14 May 2005

On Father's Day

The Doctor opens the door to the Tardis to reveal... A police box!

Good build up in this episode. From the moment we see the Dcotor and Rose watching the previous Doctor and Rose, we start to feel uneasy, and suspect Rose's emotional involvement will cause nothing but trouble. And as the car loops repeatedly, we start to see a possible but unhappy solution to the invasion by the Reapers (which, incidentally, look just a little bit like an unholy cross between fell beasts and gargoyles). I've got a couple of small nit-picks regarding the Reapers' appetites. Why is Mickey the only one to survive the massacre in the playground? (Just screams plot device...) And according to the Doctor, the older a person/object, the stronger it is. So why does the Reaper poised to attack the pregnant Sarah Clark veer off at the last minute to devour the vicar instead? Have I misunderstood the Doctor's meaning and are older people tastier?

We tried to watch for the obligatory Bad Wolf reference, but got too caught up in the story. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to tape it, and we were able to watch it again more objectively. Shortly after Rose and the Doctor arrive in 1987, the camera pans across a wall with some SWP posters (No Third Term for Thatcher). Bad wolf appears as graffiti on one of the two "Energize (smiley face) 20.11.87" posters. We'll probably feel a bit stupid if it doesn't turn out to be anything significant. But then again, it's like spotting the references to THX-1138 in George Lucas's works, or counting the number times someone says "I've a bad feeling about this". It's just something for the fan-boys/girls to get excited about.

15 May '05 edit: Scott's Place is keeping a running update on the Bad Wolf references. Also, the BBC's Doctor Who main page has changed, but I saved a screen capture from the week after The Long Game with the Bad Wolf reference.

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2 comments:

akatsukira said...

>badly dubbed boy
Good point. It crossed my mind too, but the old neurons refused to forget what the Doctor said about the old doors/windows keeping the creatures at bay. It makes sense that the raptors/reapers make straight for 'creatures of time' if they are a clean-up crew.

Anonymous said...

I see it as the Doctor leading by example and doing the ultimate gamble. By sacrificing himself to the Reaper, he shown Mr. Tyler what he must do.

I also makes sense that the older people are tastier morsels whereas that old structures offer more protection.