If you haven't watched Doctor Who since you were a child, or you have never seen an episode ever, you must catch this new season.

The Tenth Doctor is played by the wonderful David Tennant, who is my favorite of all the Doctors.

Those Etrainers who know how much of a Whovian I am will not be surprised to know that I've been counting down the days until tomorrow!

I have seen this first episode, and it is bloody fantastic!

The new season starts Friday night, April 18th, at 8:30pm PST on the SciFi Channel.

Cfans, eyfinsf, where are you? What have you thought about the first few episodes?

Sorry wee. I keep meaning to post . . . The problem for me is that I can't keep myself from watching the shows before they're broadcast on the SciFi channel and I don't want to post any spoilers here. I've seen up to episode 5, while only the first two have been broadcast here.

Let me first say that I love Catherine Tate as Donna. When I first heard the news that she was cast to be the companion this year, I wasn't too happy. While I did enjoy her in the "Bride" episode, I knew I couldn't stand to hear her screeching for 13 episodes as a fulltime companion. But she's been brilliant. The interaction between her and the Doctor is sometime hilarious and sometimes very touching. She really makes him think about some of the things that he does. Like what she did at the end of the "Fires of Pompei".

Seeing Rose at the end of the first episode, "Partners in Crime" was a huge surprise. It completely surprised even the best of the spoiler hunters. No one knew it was coming. I wonder why she faded away as she walked away though. Does she now have the ability to cross between dimensions at will?

Have you ever watched Doctor Who Confidential on youtube? It's broadcast in Great Britain shortly after each episode. It gives a detailed look into the workings behind the scenes. Last night I watched the one done for "Partners in Crime". I didn't realize that Bernard Cribbins was cast in the role of Donna's grandfather right before the episode was filmed. Originally, the character of her father was to be the one Donna was closest to, but the actor died. You can see that actor reading the lines that were eventually given to the "grandfather "in the read-through that occurs with all actors and production people before any filming is done in the Confidential episode. They decided not to recast the father but instead to bring in Cribbins as the grandfather. I love his character. He shows up again in episodes 4 and 5. Here's a link to Confidential:

Doctor Who Confidential - Partners in Crime Part 1

and here's the link to part of the Confidential broadcast after "Fires of Pompei".

David Tennant visits Pompei

I am loving David Tennant more and more in this role. Everyone who meets him reports that he is extremely nice and very charming. I can't wait to see him in Hamlet in July and to hear what accent he will use (I so want to hear his real voice in person). I'm so glad we're staying over in Stratford-upon-Avon that night and don't have to rush to catch a train . . . my friend and I plan on trying to meet him after the play.

Hello there!

So no one knew about Rose being in the first episode? Wow. It was a little freaky when she disappeared. I think that she can now cross between the two parallel universes, and my thought is that if she figured out how to do that, she won't be too happy with the Doctor.

After a few emails with the forum administrator, I finally got access to gallifreyone! I may have to amend my spoiler decision, because I SO want to find out why Rose is back! I'll let you know if I do.

First, I have to say that I loved the Christmas episode. I had seen it already on YouTube, but it was wonderful to see it in HD! I'm so glad that Comcast recently added the SciFi Channel in HD! I thought Kylie Minogue was great, and David Tennant keeps raising the bar for himself in his performances. I love how commanding he was. I also liked the actor who plays Richard in Keeping Up Appearances. I loved his character, and I'm glad he got to be a millionaire in the end!

I like how in "Partners in Crime," the Doctor made it very clear that he just wanted a friend, nothing more.

I also enjoyed "Fires of Pompeii," and, like you said, Donna makes him think about his actions. I liked when he said, "You're right. Sometimes I do need someone."

I have watched the Doctor Who Confidentials. It's funny, SciFi and BBCA do not show them, but my local PBS station does! They show them after their Doctor who episodes. I think right now they are on David's first season. So I have set them to record, so I've seen some that way, and I've tried to catch up on all the others on YouTube. I haven't seen any yet for this season--thanks for the links!

I am so excited for you for your trip this summer! I'm with you--I really hope he uses his Scottish accent. Why not? Hamlet was a Dane, but you don't hear people using a Danish accent when they portray Hamlet, so why can't David use his Scottish accent? I personally love Hamlet, because I was in some sort of advanced English class ever since kindergarten, so I ran into Shakespeare a lot, and I believe I had to study Hamlet at least five times in five separate classes! I'll have to re-read it again soon, because I haven't read it in years. I'm really interested to find out what David's take on Hamlet will be; so many actors have portrayed Hamlet and everyone has a different interpretation of what Hamlet is like. I really like Derek Jacobi's Hamlet. He did it for the BBC, and I saw it in college. I love Derek Jacobi, also (hence me sqeeing like crazy when he played the Master)!

