More name changes than regenerations; The Doctor Who thread

[hisak]

Another weak monster-of-the-week story this week. This season has had a lot of problems with those (Gaiman aside, of course). I'm not sure if the writers or directors are to blame, but some episodes have been putting the show's (presumably) limited budget to much better effect than others.

I really liked Let's Kill Hitler, despite its problems. I understand what you're saying, Zim, but I think that the hyperactive pacing of Moffat's recent episodes made last week's exposition-bots a lot more palatable than they would have been in their own episode. And it's a rare show that can pull off such fast pacing without turning into a trainwreck, so I'll take it.

[Bidet to you sir]

that episode was terrible though...

this episode while monster of the week at least was coherent and had a fucking theme.

Moffatt stopped caring about the story a while back, it's now doctor does cool things and river song is sooo crazy and hot and omg I'm cumming, I'm cumming. (moffatt does unspeakable things to his script).

We'll hate him as much as we hate RTD soon enough, RTD had a few great episodes himself, and we'll soon realise that while blink etc were great television, that doesn't save the show from the fact it's being run by fanboy who falls into the same fanfiction traps of having a mary sue heroine and a Christ like hero.

Much like Rose and mickey before them, Amy and Rory are the only characters who don't become weird parodies of themselves the second the head writer takes control of the episode.

[hisak]

that episode was terrible though...

this episode while monster of the week at least was coherent and had a fucking theme.

Well that's not why I disliked the episode. MOTW is a great system for the show; it's what saved many episodes from seasons 1-4 from Davies' worst tendencies (and even allowed Davies to occasionally do great things like Midnight). Unless that's not what you meant, in which case...okay.

I'd hardly say that Moffat doesn't care about story anymore. This season's main plot is one of the most ambitious mystery-driven arcs I've ever seen. Obviously we'll have to wait a month to see if it was successful, but I don't really understand that criticism. The show, at least since Davies' run, has always had over-the-top behavior and wacky situations. As long as the characters don't turn into cartoons (ymmv here) and stay relevant to the story, I'm fine with going along for the ride.

[Bidet to you sir]

I don't mind the characters being silly or eccentric, I wouldn't watch doctor who if I did, I mean thats his character, but the Doctor in some episodes solves problems, he did in this one, in others he's either fucking jesus and things just work out randomly and he looks magic and in others he just fucking fixes things because he already knows the answer.

Moffatt tends to lean towards the RTD way of the doctor solving a problem, he knows exactly whats going on and maybe at that point says AHA and solve it all because he's fucking magic.

In other episodes like this, you at least see a logical progression and he actually figures it all out and realises a conclusion.

[hupla]

This episode was actualy great. I like it when Who is able to take it slow, and not have everyone running around trying really hard to finish the episode and still find time to connect it to whatever the dumb plot of the season is.

The actual plot of the episode might not have been super exciting or crazy but it was just nice to see the doctor and his comapinons show up and try to solve a problem, I hope Mark is given the chance to write a "Filler" multiparter sometime. Victory of the Daleks might not have been very good but it had decent pacing and good character interaction, so id love to see what he could do given the chance to create his own world and "Monster of the week" that can last for more than 45 minutes.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

A slow-burner for me. Really took a while for me to get into it, but by the end I was lapping it up. Was worried this could be another dreary "Fear Her"-type Earth-based adventure but it had much more going for it. The dolls got right under my skin with their wonky nursery rhyme and empty-eyed faces.

As for Jesus Doctor... Honestly? Nothing he does will ever be as cringe-inducingly holy as the ressurection at the end of "Last of the Time Lords". But he's going to solve anything, I too would quite like to see some explanation behind it. They've got 45 minutes to play with the plot, characters and big bad and Gatiss showed how well all those elements can be played with this week.

[hisak]

The dolls got right under my skin with their wonky nursery rhyme and empty-eyed faces.

I'll admit that the design and idea behind the dolls were effective, though every ounce of tension in the episode was sucked away the moment Amy became a victim. Looking around the internet, it seems like I'm in the minority on disliking this one. Oh well.

Next episode was written by Tom MacRae, who wrote the Cybermen two-parter in series 2, which I found to be a mix of great and awful. We'll see which side of his writing shows up next week.

[Bidet to you sir]

The general consensus I've found is, those who still like River, loved the last 2 episodes, and disliked this one.

