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"It feels different this time..." - The new Doctor Who Thread
- Thread starter Kazin
- Start date
Praxeus - Okay, I guess we're not getting followup on the Judoon revelations until the end of the season, that's fine. This was a decent episode; the pulling together of disparate, in-medias-res scenes from around the world didn't feel very much like traditional Who structure, but that wasn't a bad thing and it all came together nicely. I do kind of wish the writers this season could do episodes with Morals without having it feel like the Doctor is just giving a lecture about them, though.
Can You Hear Me? - Well there's some good old over-the-top villainy. Also as sfried said (I've been going back and reading spoilers as I go along), a nice mental-health background focus to this episode. Therapy is good for you! Also confiding in friends.
The plot was a bit weak in spots - it seemed pretty dang obvious that the setup with the planets was yet another extremely elaborate space-prison, thus likely holding something dangerous, and the ending/resolution was pretty abrupt - but not so much that I hated it or anything. The baddies were clearly having a good time hamming it up.
The plot was a bit weak in spots - it seemed pretty dang obvious that the setup with the planets was yet another extremely elaborate space-prison, thus likely holding something dangerous, and the ending/resolution was pretty abrupt - but not so much that I hated it or anything. The baddies were clearly having a good time hamming it up.
The Haunting of Villa Diodati - Ah, Lord Byron, history's preeminent fuckboy. Living up to it here.
I liked this one a lot. Properly creepy in spots, but also often funny; great guest characters. Intriguing more-human-than-usual Cyberman obviously kicking off the season ender plot. Presumably the Doctor's extreme reluctance to have her companions anywhere near Cybermen stems from the traumatic ending of the Capaldi era, but whoops, looks like they just let the empire re-start so she's probably gonna have trouble with that.
I liked this one a lot. Properly creepy in spots, but also often funny; great guest characters. Intriguing more-human-than-usual Cyberman obviously kicking off the season ender plot. Presumably the Doctor's extreme reluctance to have her companions anywhere near Cybermen stems from the traumatic ending of the Capaldi era, but whoops, looks like they just let the empire re-start so she's probably gonna have trouble with that.
So! The Ascension of the Cybermen and The Timeless Children. Lot of contention on these 'round these parts. There are definitely some plotting issues here, but I didn't hate 'em! The really "big" reveal does elicit a bit of a shrug from me, as it's not clear that it really changes anything much - plus it's unclear exactly how true it is, as we're basically left to take the Master's word for the crux of it, and they're certainly not a reliable narrator. But I don't feel like it changes anything about The Doctor being The Doctor, it just makes space for other narratives involving their past as well as their future.
There's definitely a lot of hand-waving to get the plot to where it went. We never really find out what the Lone Cyberman's deal was - at first I thought the Irish flashbacks might somehow end up being his backstory but they turned out to be weird metphorical Doctor backstory instead, so we're all we're left with is he's a Cyber fanatic of unknown origin... who then gets offed unceremoniously halfway into his grand plan. And although we find out what the Master's long game plan was, it's left totally unclear just how he re-re-destroyed Gallifrey. It's not like his miniaturizer blew up the city. I suppose it doesn't matter, he's resourceful and has destroyed planets before, but it seems like a weird thing to never touch on. The Cyber-Time-Lords were fun looking and a suitably terrifying concept, although they never actually got to do anything, and the method of their defeat felt kind of like a cop-out. The Doctor backs away from possibly-justified genocide yet again... but is perfectly okay high-tailing it while someone else does it instead. Hrm.
But all that said - despite all those quibbles I still enjoyed most of the episodes as I was watching, and I'm honestly pretty okay with the Lore twists. Which are honestly left pretty vague and malleable other than the fact that the Time Lords are a bunch of jerks, which has always been true.
And hey the callback at the end to a bunch of Tennant's season-end-to-xmas-special segues was fun.
