In the third episode of the third series of Doctor Who, the Doctor takes Martha billions of years into the future to New Earth, where they discover that most of the city is trapped in the worst case of gridlock imaginable. When Martha is kidnapped, it triggers an adventure that leads the Doctor to his final visit with the Face of Boe, who shares with him an unbelievable secret. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Doctor Who.
Straight up, this might be one of my favorite non-mythology episodes of Doctor Who so far. (Though….do the last five minutes make this a mythology episode? Whatever.) Russell T Davies wrote a fantastic script WITH PRETTY MUCH NO PLOTHOLES (!!!!!!!!!) that not only deals with a realistic, immersive environment, but adds quite a few emotionally important scenes for the vast set of characters present in “Gridlock.” Again, broken record, but I love ensemble casts and this episode has a wide assortment of characters to grace the screen, including the actor who play FATHER DOUGAL MCGUIRE ON FATHER TED OH MY GOD I WAS SO EXCITED.
Ok. Ok. BREATHE.
I was wary of the Doctor visiting the same place as he had with Rose and I’m still unsure why he chose to go to New Earth. (Did he actually choose or did the TARDIS choose for him? I’m still not sure about the mechanics of that either.) I understand why Martha seems to get so upset about how much the Doctor references Rose, even though I also understand why the Doctor can’t help but do so. I think it’s a tough situation for both of them, and a lot of what “Gridlock” does is to help them both move forward from the past. WHILE IN THE FUTURE. Eh? Eh? Ok, I’ll stop.
New Earth is not what it was like the last time we saw it, as we’re introduced to a world where the Undercity of New York is mainly deserted and barren, with only a few straggling citizens left wandering about. The Doctor is confused by not only this, but the method in which citizens control their moods via drug-releasing patches. Things only get more confusing and hectic when Martha is kidnapped right in front of the Doctor and taken to a mysterious flying car. Well…I mean, she is kidnapped, despite what Milo and Cheen tell Martha, that they’re not really kidnapping her. (FYI: jesus christ Milo is so hot WHAT) They took her against her will, drugged her, and plan on keeping her in their flying car for up to SIX YEARS. SIX YEARS.
My brain couldn’t handle that revelation. Six years? To travel just 10 miles? WHY?
The image of the Doctor standing at the edge of the Motorway, coughing and staring in horror at what New Earth had become, is among my favorites of the show. Like a lot of Doctor Who episodes, the writers seem to be inspired by a single idea or image that’s intriguing and I can totally imagine Russell T Davies wondering how he could write a script around the idea of the world becoming locked in an eternal gridlock.
Not only does he pull that off, but the manner in which he does allows us to be introduced to a whole cast of interesting characters. The Doctor gets invited into the hover van of Thomas Kincade Brannigan, one of those cat-humans we’d last seen in “New Earth.” It’s also the first scene of David Tennant playing with kittens and then my brain explodes from the cute overload and somehow I wish they could work in a basket of kittens into every Doctor Who episode and I’m going to shut up now.
Even with reduced screen time from everyone involved, it seems we get complete portraits of the characters the Doctor interacts with in his quest to locate the hover van that Rose MARTHA is in. From a married couple to aliens to people living their lives in their vehicles for many, many years, having the Doctor jump from van to van was a fantastic way to show the varied population left on New Earth. I think the emotional moments are what help ground the show and this episode in particular does it quite well. But even then, that’s not to suggest the fantastical story suffers at all; I was impressed with the large scope of the CGI used here, from animating the hover vans to the kind-of-terrifying Macra that littered the surface underneath the fast lane. (I would say that the only “hole” I can find in the story, which might be a misunderstanding on my part, is that I don’t get how the Macra ended up on the surface of the Undercity. I get everything else, but this didn’t seem clear to me.)
The thing is, though, that there was something else hovering over the entire story. I was interested and intrigued by the snapshot of a community left to sit in an eternal traffic jam. The characters were interesting, I loved seeing Martha interact with her kidnappers, and it’s always great to watch the Doctor’s brain work in overdrive. But early in this episode, we see Novice Hame and THE FACE OF BOE. And the Face of Boe had promised that if he saw the Doctor a third time, it would be his last and he would reveal his secret to him. I’m sorry that I couldn’t help but be unbearably excited about this.
Turns out that the entire story hinged so desperately to the Face of Boe. When the Bliss drug mutated and became an airborne virus that wiped out the city, he was the one who wired himself to the system that sealed the Motorway, creating the endless traffic jam. It’s not what I expected, as I thought the situation had a much more sinister purpose. (The Macra contributed to that, which still makes me wonder how on earth they got there.)
In an instance of pure, altruistic sacrifice, the Face of Boe gives his life energy to give the system power to unseal the Motorway. As the hover vans see sunlight for the first time in many years, some for the very first time, they spill out into New New York, flooding the skyline in every direction, free from the gridlock. Definitely one of the better moments of this whole show, I’d say.
Back at Senate, when Martha returns to the Doctor, the Doctor tries to dispel the rumor that the Face of Boe will share his secret before he dies and insists that since they are both the last of their kind, they must persevere and live. However, the Face of Boe ignores this to utter the secret with his final breath:
“You are not alone.”
…………………..
………………………………..
………………………………………………………
WHAT THE HOLY LIVING FUCK. WHAT. WHAT. WHAT!!!!!!
I can’t. I CANNOT. HOW. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE DOCTOR IS NOT THE LAST TIME LORD. The Doctor quickly tries to pass this off as no big deal, but, like me, Martha is not buying it. I was really satisfied with the scene where Martha grabs that chair and refuses to move until the Doctor speaks to her with some semblance of respect. I do understand that it’s not easy for the Doctor to talk about the Time War, but in a way, he’s been constantly teasing Martha with his past to benefit himself and then refusing to acknowledge that he’s doing so. I also have a purely selfish reason for enjoying it: I know jack shit about Gallifrey, so it was great to finally hear about it in the Doctor’s own words.
Also: THERE ARE OTHER TIME LORDS??? ALK;SDFJ;LAKDSFJ SFAD;KJFDSA;LK SFDA;LKLDFS;AFS;KADFSJKLADFS F;KLASFJKFSD
THOUGHTS
- OMG Alice and May are fantastic. Best married couple ever y/y/y/y/y
- I thought the Doctor hated cats? Maybe he hates cats but LOVES KITTENS. This is acceptable.
- Actually, on second thought, the image of the Senate with dead bodies littering the seats might be another scene I adore. So creepy!
- “Just what every city needs: cats in charge.”
- HOW CAN THE DOCTOR NOT BE ALONE. A;SDFJ ASF;LKDKLS;FKJSAFD SDFA;LJASFD;LKASFDJK AFS;LKSFDAKJL
YOU ARE NOT ALONE and/or PREPARED!
I love this episode so so much. I love the continuity of New New York, I love the Face of Boe (that big old face. :'( Farewell Boekind!) and I love the idea of the underground world with an endless traffic jam. I love Lenora Crichlow because she's fabulous (SERIOUSLY MARK, BEING HUMAN, YOU SHOULD WATCH IT!) and I love Martha saving herself and not relying on the Doctor. I love the Macra, (who were in a classic episode called The Macra Terror, hence the 'devolved' comment!) and I love all the people in the different cars (bowler hat guy is awesome)
AND ABOVE ALL, I LOVE THAT THE DOCTOR PULLS THE ARROW FROM THE TARDIS THAT THE ELIZABETHAN SOLDIERS SHOT AT THE END OF THE LAST EPISODE. Little touches like that, they make my heart sing. <3
OH GOD BEING HUMAN. Did you see it last night? OMG. So funny. And ew. And omg.
OF COURSE. <3 And YES, BASICALLY MY REACTION TOO. HA, EW AND OMG! Love love love, although I am not very into the Annie/Mitchell thing they have going on – I love their friendship too much to ship them in any way at all. BUT BASICALLY I STILL LOVE IT OH GOD I WISH IT WERE ON EVER DAY
I wasn't a shipper. And then I remember that they're both dead and I was all HAAAAY IT COULD WORK OUT. Although that was before this season started. And now I totally ship, because you know, at least maybe Annie could make him wash his hair occasionally.
I thought last night was a nice reflection on classism and racism. I say nice. I mean, it made me go "hmm. interesting".
Did you see Becoming Human after it on the red button? omg.
No I didn't, my flatmate had put up with me watching Lark Rise and then Being Human so I thought she had better have her turn at the TV. 🙁 Can you get it on iPlayer? MUST WATCH
It's weird because I used to ship them a little bit in the first series, then after their accidental kiss which Annie found hilarious I stopped. I expect if it happens I will get into it but I dunno, something about her not being corporeal and their friendship being so adorable makes me not want it to happen. I love them too much to be a hater of anything to do with them though, so I'm sure if/when it happens I will get right into shipping! 😛
Add a WTF at the last shot before the credits and this is basically my reaction to the episode.
I actually suggest watching Sugar Rush before Being Human, you see Lenora be a lesbian, lol.
BEING HUMAN = <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 FOREVER
Have you seen the American ripoff version? IT'S SO TERRIBLE. I couldn't even make it through the first episode, it was so painful. Ugh.
Ugh, no. I could barely make it through the trailer before deciding DNW x 10000000. Whyyy did they feel the need to remake it?! It is SO AWESOME in it's original version, remaking it in what seems to be basically the same way is on the same level as that god-awful shot-for-shot Psycho remake. Don't mess with something that's already fine!
"the Doctor interacts with in his quest to locate the hover van that Rose is in." Excuse me? I thought it was Martha?
But well… for the rest, I can only nod to pretty much everything you said/wrote.
MARK LOOK.
<img src="http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/052/f/1/Gridlock_by_Spune.jpg">
(by Spune on dA)
I have been waiting to show you that forever.
ROSE LOVED DRUGS T_T
Also I love this episode, and DT and the cats are adorable, and LOVE FOREVER FOR LENORA CRITCHLOW. ^__^
Also, here:
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfwlox7wWN1qbnxzs.jpg">
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfwlqcWC7S1qbnxzs.jpg">
DT cats=ENDLESS AWESOME
LOL LOL LOL
THIS. I was starting to get a bit fed up of Ten's angst by this time.
