Jump to content

Doctor Who


Quiver

Recommended Posts

I just watched the Christmas special about three days ago. My wife has a chronic "I f'ing hate the new Doctor" syndrome every time he regenerates but eventually learns to love him... or at least deal with him. We were both huge fans of Eccelston because his fury was truly epic. But both Tennant and Smith had their moments of rage that made me smile because of the passion they put in to it. Also, as some of you know, I LOVE KAREN GILLAN.

 

I cried a little bit when Amy gets Weeping Angel'd, not so much Rory but definitely Amy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mini-topic bump.

So, Doctor Who airs in the UK tomorrow with a feature-length episode. I don't know yet whether or not I'll be online to discuss it after it airs (though for the record, don't expect MLP re watched sized posts on it).

Just wanted to clarify, when does the US episode air? I intend on putting it behind a spoiler wall anyway, but I'd hate to be basically taunted you guys with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been meeting too many whovians in real life to not come back and try out the show so I have. I skipped the rest of season 1 because I disliked the doctor and because people said season 2 was better anyway............and I have to admit the show is good. While I can tell I've missed stuff by skipping season 1, it's not like trying to read HoA before WoA so that's good. Thing is, I'm already in the middle of watching Twilight Zone, HunterxHunter, and Noragami, and school is starting. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WATCH ALL MY SHOWS?????

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is what I posted on the Malazan board:

Done. I can say for sure I didn't like the story one bit, however the acting was really good for everyone. Lots of funny moments and do believe that Peter will make a fantastic Dr from his performance here.

I noticed something was missing in this 1st epi though. I won't say what because I want to see if anyone will have picked up on it and say it lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I rather liked it. Yes, there were things about it I didn't like; it seemed like Moffat finally caved in to the "Clara has no personality" detractors and fixed it... by having Strax and the Doctor exposit in what it is. Not the best way to do it- and not that distinct from other Moffat women- but it's more than she got last year.

It'll be interesting to watch Capaldi though. I got the impression from the ending and the teaser that he still isn't sure who he is, so I'm interested in seeing that get addressed.

They changed the opening. I don't know if I like it.

As for the woman at the end... I don't know. I'm a little disappointed that, after killing the Doctors Wife, and making it clear that the Doctor is not. Clara's boyfriend... Moffat introduces a female character whose relation to the Doctor is to call him her boyfriend. I'm not sure who she is; right now, my guess is she's somehow connected to "where the faces come from".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I liked the new episode quite a lot. Although expositing what Clara's personality is through other characters isn't the best way to do it, I was glad to see her exhibit some genuine flaws. I don't love her the way I loved Amy and Rory, or even pre-Moffatt companions like Rose, Martha, and Donna, but she felt more human. 

 

It was also nice to see a return to truly creepy villains that aren't Weeping Angels. My sister's theory about the robots was that they had something to do with the Toclophane, which would have been cool, but didn't fit with their behavior. I'm hoping Moffatt keeps up the trend and varies things a bit. 

 

As for Capaldi….I quite liked his Doctor. I don't feel like I know who he is, the way I did with Smith's Doctor, but that's all right. Like Quiver said, I got the sense that the Twelfth Doctor doesn't quite know who he is just yet, and that he'll learn. He was scattered and panicky, but colder than Smith's Doctor. And I enjoyed the parallels they drew between him and Vastra. 

 

Overall, it was a solid opening to a promising season, and I can't wait for next week's episode. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In no particular order:

 

I also liked the new episode quite a bit.  I found it funny that I immediately knew what the connection was the Doctor was trying to make

to the Madame de Pompadour

, but meanwhile my husband sat there with a puzzled look on his face.  We had to pause it for me to remind him of the past episode.  

 

I really hope Clara's personality continues to get fleshed out.  She's always been spunky, but it will be good to see her come into her own.

 

I liked how they left the fall from the skin balloon off screen.  Though I personally don't think the Doctor pushed the clockwork man, if I'm right about that, he nevertheless convinced the clockwork guy to step out and so assisted in his demise.  This is a new thing for the Doctor.  I'm hoping that the grayness sticks around with regard to some of the Doctor's decisions through the series.  That's rather exciting a prospect to me!  Also, the Rani was the first thing I though of when we saw Missy.  Hopefully we won't be left hanging at the end of the series as to her true identity!

 

Backing up a little, we watched the last Matt Smith Christmas special and the new episode back-to-back.  

For the Smith special, I could have done without the Weeping Angels, if only because the entire rest of the episode I kept wondering why the heck they hadn't shown up in Christmas like all the other bad guys.  Anyone have a thought as to where they went?  Did they happily go back to "sleep" in the snow once Clara and the Doctor?  :huh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I realised the connection, but completely forgot the Girl on the Fireplace was a Moffat episode. A half point to me, I suppose?

For the Smith special, I could have done without the Weeping Angels, if only because the entire rest of the episode I kept wondering why the heck they hadn't shown up in Christmas like all the other bad guys. Anyone have a thought as to where they went? Did they happily go back to "sleep" in the snow once Clara and the Doctor? :huh:

I'm not a big fan of that special, so I haven't rewatched it much (other than Smiths final scene, of course). That said, I think the angels appear during the monster montage, when we see the flashes of the Doctors life at Christmas. I think we see an angel locked into place by it's reflection in a mirror, with a note saying "The Doctor" attached to it.

Edited by Quiver
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not a big fan of that special, so I haven't rewatched it much (other than Smiths final scene, of course). That said, I think the angels appear during the monster montage, when we see the flashes of the Doctors life at Christmas. I think we see an angel locked into place by it's reflection in a mirror, with a note saying "The Doctor" attached to it.

