Dr. Who Series 5 - The beast below
Added 2022-11-12 15:00:06 +0000 UTCImportant:
You wont need a copy of the minisode. Youtube allowed it to be in there. I´m still doing that countdown, just in case. But I didn´t want to try cutting it out, and reuploading the episode in case Youtube would then deny it all of the sudden. Hence why the countdwon is still in there, even if it´s not needed :)
Comments
Yes Andrew really knows how to lead me trough this big universe, and all the special episodes. I don´t know how other reactors do this, but it´s nothing that you can just find out, without getting spoiled. I´m very thankful he helps me out this much :) Thank you for pointing out the parallel between the doctor and Amys story. I didn´t put those two things together while watching, but it makes sense sfter having read your comment. :) I´m glad you enjoyed the more quiet part in the beginning, too. I think I´m a little different when it comes to those scenes. I really liked the moral dilemma part. That made the episode for me. The problem that I see with the forgetting button: If you chose to forget about the real situation, as soon as you remember, you are also robbing yourself of the opportunity to get to another solution in the future. Hence why they would never get to that point of thinking that the beeing maybe only wanted to help. Which is really sad.
Nicologik
2022-11-14 08:13:51 +0000 UTCThat´s really strange. That´s why I never read either of the titles before watching an episode. :)
Nicologik
2022-11-14 08:03:05 +0000 UTCI agree, this one wont be a favorite episode of mine either. It was ok to watch and somewhat entertaining, but it wasn´t anything special for me. Although the last 10 minutes were really good.
Nicologik
2022-11-14 08:00:50 +0000 UTCDon´t worry about missing paragraphs :) Thank you for explaining the Scottland jokes. It was surprising for me to hear them, without any info why they "Don´t like" the scottish people.
Nicologik
2022-11-14 07:58:50 +0000 UTCThank you for the info about the minisode. :) It seems that Dr. Who has a lot of "The Hitch-hiker´s guide to the Galaxy" in it. I´ve heard this so many times before, with different situations :) Thank you for the info about "Magpie Electricals", I haven´t thought about this anymore. :) I thought about the Torchwood creature, too. They really looked similar. Poor beeings, always have to suffer in both shows.
Nicologik
2022-11-14 07:57:25 +0000 UTC"If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind, you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry." - Amy Pond, "The Beast Below" This "Meanwhile in the TARDIS" minisode is labelled as an "Additional Scene" in my boxset. BTW the option on the disc is to play it *after* "The Eleventh Hour" rather than before "The Beast Below" (although you can play it separately in the Special Features area). My understanding, as Andrew mentioned, is that it was specifically filmed for the video release. Perhaps the scene was cut out of an early draft of the script and then eventually filmed for the boxset. There is a duplication of Amy and the Doctor's discussion of him being an alien in both the minisode and the episode - maybe the writer moved the dialog when the minisode scene was cut. The Doctor's explanation of the way the TARDIS makes a detailed analysis of its surroundings but then always ends up as a 1960's police box - is similar to a joke in "The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" when a drink dispenser analyses your taste-buds and brain to see exactly what you would like to drink right now but always produces the same thing - a cup of something tea-ish. There is another sighting of "Magpie Electricals" (first introduced in "The Idiot's Lantern") indicating that somehow the business survived after Mr Magpie got zapped by the Wire. We've seen it pop up occasionally - Martha's TV had one in "The Sound of Drums". Look out for it - if there's an electrical device it might have a "Magpie Electricals" logo on it. I think we Who-Universe viewers are meant to notice the similarity between the Star Whale in this episode and the poor creature in the Torchwood episode "Meat". They could be the same or perhaps a related species. Liz 10 gives us another reference to the Doctor and the Virgin Queen. "There's an escaped fish." - The Doctor - explaining why he was examining a glass of water, "The Beast Below"
Andrew Vignaux
2022-11-12 20:42:03 +0000 UTCThat's a weird change. On the other hand, Doctor Who has a long history of giving away plot surprises in the story title.
Andrew Vignaux
2022-11-12 19:34:22 +0000 UTCI don't think the minisode was available to watch until the DVD boxset was released for Series 5. I was under the impression it was a scene that had been cut for whatever reason, but in researching the details for Nicole I read that both this and the subsequent one were written and recorded out of sequence, and were made specifically for the boxset.
Andrew Gwilliam
2022-11-12 19:13:33 +0000 UTCApologies for the third comment, but Patreon doesn't provide any way for me to use paragraphs on a smartphone! Anyway, the jokes in this episode about Scotland are because at the time there was a lot of talk in Scotland about it becoming independent of the rest of the UK, and in fact they had a referendum on the issue only a few years after this episode was first broadcast. Steven Moffat and Karen Gillan are both Scottish (and so is David Tennant).
Andrew Gwilliam
2022-11-12 19:08:08 +0000 UTCWhen I rewatched this episode last year for the first time since its initial broadcast, it didn't entirely work for me. Even the angry scene didn't have the impact that it had when watching it today alongside your reaction. I don't think there's anything wrong with the basic idea, in fact most of the script seems fine, it's just the new production team didn't pull it all together as effectively as the core theme needed. Not a bad episode, but not one that's often mentioned by people as a favourite.
Andrew Gwilliam
2022-11-12 19:04:28 +0000 UTCThe German title of this episode translates as "The Star Whale", which is a change that baffles me.
Andrew Gwilliam
2022-11-12 18:54:18 +0000 UTCYour mod, Andrew, seems to be really on the ball with choosing which minisodes you should watch and when. This one is a mixture between a preview and a prequel and I don't think we got to see it before episode two was broadcast. At least I didn't see it on tv. There are many others that I really hope you watch, especially during series seven, but I won't say anything more until nearer the times. I can't remember which comment of yours made me want to say thins but the First Doctor ran away from Gallifrey in a borrowed/stolen Tardis and has given a number of conflicting reasons for this over the years. But here, we are meant to see the parallel with Amy running away from her impending wedding. You saw the wedding dress at the end of the last episode of course. I always enjoy the whole episode even the quieter part before the revelation. Partly because I like a mystery and partly because the setting is such a mixture of strange and familiar. More so for a Brit, especially a Londoner, than for other people I guess. The moral dilemma is almost unbearable and I do sometimes wonder what button I would press. I do also wonder why nobody ever considered the idea that the Star Whale had come to help before they imprisoned and tormented it. But that's probably intended to show the pitfalls of making assumptions about strangers including alien creatures. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it.
Stephen Males
2022-11-12 18:29:02 +0000 UTC
