A Christmas Carol (2010)

[Ian-S]

It was the bit at the end of Confidential where the words jumped out at me, it was very clear (perhaps the lack of 5.1 on BBC3 made it easier to catch) so I went back and watched the same scene from the BBC One HD recording of the episode and the scene was the same, but as many say the audio more messed up and it wasn't so clear.

Maybe it wasn't silence will fall, but it sure sounded like it, also the camera is to far away from her to lip read, but in Confidential they said the rough cut she sung to in the filming of the scene was different to the final score used in the episode so reading her lips could even be a red herring, the impression I got was they went back and changed some of the song to better fit the story (hmm, pass me my tin foil hat please).

[Wayston]

I liked the floating fishies, that's some good imagination

[Utopia!]

I liked the floating fishies, that's some good imagination

I agree with you! They were so cute (well, the shark was less cute than the other fish, but she was cute nonetheless )!

I loved watching the episode! The best Christmas special yet! The actors' performance was absolutely amazing, the story was really good and "christmassy", though, it was a bit sad at the End.
And Abigail's song... I can't stop myself listening to it over and over again ! xD

When you're alone Silence is all you see!
When you're alone, silence is all you'll be.
Give me your hand and come to me.

When you are here, music is all around.
When you are near, music is all around.

Open your eyes, don't make a sound.

Let in the shadow, let in the shadow,
Let in the light of your bright shadow.
Let in the shadow, let in the shadow.
Let in the light of your bright shadow...

♥

[Coco Pops]

Me too I love the song and see nowhere does it say "silence will fall" but that would have been cool if it had.. Why does everyone still think this?

[Utopia!]

Me too I love the song and see nowhere does it say "silence will fall" but that would have been cool if it had.. Why does everyone still think this?

I posted the lyrics on my previous post and indeed, it does not say "Silence Will Fall".
But actually, the sentence "Silence is all you'll be" could be a reference to "Silence Will Fall", when we think about it...

[padr49904]

This was a really good episode despite it being sad. I finally remembered the other day that it came out and watched it last night. It was a good episode and showed the doctor didn't really care if he changed the past anymore. This could be because what he changed wasn't that important, but I think it was because no one can control the sky anymore because of it and it would be harder to land on that planet.

My friend remarked about the song when we were talking about it today and she said the song had to be the best part.
Spoilers for the end of the episode

Spoiler:

She also mentioned they never actually showed the end so the lady there could still be alive. Anyone else also notice that she lost a day every time she came out for a couple hours, was it because it went down every time the door was opened or it just counted hours or so???

I liked this because it wasn't very amy/rory centered and as a matter of fact I don't really like them that much. And where did they get the roman costume and the cop one?? She had them in the alternate timeline but when it changed wouldn't her life of been different? And Rory probably lost his roman costume a long, long time before the end of the last season.

[Coco Pops]

This was a really good episode despite it being sad. I finally remembered the other day that it came out and watched it last night. It was a good episode and showed the doctor didn't really care if he changed the past anymore. This could be because what he changed wasn't that important, but I think it was because no one can control the sky anymore because of it and it would be harder to land on that planet.

My friend remarked about the song when we were talking about it today and she said the song had to be the best part.
Spoilers for the end of the episode

Spoiler:

She also mentioned they never actually showed the end so the lady there could still be alive. Anyone else also notice that she lost a day every time she came out for a couple hours, was it because it went down every time the door was opened or it just counted hours or so???

I liked this because it wasn't very amy/rory centered and as a matter of fact I don't really like them that much. And where did they get the roman costume and the cop one?? She had them in the alternate timeline but when it changed wouldn't her life of been different? And Rory probably lost his roman costume a long, long time before the end of the last season.

She had some kind of illness as well as her body being used as collatoral for the old grumpy codger. And that is also why those numbers counted down the numbers being days.

I'm going be be a real nerd and say the costumes were kept after their last adventure and placed in the TARDIS wardrobe room.

I love this episode too, especially the song. My only gripe is all that bizzo about the isomorphic controls. The Doctor might have changed the grumpy bugger's personality and such but there is no way that would have affected his genetics so the controls on the weather machine could not have been affected in any way..

And the Doctor may well not care any more about changing history with his past experinces in his 10th regeneration and him being all godlike and powerful.... Maybe some of that lingers on and he becomes so reckless in the future that he becomes "silence will fall." Just a thought.

I think the Doctor is responsible for that and the mysterious voice we heard .

[Sealurk]

She had some kind of illness as well as her body being used as collatoral for the old grumpy codger. And that is also why those numbers counted down the numbers being days.

