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19 August 2015 at 19:59 #41918
Many thanks! I will post something asap and hope to get some discussion going.
19 August 2015 at 19:09 #41906Hi there, can we have threads for Dalek and especially Father’s Day please on the 9th Doctor forum?
Many thanks!
18 August 2015 at 17:13 #41894I enjoyed this. Simon Pegg, Tamsin Greig, Anna Maxwell Martin and Agent Weaver from SHIELD – lots to enjoy. The satire is, as @thekrynoidman says, not exactly subtle and the adult audience will be sceptical from the outset. But the line that @phaseshift quoted is a damn good one, and worth wheeling out on a regular basis. We know, as grown-ups, that the media and governments may be distorting the truth, or being highly selective, or simply lying – but we are influenced nonetheless. The endless repetition of the rhetoric of ‘hardworking families’ versus skivers for example, or the way in which the current refugee situation is reported, or the reporting of the Hillsborough disaster … It does its work.
Yes the manacles were very silly. And also (if one is going to quibble, and I think one is, a bit), how did Adam have so much info on the Doc, when he’d only met him so recently, and when both the Doc and Rose were still being fairly cagey about what they told him? When did Adam learn that the Doctor was the last of the time lords? Hmmm.
But enjoyable nonetheless.
Next up is Fathers Day. That was the first episode in new Who through which I wept pretty much non-stop. (It wasn’t the last.)
7 August 2015 at 18:54 #41628Just checked IMDB and it is Tosh (ie its not just a Torchwood actor in a random role like Gwen/Gwynneth) – Doctor Sato. I’d forgotten that. I had not forgotten the Slitheen despite the years of therapy. It’s not just the farting, I’m not above finding that funny, on occasion. It’s the maniacal laughter. And the way the baddies in this have to be fat, so there’s a whole package of nasty and crude associations linked to fatness. Which I do think is an issue – fat people on TV are usually stupid or lazy, and if not they’re bad. So they do annoy me.
However, we do have Harriet Jones, the member for Flydale North. Cheers, @fatmaninabox.
Not yet rewatched World War Three. Ho hum.
7 August 2015 at 16:53 #41622My favourite episode so far. This is spooky, referencing the old-fashioned ghost story, lots of literary in-jokes, Rose once again connecting with the downtrodden young women of whatever era or species that she encounters on their travels, but facing up to the culture clash between the two, plus Gwynneth’s genuinely moving self sacrifice. And Simon Callow thoroughly enjoying himself and as others have said above, really inhabiting the role of Dickens. The idea of meeting him at this late stage when he was weary, a bit disillusioned, lonely, wondering if his life’s work had really amounted to anything – I wanted to grab his collar and say yes, yes, your life’s work resounds still in the 21st century, both in terms of literary worth, an d in terms of his championing of the downtrodden and exploited and invisible people in society. I’m a huge Dickens fan and loved this portrayal – I found it truly touching as well as funny. I have generally rated Gatiss’s episodes, not sure why they aren’t popular with some. This was the momen t I fell in love with new Who, and even the farty aliens that followed couldn’t make me fall out again.
6 August 2015 at 20:41 #41590@craig many thanks, that sounds like a very sensible policy. Glad you like the ep, I’d forgotten how good it was. I will post something asap.
6 August 2015 at 15:53 #41582More specifically on this ep, my biggest problem was that it suffered from Harry Potter syndrome. Too much dependence o n reaction shots – lingering ones at that – to tell us we should be awestruck/amazed/amused. Which would make more se nse if it were Rose’s reactions, but less so the Doctors. He knows all the species gathered there, he’s seen everything before, and yet he’s grinning like a loon as if this is all wondrously new to him.
Otherwise, lots to enjoy, the Indy style flashing blades between him and The Button, Cassandra, a Bad Wolf ref., and stunning visuals.
6 August 2015 at 15:48 #41581I’m sure I’m being dim but how do I get to start a new thread? I’m mid re-watch of S9 and wanted to comment on The Unquiet Dead. Ta!
6 August 2015 at 15:42 #41580@purofilion @thekrynoidman @bluesqueakpip I think when ‘its for kids’ is used to excuse simplistic or sloppy writing, it’s a total copout. Kids deserve good writing – and they can tell the difference. I read Enid Blyton as a kid, alongside Alan Garner, ROsemary Sutcliff, C S Lewis et al – and I knew the difference. EB was a bit of lightweight fun, the others fired my imagination, moved and inspired me, and stayed with me for life. But that just goes to show that aiming at kids doesn ‘t have to be at the expense of depth and subtelty. I think the really good point here is that at this stage neither RTD nor anyone really knew who the audience for new Who would be. Old Who faithfuls, new gen adults or kids – hence perhaps some uncertainty of tone is forgiveable. And Who when it hits its stride always has this massive age range to cater for, much more so than Buffy, for example, and has to make some concessions to the kids (re gore and sex mainly) whilst not losing the rest. Sometimes you can feel that happening but at best its seamless.
