Doctor Who Thread III: Reverse the Polarity of the Neutron Flow

[Hullabaloo]

I thought they were joking, in that a gay relationship was the thing that threw him off compared to all the other crazy things that were being said.

[Weezer]

Huh, didn't know they were an item.

There were hints of it in Good Man Goes to War. Some of their banter could've been taken in a sexual way.

[Thufir]

Why? Why do we need a new one after only two years? What was wrong with the old one?

This I kind of agree with, but I don't particularly have a problem with getting a new one either.

"Oh we need to do something fancy and stylish, like have the Doctor play dress up in suits and have River enter in a ridiculous way".

This, however, is exactly how things should be (Though I don't recall any of River's entrances being especially ridiculous).

episode 10, which is always the best/one of the best episodes of the season.

Either you're justdeliberately trying to be controversial or you forgot Love and Monsters (Understandable I suppose).

Thoughts: this will be rubbish. All Christmas specials are. The only good one is Christmas Invasion, with Carol coming close (but not, due to unfortunate implications).

Here I must strenuously disagree. The Christmas specials have been consistently fun, if not the deepest of episodes. Certainly far from rubbish, and Christmas Carol is the best of the lot. Worst I would say is between End of Time part 1 and The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, but both of them were still alright enough.
And as far as this one goes, previously perceived lack of quality is sufficient reason to be sceptical, but not to dismiss out of hand the possibility of the special being good, unless you can point to something in the trailer/prequel to support this conclusion you've jumped to.

Two early complaints:
New Companion. She has been described as "Fast and Witty". I'm having visions of her as being really annoying and just having those as her traits. River 2.0: with no redeeming features.

That's a fear, not a complaint.

The promos seem to imply that the Doctor has hidden himself away from the universe due to his fear of hurting anyone else, of “seeing the damage”. I see it as a gross misunderstanding of the Doctor. He has seen Sarah Jane and Jo Grant old. He has seen many people as old and “damaged”. And all the time he celebrates that.

...?
He absolutely does not celebrate people growing old and being damaged. That's why he has always hated goodbyes, that's why he always keeps moving, never looking back, always focussing on the things which keep him moving forwards (Usually his present companions).

The Doctor has never been a man child.

Every regeneration is different, and everyone has moments of weakness.
Besides which, that's a criticism of Angels of Manhattan rather than the upcoming Christmas special. The prequel seemed to me to show much more of the bitter old man side of Eleven than the enthusiastic child.

And now for something completely different. I have said that Steven Moffat had disrespect for RTD on a professional level (not personal). I have been told I was over-thinking it. I was. Until today.

So wait, you were overthinking it until you thought about it some more?

*snip*

What do you think? I’m probably overthinking it?

No probably about it.

But you're right about every Moffat episode involving the Doctor getting seperated from his companion and finding a new, one-episode companion. That's really, really weird.

I kind of want to go through the series and see how often that happens in non-Moffat episodes, and whether it's actually a common event.

The End of the World - The Doctor leaves Rose at the party to go off with a tree.
Dalek - reversal, the Doctor is stuck with Van Statten while Rose meets Adam (OK he lasted a second episode but still basically the same).
Bad Wolf - Rose is elsewhere and the Doctor teams up with Lynda.

The Idiot's Lantern - Rose has her face removed and the Doctor teams up with that kid whose name I can't remember. I want to say Timmy?
Impossible Planet/Satan Pit - Doctor explores the cavern with Ida while Rose is up in the base.

Gridlock - The Doctor is separated from Martha and spends most of the episode with a cat.


There were some others I thought were debatable. But what it comes down to is that both one-shot companions and separating the Doctor from his companion are both fairly common elements of Doctor Who episode plots. Sooner or later they're bound to coincide.

Additionally, to address the instances in Moffat episodes:

Empty Child/Doctor Dances - Nancy is barely a one-shot companion. She delivers exposition, and is at the centre of the plot. But in fact the Doctor doesn't interact with her that much. Meanwhile Rose is meeting Captain Jack (Who, while pretty and white, is certainly not a girl).

Girl in the Fireplace - Oh no, gods forbid an episode about a historical figure should prominently feature them as a character. The separation is rather brief. And Reinette absolutely does not "school" Rose on being with the Doctor. They connect over it because they feel the same way about it.

Blink - Yes, Martha is in the episode very little. The Doctor isn't in much more than she is.

Silence in the Library/Forests of the Dead - Donna being "saved" both gives the Doctor additional fire and allows us to see the nature of the simulation via a character we know. Meanwhiel the Doctor is again not interacting with River that much because he doesn't trust her.

So yeah, in two of the four cases I feel your criticism is invalid, and in the other two the separation is for an important plot reason while the one-shot companion, though interesting, is by no means any kind of replacement, nor do they particularly sideline the main companion.

Huh, didn't know they were an item.

You didn't?

There were hints of it in Good Man Goes to War. Some of their banter could've been taken in a sexual way.

Yeah, I thought it was obvious.

[Hullabaloo]

There were hints of it in Good Man Goes to War. Some of their banter could've been taken in a sexual way.

Doh, you are correct. I watched it on my phone and thought it was the new companion.

Dont see much here in America about Doctor Who, but it is on the front page of cnn.com tonight.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/18/showbi...tml?hpt=hp_bn9

Spoiler

Show

not really a spoiler, but it does seem from the cnn.com thing that she is not completely independent of who she played in the first episode.

[Dienekes]

There were hints of it in Good Man Goes to War. Some of their banter could've been taken in a sexual way.

Ehh, I generally don't pick up on romantic banter until it's literally smacking me in the face. This has lead to some rather embarrassing moments in my life.

Anyway that's part of why I enjoy reading Curly's reviews, she has the ability to take anything and turn it into romantic banter. It's like looking at the world through some strange, insane, shipping based lens.

[dehro]

new trailer

[Kato]

Here I must strenuously disagree. The Christmas specials have been consistently fun, if not the deepest of episodes. Certainly far from rubbish, and Christmas Carol is the best of the lot. Worst I would say is between End of Time part 1 and The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, but both of them were still alright enough.
And as far as this one goes, previously perceived lack of quality is sufficient reason to be sceptical, but not to dismiss out of hand the possibility of the special being good, unless you can point to something in the trailer/prequel to support this conclusion you've jumped to.

Yeah, I loved Christmas Carol as well even if it wasn't perfect it's by far my favourie Chrismas Special.
Doctor, Widow & Wardrobe was... the less said about it the better.
And the Titanic episode was okay but not really as entertaining to me as the Carol.
(I haven't seen invasion in a while so I can't really comment on it)



Regarding the - new - Moffat complains: I'll admit that Davis had a more... how to put it? Ethnically diverse cast? But then again he went through quite a few more characters than Moffat did so far. And - no offense to Kingston - I don't see River as that attractive a person. She's just too old for my tastes, I guess. Also, I won't agree with the "companion replaced by pretty white girl" argument. Thufir basically said what is to be said about that. (Also, I wouldn't be surprised if in Empty Child the whole Rose/Jack subplot was Davis doing since he was showrunner back then)
Still, while I really prefer the South Park approach (the least racist is to ignore color and just treat everyone the same) I guess you could wonder about Moffat's casting choices a bit. But it is kind of a running gag here that Sunken finds thinks Moffat does or could be doing wrong...


Uhm... I'll also have to agree the lesbian relationship seemed rather obvious to me. Though I think I'll leave it to the fan fiction writers to come up with how their love life works out.

[Weezer]

Uhm... I'll also have to agree the lesbian relationship seemed rather obvious to me. Though I think I'll leave it to the fan fiction writers to come up with how their love life works out.

