The Idiot's Lantern (2807/207)

[beale947]

I have three words

Worst Episode Ever

The best part of the episode was the doctor and rose shouting at the guy at the beginning, that was it.

[Matt G]

Hmmmm...

1. Interesting having an ep set in the 50s. A lot of retroworldists rave about this decade as a golden age in the UK. Looks like RTD and/or Mark Gatiss doesn't believe in that myth either. It generally matched my Mum's recollections of that decade more, complete with everyone round new black and white TV for the Coronation. Party at the end looked cool though.

2. "I'm hungry!" That's not "Little shop of horrors" plant(which at least has 'some' fear factor to it). That's some whiney voice that wouldn't scare me at all.

3. Liked how they set up Rose sniffing about on her own and then the Doctor picking things up.

4. Darkseid: I don't think the Doctor was aiming for '53. He has still to get his TARDIS navigation fixed.

Overall, a pretty light ep. OK but gets burned by the Cybermen two parter.

[Reefgirl]

The Doctor was actually aiming for Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show which was 56 I think, I was hoping that the Yard the Police used was Totters Lane but it wasn't to be

[Easter Lily]

I'm not sure if I like the emotional Doctor or not. If you watch this episode with your tongue firmly in your cheek this is great TV, Loved DT with a DA IMO the only thing it was missing was Richard O'Brien and a big pair of lips

.....At the late night, double feature picture show-ow-ow

Well, this was precisely my problem with the episode... I didn't know what it was supposed to be... One minute it seemed like it wanted to be a B-movie cheesy horror flick, then suddenly it decided to be serious with characters trying to wax poetic about fascism and male chauvinism. Then the doctor gets enraged in a Hulk-like manner. Nothing was properly developed... just a hotchpodge of stuff thrown in our direction leaving one feeling rather dissatisfied.

This is why I preferred the Cybermen two parter... it knew what it was about and didn't pretend to be more than what it was.

[dipsofjazz]

I was very disappointed with this episode.
I hated all the shouting, from the father and from DT. It was just too much for me.
Maureen Lipman is one of my favourite actresses, but she had far too many cheesy lines..."hungry", "feed me". I felt they wasted what could have been a great character with The Wire.

The whole episode felt very rushed to me, and the ending was just a let-down.
This could/should have been a great episode, but I just didn't enjoy it very much.

Next week looks interesting. At least we'll be away from Earth based stories, and have some real aliens.

[dipsofjazz]

Well, this was precisely my problem with the episode... I didn't know what it was supposed to be... One minute it seemed like it wanted to be a B-movie cheesy horror flick, then suddenly it decided to be serious with characters trying to wax poetic about fascism and male chauvinism. Then the doctor gets enraged in a Hulk-like manner. Nothing was properly developed... just a hotchpodge of stuff thrown in our direction leaving one feeling rather dissatisfied.

This is why I preferred the Cybermen two parter... it knew what it was about and didn't pretend to be more than what it was.

I think this is why I didn't enjoy the episode too.

[Darkseid]

4. Darkseid: I don't think the Doctor was aiming for '53. He has still to get his TARDIS navigation fixed.

I know he wasn't aiming for '53. The point I was making was that not only did he get the location wrong, he also got the year wrong. How is it it can control the TARDIS sometimes but not all the time. It just seems like a writers convience to me....

Yes they DID get out of the alt uni, at the end of Age of Steel they visited Jackie in her flat.

YA, I must have spaced that one out......I remember now.....

And the Torchwood reference was subtle and in the background with the cops saying something like "with torchwood on our backs as well".

I didn't catch that. I had the volume down fairly low as we were trying to get the baby to sleep. I've only had a chance to watch the ep once so far. I try to watch it at least twice so I can catch everything. Sometimes it's hard for me to understand the accents being a wee bit hard of hearing and such...

2. "I'm hungry!" That's not "Little shop of horrors" plant(which at least has 'some' fear factor to it). That's some whiney voice that wouldn't scare me at all.

I wasn't refering to the 'I'm Hungry' bit, she said 'FEED ME!' on at least one occasion as I recall. I was waiting for Levi Stubbs to show up!!

I was hoping that the Yard the Police used was Totters Lane but it wasn't to be

Ya, that would have been cool if it was Totter's lane! Imagine, it was used by the cops then left empty for a few years just so Hartnell and Susan could show up. If that were the case I would figure that the Doctor would know his way around a bit better.....

[IMForeman]

I know he wasn't aiming for '53. The point I was making was that not only did he get the location wrong, he also got the year wrong. How is it it can control the TARDIS sometimes but not all the time. It just seems like a writers convience to me....

Sometimes the TARDIS cooperates and takes the Doctor where he wants to go, and sometimes the TARDIS sees something interesting and takes the Doctor where she wants him to go.

[Reefgirl]

Sometimes the TARDIS cooperates and takes the Doctor where he wants to go, and sometimes the TARDIS sees something interesting and takes the Doctor where she wants him to go.

I've been saying that for years

[Flyboy]

I guess it's a bit like taking a puppy for a walk. Sometimes the puppy lets you go to the corner shop, sometimes it drags you after that spry little rabbit...

[ShadowMaat]

Yes, but if the TARDIS widdles on the carpet or chews your favorite slippers, I'd begin to worry...

[Flyboy]

Well it DOES depend what form it takes... I hear the advanced TARDISes can take human form.

[ShadowMaat]

Well it DOES depend what form it takes... I hear the advanced TARDISes can take human form.

A human widdling on the carpet and chewing my slippers would still be upsetting.

Still... that's an interesting idea and it might be kinda fun to see what wild directions the show might take in regards to what the TARDIS (or its heart) is.

[James_the_Wraith_Sympathiser]

I have three words

Worst Episode Ever

The best part of the episode was the doctor and rose shouting at the guy at the beginning, that was it.

Agreed.

I am usually one to give any episode a chance, and I have liked every episode so far this season...but this was just ridiculously bad. I mean come on...an entity that lives inside a TV? *SNORE*

[Nuallain]

IN-jokes ...

>The Idiot's Lantern is an actual phrase used in the 1950s to describe television.

>The action is set on Florizel Street -- which was the working title for what became Coronation Street (another Corrie connection is that Corrie, Weatherfield is actually based on Florizel Street in Salsford, where Christopher Eccleston grew up)

> There was a line cut where the Doctor says "I just have a thing about transmitters. I fell off one once."


All in all, one of the best episodes of the season. So great to have a genuine classic after the doldrums of the past few weeks. I'd give it an A-. Best episode since School Reunion.