GAH!! Capaldi can do so much more with the Dr if the writing weren't so bad! The caretaker was just LAZY.
Without going into spoilers, a couple of points:
- Danny = great addition. His analysis of the situation was remarkably apt, as was his response (except at the end perhaps)
- Clara: in light of Danny's analysis, she seems increasingly redundant, and ... ignorant.
- Tacked on scene at the end: we're back to that? Seriously? A separate story arc to "tie the series together" that the doctor is ignorant of and will only engage with at the end? Imagination fail.
- The Doctor: This was the first time I didn't like him. I just don't GET where they are going with his character, so his responses seem unbalanced and a bit OTT. But I think it's the writing letting him down.
I know it was a character episode, but this is a show about ALIENS! At least make them good ones. This one wasn't even trying.
Next week is not written by Moffatt! (Possible) reprieve!!
Re missing something thread:
I hope we've had too much of the whole boyfriend/girlfriend companions as its been done to death. I liked classic Who where the companions had more tension between them, as this created some great storytelling.
On Time Heist
I haven't seen it confirmed that Missy is the woman in the shop, but it probably wont be long before it is
S8 Ep6: The Caretaker
“The Caretaker†is only the fourth or fifth best Doctor Who story centred on a school… but given that three of the others are “Remembrance Of The Daleksâ€, “School Reunion†and “Human Natureâ€, that’s no disgrace. Neither is it the best of Gareth Roberts’s trio of tales which place the Doctor in a very domestic setting: “The Lodger†is a bit of a modern classic, and had surprise on its side, so it remains, by a shade, the best of the three. Using the format a third time was a bit of a risk, but “The Caretaker†though.
The most intriguing thing about the episode is that it shows us yet another side of the Doctor: something you can only describe as bigotry. And no, that’s not a reference to the fact that the Doctor treated Rose’s boyfriend equally badly… (though come to think of it, that’s a tiny bit awkward, isn’t it?) The Doctor dismisses Danny Pink purely because he’s a soldier, as if he’s incapable of being anything other than a mindless killing machine (or, worse, a PE teacher).
Even though the revived series has repeatedly emphasised the Doctor’s disdain for the military mind-set, this is still pretty shocking. Open-mindedness is one of the Doctor’s key credos: he doesn’t meet a strange-looking alien creature and automatically assume that it’s an evil monster, and he shouldn’t be judgemental about categories of people either. Has he forgotten about his decades-long friendship with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart?
I enjoyed the episode, but it just felt a little 'off'. Though we do get a further clue to Danny’s secret: he says that he “knows what it’s like†to be pushed too far (presumably by an officer). Add this to the tears when asked if he’s ever killed a civilian, and the sly references to him being a “lady killerâ€â€¦ maybe he accidentally shot a woman while on duty in Afghanistan?
Did you spot the references?
The Doctor invites Clara to meet the Fish People; he encountered them before (assuming he’s talking about the same race), in 1967’s “The Underwater Menaceâ€.
Coal Hill’s motto is “A Spirit Of Adventure†– a nod to a line of Doctor dialogue from 1964’s “The Sensoritesâ€. Looking back on his adventures, he says to companion Ian, “It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it’s turned out to be quite a great spirit of adventure, don’t you think?†This makes perfect sense, given that (according to a sign seen in “The Day Of The Doctorâ€) Ian is the Chairman of the governors at Coal Hill.
I'm really really sorry but...
(spoilers for Kill the Moon)
I was bored. It felt rushed, like it should have been a two-parter, and when the moon finally did crack open - we saw the creature for a nanosecond. I have a work colleague who is a massive Who fan (reminds me a lot of you DO) and he's recommended that I watch some Sylvestor McCoy episodes in the wake of Kill the Moon - I can't remember exactly what he said other than there's a similar exploration of who is the Doctor (really) in these:
1. Remembrance of the Daleks
2. Silver Nemesis
3. The Curse of Fenric
4. Battlefield
5. Ghost Light
Which I'm going to look into this weekend. He also commented that - while he's enjoying it a lot more than I am - he's getting tired of nothing being explored properly, and thinks that the stories are struggling due to the format of the show (being so rushed/hurried about everything and never being allowed to stick with an episode's theme for more than 50 minutes). I agree with him on this and I am wondering if Doctor Who would be a lot better these days if they stopped having a guest writer every episode, and instead had a team of writers working on the whole series. It would certainly feel less disjointed than it does now.
