kaliha | Thoughts on Bad Wolf

Ah ha, has RTD finally got the hang of writing a balanced episode? Well nearly. He must be getting better as this had been the first episode of his this series His Lordship has given a mighty thumbs up too.

Doctor: "I was here before…Had a bit of trouble upstairs. Nothing serious. Easy. Gave my hand and was back home in time for tea."
Margaret Slitheen got it right about the Doctor not hanging around the face the consequences of his actions. With 'Max' gone the Doctor thought everything was sorted on Satellite 5 and the only loose end he had to tie up was a naughty little boy with a nice sunroof modification in his head. How wrong could he have been?

Lynda-with-a-y says that the world's been in this state for 100 years. It doesn't necessarily mean it's all the Doctor's fault. Maybe the Daleks were planning this all along and the Doctor just sped it up with the Daleks taking advantage of 'Max''s demise.

It seems a very long-winded way to exterminate a population
Although I suppose the Daleks have covered their tracks neatly by having the murder carried out by the games. And no one would ever know. The human race wouldn't care, they'd be too busy wondering if Maxwell and Saskia would end up copping off with each other in the Big Brother House to worry about mass extinction.

Why Transmat all those people across the galaxy? Why not just kill them and be done with it? Are they being used as spare parts, or slaves, or is it so the Dalek Army can practice its extermination? And why leave Rose alive? Admittedly, she's not much of a threat. What's she going to do; Put her hood up and look threatening?

Doctor:"We went to Kyoto- that's right. Japan in 1336. We only just escaped."
More off-screen adventures. Only these ones sound fun. Can you imagine the Doctor and Jack running around with samurai swords Kill Bill style? I know people complain about this, all these off-screen antics; but I like them. It fleshes out the characters, gives writers scope for New Adventures (or whatever they're going to call the Nine/Rose books).

Trinny: "Where were you hiding that?
Jack: "You really don't want to know."

What a guy! Cap'n Jack is turning into the Ace Rimmer crossed with Crichton of the TARDIS. Is there anything he can't do? He can fix the TARDIS, change a defabricator into a weapon and conceal small sonic guns upon his person.

He's like a dog in heat, flirting with everyone he meets (even groping Trinny-bot's boobs). Down boy! Hopefully it's just a phase, otherwise it's going to start getting annoying.

Rose: "Where's the Doctor?"
Poor Rose, she thinks she's been abandoned by the Doctor whist simultaneously clinging to the hope that he's going to save her. (Note how she doesn't wonder if Jack's going to come in all guns a-blazin' – if he does he better be wearing some clothes).

She should feel heartened though; The Doctor's worrying about her and not Jack too.

Doctor: "Stay with me and I promise I'll get you out alive."

He looks like he's picking up new waifs and strays too. With a comment like that though, he's just signed her death-warrant. I like Lynda. She seems sweet. Although I'm quite sure she's going to die before the end of Parting of Ways. She's a lot like Rose, only less mouthy. Maybe that's why the Doctor's dragged her along.

The Doctor's panic at being unable to locate Rose definitely goes beyond being worried about getting a tongue lashing from Jackie when he brings back her daughter in a matchbox. And Jack's noticing this too.

"You are the weakest link, goodbye!"

Look at the look on his face. That's a face that's going to destroy worlds in revenge that is. *Gives Chris a big round of applause*. I liked the difference in reaction between him and John Barrowman. The Doctor was hollow, empty, totally beyond any kind of feeling; Jack on the other hand was all shouty and swinging his guns around. It was a lovely counterpoint.

Unintentional comedy from our living room: "They're all dead Dave." Pile of dust!Rose really did look like the ex-crew on Red Dwarf. It did cause some sniggering.

"You can kill me, for I have brought your destruction."
So it was The Controller who kidnapped the Whobie Gang from the TARDIS. It would make a lot more sense. She's aware enough of what the Daleks are planning to do and also knows (somehow – I'm guessing there's an archive with the information The Editor pulled out of Adam's brain still on the satellite.) that the Doctor is the only person who can save humankind. So she sends out a message (Bad Wolf) across time in order to lure him in, then when he's close enough use the Transmat to get him on board.

The reflection of the Dalek after she's been Transmat-ed is really well done. Nicely scary, and if you're not paying attention, totally missable.

The Gameshows
Davina-bot: "You have 10 seconds to make your farewells. Then we're coming to get you!"
Hands up who wants a Defabricator? :) Again, RTD is appealing to sections of the new-Who fanbase. I expect there were a lot of women on set that day :D

The gameshow parodies didn't annoy me like they seemed to annoy a lot of other people. They could have been a bit shorter in length or less intercut. The Weakest Link one got very tense once Rose realised what happened to the Weakest Links. Fair play to them for getting Davina, Trinny and Susannah and Anne Robinson involved. It wouldn't have worked half as well without their voices.

The worrying thing is, I can see these still being popular in thousands of years time. They're cheap to produce and populist enough for people to watch them. Just because it's the year 200,100 doesn't mean our race has become so enlightened we find these sorts of programmes trashy.

Unless it's all Adam's fault. With his stupid need to download all of human history to make a fast pound. He have grown up with Big Brother, Weakest Link and What not to Wear. Naughty, naughty Adam.

The Voice in the Dark
My money's on Derren Brown.

As I said last week he'd be the perfect person to think up such a mindfuck of a game, dragging people through time and space for the sake of entertainment. That, however, is a bit of a long shot so my other guess is that it is one seriously pissed-off last!Dalek

The last!Dalek theory, would explain why Rose is still alive. He knows how important Rose is to the Doctor and knows that she's a very useful hostage.

Adam may have the knowledge to be able to create a time machine now, but our modern day technology isn't advanced enough for him to actually do it. But I'm happy to be surprised.

Bad Wolf Watch

Still no explanation of what Bad Wolf is. Unless the Controller was using it purely to get the Doctor back to Satellite 5. His Lordship has read that Bad Wolf doesn't get explained until the first episode of the new series. If that's true I'd be most annoyed. He could, however, just be lying to me to wind me up.

Favourite Quotes that I couldn't squeeze into my thoughts

Lynda: "You were here a hundred years ago?
Doctor: "Yep."
Lynda: "You're looking good on it."
Doctor: "I moisturise."

Lynda: "Ground Force. That's a nasty one. You get turned into compost."

Doctor: "I never paid for my licence."
Lynda: "But you can get excuted for that!"
Doctor: Waves Sonic Screwdriver "Let them try."

Davina Droid: "You are live on channel 44000. Please do not swear."
Doctor: "You have got to be kidding."

Doctor: "That's the same staff who execute hundreds of contestants every day, yeah?"
Female Programmer: "That's not our fault, we're just doing our jobs."
Doctor: "And with that sentence, you just lost the right to even talk to me. Now back off!"

The scores on the doors? 9/10

-*-

Only a week to go. It's a bit distressing. Better start stocking up on the tissues now.