Dr Who S29 E02 - The Shakespeare Code

[Antilles]

[move]+++ ALERT - WARNING - THERE WILL BE SPOILERS IN THIS THREAD - IF YOU HAVE SEEN THE EPISODE PLEASE KEEP OBVIOUS SPOILERS HIDDEN BY USE OF THE SPOILER TAB - THANK YOU. ALERT ENDS! +++[/move]

 

:Antilles: This is the Official discussion thread for Episode 2 of the 2007 Doctor Who. 'Constructive' criticism is welcome. This thread will be opened immediately after the episode airs (19:45PM GMT).

 

Official Synopsis - Martha's first trip in the Tardis with the Doctor takes her back to Elizabethan England, where Shakespeare is under the control of deadly witch-like creatures.

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[Antilles]

Well, honestly, either Im not in a very good mood today or that was the most boring episode in history, bottom of the pile.

It started with the biggest plot hole in existence, the TARDIS landing in the middle of a busy Elizabethan London street and noone notices it or even panics at the sudden appearance of a strange blue box.

 

Im not a big Shakespeare fan so I guess that didnt help, but there was nothing intriguing about the whole story, i think, whoever wrote it (I havent looked as I dont really care) is a BIG fan of The Bard and made us all suffer.

 

Next week, though looks set to rock.

 

 

[Megalith]

I enjoyed it the girl who played the young alien i kept thinkin where do i know you from, would like to join her fanclub ;) the Elizabethans where very open minded people by all accounts so seeing a strange blue box appear would have about the same impact as it would in modern day london so that didn't phase me. I think Antilles if you see it again you may get more out of it. The only downside imo was the constant 'hmm great line, i think i'll use that' that got to me lots as the episode went on. Next weeks does seem good tho new york in the future... kinda like space precinct lol will hope it is better :)

[Mav]

Loved it. One of the better episodes imho. I'm slowly, warming up to Martha but I still miss Rose :(

 

Loved, really loved all the Harry Potter references, genius stuff really.

 

I loved the portrayal of Shakespeare, I read some of his stuff over a decade ago in highschool and he was always drawn or spoken of in a real dry boring kind of manner, which is to say who knows if thats what history really was.

 

Rofled at the Back to the Future reference ;p

 

Two minor gripes;

 

1) I agree the Tardis in the middle of 1599 London is a plot hole. He didn't even land in some back alley just right in the middle of the street not far from the theater.

 

2) is every episode going to be Doctor & Companion travel in time -> Something strange is going on -> Person(s) behind strange events are always uncovered as some alien the Doctor almost always seems to know about? Don't get me wrong, it works but the formula is gonna get old sooner or later unless they introduce more storylines woven into each regular episode.

 

Next week's looks great, Face of Boa is back maybe we'll learn this super secret he's got in store for the Doctor he mentioned in brief back in S28's opener?

[TFMF]

I liked it. It wasn't as good as last weeks episode, but it was deffinetly better than the preview suggested it would be.

 

I agree with Mav, i'm slowly liking Martha more and more, but i'm not sure she'll beat Rose.

 

Shakespeare was brilliant. Funny but still managed to be a genius. Speaking of funny, i think the whole show is getting funnier.

 

Next weeks episode looks great too :)

[Centurion]

I liked this episode too. Not bad! I cracked up when one of the Doctor's hearts stopped... Hit me! Hit me! ;D And, yeah, the young witch was very nice! ;) I prefer contemporary or futuristic Dr. Who eps, though.

[Megalith]

I know i have seen her before on something but i can't make the connection, guess i'll have to look on outpost gallifrey see if i can get the name.... it's bugging me no end.[br]Posted on: April 09, 2007, 01:06:49 am

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ok OG still isn't updated but i did find it, her name is Christina Cole and she was in Hex... I'm still none the wiser having not seen Hex (i will now though lol). she was Also in Jayne ayre (again i haven't seen). Damn i know i seen her in something lol

 

As for Christina Cole, you may have seen her more recently in the new James Bond 'Casino Royale' where she was the receptionist at the Ocean Club.

[GorunNova]

Yeah, just watched it, and the fact that the Tardis appeared unremarked AND nobody was shocked at Martha's clothing (well... lack of it, given the standards of the time) are pretty hard to overlook. -_-'

 

... I'll admit, using contemporary language and inaccurate dress does make it easier on the actors, even if it IS, well... inaccurate.

