I agree somewhat with the Peter Davison syndrome argument. Tennat and especially Baker were always going to be tough acts to follow but if you look back at some of the Davison era stories he himself is actually a pretty good, almost uniquely personable (and one of my favourite Doctors) and the benefit of time passed allows us to judge him on his own merits not directly against Baker. Colin Baker too suffered for not being Davison, Tom Baker had to replace the very popular Pertwee, which I know wasn't pleasing for everyone at first and I personally wasn't keen on Tennant immediately as I liked Ecclestone a lot. We should at least try to judge Matt Smith without constantly comparing to Tennant. It's not really fair on either of them.

Edited April 19, 201015 yr by Severin

I agree somewhat with the Peter Davison syndrome argument. Tennat and especially Baker were always going to be tough acts to follow but if you look back at some of the Davison era stories he himself is actually a pretty good, almost uniquely personable (and one of my favourite Doctors) and the benefit of time passed allows us to judge him on his own merits not directly against Baker. Colin Baker too suffered for not being Davison, Tom Baker had to replace the very popular Pertwee, which I know wasn't pleasing for everyone at first and I personally wasn't keen on Tennant immediately as I liked Ecclestone a lot. We should at least try to judge Matt Smith without constantly comparing to Tennant. It's not really fair on either of them.

 

Well, it's certainly not fair on David Tenant to have some kid who's just trying to ape him.... Oh, and frankly Smith's attempts at an Eccleston-style "rage against the machine" in Saturday's episode frankly came across more like Kevin the Stroppy Teenager... Was it my imagination or did he at one point actually say the line "I hate you.." at the Dalek.....? Karen Gillan is PISHING on him in the acting stakes.. Utterly.. That cant be right, surely the Doctor is supposed to be the larger-than-life figure who dominates the series...

 

Davison at least had the fact that he'd been in several good shows beforehand (the most well-known being All Creatures Great and Small in which he was pretty damned excellent), but even he struggled, even though, in hindsight, he probably did his best, he's just an actor who is good at certain things, but not others... Also, it helps Davison a lot that his "companions" were all pretty weak (the terminally useless Adric being the most obvious) in comparison to Amy Pond...

 

Matt Smith's CV is nowhere near as good as Davison's was Pre-Doctor, which makes him probably even less capable of taking on the role to any great degree of credibility....

Frankly though, do we not think it was high time the Daleks were pensioned off...? Seriously, I am getting THOROUGHLY SICK OF THEM........

 

Let's just compare this episode to the Moffat-penned two parter (also set during WW2 funnily enough) "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances".. That story had a real sense of dread about it.. A real atmosphere an actual sense of a city under siege during wartime, and I'm sorry, but the Ghostly little boy in the gas-mask Saying "Are You My Mummy" was actually PRETTY DAMNED EERIE and sent shivers up the spine, this was Dr Who actually grown up and gotten a bit more sophisticated and intelligent, a bit more, well, contemporary even though the story was set during WW2... This episode, WHAT THE FUKK??? Even "Commando" comic books are less cliched than this tripe..... <_< And, er, tell me again, just what is so scary about a bunch of multi-coloured, upturned, corrugated wheelie bins saying "Exterminate" in a ridiculously laughable mechanical voice...... :P

gotta fully agree with you account there scott, DEFINATELY a peter davidson syndrome.

 

my only concern over next weeks ep is that its basically repeating an old enemy again... yes they were good, but we have seen them...

 

Agree about Karen Gillan, she really is an asset to the series, and i've been very impressed with her portrayal as Amy Pond so far.

Matt Smith, i do see some of Tennant in him, but this is early days and he may evolve as time goes on. We will have to see.

 

Yes i do feel spitfires in space was a little silly, as they just appeared without no prior explanation, or were we just supposed to take

the fact they had dalek technology for granted. This is the 1940s afterall, even if they had an android doing the work, it still didn't

quite add up.

 

And the episode just seemed a bit rushed. I know it was only 40mins but the way he dealt with the daleks all seemed to be

over pretty quick.

 

I kinda enjoyed it, but it really could have been better. It wasn't perfect.

 

Very excited about Matt and Katy appearing in SJA! Will be interesting to see RTD write for Matt.

 

Re: ratings -

 

Final rating for The Beast Below - 8.42m

 

Also The Eleventh Hour has set a new record for iPlayer - 1.27 million views in one week!

 

Yes, i'm looking forward to seeing the new Sarah Jane Adventures series after reading that. It will be interesting

to see how the character of Jo Grant has evolved since the 70s and how she is brought into the show.

 

8.42m not bad ratings. Good to see it's still doing reasonable well there.

 

Just read the news that Katy Manning is appearing on Sarah Jane Adventures - Unbelievable! Thought the last series of SJA was the strongest yet.

 

Is Torchwood coming back this year?

