Doctor Who 4/14/2007 (S03E03) "Gridlock"

[dswallow]

I really have mixed feelings... the premise was just so really, really stupid, even for Doctor Who. But it was fun during the last half. And it was a creative way to avoid lots of effects shots... fumes, orange glow, no detail needed.

But the premise was just so incredibly stupid.

[Sherminator]

No more stupid than people using inflatables to avoid being ticketed in car pool lanes in this day and age.

[Rob Helmerichs]

I really have mixed feelings... the premise was just so really, really stupid, even for Doctor Who.
...which I don't think would have been as much of a problem if they hadn't gone for such an emotionally-charged story. The heavy drama of the Doctor's coping with the loss of his planet and species, plus his realization that he has put yet another companion into profound danger, just didn't resonate very much within the framework of a situation that seemed to be trying for, but not achieving, a kind of Swiftian farce.

[dswallow]

No more stupid than people using inflatables to avoid being ticketed in car pool lanes in this day and age.
Actually the kidnapping of people to meet occupancy requirements was one of the more believable aspects. I was really thinking more of the idea of multiple years on the freeway to go a few miles, et. al.

[Sherminator]

Ever got as far as Chicago on the I80/90? :P

[pgogborn]

To some extent I think is believable that people will deny the reality of a hopeless situation they are in even if the Pharmacists had not screwed with their minds (bless Bliss as it was said last season).

[TomK]

But still, there is not a bad Doctor Who episode. I enjoyed it, and Martha got to see the sadness in the Doctor about his home planet.

[jtlytle]

I have Dr. Who on my season pass manager and it didn't pick up premise of Dr Who. :(

[dswallow]

I have Dr. Who on my season pass manager and it didn't pick up premise of Dr Who. :(
Is your TiVo located in the UK? ;)

[Rob Helmerichs]

I have Dr. Who on my season pass manager and it didn't pick up premise of Dr Who. :(
Well, see, it's about this eccentric fella who travels through space and time in a blue police box...

[Langree]

I have Dr. Who on my season pass manager and it didn't pick up premise of Dr Who. :(

Funny thing, that. :D

[Langree]

No speculation about the Doctor not being alone?

Think there's at least another Timelord somewhere?

[Attack]

No speculation about the Doctor not being alone?

Think there's at least another Timelord somewhere?


I'm still trying to figure that out myself. The Face of Boe said he and The Doctor are the last of their kind. He then tells the doctor that he is not alone. How can their be more timelords if The Doctor is the last of his kind?

[pgogborn]

Perhaps the last of the Time Lords is not exactly the same as the last of thier kind is not exactly the same as being alone.

[pkscout]

I'm still trying to figure that out myself. The Face of Boe said he and The Doctor are the last of their kind. He then tells the doctor that he is not alone. How can their be more timelords if The Doctor is the last of his kind?

That bastard The Master probably survived. He survives everything. ;)

[LoadStar]

I like all of these new Doctor Who episodes, but this was easily the weakest episode so far. There was way too much 'message' going on, as if this episode were written while the writer was stuck in a traffic jam, and just wanted to gripe about it.

It was rather disappointing to that when the episode was set in "New New York," and they frequently referred to American geographical locations, virtually everyone spoke with a British accent. I've been pleasantly surprised by the number of American accents included in the show thus far, where the scripts have called for it, making this episode stick out like a sore thumb. The use of very British driving terms like "motorway" didn't help... "freeway" would be probably a more appropriately "Americanized" term.

As for the "last of our kind"/"you are not alone" disparity... it could be another person or species, similar to the Time Lords, but not a Time Lord... someone the Doctor would find familiar enough to be "at home" with.

[Pralix]

After the Face Of Boe told the Doctor that he wasn't alone, and then the Doctor was talking to Martha about the suns on Galifrey, the scene changed to one with the NNYC skyline and suns in a configuration like the Doctor described. Hmmm.