6 August 2015 at 15:33 #41579@rose2112 Good point about the goofy grin masking the darkness. And yes I do love Jackie – she was a real departure for Who, a companion’s mum, and what’s more a middle-aged woman who wasn’t just a mum, flirty and funny.
5 August 2015 at 11:42 #41554Just rewatched Rose for the first time since, well, the first time. Wincing at the clunkiness, the crudity of the special effects, the pacing – but TBH I never loved Old Who for the special effects or the whizz bangery, so all is forgiven, as it was when I saw this on first broadcast. I’m perhaps less happy with CE than I was then but that could be partly hindsight, knowing that he wasn’t comfortable with the role and would quit so soon, made me (this time) read some of the goofy grinning as him being out of sync with the part. But he does the darker moments so so well, and the more understated comedic momen ts too. It functions as a Who for Beginners, for a new generation, and does it well (loved Clive the conspiracy theorist geek). And I loved Rose. Resourceful and open, she didn ‘t initially refuse the Doctors offer because of the danger, that was a draw, I think, but because she felt she was needed here. Lots to love, and the flaws are all forgiveable (except perhaps the burping wheely bin)… Will attempt to post on subsequent eps as we re-watch.
3 July 2015 at 21:06 #40933@whisht @purofilion Aha! I thought my finely tuned musical antennae had picked up a reference to Fripp somewhere in the ether… Haven’t listened to League of … for a while but the old Crimson CDs get regular outings. Tonight, however, we’ve had some Rory Gallagher, followed up with Siouxsie and are now on to T Rex. Currently playing – Elemental Child
18 May 2015 at 18:08 #40179I’m not weighing in as far as the substance of this discussion is concerned, as I’ve not been involved. But ‘the kool kids like to smack around the newbies’? No way. Whenever I join a new forum or group I observe how people interact, I listen and get the tone of the discussions, and join in as and when I feel I can – and I’ve encountered nothing but courtesy and good humour here, whether people have agreed or disagreed with what I say.
28 February 2015 at 08:26 #38351@purofilion @jimthefish @pedant et al. S7 would never be my favourite season. I think 5 holds that place. Though even just saying that makes me want to argue vigorously for 3, or even 6. But there are things in 7 that are marvellous. The whole premise of the show – at least as flagged in the title – is challenged, both by the Scooby/potential mutiny and by the chosen one becoming one of the chosen. Spike’s story challenges – without resolving – so many questions about the nature of demons and the meaning of soul. And that bit where the potentials become actuals – that beautiful sequence of young women taking that power on, without understanding it but knowing that its theirs, and standing up, literally or figuratively… Lord, that moves me so much, I can’t even speak about it without choking up. Over the last, very tough, year, it has played in my head at so many moments when I’ve felt powerless and defeated, and made me stand up straighter too.
16 February 2015 at 07:23 #38028@purofilion – Shout all you like, pet, it’s Once More with Feeling and it is AWESOME. OK, there may be some fans who don’t like it but they are very silly and we shan’t bother about them. It’s beautiful and funny and dark, and it’s got songs that you actually spend the rest of your life singing at odd moments, and it totally works.
31 December 2014 at 08:15 #36730@purofilion Re your last (longer) post – beautifully observed and beautifully expressed. Esp liked this:
Quite epic: and yet as deft and light as a soufflé or a Sylvia Plath poem.
26 December 2014 at 20:37 #36440Some pompous idiot [actually it was me] said on one thread or another here that ‘and then I woke up’ endings were tedious cop-outs. Moffatt just subverted what can indeed be a lazy narrative device, often used when a writer has simply exhausted their inventive powers, and turned it into something truly unsettling.
And overall it was a delightful episode. The Christmas specials work to different rules, we allow them a level of whimsy that we would perhaps find irritating if it was sustained throughout the series, and a degree of sentiment too. Having said that, if I rate this on my personal sob-ometer, it’s below the season 8 finale, and most of the recent Christmas shows. That’s not a criticism – I cried at John-Paul and Ste’s wedding in a recent Hollyoaks, so my tears are not an indicator of depth or quality.
What’s exercising my somewhat Xmas befuddled brain is how much of series 8 we now need to question – there have been indications that things happened in a different sequence to that in which they were shown (eg Forest, 2016), and there have been many instances where things happened that seem dreamlike rather than even fantasy, let alone sci-fi. Not to mention the recurring theme of fairy tales.
