The new season of Doctor Who starts on April 5!
W00t!
Mild spoilers below:
The first episode is called "Partners in Crime", and Catherine Tate returns as Donna Noble, which anyone who reads this blog should know by now. Personally, I think her character had a lot of room in it for some great development between her and the Doctor. When he said he doesn’t need anyone, and she replies, "Yes you do, ’cause sometimes I think you need someone to stop you,"… well. The Doctor is a tortured man, and I’d like to see more of this. We got a glimpse of that in "Family of Blood" and the season 3 finale as well. I certainly hope they develop this idea more in Season 4, and given what spoilers I’ve heard… well, we’ll see.
March 20th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
*fangirl!squee*
Can’t wait. Who, dear? Me, dear? No, dear.
March 20th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
.. but I’d love to see Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith) in a few more episodes.
I’m a 41 year old child and I always thought she was the best companion.
Child? 41? I believe a Whovian exchange once went (and it may have been the good Ms Sladen…)
Companion: Doctor – you’re being childish!
The Doctor: Of course I’m being childish. What’s the point of growing up if you can’t be childish?
Mmm. Could have been Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning (Jo Grant).
March 20th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Finally! I’ve liked the show since it first started airing on Sci-Fi, but really fell in love with it while watching season 3 online. Since then there’s been a Tardis-shaped hole in my heart…
March 20th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
@Nic: I think that was Three and Jo. It certainly sounds in line with their characters. Of course, it could’ve been Six and Peri. Hmm…
I’ve been catching up with the Big Finish audio productions. Some of them are really great stories. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if they’d brought back the series back in the ’90s with Paul McGann.
March 20th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Bah, Who cares? Battlestar Galactica season 4 begins April 4th!!!!
March 20th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
I am really tempted to get into Doctor Who, but I’ve never watched it, and since it’s been on since the 60′s I don’t really know where to start.
Any ideas?
March 20th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Oooh. Doctor Who was a fun show (haven’t seen the latest incarnation, so I can’t vouch for it). It used to be carried on a few PBS stations in the US.
Although Doctor Who has some continuity, each episode is somewhat stand-alone. You don’t have to know a large amount of background to enjoy the show. Starting with Jon Pertwee’s Doctor or (even better) Tom Baker. Or just jump right in with the current show.
Don’t expect expensive sets or special effects in the early episodes. But it makes up for it in plot.
The one episode I would avoid is the pilot. In that one the Doctor is more like his villainous counterpart The Master.
March 20th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Phil!
Go over to PZ Myers blog! Now!
ROTFLMAO is what you will find there!
Sheer genius!
March 20th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
AJ, start with the first season of the new series, with the 9th Doctor. It assumes you know the basic history but it’s perfectly watchable on a “never seen a frame of this show before” basis.
Great news, this, just as LOST goes on its writers strike created hiatus, this starts up.
I’d love to see John Simm back as The Master and since they left his fate open-ended, that’s a possibility.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:12 am
Yeah, I’ve been watching some old Jon Pertwee episodes, and while some stories are classics (The Daemons, for one) there are good number of clunkers in there too. It’s also hard not to laugh at some of the wobbly sets, cheap monster costumes, clunky dialog, and hamfisted acting that should have been cause for another take. I’ve been a Doctor Who fan my whole life (and I was born the same year Doctor Who premiered) but I’m not sure starting new viewers who are used to the slick productions of today on those old episodes. It’s remarkable what they were able to do with such a limited budget, but in all honesty, they haven’t aged all that well.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:14 am
Have you caught up with The Sarah Jane Chronicles yet? I believe they will be on the SciFi Channel in the nest future, and they are well worth a look. Better than Torchwood in some ways.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:16 am
More like a near certainty, if you ask me. Who in their right mind would refuse to reprise such a gloriously devilish role at least one more time?
March 21st, 2008 at 5:35 am
“Companion: Doctor – you’re being childish!
The Doctor: Of course I’m being childish. What’s the point of growing up if you can’t be childish?”
If memory serves this comes from the Tom Baker/Elizabeth Sladen story ‘The Brain Of Morbius’. The Doctor is in a sulk because the Time Lords have sent him to do their dirty work again.
This story also highlights the Doctor’s preference for reason over faith. He is unimpressed by the Sisterhood of Karn, an order that guards the source of an elixir of amazing recuperative powers. Rather than trying to understand the phenomena, they just worship it. “Now, if only you had a gas chromatograph…”
March 21st, 2008 at 7:14 am
If you want to talk about bringing someone back, how about bringing back Susan? The 10th Doctor already mentioned his being a parent once, and there is the question of whether or not there are any other Time Lords still alive. (When the Face of Bo said the Doctor was not alone, was he only referring to the Master?)
45, a department head, and still a big Dr. Who geek…
March 21st, 2008 at 7:29 am
Gonna be a loooong two weeks.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:21 am
Is this the date for the UK or the US ?( or are they showing at the same time for S4)
March 21st, 2008 at 12:09 pm
am i bovvered? does my face look bovvered?
March 21st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Rumor has it that Elisabeth Sladen (as Sarah Jane, of course) returns for the season finale, along with a few other surprising faces.
March 21st, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Joe, I believe that Who series four (or thirty, depending on your point of view) will air in America on the Sci Fi channel round about the 20th of April.
As an extra bit of good news, they’ll also be showing The Sarah Jane Adventures soon.
March 21st, 2008 at 9:33 pm
What is this “airing on the SciFi channel” you speak of? Grabbing the BitTorrent the night it airs is the way to go!
March 21st, 2008 at 10:15 pm
No Daleks this series
March 22nd, 2008 at 10:34 pm
I’ve been watching “Doctor Who” on BBC America (tonight was “The Family of Blood”), so I’m a little behind on the series.
Does anybody watch the spin-off, “Torchwood”?
March 25th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Emperor, the Daleks ARE back for the 4th series, they aired a 10 second teaser showing them.
Oh and yes, I watch Torchwood Matt, it’s enjoyable to the point of funny, not exciting or scary or anything of the sort.
March 29th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Wow! The Torchwood finale and the new season of DW starting in the same week! Be still my beating heart!
April 10th, 2008 at 5:08 am
Agree The DR is soon to be in, I seen it and I loved it.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:03 am
I’ve heard rumours that the Master will be back in series 4 or 5
Does anyone remember the Master’s green ring that was seen picked up at the end of series 3???? Well, I’ve heard that it’s the hand of the Rani…hm…I think the Rani might of been the Master’s wife…what do you think????
June 8th, 2008 at 8:57 am
“Companion: Doctor – you’re being childish!
The Doctor: Of course I’m being childish. What’s the point of growing up if you can’t be childish?”
I thought that was the end of Tom Baker’s first story “Robot”. If I remember right Elisabeth Sladen was the companion.
Can’t wait for the series 4 finale with so many companions AND Davros AND Daleks to come.
nostalgia-fest or WHAT!!!!!!!!!
*Squeals with excitement*
=D