Tonight saw the first episode of the new season of Doctor Who air in the UK. I sat down with Sophie, Sam and Clare to watch it and enjoyed it overall. I’ll reserve full judgement until the cast have settled into the roles a few episodes in.
But with this first episode we are left with so many new things to wonder about including a new Doctor..
His beautiful new assistant, Amy..
A new wardrobe..
Rory, the loyal but wimpy childhood sweetheart..
The dreamy, slight meathead, porn-o-holic laptop owner, Jeff..
..although, hang on, what’s that Jeff has on his laptop? It looks to be inspired by something familiar. Menu and shortcut icons top left, notification area in the top right, and a panel at the bottom of the screen as well. Maybe this guy knows more than he lets on! He can clearly make webcam work under his operating system of choice. A world leader in the making!
We also have a TARDIS refit to explore..
Many questions are yet to be answered such as ‘Will Amy get back for her Wedding?’, ‘Will she want to?’, ‘Where is the swimming pool, and when we find it, will we find the library too!?’. However one question about bugs me more than anything at all.
What car does this come from?
I know the BBC probably blew the budget making this in HD but seriously, a brake fluid (?) container from who knows what car (please, leave a comment if you do know 
)? I guess there are doctors, radiographers, physicists and all manner of other professionals who spot ‘parts’ in the new TARDIS, but this one just leapt out at me. Anyone else spot something out of the ordinary?
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This episode was filmed fourth I believe, so the cast had already had a bit of time to settle into the roles. I’m sure the characterisation will change as the series progresses though.
Whilst your encyclopaedic knowledge of Doctor Who minutiae is unrivalled amongst my “Internet Friends” you didn’t even approach the brake-fluid-repo-quandary. 4/10, must try harder.
I think you’ll find it’s a coolant expansion tank rather than brake fluid container. A forgiveable mistake to make while taking the piss out of the BBC props department, but lethal if servicing your car.
I really enjoyed the episode and I can see Matt Smith becoming a brilliant doctor. Can’t exactly complain about Amy/Amelia either
And yes I did notice what appeared to be XFCE running on the laptop 
I`m sure I saw him turn a victorian style brass tap. Maybe he was running a bath. A man that can do more than one thing at a time. No wonder its science-FICTION.
I liked the typewriter
And I wonder what kind of keyboard/old computer is in the bottom right corner of the Tardis console (below the monitor/screen)
The typewriter raised a smile here too. I thought that keyboard might be from something like a quantel video processor or some other thing that you’d find in the BBC production rooms.
I remember having to press ” B” on what looked like a type-writer at the back of the control room, to boot the CT scanner
I missed the xfce on the laptop as was distracted by the supposed make “MΨTH” think this will be significant later in series. There is always a lot of background detail…..
More importantly, why does the guy from NASA in that screenshot seem ready to say “You’re fired”?!
I’ve been watching this show since I was 4; Troughton/Pertwee era, when bits of Morris Oxford’s and British Leyland hubcaps were regular props in everything from model spacecraft to character costumes…
I sat down to watch with a young lady who only knows Eccleston/Tennant. There wil lonly ever be one Doctor – Tom Baker.
Looking forward to darker scripts from Moffat (and more recycled gags from previous show ‘Coupling’). RC
BTW, how geeky do we all look now?
And there was me thinking I was the only one who noticed the xfce-like desktop and the familiar shell prompts!
I have to say I feel a lot less geeky now
.
I didnt think of the potential webcam problems he could have been experiencing however, because I was distracted by the fact that in his conference call with space hot-shots, CSIRD were present. http://www.csird.org.in/ – the centre for international relations and development, talking to Patrick Moore…?
Or could it have been CSIRO. That would make much more sense, but it distracted me nonetheless.
I think you’ll find its a master cylinder,I happen to know they’d love this part identified as they have to build a replica
or is it a coolant expansion tank or even a washer bottle???