Mark Spoils: Mark Watches ‘Doctor Who’: S05E02 – The Beast Below

Friday, March 18, 2011

Mark Watches ‘Doctor Who’: S05E02 – The Beast Below

Over in Spaceship 'Mark Watches' the review for 'The Beast Below' should be up soon.

Spoilers (and beware the Smilers) below.

GAH! Cut! You're supposed to go in where I tell you to!

Oh, Beast Below. While you are not as bad as the worst of the clunkers, as far as this season goes you're kind of terrible. Although I do still love you for Liz 10. And for the Smilers. And for the idea of a Space Whale, because that shit's just funny.

I swear, this thing haunts me in my nightmares.

Comments (157)

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+6 Vote up Vote down

shyfully 97p · 732 weeks ago

Aw, unfortunately I didn't have time to rewatch this episode (no time and, admittedly, I got a little annoyed yesterday because Mark Watches completely crashed my computer for some reason), but I kind of want to stan for it in the comments anyway because I really don't think it deserves as much hate as it gets.

Also, if another person links to that TWoP review I'll be annoyed. I just have so many problems with the guy writing the DW reviews there. (Though I don't think he deserves death threats, which I heard he had gotten this season.)

7 replies · active 732 weeks ago

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NB2000 115p · 732 weeks ago

I forgot to include it in my notes, and I'll probably forget in my comment, but that gif reminds me of something that always bugged me in this episode; HOW ARE THERE THREE FACES? The heads spin 180 degrees to go from the happy face to the frowny one and then 180 again for the scary face, but...HOW?!

What does it say that THAT is what I fixate on with this episode?

2 replies · active 304 weeks ago

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mkjcaylor 87p · 732 weeks ago

Aw, good. I didn't like this one much either. It sort of bored me. I'm not even sure why, but I'm sure the Mark Watchers will point it out pretty soon.

+3 Vote up Vote down

psycicflower 114p · 732 weeks ago

That gif is amazing. I like this episode. I don't love it but it's not terrible. I keep going off on tangents about politics and history and forgetting in my review though which no one's going to care about.

Don't forget that Comic Relief is on tonight. It starts at 7pm GMT but I have no idea what time the Doctor Who clips will be on.

9 replies · active 732 weeks ago

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redheadedgirl 120p · 732 weeks ago

I like this episode for one reason. Amy's opening shoot of floating in space, and Liz 10.

Okay, two reasons. Amy's floating in space, Liz 10, and "Well, the next word is kind of a scary word, so you might want to get in a good place. Say ooooooooommmmmmmm."

Well, three reasons, Amy in space, Liz 10, ooooooooooooommmmmm, and the star whale.

....wait.

2 replies · active 732 weeks ago

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Kaybee42 91p · 732 weeks ago

Just finished watching. Definitely not as bad as I remembered. I mean, the first half is pretty bad- I don't understand why the kid insisted on taking the lift if it was possible to walk and he knew that kids who got zeros and took the lift didn't come back. and the smilers could have been used a lot better, they just feel kind of pointless. AND Liz 10 annoys me a bit.
But then Amy does her proving herself stuff and they hit us over the head with the THE STARWHALE IS THE DOCTOR shizz and I melt :) :)

1 reply · active 732 weeks ago

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leighzzz31 89p · 732 weeks ago

I've only seen this twice but I enjoy it well enough. Again, it was more about Amy and the Doctor's relationship for me-I love how she completely gets him even though they've only spent about 24 hrs in total together. Also, I get yet another opportunity to rave about Amy's hair, floating up in space, red against blue, so it's all good!

3 replies · active 732 weeks ago

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Minish · 732 weeks ago

Not the best episode of the series, but I really loved it.

When I first watched it, I was like "GET ON WITH IT ALREADY." And I think I accurately predicted that the "beast below" would turn out to be something positive that we're lead to think is evil. Also, I really hate the line, "Did he do the thing?" -_-

But I came to love the episode on re-watch. It felt like a well-written, watered down, outerspace version of Torchwood's "Meat" (if I remember it correctly). One of the closest things to "Meh" Moffat's, written though.

