I didn't like it. It just felt like too much coming at me, it tried to be too epic for my tastes... just too much.
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Doctor Who
- Thread starter Jebus McAzn
- Start date
I actually liked it quite a bit, much moreso than the 50th special.
The weeping angels being there for the sake of being there was fan service, so I don't really have an opinion on that. Same thing with the logistics of a town in perpetual winter, but you're arguing about crop logistics in a show about time travel. As for the whole "Silence are now allies of the Doctor" thing, they explained in the special that the Silence who were the villains during Series 6 were part of a rogue faction that broke off - since the episode explained the entire Silence origin story, I don't find that too implausible either.
One huge plot hole, however, is that the Doctor not dying on Trenzalore kinda nullifies all of Series 7 since Clara was supposed to jump into his time stream at his grave and meet him in 18th century England. They may resolve that next season, though - after all, it took them three seasons to "explain" the exploding TARDIS in Series 5.
The weeping angels being there for the sake of being there was fan service, so I don't really have an opinion on that. Same thing with the logistics of a town in perpetual winter, but you're arguing about crop logistics in a show about time travel. As for the whole "Silence are now allies of the Doctor" thing, they explained in the special that the Silence who were the villains during Series 6 were part of a rogue faction that broke off - since the episode explained the entire Silence origin story, I don't find that too implausible either.
One huge plot hole, however, is that the Doctor not dying on Trenzalore kinda nullifies all of Series 7 since Clara was supposed to jump into his time stream at his grave and meet him in 18th century England. They may resolve that next season, though - after all, it took them three seasons to "explain" the exploding TARDIS in Series 5.
^while I agree about the crop logistics in a show about a time traveling alien (lol), it just seems like there shouldn't be a town there in the first place, ya know?
I thought it was pretty good for a Christmas special (remember the giant cyberman?). While the horde of enemies was definitely fanservice, I thought it explained some stuff well (The kavorian squad splintering from the rest of the silence, the silence causing the big bang, etc...). Plus the regeneration was sweet (i'm a sucker for karen gillan).
now we just need river song to come back in the season 8 premiere to fly the tardis
now we just need river song to come back in the season 8 premiere to fly the tardis
Well I mean he could still die on Tranzalore, right? They just have to remember that when (if) the doctor dies permanently, it has to be on Tranzalore. Or make up some other random explanation, which is honestly more likely.
I just wanna say that I abso-friggin love this show.
I DO agree about the loads and loads of Deus Ex in Time of the Doctor, though. It probably would've helped to put more focus on the rift in previous episodes, instead of it just... being there.
The Doctor saved her, remember? Aside from that, Clara kinda HAS been fulfilling her role of saving The Doctor since Name of the Doctor. I mean, she did (indirectly) by speaking to the Gallifreyan (spelling?) High Council through the rift, and she convinced them to send The Doctor a whole new regeneration cycle.
I DO agree about the loads and loads of Deus Ex in Time of the Doctor, though. It probably would've helped to put more focus on the rift in previous episodes, instead of it just... being there.
Ahem, why has this thread not been bumped up yet?
Episode 1 summary: Too much happening in the plot, Capaldi good though (after the first 15 minutes when you couldn't hear him properly because of the music) and brings a different element to the Doctor.
EDIT: Not a bad 500th post
Episode 1 summary: Too much happening in the plot, Capaldi good though (after the first 15 minutes when you couldn't hear him properly because of the music) and brings a different element to the Doctor.
EDIT: Not a bad 500th post
Last edited:
I love Capaldi already. Flirting with dinosaurs and stuff was just awesome. Although I agree with Brap, there was too much going on for a first episode.
TheValkyries
proudly reppin' 2 superbowl wins since DEFLATEGATE
Somehow managing to make the kiss the least romantic interaction between Vastra and Jenny throughout the entire episode pissed me the fuck off. It just seemed more like a shoved in "OH THEY KISSED WOWEEEE" moment rather than being organic or real for the characters.
Meanwhile: Clara and the Doctor had fucking great character moments throughout the whole episode, and in classic Dr. Who fashion the villain exists as a foil for their character development (THAT DOUBLE-SIDED SILVER PLATE REFLECTION THO). I'm interested in seeing what direction capaldi's doctor goes now, after that dialogue between him and the robot set him up as a much graver, more serious Doctor than his past iterations. It was kinda highlighted throughout the episode but it seems as if this Doctor will be more open and honest about his feelings than the past ones. Tennant joked through his pain, and Smith ran away from it ("The man who regrets, and the man who forgets"), but Capaldi seems like he isn't one for facades or "veils" as Vastra put it.
but yeah outside of all that HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE.
