Turn Left Se 4 ep 11

pixelburp

Wow, that was pretty grim stuff; notwithstanding the nods to the previous camp episodes, overall that was one of the darkest stories told in the new Series. The scene with the family being taken away to the "Labour camps" was powerful

I loved how we learnt that Torchwood / Sarah Jane still tried to fight the good fight without the Doctor. Not sure Rose's involvement made a whole lot of sense, if any, but it worked well in the end.

But how about that trailer; Who meets Torchwood! Gwen & Ianto! Daleks! Sarah Jane!

The Master

Great episode

The next time trailer looks unbelievable:eek:

monkeyfudge

It might have worked better if Donna wasn't such an unpleasant self absorbed character...

I did like the new more confident Rose though.

The evil beetle alien thing was utterly atrocious. No effort at all made to make the thing look realistic or organic in any way whatsoever.

Mr E

I liked it, clever episode, and grim stuff indeed.

Can't wait for next week.

Did Billie have a tooth out or something? She was talking with a bit of a slur, like her mouth had just been numbed....

deRanged

didn't like this one at all. so much shouting ....

There was some nice stuff, but the fact that it was totally Donna centric, and I can't stand the character meant I really didn't like this at all.

rossie1977

great episode and the teaser for the next two weeks looks amazing

Stark

Not bad at all, especially for an RTD episode. Donna was annoying once again, but I guess they had to show her pre-Doctor character vs the character she became after meeting the Doctor. I did like watching the transformation appear over the course of the episode and that made the ending more powerful I thought.

I don't like the look of next week's episode tbh; someone should teach RTD about "less is more". It might help his waistline as well. Although I did get a little excited about the prospect of meeting the Torchwood team again.

BuffyBot

It was ok. "What If..?" episodes have been done better before, and Rose's appearance just seemed jammed in for the hell of it.

No wonder next week's episode is longer. The opening credits will take up most of the time...

thusspakeblixa

I really liked that.
Except for RTD's ''I wanted an explosion'' in Confidential...
And I was quite scared that Sarah Jane had died too...

pixelburp

Well I dunno - the idea of Torchwood vs. Daleks does sound fun; and I also noticed that Sarah Jane's adopted son (doesn't he have some mysterious background?) is in it too so they really are cramming in every major "good" character from the modern mythology. Surprised we didn't see Jenny in the trailer as one would have thought she would be in it given how they're cleraly trying to use every companion

Jack B. Badd

Mr E wrote: »

Did Billie have a tooth out or something? She was talking with a bit of a slur, like her mouth had just been numbed....

I noticed that too. I assume she got veneers or something. Decent episode despite that

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

what the blind **** happened to rose's teeth?

the top ones seem to have moved about 2 cm forward

monkeyfudge

It's more difficult than ever to try and figure out what part of her face is the largest.

Stark

Her accent seems ever more stupid as well these days.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

just finished it... i liked it alot. the bees were mentioned too, i wonder is this being set up for one of the movies?

monkeyfudge

Stark wrote: »

Her accent seems ever more stupid as well these days.

I was watching her on Doctor Who Confidential... did she always have that horrendous posh accent?

Doctor DooM

Can't decide whether I liked that or not... I did like RTD kind of going full circle with Bad Wolf, though.

Mahatma coat

I thought it was OK, I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed Billies accent, interestin setup, what is donna in all this, is Rose 'transformed' in some way as a timelord ????????

pixelburp

Ah just put it down to living in that parallel universe

ixoy

I quite liked this one - for an RTD episode it was nicely subdued. Sure the concept of showing the "What if.." scenario isn't new but they did well in incorporating the various Earth-bound storylines that would have been affected - although I'd have loved to have seen them show the various SJA storylines that would have been affected as well.

I know a lot of people can't stand Donna, but I quite like her character so I didn't mind her commanding the screen time here. Admittedly she was a bit too shouty in parts but, as Stark points out, her shouty nature was only ever calmed down by meeting the Doctor. I think CT had some good moments here.

Rose's presence wasn't too strong here (thankfully) although she did sound funny. She didn't impede the storyline and at least she had something useful to impart.

One thing that was done poorly was the design of the bug, which would not have looked remotely out of place in the series original run. Indeed when she sees the bug on her back in full in the warehouse, it looked as if she was wearing some silly backpack - there was no sense of animation in the design.

As to where it goes from here - I've a feeling that trying to incorporate everyone is going to be completely self-indulgent, with no time to really focus on anyone. I hope to be wrong but the Kitchen Sink approach (and the fact that everything ever ever ever is now in trouble!) leads me to worry.

Doctor DooM

Mahatma coat wrote: »

I thought it was OK, I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed Billies accent, interestin setup, what is donna in all this, is Rose 'transformed' in some way as a timelord ????????