How familiar are you with Hamlet? It's so wonderful and complex.

Oh, by the way, I registered as wee_moggie on gallifreyone.

You know what's really odd, my PBS station only shows a 15-minute version of the Doctor Who Confidentials, although they are much longer on YouTube. I'll have to catch up on all of them.

LOOK WHAT I FOUND! The first promo photo for Hamlet:



I'm so freakin' jealous of you, cfans! I wonder if they will put it on DVD.

I found a nice one of the Doctor and Donna:

:wow: OMG!!!! On second thought, Wee, I don't think I'm going to hear a single word coming out of David's mouth (no matter what accent he uses) because I am going to be completely dumbfounded by his looks up there on stage!!!

Thank you for that picture!! I can see I'm not going to get much done today :rotfl:

David loves performing on the stage. I'm sure this won't be the last time - so you still will have a chance to see him in the future. He's not going to be The Doctor forever :bawl:

Oh, and no, I've never seen Hamlet performed. I've seen Macbeth (which I loved!), Othello, Taming of the Shrew, Two Gentlemen of Verona and a couple of others. I'm sure, especially now, that nothing is ever going to top this!

That's a very nice picture of David and Catherine as well.

I just watched "The Lazarus Experiment" again. I have my DVR set to record all Doctor Who episodes that SciFi runs. I love how Martha's mother slaps the Doctor, and he says, "It's the mothers, every time!" It brought back the fond memory of Jackie slapping the Doctor when he took Rose away for ten months instead of ten hours!

One thing I picked up this time around is Martha's mother's message at the end of the episode. Remember that man comes up to Martha's mother at the gala and whispers in her ear information about the Doctor? I had remembered that, and I had remembered that her mother tries to warn her in her message, but what I caught this time around was the mother saying, "This information comes from Harold Saxon himself!" Of course we know who Harold Saxon turned out to be!

I found that Hamlet photo on David's fansite. I couldn't stop staring at it last night! :thud:

I'm looking forward to Planet of the Ood tonight. I always liked the Ood.

By the way, Torchwood Season One is available on iTunes! Eyfinsf, if you're reading, you can catch them all there. I'll send you a pm also.

^^Thanks for the tip, Wee! (I sent you a pm.)

So guys, I've been catching up on DW S2 & S3 on DVD and they are terrific! David T. is fantastic as the Doctor and he seems down to earth, nice and charming on all the bonus features.

But sorry, but I have nothing much to contribute to this thread thus far, because I haven't been able to watch any of the new DW eps!! I'm so ashamed...:hide:. But I'll surely catch ep#6 on SciFi on May 30! Do you guys have any tips on where/when I can watch eps 1-5 of Season4? I would really appreciate it! Thanks :)

Here you go:

Partnes in Crime:

Partners in Crime

The Fires of Pompei:

Fires of Pomepi

Planet of the Ood:

Planet of the Ood

The Sontaran Stratagem:

The Sontaran Stratagem

I suggest you watch the fourth episode before you watch the one on SciFi on Friday night. It's the first parter; the one on Friday night is the second part.

Enjoy!

Thank you so much, cfans! :mademyday:
I'll surely be catching up this week! I'm so excited...what a geek huh? LOL! I'll meet you guys back here once I'm done.

So Who's watching? (Get it? HA)

David Tennant just impresses me more and more each episode. I think you don't even have to LIKE sci fi to enjoy Doctor Who--David is such a good actor who turns in his best and more every time.

Me! Me!....I'm watching! ^_^ .
It's taken me such a long time, but I'm finally all caught up w/ series 2 & 3! I watched it online and I also rented the DVD box sets. Each episode is just as good if not better than the last! I also really enjoyed all the bonus materials and DT's video diaries. He's quite the charmer ain't he? And I noticed that he has very nice skin... :eyebrows: ....uhrm...sorry, ok back to talking about the show!

I won't spoil episode 12, The Stolen Earth, in case you guys haven't seen it yet. But Wow...what an amazing cliffhanger! I have some questions, comments and speculations about this past eppie and the finale so I hope we can discuss them here. Anyway, I can't wait to watch it next week. I'll be searching for it on the net.

