The old adage that everyone remembers/loves his/her first Doctor is apparently true. I might not love the 5th Doctor's stories were I do see it now but having grown up with 4th and 5th, I can appreciate them. (Plus they are a damn sight better than 6th and 7th). But I'd still say you can't go wrong with the 4th or…

GotDAMNit, I love the AV Club threads. Seriously.

You really can't go wrong with 4th Doctor episodes, but I'd wholeheartedly recommend "The Pyramids of Mars", "The Hand of Fear", "Genesis of the Daleks," "The Invasion of Time"… I always recommend starting with the 4th but that's just my preference. The 3rd Doctor had some excellent stories (I hadn't seen any besides…

RTD didn't cast the new Doctor, that would be Moffat who is taking over the show.

That seemed odd to me. Why not have it be the Queen? She'd turn into the Master too. Doesn't the Queen give a speech on Christmas?

It seems like the idea that the Time Lords, being a closed-off and bureaucratic society, can't handle power. So being power-mad - which they certainly seemed to be at the end of this episode - could bring the villainous qualities needed. They don't need to be overtly villainous - like the Master or Omega - to be…

I read on the cast list that Piper, along with Sarah Jane et. al. will be returning. According to the article, the only ones not returning are Martha and Mickey I believe. So you could be right.

It doesn't bother me as it does you, Volksfrei, but I see what you are talking about as I've been watching a lot of the old Tom Baker episodes. But I guess it isn't terribly fair to compare Doctors, especially with the span of decades between them. But I do remember being taken aback with the increasingly…

I had the same thought, with Simm's face and the stubble and all those people with his face…it was Aphex Twin "Come to Daddy" and "Windowlicker" flashback. Even creepier is the Confidential show for this episode where they had a John Simm mask that people were putting on that was just batshit creepy.

In the Doctor Who Confidential episode for this show RTD calls the Time Lords the Tenth Doctor's ultimate villains. So I guess they are meant to be the big baddies.

Yeah, they weren't villains necessarily from the start, just sort of time police at first and then bureaucratic fuckfaces with some villainous members…they did become somewhat villainous during the Colin cheeseball years.

I quite enjoyed the episode. I have heard a lot of negative comments about it though. I guess I went into it with some expectation that allowed me to enjoy it…? I mean, it was better, in my opinion, than the series 4 finales.

I completely agree. I have a theory that the new Time Lords were some sort of faction that went into hiding and survived the Time War. That'd make them…well, less that the good Time Lords who fought the good fight.

Yeah, the freaking jumping up in the air was a bit much for me. The laser thing too. I liked the phasing in and out thing, but jumping up in the air…it was like some comic book movie, the Hulk or something.

I agree, basically. Doctor Who isn't consistent with canon, and I don't frequent Doctor Who chats or boards or anything but I can't imagine people getting into it over continuity like, say, Star Trek folks might. (If I remember correctly, the Time Lords weren't even introduced until the Second Doctor's last story). …

Oh, and thanks
Todd, I very geekily got excited to see this written up today. I thought I would be waiting to read this for at least several days. Well done.

On my long drive back home tonight I was listening to some Radiophonic Workshop music from 60s - 70s era Who. It was fantastic. I can appreciate the talent and intent in the new stuff, but it has definitely lost its charm and character. Even in the cheeseball 80s era, there were some (maybe?) interesting things…

Mess
I had a thought watching this episode…I wonder if RTD is leaving Moffat with a bit of a mess on purpose. Not in a bad way.

I thought the head-shaking was okay. I mean, Doctor Who is cheesy fairly often so it didn't seem out of place. Definite shades of "Jacob's Ladder."

I'm actually excited that the Time Lords may be coming back. From the look of the preview - and the amount of spit coming from the narrator - I'm wondering if the returning Time Lords will be sinister in some way. I am optimistic that it will be somehow well thought out and satisfying.