Dr Who

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Can't believe no-one has posted anything about quite possibly the greatest TV show ever made!

Well the new series is nearly upon us, and as I found this on youtube today Clicky, I thought I would start a new thread (its a new long trailer for the new series).

Feel free to talk about all of the series and doctors on here, although I would imagine that it will be predominantly made up of the reboot.

From the reboot, Matt Smith is by far my favourite. Never liked Ecclestone and although I liked Tennant, I just feel that the last lot of specials were terrible and tarnished his memory. Matt Smith plays him brilliantly and doesnt make me miss DT one bit.

So what are your opinions of this fantastic show and how good does that trailer look?

My wife makes me watch Marky, and I know what's good for me!

I hated the whole premise of this week's episode. Who on earth thought that a good storyline would be to dredge up a story from the previous doctor, and simply carry on with it? No-one blinked an eye at the Doctor's new appearance, despite these events coming very soon after the initial episode. The Osgood character is boring, I don't know how people like her.

But, having said all that, what a monumental twist. Fantastic acting and it really took me by surprise, even though I knew something was coming, I didn't suspect THAT. First actual surprise of the season!

Also, without giving anything away, I would be entirely happy if every human on this show died. They are all very badly acted.

I'm an Osgood fan and would be more than happy if she became a short term companion after Clara goes. I couldn't see her being a 2 season companion but more a Donna Noble style comic relief one for a season whilst they lay the framework for the one to follow (and by then a new Doctor hopefully as he'd have then done 3 seasons).

Comic relief? All she did was mope in that episode. Yawnville, Arizona.

I'd quite like a male companion. For The Doctor, not for me. His relationship with Danny Pink was pretty good to watch, and Capaldi would work well with the 'new' situation he found himself in. Anyone apart from Maisie Williams or Alex Kingston will do though.

That was just awful, can't stand it when Clara has the ability to do things no other human can like fight against her host, gave her far too much of a prominent role yet again. The next episode looks the standard; stumble across a human colony in the future who come under attack from some creature.

This series so far has been pretty atrocious, of the four two-part episodes so far there's only been one that's been decent and the rest have all been really below par.
Capaldi's agreed for his third season but from the interview he did it does seem very much his last.

Those zygons look sexy as Frak imho.

I thought it was a decent episode.

The 10 minute speech, if a little obvious as to what he was talking about, was still delivered expertly. Also liked the foreboding of Clara going soon at the very end too.

Yet another disappointing episode. I thought Capaldi phoned it in during his 'emotional' scene, it was utterly unconvincing. But then, when you're surrounded by two zygons (most pathetic monsters ever, what do they even do?), that awful Kate woman, weedy Zygonella who apparently took zero convincing to back down, and Clara being silent in the corner, maybe you can see why he's not interested.

Oh, I forgot Osgood. I loathe her.

I thought it was weird how there's a 50/50 chance the Human/Zygon ceasefire is maintained by 2 Zygons...

OSGOODS

Weird episode. 

Great monsters and an intriguing ending but somehow felt rubbish. 

Worst one of the series for me. But depending on what follows could improve.

I didn't bother last night. If that's the worst of the series and there's been some utter gash already then I don't think I'll catch up on it.

The FPS camera angles were not to my liking. But I did learn an important lesson though, Sleep is an inconvenience

Hero wrote:I didn't bother last night. If that's the worst of the series and there's been some utter gash already then I don't think I'll catch up on it.

I don't think it was the worst of the series, but I do think it had a confusing ending, which hopefully will be answered in the coming weeks. Worth a watch IMO.

So....

What did we think?

I thought it was a really good episode - It had a good pace to it and some nice twists and turns. This was probably Maisie's best performance so far - She seemed much more at ease with the character this week

Capaldi is better when he teeters on the edge of being bad rather than zany doctor so I enjoyed seeing him unravel following the events of the episode - Its a shame to see Jenna go but it was a nice way to pull things together. She has spent so long trying to make sure he Doctor remembers who he is when her downfall is because she forgot she is the companion and not the Doctor

Although when the Raven hits my first thought was christ aren't her jubblies massive - They She will be missed

I had that thought too haha!

I have been thinking that since she was in Emmerdale

I thought the character of Clara got a bit repetitive at the end behind Amy and Rose but she's without doubt the hottest of the companions and will be missed for that reason.

It was an ok episode but just waiting to see who the higher power is now really.

#bringbacksexycatherinetate

The previous episode was the worst Who episode I've ever seen. I then found Clara's episode very difficult, as she was really strung up with another poor script. Even my wife is now saying 'let's not bother watching any more', and she's watched every episode since Eccleston came in. I missed a good portion of the Tennant years but this season has been like the third season of Heroes - all the characters there, writing an abomination, desperate attempts to get people to watch and all the fizz has gone.