 

Just a few points about Saturday's episode ... as many have said, Karen Gillan is superb. Just a lovely, warm character ... and only after 3 episodes!

 

I think Matt Smith is very good - I do see aspects of Tennant's Doctor in Matt Smith's Doctor - I guess you could say that's understandable as it is the Doctor - he should have some familiar/similiar traits. I do find Matt Smith's doctor quite geeky, in a charming, likeable way.

 

As for Steven Moffat's casting of Matt Smith ... Steven said in an interview that he was planning to cast an older actor to contrast with David Tennant. However, that idea changed when Matt auditioned and was the best choice.

 

I agree with the Daleks being overused but I wonder if Steven Moffat decided that since it was a new doctor and companion it would be helpful for the audience to have familiar villians? Just an idea ...

Following Tennant was always going to be a tough task for whoever got the role. That said, I think Matt Smith is doing a decent job so far. I can only repeat what I've said before. An older actor would have been a good idea, even more so if it was an older actor called Bill Nighy. I've also said before that when the Doctor runs out of regenerations they'll say it only applies to regenerations in the same gender. So the Doctor will regenerate as a woman for one incarnation before going back to being a man.

Re: ep12/13

 

Interview with Alex Kingston:

 

 

She mentions the "Pandorica will open" - River Song's in the final 2 eps - footage with Dr/Amy at Stonehenge seen already.

 

As for Steven Moffat's casting of Matt Smith ... Steven said in an interview that he was planning to cast an older actor to contrast with David Tennant. However, that idea changed when Matt auditioned and was the best choice.

 

I think Matt Smith's casting has more to do with budgets tbh... He's probably cheaper than someone like Patterson Joseph or Robert Carlyle, and certainly Bill Nighy... It's probably the reason why Carey Mulligan didn't come back to reprise her role as Sally Sparrow as well.... Oscar/BAFTA-nominated actress, getting bigger and bigger in the US, no WAY the BBC is ever gonna get her back....

I think Matt Smith's casting has more to do with budgets tbh... He's probably cheaper than someone like Patterson Joseph or Robert Carlyle, and certainly Bill Nighy... It's probably the reason why Carey Mulligan didn't come back to reprise her role as Sally Sparrow as well.... Oscar/BAFTA-nominated actress, getting bigger and bigger in the US, no WAY the BBC is ever gonna get her back....

 

Robert Carlyle is committed to Stargate: Universe with a 5 year contract, Patterson Joseph would have been a great choice, I still fathom how they missed Sean Pertwee though, it would be a great homage to Jon, mind you there is still time for him, if they decide to dump Matt Smith at some point and go for an older actor.

 

I think Matt Smith's casting has more to do with budgets tbh... He's probably cheaper than someone like Patterson Joseph or Robert Carlyle, and certainly Bill Nighy... It's probably the reason why Carey Mulligan didn't come back to reprise her role as Sally Sparrow as well.... Oscar/BAFTA-nominated actress, getting bigger and bigger in the US, no WAY the BBC is ever gonna get her back....

 

Agreed. It was reported that Matt Smith is on just 2/9th the annual contract that David Tennant & Christopher Eccleston were on. So if he turns out to be better than 2/9th's as good as actor in the role as those two then he has punched above his weight.

 

Personally, I wanted either Patterson Joseph or Sean Pertwee (whose performance in the brilliant Dog Soldiers was surely the best audition for the Doctor's character that you could wish to see) to get the role.

 

And then you had the likes (2009 RTS Award winning - Best Performance in a Single Drama or Drama Series for The Street) Anna Friel who did an interview in the US Equire magazine where she cryptically admitted that she had covetted the Doctor's assistant role for Series 5 (whilst her boyfriend David Thewlis has been filming the latest Harry Potter franchise) but she had been told that the BBC could not afford her. However for me, Karen Gillian casting as the Amy Pond character has been more successful than Matt Smith as Doctor #11.

 

It is pretty obvious from the first three episodes of Series 5 that budget cutbacks have had an adverse impact on the quality of the show.

 

Whilst episodes 4 & 5 taking two of the most iconic new characters (River Song & the Weeping Angels) from the revival has to be brilliant to match the impact of their original use, otherwise I fear Dr Who will be seen as being in decline.

 

However, in "Silence in the Library" / "Forest of the Dead" didn't Alex Kingston character intimate that the future Doctor who she had met was older looking? So surely that is a major continuity error with the casting of Matt Smith?

^ Nothing to say she hasn't met the 12th Doctor who could be older ;)

^ Nothing to say she hasn't met the 12th Doctor who could be older ;)

Yeah, apparently this isn't her first meeting with the Doctor so she could well have met him many many times.

Yeah, apparently this isn't her first meeting with the Doctor so she could well have met him many many times.

