The Runaway Bride (2006)

[Prior_of_the_Ori]

It was a nice episode actually though I can see why people didnt like Catherine Tate for being so loud and as the groom said, 'thick'. Along with the whole 'alien race dead but have a last survivor with a plot to recreate the race which is soo evil and old' did seem a bit repetitive but meh.

I thought the ending was nice when he offered her to explore the galaxy and she said no. As well as the explanation that accompanied it. One thing I found funny was how the Doctor would explain something, get all excited and get a slap from the Bride. Its soooo different from Rose.

[in circles]

-The little girl screaming....the beam was moving soo slow and she was so far away from it, yet she stood there...doing nothing but screaming.

I was really hoping she'd get it but no such luck.

[Billz]

Like many of you, I thought the TARDIS chasing the taxi on a motorway (A325 if im not mistaken) was very well done. Catherines acting was so 'Tatey' which made the episode especially funny to watch. Big ups for Gallifrey finally getting mentioned!

I found the whole 'alien spaceship core of Earth' a little stupid though. What I really didnt like about this one was the TARDIS takeoff at the end, I mean, WTF?!?

Overall a well deserved 8/10

[Anubis69]

The tardis chasing the taxi

The trailer made that out to be so much more. I was expecting a really dramatic chase sequence with some really intense music but it was more like Benny Hill meets a black cab on the A325. (If Billz is not mistaken. )

Maybe Torchwood has just given me a taste of "darker times" and this kind of upbeat sci-fi/soap just doesn't do it for me anymore. You know, where you know everyone's going to be fine and the bad guy will "get what's coming to him"... That'd be kind of annoying if i don't enjoy them anymore though, especially SG being one of those shows... At least in Tochwood you get the feeling that any of the cast could be killed in the next episode.

ETA: Is the view kind of weird in this thread or is that my imagination? Like it's outlined in white... and with a grey border to the right?

[Reefgirl]

Maybe Torchwood has just given me a taste of "darker times" and this kind of upbeat sci-fi/soap just doesn't do it for me anymore.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought it had a slightly 'Soapy' feel to it especially during the Reception scenes, I was half expecting to see Pauline Fowler push her way to the front of the crowd on the dance floor.

ETA: Is the view kind of weird in this thread or is that my imagination? Like it's outlined in white... and with a grey border to the right?

Yep I can see it too

[lord-anubis]

Tge Rakorn looks cool and very well done. Why canb't stargate have aliens as cool as that?

maybe they don't have the money for it

I found the whole 'alien spaceship core of Earth' a little stupid though

it kind of remind me of a couple of other doctor who eps were aliens were responble for some thing inmporent for earth or humans. City of Death and i think Image of the Fendahl.

What I really didnt like about this one was the TARDIS takeoff at the end, I mean, WTF?!?

lol yeah that kind of confused me to when i saw i guess he flew the tardis insed of just dispearing

[Anubis69]

I was half expecting to see Pauline Fowler push her way to the front of the crowd on the dance floor.

Not anymore!

Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!

Anyway, at least i'm not alone in my thoughts.

[Flyboy]

Ok my RAF loyalties make me scream the following:

WHERE WERE THE BLOODY FIGHTER JETS!!!!??!!!

They sent TANKS in to fight off a great big alien space ship and not a squadron of Eurofighter Typhoons? What were they THINKING!? Still... got the job done I suppose.

Catherine Tate? Blergh. Annoying woman. Can't believe the Doc asked her to travel with him.

As for Torchwood. I'm getting a tad annoyed.

Where do they fit?

Where's the Torchwood Commandant?

I cannot believe Torchwood 1 is actually gone, so Canary Warf was the main Torchwood group's ONLY facility? Obviously not as there's one under the Thames, so where's the rest of Torchwood 1, where are they operating from. Who does Captain Jack of T3 report to? And why, as was previously said, did the rememnants of T1 or the actual T3 do anything about the ruddy great big space ship and why was it left to a (non-UNIT) Tank to shoot down?

The believability of Torchwood is getting less and less. Xmas Invasion and Doomsday showed us a HUGE and highly organised operation that could shoot down incoming alien threats and hoard alien tech. They seen completely gone, HOW!? And that's in stark contrast to the Welsh Torchwood group that really is quiet inadaquate when it comes to these things... where's T3's big honking space guns?

[pbellosom]

What I really didnt like about this one was the TARDIS takeoff at the end, I mean, WTF?!?

Overall a well deserved 8/10

I reckon it's too do with all the tinkering around the doctor did to make it capable of atmospheric travel he's broken it. I think the next series
will start with him tring to fix it.

[Matt G]

Or the Doctor was showing off one last time to Donna!

[Anubis69]

As for Torchwood. I'm getting a tad annoyed.

Where do they fit?

Where's the Torchwood Commandant?

I cannot believe Torchwood 1 is actually gone, so Canary Warf was the main Torchwood group's ONLY facility? Obviously not as there's one under the Thames, so where's the rest of Torchwood 1, where are they operating from. Who does Captain Jack of T3 report to? And why, as was previously said, did the rememnants of T1 or the actual T3 do anything about the ruddy great big space ship and why was it left to a (non-UNIT) Tank to shoot down?

