@bluesqueakpip

That’s really interesting. I am definitely intrigued now whether this is, as you say, some nostalgic twee Irish fantasy. (In which case, why not just imagine some quaint English bobby scenario?) Or is it going to tap into something more directly political? A pastoral idyll that’s actually riven by civil war — as an analogue for…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip yes it was odd. Not to mention the profession of nurse as we know it came about during a war, because of a war even, arguably.

Also people who practice medicine, and people who teach are pretty much the oldest and most consistently found members of a civilisation.

@blenkinsopthebrave yes – I already knew it was Guarda, but this episode really bought it out. I even said to my boyfriend ‘I like that it’s guard in Ireland.

So I looked on OED and I feel that my response is reasonable. Police comes from public order, administration, possibly regulation. To police something is one kind of thing. To Guard is to…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip       @blenkinsopthebrave

I’ve been thinking that clock has a Time Lord in it and its waiting for his immortal body.

It might be KO ?   My hunch is  that he’s another Time Lord using a perception filter like

the Ruth Doc.    There was a resemblance between KO and old Brendon.

If you look with a magnifying glass at the screen…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip

Thanks for that. I suppose I was thinking of the Master’s Tardis taking the form of a clock in “The Deadly Assassin” (particularly since it was a Gallifrey/TimeLord story). But in reality, I think I am just clutching at straws in trying to find meaning in what we were presented with.

@bluesqueakpip Anyway, my bet is that Brendan IS the Timeless Child, and his ‘minders’ are responsible for wiping his memory at the end of every ‘life’.

Oooohhhhh … boy, am I thick. I was trying to work out who the heck Brendan is, and how he figured into this story. Just as I forgot about him (not a good sign), he kept randomly reappea…[Read more]

@jimthefish The Doctor is definitely getting interesting, more edge. The bouncy freshness of her original regeneration feeling the pressure, perhaps, of so much time and memory

.@ollie14, I think so too, but I also agree wit @bluesqueakpip that he’s the timeless child

We now know that the Time Vortex can do one of two things to human style b…[Read more]

Agree @jomomentor and @bluesqueakpip.
Originally thought Brendan was Jack.
But, given what they were doing to him it looked Cyber-ish. Also looks similar to Cyborg bloke so I think he’s the LONE CYBERMAN!

@bluesqueakpip

I just had the hunch  that when the Doctor spoke about not losing anyone else to the Cybermen

it was as if broadcasting that she will be losing some one to the Cyberman.  I think Yaz

cause she seems to be the most reckless.

I’m considering that the secret of the Timeless child could be that all the Timelords

including the D…[Read more]

As my husband and I keep saying, we have to remind ourselves that it’s not just the Doctor and her companions who are different. It’s the head writer and all (or at least most) of the other contributors, as well. I find myself enjoying some episodes, and not enjoying others as much.

I agree with @blenkinsopthebrave about the pacing, especially…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip

I did not mean to disparage Chibnall’s ability as a writer in general; he just seems so much more at home dealing with people in the world as it is or was in the past.

Over the past 60+ years I have read a great deal of science fiction and a somewhat lesser amount of fantasy by numerous different authors. Many have written…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip, @mudlark

More reflections on pacing. If you compare what Moffat could do with an episode like “Heaven Sent” to all of the Chibnall present/future episodes, there is simply no comparison. “Heaven Sent” was paced in a very slow way…and it was hypnotically riveting.  To be honest, I think Chibnall would be incapable of that. But it…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip

I wonder why it is that the Chibnall historicals seem to be so much the best episodes of his era? It’s like everyone (actors, writers, production team) have the ‘touch’ with historicals. – which then proceeds to promptly desert them when they have to do something else.

I suspect the reason is that Chibnall lacks the kind of free-wh…[Read more]

Well, this was fun, and surprising, too. (As I have determinedly been avoiding spoilers, even little ones, I was good and surprised when the “traveller” turned out to be the Lone Cyberman.) I enjoyed the setting and the guest actors, and felt that the creepy/scary component was just right. I agree with @bluesqueakpip that, for whatever reason, the…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip oh that’s good to know!

I’m studying Don Juan a few module blocks from now, so I’d like to think I’d have known that if I’d seen this episode later.

‘An over active imagination’ works splendidly with the gothic aspect as well.

@bluesqueakpip

I wonder why it is that the Chibnall historicals seem to be so much the best episodes of his era?

Could it be the pacing? The futuristic stories happen at a frantic pace–almost like a video game. They are not just cluttered with colourful imagery and explosions, etc, but also with characters running and jumping from one setting to…[Read more]

Hi @bluesqueakpip Yes, I got an email too. Have just dealt with them. Strangely enough (or not), they had a .ru address.

I really like @bluesqueakpip‘s take on memory and “everything you think you know is a lie”. It also occurs to me that tying in references to the Doctor’s past selves can help bridge the emotional disconnect between regenerations, both the Doctor’s disconnect from his own past selves, and ours. It’s easy to say it’s the same character, but it’s not…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip the reverse of the materialisation trick was also used at the end of Blink too, so I didn’t have any particular issue with the Tardis landing around some one, I’m sure it’s happened other times too.

Another thing that came back to me about this episode was the reference to the Doc having two brains, I don’t recall this ever being…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip

Perhaps the contrast between last week’s episode caused me to be a bit harsh in my comments yesterday evening, but I certainly didn’t think it was as bad as Orphan 55 and, as I said, it held my attention. After a second viewing, now that perhaps I am in a more tolerant mood, I feel less inclined to be critical, but I still have the…[Read more]