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I think that there is a patern apparent with SCI FI. The best stuff tends to be done when the creators don"t have quite enough money. This forces them to be creative and get things across through characterization and storytelling, rather that just relying on great special effects. After all, with the "special effect" is made out of bubble-wrap, you can"t expect it to carry the show. I believe that is why a lot of recent SF schows with tons of CGI effects haven"t been very good. The story and characters were not engaging enough to get people interested.

Too many choices!

I just picked up a Philips 642/37 too. For $70 is is a bargain. Picture quality seems as good if not better than from my PC, and that is with composite cables. I can"t wait to see it through S-Video. I do have a couple of questions. How do you determine what version of firmware is installed, and what is the URL with the latest firmeware upgrade?

Sounds like you covered Georges Polti"s book "The 36 Dramitic Situations". I remeber one of my English teachers was able to condense it down to 7 basic plots. The real trick in writing is in the details, not the basic plot.

Yeah, a super genius could fail to spot that. After all, it doesn"t take a genius to relaize that mechanical hands would have been a bit design plus from the beginning. I suspect the "adbsorb DNA" thin was probably something added on to prevent the sort of statlemate that happened with the Movellians. It also mentioned that it was Time Traveller DNA that caused the repair. It is also possible that the genetic change in the Dalek was some sort of malfunction, and not part of the orignal process. After all, the Dalek was damaged (so it could be a malfunction), and in a desparate enough state to risk snatching Rose"s DNA (the last Dalek, so no chance of any other Daleks showing up to rescue it). As for the plot being cliched-so what? I"ve noticed a lot of people complaining how something in an episode is a cliche or even a rip-off of an other show or episode. Often this is amusing as the show that was apparently "ripped off" is in fact a "rip off" itself. The fact is, with the vast amount of Sci-Fi shows an films out there (not to mention all the stuff in print), EVERY story can be considered a cliche of some sort, or even a "rip off" of some other story. There are a lot of old themes/cliches in this story, there are in EVERY story.

But it does fit in well with past Dalek behavior. Reminded me a bit of "Evil of the Daleks".

It is probably too soo to tell, but I think you are onto something. The old shows highest ratings were during the Phillip Hinchcliff/Rober Homes year (the first three Tom Baker years), when it was often accused of be dark and scary. Recreating that style would be a good way to make the show successful.

yeah? who said that He did? What episode? I thouht I was being original, again. :)

Do wolves make good pets?

Since Red Riding Hood is an old werewolf story, and we know the Doctor is going to reenerate (shapeshift) at the end of the season (something that was supposed to be kept secret), perhaps Bad Wolf tiies into that somehow.

Quotes: Wit by assocation.

I"d avoid stuff like THE THREE DOCTORS or KEEPER OF TRAKEN/LOGOPOSIS/CASTROVALVA episodes for starting points. Any of the epsiodes with mulitple Doctors are pretty worthless and confusing unless you know "Who is Who(m)" before hand. Then they become a great romp. The LOGOPOLIS trilogy isn"t a good starting point, IMO, just becuase it throws too much (end of the Baker era, the Master, lots of compnaions, a regeneration sequence, not to mention a follow up story with the Doctor fairly debilitated from his regeneration) for a newbie to get much out of it. ARK is a better story than ROBOT., but ROBOT like SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE, is set up in a more introductary manner. I think GENEIS OF THE DALEKS is even better as an intro, but I think that GENEIS isn"t an enjoyable until you know more about the Daleks, so as to better understand the story"s significance.

Pretty much from the "Bad Wolf" bit. From most accounts episodes 12 & 13 deal with a Dalek invasion of Earth, modern day.

Davros and the Master would be also be the easiest to introduce to new viewers.

Tough call. A good deal of it depends of what type of stuff you like, as the series went through differenet peroids as different people came on board or left the show-especially the actors playing the lead role. Here are some of my suggestions of good episodes to start with: 1) An Unearthly Child (Story 1): This is the first episode of the show, ever, and so is worth seeing as a introduction. As the episode is over 40 years old it is somewhat dated, and all of the orignal cast left the show 4 decades ago. 2) The War Games (Story 50): The last episode of the Second Doctor. Good because it reveals more background information and sets up the situation for the Third Doctor. Note that this is the last of the B&W episodes. 3) Spearhead from Space (Story 51) This is the first epsiode of the Third Doctor, as well as the first episode in colo(u)r. The Third Doctor"s adventures re a good place to start, as the change in the format for the series led to a bit more information iven that makes it easier for someone to figure out about the show. 4) Robot (Story 75); This is the first story of the 4th Doctor, who lasted the longest and is one of the most popular. The first our years of the Fourth Doctor"s reign had the higest ratings of the series, and many very good episodes. 5) Rose (New Series); This is a good place to start as it is the most receent series, and has to explain a few things as the show hadn"t been on the air for 15 years. The speccial effects are much better than the old series too. Note that there are many good stories thoughtout the series, and stuff with the 5th, 6th, and 7th Doctors is worth seeing. In fact, some episodes are classics. It is just that these 5 spots are some of the better places to jump in. The era of the Third and Fourth Doctors are considered by man to be the "golden age" of the series.

