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latin_rite
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I gave up watching it in the 80’s. My weekday afternoon ritual was to watch the Goodies then Dr Who. Aww Good times. Good times indeed.
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triumphguy
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vsedriver
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twf
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Amy may have had a bit of a crush on the Doctor early on, but by the end they have a strong, healthy, platonic friendship with no sexual undertones whatsoever. Amy and Rory go on to be a loving, deeply committed hetero-normal couple and grow old together in the past…
The Church of the Papal Mainframe isn’t a future perverted version of Catholicism. Its deviant liberal Christianity to the extreme…the obvious progression of where liberal mainstream churches are headed. At least that was always my interpretation. In one of the first episodes (maybe the first?) where the Papal Mainframe was referenced, the two soldiers who are in a homosexual relationship, clearly state that they are Anglicans. I believe that was in series 6 “A Good Man Goes to War”.
The Church of the Papal Mainframe isn’t a future perverted version of Catholicism. Its deviant liberal Christianity to the extreme…the obvious progression of where liberal mainstream churches are headed. At least that was always my interpretation. In one of the first episodes (maybe the first?) where the Papal Mainframe was referenced, the two soldiers who are in a homosexual relationship, clearly state that they are Anglicans. I believe that was in series 6 “A Good Man Goes to War”.
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tomarin
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There’s no way of knowing if the slant you identified is intentional on the part of the writers, but to be fair most heroes of television science fiction dramas (c.f. Kirk, Captain James T.) have conflicted relationships with the family, the hearth, and all that that represents because they are people who by definition have spurned all that in favor of a life of adventure, exploration and danger. So naturally there should be some tension between those loner heroic types and the stay-at-home types whom they often envy and also resent.
Of course the Doctor is not a human (though he does express human-like feelings at times), but it is a curious thing that in Star Fleet the officers appear not to have any family or spouses, whether by choice, chance or regulation. And of course there’s a huge downside to that, especially when your Star Fleet career is over and your adventuring days are done.
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Pat_Payne
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Star Trek has actually tackled that issue on a couple of occasions. At first, DC Fontana wanted the main female lead in the “space hippie” episode (don’t remember the name off the top of my head) to be Bones’ daughter – the backstory being that he had been involved in a nasty divorce (as finally mentioned in the 2009 reboot) and that was what impelled him to join Starfleet. Desilu or NBC shot that down extremely quickly as stories about divorce just weren’t done on TV in the '60s.
And later, Kirk and Carol Marcus tapdance around the issue of Kirk not marrying Carol and instead leaving her pregnant in The Wrath of Khan, arguing that she didn’t want her son David to know Kirk was his father, because Kirk was a poor role model and she’d be damned before letting David turn out like James T. Kirk.
Later, every so often, there would be an episode of The Next Generation where we’d meet Picard’s brother and his family, with Picard growing wistful for “what could have been.” it finally came to a head in one of the TNG movies (Generations, maybe?) when he learned that his brother, sister in law and nephews all perished in a fire, and Picard grieves for them. When in the Nexus, his bliss fantasy is having a wife and children, the life that his position as a Starfleet captain denied him. It seems interesting that a similar fantasy of domesticity and married life was Kirk’s Nexus fantasy in the same film.
Which, BTW, cycles back to one of the first exchanges between him and Riker in the entire series, where he asks Riker to be his intermediary, so that he doesn’t “make [himself] an *** in front of children.” Perhaps his discomfort around children was misplaced frustration about having had none of his own.
As for the Doctor, a lot of people forget that he was married long before River Song – Susan was his biological granddaughter, meaning that he must have had a son or daughter before deciding to flee Gallifrey in the TARDIS. And honestly, his explanation in “School Reunion” says it best as to why he’s so reticent to settle down with one of his companions – it’d be cruelty to both of them. For her, it’d be cruel to see him barely age while she withered and died in what to The Doctor might seem like the blink of an eye, for him, it would mean losing a dearly loved one and having to live on for centuries after she died.
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tomarin
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“The Way to Eden” I think was the title. That’s an interesting backstory, which I was unaware of.
I had forgotten that (about the first companion being his granddaughter)!
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manualman
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Yup, it’s official: CAF folks are nerds. (Me included, of course).
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Razanir
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I put it in the same boat as the Silence being space priests. So ridiculous, that I don’t really care. (I mean really, priests that wipe themselves from your memory? Wouldn’t wiping the priest’s memory help the seal a LOT better?)