[Rob Helmerichs]

It was rather disappointing to that when the episode was set in "New New York," and they frequently referred to American geographical locations, virtually everyone spoke with a British accent. I've been pleasantly surprised by the number of American accents included in the show thus far, where the scripts have called for it, making this episode stick out like a sore thumb. The use of very British driving terms like "motorway" didn't help... "freeway" would be probably a more appropriately "Americanized" term.
Well, when they have American characters or settings, they use American accents. But this one was set on another planet, and every other planet they ever go to has a British accent.

[busyba]

Well, when they have American characters or settings, they use American accents. But this one was set on another planet, and every other planet they ever go to has a British accent.
That's the British Empire for you....

[Rob Helmerichs]

That's the British Empire for you....
Well, there may be a British accent on every planet.

But I bet there's also a McDonald's!

[dswallow]

Well, there may be a British accent on every planet.

But I bet there's also a McDonald's!
I bet their drive-thru lanes weren't very efficient, though.

[JimSpence]

My first thought after the "you are not alone" comment was
The Master!
Spoilerized just because I could. :)

[betts4]

I have Dr. Who on my season pass manager and it didn't pick up Dr Who. :(

ACK! My season pass manager didn't pick up the new episode/season either. Is it at the same time on friday nights??/

[Krosis]

The premise was pretty silly and that ruined it for me. I did enjoy it, but the silliness of the premise made it hard for me to take it seriously. But it is Doctor Who, one can never take it to seriously.

[Krosis]

ACK! My season pass manager didn't pick up the new episode/season either. Is it at the same time on friday nights??/It's on Saturday nights... In the UK.

The U.S. viewers are downloading it off the Internet mostly.

[busyba]

It's on Saturday nights... In the UK.

The U.S. viewers are downloading it off the Internet mostly.
I'd say they're downloading it off the Internet entirely. :)

[LoadStar]

I'd say they're downloading it off the Internet entirely. :)
Nuh-uh... I built that really big mast I was talking about... (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4975491&&#post4975491)

;)

[dtle]

If you want some mild spoilers, look up the episodes of this season on wiki. There's a recurring theme (or arc word) like "BAD WOLF" of season 1 and "TORCHWOOD" of season 2. There are some guesses on what that theme is. However, the word only appeared in the XMAS episode and the first of the season so far.

[betts4]

It's on Saturday nights... In the UK.

The U.S. viewers are downloading it off the Internet mostly.

Thanks. Makes sense now. :)

[busyba]

BTW, a slight warning for the next episode. It's going to be a two-parter. So if you're like me, wait until you've downloaded them both before starting to watch. :)

[Agatha Mystery]

Well, while the Face of Boe said that the Doctor wasn't alone, while currently the last of his kind - the two statements aren't necessarily contradictory. Currently, the Doctor is the last of his kind. However, he controls time. Nothing says that something might happen, causing a reversal, or some trans-dimensional shift, moving Time Lords into his current dimension. Remember, Rose is in a parallel dimension. Nothing says that Time Lords don't exist there. As a matter of fact, they may ALL exist there.

Just a thought.

[Langree]

Well, while the Face of Boe said that the Doctor wasn't alone, while currently the last of his kind - the two statements aren't necessarily contradictory. Currently, the Doctor is the last of his kind. However, he controls time. Nothing says that something might happen, causing a reversal, or some trans-dimensional shift, moving Time Lords into his current dimension. Remember, Rose is in a parallel dimension. Nothing says that Time Lords don't exist there. As a matter of fact, they may ALL exist there.
Just a thought.

I actually wondered why the Doc didn't check on that while he was there, or at least made thought of it.

[Agatha Mystery]

I was explaining to the hubby who the Master was, while using Wikipedia and came across
possible casting for the Master for this season. Derek Jacobi is rumored to be the Master in an upcoming episode. Then, possible regeneration into John Simm (Life on Mars main actor) with a character name of Mister Saxon (an anagram of Master No. Six). Isn't Vote Saxon a sign seen during the Smith and Jones episode as well as a couple of Torchwood episodes.