All I can say is that DT and the rest of the cast are great! DT is wonderful as the Doctor. IMO, he has the perfect combination of looks/energy/charisma/humor, not to mention acting ability. I know he won't do that role forever, but I hope he stays for at least another series.

Talk to you guys later, take care! :grouphug:

I've watched The Stolen Earth, so I'm ready to discuss! I think Karen has as well, but let's wait until she confirms it.

But I can say that I was so blown away at the end! With all of the spoilers out there on the net, this came as quite the surprise.

I just saw an interview with Bernard Cribbins (who plays Wilf, Donna's grandfather) on YouTube. In 1966, he appeared in a movie version of Doctor Who, that I don't think is part of the canon of Who, entitled Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 AD. Peter Cushing played the Doctor. He said that after the movie, he was interviewed to play the Doctor as the replacement for the third Doctor, Jon Pertwee. He didn't get the part - he thinks it's because he emphasized the fact that he was a trained soldier and could fight well. They told him, "no, no fighting; the Doctor doesn't fight." Well, Tom Baker got the part instead and Bernard laughs that in one of his first scenes, Tom as the fourth Doctor threw a punch.

Funny how things come around. It's 42 years later and he's facing the Daleks again! He loves David Tennant in the part and talked at length of how great an actor he is. David impresses me more and more each week. I will be very sad indeed when he decides to hang up his coat and go on to other things.

I'm sorry guys! I haven't come on here for a little while and I didn't see that you guys had posted!

So I've seen The Stolen Earth AND Journey's End, and I hope you have as well!

Regarding The Stolen Earth, that was The. Best. Cliffhanger. Ever. I spent all week going crazy with anticipation!

Let me know if you two have seen Journey's End (I'm sure you have) and we can discuss both episodes. There is so much to talk about, and only so much my husband is willing to listen to, LOL!

Thanks cfans for that info on Bernard Cribbins. I love him!

cfans, thanks for the tidbit about Bernard Cribbins. I had no idea of his past connection w/ Dr Who and I think he's terrific as Wilf!

I've seen Journey's End too, and man o man...what a jam packed finale that was! cfans, I bet you've watched it too, but I'll wait for you to post before I bombard you guys with my comments. :)

Overall, I thought it was a great episode! It was exciting, heartwarming and tragic. I was teary eyed through some parts, especially during the last 5 minutes. I'm glad to see conclusions to some story lines and there were times when I had some questions about some possible (teeny tiny) plot holes, but they did not prevent me from enjoying the show.

Can't wait for the specials and the next season!

eta: ooh! I just noticed the Dr Who ringtones banner add on the bottom of the screen. DT looks great in his glasses. lol!

I was an emotional wreck after seeing Journey's End!

Where are you, cfans? I can't wait to discuss it. I wonder if she has left for her vacation already.

Yes, David does look good in the ringtones, ads, lol!

I'm here. Yesterday I was writing a long, long post about what I loved, liked and didn't like about the last two episodes, but then my computer started acting crazy and it lost the post. I'm going to start over again - but I'm going to put it in Word first and then paste it here.

Oh, what a bummer! I hate when that happens! Can't wait to hear your thoughts. I don't have time right now to post all my thoughts, but I definitely will later.

By the way, the Graham Norton Show with David was on again last week, so I recorded it and watched it again last night. It's such a great one!

I thought I should probably issue a warning, in case others are reading this thread and haven't seen the last episodes:

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. I MEAN, THE MOTHERLODE OF ALL SPOILERS AHEAD!

(OK, now that that is done....)

I wanted to start with my thoughts and feelings about how it ended with the Doctor and Rose. At first, when I first watched it, I was immensely relieved. Rose got the half-human Doctor to spend her life with, and he was brave enough to say the words "I love you" that the real Doctor couldn't or wouldn't say. I watched the Doctor Who Confidential, and Julie Gardner, one of the producers, said that he definitely said "I love you" to her. I was so afraid that it would end with Rose dying or something like that, so I first just felt relief.

