don't think the BBC thinks of it as the 'flagship' show that many here do.

It's being made in Cardiff, because it's cheaper. I read somewhere that it was being shot on tape, because it's cheaper. It's certainly got some money because it has to compete with American sci-fi fare, but I bet if you spoke to the Producer [has anyone?], he/she would say that the budget was very tight.

Edit: Actually, someone out there must know what the budget per episode is....anyone? I'm going to do some research and try to find out if I'm way off the mark...

But the CGI keying and design have already been done are are sitting on a computer ready to be re-manipulated....I think we could see them coming back in Series 2 with the Doctor and Rose travelling to their planet.

It was approx. £750K per episode, averaged out amongst the series. CE got £500,000 for his part. Most of the money went on the SFX.

When Evil Willow gets staked ...

That's not too bad, actually, probably about average but still not a lot to play with when you consider the FX budget.

Consider period drama, which is also expensive, BBC's Vanity Fair cost £1 million per episode.

[Also: At a cost of £125,000 per episode (the equivalent of over £1.25 million today), Space:1999 was the most expensive television series ever made when it debuted in 1975!]

I didn't think it fared too well at all.
At least last week we had hope for this week's episode.

Again, I think the whole production was pitched wrong. And didn't do enough to redeem the previous episode.

The Slitheen were a wasted opportunity, they look to be a great idea. A sadistic creature who likes to kill for fun.
But, it pains me to say this but the potential effect of them being very weird and frightening was let down severely with their realisation.
Not only in direction terms, but those suits were rubbish.

The CGI Slitheens looked magnificent, and moved stealithily, quickly, smoothly and creepily. They moved a bit like predators.
But the actors in suits Slitheen didn't match up.
They moved clumsily, slowly, stiffly, and awkwardly.
And in closeups they look really bad, especially on the face where the mouth moves. They just look they're in foam rubber suits which ruins the illusion.

RTD himself said that the last thing he wanted to do was make Doctor Who a parody of itself, and have the monsters just look like actors in gorilla suits.
These are his own words, and I feel that the last two episodes fail if they were supposed to live up to his own criteria.

I think that RTD himself probably doesn't feel that these two episodes were as implemented as successfully as they could have been.

In the voting poll on this thread I've tried to not be too harsh, and for the first time I voted "fair".

Have to agree with Alrightmate on WW3. I am a big fan of the series old and new but this episode was a massive disappointment, due mainly to The Slitheen. In Aliens of London they had real scare potential. In WW3 they were just plain silly. And I hate my Sci-Fi 'silly'. Witty yes but silly no.Their plot about selling off the world seemed like stupid Hitchiker's Guide type stuff.
Having said all that, I did laugh at the first Slitheen death and Penelope Wilton was very very good. Shame she was put in such a dud episode.

Am still hugely looking forward to Dalek (will people here please stop calling them Darleks). Just hope that new veiwers were not put off by tonight's episode.