[Chiaroscuro]

Originally Posted by garbage456

WOW, look at the poll, its taking off for this episode.
Just three small things I didn't like,
Martha moaning about the Doctor falling in love with a human that wasn't her.

I didn't mind that. It would be a bit gut wrenching if you were in love with someone and had to watch them going all gooey over someone else.

Another mention of Rose.

Yes. Could've done without that. She was a lot prettier in that sketch though...

The doctor kissing (borderline for me this one)

I didn't mind that on this occasion.

[Chiaroscuro]

Originally Posted by nathanbrazil

In the preview for part two, we see the Doctor holding a baby. It made me wonder if he will, in fact, spend a lot more time with his new girlfriend and produce a son/ daughter?

Was there a clip when they were walking along with about three children? If they were then it would appear they'd been there for several years, so will Martha age or is that all taken care of by the Tardis and The Doctor and Martha are is some kind of suspended animation, except not because they can move. Ohhhh, you know what I mean.

As this half-human half-timelord would be born in 1914, when we arrive at the present day, he would be grown up, but not necessarily aged at the human rate. Could this character be who the Face of Bo was referring to when he told the Doctor that he was not alone? Furthermore, could this character be Mr Saxon.... the Doctor's son?

Ooooh...that's an interesting thought.

[sjcuk2006]

i wasnt keen on this one but then again i didn't watch it properly. shall wait til i get home on june the 4 to watch both parts!!

all these spoiler tags are boring me lol. i think we kinda get the jist of what is going to happen next week! and in reference to the spiler tags adn next wsweek i've added my tuppence!

Spoiler

susan is the baby

Spoiler

there WILL be a saxon reference in there somewhere

Originally Posted by Dangerman

Spoiler

Why have a cliffhanger where one of two characters is apparently about to meet her death ( one of them completely expendable ) then show both in the trailer ? We know Martha's going to survive because we've seen trailers of the rest of the series but there was a possibility of Matron being sacrificed for about 10 seconds until we saw her in the trailer !

I agree about this. its just wot i was thinking when the credits rolled up.

[geraniums]

Originally Posted by Corwin

Very good episode.

Here is the synopsis of the book if anyone wants to see how next weeks epiosde may turnout.........

That synopsis took some reading. Had to read it about three times before I could properly understand it!

[geraniums]

Originally Posted by sjcuk2006

i wasnt keen on this one but then again i didn't watch it properly. shall wait til i get home on june the 4 to watch both parts!!

all these spoiler tags are boring me lol. i think we kinda get the jist of what is going to happen next week! and in reference to the spiler tags adn next wsweek i've added my tuppence!

Spoiler

susan is the baby

Spoiler

there WILL be a saxon reference in there somewhere

I agree about this. its just wot i was thinking when the credits rolled up.

It`s not rocket science though. Everyone who watches Dr. Who knows that there will be spoilers at the end of the show. Either switch to another channel for 30 seconds or mute the sound and look away from the screen! If you don`t want to know what happens next then don`t watch the spoiler at the end.

[priggy]

Originally Posted by garbage456

Poor reasoning, thats like saying it was David Tennant.

Not poor reasoning - it was the whole point of the episode - the Doctor is not the Doctor anymore. He is 100% human. If he was the Doctor then the family of blood would be able to sniff him out.
The Doctor wasn't acting as a teacher in 1913 - he was a teacher in 1913 and believed the Doctor was some part of his imagination. He thought Rose and the time-travelling and the two hearts was all just fiction because he was John Smith. As John Smith he fell in love with Joan Redfern.

[lonelyangel]

Have been worried about series 3, mostly too "kiddy" and unoriginal... totally loved this one! clearly one for the adult/classic who fans, yet something for everyone to enjoy. fascinating plot and so glad they're not squishing it into a single episode.

much as i loved series 2, i think Human Nature might be my fave episode since Empty Child! Hope next week delivers... avoided the 'next time' spoilers

[Dino]

I watched the episode with some apprehension and not knowing it was based on a novelisation. Loved it, esp. the brief references to past DW history and incarnations. Glad it's a two parter - chance for a good old-fashioned cliff hanger. Probably could not fit it into 45 minutes anyhow.

[Tele addict]

This one was Doctor Who back to it's best. Reminded me of the classic series. Good plot and a cliffhanger too. So much better than last week's which was absolutely dire.

How about Russel T Davies ditches writing and adapts all the Who novels to the screen?

[KittyLitter]

Great plot, wonderful acting, a script that kept your interest - exactly what has been lacking of late with this series. I voted 'excellent' in the poll for the first time in ages.