Then, after I thought about it more and watched that scene again, I became more and more unsettled. In The Stolen Earth, the Doctor sees Rose and is running towards her with all his might. He never thought he would see her again, and now here she is. I love how Donna is smiling during that scene, when she says, "Why don't you ask her yourself?" Then, after he regenerates, he does give her a hug, but after that, he pretty much ignores her. I thought he would have paid more attention to her, but he pretty much lumps her in with the other companions. Then he drops her off at her own universe--why did he have to do this? Mickey gets to stay in the Doctor's universe; why not Rose? As soon as they touch down in Bad Wolf Bay, the Doctor is very cold to Rose. Rose doesn't want to leave him and he is not moved at all. He just drops her off with the half-human Doctor, and while they are kissing, he just turns and leaves. He doesn't say goodbye. He balks on telling her he loves her, when it's clear that he does. Is he just hardening his heart because he has to leave her? But why does he have to leave her in the first place? Could he just not handle loving her and being with her, and watching her grow old and all that?

Also, Rose is so weirded out by the two Doctors (who wouldn't be?) that she is not entirely happy with half-human Doctor. He is not the Doctor that she loves. When the TARDIS leaves and Rose breaks away from half-human Doctor and runs after the TARDIS, she looks like she has lost everything. Then the half-human Doctor comes up and takes her hand and then they look at each other and neither are smiling.

So the bottom line is that the Doctor loses Rose, again, and Rose loses the Doctor, again. It's so heartbreaking to me. I just don't understand the reasoning. I mean, I pretty much figured that the show would not let them have a permanently happy ending, and there was no news of Billie Piper continuing on with the show after these episodes. But this just seems so sad. Neither is getting what they want. I could live with that, if there was another heartfelt farewell like at the end of "Doomsaday," but they don't have that. At the end of the episode, the Doctor looks so sad and lonely, and I was thinking, why did he leave her? Is this truly the last time he will see Rose? But then, this is what the Doctor does; he tends to leave people pretty easily. I just thought it would be different with Rose, though.

I guess the positives though are that the Doctor is giving her something that I guess he could never give her himself--a part of himself who could openly love her and spend his life with her.

What did you guys think? I have lots more thoughts about the rest of the episodes, but I just wanted to focus on this particular aspect, because I have always loved the Doctor and Rose together and their love for each other.

My best friend is addicted to this show. though I don't watch I get a scene by scene recap from him everyweek. I really need to catch it one day.

Welcome Lizzy! Yes, I do the same thing to my husband, I give him detailed information about every scene! You and your friend are welcome here anytime!

Welcome to the thread LRDLizzy! It's nice that you joined us!

I'm a newbie fan of Doctor Who. I just started watching it this year and have only seen shows from the 4 seasons of the "new" Dr. Who. I got into watching the show kinda backwards because I started watching Torchwood first, which is a spin-off of Doctor Who.

But now, I'm completely hooked on both shows and highly recommend them to anyone! So I hope you'll get the chance to catch some of it someday.

**SPOILERS AHEAD** **SPOILERS AHEAD**




I was also so relieved that 1. Rose didn’t die, and 2. She ended up w/ a Doctor, even though it was not “the” Doctor.

About the Rose-Doctor reunion, it was a bit of a let down wasn’t it? Since his regeneration was immediately followed by the TARDIS being taken prisoner, he had to quickly redirect his focus away from Rose and w/ all that happened during the rest of the show, I see why Rose became just one of the other companions.

I agree w/ your observations of the scenes in Bad Wolf Bay. I think that after all they’ve been through and because he really does love her, the Doctor was sad to make this tough decision of leaving her there, which also takes care of the dilemma of what to do w/ the other Doctor since he committed genocide. He also thinks that Rose can help the other Doctor the same way that she helped him, so I thought that was a good compromise. But he makes a run for it because it’s too hard for everyone involved for him to linger on. Like you said, he had to harden his heart/s. Although I would’ve enjoyed it better if Rose and the Doctor shared a more heartfelt goodbye, I think that it was still a good end to this storyline. I don’t like that they lose each other again but at least now, Rose has the ½ human Doctor who can love her and grow old w/ her. Alas, the Doctor is left all alone again. (which I think is so sad!) It was definitely a bittersweet outcome where the three of them are not completely happy.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**






Guys, I’m looking forward to reading all your comments about the last two episodes (or any other episode) :)

If it’s ok, I’m going to jump ahead and ask for your opinions on one of the big issues in Journey’s End which is Dalek Caan’s prediction: “Everlasting death for the most faithful companion..”

Just a few questions: Was the “most faithful companion” clearly identified? Well no, I guess they meant to be vague about it. So who did you think it was going to be? And did you predict a real, physical death or a conceptual one?