BBC: let's have a break from Doctor Who please - Capaldi is excellent and Jenna was the best companion we've had, but the production values and scripts are not BBC calibre. They're currently dodgy Channel 5 Christmas film calibre, and it has to end now.

I feel like we're watching totally different shows.

Especially your comment on production values, the production values are now far and away the best they've had. Watching Ecclestone and Tennant seasons now is pretty painful because of how far the production values have come.

I think this season has been really good to be honest, I have enjoyed every episode. I thought the worst was the Woman Who Lived with the lion man but even that wasn't too bad. Every other episode has been above average and last week's was very good. 

The general reception to this series has been really high as well, certainly higher than the previous two seasons.

For me the best judges of Dr Who are kids (as they're really its prime audience), this season my eldest has decided no longer to watch it and the younger one rarely gets excited by it. These are two boys that have about 30 Dr Who figures, Dr Who wallpaper, bedspreads, have been to the exhibition.
Until Capaldi goes (and the current script writers) then I'm afraid they've lost 2 avid fans.

I think it's genuinely at a really high quality point right now, Capaldi is a good Doctor and the writers are working at their best level yet. I was never a huge fan of Doctor Who when it was under Russell T Davies so perhaps it's simply that the show has changed and some people like it and some people don't, just like some people liked what it originally was and some people don't.

I do think on the kid front the show has really been hurt by the time slot. Having it so late in the evening is absolutely crazy and has led to the writers writing more adult themes to justify the position which I can totally understand will alienate some children, but I don't think for a second the show has dropped quality wise.

I don't think Capaldi is as good as Matt Smith, he's just not as dynamic and exciting, but he is a good Doctor, just a different one and I think the stories around him are actually better than quite a lot of what Matt Smith had to work with, particularly this series which hasn't had anything like the Vampires of Venice or that pirate one. 

I also think the first four episodes of Series 9 are as good as Doctor Who has got since 2005, they were four really quality episodes. The rest haven't hit those heights but haven't sunk below average at all for me. Series 8 was worse than 9, but I thought Deep Breath, Flatline and Mummy on the Orient Express were all good and Listen was probably the best episode of Doctor Who ever outside of Day of the Doctor.

And they pull an episode like that out the drawer!

That has got to be one of the best ever really. Everything was really, really good. Capaldi was absolutely fantastic, the music was amazing, the sets were really clever, the villain was good, the twist at the end was brilliant. Really hard to find fault with it.

I can't argue at all with it, that for me was the best Capaldi episode, up there with Blink even.

It was an ok episode, I couldn't get past the fact the 'diamond' wall would have returned to it's initial state the first time he teleported in and so on or is that the only part of the whole castle it doesn't affect?

It didnt effect the room with his clothes in or the ocean of skulls either.

Really enjoyed it but could someone explain the "bird" written in the sand?

Every 100 years or so a bird would appear and peck at the diamond wall weakening it - That is what allowed the Dr to break through

I had to watch this episode a couple of times to 'get it' - I think there will still be a lot of people scratching their heads over this one - To some it will be genius and Who back at it's best but for others it may well be WTF

One question I have is on The Hybrid - Has it been referenced before, it seems like a huge concept to just be dropped into an episode like that?

The ocean of skulls grew bigger - one more Doctor skull each time the cycle repeated - by the end the stars had moved 2 billion years (?) into the future, with billions of skulls.

I thought it was brilliant - great science-fiction.

Hero wrote:I can't argue at all with it, that for me was the best Capaldi episode, up there with Blink even.

Spoilers in case people haven't seen previous episodes (then why read this thread, right?):

Azzy's thoughts:

have finally caught up on the last two weeks. I'll admit after a great start I thought the series had gone seriously downhill with a very poor episode 6 (the one with the Lion thingy and Maisie Williams being a highway robber or whatever), just about OK double-header with the Zygons, and a pretty meh episode 9 (sleep dust?).

But WOW! Last two episodes have been spectacular. The Clara one was excellent (as Paul aid Maisie's best performance so far), and this week's episode was amazing! Superb script writing and a stunning performance from Capaldi. Definitely agree that's one of the strongest since the reboot.

I can see that some of these episodes may be trickier for kids, heck some of them are hard enough for me, and the darker tones may be difficult for them too, but from a selfish viewpoint I really don't mind, think this has been on the whole a terrific series.

Just have to hope the series finale lives up to the build-up. It's been known in the past to have a very good penultimate episode followed by a rather meh resolution (as well as the other way around of course), but hopefully next week's lives up to this week's.

