An unearthly thread. (Doctor Who).

[Reply #480 on:]

Oh hey, I liked this episode! Capaldi is fun, he's able to pull off both silly and serious very well, as well as having that occasional frightening nature that Eccleston had. Clara, who I'd grown tired of as a character already last season, was actually given some good material here, and her interplay with Capaldi is good stuff. And despite some budget CGI and weirdly shot sequences near the beginning (which I can't really complain about...I mean, it's Doctor Who), the directing by Ben Wheatley was mostly pretty well done. Oh hey, he's directing the next episode too, and Michael Smiley is in it, cool!

Anyway, the speaking-to-the-audience stuff about Capaldi not being a dashing young man was maybe a bit overdone, but it didn't bother me much and I got what they were going for. What the episode really did right though was getting my interest piqued for the new storyline for the season. The Doctor trying to fix past mistakes? The Promise Land? Weird crazy lady who calls the Doctor her boyfriend? Okay, I'm in, now don't make it turn out stupid like you always do, Moffat.

Maybe I'm too naive. But oh well, consider me in for this new series.

[Reply #481 on:]

Anyway, the speaking-to-the-audience stuff about Capaldi not being a dashing young man was maybe a bit overdone,

Indeed. It took me some time to get used to the fact that -suddenly- all the pro soccer players were younger than me. But -with Tennant and Smith- suddenly EVEN DOCTOR WHO WAS YOUNGER THAN ME!!!! Glad they fixed that with Capaldi
(So, absolutely no need for them being apologetic)

[Reply #482 on:]

I think for my own sake I interpreted it more as them telling their female audience to essentially "get the fuck over it" rather than being particularly apologetic, but I guess it could go either way.

[Reply #483 on:]

and Michael Smiley is in it, cool!

I spotted that, he plays a great part in an episode of Black Mirror.

[Reply #484 on:]

He's been a favorite actor of Wheatley's to use. He's brilliant in Kill List, and he's in A Field In England which I started watching but haven't finished. He's perfect for bad guy roles but also has a great comedic side.

[Reply #485 on:]

Okay, then this one seemed to be cinema exclusive.
Pity, cannot find it online. but it was an hilarious introduction of Strax describing (and insulting) every Doctor.

Someone has uploaded it to YouTube, but it is very low quality and poor audio.

[Reply #486 on:]

Okay, then this one seemed to be cinema exclusive.
Pity, cannot find it online. but it was an hilarious introduction of Strax describing (and insulting) every Doctor.

Someone has uploaded it to YouTube, but it is very low quality and poor audio.

Well...but at least (s)he uploaded it at all Thanks for sharing.

[Reply #487 on:]

So of course now that the Doctor is old and they spent all last episode telling young girls they're not supposed to be fantasizing about him, now they go ahead and add the new love interest character Danny Pink so the fangirls at least have someone to get all wet about. But hey, at least he seems to be a decent actor, and I like the dynamic where Clara is the assertive one of the two.

Anyway, Into The Dalek was pretty good. Seems like they had a really nice budget for it, lots of great CGI and sets for the inside of the Dalek, which was a good concept for an episode. Still, 8 series later (for me at least) and their refusal to make the Daleks' voices any less obnoxiously awful is really grating.

Capaldi is still great as the Doctor, I already like him way more than Smith and he's only had two episodes. I also liked how they unexpectedly teased the "heaven" mystery again, although I probably should have guessed they'd be doing something like that every episode since Moffat has always pulled that sort of shit since becoming showrunner. Is it just me though, or do they keep trying to bring back this question of whether the Doctor is a "good man" over and over again as if it's supposed to be a new concept? They've been playing pretty unsubtly with that idea since Tennant's days, with episodes like Family Of Blood and The Waters Of Mars, and much more with Smith like in A Good Man Goes To War and the Anniversary special. Hopefully this time it might actually pay off in some satisfying way, otherwise it's just frustrating.

[Reply #488 on:]

Josh, it's like how they tease the Doctor's death every other episode but we all know it's never going to actually happen.

