New Doctor Who ep (Probably spoilers)

[Mental Maden]

Is it me or do the commercial breaks seem to happen at weird times?  American v. UK run time difference or something?

[FatherXmas]

I didn't like the end of Hide.  The bogeyman-that-feeds-on-fear is in love with something in this dimension so lets traumatise this woman's brain a bit more in order to shunt it off to another planet where it can have fear eating babies that terrorize the universe...  it either needed more exposition to make the prospect less horrifying, or else they should have just left it at 'you saved the time traveller, job well done' and called it a day.

Nobody said it fed on fear.  Just whatever caused the pocket universe to form split up that pair of "monsters".  And you have to admit if you saw one coming you would run rather than chat it up about the situation you mutually found yourself in (from the time traveller's point of view) or simply hide because you've been dumped into an alien world full of things that don't look like you (the being in the house's POV).

[FatherXmas]

Is it me or do the commercial breaks seem to happen at weird times?  American v. UK run time difference or something?

They don't have commercial breaks there so BBCA tries to find beat in the story to stick them in.  As for running times, these new dramas are surprisingly close to NA play length of 42-44 minutes.

[Mental Maden]

Well they need someone with rhythm to find those beats, because they feel off.

[FatherXmas]

I don't get BBCA but my parents do.  Because of that I watch an illegal stream of the show on Sunday and the DVR of the BBCA version when I puppy sit when they go out to play cards (teething puppy, my job is to not let it destroy anything in the room but not just stick it in it's crate).

So I know the story already as I watch it in glorious HD so I just don't notice the ill timed commercial breaks because I just FF by the break to what I know is coming next.  So they need to find a "not running" point every 7-9 minutes and that's not going to work out unless the show edits the episodes so those periods are obvious (maybe a cheat sheet they can send with it).

[TigerKnight]

They are mentioning in the new TV guide this week on a hint on what's to come this season (Stop reading now if u don't want to know)






So according to the new article in the TV Guide, for the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special, Matt and Jenna will be getting help from David and Billie reprising their roles. Sounds like it's going to be a 3D episode as well.

[Rust]

Yeah, there are on the set pictures of Matt and David together. Plus we've had peeks at the monsters for the 50th - The Zygons.

All in all...it feels really underwhelming for a 50th Anniversary. Tennant...I dunno if he and Smith will have the right chemistry together. I really was pulling for Eccelston because I could see he and Smith playing off each other like Troughton and Pertwee did back in The Three Doctors.

Sad that none of the classic Doctors have been asked to make a appearance though.

[Tenzhi]

Nobody said it fed on fear.

I may have misunderstood, but it seemed to me that the Doctor said precisely that when he was rambling about the thing chasing and terrorizing him and called it a 'bogeyman'.

[FemFury]

I may have misunderstood, but it seemed to me that the Doctor said precisely that when he was rambling about the thing chasing and terrorizing him and called it a 'bogeyman'.

The way I read it was the Doctor realized that the creature wasn't actually trying to kill them, just pursue them, keep them running.  Keep them afraid, keep them moving.

So, he theorizes that the creature feeds on fear.  Because, well, he's seen that several times before.  Why else would it keep them afraid without actually moving in for the kill?

But, he was wrong.  It was actually harrying and pursuing them in hopes of driving them to some kind of escape route that it could follow, so it could get out of the dying pocket universe.

When the Doctor saw the other one, in our world, behaving differently, he realized his error.

[FemFury]

My opinion of the "second half of the season" so far:

Bells of Saint John -  a bit of a standard plot for Dr. Who.   But, I was very happy at the end to see it was all the work of the Great Intelligence.  I'd like to see more recurring villains, rather than monster of the week all the time.   Also liked the Doctor exploiting the villains overconfidence and turning their own technology against them, which is classic Doctor m.o.

Rating:  average DW episode


Rings of Ahkatenn - weakest of the 4 episodes so far, IMO.  However, some really good things.  Nice acting by the child actor, and Clara's affinity for children was well shown.  Loved the mention of Doctor having visited there previously with his granddaughter.  I liked the monster at the end being defeated by the infinite possibilities of "what could have been" when it was able to stomach even the Doctor's many memories... but while it was poetic, it was almost too poetic, in that I was left thinking "okay, but the those could-have-been possibilities aren't actually THERE, like the memories are."  I liked the idea, but I needed just a bit more Sci-Fi handwaving and pseudo-explanation to have it work fully for me...

Rating:  below average DW episode.


Hide -  Solid story.  Good ghost story feel at start.  Neat dilemma with the stranded time traveler.  I like the two "guest star" characters, who had depth and personality. 

Rating:  Above average


Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS  - well, I nerdgasmed at finally getting a mostly-in-TARDIS episode.  And getting to see all the cool rooms inside.  The Eye of Harmony.   Neat library.   Glimpse of a swimming pool.  Clara picking up the umbrella (7th Doctor's ?  no question mark, but still...).   A book on the history of the Time War.  The Doctor's crib.  Gallifreyean symbols on the stolen circuit, and Gallifreyan psychic encyclopedia kept in liquid in bottles.   Basically, lots of continuity fanservice for us geeks.   However, I generally don't like "total reset buttons" for episodes.  I would want at least "echoes of memories from being in the eye of the temporal storm" or something, so we don't lose ALL of the possible character development from the storyline.  Or some kind of lasting impact from the choice to fiddle with time to get the reset button.

