Doctor Who Thread VI: "The Very Model of a Gallifreyan Buccaneer" [SPOILERS]

[Thufir]

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIdDXQ2h1Pc)

For the discussion of Doctor Who.

First thread.
Second thread.
Third thread.
Fourth thread.
Fifth thread.

Obviously the primary topic of discussion is the current series or whatever's coming up next (NEW SERIES! NEW DOCTOR!), but discussion of past series, both of Nu Who and Classic Who is also a thing which happens quite a bit.

Current archive of reviews by regular thread-posters (updated sometimes)

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Dr. Simon's Highlights of Each Season

Classic Who (Doctors One to Eight)

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First Doctor

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Season One (1963-1964)
Season Two (1964-1965)
Season Three (1965-1966)
Season Four (1966-1967)

Second Doctor

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Season Four (1966-1967)
Season Five (1967-1968)
Season Six (1968-1969)

Third Doctor

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Season Seven (1970)
Season Eight (1971)
Season Nine (1972)
Season Ten (1972-1973)
Season Eleven (1973-1974)

Fourth Doctor

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Season Twelve (1974-1975)
Season Thirteen (1975-1976)
Season Fourteen (1976-1977)
Season Fifteen (1977-1978)
Season Sixteen (1978-1979)
Season Seventeen (1979-1980)
Season Eighteen (1980-1981)

Fifth Doctor

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Season Nineteen (1981-1982)
Season Twenty (1983)
Season Twenty One (1984)

Sixth Doctor

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Season Twenty Two (1985)
Season Twenty Three (1986)

Seventh Doctor

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Season Twenty Four (1987)
Season Twenty Five (1988)
Season Twenty Six (1989)

Eighth Doctor

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TV Movie (1996)

New Series (Doctors Nine to Eleven)

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Ninth Doctor

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Series One (2005)

Tenth Doctor

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Series 2 (2006)
Series 3 (2007)
Series 4 & Specials (2008-2010)

Eleventh Doctor

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Series 5 (2010)

Koorly's Doctor Who Review Archive:

Classic Who

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Second Doctor

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Season 5
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. 'The Web of Fear' 1/6
6.
7.
Season 6
1:
2:
3: '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
4:
5:
6:
7:

Fourth Doctor

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

Sixth Doctor

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Series 22
4: ‘The Two Doctors’ 1/3, 2/3, 3/3

Seventh Doctor

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

Nu Who

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Season 1 - retrospective

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

Christmas Episode: 'The Christmas Invasion'

Season 2 - retrospective

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

Season 3 - blind bar Moffat

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1: 'Smith and Jones'
2: 'The Shakespeare Code'
3: 'Gridlock'
4: 'Daleks in Manhattan' (1/2)
5: 'Evolution of the Daleks' (2/2)
6: 'The Lazarus Experiment'
7: '42'
8: 'Human Nature' (1/2)
9: 'The Family of Blood' (2/2)
10: 'Blink'
11: 'Utopia' (1/3)
12: 'The Sound of the Drums' (2/3)
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

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1: 'Partners in Crime'
2: 'The Fires of Pompeii'
3: 'Planet of the Ood'
4: 'The Sontaran Stratagem' (1/2)
5: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11748813&postcount=75“]‘The Poison Sky‘[/URL] (2/2)
6: ‘The Doctor‘s Daughter‘ Two part review.
7: 'The Unicorn and the Wasp'
8: 'Silence in the Library' (1/2)
9: 'Forest of the Dead' (2/2)
10: 'Midnight'
11: 'Turn Left' (1/3)
12: 'The Stolen Earth' (2/3)
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

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

Season 6

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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.
1: 'The Impossible Astronaut' (1/2)
2: 'Day of the Moon' (2/2)
3: 'The Curse of the Black Spot'
4: 'The Doctor's Wife' HELL YEAH!
5: 'The Rebel Flesh' (1/2)
6: 'The Almost People' (2/2)
7: 'A Good Man Goes to War'
8: 'Let's Kill Hitler'
9: 'Night Terrors'
10: 'The Girl Who Waited'
11: 'The God Complex'
12: 'Closing Time'
13: 'The Wedding of River Song'