I haaaaaaaated Courtney. Wow, I thought I disliked Clara, but Courtney completely overtook her - she's such a brat. I'm so, SO tired of the eye-rolling teenager caricature they dust off whenever they need a kid on the show. As I said on Facebook, what about the quiet teenagers, or the shy ones? Or the ones without massive entitlement issues? Or the ones who'll take a smidgen of accountability/responsibility? They're still a thing, right? But no, every time we need a 'modern' kid of late (eg Clara's charges, Courtney) we end up with a brat who doesn't deserve to be there (I thought the Doctor only took the best).
I'm not sure I'm glad that Clara had such a go at the Doctor at the end, either. The whole situation was unfair (for everyone) and Clara just seemed to be lashing out. It was kind of weird for the Doctor to leave them the way he did, though. I don't know, his leaving, and Clara's leaving - all felt very forced.
So frustrated by so many elements of this episode, anyway.
Re Missy/Promised Land:
I've been reading about how she may be gathering people who died because of the Doctor in order to prepare judgement for him. Like he'll be on trial soon, or something.
I have to wonder why nothing this year has been about the Doctor trying to find Gallifrey, either. Maybe it's related to that, but there's be no hints as yet pertaining to that end.
OK, sorry for the long absence. I have been in Ibiza for two weeks.
Anyway - Min those Sylvester McCoy episode should do. Remembrance of the Daleks is my second favourite Dalek story after Genesis of the Daleks.
S8 Ep8: Mummy on the Orient Express
This seemed more like a Whydunit than a whodunit. What’s a whydunit? Well, let’s define it as a story where the identity of the killer (or the nature of the threat) very quickly becomes apparent, and the only remaining mystery is motivation. Think of “The Curse Of The Black Spot†(sorry, it’ll only sting for a moment): a siren is terrorising a pirate ship; we see it “kill†again and again, then eventually discover it’s actually a spaceship’s emergency medical hologram. Think “The God Complexâ€: a minotaur stalks the corridors of a mysterious hotel where people encounter their deepest fears; turns out it’s actually an automated alien prison cell, floating through space.
“Mummy On The Orient Express†is a similar sort of tale, and unfortunately, a somewhat repetitious one. Creepy though the zombie-like mummy is, there are diminishing returns here; watching the Foretold stalk and kill begins to lose its appeal after about the third victim. What’s more, the answer eventually provided is a disappointment – particularly since malfunctioning technology (surely one of new Who’s most overused tropes) is behind it all yet again. The way the Doctor solves the problem is dressed up as Sherlockian deduction, but looks more like a huge imaginative leap.
Enjoyable but has been done before.
The Doctor mentions that Gus once rang the TARDIS to try and entice him on board; Matt Smith’s Doctor received a phone call about something “loose on the Orient Express, in space†back in 2010’s “The Big Bangâ€. But that was an Egyptian goddess, not a mummy.
S8 Ep9: Flatline
Now this is how Doctor Who should be!
The Boneless really are something special. The episodes writer, Mathieson, demonstrates a deft ability to paint the ordinary in a disturbing new light here, making walls and floors a fresh source of danger. The sight of PC Forrest disappearing into the ground, leaving her nervous system emblazoned on the wall behind is a moment of pure, heart-racing domestic horror, in broad daylight no less. Director Douglas Mackinnon was behind the lens for “Listen†and he proves no less adept at staging scares here. There’s also some exemplary effects work on show, including the strangely beautiful implosion of a sofa and the creatures’ final, three dimensional stage, where they’re transformed into shambling, amorphous nightmares stalking the subway.
For the bulk of the episode Capaldi maybe feels like a supporting player, but that doesn’t mean he misses out on all the action. The Doctor’s “man that stops the monsters†monologue is a hugely rousing moment, delivered with snarling relish by Capaldi, and proves surprisingly cathartic, not only for the episode, but for the series as a whole. After six or so episodes of “misunderstood†monsters that we’re encouraged to sympathise with, how nice that the “killer graffiti†want nothing other than to suck the third dimension out of their victims, something the Doctor can fight. Whether it was their intention to kill us or not, sometimes a little bit of black and white storytelling goes a long way.
S8 Ep10: In The Forrest of the Night
An interesting episode, though the premise of the 'forest spirits' seemed a little rushed. This one could've been fleshed-out a bit.