YOU'RE A KITTY!
YES YOU ARE! AND YOU'RE SITTING THERE! HI KITTY! sorry couldn't resist
Seriously. It's like…cat people can mate with humans fine? But how would that AWW KITTENS. Curse you, cat proximity!
I think that was their plan all along. "Wait, if we have a human and a catperson mate, we have to come up with something for the kids to look like… aahhh, screw it, it's 5 o'clock, just put some kittens in a basket and call it done."
And the plan worked.
hahahhahaha OH MY GOD THAT COMIC IS AMAZING.
ROSE LOVED DRUGS.
SO CUTE. SO BEAUTIFUL. *dies*
THAT COMIC IS THE BEST THING EVER. OMG. ALSO DT + KITTENS = HAPPINESS 4EVAR. I wish I could just smash the upvote button over and over.
I CAN'T STOP LOLING. This comic is win. :DDD
I upvoted you for the comic because it was awesome, and then I scrolled down and was like TEN WITH KITTENS!!1! and then I was sad because it was the same post and I couldn't upvote you again.
Oh god that comic. xD
ROSE LOVED DRUGS!
THAT COMIC IS A WATERFALL OF WIN.
In the show I was just like "But if it was a human and a cat-person wouldn't they give birth to hairy cat children not kittens? Wait? Kittens? KITTENS! LOOK AT THE CUTE LEETLE KITTY-CATS!"
That's one bodacious comic.
"ROSE LOVED DRUGS!"
Also, amg, DT with kittens. Two of my favorite things just collided.
First pic is hilarious. Angsty angsty man.
ALSO DAVID TENNANT + KITTENS = FAREWELL, MY OVARIES.
Such cute cats. AND WHAT AN AMAZING COMIC!!
David Tennant + kittens = I think my heart just stopped from the overabundance of adorable
OK holy crap you have over 100+. Good job man.
I know x_x I feel kind of guilty because IT'S NOT EVEN MY COMIC.
This is the best comment ever.
Keysmash is the only acceptable response to that ending.
Pretty much. What's the vocal equivalent of a keysmash? That's what I did when I first saw it!
For me it's usually just a whole bunch of swear words smushed in together (I can get very creative depending the level of brainsplosion).
I think the Doctor Who version of keysmash is "What? What?? WHAT???" at increasingly higher pitches.
Oh god when I watched this and heard the Face of Boe's secret I'm pretty sure I flailed right off my bed.
But I LOVE this episode! Though…I couldn't help but feel sorry for those people who got their cars torn apart by Novice Hame. Just knock on the hatch, it would probably work just as well!
I am always impressed with your knowledge of guest stars in Dr Who Mark! Father Ted is obviously brilliant, but I love that you know and appreciate our loveable British comedies
You are not alone, hehe not prepared
Oh god I have a picture of David Tennant with the kittens but I dont know how to post it D: *fails at life*
Lulz nevermind, was beaten to it anyway XD
Bingo! Think about it Ted – I put the bunnies in the last place he'd ever expect to find them! In his own room- he'd never look there!
That's all I've got. I'm a bit of a Dougal today.
<img src="http://www.spinsouthwest.com/wp-content/files/2010/06/Father-Dougal-McGuire.jpg">
'My lovely horse, riding through the fields…' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzYzVMcgWhg
(I'm sorry I couldn't resist.)
Thank you. I was afraid I might not pee my pants laughing at work today, but you have solved my dilemma. (Seriously, the first time I saw that, I spit water across the room.)
Right, best Father Ted – where they escape from the Lingerie section of a department store: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE94JUrpyfY
I love that one. Another of my personal faves is Speed 3 when Dougal becomes the milkman. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG3FfFgGNz8 (Possibly regioned to those outside of the UK and Ireland.)
Watched this just last night, amazing!
hahaha I was just going to post this. Flawless show is Flawless. Ted and Dougal > Jedward
Oh god Jedward. No offense to those who like them, they're just not my cup of tea. I really, really hope they don't end up representing Ireland in the Eurovision. Then again Dustin the Turkey was sent before, I don't think any act we send can top the embarrassment I felt about that whole debacle.
I really feel Ireland are trying not to host again. I mean, there must be a method to the madness. And if Jedward are picked you know it will be UK – douze points for Ireland, so we can all be mugs together 😀
Watching Gridlock always makes me want to watch episodes of Father Ted. Never fails to crack me up.
Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction to the "You are not alone" thing. WHAT. I also loved this episode and for some reason thought the never ending traffic jam seemed like one of the more terrifying things this show has introduced. I HATE TRAFFIC.
Alice and May were totes adorable! I teared up a bit watching them hold hands and finally get to see the sun again. So sweet!
The Doctor interacts with in his quest to locate the hover van that Rose is in.
I think you mean Martha 😉
(see? this is why they should lay off the Rose mentions.)
Love your freak out at the revelation! The Face of Boe theme is so lovely.
hahahahahaaha OOOPS.
Don't worry, I think you got away with it… 😉
Yeah. I don't think anyone else noticed at all!…er… :p
I loved that adorable basket of kittens but…if you're a girl…I can't quite imagine them coming out of you. o.O Ick.
Otherwise, this is probably one of my favorite episodes! I love that everyone is trying to get to the same place and they believe there are still others that live in the city but the truth is THEY'RE ALL DEAD. One of the best Dr. Who twists ever!
Lol agreed on everything. As adorable as the kittens are, my mind freaks out a bit at the idea of Valerie giving birth to kittens. I mean, do they become more humanoid as they grow older? HOW DOES THIS WORK?
When I stop overthinking that, the episode is awesome. 😀
Well… think of the alternative. The cat-people are cool, but can you imagine cat-people babies? I think that would slide right into the Uncanny Valley+be a lot more expensive than a basket of kittens, so I'm okay with it.
Oh I agree that for the show the basket of kittens makes sense and the cuteness factor basically rules over everything. There's just a bit of my brain that is like, "giving birth to kittens? DNW". Luckily that part is overruled by the AWWWWWW.
Dude, I would RATHER give birth to kittens than a human baby. Kittens are TINY.
I understand the cost that would come in order to get cat-people babies onto the show. But I'd still be a little unhappy if my children only bore resemblance to my husband, ahaha.
I was the first born; my mother was angry when I was born with blue eyes like my father (instead of brown eyes like hers). "I DIDN'T SPEND NINE MONTHS BEING PREGNANT AND THEN DO THIS WHOLE BIRTH THING FOR IT TO COME OUT LOOKING LIKE HIM!" (She told me this story jokingly, so clearly later she was amused by her reaction, but I wonder how common it really is in birthing women!)
But, that reaction x2 billion if you gave birth to some freaking KITTENS.
But I do love the bit where he is about to jump out of the car down to the next level and says, "If it's any consolation, Valerie, I am totally having kittens right now!"
I dunno, it would probably be a LOT easier than giving birth to a human baby. They are a good deal smaller.
Freaky, yes, but easier for sure.
Oh this is so good WITH THE KITTENS. There is a Tennant and Kitten Gif somewhere and someone needs to post it.
It think Ten is subconscoiusly copying the adventures he had with Rose. Like- Well Martha's kind of the Replacement Goldfish for him, as TVTropes would put it, and she's not really her own person she's his Rose substitute. Poor Martha. Ten, stop being a dick.
<img src=http://i53.tinypic.com/se0jdh.gif>
I will love you forever.
I love how the kitten is clearly thinking, "How the hell do I get down from here??"
If I were that kitten I'd think "How do I do to never ever have to leave?"
Yes yes yes. Maybe not even subconsciously. I remember yelling at the screen when the Doctor took Martha to 15x New New York. I was like, "OH MY GOD COME ON DO SOMETHING ORIGINAL."
And woot for the names they give things on TVTropes… she is SO a replacement goldfish. Oh Doctor. It doesn't work that way….
I didn't like this episode when I first saw it because it hit too close to home. My commute seems to get longer every year and I pretty much just accept this as fact and go along with it. It wasn't too much of a stretch for me to imagine myself getting stuck in traffic for years and saying to myself "Well I'm sure I'm almost at the exit, I'll just hold on a little longer." I watched this episode and thought, "How sad, they're wasting their lives in traffic, why don't they try to get out, OH WAIT WHY DOES THAT SOUND FAMILIAR." So I got all depressed.
Also last week we had a storm here at rush hour and people I know spent 7+ hours in their cars, not moving, trying to get home. Months in a car could happen!
But, yay cat people and kittens and Face of Boe.
There has already been that 11 day traffic jam in China. Oh crap, Doctor Who horrors are happening but WE DON'T HAVE A DOCTOR.
Obvious solution: One Doctor rationed out to everyone on Earth, your choice of incarnation. I'll have a Ten, please!
But I can't decide between Nine and Ten!
I regret to inform you that we'll have to give you both, then. Sorry =/
OH NOES DOCTOR SANDWICH.
Fine then. To show support for the new season, I'll have an Eleven.
He has a bowtie. Bowties are cool
…
*looks forward to future Mark Watches Doctor Who Episodes*
Does this mean I can have Four? SWEET. I mean, Nine's my first choice, but if he's taken, Four is the next best thing.
I wouldn't have bought "bowties are cool" prior to Gossip Girl's Chuck Bass pulling them off and making the man wearing them look ever so edible.
…then again, Ed Westwick would look edible in a burlap sack.
Seriously, the traffic just made me sad and annoyed the first time I saw this episode. It was like GREAT, REAL LIFE, and I just stopped paying attention. I liked it better on rewatching, though, because it has so many other great parts!
Haha traffic ruins everything, even Doctor Who.
I definitely need to rewatch, yes.
I also found it sort of slow and boring the first time I watched. A second viewing also improved my liking of the episode.
And a random fact: in an interview D. Tennant did on the radio right before season 4 started he said this was one of his favourite season 3 episodes.
Psst. He's looking for Martha not Rose
Other than that. FR DOUGAL. KITTENS. OMG
Oh Lenora Crichlow (who plays Cheem) why are you SO ADORABLEY LOVELY? *may be developing a bit of a girlcrush*
I've seen this episode several times now and I STILL get teary when the Face of Boe dies. 🙁
Slightly shallow, but maybe not really moment: I love the production design of all the car interiors the Doctor travels through. It's basically the same space for all of them but they all look so different. The cars themselves remind me of VW Buses as well, which are always awesome.