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

Season 7

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Liveblogged unless otherwise mentioned.
1: 'Asylum of the Daleks'
2: 'Dinosaurs On A Spaceship'
3: 'A Town Called Mercy'
4: 'The Power of Three'
5: 'The Muppets Take Manhattan'
'P.S.'
'The Great Detective' CiN minisode
'Vastra Investigates' minisode
2012 Christmas episode: 'The Snowman'
6: 'The Bells of St. John' (and 'Prequel')
7: 'The Rings of Akhaten'
8: 'Cold War'
9: 'Hide'
10: 'Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS'
11: 'The Crimson Horror'
12: 'Nightmare in Silver'
13: 'The Name of the Doctor'

Fiftieth anniversary
Docudrama thingy: An Adventure in Space and Time
Minisode: 'Night of the Doctor'
Special: 'Day of the Doctor'

2013 Christmas special: 'The Time of the Doctor'

Odds and Sods

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Things that don't really fit anywhere.

'Good As Gold' Second Blue Peter scriptwriting competition for Doctor Who
The Lost Episodes: A Very Brief History

An Interesting Question Via 'Fan Mail'


Sunken Valley's Reviews

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Series 6B
Let's Kill Hitler
Night Terrors
The Girl Who Waited
God Complex
Closing Time
The Wedding of River Song
The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
Good As Gold

Series 7
Asylum of The Daleks
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
Power Of Three
Angels Take Manhattan
The Snowmen

Friv's Reviews

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SEASON ONE

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Spearhead From Space:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four

The Silurians:
Part One
Parts Two And Three
Part Four
Parts Five And Six
Part Seven

Inferno:
Part One
Part Two

SEASON TWO

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Inferno:
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven

Finally, to quote River Song: "Spoilers." Obviously this thread is for discussing the series, so spoilers will abound. That said, I would ask that discussion of each new episode be spoilered for a day or so after the English broadcast, to allow for Americans being in a different time zone and people lagging a bit behind.
If you're aware of people in-thread who haven't seen certain episodes further back than what's currently being broadcast, you may wish to spoiler things for their benefit (e.g. we refer to Curly-spoilers as 'Curlers' since she's a prolific reviewer), but such things are left to your discretion and those people should be aware they risk spoilers by reading this thread.

If anyone thinks there should be any additional resources or whatever in this OP, suggest them in-thread. Discussion may now resume!

Current series stuff:
All the episode titles, writers and directors.

[Androgeus]

I think our sixith thread needs a proper Sixth Doctor Entrance.

[Sunken Valley]

I'm back! sorry for having gone so long! Didn't check old thread, has someone posted the full episode title list yet? Does anyone want it? See you tonight!

[factotum]

Just watched episode 1, not greatly impressed:

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They recycled half the plot from "Girl in the Fireplace", even making reference to the fact they were doing so. I also thought the Victorian detective team were over-used already, so them appearing again wasn't very welcome. Lastly, the T-Rex was just ridiculously oversized--judging it against the Big Ben clock tower, it was around 20-30 times larger than any real T-Rex would be.

Liked the Matt Smith cameo, though.

[Avaris]

New thread, new episode, new doctor!

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Firstly: I like Capaldi. I think his Doctor is going a good way, and I like how they seem to be acknowledging past problems, particularly "I'm not your boyfriend... I didn't say the mistake was yours". No Doctor/Companion romance. THANK YOU. Also for being convinced he'd seen the face before: looking forward to the inevitable revisit to pompeii.

HOWEVER the episode held together poorly. The dinosaur was unnecessary and didn't add anything, and ridiculously large... I guess it was in the river? Didn't see or hear any splashes or anything. Also, calling back to the Girl in the Fireplace doesn't work... the Madame de Pompedour robots only went after Madame de Pompedour because of the name! Makes no sense to suddenly always want people pieces! And I guess the 'Deep breath' thing was supposed to be the main point of the episode, as in hold your breath? Didn't get it across very well to be the title of the episode...