That seems a bit...dangerous. I don't want to know what fan fic writers can come up with when they start with an inter-species lesbian couple and a potato-warrior clone. It'd end badly. (and by badly I mean lots and lots of really weird sex)

[Androgeus]

That seems a bit...dangerous. I don't want to know what fan fic writers can come up with when they start with an inter-species lesbian couple and a potato-warrior clone. It'd end badly. (and by badly I mean lots and lots of really weird sex)

I think he's leaving it to the fan fic writers so he doesn't have to read/watch it.
Although now I think about it wasn't the good old "Cunning Linguist" pun in aGMGtW?

[Thufir]

Ehh, I generally don't pick up on romantic banter until it's literally smacking me in the face. This has lead to some rather embarrassing moments in my life.

Anyway that's part of why I enjoy reading Curly's reviews, she has the ability to take anything and turn it into romantic banter. It's like looking at the world through some strange, insane, shipping based lens.

It's like that for the rest of us as well, even though we can spot cases where it's definitely there.
Also I love that description.

new trailer

Neat.

[comicshorse]

Just saw a trailer on the BBC. It did not fill me with joy. It just looks too....whimsical ? twee ? cholocate boxy ?

[dps]

Here I must strenuously disagree. The Christmas specials have been consistently fun, if not the deepest of episodes.

Most of them I would say are fun on first watching them, but don't hold up very well when you think about them. "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe" wasn't even fun, except for the all too brief time the 3 miners are on-screen.

[dehro]

Most of them I would say are fun on first watching them, but don't hold up very well when you think about them. "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe" wasn't even fun, except for the all too brief time the 3 miners are on-screen.

yeah.. they go and cast Bill Bailey and have him stay onscreen for a total of what.. 3 minutes? a shame really

[Sunken Valley]

But it is kind of a running gag here that Sunken finds thinks Moffat does or could be doing wrong...

Since when? I have never seen anyone use that term to my bitter rantings. Do you think I'm a joke? Not that it matters, I'm going to keep finding things.

@Thufir:

This I kind of agree with, but I don't particularly have a problem with getting a new one either.

I have a problem with getting a new one as I feel its disrespectful to the man who spent ages working on the 2010 TARDIS (and the 2005 TARDIS) and then they scrap it for limited reason after 2 years and replace him with a new designer. I highly disapprove of many of the recent "shock value" tactics which Doctor Who has been performing recently (the Doctor playing dress up for no reason in "Lets Kill Hitler", the use of non-hetero characters as punchlines and many more.)

Either you're justdeliberately trying to be controversial or you forgot Love and Monsters (Understandable I suppose).

I'm not being deliberately controversial. Love and Monsters is one of the better Season 2 episodes. Serious, No-trolling. I think so due to its position as a metaphor for Dr Who fanboys and the fact that it's trying to do something different.

Christmas Carol is the best of the lot.

No. It makes a mess of the fundamentals of Dr Who. The Doctor uses time travel to mess with a life. Not only is that unethical, there are a millon times he could have done that in previous episodes (Henry Van Statten comes to mind) with more justification. If he worked out the pin code by going into the future, what's stopping him from going to the future and interrogating the survivors of his wake before causing the wake? Catch

For everyone else: I thinks its time I cited my sources for my last declaration.
http://www.geekquality.com/moffservations/
http://lileclaire.tumblr.com/post/32...attan-spoilers
http://darkbunnyrabbit.tumblr.com/po...-the-fireplace

Normally I don't do this but it seems people are interested this time around.

re: Fanboy Pleasing Episode: I would be ok with it if it answered the questions it asked previously in the Moffat run, especially how the Silent blew up the TARDIS and what they really want.

Finally: This years Christmas Special is at 5:15. I know somebody comes here to check when Who is on

[theangelJean]

Found this thread a couple of days ago (and read obsessively through it). One point I had an idea about, even though it's months old ... there were a few people discussing it, but this sums it up:

I'm not too offended by this whole "turned dark" thing going on.. but I do find it a bit.. startling, that this doesn't happen from one doctor to the next..but that instead it occurs from one season to the next, with the same doctor..and there seems to be very little in the way of cause.. I mean.. you want 11 to go dark and morally objectionable? sure, go ahead..but.. shouldn't it happen as consequence to something that happens on screen? the connection between this going dark and whatever may be it's cause in the previous season isn't all too clear. it could be anything really..from River Song's fate to.. again..anything..but shouldn't it be spelled out on screen?

There's one factor that hasn't been explicitly spelled out as the cause, but it very well might have been deliberately understated so it could be used as a surprise explanation later on, and it happens at about the right time:

Spoiler

Show

in Series 7 episode 1, the Doctor is the one who goes without the protective wristband in the end. Has he been affected by Dalek nanobots? Sure he didn't grow an eyestalk, but he was only exposed for one episode before they left, and maybe it took longer to affect him than Amy. After all, it's stated that they 'subtract love' and it's previously been implied that the Doctor has enough love for nearly everybody. (Sorry, that sounds like glurge when I write it out, but I believe that is the general idea.)

It's mainly after this that he starts being less than merciful, right? I think the examples cited so far are all from Season 7 after this point - leaving Oswin to her fate, leaving the villain from Dinosaurs on a Spaceship with the bomb, threatening Jex with a gun to make him face his persecutor, and someone mentioned that even immediately looking for a weakness in the cubes could be seen as an example.

Of course if this isn't developed/explained, or if they run too far with the new statement that "the Doctor is now in a dark place, having lost Amy and Rory" it will continue to be just weird.

[Androgeus]

I have a problem with getting a new one as I feel its disrespectful to the man who spent ages working on the 2010 TARDIS (and the 2005 TARDIS) and then they scrap it for limited reason after 2 years and replace him with a new designer.

Having seen the new design I can say..

Spoiler

Show

They may have changed it to a more classic style for 50th, also he could want to try and return to a time before he had companions

re: Fanboy Pleasing Episode: I would be ok with it if it answered the questions it asked previously in the Moffat run, especially how the Silent blew up the TARDIS and what they really want.

What? You want questions answered? that isn't what questions are for! They are there to try and build suspense and then to be discarded at the end of the series while trying to distract you with a shed load of other stuff going on.

Finally: This years Christmas Special is at 5:15. I know somebody comes here to check when Who is on

I was going to complain about it being on so early, but then realised it doesn't really bother me.

[JCarter426]

I have a problem with getting a new one as I feel its disrespectful to the man who spent ages working on the 2010 TARDIS (and the 2005 TARDIS) and then they scrap it for limited reason after 2 years and replace him with a new designer.

They had to build a new one for the 2010 series because the old one didn't look good on HD; this is why it's barely seen in the preceding few episodes, the first to be shot in HD.

Supposedly they had to replace the new one because they changed studios and they couldn't move the Tardis set, or it wouldn't be much cheaper than just building a new set.

It makes a mess of the fundamentals of Dr Who. The Doctor uses time travel to mess with a life. Not only is that unethical

How is it unethical? The choices are still Kazran's; the Doctor was simply giving him a chance to make different choices, by taking him on an adventure rather than leaving him home alone after being beaten by his father.

And if you're going to argue it's the difference between knowing what could happen and knowing what will happen - well, he's a Time Lord; he doesn't experience time the same way we do. Everything is a could from his point of view.

there are a millon times he could have done that in previous episodes (Henry Van Statten comes to mind) with more justification.

The point is for once the villain wasn't completely beyond redemption. I guess you'll have to assume the Doctor decided all those other people were beyond redemption, or he was just having a bad day, or he didn't have direct access to the Tardis at the time, or rewriting history wouldn't work for whatever reason in that specific situation.

If he worked out the pin code by going into the future, what's stopping him from going to the future and interrogating the survivors of his wake before causing the wake?

