Rate 'The Next Doctor'

I enjoyed it. Nice twist having Miss Hartigan take over the Cybers, shame she wasted that brilliant mind of hers on driving MechaCyberman.

Loved the ending myself, Morrissey and Tennant were a great team and I liked seeing them take turns being the Doctor's companion.

Zoltar wrote:I enjoyed it. Nice twist having Miss Hartigan take over the Cybers, shame she wasted that brilliant mind of hers on driving MechaCyberman.

Loved the ending myself, Morrissey and Tennant were a great team and I liked seeing them take turns being the Doctor's companion.

I'm in agreement with Zoltar. I found it quite enjoyable. The thing about Christmas specials is that, well, it's Christmas, not the climax to a full series. It's an adventure in its own right, and on that level, it worked fine for me.

Miss Hartigan clearly relished the part. I loved the scene where she took the CyberControler's arm for a stroll to meet the CyberKing. And the period detail was amazing. So if this is where Doctor Who meets Oliver, I'll take it. "Please, sir, can I have some more?"

I voted 3/5. I enjoyed Tennant and Morrisey but the story seemed a bit lacking to me. Having said that, my daughter and sister both enjoyed it very much so I think it may have done its Christmas Day job perfectly well. I really need to watch it a second time.

I have just published my review of The Next Doctor on my Web Log. Skip down past my plot summary to get to my thoughts on the episode.

The Browncoat Cat wrote:I have just published my review of The Next Doctor on my Web Log. Skip down past my plot summary to get to my thoughts on the episode.

An excellent write up, BCC. You mention the "Grand Unifying" moment between our universe's Cybermen and the Alt-universe Cybus Cybermen. The first thought that springs to mind is that some form of unification must have happened. How else could they have had an info stamp that showed the first nine Doctors? How could the Alt-universe Cybermen have any information on the first nine Doctors?

Patrick wrote:An excellent write up, BCC. You mention the "Grand Unifying" moment between our universe's Cybermen and the Alt-universe Cybus Cybermen. The first thought that springs to mind is that some form of unification must have happened. How else could they have had an info stamp that showed the first nine Doctors? How could the Alt-universe Cybermen have any information on the first nine Doctors?

...because, as stated in the episode, they nicked the information from the Daleks, perhaps?

The Co=Ordinator wrote:I have to say that as the end credits rolled my feeling was one of disappointment. 'The Next Doctor' started really well, indeed I throughly enjoyed the first 20 - 30 minutes. All the principals were right on the money with their performances , especially Dervla Kirwan who was clearly relishing the role. In particular the set piece in the graveyard worked excellently

But then it felt like RTD went into auto-pilot mode, and that he'd only given himself 24 hours to write the script from start to finish. Was there any explanation at all about the Cybershades? Why did the Cybermen made the kids from Oliver work for them? (and sone of those scenes were so lifted from "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"). Miss Hartigan becoming the Cyberking was also pretty obvious. The giant Cyber thing was just the Pyrolvile reimaged a bit. And that's probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Yes folks, I really did feel let down last night, and still do this morning. And what about the amazing and brilliant ending Rusty? TND just sort of faded out into nothingness. It's getting to the stage where he really can't tell the truth from fiction.

So there we go, another Christmas Day episode fails to live up to the hype, and 'The Christmas Invasion' still stands head and shoulders above its successors.

Pretty much how I felt about the whole thing, c=o, although I'll a wait a second viewing tomorrow before voting - RTD's scripts tend to have a few tricks up their sleeves upon rewatching, and I've been bitten a few times before with Last of the Time Lords, Journey's End and Voyage of the Damned (surprisngly now my fave special after TCI once I'd given the DVD a spin after The Next Doctor aired.

Doc Filth wrote:...because, as stated in the episode, they nicked the information from the Daleks, perhaps?

Dang. I must have missed that. See what happens when the only way you can watch a new episode of Who is via your laptop?

Patrick wrote:

Doc Filth wrote:...because, as stated in the episode, they nicked the information from the Daleks, perhaps?

Dang. I must have missed that. See what happens when the only way you can watch a new episode of Who is via your laptop?

*wags finger*

See where this sort of behaviour gets you?

Doc Filth wrote:...because, as stated in the episode, they nicked the information from the Daleks, perhaps?

Bad Daleks, letting Cybers steal from them. They need to stop acting like one of our smilies and sober up.

Doc Filth wrote:*wags finger*

See where this sort of behaviour gets you?

I humbly repent and ask forgiveness.

Rather liked the Next Doctor myself, although I need another viewing before casting a vote.

The thing to remember is that the Christmas episode is designed for an audience who may not be fully paying attention- more than any other episode in the year, it is an entertainment, and will most likely feature an very linear, episodic plot to cater for viewers being interrupted, not least by the viewer sitting next to them saying such things as "Oo, didn't she get electrocuted in Ballykissangel?" and therefore missing a potential plot point.