One possible criticism is that the Doctor is rather crowded out of the picture by the supporting characters, forced to compete for our attention not only with Clara and Danny Pink but a gaggle of school children – when we start seeing flashbacks to the kids acting up in the classroom it does start to feel a little bit much. But the Coal Hill kids are so well-characterised that this would be a churlish complaint. None of them, individually, gets more than a few moments of screentime, but they all register as three-dimensional personalities.
However I thought the symbolism of the girl in the forest, being menaced by wolves was good… there’s really only one colour her coat could be.
On Missy
Missy returns at the end of 'Flatline', watching Clara through an iPad (bizarrely) and announcing “Clara, my Clara. I have chosen well.†What could it all mean?
The teaser for next weeks episode shows Clara acting in a different way, and also saying the line "There has never been a Clara Oswald". I'm thinking that Min's theory about Clara and Missy being the same person is looking more likely
GAH!!!
Lazy Lazy LAZY!!! Missy as the Master and Cybermen?????? SNORE!!! Until the last moment, I was hoping that it would be Romana!
I was REALLY hoping for the outcome in the theory i referred to in my last post - which is basically that when the Doctor's regeneration came through the crack from Gallifrey, the Master came back with it and was inhabiting the Doctor's body - they had some really good references to the aspects of the current doctor that hark back to the master (his costume, when he got excited about a shrink ray [old master's weapon] stuff about hypnosis etc) - which was why he is so hard to get a grip on and why he was so unlikeable. If it could end with the 2 of them fighting over one body ... gold!
But this? Honestly I was with them until the cybermen. NOT HAPPY! Unless they pull a rabbit out of a hat on this one, I'm disappointed
Totally with you on the GAH factor Nef.
The episode started out promising (Danny's death was actually a bit chilling, as was Clara's reaction) - but guh, from the time Missy showed up...such a mess of cliche and hand waving. And it's very strange, Missy being the Master has been one of the major theories of the year; my only surprise was that it was true, because - why not any other Time Lord? But that aside...I'm assuming they picked the Master in the end because it now (definitively) answers the question about whether or not the Doctor could regenerate into a woman.
- This point really bugs me - why didn't the Doctor feel Missy had two hearts when he had his hand on her chest for that great length of time (after the superfluous and completely pointless kiss scene)? And if not that, why didn't the Doctor detect that there was another Time Lord in the room - aren't they supposed to be able to telepathically feel each other's presence?
- Why's the Master messing around with Cybermen? And...can you make a Cyber out of a dead body? I thought the person had to be alive when they were converted...but ok, sure, evolution of procedures.
Couldn't he have used the same tech for Toclafane, which were much more loyal/suggestible to their creator? Did they pick Cybermen purely so they could have them walking down the steps of St Paul's (I've heard that this is a reference to a classic episode)?
- The last time we saw the Master, didn't he end up being pulled back into timelocked Gallifrey with Rassilon and co? So...if he escaped, did all the others? What about the Doctor's (seemingly abandoned) quest to find and restore Gallifrey? No longer needed? This is one of the things that I really want answered next episode. They can't just keep trying to retcon away RTD's era.
- Does anyone else get the feeling that Clara is (or might have been) dead, all along? If Missy claims to have sent Clara to the Doctor, and put her in the companion position, and Missy is also in control of the dead, doesn't this suggest that Clara was dead prior to phoning 11th that day? And if not, that's the other main thing I hope they answer next episode - why/how Missy's hints that she's controlled Clara being with the Doctor are relevant.
S8 Ep11: Dark Water
Hmm... Good start, but not sure about the ending.
Danny Pink dead. In the first few minutes of the episode. And just after Clara had opened up her heart and told him how she felt. It’s heart-wrenching stuff – like the show’s answer to the opening of Up - but it’s not the end of the emotional stuff. (Its always the unexpected 'regular' cast deaths that make the most impact. I still remember when Adric died all those years ago in service to the 5th Doctor.) Danny meeting the kid he killed when he was a soldier is hard-hitting stuff. How do your respond to that? Doctor Who has grown up in many ways this year, and the maturity with which it handles this scene – without feeling the need to show us any actual shooting – is incredibly dramatic.
The full meaning of the three words of 3W – “Don’t cremate me†– is one of the scariest concepts ever explored in Doctor Who. The idea that a dead body might be able to feel everything that happens to it is utterly chilling – “Sounds like someone left their body to medical science†– and stays with you long after the episode has finished. Indeed, there’s enough great stuff here to allow you to forgive the fact that the whole afterlife-meets-Time Lord technology idea of the Nethersphere doesn’t quite makes sense. Hopefully all will become clear next week.
