Saturday, May 17, 2008

Yet Another Doctor Who Discussion Post

Here's your Doctor Who discussion post for yesterday's episode as aired on Sci-Fi, "The Sontaran Stratagem." The usual spoiler policies apply.

13 comments:

  1. It's tough to discuss without also discussing the second half of the two-parter, but it was definitely nice to see Freema Ageyman again. Admittedly, I don't get all the UNIT in-jokes (if there were any), and I don't know the Sontaran history. I get the impression they're not the most beloved of all Doctor Who villains...or am I wrong about that?

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  2. Yes, it was great to see Freema again, and I really loved the interactions between Martha and Donna.

    There was one hysterically funny UNIT in-joke there. The Doctor's mention of having worked for UNIT "during the 70s... or was it the 80s?" references one of the biggest debates in fandom, because it's impossible to accurately date the Pertwee-era UNIT stories due to various contradictory statements made on the subject. So the Doctor is telling us that even he doesn't have the answer... It was one of those "hit the pause button and laugh for five minutes solid" moments for me. :)

    Sontarans aren't especially beloved, no, although I think few fans dislike them to the extent that I do. They are very much my least favorite Who villains, due mainly to "The Sontaran Experiment," an episode that annoys me massively. I will say, though, that I didn't mind them here. The episode sort of pre-empted my mocking of them by actually making the jokes I would have made about their stupid vulnerabilities and their intelligence and their potato-like appearance. Somehow, I find it easier not to mind that sort of thing when the show itself is agreeing with me. :) And it actually did a reasonable job of making them feel like a creditable threat, even while making fun of them.

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  3. Havent watched yet. Look for me in a couple of days,

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  4. I'll wait to hear what you think of it then. :)

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  5. Why didn't one of them just run in the house and grab a hammer to smash the window open?

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  6. Because then it wouldn't be a cliffhanger.

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  7. Well the grandpa in the car was really the cliffhanger the poison gas being emitted all over the planet was the cliffhanger

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  8. whooops correct that to read "the grandpa in the car ***wasn't*** really the main cliffhanger

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  9. I dunno... I mean, the planet pretty much always turns out to be OK, but the idea of something bad happening to grandpa is upsetting. I like grandpa! :)

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  10. Yeah, grandpas are cool. Liked the episode especially the "Stuffed Potato Skin Aliens". Good to see Martha back. The banter was great when Martha met Donna. Cant wait for the 30th. Its terrible to make us wait for 2 weeks for the 2nd part.

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  11. Oh, is pt. 2 not on this week? *goes to check* Ah, nope, I see they've got a crappy-movie marathon instead. Stupid Sci-fi. That's just cruel!

    Mind you, the rest of the world has to wait, too, because this week's UK episode is pre-empted for the Eurovision song contest thing. But at least they're not in the middle of a two-parter.

    I love the banter between Martha and Donna, too. Those two are great together!

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  12. I like grandpa! :)
    I want to like him, but every time I like a character s/he gets bumped off.

    This episode didn't grip me like many of them do, so I'm not all that upset about it being a two-parter. However, I do mind that both Donna and the Doctor suddenly lost all intelligence and cleverness that previous episodes have shown and didn't have the faintest clue about breaking the car window. The heck with going all the way inside for a hammer; use a shoe or just grab a rock off the ground. (This is England, land of gardeners. There has to be a rock within 50 feet.)

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  13. I want to like him, but every time I like a character s/he gets bumped off.

    Man, do I know that feeling. :P

    And, yeah, it was kind of a dumb cliffhanger; those do happen occasionally, alas. The whole "hit it with a rock, duh!" issue aside, there's also no good reason why it should have been resistant to the sonic screwdriver, too.

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