Also half feel I'm looking for the sexist undertones in Moffat's writing now... 'Control freak' argument? Really? We're having this as a scene?

In all, weak episode, strong Doctor. Cautiously optimistic for the rest.

[Androgeus]

In a shocking development, I loved it. (Note: this should come as no surprise as I enjoy nearly everything)

[Starscream]

Overall, I liked it.

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Capaldi did a great job. I took to Matt Smith right away, he's my favorite Doctor since Tom Baker, so Capaldi had an uphill battle to impress me, but he pulled it off. Little darker, little morally ambiguous, seems like he'll be fascinating to watch. Looking forward to more of him. Smith's cameo was very nice as well.

They seem to be taking Clara in a somewhat different direction, which is probably for the best. I flinched a little at how...catty she got at times, but I think I see what they are going for. My two favorite companions of the modern series were Donna and Amy, both ladies with a 'tude who weren't afraid to get a little pissed off. Much better than the two who were just straight up in love with the Doctor, and made worshipful puppy eyes at him. Clara last season seemed like a hybrid of these traits, since she was sassy at times, but also could have a flat personality and clearly fancied the Doctor. I think they are trying to take her in a more Donna-ish direction, but to do that they had to first "sink the ship", and to do that they had to at least acknowledge that him being less pretty was a factor. We'll see how she turns out.

The weakest aspect was the story. It wasn't awful, and it had moments I really liked, but I kind of felt like it really didn't matter. Like it would have been better if they had just made this a purely character focused story, with the new Doctor interacting with Clara and the Victorian crew, but this is a scifi action show, and you can't have an episode without some alien menace to be thwarted. I like Vastra, Jenny and Strax, but I think they've been showing up too often. I would really prefer it if they had a reason to be there instead of "The Doctor randomly lands in Victorian London so guess who". Villain was a bit interesting, kind of a Cyberman in reverse who is losing his robotic nature as he becomes more human, but it didn't amount to much. He survives, though, so maybe he'll do more in the future.

And as others have said, that freaking dinosaur was huge and distracting. Does Moffat think Godzilla was a real creature?

[afroakuma]

I think this episode suggests that their HR department get a pat on the back and a kick in the rear.

Capaldi is fantastic; I had a hard time keeping track of the character being written, but he owns the screen and conveys so much depth with so little effort.

Moffat needs to be fired post-haste.

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• Plot recycling from his own (superior) episode to try to gain fan sympathy
• The phone call literally telling fans "stick with this"
• Now-chronic overuse of Vastra, Jenny and Strax
• Still-present inability to write in a way that doesn't feel misogynistic and sexist
• Spending an extra-long episode just throwing nonsense at the wall to see what sticks
• Not just in plot but in characterization

Seriously it's like they've found the application of the Peter Principle to creative works.

[Soras Teva Gee]

Liked it well enough, except for the title theme animation that was a bit rubbish and its going to bug me all season. Oh well nothing to do about that..

Not quite the triumphant entry Eleven had for the obvious point of comparison... but then Eleven was also rather full of himself so being lower key is probably a good thing in the long run. I don't really like Ten's from back in the day and while kinda sideways Nine's first episode was more just okay in my book.

Spoiler: A correction for those confused on sizing.

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Vastra explicitly gave us the handwave that she remembers dinosaurs being that size and Jenny disagreed with her citing fossil. Who do you believe the dinosaur woman or science?

Clearly the dinosaur woman, she was there and science wasn't.

Also I liked the dino, way to open in style. If only they could have left it there in the Thames until the end of the episode.

Spoiler: And for the last bit with the woman...

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So low hanging fruits would be either a new character, the Rani, or an evil Romana maybe?

Any other guesses? Master regened into a woman?

[afroakuma]

the title theme animation that was a bit rubbish and its going to bug me all season

I feel like I'll get used to it... but it's not what I wanted at all.