Now, onto the bad parts:
What a shame the BBC chose to reveal the Cybermen in the pre-publicity for the episode – the skeletons turning into Cybermen as the dark water runs away is a great reveal anyway, but it would have been magnificent if we had no idea what was coming. We’re just hoping that they’re rather more scary than they have been in recent Who outings.
Min - the story you're thinking of is the Second Doctor story “The Invasionâ€.
So, Missy is the Master. It was always going to be the Master or the Rani, wasn’t it. Surely the clue was in the name all along, hiding in plain sight – it’s not that dissimilar, is it? (And he’s answered that old question once and for all – the Doctor could regenerate into a woman next time.) However, I would've preferred the Rani. I apologise if I'm in any way being sexist here, but although its been rumoured that Time Lords can change sex (and species, as has been seen with Romana), The Master is a well established male character. The female persona may make for an interesting dynamic later on, but I have yet to be convinced.
There some speculation about his/her return. The Master was last seen heading into the Time War at the end of “The End Of Time†– could the Doctor(s) saving Gallifrey in “The Day Of The Doctor†have given him/her a route back into existence? Traditionally, we the viewer, have never been told how The Master survived any of the impossible situations he was left in, so I suppose this will be no different.
Min - interesting theory about Clara. I shall await next weeks episode to see how it pans out.
Is it just me, or is the whole Doctor Who show just feeling ... tired?
There's just been something sort of ... meh ... about the whole series, and the last episode?
Things off the top of my head I didn't like
- There wasn't enough build up of the characters for me to care about Danny and Clara's story.
- Cybermen who aren't - they barely fired a shot, flew, blew up? OooooOOOOOOOooooo super scary!
- Missy's trajectory - didn't care
- the Doctor's final epiphany? Bleugh
- The Brigadier? Out of nowhere? Seriously?
- The choppiness of the story - seriously, it seemed to just jump around
- THAT ENDING!!!!!
Overall, It was just such a sloppy season - but the moment when Clara said she was the Doctor - OH, THAT would have made the season worth it. If there had been ANY interesting plot line, I would have been happy. But I just thought that was a steaming pile of ... disappointment.
Nef - lol, all I could think then with your opener was the whole "Don't you think she looks tired" quote from the Christmas Invasion, so I hope that connection was intended!
And sigh - the two main things I wanted answers to...didn't really get answered :(
1. We didn't find out how the Master got out of timelocked/dimension locked/whatever Gallifrey. For a moment it sounded like Gallifrey was simply "back" ( -_- ) but the ending indicated that it wasn't. So, how did s/he get out? Was s/he not lying and Gallifrey being back is just referring to it in another time (and s/he travelled back to their time for...reasons...)?
Can we please have the next year's season focus on the Doctor's quest to find Gallifrey?
2. There was no reason for the Master to set Clara specifically up as the Doctor's companion. "Because she's a control freak"?! Seriously? That means that she could have gone for almost anyone else in the world too, and Clara just happened to call at the right time (why was the Master working in a tech support shop, or whatever, to begin with, that allowed the phone number exchange to happen?). To ramp up that there's some amazing reason that the Master wanted the Doctor and Clara together and then give us THAT was "oh crap we'd better resolve this quickly" lazy.
I was happy to see Nick Frost appearing at the end, because he's always good fun (though I'm not going to set my hopes too high at this point), but overall I was just a little frustrated and saddened by the whole episode...
I'm frustrated by the Master; not only the character but the actor as well - such overacting. I'm very much not on board with the whole "oh, good, an insane version of the Master" that a few people are saying elsewhere - she was just so forced and horribly portrayed.
And I'm sad about Osgood, and Danny. Danny was a great character but they ended up just using him as character development support for Clara, instead of as a character in his own right.
And lastly...anyone else think Clara's pregnant? That it's what she was leading up to telling Danny that day on the phone, and what she was about to tell the Doctor at the cafe at the end? Simply because Orson Pink has to come from somewhere...
SO MANY questions unanswered!
But -
One of the main reasons I wanted to know about how the Master escaped from timelocked Gallifrey was because it would have been the perfect way to open up speculation (and a series arc) on where Gallifrey is and how the Doctor will find it. I guess that's a thing that's bugged me all season; after the 50th, I assumed we (and the Doctor) would get some hints or at least start investigating where his home planet is, now he knows it's not lost forever. But instead of having that driving force/determination behind him (as the 50th seemed to suggest would be a motivating factor), we've had a regular series of regular random encounters.