I'm going be be a real nerd and say the costumes were kept after their last adventure and placed in the TARDIS wardrobe room.

I love this episode too, especially the song. My only gripe is all that bizzo about the isomorphic controls. The Doctor might have changed the grumpy bugger's personality and such but there is no way that would have affected his genetics so the controls on the weather machine could not have been affected in any way..

Thing is, the Doctor didn't say genetics, he said brainwaves, and changing somebody's personality that drastically is probably going to give them a significantly different brain pattern because they're experiencing different emotions and have different memories.

And the Doctor may well not care any more about changing history with his past experinces in his 10th regeneration and him being all godlike and powerful.... Maybe some of that lingers on and he becomes so reckless in the future that he becomes "silence will fall." Just a thought.

I think the Doctor is responsible for that and the mysterious voice we heard .

Interesting idea about him becoming the Silence - there definitely seem to have been more hints of Dark Doctor since Moffat took over, like with the Dream Lord and other instances (that I cannot recall right now) that subtly suggest that some form of the Valeyard still lies ahead in the Doctor's future. After all, who is most likely to know how to control the TARDIS to make it explode?

As for changing history, I think the events of Waters of Mars and End of Time didn't quite put him off the idea altogether of rewriting events and commanding time, but I think he's generally being more sensible, clever, cautious and small-scale about it now.

[Coco Pops]

Thing is, the Doctor didn't say genetics, he said brainwaves, and changing somebody's personality that drastically is probably going to give them a significantly different brain pattern because they're experiencing different emotions and have different memories.

No I disagree. Brainwaves are brainwaves and even people have have mood swings sill produce the same brainwaves. They're as unique as a fingerprint.

Interesting idea about him becoming the Silence - there definitely seem to have been more hints of Dark Doctor since Moffat took over, like with the Dream Lord and other instances (that I cannot recall right now) that subtly suggest that some form of the Valeyard still lies ahead in the Doctor's future. After all, who is most likely to know how to control the TARDIS to make it explode?

As for changing history, I think the events of Waters of Mars and End of Time didn't quite put him off the idea altogether of rewriting events and commanding time, but I think he's generally being more sensible, clever, cautious and small-scale about it now.

Yeah I rather like that idea and since Waters Of Mars I've always thought that maybe it's the Doctor himself that caused the silence far in the future but it rippled back to the past and cause of his actions or maybe lack of actions the TARDIS explodes. So it's happened, or is yet to happen. We saw it in the last series so that actual event of the explosion is yet to happen.

[pbellosom]

No I disagree. Brainwaves are brainwaves and even people have have mood swings sill produce the same brainwaves. They're as unique as a fingerprint.

Are they really though? I mean they are unique obviously, but I would argue that if your personality changes completely your brainwaves do as well. The word itself is fairly loosely defined so it probably could be taken eitherway, but I'd assume it was a measurement of which neurones are firing in the brain at a given moment, a different personality would probably change that.

Also from a genetics student/nerd prospective I feel the need to point out that though the genome would be unchanged, if you changed his childhood early and significantly enough you probably could get enough differences in the transcriptome and depending on how isomorphic controls work that could be enough.

A final point too render my above paragraphs moot is that the wikipedia article and my own interpretation of the episode was that rather than changing him so that the isomorphic controls didn't recognise him (which would be odd because surely the settings on the machine would change as well over time) it was that the father never set the machine to recognise him in this new timeline because he didn't think he was ruthless enough.

And this is probably the nerdiest post I have ever made on the internet

[TryWhistlingThis]

A very belated review from me, I saw it upon first transmission.

The best Christmas Special yet! It avoided the things I disliked about previous specials: the characters felt more genuine, the story had a lot more substance and Christmas was more than just a setting, it was actually ABOUT Christmas. Michael Gambon played the "Scrooge" type character brilliantly. It was unusual in the sense that the roles of Amy and Rory seemed almost totally absent. One other minor critique: another breach of the Father's Day Paradox Rule where the older man and his younger self as a boy hugged. I'm starting to think I should just forget the Father's Day paradox rule as this is now the second time Moffat has waived it.

I was also a little confused as to how the Doctor only managed to extract a half sonic screwdriver from the shark when really none of it should have been able to have been recovered.

Apart from that, absolutely brilliant. I loved it! This is coming from someone who hated Big Bang.

If I recall correctly, with the exceptions of the shark and fish, I think this may be the first ever episode without aliens and monsters? See, it can be done That's how Vincent and the Doctor could have been improved.

4 out of 5

[Coco Pops]

A very belated review from me, I saw it upon first transmission.