the bit about time travel? Maverick, I take it that you are not familar with the series? Here is a (very) brief rundown. It srt of has to be brief becuase the show orginally started in 1963, and ran for 26 years before being put on a 15 year hiatus. That is a lot of ground to cover. The show follows around the character of "The Doctor", a mysterious, eccentic, erratic, and intelligent being on his adventures through time and space. The Doctor can accomplish this through his "ship", the TARDIS, an advanced, empathic, erratic,and tempermental craft that materiazed in differnt places. The TARDS is "dimensionally tracendental" means that it"s interior dimensions do not have to match it"s exterior dimensions (it"s bigger on the inside that on the outside). The TARDIS also has a "chameleon circuit" that is supposed to scan a destination and alter the craft"s exterior so that it can blend in with the surroundings. On a trip to London in 1963 the Doctor"s TARDIS malfuncioned "freezing" it in the shape of a Police Box (a common site in London at that time). The Doctor travels from place to place, frequently getting invloved in the troubles happening in whatever plae he winds up. As his TARDIS is somewhat erratic, at times (probably more often than not) it materialized somewhere other than where the Doctor was planning to go. That should be enough to get you started, or at least lead to more questions!

I always got the impression that it wasn"t so much impossible, as something that should not be done. With the timewar thing, they could easily rewrite one or more aspects of the series history and blame it on the timewar. As for "Boom Town", the "dead" being could be practically anyone. At least anyone believed to be dead. This could even be old companions who "don"t belong" in the current setting. For example, finding Jamie MCCrimmon in the 21st century (should have died many years ago). In fact, the "dead" being could even be a new character from the Doctor"s past. Anyone from Susan to a Sontaran, to someone who died in the new series.

Although it's not specific about the episodes, Briggs is creditted on IMDB as being in 4 episodes. See here. This fts in well with my theory that Davros is the "believed dead" character that appears in "Boom Town". I might actually be onto something. :thinking: That"s different. :p

But Boom Town is the episode right before Bad Wofl. They could pop a character up that leads into the finale. They could even have him appear in the last scene for a classic Doctor Who cliffhanger. As for the Daleks, I"ve read that the big concern from the Nation estate is that, while the agree that the Dalek design is over 40 years old, and can benefit from a upgrade with modern special effects, they want to insure that the final result is still recognizable as a Dalek. I'm interested to see just how much further the basic shape can be pushed.

I"m beginning to suspect that the Doctor did something to stop the Daleks that resulted in the destruction of Gallifrey. Possible releasing the Eye of Harmory. He probably had to do this in order to save the rest of the universe. I also thinking that maybe the "person the Doctor believed dead" that shows up later might not be the Master, but possibly Davros. This would tie in well with the info given on Dalek origins in episode 6, plus allow for the "new and improved" Daleks that have been rumoured to appear at the end of the season. My theory is that if Davros survived in a fashion similar to the Dalek, he could (and would) recreate the Daleks-with imrpovements to overcome thier past defeats.

Not exactly. The Doctor admits to wiping out the Daleks, and that the Timelords are dead, having "burnt out with" the Daleks. If the Doctor is reposible for the destruction of the Daleks, then is looks like his action is what led to the death of the Time Lords. Perhaps the Doctor unlocked the Eye of Harmony (Black Hole) in Gallifrey, r some other nasty thing in order to prevent an even worse fate.

That was a GREAT episode! Lots of good stuff. Good quotable lines, nice character development (for the Doctor, Rose, and especially the Dalek). Certainly the best episode of the new series so far. It does seem that the Daleks do make some sort of return in the last two episodes of the series,. I"ve seen one site that lists Nick Briggs (Dalek Voices) on the credits for epsiodes 12 and 13. I love the part when the Doctor discoveres just what kind of being the captured "alien" turns out to be!

"Affirmative."

"Bad Wolf" also is the begging of a two part Dalek finale that might take place on Earth. Hints are that some spoilers/hints regarding the time war and the Doctor will pop up in "Dalek"

This was actually something that Raymond Cusick wanted for the orignal Dalek concept that was dropped for bugetary considerations. The hemispheres along the "skirt" of the dalek was also envisioned to change color to reflect the Dalek"s emotional state. Even the concept of the Doctor fleeing from his people following a disaterous TimeWar (that concept got dropped during the development of the pilot).