Because the latter would be crossing his own timeline, while the former was not. The Doctor had already met the older Kazran, who knew the code. The Doctor's presence didn't change what the code was, because it had always been the same number.

http://www.geekquality.com/moffservations/

That's... wow. Blink was supposed to barely have the Doctor or Martha in it. You know, like Love and Monsters. It was the producers' way of cutting costs, filming an extra episode at the same time. For Series 2 it was Love and Monsters. For Series 3 it was Blink. For Series 4 they decided to do one with less Doctor and one with less Donna. For Series 5 they had to replace Gaiman's episode with the much cheaper The Lodger. Presumably the current production schedule, with the the series split in half, doesn't require such a thing. It wasn't his idea to write Martha out of it. Come on.

I'm reserving my right not to comment on the rest.

[dps]

I'm not being deliberately controversial. Love and Monsters is one of the better Season 2 episodes. Serious, No-trolling. I think so due to its position as a metaphor for Dr Who fanboys and the fact that it's trying to do something different.

I agree that the idea of doing an episode that's a metaphor for the fandom is a good idea, but having a good concept doesn't in-and-of itself make an episode good--the concept has to be well-executed. In fact, an iffy concept done well will usually make for a better episode than a great concept done poorly.

[Sunken Valley]

Ok Peoples, Major Spoilers

Found in Radio Times

Spoiler

Show

Voice of the Snowmen is credited as Sir Ian MacKellan. That's a rather big name. Far too big to be a mere voice. Last time we had a knight doing Dr Who was Sir Timothy Dalton cast as "The Narrator" in early credits. He was revealed to be High President.

Promo Pic which was taken down shortly after release.

Spoiler

Show

Big Spoilers

Spoiler

Show

http://cdn.bleedingcool.net/wp-conte...329.jpg?802b89

1

Spoiler

Show

Look at Vastra's Hands. They have makeup on them so no, that is not a glitch. Also in the prequel, she is wearing gloves.

2

Spoiler

Show

Look at what's under the Doctors Feet. Anachronism much? But what does it have to do with abominable Snowmen?

3

Spoiler

Show

Look at the initials on the door. What could they possibly have to do with Abominable Snowmen or Ian MacKellan hiding in the background?

It was an All-in-One and One-in-All of limitless being and self — not merely a thing of one Space-Time continuum, but allied to the ultimate animating essence of existence's whole unbounded sweep — the last, utter sweep which has no confines and which outreaches fancy and mathematics alike.

What does that mean? Find out tomorrow!

[LokeyITP]

Season 2 certainly has its problems, and I don't mind Fear Her or Love and Monsters too terribly much (they have redeeming qualities, but certainly neither is a season high water mark). Watching GitF without an agenda, I don't really see coming up with anything negative to say, humor's tough to do after all :)

I'd thought about doing a 'we've seen x y and z before and that's a sign that things are going to be horrible post' except lack of inspiration. Maybe for the new season.

Certainly possible trouble spots: Sure Strax was great fun, but what?!? Sort of the same for Jenny and Vestra, is there enough there to be worthwhile? Also CGI baddies are usually trouble.

Also, who's directing? As I said before, every aspect of season 7 has been fantastic except plotting.

[Dienekes]

The problem with Love and Monsters was that nothing was good about except the concept. I love the concept, looking at how the Doctor effects those he touches in brief and their lives are changed. Great.

Except dear God was there ever a more boring group of people to follow? I didn't care about their problems, I didn't care they made a band, I didn't care that the main guy had a thing for deep voice girl, I didn't care when they started getting killed off by the worst and dumbest looking villain since the farting aliens (just found out it was designed by a 9 year old, and suddenly all my questions are explained), and at least that episode did everything except the aliens themselves well to passable, and had Harriet Jones. Love and Monsters just leads to a completely underwhelming experience, made all the worse because I can see what they were trying to do.

Still, I guess it was better than Fear Her.

[Kato]

Since when? I have never seen anyone use that term to my bitter rantings. Do you think I'm a joke? Not that it matters, I'm going to keep finding things.

Sorry, no offense meant. Let's call it "a stick" then. Whatever.
Feel free to look for flaws in the stories, really but for the most part I'll follow Smith's advice* which is what I do with most shows I really like because let's face it, fiction does not hold up when you bring up hard facts.
And from the story telling perspective... well, either I enjoy something or I do not and you are free to do the same but no nagging will ever get me to dislike something I like. If anything, I'll just like it more if for no reason but out of spite. That's the kind of person I am (kind of sad, I know)


I... don't really hate Love and Monsters but... I feel it's among the weaker episodes. Not because it is Doctor light but just... it didn't feel well paced when I last saw it and there could have been a much better story to be told with better characters and not just the "loser brigade" for the most part. But now making another "ordinary people's live affected by the Doctor" would feel derivative and LaM is why. It could have been great and it was just meh to me.


*Smith on Top Gear

[CurlyKitGirl]

Koorly's Doctor Who Review Archive:
Classic Who

Spoiler

Show

Second Doctor

Spoiler

Show

Series 6
'The Invasion' 1/8, 2/8, 3/8 part one, part two, 4/8 part one, part two, 5/8, 6/8, 7/8, 8/8

Fourth Doctor

Spoiler

Show

Series 12
'Genesis of the Daleks' 1/6, 2/6, 3/4, 5/6, 6/6

Seventh Doctor

Spoiler

Show

Series 25
'Remembrance of the Daleks' 1/4 part 1, part 2, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4

Nu Who

Spoiler

Show

Season 1 - retrospective

Spoiler

Show

Brief Whole Series Retrospective
Ep. 1 'Rose'
Ep. 2 'The End of the World'
Ep. 3 'The Unquiet Dead'
Ep. 4: 'Aliens of London' (1/2)
Ep. 5: 'World War III' (2/2)
Ep. 6: 'Dalek'
Ep. 7: 'The Long Game'
Ep. 8: 'Father's Day'
Ep. 9: 'The Empty Child' (1/2)
Ep. 10: 'The Doctor Dances' (2/2)
Ep. 11: 'Boom Town'
Ep. 12: 'Bad Wolf' (1/2)
Ep. 13: 'The Parting of the Ways' (2/2)

Christmas Episode: 'The Christmas Invasion'

Season 2 - retrospective

Spoiler

Show

Brief Whole Series Retrospective
Ep. 1: 'New Earth'
Ep. 2: 'Tooth and Claw'
Ep. 3: 'School Reunion'
Ep. 4: 'The Girl in the Fireplace'
Ep. 5: 'Rise of the Cybermen' (1/2)
Ep. 6: 'The Age of Steel' (2/2)
Ep. 7: 'The Idiot's Lantern'
Ep. 8: 'The Impossible Planet' (1/2)
Ep. 9: 'The Satan Planet' (2/2)
Ep. 10: 'Love and Monsters'
Ep. 11: 'Fear Her'
Ep. 12: 'Army of Ghosts' (1/2)
Ep. 13: 'Doomsday' (2/2) GOODBYE ROSE!
Charity Special: 'Doctor Who: Children in Need'
Christmas Episode: 'The Runaway Bride'

Season 3 - blind bar Moffat

Spoiler

Show

Ep. 1: 'Smith and Jones'
Ep. 2: 'The Shakespeare Code'
Ep. 3: 'Gridlock'
Ep. 4: 'Daleks in Manhattan' (1/2)
Ep. 5: 'Evolution of the Daleks' (2/2)
Ep. 6: 'The Lazarus Experiment'
Ep. 7: '42'
Ep. 8: 'Human Nature' (1/2)
Ep. 9: 'The Family of Blood' (2/2)
Ep. 10: 'Blink'
Ep. 11: 'Utopia' (1/3)
Ep. 12: 'The Sound of the Drums' (2/3)
Ep. 13: 'The Last of the Time Lords' (3/3)
Children in Need 2007 episode: 'Time Crash'
2007 Christmas Episode: 'Voyage of the Damned'