Not quite the triumphant entry Eleven had for the obvious point of comparison... but then Eleven was also rather full of himself so being lower key is probably a good thing in the long run. I don't really like Ten's from back in the day and while kinda sideways Nine's first episode was more just okay in my book.

To be fair, Eleven was the first one of them to actually get a true intro episode. Nine was sort of an event that kept occurring, and Ten was in bed. Might be the problem with this one; it came off too "plot-y" when you knew it didn't really matter, which kept getting in the way.

[Teron]

The dinosaur is typical of Moffat: he thinks it's cool, so in it goes, regardless of whether it makes any sense or serves any purpose.

I think I like Capaldi, but I'm sick of Moffat. Hopefully we'll at least get good stand-alone stories from other writers.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Spoiler: And for the last bit with the woman...

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So low hanging fruits would be either a new character, the Rani, or an evil Romana maybe?

Any other guesses? Master regened into a woman?

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Given the whole "re-using plot points from previous seasons" thing, my current guess is that it's either River Song or Rose, the former because she's going backwards relative to the Doctor and knows how things should turn out, the latter because they just can't leave Bad Wolf Rose well enough alone.

[HeadlessMermaid]

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Given the whole "re-using plot points from previous seasons" thing, my current guess is that it's either River Song or Rose, the former because she's going backwards relative to the Doctor and knows how things should turn out, the latter because they just can't leave Bad Wolf Rose well enough alone.

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Where would Rose get a new body? More to the point, who in the audience would care for a Rose in a new body? This isn't the Master (an important character, no matter what shape he's in), it's a companion (an important character exactly because it's a human - what you see is what you get).

As for River, technically it's not impossible, but dear god I hope not.

[Friv]

My own thoughts - overall, I liked it, but not without some serious mixed feelings.

Spoiler: My Thoughts

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Capaldi is, as expected, great, and he's got a solid back-and-forth with Jenna Coleman that should work out well for as long as she's around. And I am enjoying this incarnation of the Doctor so far. Reminds me more of 1 and 7, with a darker attitude but still the Doctor's goals. The Vastra Trio is getting overused, but I also like them, so I'm happy to have them around.

The clockwork people remain cool, even if (as with the Angels) this appearance doesn't remotely synch up with their previous appearance. They frankly work better as a "this is just a thing tech from that century can do" than as a literal sister ship.

The "Clara is uncertain" plot was as dumb as a bag of hammers. She has literally seen and interacted with every incarnation of the Doctor. That's what happened when she fell into his timestream, which was really recently. If anyone is going to weather a change of Doctors, it should be her. And they leaned on it really, really heavily, too.

Spoiler: And for the last bit with the woman...

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So low hanging fruits would be either a new character, the Rani, or an evil Romana maybe?

Any other guesses? Master regened into a woman?

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Given the whole "re-using plot points from previous seasons" thing, my current guess is that it's either River Song or Rose, the former because she's going backwards relative to the Doctor and knows how things should turn out, the latter because they just can't leave Bad Wolf Rose well enough alone.

Spoiler: The Woman

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I'm 95% voting for it being the Master. She gave her name as "Missy", which is basically just a short-form of The Mistress, she's dancing around like a madwoman, and she's making jokes about the Doctor being in love with her.

[Starscream]

Spoiler: My Thoughts

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The "Clara is uncertain" plot was as dumb as a bag of hammers. She has literally seen and interacted with every incarnation of the Doctor. That's what happened when she fell into his timestream, which was really recently. If anyone is going to weather a change of Doctors, it should be her. And they leaned on it really, really heavily, too.

Spoiler: Clara theories

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Does she remember doing that, though? I mean, I guess she knows it happened in a general sense, but does she actually remember the experiences of all the other Claras throughout the timestream?