Rating:  above average, with bonus points for nerdy-continuity-porn, but points off for full-reset-button trope. 
Both point adjustment factors are very YMMV, so I can see people liking this one a lot more or a lot less than I did.


And that's my thoughts and admittedly subjective opinions.

[FatherXmas]

Did you forget Cold War.  Didn't recognize David Warner.  He played such memorable bad guys in the late 70s/early 80s.

[FemFury]

Did you forget Cold War.  Didn't recognize David Warner.  He played such memorable bad guys in the late 70s/early 80s.

Bah.  That's what I get for posting thoughts on the internet when I haven't had much sleep this week.  (covered extra shifts for people this week, including graveyard shifts)

Cold War was okay.   Liked the Ice Warrior return.  Good to see an "enemy" alien race, even a warrior race, that's not totally merciless like the Daleks, Cybermen, and Sontarans.  An alien race that's aggressive and warlike, but CAN be reasoned with.

Both Liam Cunningham and David Werner are good actors, and well-served their roles.  Their efforts boosted the episode to above average for a DW episode.

So far, I don't think there's been an episode in the bunch I'd call a "bad episode", but I'm not sure there's any I'd call a "great episode" either.   Maybe "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" could go onto my list of classics.  I'll have to see if the reset-button ending bothers me less on future viewings, or if the episode has ramifications for the season down the road.

For me, I think part of the problem is Clara.  I don't really have a handle what I think of her as a companion yet.   Amy Pond had such a strong personality, and an interesting relationship with the Doctor, it's tough act to follow in my book.    But there's potential with Clara.  She's got the uploaded computer skills, she's good with kids, and for some reason, the TARDIS doesn't like her.  She just hasn't clicked with me yet, not sure why.  Maybe it just will take a bit of time.  She seemed a stronger character in both "Asylum of the Daleks" and "The Snowmen" to me, and maybe that has something to do with it.

[Tenzhi]

Did you forget Cold War.  Didn't recognize David Warner.  He played such memorable bad guys in the late 70s/early 80s.

David Warner is awesome.  I also liked him as Wallander's father in the series with Kenneth Branagh (recently speaking, of course... I've been a fan since I first saw him in Time Bandits when I was a kid).

I'm not sure how I feel about the TARDIS episode.  Maybe it just seems like it, but I feel there've been too many instances int the new Who where the answer to the problem of the day involves resetting everything to status quo.  Particularly with how short/fast paced the stories tend to be.  But in regards to the above review it seemed pretty clear at the end that some of the character growth stuck at least on a subconscious level.

[FatherXmas]

So A Clara knows his name if only for an instant or as we see it may still be buried in her subconscious.

I love the murmurings  from previous episodes going all the way back.

Know we know how the Tardis regenerates itself, to some degree.  Nice to see the pool and the library.  And did Clara get the Encyclopedia Galactica spilled on her?  Needed her to stumble by more old console rooms as she dashed down the halls.

Yes is was a ST: Voyager time travel resolution which is somewhat lazy writing by putting you into a situation where only a reset can save the day.

Next week we're back on the case again with Vastra, Jenny and Strax.  I expect Strax will point out that Clara should be dead and question if she's a clone like himself.

[Tenzhi]

I believe it was "Encyclopaedia Gallifreya".

[Rust]

Next week is gonna hurt.

I don't tend to take to the Love Children of the Showrunners. Jack and the Torchwood Group (Or Jackie before them) raised my hackles and Moffat's "Scooby Gang" does nothing for me - though fair being fair, the Question scene in The Snowmen was very well done and extremely clever.

Stop making mockeries of the Silurians and Sontarans - bring back Litefoot and Jago from The Talons of Weng-Chiang!

[Mandu]

Wow.  I really hated this episode.  All except for the couple minutes at the end with the two kids.  I can't really put into words why I hated it.  It's just that everything felt wrong.

I still consider it geeky cool that Diana and her daughter were in the episode together.  But that doesn't lessen my dislike.

[eabrace]

The kid giving directions made me laugh out loud when he gave his name.

[FatherXmas]

I enjoyed it.  Victorian era megalomaniac seeking to create a utopia by wiping out all of mankind except for her chosen few.  Also I don't mind reoccurring characters that could be used in a DW spin off.  Yes, there is a lot of light comedy that follow those three, Jenny, Vastra, especially Strax although the joke is starting to get old (but the "fourth one this week and I'm not even hungry" was funny).

So next week is NG's Cybermen episode and it will include Clara's charges tagging along (I wonder how Clara manages that).  This will likely tick off even more people because so many forget that DW was and is still somewhat a family show that tries to scare and entertain older children.

So Clara learns again that she has been around before (remember the reset was suppose to erase the Doctor telling her that).  So she's bound to ask.

[JWBullfrog]

I actually liked this episode. A bond villain plot, another reappearance of Madam Vastra and company, and some interesting plot points.
 
Vastra and co, are now going to be concerned about the reappearance of Clara. Someone they knew was dead. The Doctor is acting stranger than usual. And something bigger is brewing in the background. It'll be interesting to see where this goes.
 
Side note: Accurate directions being given by Thomas Thomas... subtle joke there. I like it.