Doctor Who Discussion [Spoiler Zone!]

[gremcint]

I picked up on the cybermen from the symbols on the doors, and then clued into the dark water bit a few minutes before the reveal which was neat. I would actually rather they brought back either the Rani or Romana or something like that rather than the master. Well the master controlling an army of cybermen it kind of reminds me of both of his previous plans (converting humans). I really wish they had done more to build her up over the season because I just don't really feel that much menace from her.

As for the genderchanging, I'm fine with it depending on how they handle it. My biggest issue with the female doctor theories going around last year was that I don't the writing team could be trusted to handle it well.

[Kheldarson]

So who called that Missy was the Master?

Cuz you just won a prize.

Not sure if I completely buy the twist on the Cybermen, but I'll go with it.

Also. How'd the hell the Master get out of the time lock?

[Kheldarson]

Just watched it. Got rather bored during it. Mostly because of Clara and Danny.

But when did the Doctor become so blasé about letting folks on the Tardis?

And him giving up was disappointing.

Just meh all around.

[strawbabies]

I don't have anything particularly insightful to say, but I absolutely hated the last two episodes.

I'm also sick and tired of them putting Clara's stupid ass students on the show. They're obnoxious. Doctor Who takes place in the same universe as Torchwood, and frankly, I wouldn't have been upset with those kids being handed over to the aliens in Children of Earth.

[Shangri-laschild]

If Capaldi's main difference from previous Doctors is supposed to be that he's willing to let people be killed, I may start throwing things >.<

I wouldn't say this is new to this doctor. I've been rewatching through the Smith seasons (have to wait on the previous seasons because I'm supposed to watch them with someone) and in the episodes with the dinosaurs in space, he switched things so that the missiles were tracking the bad guy's ship.

I'm rather disappointed with this doctor and with the intense focus on Clara's life.

From what I understand, Clara is only supposed to be around until about Christmas. Then I believe The Doctor is supposed to get a new companion.

I would guess that there is all the focus on her life because she is leaving. There was a lot more focus on Rory and Amy's life before they left. They might not be doing a very good job showing Clara's life but that might be the reason.

With rewatching through, I had an interesting moment of recognizing something. The garden that we see Missy in at the end of Deep Breath is the same one from when Amy is stuck in Two Streams. Looked it up and it's not the first time that garden has been used. https://welldidyouevah.wordpress.com...1-deep-breath/ Not sure if that will come into play or if it's just a garden they reused.

I have noticed that there is a lot of comments from the doctor about things seeming familiar or him trying to remember things. It didn't start this season either, it seems to have started around when Clara was brought in and increased a lot more this season.

I do wonder if him not dying where his grave was supposed to be and the whole outcome at Trenzalor changing as well as the being gifted a regeneration is meant to have had an effect on him. He didn't kill the Timelords, but he can't exactly save them at the moment either. A lot of things that could come into play but might not. It definitely does seem to be a lot of confusing stuff together and whether it's the writers or the actors (possibly both) I'd say the new doctor and Clara just don't work well together and honestly I liked Clara so it's not that. Hopefully the show figures itself out soon or actually starts making things make sense in whatever is planned with the overall story line.

[Moirae]

This last episode? It was "The Happening". Meh. It wasn't a good movie and wasn't a good tv show either.

Getting kind of sick of the "riding along with the companion" when the show is supposed to be about Dr Who. The two episodes before this one were good.

[Jester]

I liked this episode, but I definitely did not love it. Like the last couple, it felt a bit more like Doctor Who, with the Doctor generally ahead of everyone else, but sometimes even ahead of (or behind) himself.

Clara was very good in this episode, though Danny pointed out her shirking of her teacher responsibilities.

One small problem I had was that I, Mr. Oblivious, knew what the trees were there for early on. It seems very obvious to me that they were there to protect in some way, and I even had an idea that it would be the extra oxygen to burn off the solar flare. And I'm not a botanist, nor do I usually see where these episodes are going.

One GIANT problem I had with this episode was the Doctor's attitude near the end. When all seemed lost, Nine, Ten, and Eleven, in different ways, would all be banging their head against the wall trying to figure it out, yelling, "Think! Think! Think!" Or "What am I missing?" or some such. Twelve? He just basically gave up, said "Sorry, can't help--who wants to go watch your planet get destroyed?" And it wasn't until he had given up, and the piddly humans had gone away to die with their families that suddenly it became clear to him, by chance, not by effort of mental will.

Say what you will about the Eccleston, Tennant, or Smith eras, but can you picture any of them doing that, ever? I can't. Not from the joyous Time Lord who shouted with glee that, "Everyone lives, Rose! Just this one time, everyone lives!" Not from the defiant Time Lord who barked, "I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the Constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old and I'm the man who is gonna save your lives and all 6 billion people on the planet below. You got a problem with that?" Not from the angry Time Lord who with quiet but undeniable authority and fury threatened the Atraxi with "Hello. I'm The Doctor. Basically...run.

