auroracloud | The angels have the phone box. (And other S3 notes.)

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The angels have the phone box. (And other S3 notes.)

I've been going through my re-watch Doctor Who S3 quite quickly, and ooh, I just watched Blink again. That episode is so. damn. brilliant. And just suitably creepy and exciting. Ah, I can't get over how brilliant it is.

And in the end of the episode, the trailer for Utopia! I actually squeed at seeing those brief moments of Jack returning, despite the fact that I already knew he would and I've already seen the episode and the last time I did wasn't so long ago, and I've quite recently watched all of Torchwood S1 so, um, a lot of Jack there, but all that still didn't stop me from squeeing. Ooh, I think I'm going to enjoy watching the final episodes. Had a bit of a hard time not going on right away, but Blink and Utopia are so different, I think I'm getting the most out of them by watching them on different days.

I've had a lot of fun watching S3. There are a few not-so-good episodes in the early-to-mid part of the series, but from Human Nature onwards it's such brilliance (and I generally enjoyed 42, too, as long as I put the science and logic departments of my brain to sleep). The over-emphasis on Martha's crush on the Doctor doesn't bother me as much this time around, probably because I knew to expect it so it's easier to not pay so much attention to it. I love Martha even more this time around, and besides, Freema is so gorgeous and I love her voice and guh. It's also interesting picking up the Saxon references and other things foreshadowing things in the final episodes, now that I know what's coming. And S3 is the beginning of the Tenth Doctor that I really, really adore. It's maybe odd because he's less likeable here than in S2 - first there's the way he often makes Martha feel second-best and takes half a season to even allow her to stick around (rather than just "one trip more"), and then there'll be the stuff with Jack. But I guess that's exactly what makes it more interesting. Characters with issues are fascinating. Guess that's why I became such an intense Doctor/Jack shipper after this season, too. With that relationship, definitely not running out of issues any time soon.

Anyway, I think Tennant's acting also improved tons between S2 and S3, he's just a lot more detailed and complex and interesting at this point. And while I found much of the Rose/Ten interaction in S2 cute, and enjoyed the connection they had, I also have to say that their "exclusive mutual admiration society" got a bit much and is not half as interesting as the issue-wrought relationships and complexities of S3.

Reminds me, I still need to write up my thoughts on Torchwood S1. Because at this rate I'll be watching S2 very soon, and would be nice to write up my main thoughts before that. Going to try to do it soon.

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It's funny, I remember S3 most vividly. Freema is indeed gorgeous. I loved her in Sense8, too.

Martha is my favorite companion because she's soooo smart. (Although Donna! Donna will also always have a special place in my heart. But I think I identify with Martha more.)

S3 is very memorable, I think. Strong atmosphere and some quite unique episodes. I haven't watched Sense8, but I looked it up because of Freema, and it sounds like something I'd like to try.

I love that Martha's smart, too! And she's got a lot of spirit and curiosity and just some special light that I can't describe. She's definitely the companion I identify the most with. Though I think Donna came down as my favourite (apart from Jack) on my first watch-through - curious to see if that changes or not. I love that she's so very different from what you'd expect the female lead of a prime time adventure show to be, and she still gets to be made of awesome and have that wonderful strong friendship with the Doctor.

Blink is such a strong episode. It's written by Moffat, so I hope that means you'll love his seasons as much as I do.

Martha love! <3 She's one of my fave companions.

Yeah, it's amazing what they've managed to pack into one episode, and make it so powerful despite the Doctor not even being in it much (helps that Sally is such a great heroine and so well played). I've loved all of the Moffat episodes on the RTD era. Though I often hear people say they don't like him as the showrunner. I'm going to see what I think myself when I come to those seasons.

I like Moffat's work way more than RTD's. I've been explained what people don't like about his work, but I just don't see it. *shrugs*

I'm curious to see what I'll think. I'll definitely form my own opinion, not just assume I'm going to dislike Moffat era just because others do. I'll definitely tell here what I think once I'm that far. :-)

I like the RTD era stuff (obviously, as I'm a fan of the show and haven't yet got beyond that). But I do recognise problems, a nd most of his own episodes require me to shut down the logic part of my brain at some point. And he can rarely refrain from making things so big and complex that in the end something gets just weird or doesn't make sense. I'm good at ignoring plot problems if I like the emotion and characterisation, so I like his stuff, but I can also understand that everyone doesn't. I think Utopia is the only one of the RTD-written episodes that doesn't have any huge gaping problems - but well, after that episode they stop dealing with the whole complex Doctor/Jack mess, and leave it to the fanfic writers. :-P (Not that I'm still bitter we didn't get more on them, or anything.)