Bits and Bobs
Retrospective - to be written later
Why I Do Not Like Martha/Ten (This was written between my write ups of ep. 8 and ep 9)

Season Four blind bar Moffat

Spoiler

Show

Ep. 1: 'Partners in Crime'
Ep. 2: 'The Fires of Pompeii'
Ep. 3: 'Planet of the Ood'
Ep. 4: 'The Sontaran Stratagem' (1/2)
Ep. 5: ‘The Poison Sky‘ (2/2)
Ep. 6: ‘The Doctor‘s Daughter‘ Two part review.
Ep. 7: 'The Unicorn and the Wasp'
Ep. 8: 'Silence in the Library' (1/2)
Ep. 9: 'Forest of the Dead' (2/2)
Ep. 10: 'Midnight'
Ep. 11: 'Turn Left' (1/3)
Ep. 12: 'The Stolen Earth' (2/3)
Ep. 13: 'Journey's End' (3/3)

The Specials]
1: 'The Next Doctor'
2: 'Planet of the Dead'
3: 'The Waters of Mars'
4: 'The End of Time' (1/2)
5: 'The End of Time' (2/2)

Season 5 - blind bar Moffat's Angels

Spoiler

Show

Ep. 1: 'The Eleventh Hour' (including 'Meanwhile in the TARDIS 1')
Ep. 2: 'The Beast Below'
Ep. 3: 'Victory of the Daleks'
Ep. 4: 'The Time of the Angels' (1/2)
Ep. 5: 'Flesh and Stone' (2/2) (including 'Meanwhile in the TARDIS 2')
Ep. 6: 'The Vampires of Venice'
Ep. 7: 'Amy's Choice'
Ep. 8: 'The Hungry Earth' (1/2)
Ep. 9: 'Cold Blood' (2/2)
Ep. 10: 'Vincent and the Doctor'
Ep. 11: 'The Lodger' (bar the angels this was the first episode I saw)
Ep. 12: 'The Pandorica Opens' (1/2)
Ep. 13: 'The Big Bang' (2/2)
Christmas Episode: 'A Christmas Carol'

Season 6

Spoiler

Show

To to things this series was split in two, as such eps. 8 - Christmas episode will be liveblogged, and the first seven will be written with me having seen them before.
Ep. 1: 'The Impossible Astronaut' (1/2)
Ep. 2: 'Day of the Moon' (2/2)
Ep. 3: 'The Curse of the Black Spot'
Ep. 4: 'The Doctor's Wife' HELL YEAH!
Ep. 5: 'The Rebel Flesh' (1/2)
Ep. 6: 'The Almost People' (2/2)
Ep. 7: 'A Good Man Goes to War'
Ep. 8: 'Let's Kill Hitler'
Ep. 9: 'Night Terrors'
Ep. 10: 'The Girl Who Waited'
Ep. 11: 'The God Complex'
Ep. 12: 'Closing Time'
Ep. 13: 'The Wedding of River Song'

Red Nose Day Specials: 'Space'/'Time'
2011 Christmas Special: 'The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe'

Season 7

Spoiler

Show

Liveblogged unless otherwise mentioned.

Ep. 1: 'Asylum of the Daleks'
Ep. 2: 'Dinosaurs On A Spaceship'
Ep. 3: 'A Town Called Mercy'
Ep. 4: 'The Power of Three'
Ep. 5: 'The Muppets Take Manhattan'

Odds and Sods

Spoiler

Show

Things that don't really fit anywhere.

'Good As Gold' Second Blue Peter scriptwriting competition for Doctor Who

And now, to boldly go where many have gone before. [*cue TNG theme (Such a awesome introduction)*]

'The Power of Three' (season 7a, ep. 4)

Spoiler

Show

Welcome to episode four, written by Chris Chibnall, aka the head writer and co-producer of Torchwood for what seems to be the entirety of its run. He also wrote '42' - one of my favourite season three episodes of Doctor Who and 'The Hungry Earth'/'Cold Blood' back in season five, and only two episodes ago the glorious 'Dinosaurs on A Spaceship'. Oh, and two episodes of Life on Mars. So given that I've only seen two episodes of things written by him . . . it sounds promising?

Yes, it's several months late; yes, real life sometimes kills internet life (and/or things I do in my internet life); yes, I am still completely one hundred percent blind for the first half of this season. Aside from the fact that something happened between the this episode and . . . today in Doctor Who that made my mother cry.

Now, I have a thing to admit; this episode reminds me of a telly show: Charmed which was a show about witches who fought demons and things. There were angels, but they were called White Lighters, and were kind of like the Powers That Be (but all good), and there were demons.

And the main characters three sisters called Prudence, Piper and Phoebe (and later Paige after Prudence snuffed it) and they each had a specific power. Pru could blow things up, Piper could freeze objects/people/small areas in time, and Phoebe got visions (like Doyle/Cordy, but without the pain. Sometimes) and they went around saving the world from magical wotsits.

In my opinion the pre-Paige seasons were the best. But why this episode reminds me of Charmed (which I do actually recommend checking out) is because of my vague memories. I saw this show about ten years ago, and I think I stopped watching when I was fifteen? I don't know, UK telly delays and whatever. I will admit I stopped watching before the series finale because then there was a romance with a White Lighter, and a super-baby thingy (or two) and I have recollections of a terrible CG dragon (and possibly a helicopter too) and it rather lost the appeal.

But I got sidetracked. You may have gathered from the show's title and the fact that the main characters are witches, that Charmed plays heavily on the power of three Wiccan thing with the maiden, the mother and the . . . other one; and they have a spellbook/Junior Woodchuck's Guidebook called the Book of Shadows that also tells the future and is semi-sentient. And they have this chant that's something like "The Power of Three/ Shall set us free" that kills the warlocks/demons/baddie of the week. Also they had a really cool theme tune that started with this kind of echoey guitar decrescendo/wail and one of the lines was 'I am Heaven and I need you to know'. I think it was Charmed's theme. To Youtube! The theme. I was right. Cool.

So this is all to say that I will endlessly compare this episode to Charmed. Rather: my hazy recollection of the show. You have been warned.

That slightly awkward and unnerving ramble aside, on with the show:

Oh, and please note that, due to a mix of my insomnia not letting me get to sleep until six in the morning for the past week, and then being thoughtlessly and cruelly awoken today by my parents at eight in the morning to do the last of the Christmas shopping I am . . . punch drunk. Also our familial Christmas Eve party just ended and I may have imbibed a little alcohol. And because I cannot abide war films cleaned the kitchen whilst a certain sibling made everyone else watch Gettysburg. While drinking.

That's a lot of ring galaxies you have there in the opening shot. And by opening shot I mean even before Amy speaks. Although some of those potential galaxies look like what happens when you get water on your glasses and it dries, leaving a deposit and then the light shines through. Someone really needs to clean their camera lens if that's the case.

Oooh, Doctor-lite episode! Those are (and Companion-lite episodes) always excellent: 'Blink', 'Midnight', 'The Lodger', 'Closing Time', 'The Girl Who Waited' (okay, that may be more Companion-centric than Doctor-lite), and while I've not seen 'Turn Left' I've heard that it's veyr good, and as it's about DOnna this is a true fact. I think the -lite episodes are always outstanding because, by taking the show away from its usual format it puts extra effort into it. And frankly, what person wouldn't want to put their all into an episode of Doctor Who when they're the star and not the Doctor? And in cases where the focus is someone we know (Doctor or Companion) by taking them away from those they usually interact with it gives them a time to shine in a new environment that sheds a whole new light on that person's personality.

However, it's a bit done to have a Companion muse that life without the Doctor was dull and maybe a bit of a chore, leading people to want to spice up their life. Doesn't anyone want a relatively normal life after travelling with the Doctor?