 

Exactly :)

 

In the library, from her diary, River mentioned picnic at Asgard, crash of the Byzantium and the Singing Towers of Darillium. So there is plenty more to come between River and the Doctor - which isn't necessarily the Matt Smiths!

And then you had the likes (2009 RTS Award winning - Best Performance in a Single Drama or Drama Series for The Street) Anna Friel who did an interview in the US Equire magazine where she cryptically admitted that she had covetted the Doctor's assistant role for Series 5 (whilst her boyfriend David Thewlis has been filming the latest Harry Potter franchise) but she had been told that the BBC could not afford her. However for me, Karen Gillian casting as the Amy Pond character has been more successful than Matt Smith as Doctor #11.

If Anna Friel coveted the role that much she could always have agreed to do it for less than her normal rate. She'd still be getting more than well over 99% of the audience. And she'd still have plenty of time to make more money once she left the job.

If Anna Friel coveted the role that much she could always have agreed to do it for less than her normal rate. She'd still be getting more than well over 99% of the audience. And she'd still have plenty of time to make more money once she left the job.

 

Sorry. But your post is bordering on the stupid.

 

Why the hell should a very good actress with a pretty decent CV take on a role with six months filming for little more than what she got for each episode of Pushing Daisies.

 

You do realise that it was reported that the BBC paid the then unknown Billie Piper £350K for Series 1; which they nearly doubled to £650K for Series 2. Freema Agyeman was reported to have earnt £275K for Series 3; and Catherine Tate was reported to be on £500K for Series 4. Yet the relatively unknown Karen Gillan is supposed to be on only £175K for Series 5.

 

The idea of offering an actress with the CV and calibre of Anna Friel £175K for six months work and expecting her to accept, is about as naive as expecting the likes of John Terry or Wayne Rooney to earn £10K a week at their current football clubs; or expecting Kate Winslet to sign a year's contract as the new landlady in the Queen Vic in Eastenders for £500K. Or expecting Cheryl Cole to "judge and mentor" in the 2010 series of X-Factor for £150K instead of £1.6m.

 

The fact is she took on her cameo role in BBC's Award winning The Street for which she won her RTS acting award last year; where she (like a lot of major UK TV & Film stars who featured in one off parts on that superb show) get paid just £10K (£5K per week) for a superb BBC Drama is evidence enough that she will take on a role for the art and the kudos, and not the money.

 

..... Still just as well she starred in the high profile West End remake of Breakfast at Tiffany's; and in "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" a film written and directed by Woody Allen (and also featuring Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Freida Pinto, and Naomi Watts) in London for forthcoming release instead!

 

I can't imagine the likes of Freema Agyeman let alone Karen Gillan or Catherine Tate land a significant role in a Woody Allen movie (and for Billie Piper it would be like winning the lottery) do you? :lol:

 

Yet it is pretty clear than Anna Friel who post Brookside (got down to the last two for the Doctor's assistant in the one off Anglo-American 1996 TV movie; and lamented in an 1995 interview in Sky magazine that she wished the then defunct Dr Who series was still on as she would have loved to play the Doctor's assistance role) was willing to take a relative pay cut by her earning capacity to play the 11th Doctor's assistant, yet BBC cuts ensured that she was out of their league.

 

Hence we have for Series 5 two relatively inexperienced and unknown actors in the two key roles being paid on the cheap. When if the BBC had thrown a bit more money at the levels used when casting Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant then we could have got significantly higher calibre of actors.

Yeah, apparently this isn't her first meeting with the Doctor so she could well have met him many many times.

 

I don't think she has met the 11th doctor before, as he met Amy right after his regeneration, this is only my guess but it could go like this:

 

 

First meets the10th Doctor, sometime after the events in the Library for the doctor and before for River.

 

Then meets the 11th Doctor for the first time in The Time of Angels and has other adventures aswell.

 

Is present in the 11th-to-12th regeneration as she knows about regenerations in Silence in the Library (i think she mentioned it)

 

Becomes a full-time companion. They go through so much, he gives her his screwdriver and tells her his real name, before they part ways.

 

Accidentally meets with the 10th doctor before he knew her, she hardly remembers that reincarnation and mentions he "looks so young".

 

 

If she hadn't met the 10th doctor before then I don't get how she would recognise him in the library and claim he looked young.

 

Sorry. But your post is bordering on the stupid.

 

Why the hell should a very good actress with a pretty decent CV take on a role with six months filming for little more than what she got for each episode of Pushing Daisies.

That's her choice. Let's face it she could afford to do it for free if she wanted. That's not to say she should, just that she could.

I think that was a very good episode, left a lot of unanswered questions and a very good storyline

 

best yet imo :)

Omg omg omg. AMAZING. Best episode in the series so far! After 2 weeks of borefest, I was expected another, but not this one!! Can't wait for next week's!! :w00t: 10/10 [/loon]