[garbage456]

Originally Posted by Gutted Girl

Not poor reasoning at all. The point is that John Smith and The Doctor might have the same body but they're not the same person.

but its an excuse for RTD to have ANOTHER kiss in an episode that is my point.

[garbage456]

Originally Posted by priggy

Not poor reasoning - it was the whole point of the episode - the Doctor is not the Doctor anymore. He is 100% human. If he was the Doctor then the family of blood would be able to sniff him out.
The Doctor wasn't acting as a teacher in 1913 - he was a teacher in 1913 and believed the Doctor was some part of his imagination. He thought Rose and the time-travelling and the two hearts was all just fiction because he was John Smith. As John Smith he fell in love with Joan Redfern.

I understand that it was John Smith not the Doctor, the point is it was another kiss in an episode, someone replied and corrected me that it was John Smith not the Doctor

[Team53]

good episode, liked Martha in the empty TARDIS some how that worked well.
the minute you knew the pocket watch was important, you knew the kid from Love Actually would 'borrow' it.
I wonder how he could hear the voices, but Matron and Martha could not.
the scarecrows were a nice touch, very old school.
same with the girl, almost the same routine as in Remberance of the Daleks, with the controller girl.
the cliffhanger was silly, okay it was good and tense but risking a companion who we know will be in the next few episodes is always silly.
I would have ended it, with the Family of blood coming in and taking over the room.
personally for that cliffhanger to have the who survives suspense, i would have saved this story for the series fina.
it would have led nice in to the xmas show and kept every one guessing for a little while.

be good to get next weeks story over, then we can get in to a nice 3 week stint of Jack.

[lonelyangel]

Piano scene was a bit overdone but I guess the more OTT, the funnier the gag that he didn't just say "I say, look out for that piano"

[bigalt]

Originally Posted by garbage456

but its an excuse for RTD to have ANOTHER kiss in an episode that is my point.

At least it was between a man and a woman

[garbage456]

Looking at this episode again, as long as its done correctly, I do feel two parters are better than one, although I don't want to go back to the old 6 episodes or even one year that was a 14 parter.

[garbage456]

Originally Posted by bigalt

At least it was between a man and a woman

Yeah thanks, post of the day for me LMAO.

[lonelyangel]

Originally Posted by Team53

the cliffhanger was silly, okay it was good and tense but risking a companion who we know will be in the next few episodes is always silly.

What I liked here though was that it was an emotional cliffhanger wheras in new Who they tend to go for (sometimes) absurdly 'maximum peril' cliffhangers.

I mean if it was the Doctor, I know he'd just do *something* awfully clever, but now it is John Smith, I'm less sure what will happen - will he remember who he is? Will he come up with another piano-style moment of Doctorness? Or will it be up to Martha to get them out of this one?

Basically this is an innocent and unaware man terrorised into playing god over the lives of his nearest and dearest. Paul Cornell, bless you!

[snow_garden]

On the front cover of the book that this episode is based on the machine gun is featured prominently

Is that just because of the impending war or that is features in the story?

I see Tim proving himself and using the machine gun

[Dangerman]

Originally Posted by garbage456

but its an excuse for RTD to have ANOTHER kiss in an episode that is my point.

That's exactly what it wasn't though

It was an important aspect of a storyline written by Paul Cornell long before RTD was ever involved with DW.

If it had been RTD inspired it would have probably been two of the schoolboys not Smith & Redfern !

[Jaycee Dove]

Enjoyed the episode but felt the story worked better as a novel than here on film. Possibly this would have been great as a feature length episode because it moved so slowly that it was just getting into its stride at the end. Lovely cliffhanger, though. Far and away the best realised in new Who.

I loved the slow burn and the questions it posed but I bet a lot of the casual viewers were more confused and bored than impressed.

So I can undersatnd why some voted poor - although I thought it was better than that. If you are a long time fan of the series the echoes and nances will mean far more than if you have been brought up on RTD style Who - for which the Scarecrows seemed rather gratuitously tossed in. For me these out of place intrusions detracted from the subtlety of the story and made the evil force less credible. If the writer did argue against them, good on him and it shows up RTDs problem trying to make this show all thinhgs to all viewers as here they worked against the feel of the episode.

What this does show is that there are two different types of Dr Who. The wham bam one aimed at the kids (of which this was certainly not one). And the adult stories that require that you pay attention and apply thought. Whilst I love the latter they are bound to alienate large chunks of the new audience who probably only started to fathom what was going on near the end.