Something about this episode doesn't sit right with and I'm not quite sure what it is though. However, DT with kittens=cutest thing ever.
I love the tone of Tennant’s voice when he is talking about Gallifrey.
I also love “all the strange strange creatures” the theme they play during this episode when all of the cars are freed from the motorway.
Kitten babies! While cute, I don’t think that is what a half human/ half catperson baby would look like.
All the strange strange creatures is epic. Here it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEcij0ARkmU&fe…
And my favorite piece of music by Murray Gold is still yet to come!
Favourite scene in this episode is when Martha grabs the chair, sits down and says, "Show me some goddamn respect". Not in those words exactly, but in her attitude. She's been kidnapped, imprisoned, and she's not going anywhere else with this guy until he gives her an explanation.
David Tennant + kittens = gorgeous
Alice and May LOVE! Def. Best married couple evar!
Yup! They're so adorable and married!
And one of them is a car-spotter. Oh Britain, I love you.
Oh, you are so not prepared. ;D
This episode made me feel seriously claustrophobic or something, the idea of being trapped in your car for years and years just freaks me out (and made me wonder about where they get food, basic necessities, etc.). It kind of put a damper on the episode for me, but that's more me than the episode. Though ugh, more of the Doctor treating Martha badly. Sigh.
Coincidentally, I keep forgetting to mention this – last week, on Jeopardy, there was a category on fictional TV cities, and one of them was "New New York, New York". One of the contestants guessed Doctor Who, and at that time was penalized because the answer was Futurama. However, when they returned from commercial for the second round, she got rewarded because they had found that there was, indeed, a New New York in DW. 😀 I totally fangirled over that!
<img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/2uzbksh.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
All waste is converted into food, and I completely agree with Martha's reaction to that, as useful an idea as it is.
BTW, the Jeopardy bit is awesome!
Except wouldn't that only work so many times? Eventually all the potential nutritional value has been used up.
On a molecular level, yes, but if it works on an atomic level, and the car is an enclosed system then you can just recombine the atoms into useful nutritional compounds. The only problem you've got is fuel for the car to generate energy. But then the *motorway* is a closed system, so in principle, new fuel could be reconstituted from the exhaust fumes. Of course, no system is 100% energy efficient, so they couldn't go on like this forever, but we can imagine a 99.9(99…)% efficiency, in which case it could stay like this for a good while before needing a new energy input.
Hahaha, I remember that Jeopardy bit. Especially since I thought the answer was going to be "What is Doctor Who?", too… >_> And then I was vindicated when they gave her the money anyway.
Alice + May = SO ADORABLE NO KIDDING FOR EVER AND EVER.
Also? KITTENS. kittenskittenskittenskittenskittens YAY!
You have no idea, I've had the most rottenest day at work ever and I am here on lunch reading this and THE KITTENS ARE MAKING THINGS SLIGHTLY MORE TOLERABLE.
The power of capslock compels me to look at more kittens instead of my email.
Agreed. I've had the most absolute shittiest day too (Boyfriend broke up with me AGAIN, some MarkReads/Watches folks from buzznet may remember), and kittens do make it a little better.
"I thought the Doctor hated cats? Maybe he hates cats but LOVES KITTENS. This is acceptable."
Yes, yes it is. Kittens are adorable and it is impossible to hate them. 😀
I haven't actually re-watched this episode yet and I was still squeeing over some of the things you mentioned because I remember them so well. It was definitely a "what?" moment when the Face of Boe said the Doctor wasn't alone. I know I was totally "What?"
<img src="http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/ab97/shayzgirl/Random/whatha.gif" border="0" alt="">
Also, I'm kind of sad that the Face of Boe is gone. :'(
The Macra confused me too. Will definitely have to re-watch to see if I missed anything.
A+ gif use 🙂
Yep, I'd go with Mark on this one, Gridlock is a very nice episode with a little bit of arc stuff (note I'm not saying WHAT was arc stuff, no spoilers!), a nice plot and the pacing is just about spot on. Plus Martha being separated from the Doc gives her chance to breathe and start to build herself up as a character in her own right.
One thing I do love though is the singing. If you're going to base a show in Wales then just occasionally take advantage of the natural resource that is the Welsh Choir 😉
Yay! I love that you commented on the singing – it's me! Well .. not just me. Me and 39 other choristers. And I'm so amazingly proud of it, I squee every time we come on 😀
We've done all the singing from season 1 all the way through to season 5, but we're not usually credited. It's really nice to hear people enjoy it.
Absurdly though, we're not a welsh choir. We're based in London, in Crouch End!
You're an amazing choir and I always love when you turn up on the soundtrack. All the +1 and cheering/applauding gifs for you.
<img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/1zl5388.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
You're amazing. The singing is so beautiful <3
You always sound amazing. 🙂
Congrats! You guys are fantastic.
Wow, that's so cool, to be a part of it!! The singing is gorgeous.
Oh, that is amazing, you SHOULD be proud! 😀 You all sound fantastic, and I love hearing you on the show!
The Macra are returning monsters like the Doctor hints, but others will be able to tell you more about that then I can.
Keep fond memories of this episode, because it is the best of Doctor Who you will review this week. YOU ARE REALLY NOT PREPARED for the next week though. 😉
(Assuming that you keep on going with five episodes per week.)
…THAN I can. Argh.
hopefully without sounding spoilery, I can't wait for all of next week!
But then I say that about all of it, this re-journey is great fun
Wow. Could you please tell me what you are down voting for if you do? My post is just a piece of opinion with no actual information imho.
"2) Hinting that something happens in the future.
EX: “Mark, I can’t wait until you get to that part in the desert with the unicorn. It’s so exciting!”
EX: “Oh man, Mark, there is a scene in your mom’s house is awesome! Just wait!”
EX: “They’ll explain why that person is named that in the future.”
Effect: You’ve just removed the element of surprise. May all of your future relationships end with spontaneous combustion."
-DA RULES
He doesn't want to have any expectations set for the upcoming weeks.
I think this is pretty borderline though — s/he obviously likes the rest of the season but I could equally say I don't like it and that wouldn't generate any expectations other than the DW fandom remaining divided on every episode ever.
Either way, I DEFINITELY don't think this person deserved to be downvoted for asking why s/he was downvoted in the first place. Asking is good.
Thanks for the answers and thanks for defending the question itself.
I still don't quite understand it though to be honest. "You are not prepared" is the most used sentence on here, often used in association with specific episodes, whereas I used it in association with a bunch of episodes, not even specifying which I like in particular. And I have never seen someone being down voted for it. Quite to the contrary, my impression is that Mark even likes the sentence.
I did not say that "the best of Doctor Who" is coming up, but that Gridlock was the best episode Mark will review this week (meaning nothing more than that the next few are weaker than this imho) and that he is not prepared for the week after. Yes, that is subjective, but then every opinion is subjective by definition. And again I definitely didn't get the impression that opinions were unwanted here.
Personally, I think I'm guilty of generating excitement no more than a lot of people here are, but I might be guilty of unusually lowering expectations for the next few days. The former seems not to have compromised Marks enjoyment of the show so far and I think the latter might actually help him not to expect too much during the next days.
Maybe that's where I'm wrong though and the negativity actually makes him more critical. I didn't think about that and if it's the case I apologise to Mark for that.
No problem! As you point out, there's a lot of posts here that talk about about upcoming episodes without giving away hints or plots, just someone saying they enjoyed/didn't enjoy an episode, and that seems to have been ok so far. It's really up to Mark though.
Plus, saying it's "the best of Doctor Who" coming up is pretty subjective, everyone has different favourites.
You called Martha Rose there once "locate the hover van that Rose is ". (No harm done, just fyi)
Personally, I think (and I don't think anybody knows for sure) that the TARDIS takes the doctor where/when he is needed (to help fix ALL THE THINGS) and where/when he need to be to learn/heal/other as he is then. In between those "meaningful" trips, the TARDIS lets the doctor go where he wants. Also, as time goes (through old who) the doctor gets better at piloting and maybe also better at intuiting where he needs to be and therefore there are less unplanned trips, but those still happen and those are the ones we see because they are the good stories.
I thought the Macra grew because of the exhaust from all the vans… was that not right? It's been a while. I just focused on the "OMG SAVE MARTHA, STOP BITCHING ABOUT ROSE DAMMIT" part there…
That makes sense. The sci-fi explanation is probably along those lines. But any proper explanation would no doubt have been cut for being boring. It's quite sufficient for the Doctor to say, "They were the scourge of this galaxy, once." So if they were all over the galaxy at some point, the question becomes not `Why are they there?` but `Why *shouldn't* they be there? Just laying dormant until they got fat on that feast of fumes.
This episode if the first use of ‘All The Strange, Strange Creatures’ or as I like to call it kick ass music of BAMF. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEcij0ARkmU It’s a perfect fit for all the running in the show and they also like to use it for their trailers where it just works stunningly.
I also love ‘Boe’ from the series 3 soundtrack. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MMvpxp4ETg Such a gorgeous, hopeful piece of music. I can’t help but smile a little when I hear it.
I’m sad Old Rugged Cross isn’t on the soundtrack. The BBC had it on their Adventure Calendar a few years ago and I just loved it. The slow quiet build in volume leading to a big split into extra harmony at the height of the crescendo *sigh* The only one that’s on youtube is the one from the episode which really isn’t the same quality wise.
Onto the actual episode.
The Doctor needs to make up his mind with Martha. Just one trip, no wait one trip to the past and now one trip to the future. I do love when Martha took off Jean's Honesty patch because she's pregnant. I love Brannigan, Vallery and their kittens and am saddened by my lack of the Doctor with the kittens gif. Though really all the people that the Doctor meets traveling through the cars are great. I also like how Martha is learning some of the downsides of traveling with the Doctor, the fact she doesn't really know him that well and that her family would never know what happened to her if she died while with him.