The believability of Torchwood is getting less and less. Xmas Invasion and Doomsday showed us a HUGE and highly organised operation that could shoot down incoming alien threats and hoard alien tech. They seen completely gone, HOW!? And that's in stark contrast to the Welsh Torchwood group that really is quiet inadaquate when it comes to these things... where's T3's big honking space guns?

I remember reading that Torchwood the series is set one year after the battle of Canary Warf and given The Runaway Bride takes place right after Doomsday, is it not possible that whoever governs Torchwood as a whole (My best guess so far is Ross Kemp) decided that they should split up the resources and have many bases rather than one based in London?

It would explain why T3 is so poorly kitted out; maybe they specialise in something else rather than big guns, maybe they're waiting for another HQ to be built? After all Ianto did say he was at T1 in "Doomsday" and i don't recall any of them specifically saying they've been working for Torchwood in Cardiff for more than a year. Just a thought.

And another thing i liked about this ep, i've always wondered why The Doctor couldn't just go back in time to the wedding, back to when Rose first left etc. It was probably explained in the older Whos but i liked the mention.

[ShadowMaat]

I loved it! Having never heard of Catherine Tate before fandom exploded in hatred however many months back I personally had no issues with her and thought Donna was a great character. I'm glad she didn't stay with the Doctor, though, because we've already gone the wide-eyed innocent route with Rose and I don't need X number more seasons of doing that all over again. The loudness and tendency to yell only made her a better contrast to Rose and I thought Tate performed very well.

I didn't see the whole evil boyfriend plot coming. I was a bit disappointed by the cheesiness of it, but whatever. I know that humans are small and selfish and petty, but once in a while it'd be nice to meet a human who isn't self-serving and in cahoots with evil aliens in order to gain power or domination or whatever. Oh well. At least he died. I think Donna was right; he deserved it.

The Raknoss was a bit polished-looking and I would have appreciated an explanation about the Santabots and whether they were sent by the Empress last year or if that was a separate issue (the whole "pilot fish" thing) but all in all the whole package was better than SOME aliens we've seen (the wire, the abzorbaloff, the glowy seed thingy). Opinions may vary, of course.

I liked the music and there was at least one scene (in the lab) where I heard echoes of the music from Torchwood, so yay on that. I wish we could have found out more about what Torchwood was trying to accomplish in that lab, however. The Doctor implied that they were the ones who drilled the hole, but to what purpose? Unless they somehow knew the Raknoss ship was at the core and they were trying to reach it. Seems a bit dodgy, though.

I caught a lot of echoes/visual cues of past eps which is probably just my imagination but which made me smile anyway.

The teaser for the upcoming season has me enthralled. I can't wait to see it!

[Willow'sCat]

OK I am still wondering about the Planet of the Spiders, didn't The Doctor say the Timelords wiped out her planet, now I know *or I think* the planet in Planet of the Spiders was blown up but I thought that was down to the humans not The Doctor or the other Timelords. Dam I only re-watched it last year!

I can't find any reference to them being one in the same *was there anything in the comms?* but then how many spider like creature can there be out there!? I will say this spider didn't scare me in this the way the plastic looking one of ye olde Doctor Who did but then I was only 6 or so.

[Albion]

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed this Christmas romp. Perhaps because I didn't take it that seriously and just went along for the ride. CT wasn't as annoying as I'd thought she would be. Yes, she was loud and abrasive, but, let's face it, it's because she's made her name and is popular doing that kind of character that she was hired for the role. So it was to be expected.

The spider-woman wasn't half-bad. Although guilty of some awful dialogue and over the top acting at times. She would have done well in a panto. But maybe that was the point. When else can you get away with a panto villain in your show but at Christmas?

I was confused by the Santa robots. Is there some store somewhere that hires them out to villains and suggests using them with Santa suits? And does that store also hire out killer Christmas trees? There was probably some explanation given for why two separate villians with no connection to one another used the same Santa robots and tree method, either in this Christmas special or last year's, but if it was there I missed what it was.

But, as I say, I was enjoying the ride too much to really question it deeply.

And the teaser for the coming season was interesting. Looking forward to that, now. For those whining about Rose being mentioned (personally, I think it would have been odd if she wasn't) and the poster who expressed the hope that she won't be mentioned again, we did hear the Doctor repeat to Martha what he told Donna (you won't replace Rose). So she's mentioned at least once. My money would be on her being mentioned a few times in the first couple of episodes, just as she was in this, and then perhaps not again.

Speaking of the music, did anyone else find it really intrusive?

Yes. This was the only downpoint for me. I could really have done without the frenetic, almost hysterical, clashing cymbols and blasting trumpets music score throughout. After the first few minutes it got very annoying and it especially irritated me during the motorway scene. I don't think it was needed to underscore the dramatic tension at all.

I remember reading that Torchwood the series is set one year after the battle of Canary Warf and given The Runaway Bride takes place right after Doomsday,

That reminds me of one of the funniest things for me. I thought it was hiliarious when the Doctor kept mentioning these huge alien invasions and Donna would look blank and go, "I had a hangover." or "I was in Spain."


Albion

[ShadowMaat]

Has Torchwood been dosing the planet's water supply with retcon pills so that no one ever remembers all these things?