From what we saw in "Asylum of the Daleks" and "The Snowmen", each Clara was their own person with their own life, death, and story, and no knowledge of being any other Clara. Neither Victorian Clara or Oswin knew they were a 21st century girl who jumped into the Doctor's timeline, they were just themselves, girls with their own life stories that just happened to end with them meeting the Doctor, helping him, and then dying. It seems likely that they had some sort of moment of claraty (seewhatididthere) upon dying, since they delivered the same last words, but other than they they were independent beings.

If "our" Clara remembers all of that, it leads to some very big questions. For example, one life we caught a glimpse of was her on Gallifrey, convincing the Doctor to steal the right Tardis. So does Clara have all the memories of living as a Time Lady, with centuries of lifespan and vast scientific knowledge, and maybe even other regenerations of her own? Probably not, she seems to have exactly the knowledge that a human girl from the 21st century possesses.

[Soras Teva Gee]

The dinosaur is typical of Moffat: he thinks it's cool, so in it goes, regardless of whether it makes any sense or serves any purpose.

Its purpose as such is adding a big spectacle to the beginning and showing how off-kilter things were. And it does it well.

They just kinda... well she deserved a better ending.

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Where would Rose get a new body? More to the point, who in the audience would care for a Rose in a new body? This isn't the Master (an important character, no matter what shape he's in), it's a companion (an important character exactly because it's a human - what you see is what you get).

As for River, technically it's not impossible, but dear god I hope not.

Yeah both of those are really bad, I'll stick to my guesses.

My own thoughts - overall, I liked it, but not without some serious mixed feelings.

Spoiler: My Thoughts

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The "Clara is uncertain" plot was as dumb as a bag of hammers. She has literally seen and interacted with every incarnation of the Doctor. That's what happened when she fell into his timestream, which was really recently. If anyone is going to weather a change of Doctors, it should be her. And they leaned on it really, really heavily, too.

Yeah that subplot doesn't quite work. And beyond the logical issue I think Moffat misread his audience there, since I think Capaldi has been sold since he was announced. No need to sell him, he sells himself nicely without help thank you very much.

Maybe there's more ambivalence out in the more casual crowd?

Spoiler: The Woman

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I'm 95% voting for it being the Master. She gave her name as "Missy", which is basically just a short-form of The Mistress, she's dancing around like a madwoman, and she's making jokes about the Doctor being in love with her.

I didn't catch that but if so that would seem fairly suggestive.

[Psyren]

I loved it! And the part where Clara

Spoiler: Epic Clara Rant

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tore Jenny and Vastra a new one for thinking she was just another lovestruck companion

was my favorite part of the whole episode.

So does anyone think the Doctor pushed?

[turkishproverb]

Spoiler: The Woman

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I'm 95% voting for it being the Master. She gave her name as "Missy", which is basically just a short-form of The Mistress, she's dancing around like a madwoman, and she's making jokes about the Doctor being in love with her.

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MIsssy, and Mistress, dances around another character even more. Romana, called that frequently by the Tin Dog.

[Psyren]

My own thoughts - overall, I liked it, but not without some serious mixed feelings.

Spoiler: My Thoughts

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The "Clara is uncertain" plot was as dumb as a bag of hammers. She has literally seen and interacted with every incarnation of the Doctor. That's what happened when she fell into his timestream, which was really recently. If anyone is going to weather a change of Doctors, it should be her. And they leaned on it really, really heavily, too.

I disagree, this is exactly why it DID work. I'd say you're looking at it backwards - the fact that she has seen every incarnation thus far and still found this one unsettling speaks volumes. It means Capaldi's portrayal, as they've been hinting at for months, is going to be darker and far less agreeable than the last 11-12 have been.

In other words, you're right - if anyone should be able to weather this, it should be her. The question you should be asking is, why isn't she?

[BWR]

So far I quite like Capaldi. I was glad to see a bit of age in the Doctor again. Definite nods to both Bakers' regenerations. Liking that they gave him a Scottish accent and his not-quite-Third final dress. I don't think Capaldi could pull off velvet and ruffles the way Pertwee could, but the general design seems far more sober and elegant than anything since his day.

