Doctor Who: 3x03 Gridlock

[kerravonsen]

Okay, that was good!

That last bit, where the Doctor tells Martha what Gallifrey was like, that actually brought tears to my eyes.

CHARACTERS
Martha is good again -- she has good ideas, she's not stupid, she's empathetic, she's practical, and she won't take nonsense from the Doctor.

The Doctor was good again also; determined, manic, inventive, evasive, sorrowful, and of course, saving the day. I'm not quite sure what he thinks of Martha, though.

I liked the cat-driver (whatever his name was) he was amusing. And the two old ladies, knitting and car-spotting.

PLOT
Now, I liked this plot. Very cyberpunk, but I was expecting it to be "evil neglectful upper-class leave the underclass to die because they don't care" -- but to find that the upperclass were all dead, and that the underclass been trapped on the motorway in order to save their lives, well, I liked that twist.

STYLE
Cyberpunk noir, yes. Selling "happy", and "forget", yes. "Everyone goes to the Motorway"... Exhaust-smog and something creepy and dangerous living in the Fast Lane...
And the double-take at seeing the Novice with a gun...
The designers must have had fun with all the different car-inhabitants.

Other stuff:

Considering the trailer for next week's episode, I reckon the Face of Boe's "secret" ("You are not alone") was simply that, yes, the Daleks (or at least one Dalek) were still around. That's all. I don't think it means that there are other Time Lord survivors, because the Face of Boe did explicitly say that they were both the last of their kinds.
A bit annoying, but then, secrets that tend to have huge build-ups never live up to their reputation.

Namecheck: The Macra presumably from The Macra Terror.

Comments

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

That was a great ep and I liked that twist too.

As for 'you are not alone', I assume he means the Master.

[kerravonsen]

Yes, I've heard the rumour that Mr. Saxon is the Master, but I don't believe it.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Why not?

[kerravonsen]

Basing a theory on an anagram of someone's name plus wishful thinking isn't convincing enough for me. It sounds like all the theories that were flying around about what "Bad Wolf" meant, and they were all wrong.

My inclination is that if everybody believes it, then it must be wrong : rumours encouraged to be misleading.

Other factors that make me disbelieve it are that it's canonically inconsistent, such as what I mentioned above about what the Face of Boe said, plus other assertions which happened with Nine, that seem to confirm that he really is the only Time Lord left. Not that they couldn't retcon that, but they'd have to explain it.

Perhaps it's also wishful thinking on my part, because I can't see how they could bring back the Master and actually make a good job of it, so I'd rather they didn't.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yes, they could be playing with us. Would they go so far as to announce that John Simms is playing the Master though?

[kerravonsen]

Why, have they?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yep. Not that I can find it on their site now, but a google turns up lots of references.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

This is one of the reports I saw, but it is the Sun. :-P

[kerravonsen]

Yes, well the British newspapers have printed all sorts of ridiculous stuff, including the one that the Doctor was going to turn into a woman.

It might be true, but I hope it isn't.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Oh and there's the official Vote Saxon site (which is also an LJ feed) in particular this bit. But that could indeed be playing with us. I don't go to the official sites, but several people on my flist mentioned this one. [shrug]

[kerravonsen]

We shall have to wait and see.

I watched the "confidential" for "Gridlock" last night, and they said that both Boe and the Doctor were correct -- that is, that "You are not alone" and that "I am the last of the Time Lords". That's plus one for my theory. Unless of course they try to do the same sort of cop-out that they did for the "Rose is dead" thing -- that they bring back a Time Lord who technically isn't a Time Lord.

Speculation just brings sorrow.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Like the Master? Or Romana? Sorry, I've watched very little old Who, mainly Four.

[kerravonsen]

No, I don't know how they would twist the definition of "Time Lord" to make it work.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't think the Master technically qualifies any more, after having stolen human bodies, and having turned into a Cheetah Person and a snakey thing, and everything else. :)

And the Gallifrey scene at the end really kind of choked me up, too. Is it me, or is the whole thing somehow made so much more poignant by the fact that he couldn't stand to spend time there back when it still existed?

[kerravonsen]

Is it me, or is the whole thing somehow made so much more poignant by the fact that he couldn't stand to spend time there back when it still existed?

A classic case of "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone". Mind you, we know from a few throwaway lines that he did have some fond memories of the place, such as times with the Hermit (whoever he was).

Thinking about it, considering how old the First Doctor was when we meet him (and we know that Time Lords age slower than humans, just look at Romana who was a "mere" 125) he must have spent a fair amount of time on Gallifrey before he left with Susan.

IMHO, I think Susan triggered a personal crisis for him, which prompted them to leave. And also, IMHO, I think his wife must have been dead by that time.