well. Tennant was good... but he was no Tom Baker....

Wasn't the confusion at least a bit common in the old Doctors? Tom Baker going one way then the next as an example.

I'd like to see the Jenny story expanded too.

I think the wipe out of Dalek's Doctor Memory is a fix for something that got out of control.

And I'm all for the end of no spoilers. Like what about.. oh better wait.

The kind of confusion I'm talking about is that with all the other Doctors they landed in the middle of a problem, they sussed the problem and worked towards fixing it, around half way thru the "adventure" there would be a plot twist of some kind and the doctor would solve it.

Now with MS, he seems to be carried along by circumstances then suddenly in the last 5-10mins realises what's happening and pulls the proverbial rabbit out of the hat. It's almost like he's gone senile.

This last episode was the first I have seen him have an idea of what's really going on when he started early on asking where the eggs came from for the souffles. Maybe the script writers are rebooting his character in this series - time will tell.

Yeah, I hope they are retooling him into something darker, older, and wiser.

What does everyone think of "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" then?

A whimsical lark to say the least.  And I have a weakness for lovely ladies in Egyptian garb.  Woof!

Sincerely,

Bill

I'm with you there Bill, on the Egyptian lady factor

By the way, do you think you'll get your wish of a Dalek (not Caan, sure) as the Doctor's next companion? Who knows??

I suspect we'll not see that, of course... as there will undoubtedly be some twists and turns and revelations of things being not as they seemed, before we get to Christmas...

...but I did like the suggestion of a Dalek companion.

I've read a couple people now I think talking about the "souffles for mother" being a dreamt metaphor for her trying to reconstruct her human DNA...

By the way, Paul... the more I've rewatched Asylum, the more I'm convinced that bulb blooper is somehow deliberate... :blink:

Probably just my constructive / overactive imagination though

Is there known to be continuity of characters played by the actor? People (including two recent companions) have appeared in guest star roles before appearing as major characters later.

I wonder if the premature appearance of Jenna Louise Coleman isn't playing on that prior fact a little... and possibly teasing the audience to speculate about links between the Asylum character and the upcoming assistant role... based on the show's prior form. Wouldn't be unlike Steven Moffat to do that, I don't think? guess we'll see...

Dinosaurs was a million times better than Asylum, IMO.

I wonder what the script writers are up to with DOASS. It seems like we are nearing the end of the line for Amy (the gaps between visits are getting longer). Also the subliminal message that Amy and hubby are no longer sufficient to help the Doc because he brings along THREE other people (though one was by 'mistake').

The episode was farcical on the surface but actually made sense and I have to admit it was one of the more enjoyable adventures for Matt. The dino acting like a dog - funny but ripped from the film  'A night at the museum'. I like the scene at the end where Neffi went back with the hunter but was disappointed at the same time in that she didn't stay with the Doc - that would be a fiery coupling, and it would have been a realistic handing over of 'companionship'.

And finally, at last we see the ruthless/dark side of the Doc coming back when he use the mercenary as bait the the missiles. It looks like the 'oncoming strom' is slowly coming back :)

Hmmm... yeah that additional person taken along for the ride in DOASS was no mistake... and it was probably part of the process of "grounding" the Ponds, I suspect...

...assuming they're not getting buried / exterminated altogether :scared:

The ship could easily have been unmanned when the Doctor launched it. Deliberately, needlessly causing the death of an antagonist didn't use to be the Doctor's way.

He would always offer an alternative, even if the offer was not taken up. It had to be clear that the bad guy had chosen his own fate, after all it was a children's show.

Or is that just my rosy childhood coloured memories of Tom Baker's Doctor?  

My adult political mind tells me its a creeping americanisation of the character, next thing you know he'll be a cowboy!

Quote - The ship could easily have been unmanned when the Doctor launched it. Deliberately, needlessly causing the death of an antagonist didn't use to be the Doctor's way.

He would always offer an alternative, even if the offer was not taken up. It had to be clear that the bad guy had chosen his own fate,

This is exactly what I was thinking, when I saw the show.

I know what you mean... but at the same time, I thought Solomon made a pretty clear choice earlier on...?

...and not just when he'd massacred the Silurians, in "cold blood", so to speak... I mean there was definitely at least one or two points The Doctor offered him a way out, I thought?

The bottom line... Solomon was probably every bit as ruthless and twisted as a Dalek. The Doctor has despatched those much quicker...

...and don't forget he blew the two robots up as well... they came across as fairly sentient entities... and not too in control of their own fates, being slaves to Solomon. Or is that going too far into Asimov territory for the DW universe?

Quote - ...next thing you know he'll be a cowboy!

:lol:  Good one!

Anyhow, the Doctor has, in the past, killed many times.  Back before Tom Baker took over, he could be a very ruthless character. 