Here's a thought.

Rose said she was bad wolf.

What if that was not Rose, but the Tardis' heart manifesting itself?

Just a thought.

monkeyfudge

ixoy wrote: »

One thing that was done poorly was the design of the bug, which would not have looked remotely out of place in the series original run. Indeed when she sees the bug on her back in full in the warehouse, it looked as if she was wearing some silly backpack - there was no sense of animation in the design.

Yep. It's clearly a bit of merchandise waiting to happen... I can see all kids having them as school bags later this year.

In Doctor Who Confidential they showed a clip from Planet of the Spiders... those spiders looked far more creepy and organic looking.

Oh yes.. speaking of merchandise... I noticed today that Smyths are selling off the Dalek Hybrid voice changer heads for just 15 euro.

BlitzKrieg

hmmm


so the crux point of the season finale

is Roses brief stint as an all powerful time changing being setting something in motion, the question is what? Was she unable to physically remove the daleks completely or maybe the process of wiping them out restarted the original line as some sort galactic balance?

It was a good episode. I think though the lead up to it (the prior trailer) gave too much away

though I did like

that there was no Master, no doctor, no Master.

pixelburp

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

hmmm


so the crux point of the season finale

is Roses brief stint as an all powerful time changing being setting something in motion, the question is what? Was she unable to physically remove the daleks completely or maybe the process of wiping them out restarted the original line as some sort galactic balance?

It was a good episode. I think though the lead up to it (the prior trailer) gave too much away

though I did like

that there was no Master, no doctor, no Master.

Well that makes sense given how it was the TARDIS that allowed the Master to come back to our time as Saxon. In that alternate universe he is still Professor Yana trying to get humanity to Utopia (and presumably perishing there too)

Nevyn

Best use of a recap espisode ever in any scifi series.

Mahatma coat

yeah I was expectin 'Mr Saxons Orders' after the fire command was given against the Racnor ship. mahoosivlewy dissapointed

monkeyfudge

As for the ending... personally I would have tried to find a mobile phone to call myself or my mother... But if Donna wants to throw herself in front of a truck then I'm not going to complain.

popebenny16

Well for me this again showed that Catherine Tate was indeed a hidden gem of an actress. She has played the human counterpoint to the doctor very well this year.

As for Rose, well, that high class knocking shop in that parallel universe (aka ITV) would require a bit of the aul cosmetic, and indeed her voice has always been that plummy. She has fairly often hinted that she thinks Rose is a complete Chav (indeed another hint made in confidential this week) and not the sorta person she'd go out on the town with.

I thought Bernard Cribbens was excellent, but there was a little plot hole... no Doctor on the Titanic means that the initial plan for it to burn up in the atmosphere and kill everyone happens, not just crash into London. Not to take away from a really good, solid, fun episode.

And, to cap it all, the second genuine hiding-behind-the sofa-moment of the series, when Donna started kooking at the lucky bag Beetle which caused my daughter to scarper.

As for next week.... well, RTD is leaving..... maybe he's taking all HIS characters with him.

pixelburp

Yeah, I think Bernard Cribbens has shown some great acting chops. I've said it before; I'd love it if he got a quick spin on the TARDIS cos bless his socks, he has the enthusiasm and steely resolve.

The Master

RTD is still in charge for the 4 specials so were not rid of him yet

ixoy

popebenny16 wrote: »

As for next week.... well, RTD is leaving..... maybe he's taking all HIS characters with him.

He better leave Sarah Jane - she's not his to take!

monkeyfudge

I'm going to go and sit down and watch Sarah Jane Adventures this week in preparation for the finale of Doctor Who.

Is it any good? Don't think I've seen too much about it in the forum here.

aidan_walsh

Looking at the episode entry on Wikipedia, I see (and will need to verify for myself later) that

in The Fires of Pompeii the soothsayer Lucius (the guy who referenced Gallifrey to the Doctor) told Donna that there was something on her back. Foreshadowing this episode, or Donna walking out of a shower Bobby Ewing stylee at the season end? Or worse (?) - is Donna really going to die?

Sleepy

Best RTD episode since the first series...

Absolutely loved it.

ixoy

monkeyfudge wrote: »

I'm going to go and sit down and watch Sarah Jane Adventures this week in preparation for the finale of Doctor Who.

Is it any good? Don't think I've seen too much about it in the forum here.

Yes I thought it was very good. I think it was a very good example of how to do a kids show well (whereas its parent show isn't always a good example of a family show).