It's only natural that Martha would be curious about Gallifrey, who wouldn't want to know about the home planet of the alien they're traveling with and the Doctor's description at the start of the episode is wonderful. David Tennant's face when he's describing Gallifrey at the end of the episode is heartbreaking. The Doctor is happy to remember his home but so sad that it's gone.
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The Face of Boe will forever be love.
'You Are Not Alone' <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g9WjcGdxuM” target=”_blank”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g9WjcGdxuM
"I also like how Martha is learning some of the downsides of traveling with the Doctor, the fact she doesn't really know him that well and that her family would never know what happened to her if she died while with him. "
Yeah, I love how she looks at him a little skeptically and doesn't just get swept up in everything around her. A lot of people (me) wouldn't and it totally makes me respect her so much.
YES to that music and the Gallifrey part being so damn sad,
You know, if you stop and think about it, the main premise of this episode – the neverending gridlock, people driving for years to get a few miles away – should be ridiculous. It really should. But somehow, inexplicably, it isn't. As far as I know, this episode gets mixed opinions throughout the Who fandom, but I really like it, it's one of my favourite Series 3 episodes. I agree with Mark that the ensemble cast is great, especially the Brannigan family (there's a funny bit in this episode's Confidential how they were trying to get one of the kittens miaow "Mama!" and they succeeded, as seen in the episode).
FYI: jesus christ Milo is so hot WHAT
Yes, he is! 😀
And regarding the Face of Boe's cryptic message: Mark, you are so, so, SO not prepared! Your unpreparedness knows no bounds! 😀
I remember being stuck on a motorway for literally hours (at least 4 in total) when some idiot decided he was going to jump off a bridge. (He never actually did, but he had plenty of volunteers to give him a push in that almost county-wide traffic jam!) As I sat there in my car for all those hours, there was literally nowhere I could go. And I thought of Gridlock. At least I could get out of my car and stretch my legs a bit. (A group of guys started playing football on the completely deserted other side of the motorway!) In a flying cay, you couldn't even do that! So I can definitely relate. OK, it might be an exaggeration of a real situation – but isn't that what drama does?
Season three has some of the best episodes, plotwise, as far as I’m concerned. I love all the minor characters in this. And oh, Mark, you are so not prepared!
Just in case the cute overload wasn't enough to make you SQUEE FOREVER, I'd like to share this:
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I love this episode! Mostly for Lenora Crichlow, who I love from Being Human, but also because KITTENS and GIANT CRABS and THE FACE OF BOE OMG.
Mark, do you have any plans to watch Torchwood? There's a mention in Torchwood season one (I think) about the Face of Boe which is really interesting, but I don't want to spoil it if you're going to watch it.
Actually, if it's the reference I'm thinking of, it happens later in this series of Doctor Who, though it may be mentioned on Torchwood also. Just re-watched this whole series because I can never slow down to Mark's pace. 🙂
Oh, is it? I remembered that it was one of those events that you saw on both shows, but I didn't remember when it showed up. I guess I'll bring it up again when Mark gets there.
If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, I'm pretty sure Mark will notice.
If we're thinking of the same thing then yeah, later on in DW.
This is an episode where Martha feels emotionally appropriate to me! YES. For the love of God, Doctor, TELL HER ABOUT THE TIMEWAR! Good job Martha, on having meaningful interaction with the Doctor other than schmoop/avoidance/woundedness. <3
<3 The Face of Boe!
Mark, I WAS NOT PREPARED, watching this is real time. Even with all the forum speculation at the time, even having some clues about what was coming, I was STILL not prepared.
YOU ARE NOT PREPARED. THERE IS NO WAY TO BE PREPARED.
Your comment has all the stuff. Someone else who is frustrated with the Martha Angst (Marthangst?). She's such a good character, WHY did RTD heap all the moping crap on her?!
Martha had so much potential and then the way she was written emotionally just started annoying the CRAP out of me from 3×1 on. I never quite got over my RAEG at Martha being dumb in 3×1 and 3×2 but I said in my comments on those episodes that I DO think she has a lot of redeeming qualities. This is an episode where she really shows them off.
I like the Doctor jumping from car to car much better than Tom Cruise doing the car-jump in Minority Report.
And KITTENS! At least the Doctor doesn't play poker with kittens. Yet.
I do love the way the information about the Time War comes out so slowly. LIttle bits at a time. Frustrating the first time through, but it really, really works.
At least the Doctor doesn't play poker with kittens. Yet.
I have just imagined kittens wearing playing card hats. omg
"And KITTENS! At least the Doctor doesn't play poker with kittens. Yet. "
*laughs too loud in public*
Surprise Buffy references always brighten my day. xD
and he doesn't cheat!
Oh, Clem! I love your adorable-yet-somehow-creepy personality.
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What's wrong with playing poker for kittens?
"I'm Spike, and I approve this comment."
"It's Spike, and he's wearing a coat!"
Randy…?
Hmm let me check
<img src=http://www.gifsoup.com/view3/1686962/angel-randy-giles-o.gif>
Yep, looks like.
You might as well have named me HORNY Giles!
It wouldn't work. Too much time travel. Time is what turns kittens into cats!!
Seriosuly, I mentally overlay it on top of OldWho episodes. It's just that perfect. Daleks? Yep. Cybermen? Yep. Giant Squid? Yep. Weird walking vegetable/bath mat? Yep.
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By letseyx
Ah, Annie I adore you!Her reactions to everything last episode were priceless!
<3 <3
ANNIE IS THE BEST. ILH SFM.
I would not complain at all if every episode of Doctor Who involved cats in some way.
IDK why fandom seems to generally dislike this episode, because I bloody loved it when I first saw it and it's a great example of how some of the best episodes of Doctor Who take something normal (your daily commute) and turn it into something viscerally horrifying and wrong. I totally cried at the end when the doors were opened and all those people could see the sun again. W/e, fandom, I do what I want.
And oh man how amazing were the performances during the Telling Martha About Gallifrey scene? Incredible.
Oh, and the Macra are just there to be a random returning monster from the old series to provide an extra level of menace and make the anoraks squee. They make some sense because their MO is they feed on gasses that are otherwise fatal to humans.
Kittens!
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Penguin?
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Okay, it's official. DT should have a kitten with him at all times.
Pretty much any time he appears with a small furry animal, or a small child, my ovaries explode.
I could look at those all day.
Is that last one from when he did a week of reading those bedtime stories? I totally didn't watch them every night that week before I went to bed. nope. never.
I totally did not do that either. Nope.
Why yes, I believe I COULD watch David Tennant play with baby animals all day long.
Honestly, these gifs are so uplifting.
I'm clearly missing something with that last gif. Why is he talking to a toy penguin?
For some reason all I can think is "Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it."
Ha, no, it's from when David Tennant read bed-time stories on the BBC's network for young children for a week last year.
Ah, I see. I have no children and am therefore unaware of what they watch these days.
Though clearly, if they've got David Tennant reading storybooks to them, their programming is superior to what I had as a young'un in the dark days of the '80s.
I have no idea why he is a playing with a penguin but I find myself totally not caring! Especially the way he is showing the penguin the book! "Here Mr. Penguin, books and knowledge are fun!"
I like this episode sooo much better on rewatch. I love the American Gothic couple at the beginning, the kittens, the car hopping, the Face of Boe, and the ending. He's not alone! Single tear.
So, how about the not-so-subtle religion is a drug commentary in this episode? The pharmacists and the walls down on the lower levels were covered in green posters with crescents on them, and everyone except the Doctor got swept up and emotional singing like a choir. It ended all of their discomfort with what the Doctor was telling them. But then everyone finds salvation in the light, so it's not like it's bludgeoning you with anti-religious imagery. Maybe the overall message is that there may be heaven or some sort of reward, but you shouldn't accept things unquestioningly? Or maybe that they're in Plato's cave and have finally escaped? I dunno, just rambling.
Their faith simultaneously gives them much-needed comfort and a sense of community, but also keeps them from really questioning their situation too much. I think the "message" is that there is no message, and there is no right or wrong answer. Religion does genuinely give people comfort and hope during hopeless times when people need that most, just to keep going. On the other hand, it does also cause some people to close their minds and stop questioning. Life's complicated.
The green crescents are established as the New Earth symbol for medicine back in "New Earth." I don't think it's meant to be overtly religious imagery, at least no more than a "red cross" is for us now.
I guess I didn't notice them there! And while the Red Cross might be based on the Swiss flag, it's still religious imagery and it imparts a sort of trustworthiness on the organization. I mean, there's a Red Crecent and Red Crystal to accommodate other faiths for a reason. I don't think it means "this is Islam," but it has to have been a deliberate choice to parody the Red Cross with a green crescent, and then have people selling moods under that symbol.
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They're selling the moods under a symbol that means "medicine" which I don't think is quite the same as them selling moods under a symbol that means nothing but religion. Not any more than selling medicine with a red cross on it now would. The origin is religious, certainly, but the meaning of the symbol has now gone beyond that and most people would have to think for a moment before they realised, "Oh yeah, I guess that actually came from the Christian cross originally, didn't it?"
Fair enough, the original meaning has been superseded. I just think the drugs and hymn, and the blissful ignorance they allow, weren't accidental.
ETA: I don't think RTD intended the hymn to be negative, because it's beautiful and brings people happiness, just that it's as much a part of trusting a high authority as driving around in circles, when it turned out it was just the Face of Boe.
I think it's interesting you see anti-religous imagery, when a lot of people talk about how weird it is that RTD as an atheist includes so much positive religious imagery.
I don't really have any personal opinion on the matter other than I think choir music is pretty so I liked it.
I think that he's using religious imagery to comment on unquestioning faith, not to bag on religion in and of itself. I didn't know people thought he was odd to include positive religious imagery, but now maybe I'll keep an eye out for it.
Being pro-choir music is a fine stance to take. It's about the only thing you can be certain about in this episode.
Okay, here's what I think as a Christian watching this show:
The traffic jam represents the world. Those that reject faith believe that the fast lane is a way to cheat the system, but it turns out to be a hell of crab monsters. Those that remain in the jam have their faith rewarded when the savior, The Doctor, appears to free them.