My first guess was it was going to be Rose. She’s been there (more or less) for 4 seasons so she’s definitely “faithful”. But since she already experienced a “death” during the Doomsday episode, I thought they would finally give her a real death. I was dreading it because I really love her character and was so relieved that she didn’t actually die. However, she did suffer the “death” of her relationship w/ the orig. Doctor.

So when it was revealed to be Donna, I was so blown away! I thought “that version of her died” ending was so terribly sad! I loved Doctor-Donna and the scene in the Tardis when she realizes what’s wrong with her and what the Doctor must do to her was heartbreaking! All her potential, her growth and her journey had been wiped out - the new and improved Donna that people loved and respected had been erased from existence; even though “they will be singing songs about her forever”. I think that was a tragedy far greater than dying in the Tardis would have been. Anyway, I’m hoping this is not the last we see of Donna…didn’t her ring absorb some of that life force? Maybe somehow she’ll regain her memory, actually die, but her ring will bring her back to life! Anything’s possible...

What do you guys think? Were you disappointed that no one actually died? Did you feel that making Donna forget just made her journey as a character pointless?

Well, I kind of thought that maybe Dalek Caan was lying. I didn't think there was any reason for him to tell the truth until the end, when it was revealed that he was going to help the Doctor and go against Davros. It certainly did make you think throughout the episode who was going to die!

Donna's end was so tragic! I have so much respect for her as an actress. I knew how funny she could be from seeing clips of her comedy sketch show. Have you ever seen The Catherine Tate Show? I highly recommend it! You can find all kinds of clips on YouTube. My favorite is The Translator; here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdf2eLeCLHI

Also, check out the one she did with David Tennant for a charity fundraiser:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxB1gB6K-2A

So I knew she could do funny, but I think she surprised everyone by how well she did with the seriousness of Doctor Who. Those last scenes before the Doctor erased her mind were heartbreaking. She wanted to travel with the Doctor forever. Do you remember her saying that to Martha? She said it to her in the first episode Martha was in this season. Martha was trying to caution her about being with the Doctor. They were at UNIT's headquarters. Martha told her that the closer you get to fire, you'll get burned.

I thought it was very interesting for Davros to comment on how the Doctor has changed (I think Davros said "ruined") his companions' lives. Donna's is changed forever and she will never know it. I thought those scenes were so heartbreaking when at the very end Donna was chatting on the phone to a girlfriend and the Doctor popped his head in to say goodbye, and she just barely glanced at him and said, "See ya," then kept chatting about inconsequential stuff. The Doctor looks so lonely. That last scene with Bernard Cribbins made me tear up! He said he'll look up at the sky every night on her behalf.

It was such a great moment when the Doctor was referring to the Ood when he said that they will be singing songs about her forever. I thought it was a neat tie-in when Donna became Doctor-Donna, and that's what the Ood called them! Do you remember at the end of that episode the Ood said something like "Your song will end soon"? I can't remember if they were addressing the Doctor, Donna, or both. Also, when they were at the Proclamation Thingy (I can't remember the whole name, so Thingy will have to do), and that woman came up to her and told her that she was very sorry for her loss, for the loss that she was going to suffer in the future.

I think Donna's end was very tragic and very brilliant as an idea. I don't feel cheated that a companion didn't "die" in the traditional sense. I was relieved that no one died, because I love all the companions, even Jackie, LOL! It will be so incredibly sad that Donna will never remember her experiences with the Doctor, but he will remember them, and her family will, and Donna did make a huge difference in the course of history. Remember Rose called her the most important woman in the universe?

If you go over to the Doctor Who forum, there are a lot of people who are hopping mad about the whole episode. They think that the regeneration scene was a huge cop-out, and now that it happened, all regenerations will be "cheapened" because now anything can happen. They argue that it doesn't fit in with all the previous regenerations. Personally, I say--LIGHTEN UP! I loved it. That was the best cliffhanger ever, and I was SOOOOO relieved that David Tennant regenerated back into himself! When I saw it was him again, I let out this huge breath that I didn't know I had been holding, LOL! I learned to only read the fun posts over there and skip the negative ones. It's not worth it!

I loved when the Doctor Donna and the half-human Doctor realized who they were, and the half-human Doctor says, "Well, isn't that WIZARD!" Just the way he said it was so funny. In fact there were so many funny moments. I loved when they were all together and one of the companions said, "So, there's three Doctors?" and Jack says, "You don't want to know what I'm thinking right now!" :rotfl: Oh, we know, Jack!