Except the ONLY source we have for his parallel being gay is a deleted scene. I didn’t even know until you pointed it out.
On the other hand, you get episodes like Father’s Day.
The actor who played Donna’s father died. So instead of finding a new actor, they added Wilf as her grandpa.
Her childhood hero returned after 14 years, and you expect her not to be ecstatic, why? Also, they later get married and actually DO have a happy marriage. She even sacrificed herself to a weeping angel just to live out her life with her husband.
NO. Remember, it actually was Amy in the Pandorica. He left her there so she wouldn’t die, because the Pandorica was inescapable, and death counted as escape. And although he could have been ported off to the future in an instant with a vortex manipulator, he chose to wait almost 2000 years for her. If Rory was a “stupid-head”, then so am I. He is the epitome of the devoted nerd.
On the Ponds’ wedding night (yeah… the only time they’re ever the Williams is in Angels Take Manhattan), they left in the TARDIS. And being a wedding night, they stereotypically had sex. And because Melody was conceived in the time stream (which subtly affirms life beginning at conception, IMO), she gained the time lord ability to regenerate. However, during those 9 months, Amy was kidnapped by Kovarian such that the renegade Silence could train her child to kill the Doctor. So two regenerations later (Melody → Mels → River), she got kidnapped again and forced to kill her husband.
And I wouldn’t say her death was painting things in a bad light. That was a heroic death. She willingly died in place of her husband. Since because their timelines went roughly in reverse, she knew how much he still had ahead of him.
Debatable. Rose/Ten and Amy/Rory seem much happier. Actually, come to think of it, you’ve completely ignored Rose/Ten in all this. What happened to Darlig Ulv Stranden? Vastra/Jenny is probably one of the least model relationships on the show.
Yes, well. A lot of shows have a ladies’ man. Captain Jack (Harkness), Captain Jack (Sparrow), Barney Stinson, Joey Tribbiani… Captain Jack (Harkness) just turns it up to 11. He almost seems like a caricature of the archetype.
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Razanir
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At first. They broke up. A bit later the Rose/Ten romance took off.
At least for NuWho, none, technically. But Rose was trapped in a parallel universe and it dead to the eyes of the law. And the Ponds leave the show via weeping angel, which is equivalent to having died.
I, too, saw them.
Yeah… The plot had worse problems than the hamfisted kiss.
OP wins this one. Pete’s World Peter and Jackie never had kids. Rose’s closest parallel was a pet dog.
Ah, yes. The old adage about TV parents. In kids’ shows especially, the parents will always be absent or incompetent. This bled over into Doctor Who. (No one likes you, Jackie!)
Yep.
The Papal Mainframe was the worst it’s gotten. Otherwise it’s been opinions or misunderstandings. Like in the End of the World, where religion was (nominally) banned on the space station. (Yeah, right. Like that’s going to stop us. I’d totally be praying Lauds while admiring the sun) Or I’m not too offended by the Silence being genetically modified space priests. I’m stuck laughing at Moffat’s idea of “helping” the seal of confession. He misunderstood it. Wiping the priest’s memory would make much more sense. But he DID attempt to acknowledge it as a thing and put a futuristic slant on it.
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Razanir
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Okay. One more post. This is spawned by the fact that I just started a River Song marathon, watching all of her episodes in HER order. Starting with the Rebel Flesh, the two-part episode she’s born at the end of.
PRO-LIFE MESSAGES! The Doctor affirms the sanctity of human life!
PRO-LIFE MESSAGES! The Doctor affirms the sanctity of human life!
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twf
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I would say the Doctor, as a character, is always extremely pro-life. He always gives even the most wicked creatures a chance…
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Gallifreyan7
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As I’m sure you can tell from my username, I’m a huge Doctor Who fan. Overall, was fairly impressed with Deep Breath, particularly the directing, which was stunning and Jenna Coleman did a phenomenal job as Clara in this. She’s very close to overtaking Romana II as my all time favourite companion.
The only let down for me was, of course, Vastra and Jenny. It angers me that these characters are being used as a tool to push an agenda that has no place in a show watched by children as well as adults. I so badly want to like them. Vastra is so wise and Jenny so sweet, but the emphasis on their marriage just makes me angry.
In regard to the next few episodes, I thought Into the Dalek was pretty good but Robots of Sherwood is one of the worst episodes I’ve seen in a long time. Seriously, the idea of the gold content in the arrow helping the ship reach space was ridiculous and the spoon fighting scene was laughable. I also hope that Moffat doesn’t seriously contradict any Christian beliefs with this new “Heaven/Promised Land” arc though. I know its only a show, but his anti-religious beliefs are becoming all to clear recently.