Meanwhile: Clara and the Doctor had fucking great character moments throughout the whole episode, and in classic Dr. Who fashion the villain exists as a foil for their character development (THAT DOUBLE-SIDED SILVER PLATE REFLECTION THO). I'm interested in seeing what direction capaldi's doctor goes now, after that dialogue between him and the robot set him up as a much graver, more serious Doctor than his past iterations. It was kinda highlighted throughout the episode but it seems as if this Doctor will be more open and honest about his feelings than the past ones. Tennant joked through his pain, and Smith ran away from it ("The man who regrets, and the man who forgets"), but Capaldi seems like he isn't one for facades or "veils" as Vastra put it.
but yeah outside of all that HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE.
Right I haven't watched it yet because I am on holiday but can someone give me a small spoiler free review of it like was it good, bad, boring, scary? Was the Clara-doctor dynamic good? Is peter Capaldi good or bad? Were the monsters good if there were any?
Is it something to look forward to?
Is it something to look forward to?
Deep Breath was pretty meh, some of the humour didn't fit in (Strax's slapstick for example felt totally out of place), I'm getting tired of the Victorian crew, and I didn't really get to see Capaldi's full potential mainly because the producers were so keen on shoehorning in the fact that we as an audience should accept an old doctor (despite everybody being on board with Capaldi as the doctor since it was first announced). Some of the scenes were fairly well-constructed and well-acted (The Clockwork restaurant and Capaldi's rant in particular). C+
Into the Dalek was really quite good actually, and had a lot of heart behind it that I didn't get to see in Deep Breath. The special effects were much better than any other non-special Doctor Who episode I've seen, and was pretty damn funny to boot. I definitely warmed to Capaldi moreso in this episode. The Missy subplot also has me intrigued. B+
Next episode looks very very cheesy
e: both these episodes have been better than the entire second part of series 7
Into the Dalek was really quite good actually, and had a lot of heart behind it that I didn't get to see in Deep Breath. The special effects were much better than any other non-special Doctor Who episode I've seen, and was pretty damn funny to boot. I definitely warmed to Capaldi moreso in this episode. The Missy subplot also has me intrigued. B+
Next episode looks very very cheesy
e: both these episodes have been better than the entire second part of series 7
TheValkyries
proudly reppin' 2 superbowl wins since DEFLATEGATE
List of people who missed the point. I even highlighted what they were actually doing in my post. zzzzzz WHATEVER MAN.
Nah I didn't really like Listen, I don't get why everyone is so amazed by it, it wasn't scary, it wasn't suspenseful, I literally couldn't care less about that barn and the young Doctor and to me, Clara is still so boring. She is just like the most boring person I've ever seen. I do love the new Doctors acting though. He is really good at acting. Into The Dalek is the best one this series imo, hopefully next week's is good too.
Sorry for sounding negative, I am just disappointed in the show atm
Sorry for sounding negative, I am just disappointed in the show atm
Listen was excellent, but since when is it possible to just go to Gallifrey like that? This has bothered me enough that I'm actually posting about it. It seems like a gigantic, disappointing plot hole in something that's otherwise amazing. Knowing Moffat, though, it's always possible that he'll revisit this later with some strange explanation, which I'll then force myself to accept. In any case, this was much better than the Robin Hood episode.
I think it because only the Time War Gallifrey was time locked so you can go to it earlier than that but not when it is in the Time War. After a day to ponder upon how I felt about the episode, I think I was a bit harsh in my last comment and I did really like the blanket bit but I stick by what I said that the ending was awful. It made every single scary bit not scary anymore. Oh well
What did you all think of Time Heist and The Caretaker? I think time Heist was the best this series, I loved the characters and the Teller although the soppy back stories of the Psi and Saibra were just too soppy. The Caretaker was alright but the robot thing was absoutely terrible. But I liked that it developed charcaters, although i still find Clara a bit boring...
*SPOILERS!!! DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING. ALSO CONTAINS CONTROVERSIAL OPINION.*
The first part of the finale was better in my opinion. I was like 'The Master!! No way!' but it still wasn't great. Didn't have me gripped at all like previous series' finale's. I didn't like how they didn't give a proper reason of survival. The last episode had me enticed... right up until the point he fell out of a plane... And then 'do this screwdriver thing and Danny goes full Cyberman, does the screwdriver thing, turns out Danny doesn't go full Cyberman.' I did see exactly why Danny sent who he did back with his one trip back, and as soon as he started talking about it, I saw it coming. Some nice touches with a tilt of the cap to the Brigadier, and I think Clara lied to the Doctor at the end to protect him and keep his conscience clear. I loved the Gerry Anderson puppet series' references; I was a massive fan of them.
Car hitting someone has been used before (Turn Left) and so has the Cybermen appearing from what's apprently something else (ghosts back when Rose was assistant). They're re-using plot elements, and most of the new ones are just terrible because of how ridiculously farfetched they are, the forest in London, for example.