To finish up about Donna, I do think they could find a way to bring her back if they wanted to. I don't mind them bending the rules. A lot of rules were bent in these last episodes, but so what? It's FUN, its entertaining! IT'S SCIENCE FICTION! :rotfl:

There's so much more to talk about. There's so much I would like to have seen, like having the companions interact with each other more. I mean, Jack hadn't seen Rose since she brought him back to life--you'd think he have a thing or two to say to her about that! But I guess they had to concentrate on all the other action, or it would be too long. Not that anyone would have minded! I think they were doing their best to tie up loose ends and please everyone. I still have a hard time though thinking about Doctor Who forever without Rose. She was in the very first episode, the first two seasons, then in the time between when she was gone and the time she returned, the echo of her was always there. Will the Doctor ever refer to her again, or will he move on completely forever? I just can't let her go yet.

I would have loved to have seen more interaction between Rose and Martha, since they both were in love with the Doctor, and how he would have handled it.

The SciFi Channel did a marathon of all of the first season, with Christopher Eccleston, and I recorded them all. It's been fun to see them again, because I had forgotten a lot of little details. And it's priceless to see Jackie slap the Doctor!

I love how whenever I type "Davros" the computer marks it as a misspelled word!

I just watched "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances" from the first season.

"Are you my mummy? Mummyyyy...." Scary!

wee_moggie, thanks for the links! Those are the first clips I’ve seen of her show and I thought she was hysterical! I shouldn’t have been snacking when I watched The Translator, I almost choked it was so LOL-funny!

Thanks also for posting your comments on Journey's End. I enjoyed reading them and agreed w/ the observations you made. I've been wanting to share more of my own thoughts but I haven't had any free time to post so I'll just add a quick list.

Some memorable moments from Journey’s End:

-It had all the best companions and supporting cast from the last 4 seasons, brought together through the Sub Wave Network by good ol’ Harriett Jones! I especially enjoyed some little touches like pointing out the connection between Gwen Cooper from Torchwood and Gwyneth from The Unquiet Dead. Plus, I think Capt. Jack’s inappropriate flirting is always funny.

-It had the Daleks shouting out orders in German--creepy Nazi symbolism!

-The revelation that Dalek Caan was betraying Davros and the Daleks was a plot twist I wasn't expecting.

-The moment when Davros remarked how the Doctor created his own race of warriors. It was a well written scene and wasn’t Julian Bleach amazing as Davros?

-It had the TARDIS towing the Earth while piloted by a full team of operators. What a joyful moment that was to watch! The Doctor had all his friends together before he is left alone again at the very end.

-It had Wilf’s wonderful speech to the Doctor. The scene with Wilf and the Doctor at the end had me in tears!--great performances by two wonderful actors.

-It had important themes of friendship, loyalty, bravery, sacrifice, loneliness and love in its emotional core.

-Catherine Tate’s acting. After watching it a couple of times, I thought that she showed terrific range; from the funny and heartbreaking Doctor-Donna scenes then returning to her “original” B.D. (Before the Doctor) Donna. I think that she and DT were well matched in their acting abilities throughout the series. I will miss watching them together and I’m still hoping that they will find a way to get Donna back...and Rose...and Martha...LOL, I also have a hard time saying goodbye to the companions.

In my backwards way of catching up with Dr Who, I borrowed the DVD box set of the first season from the library a few weeks ago. My six year old daughter and I enjoyed a few marathon viewing nights so it's all still fresh in my mind. Another reason why I love Dr. Who is because it's a great family show that my daughter and soon my 3 yr. old son (he's still scared of some of the aliens) can watch w/ me. I'm sure my husband will like this show too but he never has time to watch t.v. or dvd's. Poor guy...lol!

Anyway, I thought Christopher Eccleston's Doctor was also very good. He put a modern twist to his portrayal through the Doctor’s clothes, mannerisms and accent yet still allowed the Doctor’s intelligence to come through. He brought his own dark side and seriousness to it but there were flashes of manic and funny as well. I noticed that he can change his emotions on a dime yet still be quite convincing. I wonder why he didn't continue on as the Doctor--not that I'm complaining about David T! ;)

The 2 episodes you mentioned stand out for me because that's when Capt. Jack was introduced and he has become one of my favorites. I thought the competitive interactions between the Doctor and Capt. Jack over Rose were fantastic!
“This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon, etc.., Doc, what’ve you got?”
“I have a sonic…oh never mind.”
“A sonic-what?!”
“Screw driver!!”
“Who looks at a screw driver and thinks ‘ooh, this could be a little more sonic?!”
I also love Capt. Jack‘s line, “Well I’ve got a banana, and in a pinch, we can put up some shelves!”

