Time Travel and who says that we see *all* of the Doctor's adventures onscreen?

Seir wrote:Time Travel and who says that we see *all* of the Doctor's adventures onscreen?

Time travel doesn't apply here, as we are talking about the Doctor's personal timeline. Also, I realize that we don't see all the Doctor's adventures onscreen, but still - a roughly 200 year gap leaves a LOT out.

So?

It just seems kind of weird. The whole progression of the Doctor as a character is more subtle. We have these adventures with Amy and Rory that take up somewhere between 9 months and a couple years, right? And the Doctor, during this time, is changing and progressing as a character. They leave, he visits Craig and has some more character progression, and then for nearly 200 years he doesn't change at all (by which I mean absolutely none of his adventures are deemed important enough to be shown)?

It's like one of those stories where they spend all this time setting up the characters and world, and then use some ridiculous plot device to move the protagonists to the villain's lair and have them win, all in a few pages, while skipping many things that you feel should have happened in between. It's not a major thing - but it seems like bad writing to me.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just being picky. Hell, for all I know the whole thing could be resolved by the Doctor having lied about being that much older.

What makes you think that he couldn'tve visited Craig either during or even after the 200 year gap? He even says at one point in the episode that he's been traveling alone for quite awhile. Heck (and this is where the time travel come in) he could've even popped out for awhile in-between the destruction of the cyber ship and when Craig comes home to a clean house.

Seir wrote:What makes you think that he couldn'tve visited Craig either during or even after the 200 year gap?

Well, afterward, he's dead. Like permanently, if the events in The Impossible Astronaut cannot be changed.

He even says at one point in the episode that he's been traveling alone for quite awhile. Heck (and this is where the time travel come in) he could've even popped out for awhile in-between the destruction of the cyber ship and when Craig comes home to a clean house.

Possible, but still. None of that is part of the story. Like at all. Does he just hop off for two hundred years, and we only see that one time he visits Craig? Unlike the Tenth Doctor, where there were at least a few episodes without companions that showed his adventures before his death. I can see that happening, but it still seems like they tried to cram too much into the season, and then ended up with "oh, right, the Doctor is supposed to be on his own at the end". Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the scenes where the Doctor drops off Amy and Rory didn't seem to be such a quick reversal in character for all of them.

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Anyway, here is the prequel for the season finale:



Tick tock goes the clock,
He cradled and he rocked her.
Tick tock goes the clock,
'Til River kills the Doctor.

collegestudent22 wrote:

Seir wrote:What makes you think that he couldn'tve visited Craig either during or even after the 200 year gap?

Well, afterward, he's dead. Like permanently, if the events in The Impossible Astronaut cannot be changed.

Your point? It's been shown that if Point A is when Rory and Amy leave the Tardis and Point B is the Impossible Astronaut, then line AB is the 200 year gap in between those two. Closing Time could've taken place at any point in that line. The Doctor could've had many adventures taking place during AB, I still don't get what your problem is. All I'm getting is that you're complaining that there hasn't been enough televised adventures.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the scenes where the Doctor drops off Amy and Rory didn't seem to be such a quick reversal in character for all of them.

How is that a reversal in character for all of them?

Seir wrote:All I'm getting is that you're complaining that there hasn't been enough televised adventures.

No, the pacing is off. It goes from a couple of months or so between each episode this series (between episode 1 and episode 7 is quite literally about 9 months). Going off of the ages of the Doctor's companions, between episode 8 and 11 keeps roughly the same pacing. But then it jumps from a couple of months between episodes to a hundred years or so on average? That seems just a bit.... off, IMO.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the scenes where the Doctor drops off Amy and Rory didn't seem to be such a quick reversal in character for all of them.

How is that a reversal in character for all of them?

Oh, come on. The Doctor ate an apple. AN APPLE!



Also, Amy is now OK with Melody being all lost to the enemy? She hunted down the Doctor because she wanted to know if he had found little Melody. He has not. Really, there is no more assurance of Melody Pond/River Song being fine than there was at the midseason break. But now it's all "tell her to visit her old mom"? It seemed odd that Amy so readily accepted that the Doctor was leaving without her and that her daughter was still out there somewhere in time and space. In the past, Amy has said that she didn’t want to miss out on those years with her child and yet she seemed to just let go of the one man who could bring Melody back.

collegestudent22 wrote:
No, the pacing is off. It goes from a couple of months or so between each episode this series (between episode 1 and episode 7 is quite literally about 9 months). Going off of the ages of the Doctor's companions, between episode 8 and 11 keeps roughly the same pacing. But then it jumps from a couple of months between episodes to a hundred years or so on average? That seems just a bit.... off, IMO.

