Cube Posted June 5, 2010 Posted June 5, 2010 (edited) I thought that it was by far the weakest episode this series. that the subject of Amy's fiancée wasn't brought up (although there were hints). I think that Vincent saying that deep down she knows about Rory's death is more than a hint. Edit: Oh, and it felt like this was the last episode they made, with pretty much no budget left. Both the CGI creature and the effects in the shots where it's invisible just seemed really poor. Edited June 5, 2010 by Cube
Serebii Posted June 5, 2010 Posted June 5, 2010 This episode really seems to be a marmite episode. I guess if you watch the show solely for action and monsters then you would be disappointed, but I personally think it was a fantastic bit of drama with great comedic bits in...The Doctor and Bill Nighy talking about Bow Ties, come on...if you didn't crack a smile, you have no soul. :p This is the brilliance about Doctor Who. It can organically be a funny lighthearted episode one week, a completely serious action one the next and then an emotional one the next (This is not saying The Hungry Earth was a fun lighthearted episode) without breaking the whole show. It is a shame that they used Bill Nighy though. The man is a legend in his own right and should have been the next Doctor.
Beast Posted June 5, 2010 Posted June 5, 2010 I think I might be the only one in saying this but I am not liking this series at all and I'm a massive Doctor Who fan (well, since it started in 2005). In fact, I think it's the most boring of all the seasons, even more so than Season 3 and I didn't like that much. The first two episodes of this season were great, then the boring Dalek one and then the brilliant Weeping Angels two-parter and ever since then, it's turned rubbish. I've not really been looking forward to the episodes much at all. I like all of the Doctor Who series (action, emotional, drama, comedy...) but this season feels too forced and I'm kind of bored. I'm hoping it picks up although I doubt it! Very disappointed.
D_prOdigy Posted June 5, 2010 Posted June 5, 2010 even more so than Season 3 and I didn't like that much. Ack! Season 3 was great! Gave us some of the best episodes, in my humble opinion. Gridlock, Family of Blood, Blink, Utopia and The Sound of Drums will always be standouts for me.
Serebii Posted June 5, 2010 Posted June 5, 2010 I think I might be the only one in saying this but I am not liking this series at all and I'm a massive Doctor Who fan (well, since it started in 2005). In fact, I think it's the most boring of all the seasons, even more so than Season 3 and I didn't like that much. The first two episodes of this season were great, then the boring Dalek one and then the brilliant Weeping Angels two-parter and ever since then, it's turned rubbish. I've not really been looking forward to the episodes much at all. I like all of the Doctor Who series (action, emotional, drama, comedy...) but this season feels too forced and I'm kind of bored. I'm hoping it picks up although I doubt it! Very disappointed. Thing is, with a show like Doctor Who, is that it needs to change a lot else it'll just stagnate and be back to generic Monster of the Week, run run, Doctor babbles, run run, save the day. Not every change will be to everyone's liking, but it has to stay fresh, especially as it's coming up on its 50th anniversary. I agree that some episodes haven't felt like they've had the charm of past instances, but I'm still enjoying it, albeit not as much as past series, although this ep sure brought it up there. It was a fantastic episode and showed exactly how Doctor Who is ever changing.
Cube Posted June 5, 2010 Posted June 5, 2010 I agree that some episodes haven't felt like they've had the charm of past instances, but I'm still enjoying it, albeit not as much as past series, although this ep sure brought it up there. It was a fantastic episode and showed exactly how Doctor Who is ever changing. To me, this seemed to be a mixture of a "monster of a week" and a "not-so-funny light-hearted" episode. I was also confused by the setting. Why were they running away from the monster in Venice when they were supposed to be in an inland village/town in Paris?
Retro_Link Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 This weeks episode was just about ok. As has been said, Vincent in the Tardis onwards was GREAT! But yeah I also thought the whole invisible monster lended itself to no budget for this episode. Amy crying without her knowing was quite a good nod to Rory, but yeah it is wierd how things have moved on so quickly from him, but then that's the way they chose to do it. However, as has been a bit of a theme in Doctor Who over the past couple of seasons... Amy's mind may start remembering and causing a bit of a break down. But I'm with you DudeDazz for the most part, as a big fan of the show, this series just hasn't really delivered IMO.