Another memorable episode for me was “Father’s Day”. Billy Piper and the actor who plays her father were terrific. I was crying along with them!

I agree, the Daleks speaking German was so cool!

I also thought all Davros' comments were very interesting, regarding the Doctor creating a race of warriors and having them do the killing for them. Even though the Doctor didn't have that intention, it really did kind of turn out that way. Mickey ended up fighting the Cybermen in the parallel universe, Rose had that big gun with her, Martha joined UNIT. Also, I really liked when Davros was talking about all the innocent people that had died in the Doctor's wake, and they showed clips going back to the very beginning of the series of those who died. And I loved that the Doctor didn't say anything--because he really couldn't refute any of it.

Did you watch the "Doctor Who Confidential" for this series? It really clears up some things. For one, I had no idea that the TARDIS was supposed to be manned by six people. I always knew that there were different parts to the console, and the Doctor is always running around the console trying to get it all working at once, but I just never realized that there was supposed to be one person at every part, so it was especially memorable to see the Doctor and all the companions around the console. I wish they could have always stayed together, but that just wouldn't be Doctor Who. I just watched a little bit of the Confidential for the Series Two finale, and Russell T. Davies said that they have to have the Doctor always alone in the end and always traveling, because that was how the series was created back in 1962, so they want to remain true to the original spirit. So sad for us, though!

I am still thinking about the Doctor and Rose's ending, and I am still sad, because they are still parted. Also, even if the parallel worlds are converging again, would he ever have need or desire to find Rose again, knowing she is with half-human Doctor? *sigh*

Whoever becomes the new companion is going to have a LOT to live up to. He/she is really going to have to be an amazing actor to follow the footsteps of the others, and to be worthy of being in the same scene as David Tennant!

Hello from London! Saw David in Hamlet last night at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon. OMG, it was the most incredible experience. He was amazing (and gorgeous!). I cannot wait to give you the whole story when I get back to the States.

At the last minute on Monday, my friend and I decided to try and get tickets that evening to see Catherine Tate in her play, Under the Blue Sky (in London). We went to the half-price ticket place and were able to get lower balcony seats. Catherine was just wonderful. We got to meet her after the show and I told her we were going to see David the next night in Stratford. She got very excited and grabbed my hand and said she was so delighted to hear that.

I have hastily taken pictures of both Catherine and David taken at the stage doors at the respective venues. I will post them on Saturday when I get back home. This has been a trip I will cherish forever.

I'm SO glad you had such a great time! I can't wait for the whole story!

Glad to hear David was amazing and gorgeous, but we knew he would be!

You know, I remember seeing Catherine recently on Graham Norton and she mentioned that she was going to be doing a play. That is so wonderful that you got to see her and talk with her afterwards!

Looking forward to the pictures and stories!

It's so great to hear you're having a wonderful time!

I can't wait to read all about your experiences in watching Catherine and David's shows. I'm so jealous...you actually SAW David live and in the flesh! LOL! Can't wait to see all your photos as well.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation and have a safe trip back home.

Hi, I'm back home and a little bummed. I cannot find my connecting wire to be able to download photos from my camera to my computer. I think my daughter has it at work, which means I won't get it back until Monday night. She's out now (it's Saturday morning here on the east coast), but will be back in about an hour - hopefully it will be in her purse.

So for now, I'll just give you the play-by-play (of the play!). We had terrific seats in the theatre to see Hamlet. The stage is just about three feet off the floor and right up against the front row seats. We were in the fifth row on the left side of the stage. Here's a picture of the lower level (called Stalls) I grabbed from the website. We were in seats 2 and 3.



When the play opened, the stage was completely blank - there was no set. The back of the stage was completely mirrored - so that when an actor had his back to you, you could see his side reflection in the mirrors. The actors moved all over the stage and at various times were facing the front or the left or the right, so no matter where you sat, you always had good views. When the lights went up, David was standing at the bottom corner of the left-hand side, facing diagonally to the top right-hand corner - so we had a great view of his profile. He was wearing a black suit, with a white shirt and black tie, and his hair was combed down. He had a very sad look on his face and it wasn't until he was spoken to by Patrick Stewart (who played his uncle Claudius), that we were sure it was him. He spoke in his Doctor Who British accent. All of the actors wore modern day clothing. In fact, most of the time, David was in jeans and in one long scene, jeans and a red t-shirt. I wish that we could have taken pictures, because he was so yummy in the jeans!