Clara is cute but I don't like her character. Her personality is fine, it's just the whole Impossible Girl **** that Moffat had to do with her. Maybe it's just me waxing nostalgic but none of the nuWho companions have much appeal to me. No one is as cool as many of the oldWHo companions, apart from Harkness, who was all kinds of awesome. I liked Martha best,and Amy was ok until they turned Doctor Who into the Amy and Rory Show.
The Victorian trio are an abomination. Strax should be shot. He isn't remotely funny, his existance mocks everything about the Sontarans and he is apparantly brain-damaged because I have no other way of explaining how ignorant and wrong he is. Not to mention his gun isn't powerful enough to put down crappy meat-bots that are about as scary as D&D zombies. Heck, everyone else was doing better with swords because swords.


The first episode was pretty bad. Bland recycled plot, pointless stuff put in there because 'cool' (dionsaur!), annoying humans, and ridiculously stupid robots and weaknesses. The only redeeming feature is Capaldi. I like the new opening, which is far more DW than any of the nuWho openings so far, and the TARDIS interior is looking better than it has since oldWho days. Still a ways to go, but far better than it has been for years. I can only hope that the woman we saw at the end was the Rani or someone similar, but I have a feeling it will be something Moffatian and stupid like the Doctor's long lost time twin from another dimension with gender swap or the time echo of Clara's impossible girl stunt twisted by jealousy or something.


I never thought I'd want to see RTD return, but the way Moffat has been running the show is making me think we were better off before. Moffat should be given some stand-alone episodes. He can do good stuff when he wants to, but he's been crap at running the series.

[Timeras]

To me the episode was fun to watch, but nothing special. An average episode of a good show.

About some of the points that have been adressed so far:

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Clara didn't have problems with the change itself. Her problem was the specific result of this particular change. It is absolutely reasonable for a person to like some incarnations but not all of them.
And remember that the other Claras were not companions. They just met the Doctor at some pint in their lives. Even if this Clara remembers them, that doesn't make her an expert on regeneration. For example she has no way of knowing that the Doctor doesn't start each incarnation in a young body (which was part of her confusion) or that he is not quite himself for a time.

The dinosaur not playing a bigger part didn't bother me. It was just there to draw the protagonist's attention to the cobustions. "Deep Breath" simply wasn't a story about a dinosaur in London. Making the creature bigger was unnecessary but made te story neither better nor worse.

Despite the parallels I never hat the feeling of watching a recycled old plot. The villains were reused, but not the story.

[DJ Yung Crunk]

So how was it?

[LokeyITP]

I'm pretty meh on this ep, as you can see above Soras likes and Sunken Valley is always 180 from me :)

It's ok. Too much recycled, hard to believe this is the guy that wrote 11th Hour and such. Acting, dialog and production are fine. Cinematography is a bit weird (DW is shot hand-held a lot, but this really looks it which isn't normal), expect better from DW. First time DW director, imdb says he's up for next week as well.

Still optimistic about Capaldi, he was fine, but found myself missing Smith's energy. Don't think there's enough there to be sure where he's (and writers/directors) want to take his doctor yet.

ETA: ok, 18 months of complaining Clara doesn't have any character--turns out that was a good thing :) Ep isn't really clear about timing, but even if this is 5 minutes after last season's ending, definitely something weird there.

[theNater]

My fellow whovians, I need your help.

As we all know, Doctor Who has always had significant variance in terms of the quality of the episodes. This unfortunately resulted in some of my family members bailing on Nu Who quite early in its run. However, I was recently able to corner them for long enough to make them watch Blink, after which they asked if maybe I could provide a list of...shall we say..."high-priority" episodes. I thought that was a good idea, but it's not a list I can assemble on my own. So I'm hoping that together, we can work our way through Nu Who, probably a season at a time, and see what we think belongs on the list.

I know episode quality is highly subjective, so to keep discussion organized, I want to be on the look out for three key elements for recommendations(with examples from Blink):

Vital Lore: Does the episode contain important information needed for future episodes? This would be things like introducing a new kind of alien that comes back, introducing a companion or regeneration, or advancing the larger arc in a significant way. Blink, of course, introduces the weeping angels.