To shrug off her/his appearance as tradition dictates seems like a wasted opportunity.
Re: your additional notes DO
The fourth marriage could refer to the fact that the first Doctor had a grand-daughter at the beginning of the whole series (and presumably children and a wife). Their loss has been flagged in new Doctor Who episodes.
Death in Heaven
Do we even know if time lords get married? I think I liked Dark Water better actually, it seemed more thought out whereas Death in Heaven was more confusing, especially how the cybermen actually took over the bodies of the dead. I feel that wasn't explained properly. Or maybe I'm just missing something.
About Clara being pregnant: I sort of hope she isn't as I sort of feel like they did that with Amy. Or has she left? Hopefully we get some answers in the Christmas special, which looks interesting.
I really enjoyed that two parter, even as much of it was confusing/probably didn't make sense.
I admit I was thoroughly blinded by Michelle Gomez' performance as Missy. I haven't enjoyed a guest star on the show who wasn't a companion (I count River as a companion) so much in years. Best finale since series 5 for me :) I found Missy to be both monstrously funny and chillingly evil. She got under my skin in a way that John Simm never did (and I say that as an enormous Simm fan). There was much of classic who Delgado in that portrayal.
Quite a dark doctor who series overall.
Bunne - I feel the same way re The Master
++++++++ 2014 Christmas Special News +++++++
A title has been announced. The Christmas episode will be called 'Last Christmas'
++++++++ 2014 Christmas Special News +++++++
Taken from The Metro
Last Christmas, will be broadcast on BBC One at 6.15pm GMT
Also revealed today were the names of some of the characters the Doctor and Clara will be facing in the sixty-minute special, written by Sherlock co-creator Steven Moffat.
Santa Claus, played by Shaun of the Dead’s Nick Frost, will be flanked by two elves: Wolf, played by Misfits stars Nathan McMullen; and Ian, portrayed by Dan Starkey (familiar to fans as Sontaran Strax).
This marks the third Doctor Who Christmas Special in a row for Starkey, himself a lifelong fan.
Michael Troughton, son of former Doctor Who Patrick Troughton, stars as Professor Albert whilst Coronation Street actress Natalie Gumede appears as Ashley Carter and Pride’s Faye Marsay is a character called Shona.
Details are still scant on the episode which may, or may not, be the final outing for actress Jenna Coleman as companion Clara.
According to the BBC, the Time Lord and his chum are ‘trapped on an arctic base, under attack from terrifying creatures.’
Last Christmas (sorry its a bit late. I wasn't online much over the holidays)
I thought this was one of the better Christmas stories of the recent years. Entertaining, plus dark and scary. What more could you ask for?
Dreams within dreams may not be new to sci-fi (Philip K Dick was obsessed with this kind of thing back in the ’60s) but it’s the first time Doctor Who has had such fun with the concept, and, because it’s Moffat, he takes it to extremes. On the other hand, unlike some of his more complicated time travel episodes, the ruthless logic of the different layers of dreams is easy to follow here. There are also some very effective moments; especially the “Long story†revelation, the “YOU. ARE. DYING†on the blackboard and the Doctor using the different text in the manuals to prove they’re all dreaming.
There are some truly affecting, tearful moments from ghost-Danny’s “I didn’t die saving the world, Doctor, I died saving Clara. The rest of you got lucky,†to Shona pleading with Santa to let her stay a bit longer and, of course, the Doctor’s tender chat with aged Clara. In fact, Danny and Clara were more convincing as a couple here than they ever have been previously (so maybe he was always better in her dreams than in real life? She even says in this episode that she often has to use her imagination when it comes to Danny).
Nick Frost is perfect as Santa, both when he’s channelling Richard Attenborough (as Kris Kringle from Miracle on 34th Street – one of the films on Shona’s list) and when he’s more Nick Frost-y. He actually makes a great foil for grumpy twelve, and you’re completely happy to suspend your disbelief and believe in him.
The rest of the guest cast are all solid too, though the unexpected break-out star was Faye Marsay as Shona. I'd say that she’s clearly coming back at some point. (Moffat has to tell us what she needed to forgive Dave for).
All-in-all a great entertaining episode, and hopefully the standard for season 9 later this year