Wednesday evening and banana daiquiris...

[fajrdrako]

commodorified, auriaephiala, iclysdale, raynedaze and Anne came over this evening for a spaghetti supper, banana daiquiris in honor of the Doctor, and a viewing of "The Family of Blood". Chocolate was involved as well.

A special occasion? Yes, on several counts. Some people are going to England, others to Morocco. I am not one of the travellers, but at least I get to wave 'bon voyage'.

After watching "The Family of Blood" we had the kind of discussion I love about why John Smith and the Doctor acted as they did in various scenes. No conclusions, really - different interpretations of action and what it meant. Was Nurse Joan right or wrong to be angry with the Doctor at the end? That was an interesting one. And the poppy scene at the end...

We watched "The Idiot's Lantern" because auriaephiala had never seen it. Since it is not a favourite, I don't often watch it, and that gives it a certain spurious freshness. Some good lines in it, but I can't help thinking that it never quite manages to have a plot. I liked Tommy, but don't like Mark Gatiss' writing.

The banana daiquiri really mellowed me out. I'd never made such a thing before; it was fun. We gave one to the doorman. Now I'm happily relaxed....

Comments

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

I quite liked "The Idiot's Lantern" because it was so, well, British. The technology/science was handwavingness extraordinarious, but the look on the Doctor's face when he saw Rose was endangered was worth it. And I loved Rose's pink New Look skirt and shoes combo.

The banana daiquiri was good w/o rum, too.

SPOILER WARNING

Re "The Family of Blood": I liked having the villain narrate portions of the story, as well as the different fates the Doctor imposes on the villains. I tend to agree with you that the only way several plot points work is if it is a bad idea for anyone to kill the Family because they'll be even more difficult to deal with outside of human form. And I cried at the Doctor and Martha attending Timothy's last Remembrance Day ceremony: that was beautiful.

One thing I didn't understand was the connection between the looming WWI and the Family -- there was almost an implication that they were drawn to Earth by the looming bloodbath, but it wasn't clear.I think there could have been more of a link made between this war and the next.

And I really preferred the Doctor to John Smith. Cut off from his Time Lord-ness, he really seemed more than a bit of a dork. Sweet, but a bit boring.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I quite liked "The Idiot's Lantern" because it was so, well, British.

Oh, true - from the title onwards! (I'd never heard the phrase till I saw the episode.) And yes, that was charming - I loved Rose baiting the father about the "Union Jack - Union Flag" and the excitement over the Coronation. And in contrast, the Doctor's confusion over New York and London.

the look on the Doctor's face when he saw Rose was endangered was worth it.

That was a wonderful moment. There were actually a lot of moments I loved: that, and the scene where all the missing faces were looking at the Doctor from the TV screens, where for a moment, for me, it almost reached a level of scariness; the moment when the mother threw the father out of the house (though I thought it too convenient that it was her house, not his); and the 'coming of age' theme for Tommy as he starts to think for himself and not just obey his father. I also loved the "King of Belgium" lines.

But the Wire did nothing much for me, or Magpie, or Rose's pink skirt.

The banana daiquiri was good w/o rum, too.

Easy to make, too! I may do that again. It had a tiny bit of rum flavouring, which I tend to keep on hand anyway.

I liked having the villain narrate portions of the story

So did I.

I tend to agree with you that the only way several plot points work is if it is a bad idea for anyone to kill the Family because they'll be even more difficult to deal with outside of human form.

Yes, I think that works; fits in with what we see.

I cried at the Doctor and Martha attending Timothy's last Remembrance Day ceremony: that was beautiful.

It was a wonderful touch.

One thing I didn't understand was the connection between the looming WWI and the Family -- there was almost an implication that they were drawn to Earth by the looming bloodbath

I don't think there was any real connection except a thematic attitude to violence. It wasn't the Family who chose to go to Earth - the Doctor chose England in 1913 to hide in ("on a whim" Nurse Joan says, and we don't hear otherwise) and they followed him there. And true to the Doctor Who themes, they brough carnage in their wake - previous wars in human memory had been far away (e.g., South Africa) and everyone thought of England as peaceful and law-abiding. But we know that World War III was soon going to change everything. So for the boys in the school, fighting the Family was their first taste of needed to fight anything 'for real'.