[Reply #489 on:]

Robot Of Sherwood was the best episode of Doctor Who since series 6, and easily the most fun they've had with an episode based around a famous person in the past since Vincent And The Doctor. Fantastic stuff!

[Reply #490 on:]

"Robot of Sherwood" was quite okay, though I occasionally had to peek into the transcript (some old terms gave a non-native speaker a run for the money).
Yep, funny episode. Though - when Englands two most iconic figures clash - they might imhO well made a double episode out of it.

[Reply #491 on:]

Really? The Doctor and Robin Hood are our two most iconic figures? I guess that could be a hell of a lot worse.

[Reply #492 on:]

'Listen' was much better than 'Robot of Sherwood'; a delightfully creepy tale that plays on childhood fears.

[Reply #493 on:]

Haven't watched it yet, but the trailer looked interesting.

[Reply #494 on:]

"Listen" has split the fanbase right down the middle. Some absolutely loved it, some absolutely hated it.

[Reply #495 on:]

'Listen' was much better than 'Robot of Sherwood'; a delightfully creepy tale that plays on childhood fears.

Oh, Listen already aired.
Great, then I can watch it tonight...I mean...I can already look forward to purchasing the season 8 bluerays upon release, as I would NEVER dare to watch those series online

[Reply #496 on:]

Time Heist was bloody fantastic. Easily the best episode since "A Good Man Goes To War" from Season 32. The season so far is pretty damn good.

[Reply #497 on:]

So I'm in the midst of catching up on this season of DW.

And no one else wants to talk about all the gaping plot holes in "Listen"?!?

[Reply #498 on:]

Nope. Nobody wants to talk about the plot holes from the flesh arc onwards, since it's pretty obvious that nobody's meant to look too deeply at what's happening.

Seriously, there hasn't been an episode since the end of Tennant's doctor's tenure that hasn't had at least one hole big enough to get a TARDIS, a London bus, and a displaced dinosaur through. Why bother with plot holes when the series has become so fucking gloriously unconcerned with making sense and more concerned with simply providing either a spectacle, a rollercoaster ride, or both at the same time?

[Reply #499 on:]

I thought "The Caretaker" was okay. I liked the Scovox Blitzer. The episode started out really well but it focused on Clara and Danny too much. It also made me hate Danny even more. I really like Capaldi but he hasn't had a big moment to shine, yet.

[Reply #500 on:]

I thought "The Caretaker" was okay. I liked the Scovox Blitzer. The episode started out really well but it focused on Clara and Danny too much. It also made me hate Danny even more. I really like Capaldi but he hasn't had a big moment to shine, yet.

I thought it was pretty good, but I will agree with the criticism of the Clara and Danny drama. The montage at the beginning was great and there were some hilarious moments throughout, but it felt a little too much like a soap opera at times and the Scovox Blitzer, which had a really cool design, seemed pretty useless.

[Reply #501 on:]

Any thoughts on the last few episodes? Kill The Moon was a good concept even if it wasn't executed amazingly. Orient was pretty forgettable. Flatline, though was probably the best of the season and I thought one of the best episodes in quite a while. The stuff with the shrinking TARDIS was very amusing and I liked Clara trying to take the Doctor's role.

Haven't seen the newest one yet.

[Reply #502 on:]

^Pretty much can agree with all of that - I thought Kill The Moon was a bit lacklustre, Orient was okay but yeah, forgettable (but as I like Frank Skinner, the episode had that going for it) but Flatline has got to be one of the best episodes in a long while; genuinely creepy and unsettling, the boneless were a terrific and terrifying creation, the shrinking Tardis a great dynamic and it was nice to see a bit of Bristol, even though it was a bit of Bristol I very rarely see.

The newest one though... a bit, well, I'll go into spoilers as to not cloud your first judgement.

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I felt it was  far, far, far too contrived, like it had a fantastic conceptual idea - i.e. London (+teh entire world and all of its oceans) taken over by a forest that grew overnight - but it didn't really know what to do with it.

May I just say though, I thought Peter Capaldi would be brilliant as The Doctor and as far as I'm concerned, he hasn't disappointed in the slightest - I can watch him all day long. Its just what they do in the rest of the characters that tends to define the quality of the episode.