Dante Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 But yeah I also thought the whole invisible monster lended itself to no budget for this episode. It could have been seen as a metaphor for the depression because only Van Gogh could see the invisible monster.
Serebii Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 It could have been seen as a metaphor for the depression because only Van Gogh could see the invisible monster. That was my interpretation of it too
Retro_Link Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 Yes, but was such an episode written perhaps because of budget?
Serebii Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 (edited) Yes, but was such an episode written perhaps because of budget? I don't know. Recreating Van Goghs paintings so precisely couldn't have been cheap as well as creating the sets to match the paintings. Edited June 6, 2010 by Serebii
Cube Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 I don't know. Recreating Van Goghs paintings so precisely couldn't have been cheap Ctrl + P. Done.
Serebii Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 Ctrl + P. Done. Not quite. In High def, you could see the bumpy nature of each brush stroke
Cube Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 Not quite. In High def, you could see the bumpy nature of each brush stroke You could also see that when the light shone on some of them it showed that they were completely flat.
Dante Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 Did people miss the special effects of the sky as Van Goghs see the world as.
Serebii Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 Did people miss the special effects of the sky as Van Goghs see the world as. Indeed, that was gorgeous.
Rowan Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 I quite liked the episode, though I too am surprised that not more was written about the death of Amy's fiancée and how Amy was coping. The episode was also written by Richard Curtis.
Cube Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 I quite liked the episode, though I too am surprised that not more was written about the death of Amy's fiancée and how Amy was coping. As far as everyone but the Doctor knows, he never existed in the first place.
Serebii Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 I felt that that was one of the strengths of the episode. Time has been rewritten to remove Rory, the Doctor has been trying to make it up to Amy subtley through the many trips but she still remembers in her subconscious as seen by her crying for "no reason" and the Doctor's faux pas by calling Vincent Rory was masterfully done.
Beast Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 Ack! Season 3 was great! Gave us some of the best episodes, in my humble opinion. Gridlock, Family of Blood, Blink, Utopia and The Sound of Drums will always be standouts for me. I didn't hate it but it wasn't the best series either. There were a few episodes that I liked (Blink being my favourite) but with Series 1, 2 and 4, I loved every episode. Thing is, with a show like Doctor Who, is that it needs to change a lot else it'll just stagnate and be back to generic Monster of the Week, run run, Doctor babbles, run run, save the day. Not every change will be to everyone's liking, but it has to stay fresh, especially as it's coming up on its 50th anniversary. I agree that some episodes haven't felt like they've had the charm of past instances, but I'm still enjoying it, albeit not as much as past series, although this ep sure brought it up there. It was a fantastic episode and showed exactly how Doctor Who is ever changing. It kind of feels like that now if I'm being honest but I get what you're saying. I know that it's changing but I still think the show could be a little better, it just feels like I'm watching a completely different show now and I'm not liking it much (it's not because of the characters or actors and actresses by the way, haha)
Daft Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 Watching it again now and I'm enjoying it more. Two things yesterday, I wasn't really in the mood and I hate BBC iPlayer (the volume levels are screwed up).
Hamishmash Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 The monster was always going to be invisible, nothing to do with budget according to confidential. The monster was a metaphor for Vincent's depression. Only he could see it, and at first it was hard for people to decipher what it actually was. It was in itself blind, inconsistent, confused. It was only defeated by Vincent's easel, representing his love of painting. I loved the episode, one of the best of the revived series since 2005. But then I'm an artist - the scene at the end summed up everything about why artists do art... you can say it's because of self fulfillment but every artist wants to think that in 100 years people will still be enjoying their work.
Daft Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 I would have preferred it if the monster was the personification of his depression. Just seemed a bit too mixed up and convenient that this alien was invisible and blind.
Beast Posted June 6, 2010 Posted June 6, 2010 I've just seen it again, it's not really bad but I still didn't like it much.
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