There's definitely a lot of hand-waving to get the plot to where it went. We never really find out what the Lone Cyberman's deal was - at first I thought the Irish flashbacks might somehow end up being his backstory but they turned out to be weird metphorical Doctor backstory instead, so we're all we're left with is he's a Cyber fanatic of unknown origin... who then gets offed unceremoniously halfway into his grand plan. And although we find out what the Master's long game plan was, it's left totally unclear just how he re-re-destroyed Gallifrey. It's not like his miniaturizer blew up the city. I suppose it doesn't matter, he's resourceful and has destroyed planets before, but it seems like a weird thing to never touch on. The Cyber-Time-Lords were fun looking and a suitably terrifying concept, although they never actually got to do anything, and the method of their defeat felt kind of like a cop-out. The Doctor backs away from possibly-justified genocide yet again... but is perfectly okay high-tailing it while someone else does it instead. Hrm.
But all that said - despite all those quibbles I still enjoyed most of the episodes as I was watching, and I'm honestly pretty okay with the Lore twists. Which are honestly left pretty vague and malleable other than the fact that the Time Lords are a bunch of jerks, which has always been true.
And hey the callback at the end to a bunch of Tennant's season-end-to-xmas-special segues was fun.
Lol to your first post. As for the second, for now we're probably going to move on to catching up on some other series for a bit (gonna do an abbreviated run of
ST:Disco to catch up my gf before we watch the third season, and then maybe Mando too). But maybe eventually. Meanwhile now we gotta wait around for new episodes like the rest of you unfortunates!
Phantoon
I cuss you bad
I'm going by the rule of "if you can't say anything nice don't say anything," so yes, tumble weed
Glad you enjoyed it at least, Kirin
FWIW, having glanced at stuff here and a few discussions elsewhere, I do agree that this finale, even with the broad outlines intact, could have benefited a lot from a few script re-writes, doing more showing instead of telling, and giving the Doctor a more active role in figuring out the central mysteries. Like a lot of stuff this season, there's great characters/actors and some interesting ideas working within writing that could really have used a few more rounds of edits. And I'm definitely on-board with the idea of getting more writing from Vinay Patel.
As for The Lore, it's pretty obvious why it could be contentious among dedicated Who fans, personally I see all Who lore as so timey-wimey loosey-goosey that I don't think I could bring myself to be up in arms about it. Pretty much anything that's done can be plausibly un-done if somebody has a better idea - hell, the whole universe has already been rebooted a time or two - so whatever, just run with it.
As for The Lore, it's pretty obvious why it could be contentious among dedicated Who fans, personally I see all Who lore as so timey-wimey loosey-goosey that I don't think I could bring myself to be up in arms about it. Pretty much anything that's done can be plausibly un-done if somebody has a better idea - hell, the whole universe has already been rebooted a time or two - so whatever, just run with it.
Or the Time Lords being created via looms lol
Also, new Blu Ray announced, season 8, Pertwee's second season:
It is one of my least favorite Pertwee seasons (though 9 is worse), but I'll still buy it because I'm an absolute sucker for these blu rays, plus it has a big interview with Katy Manning, who is a fucking delight, so I'll get my money's worth.
Also, new Blu Ray announced, season 8, Pertwee's second season:
It is one of my least favorite Pertwee seasons (though 9 is worse), but I'll still buy it because I'm an absolute sucker for these blu rays, plus it has a big interview with Katy Manning, who is a fucking delight, so I'll get my money's worth.
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Phantoon
I cuss you bad
I didn't quote this before but it's way better than it has any right to be, and Katy Manning is fantastic and one of the all time best companions. She's my mum's favourite by miles.
She is a delight on Twitter, too. Wonderful, wonderful person.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Looks like after this story (cast related spoilers) Yasmin is staying and the other two are going to be gone.
I'm fine with that, frankly. Not that I mind Ryan, but I'd just really like to see this Doctor with one companion, and it may as well be with my favorite one.
sfried
Fluffy Prince
Considering their character arcs have already come full circle, it feels natural. That, and many people felt like Yaz never got the development she deserved.
Phantoon
I cuss you bad
The Doctor: Guess I'm travelling alone then
Yaz: HEY
According to Retronauts at least... No. I've only played a little of the DS game and Eternity Clock and didn't care for either.