8 replies · active 732 weeks ago

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Albion19 84p · 732 weeks ago

I really enjoy this one and I'm surprise that it's disliked. I was re watching it and I never noticed that the Tower of London (the White Tower) is actually there, I thought it was just a random dungeon they were calling the Tower. Nope they must have scooped up all these landmarks before they flew away lol

1 reply · active 732 weeks ago

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Kaybee42 91p · 732 weeks ago

The first comic relief short just finished! I lolled :D

41 replies · active 732 weeks ago

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psycicflower 114p · 732 weeks ago

The BBC has confirmed that the official air date for Doctor Who on BBC1 is April 23 like we assumed. So close, yet so far. http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/03/dwn180311193...

6 replies · active 732 weeks ago

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samthebookseller 93p · 732 weeks ago

Whatever, I love this episode. SPACE WHALES AND CHILDREN CRYING FTW.

1 reply · active 732 weeks ago

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doesntsparkle 93p · 732 weeks ago

"What really intrigues me about Amy Pond as a companion is that her troubled history is not only completely acknowledged by Moffat, but it’s entirely caused by the Doctor."

Oh Mark, you have no idea.

+8 Vote up Vote down

echinodermata 118p · 732 weeks ago

Holy crap people are fast: awesome but spoilery gif of a comic relief moment, hence a link not an embed (spoilers for the comic relief sketches, I mean)
http://littleappletree.tumblr.com/post/3945575129

1 reply · active 732 weeks ago

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psycicflower 114p · 732 weeks ago

Oh god, Adele is singing 'Someone Like You' over footage of a crying David Tennant and the sick babies in the ward he visited.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

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Medli 141p · 732 weeks ago

Aw, I like this episode. I mean, it's not my favorite, and Moffat's weakest, but as was just commented on my comment (brought to you by the department of redundancy department!), it says a lot that Moffat's weakest is still pretty good. At least, IMO. The hate it gets makes me even more compelled to defend it, too.

2 replies · active 732 weeks ago

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echinodermata 118p · 732 weeks ago

Regarding the Comic Relief sketches, Steven Moffat tweeted "Okay, okay - THREE Amys next time."

1 reply · active 732 weeks ago

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psycicflower 114p · 732 weeks ago

I don't know how funny this'll be to those who don't know Take That but Catherine Tate is one of the impersonators so I figured I'd share it here. Fake That sketch from Comic Relief:

4 replies · active 732 weeks ago

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Kaybee42 91p · 732 weeks ago

MATT SMITH JUST WALKED OUT OF THETARDIS
On comic relief :D :D

6 replies · active 732 weeks ago

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echinodermata 118p · 732 weeks ago

James Corden (@JKCorden) tweeted "I literally love Matt Smith x"

3 replies · active 732 weeks ago

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nanceoir 111p · 732 weeks ago

*cries in an unbelievably childish way* I can't seem to comment at all on Mark's blog (Overzealous spam filter or a crack in time? YOU DECIDE!), and now Mark's forum is giving me "./cache/forum.markwatches.net/ is NOT writable." when I try to preview or post... or just load it, sometimes.

I'll just have to console myself by watching Time and Space a whole lot.

9 replies · active 732 weeks ago

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agrinningfool 84p · 732 weeks ago

SO. MARK TOTALLY DIDN'T NOTICE THE CRACK IN THE SIDE OF SPACESHIP UK. :D

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Hypatia_ 99p · 732 weeks ago

So I just had some friends over (we have a weekly knitting circle, at which everyone knits and I quilt) and one of them is also a massive Doctor Who geek, and she hadn't seen the short, so we watched it (she was like "Oh my god. They went there. I can't believe they went there!" ::hysterical laughter:: ) . And one friend was like "What the hell is that?" So we tried to explain the show, and she was like "I think I saw that once, one of the older ones. I can't remember...something about a bomb?" I didn't remember any classic serials like that, so I asked her to describe what the Doctor had looked like in it, thinking I could pin down the era at least, and she said, "Round glasses...in a wheelchair..."

She'd somehow mixed up Doctor Who and Dr. Strangelove. I think we laughed harder at that than at "Put some trousers on, Pond."

+3 Vote up Vote down

Minish · 732 weeks ago

GUYS GUYS GUYS

....We never learnt what Amy's question was to the Doctor at the beginning of Space...

+7 Vote up Vote down

echinodermata 118p · 732 weeks ago

OH MY GOD I THINK I WILL LEGIT CRY IN HAPPINESS IF THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENS

5 replies · active 732 weeks ago

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