The Doctor: You know what the big problem is in telling fantasy and reality apart?
Ashley: What?
The Doctor: They’re both ridiculous.Whilst the ‘are we still dreaming or are we awake’ conundrum is the one that unsettles – and may shape season 9 – this:
Do you know why people get together at Christmas? Because every time they do it might be the last time.
definitely had an effect on the remainder of our Boxing Day family get-together. The photo of my 87-year old father (who had snored through Doctor Who) that I took just before they left could have had that as a caption…
Hope all you excellent people have had a grand time, and I look forward to lots of bonkers theorising and lots of Who in 2015.
16 November 2014 at 20:50 #35689@arbutus – brilliant!
13 November 2014 at 19:13 #35467@fonsini – ah, I’d forgotten about you, kind of thought you’d gone off in a huff last time we collectively shut down your rather unpleasant and narrow minded nonsense. Anyone who watches Doctor Who basically to count the number of black characters in order to work out whether this is ‘feasible’ or not really is in the wrong place. Do please take your extremely unsubtle but definitely twisted illiberal agenda elsewhere.
11 November 2014 at 07:20 #35323Some fabulous stuff going on here, too much to keep up with, and too good for me to be able to add anything really significant. However, I am mulling particularly all of the thoughts about how this series deals with death, and I feel a blog coming on. Will post it here if it turns into anything sufficiently coherent/interesting. Specially loved @purofilion’s last post – beautifully expressed.
@janetteb – reclaim the Guardian from the trolls, would be great, but how? I crossed swords with head troll Needstobesaid in one of his former guises as Alexander way back, after The Girl Who Waited, and it was very much like banging one’s head against a brick wall. Taking him/them on is pointless – he steadfastly refuses to actually engage in the kind of dialogue that we have on this forum. I guess if we all flooded the site with our perceptions and ideas and comments and just ignored him and his ilk, we could shift the balance a bit?
5 November 2014 at 10:40 #34780@purofilion – I can picture it all too easily… very funny if you’re not the one on the inside of the self-locking door!
5 November 2014 at 08:07 #34773As if there isn’t enough to ponder and construct bonkers theories about – how, and why, did @purofilion get trapped in the cupboard? I doubt Moffat will shed any light at all on that one…
4 November 2014 at 12:56 #34731@otherstuff She knows it from the newspaper advert in Deep Breath that was used to get her and the Doctor to the restaurant.
3 November 2014 at 11:04 #34623I do think – hope – that the whole ‘conscious after death’ thing will be proved to be a fake, as it’s just too dark and hideous and traumatising a concept to bear, whether one has just been bereaved, or had to reassure a child that cremation can’t hurt the dead person, or not. In which case, are the inhabitants of the nethersphere actually proper dead, and in some sort of purgatory, a pending state before oblivion/heaven/hell or whatever it is that awaits us? Or have they been snatched in some way that separates them from their corporeal selves but not irrevocably so (until they press delete)? Not sure about how that is all going to play out, not at all. Lots more to be revealed on Saturday, I’m sure.
I am actually pondering more on the post-its and what they are telling us about Clara. I noted that a number of people believe that the phone call from Clara to Danny was made by a future Clara, but at present I just can’t get my head around that at all (timey wimey stuff often defeats me, I just have to accept what I’m told as I get a major headache if I try to actually comprehend). When the phone went dead at Danny’s end she genuinely seemed not to know what had happened – but unless I missed something, the Clara that initiated that call with all the shut upping, was the same as the one who was being told that Danny had had an accident and reacted with shock and disbelief. Aside from that I really want to get a closer look at all the post its – it seemed as though she had figured out something important, and urgent, and we never found out what it was because she only got as far as I love you – and the importance and urgency of that didn’t make sense without the context.
27 October 2014 at 17:47 #34209@ – well, lots of people really, but inc. @miapatrick, @purofilion, @zeitgeis… Clara’s lying seems to me to be a compulsion rather than forced on her by the situation with either the Doctor or Danny. In every situation with either of them where she has the chance to tell the truth, she opts for a lie instead. Why? I don’t honestly think it’s down to Danny forcing things (even if I do have my doubts about him). It’s so pervasive, so consistent, that there must be some deeper reason for it I think. Though I am obviously prepared to eat those words should the finale tell us otherwise.
