March 09, 2005

• It's funny seeing "The BBC was unavailable for comment." on a BBC website. God bless 'em.
• Ohhhhh... "Dr. Who" Leaked.... I thought this was a FPP about a physician who peed someplace inappropriate....
• I tried downloading this yesterday, but I managed to pick a torrent that hardly anyone else was using... once it got up to predicting 14 hours to download a one hour episode, I gave up. Lots of people seem to be slagging it off, but from what I've heard, it sounds great. Fun and funny. I have faith in Russell T. Davies - he's the best TV writer of the past decade (whose name isn't Whedon, Sorkin or Abrams, that is).
• I've got it, and watched it, and it... ROCKS VERY HARD INDEED No, really. It's just perfect. Christopher Ecclestone is totally spot on. I can see why the US didn't want to buy it - it's deeply English - but it's tone perfect to a degree that I never expected. Just great great stuff. I got a bit weepy, I have to say.
• I talked to 'someone' who saw it. Ecclestone does do an excellent job hitting the appropriate Doctor characteristics. Not perfect, but that was mostly due to the limitations of the script. Hard core fans will undoubtedly find moments of the first episode tedious or ham-handed, but that's because the producers seem to try to straddle a line between pleasing the old-timers and remaining approachable for the uninitiated. They're mostly successful. They did a great job of maintaining the low rent feel of Doctor Who productions. I'm sure the US networks hated that. 'Someone' wasn't too happy with the Doctor's new assistant at the beginning of the episode, but she comes into her own by the end. Verdict: Extremely promising.
• aaaaargh! I'm so jealous! That's it...I'm gonna have to break down and figure out this whole bittorrent thingy. I've been avoiding it like the plague knowing that if I get started, i'll never finish grad-school. Aaargh...the end is near. Yes, Doctor, I hear you... I'm coming to see you... (pulling scarf out of storage)
• Doctor what?
• I can see why the US didn't want to buy it - it's deeply English - but it's tone perfect to a degree that I never expected. No worries. If it's a big success, they'll do their own horrendous straight-up version rather than air this. Anyone remember America's answer to Cracker? (shudder)
• Zanshin - I recommend Azureus, a java based bittorrent client, which is quite easy to use. isohunt.com is one of the better places to find the torrents. But yes, if you start, you may never finish gradschool. But you are already at monkeyfilter, so you may be doomed anyways. God I hope my advisor never figures out how to get on the interweb.
• jb: may you burn for a long time. Can you please break the news to my wife and son? breaks down sobbing
• I'm sorry. Kind of.
• On the mac, I found Azureus would spin the fans very quickly, and wasn't very fast. Tomato Torrent seems a lot better. And the Dr Who torrent can be found with judicious application at Torrent Spy.
• Rorschach, what was the US' answer to Cracker?
• That would be Cracker. It wasn't, by all reports, very good.
• Thanks, flashboy.
• Didn't UK Cracker have Christopher Ecclestone in it as well? Died at the end of the first series? That was him, right?
• Yeah - he played Bilborough, who got stabbed very nastily by Robert Carlyle. That storyline, and the episode where he died in particular, ranks amongst the very best television I've ever seen. Terrifying and heartbreaking (and it turned the old Liverpool chant of "L-I-V, E-R-P, double-O-L, Liverpool FC!" into one of the most chilling things I've ever heard...)
• Speaking of Britscifi, have y'all seen the new hitchhiker's guide trailer? I like it... I like it a lot.
• Ha! Just watched the new Who... I concur with DangerIsMyMiddleName's wise opinion. It rocks like a magnificent nutcase. Early days, and there were a few dodgy moments, but looks like it could be great.
• Man, I'm so looking forward to this. The new Doctor Who, I mean
• I'm sure I'm not the only one here who desperately wants to play the next Doctor Who - ?
• Well, we know Dreadnought does...
• Well he can get in line!
• Oh WOW. I didn't think it was possible, but Dr Who is even more frightening than it was when I was five years old. It's funny, and frightening, and terrific. I'm also impressed at how far BBC special effects have come from the days of making 17 monsters from one piece of bubble wrap.
• "If you are an alien, how come you sound like you're from the North?" "Lots of planets have a North!" (laugh out loud moment)
• Oh, and apparently it was someone at the CBC (no, that's not a typo) who leaked the episode. Article here. Warning - stupid unecessary plot spoilers. For those who don't want to be spoiled - here are the relevant bits:

  The Doctor faces his newest adversary ... the Canadians By Jack Malvern DOCTOR WHO has overcome Daleks and cybermen but his latest adversaries are villains even his imaginative creators could not have foreseen. The first episode of the BBC’s new series has been stolen by pirates and released on the internet. The BBC reacted angrily yesterday to news that fans have been able to download copies of the first instalment of the series after a security breach. The Doctor’s adventures, including clashes with monsters disguised as wheelie bins, can be found on p2p, or peer-to-peer, file-sharing networks. The BBC is investigating the leak, which it believes started in Canada. Its production partner, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), is thought to have given some episodes to a third party. “It is a significant breach of copyright which is currently under investigation,” a BBC spokesman said. “We would urge viewers not to spoil their enjoyment and to wait for the finished version.” CBC denied being the source of the leak. “CBC took all necessary and appropriate precautions to preserve confidentiality of the programme,” it said in a statement last night. “Our investigations to date indicate that CBC was not the source of the leak.”

  -Times Online
• Source of Doctor Who leak has contract exterminated.
• Dr Who e-books