I know this will never happen because it still gets high viewing figures, but I think if they can't come up with some new feasible plots instead of borrowing elements from previous episodes, and as a fan since the 2005 revival it really pains me to say this, but I think Doctor Who's race might be run... It's nothing against any of the current actors, they've all pretty much done the best they can. It's just you won't speak to many long-term Doctor Who fans who don't share the same sentiments about the plots being poorer these days. It's simply not as good as it was a few years ago. And the downturn has been pretty sharp. Until recently, there was barely a Doctor Who episode that I didn't like, but there's at least 5 in this series alone that I think were terrible. My best friend used to love Doctor Who, not just because she always used to fangirl over David Tennant, but she really got into the episodes. And these days she's often like 'nahh I'm not watching it tonight'. And yet she still watches the episodes from the noughties on DVD in her spare time... If that's not evidence the programme is in decline (terminal decline in my opinion), then I don't know what is.
Sorry if I've upset anyone with that. Maybe we can get a few people discussing it to see if it's not just me who thinks this way about it.
The first part of the finale was better in my opinion. I was like 'The Master!! No way!' but it still wasn't great. Didn't have me gripped at all like previous series' finale's. I didn't like how they didn't give a proper reason of survival. The last episode had me enticed... right up until the point he fell out of a plane... And then 'do this screwdriver thing and Danny goes full Cyberman, does the screwdriver thing, turns out Danny doesn't go full Cyberman.' I did see exactly why Danny sent who he did back with his one trip back, and as soon as he started talking about it, I saw it coming. Some nice touches with a tilt of the cap to the Brigadier, and I think Clara lied to the Doctor at the end to protect him and keep his conscience clear. I loved the Gerry Anderson puppet series' references; I was a massive fan of them.
Car hitting someone has been used before (Turn Left) and so has the Cybermen appearing from what's apprently something else (ghosts back when Rose was assistant). They're re-using plot elements, and most of the new ones are just terrible because of how ridiculously farfetched they are, the forest in London, for example.
I know this will never happen because it still gets high viewing figures, but I think if they can't come up with some new feasible plots instead of borrowing elements from previous episodes, and as a fan since the 2005 revival it really pains me to say this, but I think Doctor Who's race might be run... It's nothing against any of the current actors, they've all pretty much done the best they can. It's just you won't speak to many long-term Doctor Who fans who don't share the same sentiments about the plots being poorer these days. It's simply not as good as it was a few years ago. And the downturn has been pretty sharp. Until recently, there was barely a Doctor Who episode that I didn't like, but there's at least 5 in this series alone that I think were terrible. My best friend used to love Doctor Who, not just because she always used to fangirl over David Tennant, but she really got into the episodes. And these days she's often like 'nahh I'm not watching it tonight'. And yet she still watches the episodes from the noughties on DVD in her spare time... If that's not evidence the programme is in decline (terminal decline in my opinion), then I don't know what is.
Sorry if I've upset anyone with that. Maybe we can get a few people discussing it to see if it's not just me who thinks this way about it.
I actually think that this series has been the best season since the Russel T Davies era. Whilst Seasons 5-7 were undoubtedly the worst of the modern series (which is what I think you mean when you said the program in decline), Season 8 has been a massive improvement, with strong character development, plots that actually make sense, and most importantly, the show doesn't feel like it's aimed at 10 year olds anymore. Consistency is also something this series has had that Matt Smith's didn't, although there were some poor episodes (Robin Hood, Caretaker, Forest), overall Season 8 has been very strong from the off.
As for the fans, quite a few of my friends have actually had a similar reaction to yours, they used to be really into Doctor Who (i.e watch every episode as soon as it comes out, fangirl over it constantly, have massive discussions about who's the best Doctor), but now are happy to wait until the end of the series to watch the episodes. They barely ever talk about it now, too. However, all I think this proves is that Season 8 has been very divisive, as both myself and my best friend have thought it to be the best series we've had in all of Modern Doctor Who. Critically speaking, Season 8 has also been one of the stronger series Doctor Who, both in terms of audience figures and review scores. The program is not in decline, whatever you may think.
You also claim that Season 8 has been using elements from previous series. Of course it has. However, these elements are so minor that they're basically irrelevant. There have also been many new, original, interesting plot elements in this series, such as those in Listen and Flatline. Sure, the whole "trees invading London" thing was quite silly, however there have been many other ideas that were actually quite good, such as those explored in, Into a Dalek and Mummy on the Orient Express. I would argue that the plots are getting more interesting and original, not less.
I love that you're a Doctor Who fan, especially one who has seen some of the classic series, however I can't help but disagree with the points you're making.