27 October 2014 at 08:00 #34192Fascinating discussions here, as always, and as always I feel I have very little to add! However, for what it’s worth…
Re Danny, I am uneasy. I can see both perspectives (@blenkinsopthebrave and @bluesqueakpip). Clara’s incessant, compulsive lying makes Danny seem more responsible – but whose fault was it that they lost a child? How long was Maebe missing – and how did neither Danny nor Clara (nor any of the other children) notice? And this is a child who is known to be extremely vulnerable, on medication, etc etc. And twice (as noted by others) he leads the children out of a place of safety into the unknown, into the forest which represents unknown hazards, and the strong possibility of getting lost (all of them, or some of them). Clara’s lying bothers me a lot. I find myself willing her not to do it, and then frustrated, and baffled when she inevitably does, to both the Doctor and Danny.
I don’t have a problem per se with the threat that turns out to be benign – but the denouement was just too easy. Everything is back to rights, and humanity will, apparently, forget it all happened. How does that work? (Though we have another to add to our list of superpowers – we learned in Listen that fear is one, now we are told that forgetting is a superpower too…). And the reappearance of the missing sister – unless that turns out to be part of the overall narrative arc, which probably means it’s a lot darker than it appeared – was again just too easy, she’s been gone a year, and with hugs and smiles all is now fine. I am notoriously weepy, and Doctor Who often gets me going, but whilst I was touched by the portrayal of Maebe overall , that ending left me dry-eyed.
It does feel as if we are just holding our breath now, for the finale and whatever explanations/resolutions it brings…
6 October 2014 at 07:47 #33125Only one watching, as usual, and I was v tired but for what they’re worth, one or two thoughts.
The Annabels concurred re the daft science but for me that’s not a deal-breaker – oddly enough less so as I work with physicists, and know how the community is divided on theories about the universe (eg dark matter), and as I always recall a dear and sadly departed physicist friend used to say, science isn’t an exact science.
Courtney – I may have got this wrong but I thought the ‘vortex manipulators’ was a joke, that she brought travel sickness tablets or those wristband thingies and the Doc called them vortex manipulators? Re her not being special, did anyone else think of the way in which ‘special’ is used to mean ‘needing extra help and support’? Certainly in our household if we say to each other, yes, you’re very ‘special’, that’s what we mean… Loved the idea of the Doc shutting her in the Tardis, saying ‘don’t touch anything’! I guess if he thinks she’s 35 rather than 15…
Any significance in the Doc asserting that he didn’t kill Hitler? Given that Let’s Kill Hitler was the episode where we met Mels…
Re Clara’s choice, I think I agree that her communication to earth was an attempt to duck the decision. Given that she could never know actually what the majority of earth citizens thought, or how many had received the message let alone understood the implications, she was just hoping for something to let her off the hook. That could be why she asked them to turn the lights off if they disagreed with her – if they didn’t get the message then they would take no action and lights that were on would (by and large) stay on, which she could then interpret as a vote for the creature to live (and not worry too much about the half of the globe she couldn’t see!). The failure of that plan meant that she had to go with her gut instinct – which turned out to be right. If the Doc did know, it was a pretty horrific thing to do to her – and potentially to humanity. I guess we have to believe he didn’t, and so left it to her conscience to make the choice and take the gamble either way.
Phew. Got to use my brain for other stuff.
2 October 2014 at 17:45 #32871@arbutus Absolutely – enjoyed, not fully agreed with. It was refreshing that the writer was putting a different point of view without demonising those with whom he was disagreeing. And yes, the show has its roots in diversity – as the Adventures in Time & Space drama (which was absolutely wonderful, I thought) made clear, with the key parts played by a young Jewish woman and a young Indian man, and a Canadian of Jewish Russian refugee heritage in making the programme happen, and making it a success.
2 October 2014 at 07:32 #32856http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who/32264/doctor-who-and-faith-bigger-on-the-inside
Doctor Who hosts a frank and open discussion about the things that matter most to us as human beings: love, death, forgiveness, safety, adventure, and yes – belief.
Interesting piece here about Who and faith. As a humanist (I prefer that as a positive statement of what I do believe in, rather than atheist which defines me by what I don’t) I’ve always claimed Who, along with the Whedon oeuvre, for ‘my’ side. But this is a nice article, and timely in light of the weirdness on the Gblog, where atheism seems to be equated with nihilism.
2 October 2014 at 07:14 #32855@phaseshift To really admire it I’ve found it beneficial to stop a safe distance away from it. Yorkshire is perfect. I can really admire London from Yorkshire.
A good point, well made. The view of London from Sheffield is pretty damn fine. Mind you, the view of hills and moorland from my dining room window in Sheffield is awesome.