[Reply #503 on:]

So, Missy is

Show spoiler

the Master.

That pretty much confirms that the Doctor

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can regenerate into a woman.

[Reply #504 on:]

That was a great episode. I'm glad I forgot seeing

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the Cybermen in the teaser from last week, because the reveal with the dark water draining was brilliant.

[Reply #505 on:]

I caught up today. I have to say, I like Capaldi's Doctor a lot more than Tennant or Smith, but maybe just a pinch less than Eccleston, who I like just a smidge less than Tom Baker. Who was perfect.

The episodes though... well, they're certainly not awful, but I'm looking forward to the departure of Clara, just in case she's what's making them not great for me.

[Reply #506 on:]

I have very mixed thoughts on Clara. Sometimes I think she has some great moments, but other times I can't stand her. She's not terrible but I think I'd like the show with a more unconventional companion.

[Reply #507 on:]

It'd be nice to see the Doctor take on more than one travelling partner. Like, a contemporary human and one from the distant past/future. It'd be especially good if they hated each other - I really don't like all the complex love triangles that have been set up and knocked down and re-set over the last few years of the show.

Let's have some good old refreshing and unbridled disdain. Some outright hatred. A good rivalry. Both of them competing to show the Doctor how smart, reliable, and indispensable they are, right up until they get themselves killed and the Doctor decides to carry around a teacup chihuahua instead.

On second thoughts, that was a terrible idea.

[Reply #508 on:]

I think that was easily the best series finale since Moffat took the helm.

[Reply #509 on:]

Yeah that was particularly good - couple of niggly points, couple of elements that I'm not sure fully made sense (maybe one or two that were strictly intended to be left open to interpretation) and not quite as bombastically epic as some previous finales but I certainly thought it was really good

[Reply #510 on:]

The season finale was pretty good, even though I wasn't a fan of the Pink character, he had a good ending.   Plus, Chris Addison appearing reconnecting from The Thick Of It, which was a nice touch.

As for the Christmas special, I though Frost was pretty good, and while they're continuing with Clara is a good thing, I think giving her a 2nd consecutive "big ending" is a bit much.   That said, she's not bad as companions go.   At least she's not Bonnie Langford.

[Reply #511 on:]

TARDIS dematerialisation from another perspective.

[youtube]DNEjx6XUbfQ[/youtube]

This is fan-made, but pretty awesome, and the fan in question is the one who made the original version of the current season opening credits, so it might be something that we eventually see on the show.

[Reply #512 on:]

If they're ever gonna go for a re-think on the de/re-materialisation of the TARDIS then it absolutely should be done like this....

[Reply #513 on:]

Is anyone watching series 9?

The fifth episode aired on Saturday, and I feel that it's another strong entry to what is becoming a very strong series. Capaldi continues to show his prowess in both the dramatic and comedic moments, and I'm enjoying the two-parters that allow the stories to breath a little.

I'm looking forward to what is yet to come, especially the supposed Doctor monologue/minimalist cast episode, which I'm sure will allow Capaldi to shine.

[Reply #514 on:]

I've been watching the latest series and so far I've enjoyed it; I certainly like the fact that the stories so far have been two-parters.

[Reply #515 on:]

Did anyone else think the latest episode (Heaven Sent) was as absolutely phenomenal as I did? This season has been mostly decent so far, with a few clunkers (I didn't care much for the Zygon two-parter, and Sleep No More was dismal), but I thought this episode was a high point of the whole series.

Edit: Just looked up some reviews, and apparently I'm not at all alone in thinking this might be the best episode of the entire new series.

[Reply #516 on:]

I agree; it was a brilliant episode; I just hope the season finale can live up to it.

[Reply #517 on:]

I think that even if the finale is disappointing, it won't ruin that episode because it seems like it can easily stand on its own.

[Reply #518 on:]

Capaldi is the best Doctor.

[Reply #519 on:]

I thought the finale was great; scary moments, humour, surprises and plenty of emotion... I won't say more as spoilers would spoil it!