Oh, and did anyone recognize the voice of the male cat? It was Ardal O'Hanlon from My Hero. :D

[Langree]

I was explaining to the hubby who the Master was, while using Wikipedia and came across
possible casting for the Master for this season. Derek Jacobi is rumored to be the Master in an upcoming episode. Then, possible regeneration into John Simm (Life on Mars main actor) with a character name of Mister Saxon (an anagram of Master No. Six). Isn't Vote Saxon a sign seen during the Smith and Jones episode as well as a couple of Torchwood episodes.


Oh, and did anyone recognize the voice of the male cat? It was Ardal O'Hanlon from My Hero. :D

The rumors of an appearance by the Master have been growing all year.

I recognized the voice from Father Ted.

[sonnik]

I actually liked this one. Sure, it wasn't as good as some of the later episodes with Rose, but decent.

I think there are more people, particulary in the US, that would love the entire 44 year storyline. The problem is finding a good entry point... not too much "Doctor Who Cornball Sci-Fi" - but enough to reveal the epic storyline.

When I watched the originals as a kid on PBS, it was flipping through basic cable (early cable days in a small midwest town) and the lack of variety on Friday nights. It was curiosity that made me keep flipping back every weekend and eventually getting addicted.

I think they need episodes like this every now and then so newcomers won't have so much of a "WTF?" perception.

"Father's Day" and "Fear Her" are the only two other episodes I think would come close.

[pgogborn]

I'd say they're downloading it off the Internet entirely. :)Just to go into super pendant mode perhaps one or two are watching via a Slingbox (or similar) or are having DVDs recorded off-air airmailed.

(and to continue in super pendant mode, although I think the person mentioned above by several peeps is by far the most likely explanation of the apparent conflict between what the Face of Boe and the Doctor are saying, I am left wondering whatever became of Doctor Who's granddaughter and is she the daughter of a Doctor Who daughter or a Daughter Who son)

[Brown57]

Just to go into super pendant mode perhaps one or two are watching via a Slingbox (or similar) or are having DVDs recorded off-air airmailed.

(and to continue in super pendant mode, although I think the person mentioned above by several peeps is by far the most likely explanation of the apparent conflict between what the Face of Boe and the Doctor are saying, I am left wondering whatever became of Doctor Who's granddaughter and is she the daughter of a Doctor Who daughter or a Daughter Who son)

Pendant mode? You're hanging from the ceiling? :D

[Rob Helmerichs]

Pendant mode? You're hanging from the ceiling? :D
Oh, now, you're just being pendantic! :D

[cheesesteak]

...plus his realization that he has put yet another companion into profound danger...
The Doctor has been endangering his companions since 1963. I don't know why he gets so emotional about it now.

The crab monsters were pretty silly. This is not an episode I would use to introduce a new person to Doctor Who.

[bustergonad]

I watched this ep with my 8 y.o. son and as soon as the crabs were shown I started going....
"me money, where's me money?" Got a bit of a giggle from my son on that one.

Roy

[Langree]

I am left wondering whatever became of Doctor Who's granddaughter and is she the daughter of a Doctor Who daughter or a Daughter Who son)

going by wiki:

In The Curse of Fenric (1989), the Seventh Doctor states that he does not know if he has any family, which may indicate uncertainty of Susan's whereabouts. In 2005's The End of the World the Ninth Doctor states that his homeworld has been destroyed and that he was the last of the Time Lords. Whether this includes Susan, however, is uncertain, although in Father's Day the Doctor says his "whole family" died, and in The Empty Child some dialogue implies that he is no longer a father or grandfather. In Fear Her, the Tenth Doctor states he "was a Dad once", but does not elaborate further.

[jtlytle]

I'd say they're downloading it off the Internet entirely. :)

I hate download ANY shows from Internet! Reason: No Closed Captioned!! :mad:

[edc]

The crab monsters were pretty silly.

The Macra are forty years old this year, and this was an opportunity to bring back (and update) a creation from the original run that was inventive, but poorly realized the first time around.

Star Trek did something similar when they put Tholians and Gorn in the Mirror-Universe episodes of "Enterprise."