Rory and Amy, having just got back from a trip have fifty-nine voice messages and have run out of groceries . . . although the Doctor being a TIme Lord couldn't he just drop them off a few minutes after they left? It'd save grocery money if nothing else. Also, I'm choosing to believe the "reading glasses" are for Rory because he would look lovely in glasses. Even though I know from 'The Girl Who Waited' Amy needs them for sure. When she's older.

However, I do like that they're putting more focus on . . . part-time Companions for want of a better term. As Rory said, they have "two lives . . . and real life doesn't get much of a look in", so they're going to choose. Or that's what I'm extrapolating from that little conversation and the fact that, while they lied about Jenna-Louise Coleman's first appearance on Doctor Who, they've been saying the Ponds are leaving as if they were summoning the dead for the Last Judgement.

Then the TARDIS calls. A: "Not today though."

R: "Nah, not today." Do you think TARDIS travel is addictive? Got to give it up sometime, but not today! Then, instead of the opening them I was expecting we get another super-fast montage of Things the Ponds Have Done with the Doctor. Because apparently we can't remember back two seasons? Viewers are goldfish after all.

A: "Every time we flew away with the Doctor it was like we became a part of his life," and yet this isn't said resentfully, just matter-of-fact, "But he never stood still long enough to become a part of ours. Except once." So . . . this is 'The Lodger', but with the Ponds? I can dig this.

The year of the slow invasion? Cubes? Sure, why not. Sentient cubes. Is this going to be an adipose things again?

Hello Rory's dad! You're such a lovely person, I'm glad you get to come back! Even if you are persistently ringing your son's bell at half six all because of a cube. B: "Haven't you seen them yet?" he asks as he waves a cube around. Well, no, it's half six in the morning, the only reason to get up early is if you're insane, have a dog, or an early shift. Sensible people sleep in. You lose one point for making me resent not having any sleep today.

Also: that's a Hell of a lot of cubes.

Also: I'm guessing this is a London house, and they seem to own it/rent it all on their own; they must be earning a lot of money to do that, it's three stories tall! And has a garden!

Anyway: mysterious cubes are mysterious, and nothing summons the Doctor like a mystery, but why is he doing an impersonation of a rather tweedy looking Batman? Were cubes the inspiration for his costume?

The Doctor has a monocle. D: "Invasion of the very small cubes. Well, that's new." Except they're not that small, not really. I've read books smaller than that. But the Doctor has a monocle!

Hello BBC newscaster cameos! Also the Great Wall of China because everyone knows what that looks like and . . . a Japanese news channel? I believe that will be Stock Footage. Short story: Seemingly there is no reason for these extraordinary intergalactical objects. Only Doctor Hans Zarkhov, formerly at NASA, has provided any explanation. He was dismissed as being a bit of a plank. This morning's unprecedented rain of small cubes is no cause for alarm.

BRIAN COX! I literally just wrapped some DVDs by you for my dad on behalf of my mum not twelve hours ago. You're a lot younger than I thought. I don't know why there's those PAL line thingies on the telly screen though. I know it's a fad in found footage doodads, but come on; this is set in the 2010s. Oh, Brian Cox is bamboozled also.

On the topic: the Doctor (and yes, he is better than Brian Cox)! He has a magnifying glass. He also doesn't really know. Rory's dad though is bursting with ideas: tiny bombs, transport capsules (perhaps with tiny little robots inside), or deadly hard drives, alien eggs, messages OR! It's the world's largest, most boring jigsaw puzzle. You know, some of those things sound like references to other sci-fi things. Or -

wait. no. i'm overstretching. can't be -

But after a few more questions, including Amy saying, "Is this an alien invasion? Because it really seems like an alien invasion." we get another piece of information that is a key component of his personality: "I don't know. I don't like not knowing." The Doctor's inquiring mind wants to know everything in the universe!

And so the Doctor has a new toy to play with. Naturally he turns a suburban London kitchen into a lab to "cook up some cubes" and yet is completely astonished by the fact Rory has a job.

R: "What do you think we do when you're not here?"

D: "I don't know, mostly kissing?" Rory's expression is perfect. They do mostly kiss. Amy writes travel articles for magazines and Rory has a "sictom"? I don't know. Amy mumbled. I know he's still a nurse or something, but I'll be damned if I can make out what Amy just said.

Okay, look, that house is enormous, and they're keeping it on the combined wages of a writer and a nurse. No. That house is legitimately bigger than the one I live in. It cost roughly forty grand in 1999 and we finally paid the mortgage off in about 2010. After my dad worked one hundred and forty plus hours a week for forty-seven weeks of the year. In case my maths is wrong, he was home for one and a half days a week. If we were lucky.

And our house is a pit. The bathroom plumbing leaks something awful, the room is always stone cold, it has no garden, the roof leaks, we only have four bedrooms because the bathroom is now a bedroom that can also function perfectly as a fridge etcetera etcetera. It's a little terrace house built in the 1880s, so it looks to be about the same age as the the Ponds' residence; but it also clearly has large, open plan rooms with a large kitchen, living room and master bedroom that looks to be half again as large as ours.

Even without four children, and four (then three) pets as a drain of your resources I sincerely doubt the Ponds could live there so comfortably on their wages. An RN's average salary is £24 727, and I couldn't find one for a travel journalist given the job market, but let's say £17 000. A three-bedroom terraced house with garden similar to the Ponds' home in Cornwall would be between £300 000 and £745 000. So in London or another large city I think I can be reasonably certain the house would cost around half a million pounds to buy. The rent would be similarly prohibitive.

Logic. Bleh.

Oh, but now there's a group of SFOs about to storm the castle. Oh Lord! Bell jars.

It's been ten years since two years ago. Dude. So what, is it 2020 then? Also: damn the Ponds look wonderful for people in their mid-thirties.

Additionally: I don't think the Showrunners consulted with the Metropolitan Police about the proper procedures for a situation that would require a squad of SFOs. If Hot Fuzz can do it about basic paperwork you can phone up the Met and ask for a few questions. No need to go all Hollywood American on us. That said, if it turns out this is based on actual military or police procedures, my apologies, it just doesn't look right.

R: "There are soldiers all over my house and I'm in my pants!" Yes. Yes you are Rory. They're orange boxer briefs. You have nice legs. Just saying. Also, the Doctor is clearly eyeing him up. Need I remind everyone that at this point in time Rory is the Doctor's father-in-law.

Kate Stewart, Head of Scientific Research at UNIT? One: didn't expect to see UNIT again. Two: Lethbridge-Stewart? PLEASE? Pretty please with a cherry on top and the last slice of raspberry pavlova I'm eating right now?

The Brigette: "With a dress sense like that, you must be the Doctor." Or Giles. And she actually is in charge of UNIT, turning it into a scientific thingy rather than a military thingy. Kind of seems like what the Federation did with everyone. Until Wolf 359.

Essentially, UNIT's also stumped and the cubes are invulnerable. The Doctor doesn't like this, he likes a "nice Achilles heel"; which logically means one of the first things the Doctor does when he meets a new person/species/thing/toy is find out how to break it. Yes, that is creepy. Also, how was UNIT able to pull all these tests off basically overnight?

D: "People are picking ]the cubes] up and taking them home." And then making Twitter accounts, vlogs and flickr photos and things. Such a human thing to do. Although, would Twitter be such a Thing in the 2020s?

You know this is reminding me of something. An Important Something.

And the Brigette considers the cubes a Threat but also acknowledges the impossibility of imposing a worldwide quarantine on the things because they're everywhere, and there's no proof behind this conclusion other than what is probably her gut reaction. It's weird having a female Brigadier.

The Doctor concludes the cubes want to be observed. Is this like a Schroedinger's Cube then? Also, the Doctor's living with the Ponds.

D: "I hate being patient! Patient is for wimps!" So because he's a hyperactive child on a sugar rush he stainds the garden fence, does a one million keepie uppie thing and hoovers and things. In an hour.