It is as River Song predicted: the Doctor rose to his greatest heights, as evidenced by the hoopla and insanity surrounding the changeover, and now he is falling further than that. This is NOT my Doctor.

[Jetfire]

Very Meh. I agree with the post above that this season feels like an Anime filler arc. Not much is going on, and even the hints of the overall arc seem too hidden to really be interesting. It'll take a damn good wrap up to pull this season together IMO.

As for the forest ep, it had so much potential, and just fell flat on its face.

* The trees in general were a great idea.
* Catching the Doctor by surprise? Also a fun concept.
* Sonic not working on trees? Great call back and works fine for the story.
* Even the Trees protecting the Earth from the sun flare; it's wonky Who-Science, but I'll go with it.

Everything else about the episode? Epic fail.

The kids were annoying; Pink and Clara are gunning for the Worst Teachers Evah Awards, and HOW the plot was solved was just off.

I think the main problem was that the main plot, or at least the most interesting plot (what the trees were doing/how they were doing it) was shoved to the background for the Clara/Pink/Doctor triangle, and further pushed back by the kids. It was like you were trying to look around Clara and Pink to try and see what was going on in general.

The few high points of the ep dealt with the actual interesting plot; the Doctor trying to figure out what the Trees were doing, Maebve hearing voices and pointing out she knew/heard the flare coming and getting that across to the Doctor, etc....

A shame this episode got squished in after two great to good eps and what looks like a good ep coming. (As some commenters on another board put it, the most interesting thing about this episode was the "Coming Next Week" promo.)

[Gizmo]

Latest episode (Forest)...... um, yeah, I was actively browsing on other pages and just letting it play in the background.

Meh.

[Moirae]

So I finally caught up on the Dr Who episodes having missed the last three as they aired. Finally, as we near the end of Clara's time with the doctor, we are beginning to see the character that was originally promised in her first three episodes. That of a clever, intelligent, and strong woman willing to take a risk instead of spending all her time whining. Of course, it took until Flatline to see it again. Its a pity they couldn't seem to figure it out before now.

[gremcint]

I thought this episode was great, we got to see clara get into the mind of the doctor a bit and see what it's like when she has to manage everybody and save the day while having someone nag them along. I loved the doctor doing that little dance at one point and anything with the tiny tardis was awesome especially the sledge hammer. I think the comment at the end is more the doctor doesn't want clara to become him. However I am really glad to have an episode where the doctor doesn't make fun of Clara. I mean there's always been playful barbs and banter between doctor and companion but every single episode this season had a shot at how Clara looks and it was getting very old for me. Also Tardis siege mode looks like the pandorica to me.

[KabeRinnaul]

This actually was probably the best episode thus far this season. My only real complaints were any times where Clara's personal drama became the focus, and that freaking fixation on "not a good person" we've been harping on since Matt Smith's second season.

On that, I've realized one of my major problems with the current season.

It feels like an anime filler arc.

Hear me out.

The biggest source of The Doctor's angst for the entire modern series has been the destruction of Gallifrey. It was the point where he felt he crossed the line. He chose the lesser of two evils, but even that lesser evil was unforgivable. During Day of the Doctor, we discovered that the Doctor never actually destroyed it. Afterwards, he even gets confirmation that Gallifrey survives the Time War.

Part of what made Day of the Doctor so exciting (beyond the multi-doctor crossover and three excellent actors who played off of one another very well) was that is suggested a new direction and new energy for the show. The Eleventh Doctor remembers the events of the episode. His greatest emotional burden has been lifted, and he knows Gallifrey is out there. In fact, the final monologue practically says outright that his search for it will be the new plot focus:

That's not true. Not any more. I have a new destination. My journey is the same as yours, the same as anyone's. It's taken me so many years, so many lifetimes, but at last I know where I'm going, where I've always been going. Home... the long way round.

And after all these suggestions of new energy, new direction, guilt absolved, and a goal ahead...

We ignore all of it.

We drop the whole idea.

Instead, we get a season with an older, more haggard Doctor, who's still carrying all of the baggage, but lashing out over it now. Instead of a new adventure, we have one callback after another. And instead of chasing after Gallifrey, we're watching a companion who's overstaying her welcome work out her personal relationship drama.

It's like we were told what the new adventure will be, but then they just started putting it off and mining old episodes for whatever ideas they could get to pad out some time.

You know. Filler. Exactly what anime does when the show gets ahead of the manga and they need to play catch-up for a while.

[Bardmaiden]

My partner works for the railway and listed about ten things that were wrong with the trains...and that was only on the first viewing

[mjr]

This episode, this story, this plot, this writing, this acting, these effects....this lived up to what we expect from Doctor Who.

About damn time!

Notice that Moffatt didn't write it...

[Gizmo]

I did like it and the story and methods were.... like old Dr Who. before the current silliness that runs around Clara's life.

And actually... its almost like the writer turned on Clara. Almost like at the end it was like "look I know you are a school teacher and you just saved us but you are NOT getting a damn merit award.... grow up..."

The Missy thing better be something good when they DO reveal it....