Having started off in the heaven of New New York in a previous episode––I assume––this time The Doctor descends to see those that are lost. In their cars. The teleporting cat woman marks the savior's ascent back into heaven, where he pleads the case of salvation to the giant face of God. From there he brings the lost drivers up into paradise, and I can openly declare my love of this show to people in church since they sing a hymn and they can't argue with that. 😉
I love your comments. And now I want a geeky Sunday school to show Doctor Who.
Ha,ha,ha. Oh man, I wish I was a Sunday school teacher sometimes; trying to get away with stuff like that would just be too hilarious.
"A giant head in a jar!? Cat people!? Brad, what are you showing these children!?"
"But sir, the bliss patches represent––uh––sin! Yes! Indeed, this is a modern-day parable!"
And then they'd let me show it during the church service and we'd all hum the theme song instead of singing, ha,ha,ha.
NGL, when I think of Gridlock I tend to pretend it is about ten minutes long and includes the five minutes at the start and the five minutes at the end… but those are a good ten minutes. I love the Gallifrey stuff, especially because, like you, the first time I watched it I had no idea about anything and so it was BRAND NEW INFORMATION!!!! and super-exciting. The bit where Martha asks to see his planet and he waves it off is so sad, and the bit at the end where she forces him to talk is great, too. Four for you, almost-Dr Jones.
Also LOL Face of Boe. I watched this series so fast the first time that I would forget about entire plot lines and stuff, so when Face of Boe showed up here I definitely had a moment of "wait, who, what????"
bwahahahaha. There are many many movies and books that I pretend ended at much earlier points, or parts in the middle that I just mentally block out 😉 I love that someone else does this!
I mean, I don't HATE the rest of Gridlock, I just don't like it very much either, and the only stuff I do really like is the stuff at the beginning and at the end. But I pretty much watch the show for the Doctor and the companion and their interaction, and Martha and Ten spend 90% of this episode apart, which usually pulls an episode down in my estimation.
YES SO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS EPISODE.
This episode is so incredible. The plot is so unnerving and fascinating; it keeps you wondering up through the end. And the minor characters in it are so human. You can empathize with all of them, even the family that kidnapped Martha. They just want to make a better life for themselves, even if it takes years locked in a flying van. The macra thing is silly (why not just say that something native began attacking cars? Why alien crabs?) but forgivable with how wonderful the rest of the plot and character moments were. I LOVE Martha's no-crap attitude at the end.
And poor Face of Boe. I absolutely love that his plot thread has gone through three seasons, but the first time you met him was so understated.
hehehehehe…… oh…. this is going to be really fun. Face of Bo, "you are not alone…" and tons and tons of KITTIES!
GOD there is so much about the episode that I just absolutely love (kitties!), and so much that made my jaw drop when I first watched it.
You really are so not even remotely close to being prepared. Nope. Not one whit.
Oh I loved this episode! I'm so glad you did too, Mark. The stand out parts for me were the Doctor talking to Martha at the end and the Daily Contemplation scene (made me cry, so it did). The soundtrack is something that is consistently excellent about this show, I find. Bless Murray Gold.
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This episode really delivered on the emotional side of things, didn't it? Also, have you seen the Doctor Who Proms? Murray Gold really is exceptional.
It's just, you'd think that because they're all trapped in their own cars and can't really have that much to do with one another. Yet they still have one moment when they all stop and they know that they're together in this. Once a day. Very emotional, yes.
No I haven't watched the Proms yet. I'm saving them for a rainy day. Meanwhile, I'll settle for 'All the Strange, Strange Creatures' on repeat (amongst others it would be so very spoileriffic to even mention).
Oh Martha, you need so many hugs.
I really like this episode. I'm not even entirely sure why cause I'm not particularly enamoured with the plot. (Wouldn't it be a lot faster to walk? And the cars do seem to fly and all – why do they have to drive in the motorway? I get that part of the city's sealed off, but did no one try a drill? I think it's a plot hole, anyway)
Also, "A virus mutated inside the compound and became airborne. Everything perished" – I'm not entirely sure what that's supposed to mean. I mean, I can give an explanation for how that quote may make sense, but it requires a lot of assumptions on my part. But I'm being nit-picky.
But then, I know for sure that I love the stuff about Gallifrey. The beginning, when Martha asks about his planet, and the Doctor flat-out lies is just heartbreaking. And it's totally understandable the Doctor would act like that, and I think fits perfectly with his character.
And when Martha finally confronts him at the end, he just pulls up a chair and actually explains things to someone. It's just so rare he actually talks about himself and his past, so I see this episode as a really big moment for Ten.
I guess overall, I like how this episode characterizes Martha and the Doctor, and does, I think, nicely deal with what the Doctor-companion relationship is like at the begining.
I also do really love the look at all the various car passengers – fun and nicely alien. And the Face of Boe! I remember not being bothered by the "you are not alone" mystery when this episode aired, but rewatching it, I'm annoyed at how characters always have to be cryptic with each other in fiction. His last, dying secret, and it's totally ambiguous. But then, I love the Face of Boe so whatever, I'll totally accept him as being mysterious.
Lastly, Tennant holding kittens is so adorable I can't even handle it.
The Face of Boe: he's textbook enigmatic!
I really enjoy this episode. I can’t really articulate it, but I think that this a really great story and a fun episode. Also, THERE IS SOME FANTASTIC CASTING. First of all the female kidnapper is played by Lenora Crichlow who plays Annie on Being Human and omg. I LOVE ANNIE SO MUCH, so I get really excited when I see Lenora here. Also, the actor who plays Thomas Kinkade Brannigan (lol. That name. Thomas Kinkade. Lol) was Dougal on Father Ted AKA ONE OF THE BEST BRITISH COMEDIES EVER MADE. These two casting decisions increases my enjoyment of this episode exponentially.
Ok now to start talking about the episode itself. I rather like a lot of things about the plot in this episode. The little bit with the people in the undercity selling moods is a nice commentary on humans and our tendency to self medicate, but instead of just being that, it is also integral to the entire plot of the Bliss virus leading to the people of the undercity being sealed off. (Also, it was pretty much all I could think about when I was watching SyFy's Alice.) And the entire plot of the people being trapped on the motorway has a suitably creepy sci fi feel to it. Also, RTD loves vertical chase scenes and we get a really great one here where the Doctor is headed down to find Martha and he, in turn, is being followed by Novice Haine. My favorite thing about this story is that this is one of those stories where there isn’t some bad guy that the Doctor has to defeat. The Macra are just beasts at this point. They’re not exactly evil. And the quarantine is unfortunate, but it was an attempt to save people.
You know, as someone who is religious, I’m never quite sure how I’m supposed to feel about the way that religion is used in this episode. I can’t decide if I should be a little bit offended because RTD is kind of portraying religion as the opiate of the masses or if I should appreciate that religion is shown to be a way of fostering community for those trapped on the motorway (“we’re not abandoned, not while we have each other”) which is definitely the outsider’s perspective of religion, I think. And then at the end, the Face of Bo is made out to be a savior figure, “my lord gave his life to save the city” according to Novice Haine. So… yes. I’m not 100% sure what RTD is trying to do with religion here. At any rate, I think it’s interesting. I love it when RTD uses sci fi to explore larger and more universal themes. <3
This episode also has a few moments that explore the Doctor’s character.
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The Doctor: How about another planet?
Martha Jones: Can we go to yours?
The Doctor: Nah, there's plenty of other places.
Martha Jones: Come on, though. I mean "Planet of the Time Lords". That's gotta be worth a look. What's it like?
The Doctor: It's beautiful, yeah… The sky's burnt orange, with the citadel enclosed in a mighty glass dome, shining under the twin suns. Beyond that, the mountains go on forever. Slopes of deep red grass, capped with snow.
Martha Jones: Can we go there?
[pause]
The Doctor: Nah, where's the fun for me? I don't want to go home.
Oh Doctor. I see you, avoiding your problems. I see you. I also see you taking Martha to a place where you had had a grand old time with Rose. I really don’t know what that’s about. I can’t decide if he wants to revisit places where he’d been happy with Rose or if he just wants to impress Martha by taking her somewhere he knows is neat. Suffice to say, the Doctor has Issues.
Thomas Kincade Brannigan: This Martha, she must mean a lot to you.
The Doctor: Hardly know her. I was too busy showing off.
And now he feels guilty. In his eagerness to show off, he brought Martha somewhere that wasn’t safe and he got her in danger. This is a pretty marked change from the conversation that the Doctor had with Rose while trapped in the cellar in the third episode of the first series. The Doctor is in a completely different emotional state her and thus he hasn't let himself actually care about Martha or get to know her. But he still feels really guilty about getting her into this situation.
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And you can't talk about this episode without talking about this moment. It's possibly the high light of this episode. The Doctor plays with kittens!!!!!
Martha in this episode is pretty awesome. I like her interactions with the kidnappers, “what am I supposed to do, congratulate my kidnappers?!” And I like that she thinks back to a movie to try and figure out what to do. Haha. I would too.
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I also adore that moment at the end when Martha sits down and refuses to leave until the Doctor talks to her. The Doctor doesn’t want to open up, but Martha is forcing him to at least deal with some of his emotions. I think it also shows that the Doctor is a lot more closed off to the possibility of friendship now than he was before he lost Rose. With Rose he brought her to watch the Earth be destroyed in a (possibly subconscious) attempt to get her to understand what it means to him to be the last of his kind and to have his planet destroyed. But here, Martha has to force him into it.
The Doctor: I lied to you, 'cause I liked it. I could pretend, just for a bit, I could imagine they were still alive underneath the burnt orange sky. I'm not just a Time Lord: I'm the last of the Time Lords. The Face of Boe was wrong. There's no one else.
Martha Jones: What happened?
The Doctor: There was a war. A Time War. The last great Time War. My people fought a race called the Daleks for the sake of all creation, and they lost. They lost. Everyone lost. They're all gone now, my family, my friends, even that sky. Ah, you should have seen it, that old planet. The second sun would rise in the south, the mountains would shine. The leaves on the trees were silver. When they caught the light every morning, they lit the forest on fire. We always had…
In conclusion, FUCK YEAH, MARTHA JONES.