The First Doctor was going to brain a caveman with a rock for instance, then he wanted to throw Ian and Susan out the TARDIS doors while in flight! ... Seven destroyed Skaro by tricking the Daleks into doing it... I don't know where ppl get this idea that the Doctor is nice all the time...

Really enjoyed that last show.

Yup, me too...

...and, how pertinent was that last point of discussion, relative to the latest episode's central theme, eh?

Yep.  Maybe that was the whole point.  They have to find a way to resolve the two (at least) sides to his character.

And yes, it was a great episode, although I kept expecting Rango to pop up.  :) 

He he... that reminds me, someone gave me a copy of Rango on DVD to watch... must do so, and return it.

I kept expecting Doc Brown... from BTTF3

If you haven't watched Rango yet, you're in for a treat.  It's superb on every level.

Quote - If you haven't watched Rango yet, you're in for a treat.  It's superb on every level.

Nope, not managed to watch it yet... will have to try and fit it in this week. Not been managing to fit a heck of a lot in lately. My boy seems to be going through a "sleep is for losers" stage currently... he he... yawn

Render running at the moment for the September forum comp features one Red STLB4C Dalek... of course... I had to have at least one in there

...plus Mystic's chess clock, amongst some other things.

But been kinda stuck in a rut with the Dalek "auditorium" model... i.e. Dalek spaceship interior (scale-wise it's not the "Parliament", maybe it's just a regular ship)... just tweaking polygons last couple of weeks. Texturing with a mild BBGlossy based shader was giving me mesh outline artifacts with IDL, so solving that currently.

Might start a separate technical thread around that issue if I get a minute...

I made a test scene with the earlier version, with 160 odd of those lo polys sat in it. Apart from the texture / mesh topology troubleshooting, just trying to figure out how to finish it off... and exactly how I'm going to use it in a scene.

Came up with a method of fitting even more lo pols in the Poser scene though... e.g. pose a batch, export as single obj, import back in as single prop. Seemed to work in a quick test. Reckon I can get up to nearer 1000 of the "suckers" in that way if it definitely does work :biggrin:

Still to look at the Vue ecosystem idea some more too with them... and then there's the issue of that TARDIS interior... hmmm...

...oh yeah, has anyone made a new series Dalek ship exterior model yet???

Oh oh... and DarthJ has just uploaded his shopfront model too...

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2817948&page=8#message_3987752

I'd better crack out the pro-plus and redbull...

a compelling theory on the Doctor's current behaviour has emerged.. thing is, it relies on some out of show information that maybe spoilers to some, but I can give a vague idea.

he's moving the wrong way through the timeline.

Ah.  Interesting.  That gives me something to think about when I watch it next.  Ta, mate.

Oh, Ah.

Oh oh... I'm always sceptical about how linear The Doctor's appearances in the chronology of a series are...

...sounds like I really should be sceptical this time round eh?

Glad you're finding the Low Poly Dalek useful; the export a bunch as a prop sounds nifty.  I'll release the thing when I have time to pack it properly and I'll probably throw in my Ludicrously High Poly NSD, too.  Over at Project Dalek first, then here.  

I haven't had time to work on any other Low Poly stuff yet, although I did get halfway through the Mk1.  That one will be significantly lower when it's finished, so you should be able to go completely mental with it. :)

I think someone over at PD made a Dalek ship.  Look through the Downloads section. 

So first we have RiverSong meeting the Doc in the wrong time order, then we have Amy's crack in the wall exploding in the future but growing from the past. And now we have "he's moving the wrong way through the timeline." But he's a time LORD, FGS isn't he supposed to be in control or is that the twist that it is controlling him?

Anyway, the "cowboy" episode bored me, like it's been done so many times already, bad guy is really a good guy out for vengence. so becoming the town sheriff was really the most obvious conclusion to his story.

More interesting, to me anyway, is the Doc's character. He seems to be getting colder - more ruthless, or at least showing that side of him self more almost like it's taking him over. Amy has to come to the rescue and pull him back again. There again the Doc does have a tendency to go cold/ruthless when he doesn't have a companion - and we really can't count on the Ponds as regular companions because the gaps between them working together are getting longer (as per Amy's comment last episode).

The one redeeming thing for this episode was the appearance of Ben Browder (Farscape, Stargate) pity he died half way thru! Didn't recognise him but when he spoke - who else could it be? To me it always makes a DW episode sparkle when a popular/famous actor/actress guest-stars.

Ben Browder was good I thought too...

Cheers Paul, I'll have to check out PD for the ship... would folk there be interested in the interior model d'ya think... if I ever manage to finish it?

I'll certainly look forward to that lo poly MK1 too... and likewise the uber poly NSD

ok now I'm excited for this weeks story...

Greyhound 34 to Trap 1....

