So after a second viewing, I’m more confused than I was before! But for what it’s worth, here are my thoughts.

As others have said, the use of the word “traitor” is confusing. The first time we hear it, I think, is when the two little girls/Zygon commanders are killed, and the Zygon says, “We are the Zygon commanders now. All traitors will be k…[Read more]

@mudlark @winston

I think that Tesco must share certain qualities with Canadian Superstore (fondly referred to in our house as “Stupidstore”)? I have never shopped there on my own account, but I used to have to go there in my role as a school volunteer, and I always came out absolutely convinced that I had just experienced humanity at its…[Read more]

Thank you @purofilion, @Bluesqueakpip, and everyone else for sharing your experiences with the evil of all those who would force their worldview on others. So many of us (perhaps most, even all of us) have been touched in some way, directly or indirectly, by these events. I concur with everyone who has said that if something that reaches as many…[Read more]

@blenkinsopthebrave      I am also settling in for a rewatch this morning (I will try to do the ironing simultaneously, which sort of works!). That scene is one of the bits that I want to recheck as well, because I agree with you that I’m not convinced that Jac and the others are dead. Ditto for Kate.

I’m not quite sure about the whole busi…[Read more]

@PhaseShift     That mural is great. Epic, in fact.

I like the “mind bleach”– the nasty chemical version of the memory worm?

@purofilion    In Canada, there is one little corner of northeastern BC, and the entire province of Saskatchewan, that do the Queensland thing. God’s time, and so on. The thing is that there are way way way more dairy cows in Quebec and Ontario and they don’t seem to suffer from the time change there. But whatever! Twice every year, the rest of us…[Read more]

@purofilion    If they’re shooting at you, you’re doing something right.

Absolutely true. And, I might add, if Boy Ilion is confused by the family dinner complete with internet, then you are most definitely doing something right!  🙂

You know, it occurs to me that the callback to Day of the Doctor is also recalling Clara as she was then. B…[Read more]

@purofilion  @janetteB    Moved here from the other thread because Puro is right, this is pub chat!

except Algebra -that I adore. For some mad reason. Also, trig, that was fun too -followed a precise formula, no deviations so I could do it. But the stuff with “there’s  train following another at 105 miles an hour with 67 passengers consumi…[Read more]

@purofilion    Nicely said. I have been embarrassed to admit that I didn’t catch the significance of the Zygon symbol, because I don’t get most of my news in a visual way (i.e. TV or video) and had never seen the Islamic State flag. I have now looked it up, and of course, the connection is instant and obvious. Obviously, this was deliberate, al…[Read more]

@Mersey   I grew up during the seventies, and in those days, serious and divisive issues were addressed in television comedy all the time. MASH was one well-known example of these, as were the excellent Norman Lear programs such as All In the Family. So this doesn’t seem in any way inappropriate to me!

Wow. Just got through two pages of comments, and so much to think about and talk about!

@PhaseShift   Yes, you called it didn’t you, in the pub?  🙂  And good point about the Big Finish Zygon stories, I had forgotten that!

@Bluesqueakpip    Well, I can’t say that I spotted the switch, but I did think that conversation about middle age and th…[Read more]

That was great. Depending on how the second half rolls, I think this will definitely come to be considered a modern classic. I liked the pace of the build-up, and the splitting up of the Doctor, Clara, and Kate. And then suddenly momentum picked up and it was over before I knew it!

It was a pretty unsubtle commentary on our times, a bit like…[Read more]

Some useful hints on how to enjoy that leftover Halloween candy:

@Bluesqueakpip      Agreed. I too was expecting to hear Romana mentioned. I like the idea that that opening title (which has engendered some disagreement as to who is being referenced) might actually be in itself a foreshadowing of the end of the series!

@PhaseShift     Well said!

I raise a glass of seasonal beer to you.   🙂

@DenValdron     @Bluesqueakpip

Both are great explanations. This also makes more clear the problems that the Doctor had in The Angels Take Manhattan, where, in reading the book from the future, the Doctor was turning things into fixed points, because if he knew they would happen, he couldn’t prevent them happening.

@purofilion   Oh, I meant to respond to this and it got lost in the shuffle. I absolutely remember Northern Exposure with massive fondness, it’s exactly the kind of quirky show that I love. If “Chris in the Morning” had been an option on my radio, I would have listened every day.  ☺  Mr. Arbutus used to complain about the show, having spent his h…[Read more]

@CountScarlioni     Well, I agree with her. I don’t want Clara to die, either. I feel she’s earned a better end to her story. But I also hope that her exit is worthy of the road she’s travelled to get there!

@ichabod   Well, that’s a point. But if they do go in that direction, I hope we see something new in the treatment of it, as we have just spent an entire series on the question. Possibly there are other existential questions the Doctor might be driven to look at?

@CountScarlioni    It wasn’t so much the idea of Clara dying, but of dying in that…[Read more]

@CountScarlioni   Oh, that’s dark. We’ve even had it foreshadowed by Clara in the Dalek casing. But I can’t really believe that the show, still being a family show after all, would go all the way down that path?

@purofilion  @ichabod   I’m not so sure that “Am I a good man?” is really an issue here. While Ichi is right and we will probably al…[Read more]