Ah, I totally missed that.  Thank you!  I don't know that I'd rewatch it either, at least not anytime soon.  The new series makes me want to go back and start rewatching them all from the beginning of the reboot, though.  :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love Doctor Who!  I've only watched New Who plus the 1996 movie, but I've seen snippets of the old show and have read quite a bit about things that happened in Classic Who.

 

I liked Deep Breath.  FINALLY Clara gets some depth of personality, and Capaldi is gonna do a great job!  Super excited for the rest of the season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I think I'm really going to like Capaldi's doctor as well!  I was watching the couple specials they had on BBC America (were they on elsewhere?) about the ultimate companion and the ultimate doctor, and it definitely got me really excited.  Then the new episode aired and that excitement just multiplied tenfold!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally managed to watch deep breath and I liked it. I kind of got the impression that a lot from Capaldi Doctor´s current confusion comes from the fact that his regeneration was not part of his original cycle. I wonder in which direction he´ll ultimately develop but for now I certainly don´t dislike him. 

 

The callback to the Clockwork Robots from "the girl in the Fireplace" was also very nice, I really liked them in this episode.

 

For the end scene. The garden kind of remembered me of the library backup, in which Ten uploded River, could be that I´m just imagining things though.

 

Rest in Peace Dinosaur.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been calling her Sue*.  Rest in Peace, Sue.

 

*Shameless Dresden Files reference.

 

Doubles as a Susan reference, so if "shameless" means referencing classic Doctor Who, then I encourage everyone in this topic to have no shame.

Edited by Quiver
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, that was an interesting episode. Journey to the Center of a Dalek? It was... unusual. Not bad- though I'm not sure it's better than Deep Breath- but... strange. Especially the scene with them entering the Dalek eyestalk... still, I suppose trippy viduals is what you get when you ask Ben Whately to direct.

 

Danny Pink seems like he could be fun, but I'll reserve judgement until we see a bit more about where his story arc is going.

 

Capaldi!Doctor seemed a little odd in this episode. The opening scene with him sort of staring down at Journey made him seem very alien, whereas a lot of his dialogue kind of struck me as being very Eleven-ish. Not saying that Capaldi comes across like Smith, since his performance is very, very different- but int his episode it seemed like the differences between the Doctors was more because of Capaldi's direction than the script.

 

And there's a lot of ambiguity n that phrase about him being a good Dalek, isn't there? After all, Clara's first episode was one that introduced us to the idea of Dalek culture; they find hate beautiful. The Doctor, as Rusty found, hates the Daleks. So is the Doctor like a Dalek turned good, the opposite of a Dalek... or a "good Dalek" in that he hates just as much as they do?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, two episodes with Capaldi, and I already like him much better than Smith. I still think there is a mismatch between the show's target audience and me (or between my tastes and the show's direction), but I am more than okay watching it. The Doctor's problems and self-doubt feel more... personal to his life. Eccleston and Tennant fought against the memories of the Time War, Smith was just a goofball, but Capaldi is doubting whether he is good in his core, not whether his actions are good sometimes. "You are a good dalek" was a really good way to describe him. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Confession: I cringed a little when I saw by Mark Gatiss in the titles.

 

I feel I need to defend that; I actually enjoy his Sherlock stuff, both as an actor and a writer. But his Who stories are usually a bit... mixed for me. I still haven't really forgiven him for the middling quality of Victory of the Daleks.

 

That said, I enjoy Robin Hood. So I was doubly worried that this ruining things.

And... I liked it.

 

Not saying that it isn't a ridiculous episode, of course, because... it is. Wow, is it. The Merry Men? The laughing? The gold platter mirrors? 

 

It's a very silly episode... but that's not a bad thing. I always view Moffat episodes a bit more seriously, since they contribute more to the overarching direction of the show... and after two "serious" episodes, a palette-cleansing romp might be just what the Doctor ordered. Yeah, there is a lot of it which was hard to believe; the arrow-splitting, the spoon duel, the "golden arrow on the outside charges interior engines"... but it's all so gleeful and down right fun that I have a hard time criticising any of it.

 

Well, except the Golden Arrow on the outside thing. What was with that?

 

Anyway, I definitely need to rewatch it a few times, to find more constructive things to say about it... but my general consensus was that I enjoyed it.

 

Story Arc: The Promised Land. Hmm.

I figure I'll start including this in my comments. Last week, we saw Gretchin land in Missy's Heaven, which means that it's not just something for robots; my reaction upon seeing the mechanical man was to assume he had pulled a cylon and Missy just downloaded him into a new body. Gretchin seems to suggest that all creatures (human and synthetic) can end up there.

 

The robots computers seems to imply it's a physical place though. The Mechanical Man might have been mixing up metaphors and reality, but they seemed to actually have a real destination to get to. It's also kind of interesting that they are described as being from the 29th Century, while he came from the 51st.

 

Honestly, I rather liked the religious army thing that Moffat ran through the Smith series of Who, even if I didn't like Tasha Lem and the Papal Mainframe in the end (for a host of reasons) so I'm kind of curious to see how this story arc goes... 

My prediction for the second-to-last episode though is that either the Doctor or Clara will be killed at the end, and wake up face-to-face with Missy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A little known fact - the original Doctor Who, Series 8 Episode 3 was called Deus ex Machina: Deusing the frack out of your ex Machina

 

Because that's how it felt watching that episode. Grumpy Doctor is a good Doctor, but comedic incompetence doesn't become anyone on the cast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...