One of my issues with the RTD era is that it's very kitsch. Of course, it might suit other people's tastes, but personally, I initially dropped it after 3 episodes. I only started watching again after seeing TW S1 and it was definitely an acquired taste. As far as I'm concerned, Moffat definitely upped the quality level of the show.

My other issue is what RTD ended up doing with TW (I'm not sure you've seen it all, so I'm not developing) and how he insulted the fans who were unhappy about it. That one is unforgivable.

I can understand that. I have fun with the kitsch to some extent, but it is a bit much, especially in the early seasons. Most of the really good monsters etc. have been in the Moffat episodes. But I'll comment on the Moffat seasons when I get to them. :-)

I've only seen TW S1 so far - will plunge into S2 shortly, probably end of this week, but will be a while before I'll have watched all, I'll probably try to watch the DW and TW seasons in order now. I haven't been able to avoid some spoilers about future seasons, but maybe it's better you elaborate on that second point when I've seen everything... Or at least when I get to whichever part it refers to.

Yep, I don't want to spoil anything accidentally. Have fun watching both shows! ^__^

Thank you! I'm sure I will. :-)

For some reason I made the poor decision to watch Blink alone in the dark the first time I watched it... That episode is more psychologically terrifying than pretty much anything else I've ever seen, lol! What's rare is that it's an episode in which the Doctor barely even features, and Ten is so beloved that it speaks volumes for how brilliant the writing is. I don't know what's happened to Moffat since then really. When I went to the Doctor Who Experience back when I lived in Wales, they had this room you walk through on the tour bit, which is a sort of elevated walkway through the dark. And it has the angel statues placed here and there, and it lights them up at random intervals and genuinely scares the crap out of you, lol!

I noticed that too when I went back to watch it again, there are so many hints in the earlier episodes with regards to the whole Saxon plot. It was brilliantly set up I thought. And I love Ten/Martha/Jack as a team. So much badassery. You're making me want to rewatch it now!

Ah, I bet it's quite a creepy one to watch alone in the dark! I did yesterday, and that was quite scary despite knowing what was going to happen, so it's probably a good thing that my first time watching it was with a friend. :-D Although for me the most memorable creepy DW episode will remain The Empty Child. Now I rewatch with much enjoyment, of course, but the first time around, it scared me out of my wits and I didn't dare go on for a couple of weeks or so. :-D And that despite being aware that I had just seen one of the most brilliant pieces of TV in my life. Really not an episode to watch alone in the dark if you're easily scared! I had no idea at that point that Doctor Who could be scary, either.

And yeah, it's amazing it works so well despite not having the Doctor much at all. It's very cleverly written so that it stands on its own with the writing, and makes the Doctor present without him being present much - and helps that Sally is a great heroine and Carey Mulligan does a fantastic job playing her.

Ooh, that sounds like a scary place! I had a dream the other night (before watching Blink again, but after having seen the trailer at the end of Family of Blood) that I was in some kind of a train which had a "horror coach" and there you ended up in the events of Blink. Now that would be a scary train!

I noticed the Saxon references even the first time around (at some point I was like... "hey, I've heard that name before, and no, I'm pretty sure no character was called that... maybe that'll be important later"). But it's even more interesting to watch the clues now that I know what's going to happen!

And Ten/Martha/Jack are indeed a wonderful badass team. There should be more episodes with them! Maybe I'll read/write fic once I'm done with this season...

Haven't had occasion to rewatch the Ten chapters lately, but my goodness, doesn't "Blink" stay with you! I remember scenes from it as if it were yesterday +shivers+

Freema is so beautiful, and, you know, Martha's crush did make a weird kind of sense in the context of her overall arc, and things do work out all right for her in the end, so there's that?

I hope you'll keep posting your thoughts; it'd be interesting to revisit these seasons through your perspective ;)

I bought the DVD box and have been happily rewatching it all for the past months. Blink is a very memorable episode indeed!

Yeah, her crush does make sense, it's more that I felt they spent a bit too much time on it, it seemed to undermine the strength of her character. Though from another point of view, she manages to be awesome and save the world and all while she does not have the Doctor constantly showing her she's the greatest thing since the creation of the Universe. And it does give us the little gem of "You too, huh?" Aww, now I want to write some Jack/Martha to make up for them how much they have to suffer, and I haven't even got to that episode yet.

I wish I had had the energy to do more of these posts lately, or that I managed to go more detailed. But well, I'm getting more energy and we're getting to my favourite parts, so there's hope yet. :-)

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The angels have the phone box. (And other S3 notes.)

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