Rated Flesh & Stone

What did you guys think?

I absolutely loved it. First 10/10 I have been able to give a New who episode. Smith is just perfect in the role.

Yay! I came in here all prepared to give it 10/10 but worried that I would be the only one to do so.

Do you feel much of a tonal shift in these new episodes Lucy? For me its like the outlandish "end of universe- arrrg" stuff is dealt with much more subtly and thus is more believable.

I also like how we are getting an actual arc which is being expanded on each ep, thus preventing the RTD blowout endings in which one ep ties all the ends together (badly) and then part two resolves them (badly). Moffats approach gives them much more time to breath. it also injects a lot more interest into the arc itself.

Absolutely loved it-creepy in places, clever in others, and not a bad performance in the whole thing, even the minor characters were great. I'm also finding Amy a far realer and more complex character than any previous new Who companion, and far more likable too.

"I don't think you quite GRASP the GRAVITY of the situation" ...brilliant!

My girlfriend loves horror films, i want to send her Blink and the two "Doom" episodes. Also my mum is pretty impressed that they've invented something scarier than Cybermen!

Sounds promising.

Hourglass wrote:Do you feel much of a tonal shift in these new episodes Lucy? For me its like the outlandish "end of universe- arrrg" stuff is dealt with much more subtly and thus is more believable.

Yes, you're absolutely right.

tony ingram wrote:I'm also finding Amy a far realer and more complex character than any previous new Who companion, and far more likable too.

I agree.

A lot of people don't seem to be warming to Pond as a character, saying she's abrasive and unlikable. Looking around at the various message boards though, a good 75% of those complaints appear to be from women. Does she have the kind of personality that puts other women's backs up, I wonder?

I think they are just coming from people who were RTD supporters an can't stand the fact that Tennant has gone.

tony ingram wrote:A lot of people don't seem to be warming to Pond as a character, saying she's abrasive and unlikable. Looking around at the various message boards though, a good 75% of those complaints appear to be from women. Does she have the kind of personality that puts other women's backs up, I wonder?

I'm not sure. I mean, I really like her. She's bolshy, self-confident and vulnerable all at the same time. She doesn't worship the Doctor, but she doesn't disrespect him either.

And she's brave and selfless. She was prepared to be left to the Angels so that the Doctor could save River and the clerics.

OTOH, if someone fancied the Doctor I can see why they might not take to Miss Pond...

Lucy McGough wrote:

tony ingram wrote:A lot of people don't seem to be warming to Pond as a character, saying she's abrasive and unlikable. Looking around at the various message boards though, a good 75% of those complaints appear to be from women. Does she have the kind of personality that puts other women's backs up, I wonder?

I'm not sure. I mean, I really like her. She's bolshy, self-confident and vulnerable all at the same time. She doesn't worship the Doctor, but she doesn't disrespect him either.

And she's brave and selfless. She was prepared to be left to the Angels so that the Doctor could save River and the clerics.

OTOH, if someone fancied the Doctor I can see why they might not take to Miss Pond...

I think a lot of her self confidence and brashness is an act, she's clearly got issues and tries very hard to project an image of not being bothered by anything.

Good for her. Better than moping around like a wet Bank Holiday all the time.

Lucy McGough wrote:Good for her. Better than moping around like a wet Bank Holiday all the time.

Speaking of which...

What up?

Lucy McGough wrote:What up?

It's chucking it down up here-and tomorrow looks like going the same way. Why does every bank holiday weekend have to involve rain?

And RTD said he wrote good female characters. I know a lot of women who quit doctor who saying RTDs portrayal of women was appalling. I asked one of them what they made of Pond and they said she's quite good.

Hourglass wrote:And RTD said he wrote good female characters. I know a lot of women who quit doctor who saying RTDs portrayal of women was appalling. I asked one of them what they made of Pond and they said she's quite good.

If you've watched Moffat's other work, particularly 'Coupling', I think he's generally quite strong on female characters.