PS: anyone else noticed that DW seems to have gone a bit "left wing"? There've been criticisms of capitalism in the sleep episode, the refugees in Clara's episode, and a few others. Moffat has been critical of the cuts to the BBC the Conservatives have been dishing out, so wonder if this is in part his response. Could also explain why Hammersmith and Azzy are being so critical (then again Azzy's been a miserable git about DW for a while now)

Also:

Thoughts on the Hybrid:

Thoughts?

Agree the last two episodes were terrific (though lamenting the loss of Clara !)

That last one was an awesome piece of science fiction - though I did feel a hint of a quibblle over the point Hammersmith made above... Thought Capaldi was excellent ; and the sets were absolutely brilliant.

Dark indeed. As , in truth , the Capaldi era has been trending - with odd "light" exceptions , probably thrown in to keep the kids connected , and which in fact have been the ones getting most of the criticism.

Interesting theory in MFC's spoiler. Hmm. We shall see.

As if that wasn't a steaming pile of dog crap, could have been so much more than it was but became just another sentimental 'save Clara' episode.

That was fantastic. 

HH - is there anything in life you enjoy? You don't seem to like doctor who or boxing!

Great story and really great send off for Clara. I said that Matt smith was the most alien of all the doctors. Well capaldi comes across as the most human. You can see the hurt and pain in his eyes. Everyone involved (other than Maisie williams who was awful) has been top notch.

I really hoped that Clara's death would mean no more Clara. How wrong was I? I didn't mind the previous episode, but this one was like when Emmerdale made Val Pollard appear as a ghost for Eric. Pathetic. Capaldi should do a whole series alone, it would be the best Doctor Who ever.

At last, the return of River Song this Christmas. Hopefully the doctor can let off some pent up steam and unleash the beast within upon the river of song and dreams.

You seem to confuse me not liking Tyson Fury with me not liking boxing which isn't the case. I've not liked this series because it's been so centred around Clara, the finale offered much with Gallifrey but seemed to concentrate elsewhere.

The girl done good.

second ep was a fun little romp, unique creatures. tardis looks amazing

This season was preachy, poorly written and mediocre, didn't mind Jodie Whittaker but there are too many companions, and the villains were shoite...

I gave up on Dr Who halfway through Capaldi's tenure. Writing was poor and although I took a look at the first two episodes of Jodie's work in the blue box, the companions were indeed too numerous and the writing (once again) not very good.

It's a shame because it was such a good series when Tennant and Smith were piloting the Tardis.

I enjoyed the most recent season. It wasn't vintage TV but for a first season under a new show runner I enjoyed it. Davies and Moffat both took time to settle in my view. Ecclestone's season was very good given it was returning after so long but the writing was mixed. In the latter half of Tennant's run I felt the writing hit it's stride, continuing into the first half of Smith's time. From there it it slid downhill again.

Even in the spells with poorer writing there have been very good arcs, characters and episodes in amongst it. Capaldi's run was extremely frustrating due to the writing but even so 'The Husbands of River Song' was a terrific Christmas special.

Shows that cater to a diverse audience, especially a wide age range, can often seem clumsily paced but they also have the ability to represent difficult issues to a wide range of people. Political correctness in itself is a clumsy give and take attempting to create a society that sees fewer people marginalised. Combining those two in a high profile show will always evoke criticism but it also creates a debate that sees ignored issues discussed amongst people that usually wouldn't discuss them. That to me is a fantastic thing and well worth putting up with some clumsy dialogue in TV show.

As a schizophrenic whose hallucinations are triggered by trauma and bereavement I have to say that Bradley Walsh's portrayal of a widower dealing with that loss was at times outstanding. The scenes in which he deals with apparitions of Grace striking an obvious chord.

Walsh has been good, even the young lassie is ok, but the boy is wooden and completely devoid of emotion.

Whitaker is ok but the story lines have been awful. There’s been too much focus on trying to give a moral story to make everyone politically correct. The monsters have been utterly rotten.

Get the stories back to the Doctor using his/her smarts to outwit a difficult foe (not these namby pamby rubbish ones), bin the numerous assistants, stick with stories around Walsh or the young police woman.

Has anyone enjoyed Whitaker’s run?

No. But not her fault, the 'writing' for her run was dreadful.

Whitaker has been good but the writing has been mixed to dire. I thought her first season was mixed but had some good moments and something to build on if it improved from that base. Sadly, what I hoped was a base has been more of a ceiling.

Very similar to Capaldi. Two terrific actors who's talents weren't consistently seen due to rubbish writing.

Hopefully Russell T Davies returning as show runner will see a swift upturn in that regard.

Doctor Who?