Next week looks good though, very scary.
The only let down for me was, of course, Vastra and Jenny. It angers me that these characters are being used as a tool to push an agenda that has no place in a show watched by children as well as adults. I so badly want to like them. Vastra is so wise and Jenny so sweet, but the emphasis on their marriage just makes me angry.
In regard to the next few episodes, I thought Into the Dalek was pretty good but Robots of Sherwood is one of the worst episodes I’ve seen in a long time. Seriously, the idea of the gold content in the arrow helping the ship reach space was ridiculous and the spoon fighting scene was laughable. I also hope that Moffat doesn’t seriously contradict any Christian beliefs with this new “Heaven/Promised Land” arc though. I know its only a show, but his anti-religious beliefs are becoming all to clear recently.
Next week looks good though, very scary.
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Razanir
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I’ll give you the arrow scene. But otherwise, I enjoyed the episode. We got to see the Doctor try to be a serious man in a silly room, instead of 11 always being the silly man in a serious room.
Well yes. It’s a Moffat episode. We all love and hate them. Usually at the same time.
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Gallifreyan7
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Actually, yes the scene in the cell was quite good. I’m really enjoying having a serious Doctor again.
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Prodigal_40s
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Not only that Triumphguy but check out “Planet of the Dead” (“Easter” special from 2009)
In the epilogue, the Doctor says to the Michelle Ryan character that “he was there” in reference to Easter and is about to inform his listener “how it really happened” before he’s interrupted. I complained to the BBC because it was an implicit denial of the Resurrection and was inappropriate for kids as they may be from a Christian faith.
Of course I got a sneering reply which told me that I was being irrational etc.
The problem is that Doctor Who is very popular with kids and always was. I loved the original Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker episodes but it wasn’t used then to funnel political agendas as it is now. You’re very accurate in that respect with regard to sexual orientation politics but the atheist agenda is something that will be less subtle in future I suspect.
I support your boycott and it’s a shame that such a great British show is being ruined by liberal, relativist lunatics
In the epilogue, the Doctor says to the Michelle Ryan character that “he was there” in reference to Easter and is about to inform his listener “how it really happened” before he’s interrupted. I complained to the BBC because it was an implicit denial of the Resurrection and was inappropriate for kids as they may be from a Christian faith.
Of course I got a sneering reply which told me that I was being irrational etc.
The problem is that Doctor Who is very popular with kids and always was. I loved the original Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker episodes but it wasn’t used then to funnel political agendas as it is now. You’re very accurate in that respect with regard to sexual orientation politics but the atheist agenda is something that will be less subtle in future I suspect.
I support your boycott and it’s a shame that such a great British show is being ruined by liberal, relativist lunatics
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agnes_therese
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Although I have to admit, I really did want to slap them both.
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Pat_Payne
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I’ve got a feeling that’s the impression that Gattiss wanted people to have. Remember, when the guards grabbed the one they thought was the leader, they grabbed Clara, because she was the only objectively mature person in the room.
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Prodigal_40s
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In case there are any Doctor Who fans on then please
SPOILER ALERT:
The last episode “Dark Water” involved the Danny Pink character dying and waking up in a large office building in which he was informed that people who die are put into the care of a company called “3W” 3 words and it then went on to insinuate that the company had the power to delete the deceased’s soul. That’s as much of the plot that I’ll reveal. Suffice to say that what I suspected on “Planet of the Dead” was correct. It’s on the way to becoming a propaganda vehicle for humanists and atheists so that they can influence young adults into following their barren and bleak path. It’s a real shame because I loved Doctor Who as a child. What upset me most is that the BBC defended it.
bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/29908743
SPOILER ALERT:
The last episode “Dark Water” involved the Danny Pink character dying and waking up in a large office building in which he was informed that people who die are put into the care of a company called “3W” 3 words and it then went on to insinuate that the company had the power to delete the deceased’s soul. That’s as much of the plot that I’ll reveal. Suffice to say that what I suspected on “Planet of the Dead” was correct. It’s on the way to becoming a propaganda vehicle for humanists and atheists so that they can influence young adults into following their barren and bleak path. It’s a real shame because I loved Doctor Who as a child. What upset me most is that the BBC defended it.
bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/29908743
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