The writes and producers in general have the right to choose at what point in the Doctor's life they can tell a story. So far no one else but you seems to have a problem with this.

Oh, come on. The Doctor ate an apple. AN APPLE!

Tastes can change even without having to regenerate. Happens all the time with normal people.

Also, Amy is now OK with Melody being all lost to the enemy? She hunted down the Doctor because she wanted to know if he had found little Melody. He has not. Really, there is no more assurance of Melody Pond/River Song being fine than there was at the midseason break. But now it's all "tell her to visit her old mom"? It seemed odd that Amy so readily accepted that the Doctor was leaving without her and that her daughter was still out there somewhere in time and space. In the past, Amy has said that she didn’t want to miss out on those years with her child and yet she seemed to just let go of the one man who could bring Melody back.

[/quote]

Things can get complicated when you've known your child as an adult before they were even born.

Seir wrote:

collegestudent22 wrote:
No, the pacing is off. It goes from a couple of months or so between each episode this series (between episode 1 and episode 7 is quite literally about 9 months). Going off of the ages of the Doctor's companions, between episode 8 and 11 keeps roughly the same pacing. But then it jumps from a couple of months between episodes to a hundred years or so on average? That seems just a bit.... off, IMO.

The writes and producers in general have the right to choose at what point in the Doctor's life they can tell a story. So far no one else but you seems to have a problem with this.

I'm not saying they don't. I, however, as a consumer of entertainment, also have the right to express my opinion on whether they are making the right choice. Just as I can read a book and say that I felt the pacing to be off in the latter half.

Oh, come on. The Doctor ate an apple. AN APPLE!

Tastes can change even without having to regenerate. Happens all the time with normal people.

He had a pretty... violent reaction to eating an apple previously.

Also, Amy is now OK with Melody being all lost to the enemy? She hunted down the Doctor because she wanted to know if he had found little Melody. He has not. Really, there is no more assurance of Melody Pond/River Song being fine than there was at the midseason break. But now it's all "tell her to visit her old mom"? It seemed odd that Amy so readily accepted that the Doctor was leaving without her and that her daughter was still out there somewhere in time and space. In the past, Amy has said that she didn’t want to miss out on those years with her child and yet she seemed to just let go of the one man who could bring Melody back.

Things can get complicated when you've known your child as an adult before they were even born.

Four episodes previously, that didn't seem to matter - she still wanted to raise her child. Then, she was all "screw it - just tell her to visit me when you see her". It didn't really seem that all that much should have changed her mind on that.

collegestudent22 wrote:
I'm not saying they don't. I, however, as a consumer of entertainment, also have the right to express my opinion on whether they are making the right choice. Just as I can read a book and say that I felt the pacing to be off in the latter half.

It still doesn't change the fact that Closing Time could've taken place at any time during the 200 year gap.

He had a pretty... violent reaction to eating an apple previously.

I wouldn't call spitting out an apple particularly violent.

Four episodes previously, that didn't seem to matter - she still wanted to raise her child. Then, she was all "screw it - just tell her to visit me when you see her". It didn't really seem that all that much should have changed her mind on that.

How can they retrieve the younger version of Melody Pond/River Song without creating a parodox? The thing is that the Ponds know what will happen to the young Melody (it doesn't seem that they'll retrieve her as a kid) so what can Amy do at this point?

Seir wrote:How can they retrieve the younger version of Melody Pond/River Song without creating a parodox?

What do a pair of ducks have to do with the price of tea in China?

How can the Doctor not die for good without creating a paradox? Yet we know that there will be another series next year... with the Eleventh Doctor. Paradox is nothing for the Doctor.

Clearly you are not seeing what I am, so I'm just going to drop it now.

collegestudent22 wrote:Clearly you are not seeing what I am, so I'm just going to drop it now.

Neither is anyone else, so it is wise choice for you to drop it.

I...am...confused!


I'll just leave this here and return after a night's sleep to discuss the last episode...which was great though...

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Doctor Who?