29.07: 42

[PTeppic]

Ahhhh. Just noticed a, er, notice, on the Doctor Who pages at Auntie Beeb. The seventh episode (and therefore the remainder of the season) is being delayed a week because of the Eurovision Song Contest.

To quote from the BBC's Doctor Who site:
He may have thwarted the Daleks last week, but the Doctor has finally met his match with the Eurovision Song Contest.

After some severe spreadsheet shuffling in Scheduling (try saying that fast) it's been decided that an early start for episode seven, Chris Chibnall's 42, wasn't a good idea.

The episode will now be shown a week later, on Saturday 19 May.

I'm also guessing references to an early start being a bad idea that this is another one with a high fear factor...

[Lenny]

Gods no... Dr. Who is the only reason I wake up on a Saturday!!

And I can't see the point in England competing in Eurovision any more - all the Balkans contries vote for each other, central European countries vote for each other, and the people of the public who vote for the act we enter wouldn't know good music if it waltzed into their garden, crouched over their prize rose bush, dropped it's pants and... well, you get the picture.

At least, I suppose, it gives us an extra week to look forward to Dr. Who... I wonder if they'll show two episodes the week after to compensate?

[sanityassassin]

The timing is really bad as I just seen the trailer for the episode and it looks really good Cptn. Jack is in it

[PTeppic]

I don't want to distract the thread further, (and hence suggest this discussion move to another [new] one perhaps) but I got the distinct impression that the trailer was more of a "second half of the season" trailer than episode "42". There's just too much going on. Some of it looked distinctly "Family of Blood" (29.09), for a start, and the stuff with Derek Jacobi is "Utopia" (29.11). Ditto the first re-appearance of Capt. Jack.

[I'd have to say bleeeping heck (well, almost) since I've just found episode summaries for most of the rest of season researching the above, on IMDB (e.g. from Freema's page. Very interesting. Really can't wait now...]

PS. There's something on the BBC Dr Who Website about the missing week:
Meanwhile, we're exploring other options to keep you amused on the 12th if Eurovision really isn't your thing.

[Lenny]

Damn it... you seem to be the bearer of bad news today, Tep.

First the fact that it's going to be delayed, then the fact that the trailer doesn't show just one episode, near even a two-parter, but the next seven episodes!!

Still, I have to say, if that's what the next half of the series holds in store for us, I cannot wait!!

I seriously think I might buy this series on DVD when it comes out, it's just been that good so far.

[pyan]

The first section of this series is out 21st of May, Lenny, and the next on 25th June - the BBC shop has pre-ordering details, and a price offer -

BBC Shop - Doctor Who: Series 3 Vol. 1 (DVD)

[Lenny]

Hmmm... very expensive, that's the problem.

Well, I'm working again over the summer, so I might be able to buy all three NuWho series (looks like it'll be £150 ish), or buy two and get the third for Christmas.

---

Anyway, we've got two weeks, and a minute of trailer, and we don't have a clue what next weeks episode will be about (well, Teppy does, but he cheated! ), so, shall we speculate?

The title is 42. Which I reckon will be a reference to the famous answer to the question of the meaning of life. So, with that logic, I'm going to guess that it'll be the episode with what looked like a burlap wicker man.

[PTeppic]

Actually, for "42", there's no plot given. So I don't....

[Dave]

Originally Posted by PTeppic

Actually, for "42", there's no plot given. So I don't....

There is a plot summary at Wikipedia - so look away now...

In a distant galaxy, in the 42nd century, a spaceship hurtles out of control towards a boiling sun. The Doctor has 42 minutes to uncover the saboteurs, but with a mysterious force starting to possess the ship's crew, the Doctor and Martha are running out of time.

Sounds a little cliched to me, wasn't that a Thunderbirds episode?

[PTeppic]

Originally Posted by Dave

Sounds a little cliched to me, wasn't that a Thunderbirds episode?

And pretty similar to "Sunshine" (the Danny Boyle movie)

[Dr.Jackson]

Apparently the episode is in real-time, a la '24' (Hmmm, '24' - '42'... coincidence?) That has just upped the ante for this episode, seeing as how it's meant to be as dark as 'The Impossible Planet' and 'The Satan Pit' were. Now I really can't wait to see it!

[Lenny]

It definitely looks that dark. And it seems to be the same sort of setting.

Is it a single episode or a double, do you know?

[Dr.Jackson]

Originally Posted by Lenny

It definitely looks that dark. And it seems to be the same sort of setting.

Is it a single episode or a double, do you know?

Similar colour scheme used, but totally different setting. 42 is just a stand-alone episode, but the next two form a two parter.

[PTeppic]

And 42 is the episode length in minutes (c.45 minutes in the schedule) which just happens to fit the US/Canada market, since it's part-funded by the Canadians. (And anyone familiar with most recent US "hour long" episodic serials will know the ex-advert length, i.e. when available on DVD, is c. 42 minutes.)

[Lenny]

Are you sure the American episodes are only an hour long with adverts?

I watched a bit of America TV online a couple of months ago, and no matter which channel I was on, they had a break for adverts every five minutes, for five minutes. Madness.