Also: Rory's dad's been living in the TARDIS for the last four days and everyone forgot about him. That is a very Rory thing. But the Doctor wants to go on a trip and then Rory gives him a smackdown. "[My job's] important to me! What you do isn't all there is." And they stay home. And the Doctor looks jealous, but also quietly grumpy and maybe a little sad.

Cool. Companions choosing to stay at home with the 'little' things, and this is why they leave.

Then it's a week later. Rory and Amy committed to real life things: a full-time job (wait, what?!) and bridesmaiding. A: "I like it."

R: "So do I." And cue the Doctor. I just bet. Or not. An Oh My Word. Rory's dad is actually making a vlog about his cube. And filming it constantly. RD: "I'm doing what the Doctor asked."

And then it's Christmas and obviously t's Slade and Rory has a patient who got his foot stuck in the loo. Again. How? More precisely: how much alcohol did it take for it to happen again>

And then there's a child, so obviously she's creepy and then her eyes glow blue for a few seconds and then she's fondling a cube with glows blue in palces as well an mind control! And then elsewhere also.

"Are you my Mummy?" Little bit unexpected that.

And then many many many many many many shots of the cubes. Because we're all idiots. Clearly.

And now it's summer and the Ponds' wedding anniversary and the Doctor remembered and brought a bouquet half his size (no, literally) and "Come with me. And bring your husband," and they're off!

N'aaawwwww. He took them to November 1890 in the Savoy Hotel for a fancy dinner to celebrate. I wish I had a TIme Lord best friend. The Doctor's French is terrible.

And then Rory kisses the Doctor. Amy approves, as do I. And Amy and Rory look stunning in white tie. Seriously, I've been envying Amy's hair all episode. Why can't I have hair like Amy's?

Shame that wherever the Doctor goes trouble follow, this time it was a "Zygon ship under the Savoy." As in 'Terror of the Zygons'? Smug face and another Classic reference.

Random bedchamber: A: "It wasn't my fault."

R: "It was totally your fault."

A: "Someone was talking, I just said yes.

R: "To wedding vows! You just married Henry VIII!" Wait. So. This happened before 'Town Called Mercy'? Because Rory left his phone charger beind in Henry VIII's bedroom. And I thought it was a joke when Amy said she was a queen back in 'Dinosaurs'. So: 4, 3, 2? But Brian didn't know the Doctor in 2. So 2, 4, 3? Yes, that seems about right, and the queen thing was coincidence.

And they were gone seven weeks. When Rory's dad asks the Doctor what happens to his Companions he answers, "Some elft me, some got left behind, and some . . . not many, but . . . some died. Not them, not them, not them. Never them."

And an ominous sense of foreboding trickles down my spine in time with the melancholic piano in the background. And now it's July, 361 days post-episode start.

Alan Sugar. Buh.

Fish fingers and custard. Okay look, is that actually tasty? because they're making it seem like it is, and I'm starting to want to try it.

And then weird noises keep waking Rory's dad up. And then it spins. B: "Do it again."

Then flirting and the Doctor is on the Wii. Playing tennis. This is a thing that is perfect, but inexplicable. It's genius. And I bet he's pants too.

And cubes grow spiky razors and glow and blue light and ominous things. Also floating. D: "Out of the way dear, I'm trying to - Whatever you are, this planet, these people are precious to me, and I will defend them with my last breath. Is that all you can do hover? Had a metal dog that could do that."

K9!

Then Cubey lazors the Doctor. And does flickery sciencey things to the telly. And surfing the net.

Rory's boss calls and people are being attacked and creepy child. Rory and his dad are going to hospital and the others are going to a secret UNIT base under the Tower. I endorse this, and agree with Amy that the Brigette is pretty cool.

All the cubes are doing different things: lazors, mood swings, fire and - the Chicken Dance. Heinous. It is now stuck in my head again. The Doctor ever-so-seriously sticks his fingers in his ears and Amy's face. Her face. It is the picture is sheer disdain and horror. Perfect. AND IT LOOPS. No wonder it's sealed away.

THE BRIGETTE IS THE BRIGADIER'S DAUGHTER. THE WORLD IS COMPLETE AND THIS IS ADORABLE AND HELLO COMPUTER NERD WITH GLASSES LITERALLY THE SIZE OF TEA CUPS.

Is it me, or does the backdrop od the Tower ook a little fake?

And heart-to-heart about the Ponds possibly leaving! Ah, the Doctor gave them the house and Amy your face is so perfect and "Travelling is starting to feel like running away" and then the Doctor says something so very like Monty Python's galaxy song mixxed with Bones' speech from Star Trek that it's a little distracting and quite affirming.

And the Doctor just admitted he dosn't want them to die. D: "I'm running to you. And Rory. before you fade from me." Dying. And Pond/Doctor snuggles.

Also, the cubes have basically got what they wanted which is a full assessment of earth and verything on it. What's important about seven?

Many things, including the numbers of sides a cube has.

A: "But a cube only has six sides."

D: "Not if you include the inside." Familiarity rising. To very suspicious amounts. Am I the only one recognising this?

Dangerous cubes are dangerous, they waited this long because they "profile[d] every inch of the earth's existence". Except where there were no humans. And the country is ditching the cubes, Rory's in charge at the hospital sending his dad off to do errands (4), and he runs into the Mask!Boys again. (3) And is promptly kidnapped. And the elevator is a transporter pad. Hello 'Closing Time'.

Oh no, my mistake. Turns out one of the walls is a trans-dimensional/spatial portal doodad to a ship observing earth. (2) The Doctor has a staring competition with a cube (1 and 0 and off) before his cube opens. "Geronimo." Haven't heard that in a while.

It's full of nothing. Actual nothing or Nothing nothing? And glasses nerd is actually called Glasses. And now people are having heart attacks.

Including the Doctor.

Good thing he's got two then.

Hasn't this happened before already? D: "Oh crikey Moses." You are such a granddad. Also, Doctor, you're having a heart attack. D: "How do you people manage with one heart? It is pitiful!"

Quelle suprise, the station thingy is Rory's workplace. Also the Mask!Men are . . . are . . . Heath Ledger's Joker?

The creepy girl isn't jsut a creepy girl, but a creepy robot girl. And then the Doctor has a serious heart attack. And Amy goes for the defibrillators. I don't think they work that way. Ummm. Last I know, the last time the Doctor had a defibrillator used on him it was when open heart surgery was being performed on him while he was semi-concious!

Is that Emperor Palpatine? Holo!Palpatine. And . . . the "Shakri were a myth. A myth to keep the young of Gallifrey in their place" Like that other one? The Toclafane? And what about the other humans on board?

S: "The Shakri exist in all of time, and none. We travel alone, and together the Seven [...] serving the word of the Tally. [...] The Shakri will halt the human plague, before the spread."

RIPOFF!! RIPOFF!

D: "Pest controllers of the universe. That's how the tales went."

The Doctor: "For the whole of time, I will back humanity against the Shakri every time." This is the conclusion to the Picard speech about "How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty!" humanity is. It's rather moving.

Then the Doctor does things that create an energy backflow that explodes the ship and everyone else on board. There were at least two or three others there that I saw. Didn't even try?

And no one tried to help the people suffering the heart attacks?

And then the Brigette gave the Doctor a peck on the cheek.

D: "You both have lives here. Beatiful, messy lives, that is what makes you so fabulous, you, you don't want to give it all up. I understand."

B: "Actually it's you they can't give up Doctor. And I don't think they should. Go with him. Go save every world you can find. Who else has that chance? [...] Just bring them back safe." Well, Doom tolls. I know the Ponds are leaving, and given that . . . yeah.

Also, Amy, power of three line? So. Corny.

Scream Out!