Brilliant Moments: Does the episode have a particular scene, line, or special effect that is breathtaking? Note that rendering one unable to breathe for laughing and/or crying counts. These are the quotable lines, or the individual scenes you sometimes watch by themselves(or rewatch the episode just to see the one scene). The timey-wimey ball speech is the go-to example.

Solid Showing: Does the episode maintain quality and atmosphere throughout, and does the story work? Admittedly, I sometimes come at this from the more negative "does the episode refrain from screwing up" angle. Blink maintains the creepy atmosphere precisely as necessary, the characters are all interesting and fun to watch, and the Doctor's plan is neatly foreshadowed and well-executed.

These are, of course, just guidelines; but I'm going to be hesitant to recommend any episode that doesn't register pretty highly on at least two of these categories.

So with that down, let's look at season one. My thoughts, as of this moment:

Rose: Probably recommend. Introduces Eccleston, Rose, Jacky, and Mickey; "run for your life" and his speech about whizzing through the galaxy on a little blue ball are great moments. Story's a little choppy, and the villains are pretty awkward overall.

The End of the World: Probably not recommend. The introduction of Cassandra is really about all it's got going for it, and she's not that significant a lore element.

The Unquiet Dead: Not sure. I don't remember this one very well, which suggests it's at least okay on the solid showing criterion. Anything exciting about it?

Aliens of London/World War III: Probably not recommend. While it introduces Harriet Jones, who is all kinds of awesome, the emphasis on farting really killed the episode for me.

Dalek: Probably recommend. Daleks, the Doctor freaking right the heck out, and the steady, unstoppable advance through the bulk of the episode. Very nice.

The Long Game: Another not sure. Satellite 5 is introduced, and...that's about all I can say for it offhand. See, this is why I need help.

Father's Day: Maybe recommend. Introduces Pete Tyler, and has several emotionally powerful scenes. On the other hand, the Reapers aren't very good, and their behavior has a history of confusing people.

Empty Child/Doctor Dances: Probably recommend. Jack Harkness, Doctor dancing, "are you my mummy", "everybody lives", well-maintained atmosphere. Good times.

Boom Town: Maybe recommend. I have a personal fondness for the Doctor's dinner date with the villain, but I'm not sure there's much else there.

Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways: Probably recommend. Regeneneration, the Doctor says No, no excessive missteps in execution.

What do all y'all think? Am I being too positive on some? Too negative on others? Have I forgotten something major? Any and all input is welcome!

So how was it?

I found it invigorating. The good parts were quite good, the bad parts were pretty bad, and they all of them moved fairly fast. Really got my juices flowing, as you may have noticed.

[Avaris]

I'm thinking on this episode a bit, and have a fairly clear idea of how I would rewrite it, which serves as an interesting look on what worked/didn't in my opinion.

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- cut the dinosaur, it didn't add anything. A dinosaur in Victorian london deserves to be its own episode... You could have big game hunters and the army involved at the very least!
- keep post regeneration confused Doctor, and Clara being unsure about him. Good way of showing new personality, particularly the tramp scene (though that was a bit long)
- main plot should be the doctor investigating the spontaneous combustions in parallel to vastra. He's convinced it's aliens, and is disappointed when it seems to be just people... Then its Robots!
- play up the 'hold your breath' element. Have someone else be captured alongside Clara (not the Doctor) and have them fail to hold it long enough, so get killed. Up the stakes a little. Maybe have a reason other than just 'there are stupid robots' as the reason to hold breath... Gas or needing to swim maybe?
- if you have to have the final fight, have it in a wider space. There is no way clara & co could have survived being so hemmed in against a larger force which doesn't feel pain. Or maybe have them defeat group one, only for a larger group to show up. Uh oh, can't beat them, need to hold breath as plan B! It was stupid how holding breath suddenly made the robots already fighting stop... You know what else doesn't breath? Dead people! So those people you were fighting must have died, time to harvest their organs!
- keep the scenes with the doctor and the lead robot in the restaurant, but have them actually sit down for a drink rather than just fighting at the doorway. Get a bit more backstory, and don't link to the girl in the fireplace: these robots are quite different IMO. Maybe have them be created by someone who saw the cyberking in the previous victorian london ep? Nice flip on the cyberman thing... Cybermen are humans changing to robots, this is going the other way!