At the end of the second scene when David finds the ghost of his murdered father, he musses up his hair, so for the remainder of the play, we got the Doctor Who hair. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! He keeps running his hands through his hair throughout the play. In the scene where he confronts his mother in her bedroom, they brought out some furniture - dressing table, chair and her bed, and in the majority of that entire scene, David is standing up on Gertrude's bed which is right in front of our seats and he is directly facing us. The only time we couldn't see David's face at all was in the dying scene at the end. He is in Horatio's arms facing the front of the stage, and we could only see the lower part of Hamlet's body then.

He is so energetic on stage. He runs around all the time and is absolutely marvelous when he plays the Hamlet who appears to be going mad. In Ophelia's funeral scene, he throws himself on top of her open grave, and how he didn't fall in is a testament to his agility.

I was determined to keep my eyes on David the entire time. However, the entire cast was so marvelous I found myself watching the other actors as well. Patrick Stewart is a genius on stage. He has the most commanding voice I have every heard. He also played the ghost of Hamlet's father. When the ghost left the stage at one point, he raised his voice and said, "Remember Me", and I literally got goosebumps.

Here's some pictures I found of David as Hamlet on the net:

David Tennant as Hamlet

His smile just melts you when he comes out to take his bows at the end. He stands at the very front of everyone, and the actors turn all three ways to face the crowd. He is grinning from ear to ear and he looks so freaking handsome.

I am not exaggerating when I say that this was the best played show I have ever seen. I have been to New York many times to see shows, as well as in other cities, and this was my favorite ever. Sure, it had a lot to do with David, who is in my opinion, one of the finest performers I have ever seen, but this cast was so fantastic as a whole. It was worth every penny to travel to England to see him. It was a bonus to be able to see Catherine in London as well. I would do it again in a heartbeat. And as it appears as if, no matter how long David remains the Doctor, he will continue to do plays, I will definitely be going again to see him in the future.

cfans

loved Loved LOVED your story! Ahh I wish I could've been there! He is one of my favorite actors ever!

Does anyone know how much longer he's going to playing the Doctor for?

cfans, I enjoyed reading about your experience of watching Hamlet!

Thanks for the detailed account. I could imagine everything from your seats, the stage, the actors and your observations on David T. Wow, you got to see DT's dazzling smile...ahh, I'm so jealous! LOL! Of course, Patrick Stewart must've been awesome too, he's a superb stage actor and yeah, what a voice!

The linked photos from the play were awesome! David looks handsome in the black suit and so intensely enveloped by the role. It looked like it was a modern adaptation wherein the staging was minimal and the costumes were current day, which I love.

It's great that you had a wonderful and unforgettable time! I hope you find your cable so you can post more photos. ;)
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ElliottCat101, I read a rumor somewhere (and there are many) that BBC offered David Tennant almost $3 million to stay on as The Doctor. So far, I think he is confirmed to be on the Christmas special, but nothing is assured after that. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that he'll stay!

Regarding David staying on as the Doctor, I remember reading that this next season of Doctor Who is only going to be four or five "specials," not a whole season, and the reason for that was they were going to work around David's theatre schedule. I hope this is true, because it would mean that he is staying on longer!

Cfans, I'm so glad you had such a wonderful time! I didn't know Patrick Stewart was in it! He does have the greatest voice!

I like how they mixed the costume eras. I love the picture of David holding Yorick's skull, and David himself is wearing....a skullcap! Genius! He looks so devastatingly handsome; I can only dream about what it was like to see him in person!

Eyfinsf, I didn't know that about the BBC offering David $3 million, but I can certainly believe it. The ratings for Doctor Who are sky high in the U.K. I would offer him $10 million if I had it! :rotfl:

Sorry for the long wait. My daughter kept forgetting to bring the cable home. My pictures (especially of David) aren't the greatest, but they are still great mementos for me. First, Catherine:





And now David:







Karen, it was great talking to you yesterday afternoon while I was at Rye Playland. Keep working on your husband to take you to London! I still can't believe I got the incredible opportunity to see both of them up close!

One more thing . . . My favorite publicity photo:



I told Karen yesterday about a rumor I heard that a DVD may be made of David as Hamlet. I am wishing very hard on that one.