 

As for the pro-Bard bent... it isn't the first time.  Shakespeare's been shown in a VERY positive light all though the series, old AND new. ^^

[Antilles]

At least when Eccleston took Rose to Cardiff in Dickens' day he made the effort of asking her to dress up for the period. He knew where he was going for this 'quick trip' so they should have dolled her up as a wench LOL

 

Perhaps the reason for noone noticing the TARDIS upon arrival is connected to this 'perception filter' used in Torchwood where the TARDIS landed outside TW HQ. I still think they should have made the effort to land somewhere discreet a la Tom Baker in talons Of Weng Chiang (and again dressing Leela for the period.)

 

I watched it a 2nd time round whilst looking for screenshots for my latest DVD cover and I really did enjoy it this time (small gripes aside) only 7 out of 10 though which so far, puts it in 2nd place (which isnt hard seeing its only the 2nd ep lol).

 

As for Christina Cole, you may have seen her more recently in the new James Bond 'Casino Royale' where she was the receptionist at the Ocean Club.

[TFMF]

Do you know what else i liked, which i thought reminded me of old-who. At the very start of the episode when the witch talked directly to the camera and then she made an evil laugh and then the credits rolled - loved that :D

[Antilles]

Yeah thats true, dont often see that in the new series. I also thought Queen Elizabeths voice was kinda creepy, the grating husky way she said Doc-Tor, sounded a bit like Broton from Terror Of The Zygons. :)

 

Speaking of which, cant wait to see if they make a future story where we find out what the Doctor did to piss her off! Or maybe theyll just keep it as one of those quirky mysterious situations!

[Megalith]

At least when Eccleston took Rose to Cardiff in Dickens' day he made the effort of asking her to dress up for the period. He knew where he was going for this 'quick trip' so they should have dolled her up as a wench LOL

 

The Victorians unlike the Elizabethans were an extremely untrusting lot and anything unusual was frowned upon. Consider the time period.

 

Elizabethan - The world was being discovered new ideas were being encouraged the empire was expanding.

Victorian - The end of empire the British were considered superiour. The Victorians were very uptight about anything.

 

However in tooth and claw when Rose and the Dr meet Victoria they are in modern dress and it is talked around in the same way which tbh is a hell of a lot more unbelievable bearing in mind the highly scepticle nature of the Victorians.

 

[Tenebrae]

Eh... so, so. Someone clearly derived some level of pseudo-intellectual satisfaction with all the Shakespeare references. Which was kind of funny the first time but increasingly less amusing. It would have been better without.

[Megalith]

lol yeah it was a very luvvie episode in that sense Tenebrae. To me it was the only let down to an enjoyable episode (mind you i have a fetish about witches lol the good lookin ones anyway lol got no interest in a warty faced big nosed ugly hag :P)

[Fenriswolf]

I think we might find out what happens with the Doctor and the queen in a Christmas Special. Overall I enjoyed that episode, it took a second viewing to really enjoy it.

 

I'm inclined to think that even in a crowded street however a magical blue box in an era of Witchcraft, might just have drawn some attention...it's not exactly set up for silent running ;)

 

Antillies: It could be a perception filter, which would be an interesting trick to add to the bag of tricks in general. But I'd like to have seen some reference to it, it's a little niggle but one that should have been at least explained.

 

They could have used Martha in that respect, why isn't anyone reacting to the sight of the TARDIS blah blah?

 

Oh that, well, it's a perception filter...didn't have time to explain I'd borrowed one from Canary Warf...think of it like the difference between BBC TV and ITV, there's something on ITV but you kind of ignore it.

[GorunNova]

Heh... doesn't have a working chameleon circuit, so he goes and installs a perception filter. Go figure. ;p

[Ulysses]

wasnt one of the best Who's as I know I was starting to get bored with it quickly (wasnt just me either) id say it was a 6/10

[Fenriswolf]

Heh... doesn't have a working chameleon circuit, so he goes and installs a perception filter. Go figure. ;p

 

Anything to mess up his hair ;)

[gathererhade]

Well, Shakespeare did comment about Martha's clothing.

 

And the bit about the lines was one of the facets of the ep I really liked.

 

The writer was Gareth Roberts, BTW.  One of the better MA/NA writers.  He also wrote Attack of the Graske & half of Sarah Jane Adventures.

 

Well different people enjoy different things.  Or not as the case may be.

 

As for next week...  it's back to the @#$%ing year 5 billion and a bit.  Whatever happened to the year 2,852,458?  In other words, for future stories we keep visiting the same points in the future over and over, albeit 5 billion, 200,000 or 5,000.  I think Impossible Planet is the only one not to fit this pattern.

[andipandi3]

I also wondered about the clothes, decided they'd rather martha be strange and out of place rather than be more careful.

 

all in all it was a bit slow and the doctor was very foolish to get so close to the witch, I thought he'd learned about arrogance. However, new who is better than no who. I liked the first ep better.