Preview Thoughts: Didn't get one with my video today!

Best Moment: The Doctor does normal human things! Always. Wii tennis, and his hour of pure boredom. I've babysat six-year-olds with a longer attention span than the Doctor.

Worst Moment:It's complicated, I'll explain below.

Best Actor: The Doctor, the heartbreak and the way he confesses to his fear over losing his Amy and Rory; and yet not three minutes earlier he was impersonating a stroppy toddler! The range of Matt Smith is amazing.

Worst Actor: Ehm? Creepy child for being a child.

Best Special Effect: I quite liked the Shakri ship's exterior.

Worst Special Effect: Whether it was a special effect or not, the Tower backdrop when the Doctor and Amy were having a chat looked so fake. It was very distracting.

Most Punchable Character: The Shakri. For reasons I shall explain below.

Death Count: All the humans on board the Shakri ship who were deliberately not rescued by Our Boys.

Kink of the Episode: Rory/Doctor. Amy approves! Even with the weird incest in-law vibes.

Was Not Expecting: Brigadier Katherine Lethbridge-Stewart! A good surprise.

Overall thoughts?
As you might expect from a girl who writes very long, strange Doctor Who reviews for fun on a forum initially founded to discuss a webcomic parodying D&D I like fantasy, especially fantasy books.

I was eight years old when I first picked up a Terry Pratchett novel: Guards! Guards! I didn't exactly understand it for a few years, but upon rereadng I'd had enough experience with the fantasy genre ranging from C. S. Lewis to Terry Goodkind (I read Wizard's First Rule for the first time when I was nine! I was so innocent and didn't understand half the subtext let alone the Mord Sith back then!) and Terry Brooks, David Eddings, Tolkein and so on and son forth to understand the Discworld.

As you might expect from a series of roughly fifty books all told my favourites have shifted quite a bit over time for various reasons. With two exceptions, both of which make me cry every time I read them: Night Watch and Reaper Man.

I see some of you know where I'm going now. Spoilers.

In the Discverse there exist Auditors. Auditors of reality. The despise humanity because we are so very human, and disorderly. They want us gone. And it comes to their attention that Death of the Discworld is fond of humans, and they decide this is wrong. So they fire him, and make him mortal; he is to be the first life taken by the new Death.

But until the new Death can form all the excess life builds and builds and builds, and although people die they can't leave, so they hang around. And then, suddenly, little snow globes start appearing in and around Ankh-Morpork. CMOT Dibbler decides to sell them, and people just have to buy them, and then they forget about the little trinkets. Even the Patrician has one.

And then they activate. They're basically larval forms of a shopping centre/mall and entrance the Ankh-Morporkians who would be killed if they entered the growing shopping centre. Fortunately the wizards (and zombie wizard) kill the shopping centre/mall before it can kill anyone else.

Sounds familiar doesn't it? 'The power of Three' is mostly Reaper Man's less-interesting plot.

In one of the most compelling plots of any Discworld book Death learns what the passage of time is, what human life is like, what boredom is. Ultimately, even though he truly fears death he ends up sharing his meagre life span with a little girl because it wasn't right for her to die, and he decides to fight death - such a human thing to do - and when the new Death comes for him Miss Flitworth gives Death some of her life. He kills death, becomes Death again and starts to set things aright.

The Shakri are the Auditors, the Doctor is Death and the Ponds are basically Miss Flitworth. Why is the Doctor Death? Because after he becomes himself again he visits Azrael and makes a plea. This is one of the most beautiful passages from any Discworld book (if not any recent book):

“ALL THINGS THAT ARE, ARE OURS. BUT WE MUST CARE. FOR IF WE DO NOT CARE, WE DO NOT EXIST. IF WE DO NOT EXIST, THEN THERE IS NOTHING BUT BLIND OBLIVION. AND EVEN OBLIVION MUST END SOMEDAY. LORD, WILL YOU GRANT ME JUST A LITTLE TIME? FOR THE PROPER BALANCE OF THINGS. TO RETURN WHAT WAS GIVEN. FOR THE SAKE OF PRISONERS AND THE FLIGHT OF BIRDS.

Death took a step backwards.

It was impossible to read expression in Azrael's features.

Death glanced sideways at the servants.

LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?”

Death and the Doctor are, at heart, two of humanity's staunchest advocates, and though they do try so very hard to understand, they often miss. Just a bit, but enough.

So yes, I don't know if I like this episode. It's Reaper Man, but not as well. And I saw a lot of other Whostories mixed in: the creepy child who commands masked men, the Gallifreyan myth, the general set up.

The pacing and editing was jarring, especially the fast-cut montages and while I do enjoy Pond life, I think this episode would have been much better as a two-parter and building up the cube threat more slowly and actually making it a discernable threat rather than something that ultimately was more than a little abrupt and not entirely as well thought out as it could have been.

Also it ripped off (probably accidentally) one of my favourite books of all time. There are just too many parallels for me to ignore it, which is a shame, because I liked Pond life, I liked the little bit of the Brigette and her UNIT, but it just could have been fleshed out better. Especially as I have this horribly suspicions they were relying on the Brigette's name to engender affection from the fans.

I guess overall it's an 'eh'. I did enjoy it, even as I tallied up the Discworld similarities, but then I just - I know I could just as easily say the Shakri are like the Q, or the Organians and Talosians, but I've read Reaper Man at least once a year for eleven years. I've read it so much the binding's falling off.

Should have been a two-parter and fleshed things out better, the editing was off, they did give a lot of energy to this, but something seems awkward about it Maybe cramming a year into forty minutes isn't such a good idea guys. Should have been less Reaper Man.

It was nice. It was okay. It was average. And that is probably the most damning thing I could say about Doctor Who It shouldn't be average.

It's half past two Christmas morning in the UK, so to everyone in the Doctor Who thread, be it reader or poster, have a Merry Christmas! See you guys tomorrow for the Christmas special! Hopefully.

[Thufir]

'The Power of Three' (season 7a, ep. 4)

Well, since I screwed up my sleep pattern and got up 5 hours before I needed to, I guess I have time to read and respond to this...

Spoiler

Show

So this is all to say that I will endlessly compare this episode to Charmed. Rather: my hazy recollection of the show. You have been warned.

Number of times you actually compared episode to Charmed: 0.
I'm amused by this, especially given the length of your explanation.

Do you think TARDIS travel is addictive? Got to give it up sometime, but not today!

Yes. Definitely. Pretty much for the reasons Brian gives at the end of the episode.

Amy mumbled. I know he's still a nurse or something, but I'll be damned if I can make out what Amy just said.

The bad side of this review being months late is I can't remember what she said. And I'm not even getting the DVDs today like I usually would, because I wanted to leave it until I could get the full series.

And then Rory kisses the Doctor. Amy approves, as do I.

I... hang on. Wait.
No, I do remember this now I think of it. Well, actually no, I don't remember it, but I remember talking about it a day or two afterwards.

Fish fingers and custard. Okay look, is that actually tasty? because they're making it seem like it is, and I'm starting to want to try it.

If you like custard, maybe. Doubtless a lot of people will have already tried it and posted about it on the internet, so you can always google if you're curious.

And heart-to-heart about the Ponds possibly leaving!

Quite possibly the best bit of the episode. I probably said as much at the time. Yes, actually I remember, I said in general that I loved all of the little character moments in this episode, and they were really the important bit of it, while unfortunately the actual plot was less well developed.

This is interesting, with you running way behind on these, while you're viewing them blind, I'm reading your reviews kind of half-blind because it's been a while so I'm trying to call up vague recollections of both what happened in the episode and what I thought about it at the time based on what you're saying.

The Doctor: "For the whole of time, I will back humanity against the Shakri every time." This is the conclusion to the Picard speech about "How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty!" humanity is. It's rather moving.

