Heads up! Dr Who starts Saturday....

[TimO]

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It would have been more interesting had the Doctor not been able to do a quick flash with his Sonic Screwdriver and become non red..  But no, Doctor in peril, quick flash of sonic screwdriver, Doctor no longer in peril

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Arguably in the episodes internal universe, it wasn't that quick, he was stuck as "the Monster" for a substantial time, and then it seemed to take a significant amount of time for the process to reverse.  The episode fast forwarded for us, but did you want to see twenty minutes of Jenny twiddling her thumbs waiting?

... Although it will be interesting to see how the Cybermen weave into next weeks plot, they are becoming a bit over egged.....

Presumably because there are a lot of Cybermen in the universe, like the Daleks, they get absolutely everywhere.

[TimO]

... It hadn't occurred to me, that Jenny in her catsuit, which we've seen before in A Good Man Goes to War, was a nod to Diana Rigg and The Avengers, ...

Well, I got that wrong.  In A Good Man Goes to War she was wearing clothing apparently from the period of her presumed origin, albeit trousers that I imagine a woman of that era wouldn't be expected to be wearing in public.

However, she does wear the catsuit (or something very similar) in The Snowmen.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I think the Doctor alludes to Tegan Jovanka, when he talks about getting a gobby Australian to Heathrow Airport, although her appearances were mostly before my time, and I don't really recognise her.

Yes, I thought that was her and I thought it was a nice touch, although I didn't particularly like Tegan.

[TimO]

After a quick Google around, interestingly Mark Gatiss appeared at one of the BFI's Dr Who 50th Anniversary events with Janet Fielding (aka Tegan Jovanka).

BFI hosts Doctor Who at 50 event

[peliroja]

A fantastic episode! I think Sweetville was clearly based on Saltaire. Look at the names, for example: Mr Sweet vs Titus Salt. And Titus Salt had a daughter called Ada (he named the streets of Saltaire after his eleven children).

I'm sure there are other clues linking the two which I've not yet spotted.

[woollypigs]

We had to replay the "Tomas Tomas" bit again cause the rest of the household didn't get it at the same time as me and therefore couldn't hear* the next bit.

*) been told that my laughter is a wee bit loud at times

[TimO]

... Mr Sweet vs Titus Salt. And Titus Salt had a daughter called Ada ...

Doh, why didn't I see the Salt vs Sweet bit.

I can't say I know much about Titus Salt, aside from him building Saltaire, so wasn't aware that he had a daughter Ada.  I still think that it was also partially a tip to Ada Lovelace and the Analytical Machine, but obviously combined with Ada Salt.

[peliroja]

You're probably right, Tim.

We very recently walked along Ada Street (and Fanny Street, and Caroline Street...) as we were considering buying a place in Saltaire.

[mattc]

Our PVR missed the first seconds of the show ... so it seemed that the Doctor took 14mins to appear.

If so, this must be a record. Can anyone confirm?

I thought last nights episode was quite enjoyable!

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It would have been more interesting had the Doctor not been able to do a quick flash with his Sonic Screwdriver and become non red..  But no, Doctor in peril, quick flash of sonic screwdriver, Doctor no longer in peril

That sums it up for me too.

It wasn't a classic - but had tons of good stuff in it. There was something ... missing from the plot/pacing, it didn't really grab me, and the 'de-redding' was irritating. Minor quibbles, probably the best so far this series 

[I admit I didn't spot the Tom joke.]

[woollypigs]

Yup He was not seen for a long while, except in a photograph of the victim eyes.
 

[David Martin]

How long was it before he 'appeared' in Blink?

[bobb]

I have finally got the Thomas Thomas gag   

[andygates]

Vastra, Jenny and Strax need a spin-off series.  Pleasepleaseplease with scissor grenades on top.

I still can't get over Diana Rigg cackling "Do you know what these are, Doctor? The wrong hands!"

And Mr Sweet is going to be the darling of the cosplay circuit. 

[a lower gear]

Vastra, Jenny and Strax need a spin-off series.  Pleasepleaseplease with scissor grenades on top.

Intriguing thought! But maybe too steampunk niche for the Beeb?

I still can't get over Diana Rigg cackling "Do you know what these are, Doctor? The wrong hands!"

I expected it to lead to a wrong trousers visual or script reference - but maybe the all-rivetted rocket was the conection to Wallace?

[mattc]

I still can't get over Diana Rigg cackling "Do you know what these are, Doctor? The wrong hands!"

