Sorry, Captain. I'm real sorry. I shoulda kept better care of her. Usually she lets me know when something's wrong. Maybe she did, I just wasn't paying attention...

Kaylee ,'Out Of Gas'


Natter 65: Speed Limit Enforced by Aircraft  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, pandas, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


amych - Apr 23, 2010 10:37:59 am PDT #24688 of 30001
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?

Didn't that iteration have a really woo-woo spiralling graphic in the opener, too?

Tom Baker credits start at about 2:50 in this video: [link]

OMG I can't believe I'm using the complete set of Doctor Who credits as reference material.

Anyway, most of the sequences have done spirally trippy tunnel things (I, err, think it's supposed to represent time travel or something), but you can totally see the state of special effects at any given time. The current show has way more budget than some of the earlier iterations, and correspondingly less effects consisting of turning the screen funny colors and spinning the image around. (Also less costuming with bubble wrap and spray paint).


Frankenbuddha - Apr 23, 2010 10:40:22 am PDT #24689 of 30001
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"

The current show has way more budget than some of the earlier iterations, and correspondingly less effects consisting of turning the screen funny colors and spinning the image around. (Also less costuming with bubble wrap and spray paint).

The most recent iteration has raised some disturbing associations, though.


Kathy A - Apr 23, 2010 10:43:02 am PDT #24690 of 30001
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil

(Also less costuming with bubble wrap and spray paint).

Don't forget the wobbly walls.

And since they're no longer doing each story in four half-hour segments, there's less need to have tons of filler of the Doctor and his companion(s) running here and there, although they do still have a few minutes of it in most episodes. (I loved Donna Noble's line when she's describing life with the Doctor as "...running. There's a lot of running.")


Strega - Apr 23, 2010 10:43:33 am PDT #24691 of 30001

Why would anyone spell my name iTa?

Maybe they think you're an Apple product?


§ ita § - Apr 23, 2010 10:45:57 am PDT #24692 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Maybe they think you're an Apple product?

I am not paid enough to be Apple, let me tell you.

The "T" in iTa is creepy and weird and hanging its arms over the little "i" and "a". I don't like it.


Jesse - Apr 23, 2010 10:49:43 am PDT #24693 of 30001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

They're trying to avoid saying eeda.


§ ita § - Apr 23, 2010 10:55:53 am PDT #24694 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

I was on a call today with someone WHOSE NAME RHYMES WITH MINE that pronounced it eye-ta.

PEOPLE. What's your problem?

Damn, I'm all covered in the cranky today.

Okay. Back to the flowchart.


flea - Apr 23, 2010 10:57:09 am PDT #24695 of 30001
information libertarian

My father used to watch Dr. Who and I recall seeing it (probably in the mid-80s) and being so appalled by the obviously cardboard-and-tinfoil special effects that I was not interested. I didn't realize that the cardboard-and-tinfoil special effects were in fact a great tradition to be cherished.


Kathy A - Apr 23, 2010 11:03:36 am PDT #24696 of 30001
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil

I didn't realize that the cardboard-and-tinfoil special effects were in fact a great tradition to be cherished.

There's a great spoof of Doctor Who that was done for Comic Relief in England called "Doctor Who and the Curse of the Fatal Death" with Rowan Atkinson as the Doctor, Julia Sawalha as his companion, Jonathan Price as the Master (his nemesis), and special cameos by Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, Richard E. Grant, and Joanna Lumley, which celebrated every last cliche of the classic series, from the cheesy overacting, to the running, to the cheap costumes and set.

ETA: Which I only just found out now was written by Steven Moffat, who is the new showrunner!!


shrift - Apr 23, 2010 11:08:18 am PDT #24697 of 30001
"You can't put a price on the joy of not giving a shit." -Zenkitty

I just signed up for the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge! And I'm definitely buying a CSA share.

...it's possible I'm gathering ammunition to throw at my doctor in case he is disappointed at my lack of weight loss.