...
..I know you know that's Shakespeare...

Preview Thoughts: Didn't get one with my video today!

It's here if you want to take a look.

Sounds familiar doesn't it? 'The power of Three' is mostly Reaper Man's less-interesting plot.

...
..this is one of those things that's super-obvious as soon as someone else points it out.
Although, that said, having recently re-read Reaper Man, the element of that plot which is just the snow-globes getting taken home and being left lying around was kind of interesting, because it's true, that is how humans work. It was just the whole trolley/shopping mall thing where it got weird and I just started skimming through looking for the wizards saying funny things, or skipping straight back to Death (This time, that is - obviously the first few times I read it I read the whole thing).

The pacing and editing was jarring, especially the fast-cut montages and while I do enjoy Pond life, I think this episode would have been much better as a two-parter and building up the cube threat more slowly and actually making it a discernable threat rather than something that ultimately was more than a little abrupt and not entirely as well thought out as it could have been.

Pretty sure several of us said exactly the same thing when discussing this episode shortly after it was broadcast.

It was nice. It was okay. It was average. And that is probably the most damning thing I could say about Doctor Who It shouldn't be average.

This I would disagree with. I mean, maybe it might be considered average on average (Surely there must be a better way I could have phrased that), but the existence of the worse bits does not lessen the quality of the great bits. It's again like Reaper Man in that respect - Cubes=snowglobes is a bit lacklustre, especially in resolution; Doctor=Death is amazing and has some incredibly touching moments.

It's half past two Christmas morning in the UK, so to everyone in the Doctor Who thread, be it reader or poster, have a Merry Christmas! See you guys tomorrow for the Christmas special! Hopefully.

Merry Christmas! Ooh, ten and a half hours to the Christmas Special...

[dps]

Also, who's directing?

Saul Metzstein.

I'm excited, but also a bit worried. If it's bad, it's not just a bad episode, it's a bad introduction for the new companion. It's after 2 AM here now, so I'll find out in less than 24 hours.

[Kato]

Well, first: Merry Christmas to all of you! I'm afraid I won't be able to watch the new Christmas Special on time so I'll have to stay away from here for a while, I guess.

Regarding "Power of Three"
Spoilers for smaller reasons.

Spoiler

Show

Haha, I never made that connection to Charmed But it was a decent enough show back when I was young. Though I don't think it would keep up to my nostalgia now.

...
..I know you know that's Shakespeare...

I don't know who this Shakespeare person is. Clearly Sir Patrick Stewart could not be reciting some hardly known drama named after a Danish prince or some such. Those were the unique words of Jean-Luc Picard towards Q! Heresy!
(I guess Curly was not referring to the original because Hamlet did say it - as Picard explained - ironically where Picard used it in honesty to defend humanity.


Regarding the Reaper Man comparison: I know it seemed familiar to me. But while, yeah, there are quite a few similarities weren't the events in Reaper Man merely accidental due to the overflow of life energy along with the lots of undead rather than the Auditors doing? But overall, yes, there are quite a lot of things that seem similar, probably too much for it to be an accident. Than again the "humans are the vermin of the universe" thing is pretty common and many shows have used it at some point along with a "How noble in reason" speech or something similar given by a human or humanity's protector. So... it's a pretty standard scenario.



And the overall conclusion... I think it's the fandom's general opinion. Apart from the few who couldn't stand the episode at all. (Though I would have liked the episode without any threat at all, just being comedic life of the Ponds)

[Friv]

Another Curly review!

Overall, Curly, I do agree with your summary. However, I have one tiny, little comment for you.

Spoiler

Show

Okay, look, that house is enormous, and they're keeping it on the combined wages of a writer and a nurse. No. That house is legitimately bigger than the one I live in. It cost roughly forty grand in 1999 and we finally paid the mortgage off in about 2010. After my dad worked one hundred and forty plus hours a week for forty-seven weeks of the year. In case my maths is wrong, he was home for one and a half days a week. If we were lucky.

And our house is a pit. The bathroom plumbing leaks something awful, the room is always stone cold, it has no garden, the roof leaks, we only have four bedrooms because the bathroom is now a bedroom that can also function perfectly as a fridge etcetera etcetera. It's a little terrace house built in the 1880s, so it looks to be about the same age as the the Ponds' residence; but it also clearly has large, open plan rooms with a large kitchen, living room and master bedroom that looks to be half again as large as ours.

Even without four children, and four (then three) pets as a drain of your resources I sincerely doubt the Ponds could live there so comfortably on their wages. An RN's average salary is £24 727, and I couldn't find one for a travel journalist given the job market, but let's say £17 000. A three-bedroom terraced house with garden similar to the Ponds' home in Cornwall would be between £300 000 and £745 000. So in London or another large city I think I can be reasonably certain the house would cost around half a million pounds to buy. The rent would be similarly prohibitive.

Logic. Bleh.

Spoiler

Show

The Doctor bought the house for Amy and Rory, along with a new car, at the end of The God Complex. They may or may not have to pay taxes on it, depending on shenanigans, but they didn't have to pay the mortgage and they didn't have to pay the original price, so they can probably handle the taxes on two salaries.

[Androgeus]

Well I enjoyed it.

Spoiler

Show

Good tie in to some classics there with the great intelligence, made a "are they doing this?" connection when they named it the intelligence.

[Sunken Valley]

Review: Now obviously this episode is truly terrible, further proof that Christmas Specials are not the best Dr Who episodes...Scratch that. I liked it! Shock!

The Snowmen

Spoiler

Show

Stuff I like

Spoiler

Show

Also given http://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/sci...companion.html this, I will make a prediction. She will not join as a companion. Instead she will keep appearing in every episode as a new character (with Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS as a companion-lite). This will be revealed in the finale that all the characters were different people. The real JLC is in the finale and the Doctor is seeing imprints of her through time on top of other characters. How she performs this, I’m not sure, but it will be something either really stupid or really clever.

Why am I quoting this? Because. Suspected as such. Given the preview: I think Clara 3might survive and join the Doctor. I still stand that all Clara's are made by Coleman Prime in Episode 13.

Ian MacKellan is the great intelligence? From one Old One to Another. Suspected for a while but I thought it was too big a spoiler to say before Christmas Eve. Maybe we'll see him again. Maybe he blew up the TARDIS! Yog Sothoth blows up the TARDIS. Calling it.

Clara 1892. I liked her. She's a curious tag along. And I like that they gave her a proper character unlike Amy.

New Intro. I like. Its more like Classic Who with 11's face.

Evil Snowmen! That will give nightmares.

Liked how they explained everything. They rarely do in Moffat eps.

Killing the companion! I do like it when Who has the guts to confront death properly.

When the Doctor impersonated Sherlock, a variant of his theme from the Moffat show came up.

Stuff I Did Not Like

Spoiler

Show

• Who blew up the TARDIS and how
• What are the Silence: religious order or species
• If the former, what are those things
• What do the Silence want
• Fields of Trenzalore
• Dr Who?
• And now who is Clara

Juggling too many plot threads. That’s a dangerous game. Sooner or later something will be brushed to one side. Hopefully the “fanboy pleasing” episode will answer these.

Everything I said about the Doctor moping was sadly confirmed.

Why could the Doctor not erase Clara’s mind himself? He’s done it before.

Furthermore, erasing someone’s mind with the worm is a bit cruel.

When the Doctor gave Clara the key, it was obvious she was going to die.

The Doctor calling Strax stupid and short legged. Ableist or encouraging Ableist behaviour to real short legged people.

What if Clara had not said Pond?

8/10. Its mainly not a 9 because I know I will find some gripe with it later that will lower my review score retroactively.

[Michaeler]

My new holiday wish is to hear a certain actor from the latest episode read Vaarsuvius' speech from this strip.

Mind virus warning: You will start reading that panel in his voice.