Those who hate river, or used to like her or only like her in small doses, hated the last 2 and liked this one.

River song was nothing like this in the library episodes, that was moffatt at his best, he writes her how RTD would write her now.

[hisak]

River song was nothing like this in the library episodes, that was moffatt at his best, he writes her how RTD would write her now.

Well of course she was written differently back then, events have changed her between "then" and now. I understand if people find it self-indulgent of Moffat to write her the way he's been writing her, but I think that there's story-related reasons for her behavior and the nature of the character means that we'll eventually reach a point where she can't be as flippant as she is now.

(And for the record I usually look forward to getting back to straightforward standalones after Moffat's mind-bending timey wimey stories. I just didn't like this one.)

[hupla]

Sylvester Mccoy would be proud.

[hisak]

That's more like it! Really great episode. A lot of fiction wouldn't be able to get away with a story like this (I mean it's only been two episodes since the last time a female character sacrificed herself for a male character), but the history between the two made it work. MacRae managed to work some fun campy moments without ruining the momentum of the episode, which was a nice change from his last work on the series.

hupla: Did McCoy do lots of episodes like this or what?

[hupla]

The thing you have to realize about 7 is that he didnt have a Sonic Screwdriver, so every situatuion normaly solved by it, he would have to manipulate his companions and others around them into solving it for him . He was a MASTER of controling people and was known to keep everyone in of the dark on what his end game was, even Ace (His companion the majority of his run). He had CRAZY just as planned moments and was a hard core mo'fo.

[hisak]

I was a little cold on last night's episode. Most of the humor didn't work for me, and the show seemed to assume that the audience had loads of sentiment for James Corden's character (I didn't, despite how much I enjoyed The Lodger). I can see why people would enjoy it - it just didn't work for me.

Last week's was great. Surprised nobody was here to discuss it (it may be my fault).

[hupla]

Yeah God complex was great. This was alright I guess, still liked it more than say LKH.

High hopes for next week, really want them to wrap up the river plot for a bit.

[hisak]

High hopes for next week, really want them to wrap up the river plot for a bit.

I can agree with this. I like the character, but I'd like Moffat's episodes next year to have a somewhat less obsessive focus.

Of course that's a long time away.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

The God Complex was a fine piece of stand-alone Who. Lots of character, but why didn't Rory get a room? They even said "There's a room for everyone, Doctor. Even you." so surely that includes Rory.

I'm with hisak when it comes to Closing Time. I'm not the biggest fan of James Corden anyway, so the return of Craig was always going to be a little ho-hum for me. The humour? Hit and miss. But the one thing which bugged me most was the department store's apparent willingness to hire a peculiar man in a long coat who calls himself just The Doctor. I know looking for sense in Doctor Who is like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack but how difficult is it to come up with a believable alias? (Not very: John Smith. There we go. Series continuity included.)

As for next week... Well, it's going to all be a bit mental. I'll be sorry to see River go, but I understand the complaints people have had about it all getting a bit complicated and even self-indulgent. That little nursery rhyme from the ending of CT will be rattling around my head until the weekend. (And hopefully I'll be back from Sweeney Todd in time to watch it during its scheduled slot otherwise it's gonna be a tough few hours avoiding spoilers.)

[hupla]

The God Complex was a fine piece of stand-alone Who. Lots of character, but why didn't Rory get a room? They even said "There's a room for everyone, Doctor. Even you." so surely that includes Rory.

Because Rory doesnt belive in any higher power or have any faith in something crazy(like the CIA conspiracy dude), was the idea.

Even time lords seem to worship or have faith in something. I might be wrong but I think for a time they almost worshiped Omega, so it could have been that which gave The Doctor a room.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

I'm not buying it. At the very least he should have faith in his ever-lasting, powerful as anything in the universe love that he and Amy appear to have going for them. Heck, it survived a one-sided, 30-year time jump.

If you say a room for everyone, you should mean it.

Hype for the next episode building. Looks like the Doctor is picking up a new hobby to pass those 200-years before his demise.

[hupla]

(click to show/hide)

Dorian is the best Character in this show.

[hisak]

Expecting a lot of hate for this episode. I thought it was fine, though still a little bit too packed.

So River's story is pretty much done now, right? She'll still be around of course, but it seems like they've explained mostly everything.