For all that, there was a lot going on The Next Doctor, much of it to do with the Industrial Revolution and the British Empire in the middle of the nineteenth century. This was a time of industrialisation, an it is an idea taken to the extreme by Davies- aren't the Cybermen the ultimate vision of the British Empire at that time, and isn't Miss Hartigan the embodiment of the Queen Empress that ruled over the establishment of such dominion? And is Jackson Lake the embodiment of the confusion in identity inherent at that time, a man of learning from the country, overwhelmed by the big city?

And it ended with a fight between a man in a hot air balloon and a giant robot. Is there any other tv series where that sentence, and the proceeding paragraph could be written about?

Yes, there was probably two episodes worth of material condensed into a sixty minute special, but I'd rather have too many ideas in a story than too few. And the there were subtleties in the writing, especially the use of the children (the foundation stones of the industrial revolution, used around heavy machinery because they're small enough to fit in the nooks and crannies adults couldn't); and one of Davies favourite themes, the Bad, but not irredeemable Mother in Miss Hartigan.

Oh, and a prostitue for a companion, and being accepted by as a replacement mother figure for one of the heroes children at the story's end- pretty brave for a 6.00pm Christmas day story for all the family.

I'd have loved to see more of Jackson Lake, but David Morrisey was as good as ever in the role, as was Dervla Kirwan as Miss Hartigan.

Probablt the best Christmas special since the Christmas Invasion for me- as I said at the beginning the Christmas episode will never be a favourite out of a series, but it's a juicy morsel nonetheless.

Lee Carey wrote:
Oh, and a prostitue for a companion, and being accepted by as a replacement mother figure for one of the heroes children at the story's end- pretty brave for a 6.00pm Christmas day story for all the family.

Biblical imagery. I spotted loads of it, and the more you look (as is the case with these things) the more you find. In the companion's case, is she a stand-in for Mary Magdelene? After all, the Doctor (any version of him) is always willing to see past what people do to survive and judge them on their actions when they need to step up and make a difference.

So it was generally liked by wrinkliedom then? Jolly good.

I liked it. But then, I'm easily amused.

I very deliberately avoided any and all reactions to the special so as not to colour my CT review.

I still haven't seen any reactions to it - and I actually don't miss not being in the loop regarding what collectively thought about it.

It's refreshing - I might do it more often.

Graymalkin wrote:

Johnstone McGuckian wrote:It seemed more like a DWM comic than an actual Doctor Who story...

I hadn't thought of it like that, but yeah!

Still, it was nicely atmospheric, Morrissey got better and better and better as the show went on, there were a couple of nice gags, Dervla Kirwan was incredibly sexy, and Baysan Tulu choked on his turkey.

All in all - it was okay for Christmas Day. Davison out of ten.

'A Matter of Loaf and Death', on the other hand - at least McGann out of ten...

Eccleston out of Ten, come on.

Look, I catch on fast.

It's now officially confirmed: THE NEXT DOCTOR will air on FRANCE4 on CHRISTMAS DAY !!!!!

And, just like last year with Voyage of the Damned, the new Christmas episode will be on the France 4 website for 7 days before transmission. However, you can only watch it streaming if you are in France, for rights reasons, I suppose.

Looking forward to seeing it

I hope it makes your Christmas day even more special

Thanks Lucy
But actually I'll watch as soon as it's online ! I can never wait^^

Plus, the Next Doctor in French seems to clash with something I'm looking forward to even more. 8:35PM in France is 7:35 in the UK...

But whatever I choose to watch, it'll make the day even more special

Like I said, I couldn't resist and watched The Next Doctor in French, as it is now on the France 4 website. ( http://www.france4.fr/dr-who/ ) but only until Christmas Day

I like how they even did a special page for Doctor Who

Do have a look

Cool.

But he's only 750 years old?

I caught that, too, C=O. Me thinks a couple of hundred years got lost in translation.

Yeah, they always make the same mistake, even on the DVD boxsets.
Still, this time I'm very happy with the translation/adaptation of the dialogues, I did not see a single weird turn of phrase or anything Plus the voice actors were good (The Doctor in French - as brilliant as usual ! )

In the credits they also revealed the title for Planet of the Dead -classic fans will laugh/cry here: it's "La Planète Morte" which would translate literally as "The Dead Planet" I say, the swarm of deadly metallic mantas must be some sort of Dalek subspecies...

badwolf59 wrote:...In the credits they also revealed the title for Planet of the Dead -classic fans will laugh/cry here: it's "La Planète Morte" which would translate literally as "The Dead Planet" I say, the swarm of deadly metallic mantas must be some sort of Dalek subspecies...

Indeed they must.