I think–regarding the religion thing–it's actually a pretty great exploration of good faith/bad faith. Bad faith keeps you stuck in gridlock, just because someone told you that one day you'll get to go somewhere awesome–as long as you don't ask questions or fly too high or too low. But then there's good faith, the kind that build communities and keeps you going in bad situations. Not flat-out condemnation or approval, just an acknowledgment of two ways it can go.
(Also: LOVE your reviews. They're one of the best things about Mark Watches!)
Mark, did you think at all about the Pax from Serenity when watching this? It was the first thing my mind jumped to!
I did!
I was definitely hoping that 10% of the population didn't go mad and kill everyone else.
And bless Bliss, as they say.
Me too! I also thought it would have been more meaningful if that is how all of the top level died, instead of dong the mutated virus, but they wouldn't have all been killed within minutes so it wouldn't have worked with the plot.
I HEART the Face of Boe. And Father Dougal! And OMG I was sooo happy at the last message – YOU ARE SO NOT PREPARED.
Hello. Now it’s trivia time!
A. The poster on the wall of the Japanese hippies says Bad Wolf in Japanese.
B. The hymn playing over the rebirth of the city is Abide With Me.
C. Ma and Pa resemble the couple on Grant Wood’s painting American Gothic.
D. Gridlock is the 727th broadcast episode of Doctor Who, surpassing the 726 installments accumulated by the Star Trek franchise, although Trek’s record was set through the broadcasts of six series. Taken on its own merits, Doctor Who has held the record for greatest number of episodes for an individual science fiction series since the 1970s, and the count of 727 doesn’t include Torchwood and other spin-offs aired to this point.
E. This is the first appearance of the Macra in 40 years.
F. Gridlock aired 40 minutes late due to the BBC’s coverage of the FA cup.
G. This episode had a working title of Chasing Fumes.
H. The BBC3 repeat had less than 1 million viewers.
You know, I was going to ask Mark if he caught the Bad Wolf reference in this episode, because it stuck out like a little shiny piece of candy for me. But apparently my memory forgot that the poster was in Japanese so of course it would need to be trivia to people who DON'T read Japanese fluently. Uh, which is most people.
I really do like this episode, but I have one silly nitpick to get off my chest. In the twenty years or so that people have been in traffic, did no one have the idea to walk or take a bike ride?
They can't go outside in the tunnels because of the pollution, but I do wonder about the people in the undercity. Surely it's connected to other areas and they could walk the ten miles from there?
I thought that the motorway was the only way to get out of the undercity, though I'm not sure if that's what the episode was saying or just my interpretation.
The upper city is sealed off, whatever that means. I imagine it as the upper city and the undercity separated, but both travellable within their domain, just not between them.
But considering people spend lifetimes on the motorway, it still seems implausible no one got through even if there is a barrier – take a drill, hell, build a drill, find caustic chemicals, whatever.
There's also the fact that it rained in the undercity… does that mean it was open to the sky? That might suggest there are ways out.
It's worth noting that the Macra were a monster in Classic Who – Davies recycled them for this episode as a nod to classic fandom.
They appeared in the 2nd Doctor story, The Macra Terror, broadcast 11/03/1967 – 01/04/1967…sadly junked not long after and remains missing from the BBC archives.
Co-incidentally, my `Complete` Doctor Who marathon reached this very story today, and I watched it straight after Gridlock.
It's a passing reference, used simply because the story required giant crab monsters that feed on fumes and since Doctor Who already did that once, why invent something else? If it looks like a Macra and acts like a Macra…might as well call it a Macra.
I really like this episode a lot too!
I know jack shit about Gallifrey, so it was great to finally hear about it in the Doctor’s own words.
That speech when the Doctor talks about Gallifrey was the moment David Tennant sold me on Ten as a character. He really brought the pain and gravitas to balance out his generally manic nature. You could understand him so much better after that speech. Fantastic acting.
I really enjoy Martha in this episode. She has such self-respect, and she won't take the Doctor's crap. Not too much at least.
Every episode with the Face of Boe in it has some kind of wham moment, doesn't it?
This is one of my favourite episodes, so I'm so glad you liked it! 😀
I love the story, the characters, and the face of Boe. The moment were they drive up to the surface is also pretty epic!
And re the 'you are not alone' thing, I'm just going to say it: YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!
I have an insane amount of sewing to do for homework (…art major…don't ask) so I can't take much time to type up anything substantial, but aside from just agreeing with everything you wrote I want to say that the music in this episode is particularly beautiful. The music that plays when they see daylight…gets me every time. Never made it to any of the soundtracks for some really stupid reason, but I found it on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVt6Da5U1VU
The beginning is the same as one of the songs on the season 3 soundtrack, but the end is different and it has that really pretty, epic music. Love.
That's a gorgeous variation on the song that made it to the series 3 soundtrack. The ending in particular is wonderful.
I'd love if they released an album with tracks that they missed out the first time round.
Ah, that makes sense.
Haha, I'm an atheist who reads waaaaay too much into possible religious imagery, so it stuck out to me like a sore thumb that everyone on the motorway was passively accepting authority, appeased with hymns, drugs, and the promise of a perfect land if they just keep puttering along. No one wanted to hear the logic of outsiders like Martha and the Doctor, but instead keep hoping it would get better. So, my opinion is pretty biased, too!
This episode rates a 2 for scariness, which is understandable as there wasn't a focus on the thing. More of a focus on finding Martha. That's all I can say really.
BUMBUMBUM.
FATHER DOUGAL MCGUIRE ON FATHER TED OH MY GOD I WAS SO EXCITED.
Cat!Ardal O'Hanlon is the best thing ever. I adore this episode.
David Tennant + kittens = CUTE OVERLOAD CANNOT COPE SGKJGHAUIFHQEUKND<QMN!
And the You Are Not Alone thing had everyone guessing, can't wait till you find out…. *squee* *sitting on hands in order not to spoil*
I LOVED THIS EPISODE.
The story was great as an action story. The characters were fantastic (I can't say or write that word anymore without shouting it like the Ninth Doctor inside my head–fanTAStic!!). And then the end just opens this lovely, intriguing, fascinating can of worms.
It's got me very puzzled. Here's the part that got me:
Novice Hame: My lord gave his life to save the city and now he's dying.
The Doctor: No, don't say that. Not old Boe. Plenty of life left.
Face of Boe: It's good to breathe the air once more.
Martha Jones: Who is he?
The Doctor: don't even know. Legend says the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn't that right? And you're not about to give up now.
Face of Boe: Everything has its time. You know that, old friend, better than most.
Novice Hame: The legend says more…
The Doctor: Don't. There's no need for that.
Novice Hame: It says that the Face of Boe will speak his final secret to a traveller.
The Doctor: Yeah, but not yet. Who needs secrets, eh?
Face of Boe: have seen so much, perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind. As you are the last of yours, Doctor.
The Doctor: That's why we have to survive. Both of us. Don't go.
Okay, so we remember the final secret to a traveler part from before, and that it will be the last time they speak. So I, like Mark was waiting on the edge of my seat from the point when we first saw Boe to now.
Here, the Face of Boe is getting ready to speak, and he says, outright, "I am the last of my kind. As you are the last of yours, Doctor."
(Can I also just mention how sad it is, seeing the Doctor trying to convince his friend, who he admits to hardly knowing, that he has to try to survive? The Doctor really just loves people, and he's lost so many people. And while the companions are wonderful, he knows very well there lives and their time with him are so fleeting, inevitably. The Face of Boe must have seemed wonderfully like a friend whole life could last as long as the Doctor, a being he could continue to bump into in time and space, and have contact with, without threat of an ending. I feel like to the Doctor, that would have seemed like an ideal! So sad to see such an ancient creature dying.)
Okay, more quotes:
The Doctor: Don't go.
Face of Boe: I must. But know this, Timelord. You are not alone.
Okay, my initial reaction? WHATTTT??!! MORE TIMELORDS!!! OMG OMG HOW COULD THIS BE WHAT WHAT WHAT.
And then I remembered what the Face of Boe had said only a few lines earlier. "I am the last of my kind. As you are the last of yours, Doctor."
So either he's contradicting himself, or he didn't actually mean more timelords. It seems a little too trite to mean the companions. The Doctor knows very well that he has companions, and is also aware of their intrinsic temporariness (I don't actually think that's a word?? Maybe?? Whatever). So I dunno, I don't think it's that.
Basically, I have no clue what the Face of Boe meant. Here are a few random ideas that flitted across my head:
-I'm reading way too much into this and it does mean more Timelords.
-Somehow somewhere in the show Rose will manage to get back from the parallel universe.
-In the parallel universe vein, is there a universe where Gallifrey and the Timelords didn't perish? The doctor will somehow get there.
-He mentioned "I was a father once" –somehow this will be involved.
-We've seen that there's much inter-species breeding going on in the future (ie Cassandra called herself the last of the humans because others had interbred)–so somehow somewhere Timelords did the same and so he has brethren that aren't technically Timelords out there.
Haha, so those are mostly ridiculous and my brain discarded them immediately. The only plausible thing I can think of is that he's not the last of the Timelords. But I feel like this would mean the Face of Boe had contradicted himself, so now I'm just stuck going around in circles and thinking and wondering if I missed something and will be hugely shocked at some reveal in the future! Very exciting possibilities, though.
I went through a very similar thought process. I didn't know what the Face of Boe meant at all. Ultimately I concluded that it was just too obvious to refer to the existence of more Time Lords (not to mention the contradiction, there).
I decided it was more likely to be a sort of "you're not alone, don't be overwhelmed by the universe, have a hug, you're about to have someone awesome in your life," kind of thing. And then I entirely forgot about it in favour of MOAR DOCTOR WHO.
Yeah, I thought of that too, a general, encouraging, "the whole universe is out there-you're not alone" thing, but if it's that, how is it a "secret." This is consistently referred to as Boe's secret. I dunno. I love musing about this kind of thing, but I rarely get anywhere.
That was exactly my reaction when I saw this too. I sat there muttering 'but if this, then not that, or does it mean…' argghh my brain, it melts!
Re one of your theories, IIRC it's established fact that one single Gallifrey existed in either all universes at once or a pocket universe, can't recall. Not sure if that's canon since I can't remember where I read it, though.