I was, for a time, deeply besotted with Linda from 'Press Gang' when I was younger...

Was coupling the one that started and ended in Portmeirion? I remember seeing some of that and thought it was good.

Speaking of which, has a Who episode ever been set in Portmeirion, and if not why not.

felneymike wrote:Was coupling the one that started and ended in Portmeirion? I remember seeing some of that and thought it was good.

Speaking of which, has a Who episode ever been set in Portmeirion, and if not why not.

No, Coupling didn't feature Portmeirion as far as I remember. But as far as Doctor Who goes, The Masque of Mandragora was partly filmed there.

What other stuff has Moffat made? Did he write a Virgin New Adventure too?

Hourglass wrote:What other stuff has Moffat made? Did he write a Virgin New Adventure too?

Never did a Virgin book, no. He got his break with the childrens series 'Press Gang' (1989-93) which was based around a student newspaper (and which also made Julia Sawalha famous). Then he wrote a succession of comedies, 'Joking Apart' (1993-95) which was about a stand up comedian going through a marriage break-up inspired by Moffat's own, 'Chalk' (1997) set in a school run by a manic deputy head, and 'Coupling' (2000-2004), again inspired by Moffat's own experiences, in particular his relationship with his second wife. Since then he's written 'Jekyll' (2007) and the first of a trilogy of 'Tin-Tin' movies for Steven Spielberg. He turned down the opportunity to do the remaining two Tin-Tin movies in order to produce Doctor Who. He's also currently involved in a new project about Sherlock Holmes.

Overnight ratings are in for this episode: 6.9 million. That's pretty good, ahead of mid season episodes in previous years, and if the time shift works out roughly as it has in the last few weeks the eventual final ratings should be over 8 million again!

Incidentally, just re-watched last night'sdid anyone else notice the apparent 'continuity error' in the forest scene (which is obviously anything but)?

Dp you mean the jacket error?

tony ingram wrote:

Hourglass wrote:And RTD said he wrote good female characters. I know a lot of women who quit doctor who saying RTDs portrayal of women was appalling. I asked one of them what they made of Pond and they said she's quite good.

If you've watched Moffat's other work, particularly 'Coupling', I think he's generally quite strong on female characters.

I was, for a time, deeply besotted with Linda from 'Press Gang' when I was younger...

Who wasn't?

He does like his females borderline crazy, mind.

Anyhoo, thought this was excellent for the most part. Clearly the best Who story for quite some time. Smith is already more of a Doctor than Tencrybaby ever was.

Hourglass wrote:Dp you mean the jacket error?

Was it an error? Watch it again; not only does the Doctor mysteriously have his jacket back when he returns to impart his ambiguous message to Amy, he's also wearing a slightly different shirt and tie. And his appearance in the next scene gives no indication that that that scene never occurred.

I've only ever seen the first episode of Chalk... twice! Once when it was broadcast and again when i found a video of the first three in a bargain bin. Might have to watch another tonight...

felneymike wrote:I've only ever seen the first episode of Chalk... twice! Once when it was broadcast and again when i found a video of the first three in a bargain bin. Might have to watch another tonight...

Chalk is like Marmite, you either love it or hate it. Personally, I loved it.

I'm just surprised somebody else knows it even existed!

Next you'll be telling me you remember the Lock, Stock TV series...

felneymike wrote:I'm just surprised somebody else knows it even existed!

Next you'll be telling me you remember the Lock, Stock TV series...

Oh, yes-didn't title every week, wasn't there? 'Lock, Stock &...'

I quite liked it, as I recall.

Haha, yep. I thought two sips was the best one, from what i remember. And the one where the pikey's prize bull was stolen. It came out on DVD and was one of the first we bought, however my brother decided to spin them around in the case in a stupid display of "showing mum how they work" and now they don't work. I still have a half-hearted look in charity shops for another copy.

As we're on the subject of "stuff nobody remembers", who remembers the adventures of special agents Fax Smoulder and Donut Sulky?