Oh wow, I forgot that - top line! (and it's one of those jokes that has you wondering - how come noone's said that before???)

_{[2nd confession - I didn't even recognise Madam Rigg. So of course the link to catsuits also went over my head ... must watch Mark Gatiss episodes sober in future ...  ]}

[citoyen]

I still can't get over Diana Rigg cackling "Do you know what these are, Doctor? The wrong hands!"

Oh wow, I forgot that - top line! (and it's one of those jokes that has you wondering - how come noone's said that before???)

Yes, absolutely. Great line. It occurred to me that Mark Gatiss had let himself off the leash for this one and was writing it more like a League of Gentlemen episode than compared to his previous efforts on Doctor Who.

Beautifully delivered by Dame Diana. Such an amazingly charismatic actress. That part might have been a lot more cheesy in lesser hands.

I can't believe I didn't get the Salt/Sweet joke - though I recognised the obvious similarity to Saltaire. Tbh, I thought the name "Sweet" might be more of a hint at Bournville than Saltaire.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I think it's referencing both.

[TimO]

Yes, Sweet as an (almost) antonym of Salt, and as a adjective describing Bournville Chocolate makes for a double reference, similarly to Ada relating to both Ada Lovelace (and Mrs Gillyflower's "baby" Analytical Machine) and Ada Salt.

I think they made a deliberate effort to go all out on this episode, so lots of clever allusions, Diana Rigg, and the triplet of Vastra, Jenny and Strax, all of which were likely to make for a good episode, since it was apparently the one hundredth episode of the revived Doctor Who series.

I wonder what else we've missed, that may yet become apparent?

[padbeat]

I still can't get over Diana Rigg cackling "Do you know what these are, Doctor? The wrong hands!"

Oh wow, I forgot that - top line! (and it's one of those jokes that has you wondering - how come noone's said that before???)

_{[2nd confession - I didn't even recognise Madam Rigg. So of course the link to catsuits also went over my head ... must watch Mark Gatiss episodes sober in future ...  ]}

My first thought was that it was Pete Postlethwaite in drag (until I quickly realised it couldn't be!)

[Kim]

That was a delightfully silly episode, marred only by the lack of comments on the rocket science in this thread.   

[TimO]

That was a delightfully silly episode, marred only by the lack of comments on the rocket science in this thread.   

Well, there's not a lot you can say about that.  The technology of that era wouldn't have allowed them to build such a boilerplate vehicle that actually worked, but I assumed that it was either based on information from Mr Sweet (is he sentient, or is that just Mrs Gillyflower's fancy?) or Mrs Gillyflower's genius.

The only point you can really argue is whether you'd survive the vehicle actually going up the "chimney" whilst standing on that staircase, and with anything remotely like our current technological development, I'd say not.

[citoyen]

Turns out Thomas Thomas was played by my colleague's little brother. That's a very cool little brother.

Apparently, there was a good gag about eating horses that was cut from the final edit.

[Flynn]

That was a delightfully silly episode, marred only by the lack of comments on the rocket science in this thread.   

Well, there's not a lot you can say about that.  The technology of that era wouldn't have allowed them to build such a boilerplate vehicle that actually worked, but I assumed that it was either based on information from Mr Sweet (is he sentient, or is that just Mrs Gillyflower's fancy?) or Mrs Gillyflower's genius.

The only point you can really argue is whether you'd survive the vehicle actually going up the "chimney" whilst standing on that staircase, and with anything remotely like our current technological development, I'd say not.

It's Dr Who. Not a documentary.

[Kim]

It's Dr Who. Not a documentary.

Well yes, but I like a *bit* of science in my science fiction.  I can accept that some alien technology or sufficiently clever engineering could just about make rocket designed to explode at altitude with Victorian materials, but not that the exhaust wouldn't be deadly at close range.

It's about consistency.  They debunked and then handwaved optography earlier in the episode.  The preservation processes were left to unexplained alien tech - that's allowed.  That you can quickly and usefully jibble pretty much any technology at a ridiculously low level with a sonic screwdriver is canon.  If the red goo had had some sort of antigravity property that they'd used to power the rocket, that would have been fine.  But the rocket was clearly Jules Verne style engineering, with a hot and probably toxic exhaust - at least a bit of duck & cover seems justified.

[graculus]

Only saw this last night and I found it delightful from the word go. With all the references flying around I was faintly disappointed not to faintly hear the shade of Kenneth Williams calling out 'Frying tonight' as the bodies were lowered into the red gloop.