Sarah Jane is great (this we know) but the kids are pretty good too - especially
as they got rid of the annoying one from the pilot. The stories are two parters so they're as detailed as the main show (more often enough) and the tone can be surprisingly dark at times - the two parter "What Ever Happened to Sarah Jane?" is as adult and intelligent as anything that's come out of Seasons 27-30.

Definitely recommend by me.

monkeyfudge

ixoy wrote: »

Yes I thought it was very good. I think it was a very good example of how to do a kids show well (whereas its parent show isn't always a good example of a family show).

Sarah Jane is great (this we know) but the kids are pretty good too - especially
as they got rid of the annoying one from the pilot. The stories are two parters so they're as detailed as the main show (more often enough) and the tone can be surprisingly dark at times - the two parter "What Ever Happened to Sarah Jane?" is as adult and intelligent as anything that's come out of Seasons 27-30.

Definitely recommend by me.

Yep. Started watching it yesterday and I'm already half way through the first season. Solid performances all round. And it does something that Doctor Who doesn't do often enough... namely separating the characters into groups and having them deal with different aspects of the same problem... this better be the way they do things on Who next week.. I'd hate to see that big group of guest stars plodding about the place after the Doctor.

I'm looking forward to watching 'What Ever Happened to Sarah Jane?' next as they showed a clip from it on Doctor Who Confidential as it features another member of the Tricksters Brigade and it looked pretty neat.

iguana

In the next two episodes the Doctor had better somehow cause the destruction of the Pyroville homeworld, otherwise this episode should have been about some rock people who have been ruling the earth for the last 1929 years.

Other than that it was great episode.

The Master

iguana wrote: »

In the next two episodes the Doctor had better somehow cause the destruction of the Pyroville homeworld, otherwise this episode should have been about some rock people who have been ruling the earth for the last 1929 years.

Other than that it was great episode.

What? What? What?

Turn left was just a what if? episode,

With the Doctor supposed to be dead after The Runaway Bride , The Pyrovilles/witches from The Shakespeare Code/Daleks in 1930's New York and many others should have destroyed the Earth by now but didnt.

The beetle on Donnas back only changed certain elements to re-jig the timeline.

AngryBadger

Princess Innocent Knickers wrote: »

just finished it... i liked it alot. the bees were mentioned too, i wonder is this being set up for one of the movies?

There are movies?

Loved this episode, prompted me to go back and watch "The parting of ways" and "Army of Ghosts" again.

Thought the "space beetle" was just lazy, but other than that I loved the "re-shoots" of all the major disasters which occured without the doctor to prevent them.

Would have liked if they'd either made more of an effort to explain how the Doctor died, or just said "He's dead Jim" and left it at that.

"He must not have had time to regenerate" just felt weak. Definitely would have preferred if they had avoided the regeneration reference altogether unless they had a decent explanation.

Looking forward to the finale, but also dreading it, one year "break" coming up right?

monkeyfudge

AngryBadger wrote: »

There are movies?

Looking forward to the finale, but also dreading it, one year "break" coming up right?

The feature length episodes mentioned are what we'll have next year instead of a full series.

pixelburp

AngryBadger wrote: »

Would have liked if they'd either made more of an effort to explain how the Doctor died, or just said "He's dead Jim" and left it at that.

"He must not have had time to regenerate" just felt weak. Definitely would have preferred if they had avoided the regeneration reference altogether unless they had a decent explanation.

Looking forward to the finale, but also dreading it, one year "break" coming up right?

Well they did explain it - he drowned while trying to escape the Racnoss' facility; the point was that Donna was the one who brought the Doctor back to reality & made him get the fook out of there when the water came rushing in (we see a flashback of this later on). Without Donna, the Doctor stayed that bit too long & drowned.

iguana

Robster The Lobster wrote: »

What? What? What?

Turn left was just a what if? episode,

With the Doctor supposed to be dead after The Runaway Bride , The Pyrovilles/witches from The Shakespeare Code/Daleks in 1930's New York and many others should have destroyed the Earth by now but didnt.

The beetle on Donnas back only changed certain elements to re-jig the timeline.

See I enjoyed the episode I really did, but the thing that makes science fiction good is that once you create a world with fantastical science you have to stick within your created rules or it just gets nonsensical. Like when superheroes die but then come back to life, or when a tv series beats the big bad of the season with something which has never been heard of or hinted at until the exact moment it is used. It's lazy.

So if you say the doctor died in Runaway Bride then everything he faced over the last two series has to have changed not just some of it. And it would have been the Pyrovilles on earth as they were the first thing he stopped in linear time.

Stark

It was said in the episode that Torchwood and Sarah Jane stepped in during his abscence on several occasions (until they were eventually killed).

ixoy

iguana wrote: »

See I enjoyed the episode I really did, but the thing that makes science fiction good is that once you create a world with fantastical science you have to stick within your created rules or it just gets nonsensical.