I love your theories!
I won't comment because I've already watched all the new episodes but, really, so many possibilities.
When I first saw this episode my mind didn't go beyond "WTF, more timelords???" LOL!
Haha, I'm rarely right, but isn't is so much fun to let yourself go wild thinking about the possibilities?
Definitely!!
The Tardis wiki shows the ratings.
The original airing got 8.41 million.
It's only the BBC3 repeats that got .83 million
Between this and the Hungry Games review posted today, there sure is a lot of cat love going on!
<img src=http://i42.tinypic.com/jq4w9j.jpg>
ILU for that gif. The Doctors with cats… so much love!
That gif makes me so happy. I miss Nine.
Aww, nine and his ears and his cat. I want it all for myself.
*Hunger Games* Yep, that's what I meant. In my defense, I was very hungry when I typed this earlier.
Figures confirmed (source: DWM Series 3 Special). 15 April BBC 8:00pm-8:45pm 0.8M, contrating with 1.0M for the first 2 episodes of the series. Still top rated show for that channel, though.
Also, to expand on point F: If the football had run to extra time, then the episode would have been postponed until the following week. (It was quite exciting/frustrating not knowing if Doctor Who was going to be on that day!) In this event, `Rose` would have replaced Doctor Who Contidential on BBC3 and then The Christmas Invasion would fill the slot of Gridlock and Doctor Who Confidential Cut Down on Sunday.
This was even announced on the news. I know! This mad, crazy little sci-fi show was made headline news! Isn't that hilarious?
Can't explain the 0.2M drop for the repeat, though. It's a blip, as the ratings for the equivalent slot returns to around the 1.0M mark for the next few episodes.
"You are not alone" is the new "you are not prepared". And trust me, you are not.
I do love that phrase though. It works on so many levels. For the Doctor, and for people like Elton Pope and LINDA, and us. It could almost be a subtitle for the modern series. Doctor Who: You Are Not Alone.
I love this episode very, very much. The opening of the motorway is one of the finest scenes so far, visually, emotionally and musically! And the description of Gallifrey is so wonderful…
Fun fact: A book about the alien creatures of Doctor Who was put together after the 2005 series. It included extra background info from RTD himself. In the Face of Boe's entry, he wrote about how they say that he's as old as the Universe and the day he dies the sky would crack open. Fast-forward a few years. Gridlock airs, and the person who put that book together congratulates RTD on the clever way he integrated that story. The sky cracks open = the roof of the motorway opens. Brilliant! And RTD was like: "Wut". Yep, he had completely forgotten about that and didn't think about it when he came to write Gridlock, and that was a coincidence.
Obviously it must have been in his head somewhere, subconsciously, but it's still scary how RTD does that sort of thing AGAIN AND AGAIN.
You guys I just realized something!
Cat people Macras = Cat Macras = LOLWho!
How does LOLWho work? I has a companion! Noooo they be stealin' my companion? Bigger on the inside TARDIS is bigger on the inside? I can has Timelord? Invisible sonic screwdriver? I'm in ur traffic, eatn ur remaining population? Bliss has a flavr?
http://community.livejournal.com/ihasatardis/
For all your DW macro needs. WARNING: probably spoilery.
i can haz thurd passennjah, moove 2 ecksprehss layn plz?
…*snortgiggle*
That's beautiful. Utterly beautiful.
This was one of my very favorite episodes of Doctor Who ever. I loved it! I love the revelation of the gridlock actually being what was keeping everyone safe and alive, not some sinister plan like we had been led to believe. My favorite scene was when everyone began singing. It was very moving. But this episode had TONS of great scenes. The Doctor jumping from car to car, the kittens, anything with Thomas Kincade Brannigan! So much love for this episode. <3
As for the other revelation here. Well, I don't honestly see how anyone could be surprised. I don't know if there are other Time Lords alive, (I'm only one episode ahead of Mark) but if what the Face of Boe said was true I will be far from shocked. The Daleks were supposed to be all killed, too. Heh, and just look at how many of THEM we've seen and how often.
Also, I'm confused by there not being any Time Lords alive, anyway. I know the other Time Lords weren't flying around willy-nilly all over the place like the Doctor does, but shouldn't other Time Lords still be popping up in different time periods that they'd visited?
I think the idea behind a Time War is that it's not only fought through time but using time as a weapon, cauing histories to change and victims to have never existed. In series one the Gelth refereeed to the war being invisible to some but devastating to highrer beings, which to my mind suggest all sorts of implications. So it's just possible that there are no other Time Lords anyehere or anywhen (I love that words like that even possible) because they never were, except the Doctor, now orphaned in time, because – from some races perspectives – they never existed (but to others, the Doctor included, they did but are gone).
You know, I thought this made a kind of sense but it really doesn't. It's one glorious mess of a concept though and I salute RTD for coming up with it – the Time War allows any amount of continuity to be kept, if he wants it, or discarded if he doesn't, with a simple handwave.
but shouldn't other Time Lords still be popping up in different time periods that they'd visited?
I wondered the same thing.
And then virtual monster pretty much summed up in a coherent way my poor brain's tired musings on the subject.
And time travel always leads to conundrums you can't quite solve. Which is why I love it.
Question:
How does one post gifs?
< img src="URL of pic here" > then delete spaces (edit: but keep the space between img and src)
Thanks!
THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE EPISODES EVER. I’m glad you enjoyed it, too.
Also, the kittens? I think that was my favorite moment in the show. Can you imagine being a (mostly) human woman and birthing kittens?
This is another episode that I love to bits. There are admitteldy a lot of those but still…
I think it was about this time that I realised that though I have been a huge fan of Doctor Who since forever – one of my earliest memories is watching an episode with my mum that turns out to have been on when I was three – that I and 'the fandom' are very different beasts indeed. This episode got a bit of a mauling, as did several others which I also love, but I remain unrepentant. Gridlock is one of my favourites.
For a start it has kittens. Everyone loves kittens, even if it's secretly. (I recently caught a fairly laddish mate of mine, who is in the armed forces and would prefer to portray a macho image, going a bit gooey over kittens. He made me pronise not to tell his wife, as he'd been pretending to dislike them. EVERYONE loves kittens. No exceptions.)
It also has Ardal O'Hanlon, which can't be a bad thing. As a Cat Person no less! Plus the return of Novice Hame and the Face of Boe. And all those varied people in the cars. Marvellous.
The return of the Macra is utterly unexpected. They were a one-shot monster from 1967 (making them older even than me) thrown in to cause oldtime fans to explode with gleeful surprise. For everyone else they were just giant crab monsters, which is surely awesome enough in itself.
Much as I love and adore Martha, her absolute faith in the Doctor didn't strike me as having been earned by him yet, so I loved it when she forced him to own up about Gallifrey. His description of it matches that given by Susan way back in The Sensorites in 1964.
And now we know where the Doctor got his coat – from Janis Joplin!
The horrible futility of the traffic jam depressed me a little when I first saw it and for much the same reason as others have said – I watched it and thought 'yeah, that could be me too. Only sans kittens.' But I thinks it's a powerful image and I do like it greatly in a melancholy sort of way.
The Face of Boe's message sent me into a spiralling mental meltdown of confusion as I tried (and failed) to decypher exactly what he meant. I thought his sacrifice to save the city was handled well too. When the Bliss viral apocalypse was first described to us I rolled my eyes a bit at its awesome power of killing everything within minutes but actually, in the context of New Earth that makes a kind of sense. If we accept that the instant-heal-on-touch medicines from New Earth were not merely drugs but some other impossibly advanced form of treatment in liquid form, then it follows that Bliss would be based on something similar, designed to affect the whole body immediately. So it mutating – somehow – to affect the whole population works within the somewhat loose and wobbly frame of reference. Well, that's how I choose to see it anyway.
Did I mention the kittens?
The combination of the Doctor talking about Gallifrey and "Abide with me" playing in the background always makes me tear up. It's one of those hymns that sets me off for no reason.
I love how totally innocuous this episode is at the beginning like – "La la la – just another Doctor Who episode – on another planet – weird crap going on – pay no mind" and then the end is all "You are not alone! Gallifrey! Time War exposition! WHAM!" (Is Mark prepared? Oh, hell no. Why would anybody think that?)
Also, I like the way religious symbolism is included, but not in a way that makes people mad. I've read non-religious reviews say that it's a commentary on how total blind faith leads people to helpless inaction and I've read religious reviews that say this episode is an example of faith as hope for people in impossible situations. I figure people can read whatever they like into it. Martha's line is especially appropriate – "You've got your faith, you've got your song and your hymns – and I've got the Doctor."
Other goodies:
Crowning Music of Awesome – "All the Strange, Strange Creatures" and "Boe" Murray Gold ROCKS! (in modern sense, that he rocks ^_^)
The Doctor: "Don't you go dying on me, you big ol' face!" XD And "This is Hame. She's a cat. Don't worry"
Kittens + DT = VERY MUCH YES!! I think it was the Confidential for this episode that had one of the crew saying that they were going to have to let David take a kitten home because he couldn't get enough of them on the set. (Did you hear one of them squeak "Mama?" OMG – CUTE!!)
I completely agree with you, this is one of my favorite episodes as well. I disagree with you sometimes Mark, but this review is completely accurate in my opinion. I love how it takes one simple idea (gridlock, obviously), and takes it to the complete extreme. I also think I like Martha more than Rose, so that helps. The Face of Boe is also a great character. I never would have thought he was important based on the first episode he was in (forget the name). Only Doctor Who would take a minor character like that and create such a great story arc for him.
Because I am getting into the Classic Series so much and I love seeing links to it: check it guys, it's the Macra!
<img width="400" height="291" src="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100625015414/tardis/images/6/63/Mo_ma01_Macra_400.jpg"/>
The last time the Macra appeared was in "The Macra Terror" APPROXIMATELY 40 YEARS AGO. I love that "Doctor Who" will bring back monsters from that long ago. Hell, I love it that they can.
Anyways, what everyone else probably cares about more: YOU ARE NOT ALONE/PREPARED.
