New Doctor Who ep (Probably spoilers)

[Tenzhi]

Surely someone else here caught it?  I unfortunately missed the first 5 minutes because they showed it at 8 instead of 9, those sneaky Beebsy-bubs.

For a moment I thought the Doctor was going to lose her again.  Loved the ending, and am I correct in thinking that the Great Intelligence is a classic foe from the first or second Doctor?

[FemFury]

Yep, the Great Intelligence appeared two times as an enemy of the 2nd Doctor.

It was the force behind the Yeti, which were it's robotic servitors.  It was also pretty much the first alien threat that U.N.I.T. fought alongside the Doctor, if I remember correctly.  (thus, the GI commenting "Very old friends..." when UNIT forces secured the building.)

The Great Intelligence was re-introduced to the modern Who universe as the force behind the "Snowmen" in the recent xmas special.    Could make for a good recurring opponent for the season.

[Tenzhi]

The Great Intelligence was re-introduced to the modern Who universe as the force behind the "Snowmen" in the recent xmas special.

Ah, yes, I had forgotten.  The time between episodes erased that connection for me. :P

[FatherXmas]

IIRC The Great Intelligence is tied in with Cthulhu's old ones.  Yog-Sothoth I think.

[downix]

IIRC The Great Intelligence is tied in with Cthulhu's old ones.  Yog-Sothoth I think.

Correct, although in the Whoiverse, the "Old Ones" were the equivalent of the Time Lords in the universe which existed before our universe came to be, who shunted themselves into the time vortex to escape their universes death, leaving their bodies behind (much as the Time Lords themselves almost did under Rassilon to "win" the Time War).

The Great Intelligence is a collection of these Old Ones minds gathered into a single entity, hence why the name. Other notable Old Ones in the series include the Nestene Consciousness (another collection of intelligences), the Celestial Toymaker, the Animus, the Gods of Ragnarok, and Fenric.

[Tenzhi]

Incidentally, did I read what I thought I did?  When Clara remembered where she'd seen the image of the little girl on her stairway, was that a book by "Amelia Williams"?

[Mental Maden]

The episode itself was just "ok" for me, but I really like the dynamic/chemistry between the Doctor and Clara.  Looking forward to fleshing out that mystery some more.

[downix]

Incidentally, did I read what I thought I did?  When Clara remembered where she'd seen the image of the little girl on her stairway, was that a book by "Amelia Williams"?

Yup.

[JWBullfrog]

Incidentally, did I read what I thought I did?  When Clara remembered where she'd seen the image of the little girl on her stairway, was that a book by "Amelia Williams"?

And, knowing the DW writers, that will become important again soon enough. I more want to know who the 'old lady in the shop' that gave clara the Doctor's number as 'the ultimate help line' was.

[FatherXmas]

Well the BBC is publishing it, at least in e-book format.

http://www.sfx.co.uk/2013/03/31/doctor-who-summer-falls-new-enovel-with-a-link-to-the-bells-of-saint-john-b/

[Tenzhi]

I thought the name of it was "Rings of Akhenaten" but it sounded like everyone in the episode was calling it "Akhaten".  In any case, it was an alright episode though not as good as the previous one in my opinion.

And as an aside, I've been enjoying the new intro though I don't recall how far back they started using it.  It has a nice classic feel to it.

[FatherXmas]

New opening started with the Christmas Special.

It was an OK episode.  Not enough Doctor/Clara witty banter and innuendo.

[JWBullfrog]

It struck me as an epiphany story.

Even all of the Doctor's guilt and self loathing and horror weren't enough to defeat the emotion eating space monster. All of his negative emotions weren't enough but the positive ones of Clara  were.

We've seen a gradual shift in the Doctor from the worn down, cynical, secretive, scarred survivor that we first saw signs of as far back as the Sixth Doctor (yes six. I am that old) and really highlighted with the ninth and Tenth, to a Doctor that is finally letting himself live and let go of his pains.

Usually when this kind of thing happens to a character, he dies soon after. But, at least he dies content.

Hopefully, the WHO writing team isn't thinking along those lines quite yet. I happen to like Matt Smith.

[Mental Maden]

I actually liked this episode better than the one before.  Go figure.

[Maressa]

Hopefully, the WHO writing team isn't thinking along those lines quite yet. I happen to like Matt Smith.

Matt Smith is confirmed through 2014 at least. I'm personally worried they won't solve the Clara mystery before the end of the season. That would really bug me. Unless it has something to do with the 50th...or Christmas. Either way, I don't like Clara. But I've been saying that at every cast change since, like, forever. Donna was the only one who never really grew on me.

[Heroette]

And for me, Donna was my favorite companion.  It's Rose I didn't like.  But we all have our favorites.

[FatherXmas]

Well we just had "Hide".  A "ghost story" episode.

Thoughts?

[Heroette]

I thought it was better than the "Cold War" one (which I didn't even bother to watch the ending - I just found it boring).  I'm not sure what I think for Clara yet.  In a few episodes, I will make my decision.

[FatherXmas]

I thought it was better than the "Cold War" one (which I didn't even bother to watch the ending - I just found it boring).  I'm not sure what I think for Clara yet.  In a few episodes, I will make my decision.

Cold War was only OK.  I was hoping for a rebirth of having the Ice Warriors as another major foe but I guess we're just getting old school Cybermen this time around in 3 weeks I think.

For me it really felt like an old 70s British sci-fi/horror story.  At least the Tardis is talking at Clara now.  I don't know, these last few episodes felt rushed.  They all fit too nicely in a US TV hour time block.  I would like to see them last a bit longer, maybe a two part episode.  It's too quick.

On the other hand if you enjoy watching paint dry, I've been watching the late 70s/early 80s British sci-fi/horror series Sapphire and Steel staring David McCallum and Joanna Lumley.  Sadly I believe the only direction David McCallum got for his character is "be unpleasant to everyone".

[Tenzhi]

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.