Re: Doctor Who - He Who Would Valiant Be

In article <1180226978.197604.11330@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Flying Tortoise <purple.mug@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On May 26, 9:20 pm, Dave Arnold <daveY...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article <5e6dnYcBpZpkGMXbRVny...@xxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Enzo Matrix <enz...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

A decent episode tonight.

You mean apart from the central plot:

A. There exists a technology that can track a single object through
the entirety of space and time - and we know the TARDIS is capable of
making random destination choices which would rule out most forms of
tracking based on future projections.

Did anybody actually say 'technology'? It appears to be an ability,
enhanced perhaps by technology, but certainly not dependent upon it.
And who mentioned future projections?

I've deleted the recording, but I'm pretty certain the Doctor did in the
bit at the begining that was hard to hear because of the damn "background"
music. And I'm very confused about what they were tracking. They didn't
seem to be able to detect it from a distance of a few miles when the pocket
watch was closed so how did they do it from wherever they started?
And what exactly is the green mist supposed to be? The Doctor's genetic
makeup and memories? Why would that be represented by a mist?

B. The Doctor just happens to have a machine installed in the TARDIS
that can convert a "Time Lord" into a human - but which can obviously
be reverted just by letting out "the essence of Time Lord".

Well the plot if he doesn't have one's not exactly sparkling. 'Family'
finds Doctor and does whatever. What's in the remaining half hour? In
case you hadn't noticed, genetic/identity manipulation in various
forms is an underlying theme of this series.

This is one of the problems I have with the new Doctor Who. They think of
an idea and then shoehorn it into the Doctor Who universe bending or
ignoring established backstories. There is absolutely no reason for a
machine used by a group of observers to have a built in genetic
manipulator, and no plausible reason for the Doctor to have added one that
was immediately available and working.
And I had noticed the genetic/identity manipulation trend and thought the
writers were just being lazy, it never occurred to me they were doing it
deliberately because they have a whole universe of story lines to choose
from to make the series interesting.


C. The TARDIS, given the whole of space and time to choose from, just
happens to put the Doctor back on Earth in a period of history that
has no technology that even just a human could use to defend
themselves against an advanced species.

You don't seem to have grasped the essentials of concealment. You must
have been crap at 'hide and seek'.

To use a paraphrase "what kind of scary arse games did you play as a kid?".
They aren't playing "hide and seek" they are being tracked. How would being
on technologically advanced planet have impeded the concealment?

And if the pocket watch was so important why bother having it lying
around for anyone to pick up and open - why didn't Martha just carry
it around?

Because it would lead to all sorts of questions if it was found on her
person being as what she's a lowly maid and all. Nobody would question
it being on a mantelpiece in a private study and in that time and
place people did not casually wander around someone's dwelling
appraising their watches. Hidden in plain sight is usually a wise
strategy - it's just unfortunate if you happen to have a thought
reader amongst your visitors.

And people were more likely to go around searching maids than admiring a
teachers pocket watch were they?
If the idea was that Martha had easy access to the watch to open it when
the Doctor was around then why not leave it in the TARDIS and fetch it when
required - it didn't seem that difficult for her to reach. Of course, how
stupid of me, because the plot required the kid to take the watch and he
couldn't do that if it was locked away.
And what is the point of the thought reading kid anyway? I suppose it's
some vital part of the plot resolution in part 2 so we'll just accept that
some abnormal human happens to be around when needed.


And did they really teach boys to shoot Gatling guns in public school
or, as I suspect, is it just to introduce a prop that will come in
handy in part two?

They most certainly did. Public schools were effectively the TA of the
day.

I wouldn't have been surprised to see them being taught rifle shooting, but
I wouldn't have thought that rapid-fire weapons would have been prevalent
enough to teach to people who would normally be expected to become
officers.

Dave.

--
Please remove your hat before replying.
.

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