So I'd say there's a theme there of national loss of innocence, with the Doctor a sort of catalyst (on the microcosm) and observer of the big picture.

I really preferred the Doctor to John Smith.

Oh, infinitely. I was not a big fan of John Smith, for all they talked about what a 'good man' he was. He was a fine person, yes, but not very decisive, or interesting, or courageous. I thought his best moment was when he was scolding Tim about his grades, telling him he should be top of his class.

There were several times at which John Smith lost approval-points for me by chosing a self-serving action or attitude. But he was a lot of fun to see because he was such a contrast to the Doctor.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

But we know that World War I was soon going to change everything. So for the boys in the school, fighting the Family was their first taste of needed to fight anything 'for real'.

And of course, part of that impact/loss of innocence was that WWI was the first war for Britain in which there was national conscription (introduced in 1916). Only a minority of the population had served in the armed forces before then.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

WWI was the first war for Britain in which there was national conscription

Yes, so they were dealing with not just the scale of the thing but the scope - probably unimaginable before that.

When they were fighting the Family, they didn't even know what was at stake. But they knew they were being attacked.

We had a very interesting conversation last night about 'why John Smith didn't fire his gun' when the school was being attacked. Many implications, and differing opinions as to his motivation, and how conscious it was.

[raissad.livejournal.com]

Was Nurse Joan right or wrong to be angry with the Doctor at the end?

For me, Joan's reaction mirrored Donna's at the end of TRB: "They were burning and dying...and then you make it snow. You scare me." The conundrum doesn't lie in their reactions, but in the fact that the Doctor can never address their reactions in a way that suits them. He's silent in both cases with that "And, so it goes" expression on his face.

What Joan couldn't know was that John Smith was the Doctor's way of addressing her and, in a round about way, Donna. He can't even try to eliminate the dichotomy and death unless he literally becomes someone he's not, unless he totally ends the Gallifreyan species and culture. Moreover, what happened is proof that he couldn't even really try. They still came for him.

The moral: The Doctor is the Doctor; The Doctor is an alien; The Doctor is alone.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Joan's reaction mirrored Donna's at the end of TRB: "They were burning and dying...and then you make it snow. You scare me."

Yes, that makes a lot of sense. Not only has the Doctor taken the man she loved away from her, he's terrifying. How much of what he did to the Family did she witness or know about? Not much, I think - she just knew he took away the threat. But even the fact he could do that would be terrifying.

He's silent in both cases with that "And, so it goes" expression on his face.

The characters I most love can handle it. (Rose, Martha, Jack.)

he couldn't even really try

I think there's only a small part of him that wants to.

The Doctor is alone.

But the whole answer is a paradox, because he has - from time to time - people like Donna and Joan; he has people like Rose and Martha; the rule is not that he is always alone, but that he can't keep anyone with him for long.

[raissad.livejournal.com]

But the whole answer is a paradox, because he has - from time to time - people like Donna and Joan; he has people like Rose and Martha; the rule is not that he is always alone, but that he can't keep anyone with him for long.

In the Doctor's case, it's all the same thing: "You could spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't dpend the rest of my life with you." He knows he'll lose them, so it affects how he interacts to begin with. He puts on the mask Shakespeare noticed. Arguably, he was only ever himself with Romana for the obvious reason that she had the same frame of reference.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

In the Doctor's case, it's all the same thing: "You could spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't dpend the rest of my life with you."

It's all relative but it isn't 'the same thing' because the Doctor, like most wise and powerful beings, has the ability to live in the present. Human life is ephemeral but that makes it more beautiful - adding to the piquancy of the love/pain paradox. Yes, of course there is a mask, because it's part of the paradox that he is always aware of both sides of the coin, but both sides are always there - it isn't just a one-sided picture.

Romana had the same frame of reference, but she's gone now too.