[Belshazzar @replies]

Hi all, wanted to introduce myself after my impulse-post last week after the season finale. I’m a Yank who is new-to-Who, and I’m happy to report that the program is enjoying quite a surge of popularity over here as well. I have no idea how the general American viewership is responding to Capaldi’s doctor, because as soon as I found this forum I ceased looking for opinions elsewhere.

Anyhow, I guess the first time I actually “met” the Doctor and watched an episode was only a month or so before the Capaldi debut, but in reality it’s more complicated. The TARDIS, mainly, has been a motif that has kept popping up in my life (as a nerd, because Dr. Who has been much less mainstream over here for the most part). I’d heard of the Doctor. I’d seen Simpsons Tom Baker. Seen TARDIS replicas, TARDIS wedding proposals, TARDIS cakes, TARDIS lamps, an augmented-reality TARDIS that was “bigger on the inside”.

So when I first met the Doctor in “Flesh and Stone” (I think.. Angels-in-the-Forest episode) I had a decent idea of who he was, and what the TARDIS was, but they both exceeded my expectations. I believe that was the end of the marathon on BBC America, because the next episode I watched on-demand and was “Asylum of the Daleks”, the first episode available. The Daleks, actually, were the other image–the other side of the symbolic coin on which the TARDIS had been emblazoned. I’d seen them, too, depicted and reproduced again and again in costumes, cakes, vending machines, and all the same sort of pop-art as the TARDIS. So now everything made sense. The TARDIS, the Doctor, the Daleks!

Quite satisfying that was, in and of itself! To say nothing of the fact that the series actually has a great combination of interesting mythology, clever writing, and great acting. At any rate I was hooked, and I watched as much as I could. I’m pretty well caught up with Smith, and seen most of the key plot points I think– Rory/Amy, cracks, Silence, Cybermen, Pandorica, Day of the Doctor, etc. Watched a bit of Tennant too (I think he was great), and a handful of Ecclestons.

If I were choosing among oldschool Doctors (none of whom I’ve seen) I think I would probably fall into the Hartnell/Baker camp, from what I can gather. And that makes sense if people are comparing Capaldi with them, because so far he is my Doctor. I love his no-nonsense manner, and his chemistry with Jenna Coleman is great. Where she falls short is due to the writing, I think, and not necessarily her performance. And as I said in the “Death in Heaven” thread, I think Samuel Anderson also drew an extremely short straw this season. Hopefully there’s a silver lining for him.

So yes, I’m new-to-Who, and I’m happy to be here, and I feel optimistic about the direction of the show. I’m not a fan of the sloppier science, and golden arrows and all that, but I can roll with it as long as the gems like “Listen” and “Time Heist” keep coming. Glad to be in on the secret finally, and I hope I can contribute to your forum when I have the time and wherewithal!

[Belshazzar @replies]

Hi all, new here and new-ish to Who (a little Tennant, more Smith, and then Capaldi who I think is fantastic) and been lurking since about the beginning of this season. Been meaning to post and I hope I can contribute to the discussion on your wonderful forum here!

Found a good moment to comment too, as Coly, Herisson, cmbwhovian, macphisto and Timeloop have just laid out of lot of ideas I agree with (although from what little I’ve seen, 12 is definitely my Doctor). Full disclosure: I’m a Yank and haven’t seen him in previous roles (though I liked the cursing-is-ingrained gag last episode), but I was just so impressed by Capaldi this season. I’ve also really enjoyed watching Jenna Coleman, and I agree with others that she’s a good actress, but often thwarted by the directions her character is forced to take. I thought last week’s episode was fantastic, and I was a bit let down by this one, but particularly by the “resolution” of the Clara/Danny thread, if you can call it that.

I get that in some ways, Clara has already fulfilled her purpose. She helped the Doctor find a way to save Gallifrey, and potentially helped him find out where it is (unclear re: ending). But why? I need to watch the episode again, I realize, but I don’t quite understand what indispensable role Clara played in drawing the Doctor to Missy. Did she really need to create this elaborate theater with Danny the soldier and Clara’s devotion/betrayal? Maybe that proved the easiest way to lure him into her trap, but why? It’s implied that Clara is chosen for an exceptional reason. But that riddle of “the Impossible Girl” is still not resolved, nor is that of Orson Pink.

And on the subject of Pinks, I don’t understand all the negative reaction to Danny Pink, particularly the assertion that he is controlling. Danny performs (or tries to) the same function for Clara that she provides for the Doctor: he is another voice, another conscience, and one that can be trusted ( the much-maligned Kill The Moon was about trust: Clara having to trust herself if the Doctor was to trust her–and he did), even if his advice is not necessarily taken. Danny is the only other confidante Clara has besides the Doctor, and 12 is not a particularly satisfying person to confide in. Danny was never fooled by Clara’s lies, and quickly realizes what she’s up to. He offers advice but is nonjudgmental, even in The Caretaker where he was trying to discern the truth. He also got the worst end of the bargain in almost every aspect of being a semi-companion. Rory may have died a lot, but he got to travel with Amy and the Doctor and partake in their adventures. Danny, on the other hand, only barely got inside the TARDIS, dealt with a flaky and dissembling Clara who canceled on dates and didn’t invite him on adventures, and he maybe only ever got 3 honest words from her. Meanwhile, he got caught up in the machinations between her, the Doctor, and Missy, and ended up paying with his life for that pleasure.

I think both Danny Pink and Samuel Anderson are good dudes, and deserve a bit better than that. His returning the boy he killed was a touching gesture, and I can’t really argue with the morality, but I was still a bit disappointed. I guess in the end, Danny still “saved the world” before he “died” which isn’t a bad legacy, but I just felt his character deserved a little more time in the sun, in a role that was full of darkness and bad luck. And Clara and the Doctor–that resolution was totally unsatisfactory. Of course, as Clara says in the previous episode, nobody “deserves” anything, but as she says, she is owed. And I agree. And I think Danny is owed a bit more too. Again, the Orson Pink riddle is still open to conjecture, and I don’t suspect it will go unresolved. But I just hope it isn’t done too hastily just because Jenna Coleman had some other role to get to or something.

I understand that not everyone is a fan of Coleman and Anderson, either as a couple or on their own merits, and that’s fine. But I hope and suspect that we haven’t quite seen the end of them, even if they’re on their way out. Much this season has been precipitated by lies, even of the most benign sort (Clara grabbing the young Doctor’s ankle!). Apparently Missy didn’t give the Doctor the right coordinates either, or Gallifrey was not what he expected. Sometimes there are important things to be learned by the distortion of truth, but this episode did not seem to demonstrate that. Or at least the lessons are unclear.

I suppose we’ll see, and either way I’ve enjoyed this season tremendously. Even if we lose Samuel Anderson and Jenna Coleman, I must say that Michelle Gomez is fantastic! You all have such wonderful actors across the pond! And as you know, we keep trying to poach them. Hell, we only just stopped paying Charlie Sheen money to appear on TV. It’s sad here. Anyway, love the forum, and keep up the brilliant bonkers! Can’t wait to read more ideas.

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