Nathan: You and the writers are on the same page. We who are ambivalent toward boobs need something to enjoy too.

Fixing the Perry/Doctor Relationship
OK. It's been a while since I watched this one. I think I have a magic bullet that would have made the characters much more bearable. What if Perry had some kind of agency? What if she tried to help The Doctor? Watching the two of them together, the writers give us no reason…

I related strongly to both Gwen and Rhys. They both had realistic perspectives. Also, Gwen was awesome. She was dogged, compassionate, and resourceful throughout the run of the show. I remember her doing great things more than I remember people talking about them.

Most of the Gwen hate is probably from guys that think women should be rail thin, and never contradict a man. Sorry, but misogyny is alive and well in the sci-fi community.

Countrycide is one creepy hour of television. It's exactly what Torchwood should be. Jack's resolution to the problem at the end is priceless and terrifying

The fact that they made Jo's character a dufus as a character trait rather than an idiot because she's a woman was as fair as a brilliant scientist that happens to be a woman.

The first episode of Doctor Who I ever saw was Caves of Androzani. So Davidson was my first Doctor, and I fell in love with how fiercely he fought for his companion's life. Of course that was also Colin Baker's first episode. So really, Colin Baker was my first Doctor too. So regeneration was the defining…

@Deepu I used the word 'great' for that reason. The Doctor failed to be good because he went to War hundreds of years ago. He was so focussed on his rage, he forgot to be a good man.

Sorry about the bad writing above. I just got back from a party, and the whiskey made me forget to proof-read. It made me.

Matt Smith Appreciation Thread
A couple of people have started threads about individual stuff he did this episode. I wanted a place to comment on a bunch of them.

Yeah, the pacing was not traditional. I'm personally kind of tired of every episode of every drama on television having the same structure. They won the battle early, and we got to see a post-victory party until we realized we were wrong, and the motherfucking rug got pulled out from under us.

No you didn't miss anything. There was a lot to process this episode, and more answers were given than people realize.

Amy and Rory should get to raise their daughter. Rory should get to go back to school. Amy should get a chance to overcome the crippling trauma The Doctor visited on her, and do whatever she wants because she's brilliant, and I love her.

I'm sure The Doctor works out a truce with The Clerics eventually. It's probably why Octavian (had to look that up.) is mistrustful of The Doctor, knows him well, but respects him. It was very much the stance of a former enemy now that I think about it. Moffat has this stuff mapped out pretty clearly.

My understanding was that River became part Time Lord from being conceived in the TARDIS. But Kovarian was going to work on making her more Time Lordy.

Also, Catherine Tate has got mad acting chops. She's the best actor of the post 2005 companions by a mile.

Donna is still my favorite companion. She's a human with as strong a personality as The Doctor. Because she isn't in love with him, she's a little more equal to him. Loving someone that can't or won't love you back just takes you out at the knees. You can never be an equal to that person, and The Doctor already…

@PAB It's fine if there's time. But we already know that The Doctor loves and cares for the both of them. This story could have been told in one episode, and I think the reason it didn't work so well, is there was lots of running and plotting to fill time. Playing darts and offering fish and chips as an improvement…

It's: Fixing the Script with an Extinct Friendly Reptile.
All of the meaningful elements of this episode could have worked in forty-five minutes.

If the writers knew what the showrunner wanted in the beginning, then there wouldn't be the need for so many rewrites.