[Androgeus]

Spoiler: On The Dino

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Apparently Moffat just thought up a bizarre way that the Doctor could enter the episode and came up with a t-rex vomiting the TARDIS on to the Thames, and then wrote the rest of the episode

Spoiler: on 'Missy'

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When Michelle Gomez's casting was revealed, it was said that she would be playing the "Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere". Now this could just all be smokescreen to cover whoever she is actually playing, but it still a bit of info no one had brought up yet

[Avaris]

season 1 episodes. I'd probably go with the following:

Rose: Yes. designed as introduction, meet both the Doctor and Rose (and Micky!)

End of the World: No. Cool effects and sci-fi stuff, but not really a vital ep.

The Unquiet Dead: maybe. good ghost story, introduces the idea of the time war and bad wolf, has Charles Dickens. You need 'filler' episodes I think, and I recall this being a good self contained story.

AoL/WW3: no, for the reasons you give really!

Dalek: yes, because Dalek

The Long Game: maybe. It introduces satellite 5, but I mostly think you need it for the fate of Adam, who joined the Tardis in Dalek. It would be odd for him to just disappear!

Father's Day: maybe. good stand alone. Could cut either this or Unquiet Dead though

Empty Child/Doctor Dances: yes. Captain Jack, scary monsters, everything Who should be

Boom town: no. Doesn't work without the previous slitheen episodes. I can't actually remember anything about it beyond the dinner date!

Bad wolf/parting of the ways: reluctant yes, if only because of its narrative importance.

So to sum up, you definately need Rose, Empty Child/Doctor Dances and Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways to get the character introductions and season plot making sense. Of the others, pick and choose from Unquiet Dead, Dalek and Father's Day. Bare in mind that Dalek may require the Long Game to follow as it includes the fate of someone who was briefly on the Tardis.

Edit: though if the people watching have already seen some nu who, you can probably cut Rose

[Ebon_Drake]

Overall, I liked it. I'm not fully on-board with the new doctor yet, but Capaldi is a hell of an actor and I expect his Doctor will grow on me once he's past the post-regen confusion and has settled in more. The plot was fine in my opinion, it was nothing ground-breaking and had plenty of holes, but it was sufficiently creepy and I suppose it gave the characters something to do. I continue to like Vastra and Jenny, but I could probably do with them not showing up for a while. They could also really do with some half-decent fight training/choreography, the sword "fight" at the end was embarrassing. If Strax could just go away, that'd be appreciated too.

Liked it well enough, except for the title theme animation that was a bit rubbish and its going to bug me all season. Oh well nothing to do about that..

It's a fan-made sequence from Youtube. Seriously.

Spoiler: And for the last bit with the woman...

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So low hanging fruits would be either a new character, the Rani, or an evil Romana maybe?

Any other guesses? Master regened into a woman?

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My first thought was the Rani, but I'd be 100% down with a regenerated, gender-swapped Master.

As BWR said, I expect no matter who she is Moffat will load it down with about 26 layers of needlessly convoluted nonsense.

[Brother Oni]

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My first thought was the Rani, but I'd be 100% down with a regenerated, gender-swapped Master.

As BWR said, I expect no matter who she is Moffat will load it down with about 26 layers of needlessly convoluted nonsense.

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Jenny with serious daddy issues?

On a separate note:

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I'm wondering if the eyebrows comment was in reference was to his 1 second cameo in the special?

[Androgeus]

On a separate note:

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I'm wondering if the eyebrows comment was in reference was to his 1 second cameo in the special?

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apparently the scripts no longer say "the Doctor looks angry/annoyed" they just say "eyebrows"