[Pralix]

There were many castes of people on Galifrey. Some were not Time Lords. From the old episodes, it seemed that "Time Lord" was something of an academic title sorta like a Phd. There was also some talk that it was a title of nobility as well. At the supposed age that Susan left the Doctor, it is conceivable that she was not a Time Lady.

[Langree]

Since the idea of the Timelords and Gallifrey wasn't introduced or fleshed out til long after Susan's departure, they have never really fleshed out her background or that part of the Doctor's life, outside of Susan I can't recall any time before the new series and the time war that he has mentioned any family, living or dead.

[VinceA]

I'm guessing that the Master wouldn't have taken part in the 'Time War' against the Daleks since he wasn't exactly a 'team player'. He would probably somehow mask his presence since the Doctor mentioned once that he'd sense any remaining Time Lords if there were any.

[Rob Helmerichs]

Since the idea of the Timelords and Gallifrey wasn't introduced or fleshed out til long after Susan's departure, they have never really fleshed out her background or that part of the Doctor's life, outside of Susan I can't recall any time before the new series and the time war that he has mentioned any family, living or dead.
Back in the old days, they had pretty much ret-conned Susan as granddaughter out (without being explicit) under the pretense that he was just calling her his granddaughter to avoid any sense of impropriety in traveling alone with a young woman. But in recent years, they've backed away from that backing away, again without being explicit. I suspect they either have something in mind and they don't want to tip their hand, or they're just leaving the question open so as not to tie their hands for future storylines.

[busyba]

The crab monsters were pretty silly.
I couldn't help thinking about the "Crab People" from South Park.

"Crab People. Crab People. Taste like crab, talk like people." :D

Of course, DW has a long and storied history of silly monsters. :)

[cheesesteak]

If they ever reintroduce The Master, he had better have a goatee.

[edc]

Back in the old days, they had pretty much ret-conned Susan as granddaughter out (without being explicit) under the pretense that he was just calling her his granddaughter to avoid any sense of impropriety in traveling alone with a young woman. But in recent years, they've backed away from that backing away, again without being explicit. I suspect they either have something in mind and they don't want to tip their hand, or they're just leaving the question open so as not to tie their hands for future storylines.

The "granddaughter in name only" is more a fan extrapolation from the fact the BBC forced that relationship on the producers. For some odd reason, some of DW fandom is enamored of the idea that Gallifreyans have a complicated, "Sci-Fi-ish" method of reproduction. ("Genetic Looms")

IMHO, there are no indications, hints, or anything anywhere in the classic series to enable one to make the claim Susan was anything other than the Doctor's biological granddaughter.

Since the McGann TV movie and into the RTD series, when the series, they *have* made it pretty explicit that Gallifreyan home life and the parent-child relationship are more or less comparable to what we have on earth.

[Rob Helmerichs]

IMHO, there are no indications, hints, or anything anywhere in the classic series to enable one to make the claim Susan was anything other than the Doctor's biological granddaughter.
...except for the fact that he seemed to forget about her after she left...

[Langree]

...except for the fact that he seemed to forget about her after she left...

My grandmother did that if we walked out of the room.

[Sherminator]

I have Dr. Who on my season pass manager and it didn't pick up premise of Dr Who. :(So your Time machine was looking in the wrong places for other time machines eh? :)

Until the reveal of the over city being devoid of life except for the Face of Boe & the Cat, I thought that the use of the Motorway & the fast lane was more population control, than a total break down of order.

Still the one thing that didn't ring true was that no one had realized that there was no law enforcement for 24 years.

[pkscout]

My first thought after the "you are not alone" comment was
The Master!
Spoilerized just because I could. :)

What an interesting idea (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5064374&&#post5064374). ;)

[JimSpence]

Yeah, I know, but people sometimes forget what they've read.
Just wanted to remind them. :)

[rhuntington3]

Good episode! I really liked it! :up: The episode of Confidential for it wasn't too bad either.

[RedDwarfFan]

As has been hinted, Ardal O'Hanlon, who played the cat guy was, in fact, Father Dougal from the show Father Ted. I was never a fan, but some of you might. I thought the makeup was very good.