Has he mentioned at all to Martha about Rose being, for all intents and purposes, dead? I can't really think of any time where that came up. For all that she knows, he could have just been dumped. I definitely could be wrong about that though.
Good call, though it would still be clear that Rose isn't along with them. (I could very well have missed something!)
Does anyone have quotes from this episode and previous episodes that can clear up exactly how much Martha does/does not know about Rose's seperation from the Doctor?
In Smith and Jones, he says "Rose, her name was. But she's fine – she's with her family – she's… gone." That's basically it. So it could mean anything and as far as Martha knows, Rose is somewhere on Earth.
Thank you very much!
I don't really have anything to say other than the Doctor seriously needs to get a freakin' cat. How adorable would that be, a cat running around the TARDIS?
Traditional too, all the old-timey sailing ships had them, for the mice and rats. Even the Nostromo had a ship's cat (though that…didn't turn out so well).
But what effect would it have on the creatures encountered by the Doctor?
ALIEN LIFE FORM DE-TEC-TED. EX-TER-MI… *cat moves closer* YOU ARE A KIT-TY. YES YOU ARE!
oh man, thank you for that!
Considering the interior of the TARDIS, he might already have several. Something has to be done about the space mice.
My favourite thing about this episode is that Martha finally PUTS HER FOOT DOWN and refuses to take any more evasive shit from the Doctor. I get pissed off on her behalf when she suggests that "You are not alone" means that she's with him now and the Doctor is basically like "that's the stupidest idea ever", at least through tone of voice and facial expression.. Okay, maybe it wasn't the most thoughtful of ideas, but he's never told her about his Tragic Backstory, how's she supposed to know? Martha's not among my favourite companions, but sometimes she does something like that which makes me suddenly love her. She's pretty awesome in this episode.
I always assumed that the Doctor liked the kittens but not the cat from "Fear Her" was because he was jealous of the cat, what with the "Aren't you a beautiful boy" being said by Rose to a cat rather than to him. Probably this makes no sense at all, but it works in my head and I find it amusing.
In conclusion, "You are not alone." ASDFGASDFGHJJKLKJIKL Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too. Farewell, Face of Boe.
Oh man, Gridlock. This one is tied with Midnight (from S4) for my favorite RTD episodes. He does so much better with the small scale stuff than the big epicness he always goes for.
The 'You are not alone' thing really blew my mind. Being completely new to the series, I thought that the whole premise of the show was that the Doctor was the last of the Time Lords, and always had been. That line put out the possibility that there could have been/will be other Time Lords and TARDISes and *explosion* mind blown. I also thought that the Doctor and the Face of Boe went waayy back – more than just a couple of brief meetings.
<img src="http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c71/grlgoddess/Funny%20ie%20macros%20etc/shockedkitty_1.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
You should definitely watch some of the old series. The Time Lord Powers That Be are always pushing the Doctor around and wrecking his game. Sometimes it makes you wonder why he misses them so much.
I've seen some Classic stuff now. I'm pretty sure I'm the provincial expert on Doctor Who (at least, I haven't met anyone who knows more than me yet). Time Lords are such douches (except that one chick who I ship with Leela. She was cute, and I don't believe that Andred thing for a second).
Provincial expert, eh? I don't know what province you're in (assuming you're in Canada), but if it's Quebec we may have to duke it out for the title :-).
Nope, I'm in SK. 🙂
Ha, my friend who introduced me to Doctor Who is from Regina. Fortunately, she lives here now, so you're safe.
Cat looks like he's Going "What!? What! What!?!
Me too! I had assumed that the Time War was what had happened just before the classic series and the Doctor had been alone since the beginning of the programme… then I found out that "You Are Not Alone!" and obviously assumed it meant timelords and I FREAKED OUT!
OMG, I love cats but I can't watch that gif any more…that is one seriously creepy cat! O.O
I haven't seen this episode in ages, and I haven't even finished reading your review because I wanted to post these, haha. I'll read it in a minute.
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mmmm, macra
all i can think of when i look at this is "eeee <3 'i'm a kitty~ meow meow meow!' ahaha more kitties- crab! crab with lemon."
It's funny that you leapt right to the conclusion that "You are not alone" means there must be other Time Lords. I remember when this originally aired there was spec about whether the prophecy was literal or more figurative – that is, telling Ten that he's only as alone as he makes himself with moves like alienating Martha. WHO KNOWS. (Well, okay, I know. But I'm not telling, because I treasure your lack of preparation.)
For a few minutes there at the end, Ten was a little bit less alone because he shared Gallifrey with Martha. And Martha is awesome for insisting that he talk – for questioning, for not letting him get away with the surface slickness he's all too good at.
"Gridlock" was something of a forgotten little gem for me. It might be the strongest example of the "positive existentialism" of Doctor Who – all those people, isolated in their cars in an eternal traffic jam but creating meaning and hope for themselves nonetheless. The Doctor is isolated in his TARDIS, too, and has been for the vast majority of his life – he forms the meaning of his life through the connections he forges with others.
I knew Ardal O'Hanlon from "My Hero" before I saw this.
Ardal O'Hanlon in superhero tights and a cheesy helmet.
"He's from another planet, you know."
I find it about as bad as the relationship stuff in season 2. I don't really get how that happened since from what I've seen in Queer as Folk RTD can write some really amazing relationship based stories when he wants to, I'm not sure what went wrong here. That said I've just come to accept it as an annoying given on the show and enjoy everything else for what it is, because Martha's so damn sharp on this show.
Lots to like in this episode, but I think one of the nicer bits is that the motorway wasn't a symptom of an uncaring society (as I expected it to be) but an attempt to save their people. It's also great to hear the Doctor describe Gallifrey, he does it beautifully.
In conclusion, Dougal.
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I honestly don't get people's utter hatred of her crush on the Doctor and jealousy about Rose. I think the crush is believable, and I know I'd be pissed off and jealous re Rose given how Ten's been acting. I think it's quite realistic. Did you have a problem with Rose's general selfishness and jealousy about Sarah Jane? I thought that was perfectly believable too, but I would also consider it a worse "sexist generalization" than Martha's behavior (especially Sarah Jane's reciprocal jealousness – I'd figure her more mature than that).
Don't get me wrong, I don't really care for the unrequited crush/love storyline, and I think it looks skeevy given the races of the people involved, but Martha is not in anyway diminished as a character for me simply due to her crush and jealousy.
And I'd say Ten was flirting more than just the kiss, so I think Martha's characterization is perfectly fine and reasonable. I do judge the writing of Ten towards Martha, however.
"Did you have a problem with Rose's general selfishness and jealousy about Sarah Jane?"
Since you're asking, yes I did a problem with a lot of the writing for Rose, but I was talking about Martha because she's the Companion of this particular series. I discussed more Rose when it was her time as Companion.
I didn't have a problem with Rose's selfishness/jealousy re: Sarah Jane. It's tremendously naïve of Rose to think she'd be the only one he'd ever travelled or danced with—for the love of God, he's 900 years old! On the other hand, Rose is Ten's lover, and she's been with him for over a year. Who likes meeting your lover's ex-girlfriends? Pretty much no one, I'm sure. And well, Rose is naïve in many ways, that's a long-standing part of her characterization. Sometimes it's charming, sometimes it's annoying, just as it is in real people. That said, Rose is big-hearted, and she gets over it quickly, and she and Sarah Jane come to appreciate each other by the end.
(I find Rose's jealousy of the Doctor's other interests much more problematic in The Girl in the Fireplace actually, but that's a different post, and pretty much everyone else who didn't like that episode probably summed it up for me.)
Martha has known the doctor at best THREE DAYS when she behaves as Rose did a YEAR into her relationship with the doctor, which really was a relationship and was not just an improbable insta-crush. So I do think there are valid story-related reasons to find Martha's crush and her subsequent behavior improbable and more problematic than Rose's. Bad writers! BAD WRITERS!
And the Doctor looked like a man old enough to be her father when she met him, and she also wasn't snogged by him, even if he did try to preface it with it didn't mean anything.
When the Face of Boe gave his message, I interpreted it in the more vague sense of even though he's the last Time Lord, that doesn't mean he has to be alone. So I was a little disappointed, but now I'm thinking of other possibilities. I tried scanning through the comments looking for a clue but all I can glean is that maybe there's more to it than I thought. *claps* Good job, guys. You all are sealed up tight on that spoiler stuff.
🙂 I am so glad you are enjoying Doctor Who. I'm pretty excited for you to watch this season as it has my favorite Who monster (which will leave you with a ton of WTF?!?!?! moments) and I can't wait for you to find out the whole "You are not alone." statement. Quite a good season.
Face of Boe.
All the tears. 🙁
I honestly feel that the scene where the entire gridlock is singing is one of the most powerful moments in modern television. These people live in utterly hellish conditions, and yet they all come together to create this single beautiful moment…
I feel like the only person who's been saying this, so THANK YOU. Although I do agree with the commenters below who point out that Martha no idea how utterly GONE Rose is (and if she did maybe she'd have thought twice about hopping in the TARDIS eh?) and thus is less inclined to be sympathetic to the Doctor's moping, her insta-attachment rings really improbably hollow for me. And I agree, the writers decided to perpetuate some HORRIBLE feminine stereotypes in Martha.
Yes, silly girl with their raging hormones and irrational emotions, we just can't help ourselves. ::simpers::
Urp, I can't even say that with a straight face…
You are not even remotely prepared for what's to come, Mark. I only recently finished Series 3, and man, was my mind blown.
I'm so happy you love this episode!
Also, Travis Oliver and Lenora Crichlow can kidnap me anytime. UNF
I think this is the best thing I've ever read in any of your reviews. EVER: It’s also the first scene of David Tennant playing with kittens and then my brain explodes from the cute overload and somehow I wish they could work in a basket of kittens into every Doctor Who episode and I’m going to shut up now
Sorry to not really comment on the episode of Doctor Who itself since everyone else seems to be doing that just fine, but YOU'VE SEEN FATHER TED?!
HOLD ME
i liked this episode, IT HAS DAVID COVERED WITH KITTENS! <img src="http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i139/omgIamBored/Davidcat.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
and the song that's sung in the middle of the episode always makes me cry <3
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