It's my birthday today... I'd asked the wife, who's a bit of a cakemaking pro, for a Dalek cake.

However due to pressure of time and the need to transport the cake to where we're spending the weekend away, she has told me I'll get the Dalek next year, for my 40th.

Instead, this year, I got an Ood...

Your wife is a very talented sculptor!

Is the Ood the cake itself, or is the face a bas-relief of icing upon a larger cake?

Either way, the Misses has the skills to provide the thrills! :thumbupboth:

Sincerely,

Bill

The basic structure is sculpted cake... with finer details like wrinkles etched in the icing... then painted with food colors.

The Dalek, for next year, if she keeps her promise, will probably have to be based on a three tier cake base, we reckon!

Bloody hell!  That's spectacular.  Yer missis is a talented lass.

I'll be lucky to get a generic "sheet" cake from the local Wal-Mart come November when I turn 50.  You have a very special person in your life.

Sincerely,

Bill

That's an amazing cake!

The main problem was all the CGI.  It was a few actors running around on CGI backgrounds filled with cloned CGI Daleks.  All the CGI "big" looking sets looked like CGI rather than big locations.

The next episode in the old west town was much better.  It was full of real people and took place in real locations.

and the legend of the Brig carries on...

Ah, now I understand.  Nice touch (but still doesn't make up for not having Nick Courtney himself appear on the series when there was still a chance).

Sincerely,

Bill

Just managed to catch yesterday's episode tonight, having been away camping (well, "glamping"  I think it's called) for the weekend. We were shacked up in a strange hexagonal, wigwam-shaped and not altogether un-TARDIS-like wooden hut with a fantastic view of the stars...

...it was also bloody cold at points.

An amusing romp of an episode I thought, last night's one... where lots of not much happened... he he... well, a garden fence got painted

I'm no wiser from it, on the question of whether The Doctor's timeline is reversed... or whatever... though.

Trailer at the end for next week's story looks really good though, I thought...

Here, they are calling the next episode with the angles the season finally. What gives with that?

And one other question, the season premier had the ponds ready to divorce, was there anything leading up to that last season?

The "Fall season finale"?  Yeah, only 5 episodes were produced  before the Christmas special.  Supposedly, this season was purposely short so more funds could be diverted to next year's budget, 2013, which is the show's 50th anniversary (November 23, 1963).  Whether that means we'll get more than the usual 13 episodes we've come to expect or more money invested into a fewer number of grand scale episodes, I don't know.

Sincerely,

Bill

Quote - I propose for that amount of Daleks, we need a name. eg a Murder of Crows...

 

I suggest... a Brown Trouser of Daleks.

buhaha, classic! ;)

I really did hide behidn my Granny's sofa watching Dr Who :P

Oh, SamTherpay

karen Gillan, oh yeaaaaaaaah! drool
Redheads should come with a health warning for us older folks, lol :P

Great last episode for the current series!

All the best.

LROG

That was a cracking final episode... in my humble opinion

Loved it on many levels.

So where is/was this backwards-time thingy?

This episode has got to be the best of the current Doc's, though once again I don't think Matt really contributed to it's greatness. He was darting about with the occasional idea that progressed the story but it was once again Amy that gave the emotional depth. It was also good to see a "family romp".

Amy and Hubby's leaving was the only logical conclusion to this short series, the subject had come up in at least two of the previous four episodes. It was their time, no pun intended, but it was still sad... On the other hand it will be good to see Doc and RiverSong in action as I think they work very well together.

Question: What is this "fixed point in time" that stops the Doc from going back in time to get Amy? In Blink the Tardis was sent back to the Doc and Blondie after the Angels had sent them back in time. So why can't the Doc or RiverSong go back?

Being at the office right now, I don't have access to the sites where the announcements were made, but with the stories that start airing in 2013, Character Options will switch from 5.5 inch tall figures it has released since 2006 to the smaller 3.75 inch type figures (Star Wars scale). Alistar Dewar (in charge of the DW line at Character Options) has stated this will NOT affect the "classic era" collectors' line which is commissioned by UnderGround Toys and Forbidden Planet. So, should we get a Sarah Jane (a strong possibility) as she appeared in "The Android Invasion" (with swappable faceless robot head), she and future figures based upon the 1963-1989 series will continue to be made at a 1/13th scale.

However, when Character Options releases a facimale of the Doctor's newest companion, Oswin, sometime next year, she will stand less than 4 inches.

"Classic era" fans wonder what will happen whenever Matt Smith "retires" and his successor takes center stage. Will Character Options provide a legal loophole to allow the release of a "special" 12th Doctor to match those from the "Eleven Doctors Collectors' Set"? I certainly hope so, but, obviously, I don't know.

Just a "heads up" for anyone collecting this line.

Sincerely,

Bill