Not the best story IMHO, but some wonderful dynamics of the Doctor's personality and vulnerability. and yes, I think the speculation is correct - although the one mentioned will always be Roger Delgado to me (but as he died several years ago, it'd be difficult for him to play the role again!). Well, if the Doctor can regenerate...

[tirofiban]

To some extent I think is believable that people will deny the reality of a hopeless situation they are in even if the Pharmacists had not screwed with their minds (bless Bliss as it was said last season).


I really didn't like how they used the term pharmacists in this episode. I am a pharmacist. I'm married to a pharmacists. I have pharmacist friends.

Those vendors in Pharmacy-Town, were no pharmacists! Chemists, maybe, but definitely, not pharmacists. :D

[tirofiban]

I'm guessing that the Master wouldn't have taken part in the 'Time War' against the Daleks since he wasn't exactly a 'team player'. He would probably somehow mask his presence since the Doctor mentioned once that he'd sense any remaining Time Lords if there were any.

The Master does whatever is in his best interest. Offer him a complete set of new regenerations, and he'll fight the Daleks, no problem. And he probably wouldn't fight fair either.

[tirofiban]

This episode reminded me a little bit of the Paradise Towers in it's overall feel, but with better special effects and a better storyline. I thought the whole traffic thing was pretty funny.

I was really disappointed by the Face of Boe's secret. For 3 seasons, we've been waiting for the secret. What kind of secret was that?

It's almost a given the Master is alive and well somewhere. The Master doesn't die, he just regenerates. We've known the Doctor isn't alone since day one. There is at least one more of his kind. The question is it just the Doctor and the Master or are there more and where are they and how did they survive?

Where was the payoff from this episode? Even LOST gives more detail than that.

[tirofiban]

It was rather disappointing to that when the episode was set in "New New York," and they frequently referred to American geographical locations, virtually everyone spoke with a British accent. I've been pleasantly surprised by the number of American accents included in the show thus far, where the scripts have called for it, making this episode stick out like a sore thumb. The use of very British driving terms like "motorway" didn't help... "freeway" would be probably a more appropriately "Americanized" term.


Wasn't New York originally based on York in the UK? So who's to say New, New, New York is based on York, New York, or both? Me, I don't worry about these things. I just watch, relax, a have a jelly baby. :D

[Sherminator]

Wasn't New York originally based on York in the UK?.....Not really, New York City stands on the site of the original Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam, which the British gained in the Treaty of Westminster, and the lands granted by King Charles II to his brother, the Duke Of York, who changed the land's name to New York to reflect the regions new 'owner'.

[busyba]

Not really, New York City stands on the site of the original Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam, which the British gained in the Treaty of Westminster, and the lands granted by King Charles II to his brother, the Duke Of York, who changed the land's name to New York to reflect the regions new 'owner'.

I thought it was because people just liked it better that way (http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~yavuzcet/lyrics.htm) :D

[windracer]

I was really disappointed by the Face of Boe's secret. For 3 seasons, we've been waiting for the secret. What kind of secret was that?
Did they mention the secret in season 1? I just went back and browsed through "New Earth" (season 2 premier) when the Doctor and Rose first visited New New York. The cat nurse mentioned the secret then, and at the end Boe said something to the effect that "when we meet the next time, for the third time, I will reveal my secret." I had forgotten all about that encounter until this episode.

I know Boe was in season 1, during the end-of-Earth "party" on the Bad Wolf platform, but I don't have my season 1 episodes handy to scan through to see if the secret was mentioned.

[Agatha Mystery]

Did they mention the secret in season 1? I just went back and browsed through "New Earth" (season 2 premier) when the Doctor and Rose first visited New New York. The cat nurse mentioned the secret then, and at the end Boe said something to the effect that "when we meet the next time, for the third time, I will reveal my secret." I had forgotten all about that encounter until this episode.

I know Boe was in season 1, during the end-of-Earth "party" on the Bad Wolf platform, but I don't have my season 1 episodes handy to scan through to see if the secret was mentioned.
It was mentioned by a third party, IIRC, that he held a secret that he wouldn't reveal until he died.