Somehow I felt this was better suited to a Dr Who feature length special. But it certainly shows (as ever) that the 42 minute format is way too short for really good story telling. Virtually all the best episodes have been the two parters that allow the story to breathe.

What I would perhaps like to see is a change in the whole Dr Who emphasis. Maybe a season of 13 standalones (the ones this series have been much improved)(This serfties is the best of any Dr Who series for a long time). Plus maybe three or four Dr Who specials - more stoey rich feature length mini movies aimed at a more adult audiece.

Thhe BBC could screen these apart from the main run - and not just at Christmas but other suitable slots. Because I do think the two part nature of this excellewnt story idea has taken something away from the careful building of mood and tension.

Overall this was a hugely ambitious and largely successful story and I only had two serious reservations about the episode itself.

The stuck up accents came over as so false and almost a parody of what the Americans expect of the English. Maybe schools in 1913 were really posh like that but they somehow detracted from the mood to me as I kept finding them eflective of an acting school than a real school.

And the quite attrocious editing that saw a modern truck pass right through the centre of the action in one scene with the road in the back distance. Totally destoyed the illusion that this was 1913 and I am amazed they did not reshoot or use digital trickery to cut that out.

Watch the repeat tonight as once you see it (as I did live) it is unmissable.

[daveac]

Originally Posted by mikevaughan

I tried posting this earlier but my net connection went down for a while. Just checked out the scene of the McGann sketch on my recording. There are two rows of Doctors on the page with possibly a third row above just out of shot.
It's, left to right,Mcoy,Mcgann and Hartnell on the middle row, with Tom Baker left and Peter Davidson right on the row below.

Really enjoyed this episode - the best yet this series.

As to the 'journal' there are 28 screen grabs I've put up on my website here:-

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/davecooper2/drwhobits7.html

Cheers, daveac

[daveac]

Originally Posted by mikevaughan

That's great Drathro, did you make it. I still thought the bottom left sketch looked more like Tom than Colin Baker though,

I think you're right - looks like Colin to me:-


http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/davecoope...s7/ajoit20.jpg

Cheers, daveac

[AndrewRobson]

My first excellent this series I think

[diva queen]

Originally Posted by Jaycee Dove

Enjoyed the episode but felt the story worked better as a novel than here on film. Possibly this would have been great as a feature length episode because it moved so slowly that it was just getting into its stride at the end. Lovely cliffhanger, though. Far and away the best realised in new Who.

I loved the slow burn and the questions it posed but I bet a lot of the casual viewers were more confused and bored than impressed.

So I can undersatnd why some voted poor - although I thought it was better than that. If you are a long time fan of the series the echoes and nances will mean far more than if you have been brought up on RTD style Who - for which the Scarecrows seemed rather gratuitously tossed in. For me these out of place intrusions detracted from the subtlety of the story and made the evil force less credible. If the writer did argue against them, good on him and it shows up RTDs problem trying to make this show all thinhgs to all viewers as here they worked against the feel of the episode.

What this does show is that there are two different types of Dr Who. The wham bam one aimed at the kids (of which this was certainly not one). And the adult stories that require that you pay attention and apply thought. Whilst I love the latter they are bound to alienate large chunks of the new audience who probably only started to fathom what was going on near the end.

Somehow I felt this was better suited to a Dr Who feature length special. But it certainly shows (as ever) that the 42 minute format is way too short for really good story telling. Virtually all the best episodes have been the two parters that allow the story to breathe.

What I would perhaps like to see is a change in the whole Dr Who emphasis. Maybe a season of 13 standalones (the ones this series have been much improved)(This serfties is the best of any Dr Who series for a long time). Plus maybe three or four Dr Who specials - more stoey rich feature length mini movies aimed at a more adult audiece.

Thhe BBC could screen these apart from the main run - and not just at Christmas but other suitable slots. Because I do think the two part nature of this excellewnt story idea has taken something away from the careful building of mood and tension.

Overall this was a hugely ambitious and largely successful story and I only had two serious reservations about the episode itself.

The stuck up accents came over as so false and almost a parody of what the Americans expect of the English. Maybe schools in 1913 were really posh like that but they somehow detracted from the mood to me as I kept finding them eflective of an acting school than a real school.

And the quite attrocious editing that saw a modern truck pass right through the centre of the action in one scene with the road in the back distance. Totally destoyed the illusion that this was 1913 and I am amazed they did not reshoot or use digital trickery to cut that out.

Watch the repeat tonight as once you see it (as I did live) it is unmissable.

I hated the accents too I missed the part with the modern truck i'll have to watch it tonight