The best Christmas Special yet! It avoided the things I disliked about previous specials: the characters felt more genuine, the story had a lot more substance and Christmas was more than just a setting, it was actually ABOUT Christmas. Michael Gambon played the "Scrooge" type character brilliantly. It was unusual in the sense that the roles of Amy and Rory seemed almost totally absent. One other minor critique: another breach of the Father's Day Paradox Rule where the older man and his younger self as a boy hugged. I'm starting to think I should just forget the Father's Day paradox rule as this is now the second time Moffat has waived it.

I was also a little confused as to how the Doctor only managed to extract a half sonic screwdriver from the shark when really none of it should have been able to have been recovered.

Apart from that, absolutely brilliant. I loved it! This is coming from someone who hated Big Bang.

If I recall correctly, with the exceptions of the shark and fish, I think this may be the first ever episode without aliens and monsters? See, it can be done That's how Vincent and the Doctor could have been improved.

4 out of 5

I guess the shark towing the carriage made you cringe too

What didn't you like about The Big Bang? Can you point me to your post there to see your thoughts?

[TryWhistlingThis]

I guess the shark towing the carriage made you cringe too

What didn't you like about The Big Bang? Can you point me to your post there to see your thoughts?

Actually the shark towing the carriage I thought was a nice touch. Remember, it was Abigail's last day of life and it was a Christmas special. So, to have a teary, mournful ending for a Christmas episode would really be a sour way to finish off the year or open the new season pessimistically (depending how you look at it). Plus, it made perfect sense: it was their last Christmas together, why not make it the most colourful one yet. It was nice

As for Big Bang, I posted a MASSIVE review when it first aired but i'll do my best to summarise. Keep in mind, despite Big Bang, Doctor Who in 2010 was brilliant, Matt's first season is the strongest when compared to the first seasons of Eccleston and Tennant.

Things I disliked:

- The Pandorica Opens set the story up brilliantly. No complaints, fantastic plot. However, as thrilling as the cliffhanger was, that's what contributed to the problem because the scenario was just far too impossible to resolve.

- There was way too much plot convenience: the wristwatch time switching (especially in light of the fact that it can tear the universe apart), the breach of the blinovitch effect (where you can't make physical contact with a past version of yourself) and the fact that the Universe was reset in such a way that everything was undone. My problem with the latter is that things turned out better than ever with no cost to anyone. People miraculously remembered the Doctor because of the presence of Riversong and the journal, yet if the universe was undone, technically none of that should have remained. Amy's parent's return to her present day state. Again, this isn't reversing the timeline, it just re-writes it in a way that everyone lives happily ever after. If you take the reset to a point prior to the crack in time literally (and I took it this way because of how oversimplified it was), Amy should never have met the Doctor. It's also possible that Riversong never meets Tennant's Doctor.

It's a shame because Moffat is a brilliant writer, I was just stunned by how many plot holes and contradictions there were in that finale.

[Coco Pops]

Actually the shark towing the carriage I thought was a nice touch. Remember, it was Abigail's last day of life and it was a Christmas special. So, to have a teary, mournful ending for a Christmas episode would really be a sour way to finish off the year or open the new season pessimistically (depending how you look at it). Plus, it made perfect sense: it was their last Christmas together, why not make it the most colourful one yet. It was nice

As for Big Bang, I posted a MASSIVE review when it first aired but i'll do my best to summarise. Keep in mind, despite Big Bang, Doctor Who in 2010 was brilliant, Matt's first season is the strongest when compared to the first seasons of Eccleston and Tennant.

Things I disliked:

- The Pandorica Opens set the story up brilliantly. No complaints, fantastic plot. However, as thrilling as the cliffhanger was, that's what contributed to the problem because the scenario was just far too impossible to resolve.

- There was way too much plot convenience: the wristwatch time switching (especially in light of the fact that it can tear the universe apart), the breach of the blinovitch effect (where you can't make physical contact with a past version of yourself) and the fact that the Universe was reset in such a way that everything was undone. My problem with the latter is that things turned out better than ever with no cost to anyone. People miraculously remembered the Doctor because of the presence of Riversong and the journal, yet if the universe was undone, technically none of that should have remained. Amy's parent's return to her present day state. Again, this isn't reversing the timeline, it just re-writes it in a way that everyone lives happily ever after. If you take the reset to a point prior to the crack in time literally (and I took it this way because of how oversimplified it was), Amy should never have met the Doctor. It's also possible that Riversong never meets Tennant's Doctor.

It's a shame because Moffat is a brilliant writer, I was just stunned by how many plot holes and contradictions there were in that finale.

Now you have made me interested to go find your post. So off I go to find your post.

[TryWhistlingThis]

Ignore this post, i'll just re-post at the thread itself.