'Doctor Who' has always been sloppy with consistency, in over its core areas - "The Aztecs" makes a pointed lesson of not being to change time but "The Pyramid of Mars" debunks that. It varies all over the place. Just pretend that Torchwood reversed the polarity of the neutron flow a few times and stopped all those disasters

pixelburp

Also, don't forget that according to the Doctor, the explosion at Pompeii *has* to happen, and has always happened, regardless of interference from those outside of that time. So then it's easy to assume that with or without the Doctor's assistance, the events would have played out roughly the same. The insinuation is that all the "modern" Earth episodes are set in a time when time/space is in flux, hence all the what-ifs happening & the disasters befalling the Earth.

Good lord Matron, I do believe I'm trying to reconcile Who continuity. There's no hope for me now. :eek:

iguana

ixoy wrote: »

'Doctor Who' has always been sloppy with consistency, in over its core areas - "The Aztecs" makes a pointed lesson of not being to change time but "The Pyramid of Mars" debunks that. It varies all over the place. Just pretend that Torchwood reversed the polarity of the neutron flow a few times and stopped all those disasters

I still enjoyed it, it was really good episode. Just like I really loved Buffy, but Whedon was always pulling **** like that too. Magic jewel never hinted at before magically destroys hellmouth in last episode for example. And RTD is huge Buffy fan.

ETA

I'm going to explain like this; time feeding beetles weren't designed to **** with timelines featuring Timelords, so the changes made could only be ones that are linear to the new timeline of the person who's back it's on. And in fact that is why it created parallel world around Donna instead of letting the regular universe adjust around her.

daithi_student

iguana wrote: »

In the next two episodes the Doctor had better somehow cause the destruction of the Pyroville homeworld, otherwise this episode should have been about some rock people who have been ruling the earth for the last 1929 years.

Other than that it was great episode.

The way i looked at it was the "time beetle" fed off of the "what could have been energy" in Donna's life but if the pyrovillians or the carrionites or daleks had destroyed the earth/humans before this time Donna would not exist and the time beetle would not exist creating a weird paradox type thing. So it changed enough to live and feed but left enough to survive. I hope i'm making sense i tend to ramble in long posts...:rolleyes:

iguana

daithi_student wrote: »

The way i looked at it was the "time beetle" fed off of the "what could have been energy" in Donna's life but if the pyrovillians or the carrionites or daleks had destroyed the earth/humans before this time Donna would not exist and the time beetle would not exist creating a weird paradox type thing. So it changed enough to live and feed but left enough to survive. I hope i'm making sense i tend to ramble in long posts...:rolleyes:

Good theory, I'll choose to believe that one too.

monkeyfudge

Well I just watched the episode of SJA called "Whatever Ever Happened to Sarah Jane?" It's essentially a prequel to this episode and I recommend everyone try and see it.

The Trickster in that (Who was way cooler looking than that stupid beetle) said that when he removed Sarah Jane from time that he prevented the aliens through manipulation that she'd previously stopped from destroying the world as he wanted a very specific thing to be responsible for the Earth's destruction. He also made reference to the 'darkness' too.

AngryBadger

pixelburp wrote: »

Well they did explain it - he drowned while trying to escape the Racnoss' facility; the point was that Donna was the one who brought the Doctor back to reality & made him get the fook out of there when the water came rushing in (we see a flashback of this later on). Without Donna, the Doctor stayed that bit too long & drowned.

Ah yeah I have no problem with that part at all.

My problem was how they just discarded the whole regeneration thing with the idea that he didn't have time. Maybe I'm being terribly anal *snigger*, I just felt it was a bit too simplistic.

I realise Doctor Who in general survives as a fantastic show because they don't mind ignoring things like in every attempt to correct history, doesn't the Doctor change it just by being there? For example in the pompeii episode wouldn't the father of the family he saved have written about the Doc in his account of the eruption?

Doctor DooM

AngryBadger wrote: »

Ah yeah I have no problem with that part at all.

My problem was how they just discarded the whole regeneration thing with the idea that he didn't have time. Maybe I'm being terribly anal *snigger*, I just felt it was a bit too simplistic.

I realise Doctor Who in general survives as a fantastic show because they don't mind ignoring things like in every attempt to correct history, doesn't the Doctor change it just by being there? For example in the pompeii episode wouldn't the father of the family he saved have written about the Doc in his account of the eruption?

In Fathers Day, they basically explain this away by the Doctor saying "I know what I am doing!" whereas other people do not. So basically he is acting by laws we know not wot of.

I'd argue he couldnt regenerate because he drowned. There was no air. Sure he could have regenerated and just died again, over and over, suffocating with each life...