29 September 2014 at 21:38 #32710@scaryb thanks for the Alice clip – I remember watching that on TotP!
@arbutus totally agree that the Doc should not fit in too well. I adored Tennant, but with hindsight and without the distraction of his considerable charms, I think he was too human, and Smith set things back on track from that point of view.
28 September 2014 at 19:42 #32640@scaryb I checked again with my son who is (a) a fount of knowledge on a great many topics, including (but not restricted to) football, American history and politics, the Spanish civil war, Marvel superheroes, AG Who, and otters. He is very certain about the otters, so otters it is.
The Guardian blog comments this week appear to have been taken over by someone ranting about atheist subtexts and it’s all a bit tedious.
28 September 2014 at 18:18 #32634Is it remotely possible that in Clara’s rant about Jane Austen she referred to Blorgons? Because that would be – whilst completely arc-irrelevant – rather nice. http://madmanwithabooth.wikia.com/wiki/Inspector_SpaceTime_Wiki
28 September 2014 at 17:12 #32628Only just watched it, and just the once, so lacking in any terribly coherent thoughts.
@thebrainofmoffat – Auton or otter – I heard auton, my son definitely went with otter, and his hearing is likely to be better than mine what with being young and all.
@phileasf – The parents’ evening comment – I didn’t register it at the time, but (and without winding back to get the exact words) I’d be inclined to read ‘you’ as ‘the school’, rather than Mr Pink personally. I don’t think the derelict building can be the junk yard – didn’t we see the junk yard a while back (during 11’s tenure I think) looking pretty much as it used to?
Once again the monster was a McGuffin, hard to believe it was a real threat to the entire world, but it did what it was intended to do, and I don’t think it will prove to be part of any arc.
Re Courtney, time travel could introduce all sorts of new ways for her to live up to her name (Disruptive Influence) – just remembering why Barbara and Ian were looking for the Doc in the first place, because they were concerned about Susan’s behaviour, claiming the teachers had their facts wrong etc…
14 September 2014 at 12:00 #31622Well, that was fantastic. Genuinely creepy. Reminded me a lot of something Stephen King said about how when we’re grown-ups we know there’s no monster under the bed, and we also know that if we get on to and off the bed quickly enough the monster under the bed can’t get us…. And he knows a bit about such things.
Haven’t worked out what I think yet about Rupert/Danny/Orson etc (and what about the Blue chappie from Into the Dalek? Does he/how does he fit in?).
I’m persuaded tho that the boy in the barn was the Doctor, not the Master. I didn’t interpret the adults in that scene as parents though, rather as the people in charge of some kind of Time Lord prep school?
Someone on Reddit (a place I do not go but I know those who do) apparently has said that the ‘fear makes companions of us all’ speech is said (or something like it) by Hartnell’s Doc. I can’t verify that but I’m sure someone here will track it down if so!
That’s it for now. No time to re-watch, have got a train to catch. And may not get much chance to revisit these discussions let alone contribute before next week’s ep, sadly. I will however be in unfamiliar hotel rooms in rather creaky old hotels over the next few days… I’m sure there’ll be nothing under the bed, nothing at all…
Have fun all!
And listen… don’t breathe …. don’t hold your breath – and of course, don’t blink.
7 September 2014 at 19:58 #31275Enjoyed the episode – it felt a bit like a little light relief (although with hints and echoes of the darker themes). But the badinage between Doc and Hoody also reminded me a lot of the ‘banter’ between the various doctors in DotD, even down to the bit where they’re in a cell not working together to come up with a coherent plan… Significant? Who knows…
31 August 2014 at 20:21 #30807@fonsini If this is a parody of BTL Daily Mail/Express UKIppery then cleverly done, though really, most of us would probably rather you hadn’t.
If not, I think you’re in entirely the wrong place. We’ve all been brainwashed far too effectively, as you predict, to be won over by your arguments. Otherwise, how could we fail to conclude that the possibility of a stunning white woman fancying a stunning black guy is evidence of social engineering rather than just one of the sort of things that actually happens, in real life, even outside London? How could we fail to see that the show is swarming with hordes of black actors for no good reason other than social engineering, rather than because they are excellent actors? How could we fail to see that Doctor Who is the reason girls were sexually abused in Rotherham … etc etc.
In other words, you won’t be swayed even a little bit by any reasoned arguments we put up against your skewed, bigoted vision of the world, we will just confirm you in that vision. Please go away and talk to like-minded people – you know where you can find them, there are plenty of you, sad to say. Just not here.
31 August 2014 at 19:06 #30797@devilishrobby Yes, I thought the crack looked familiar… Significant? Not sure, could just be Moffatt messing with our minds.
31 August 2014 at 17:38 #30787Oh, and last week we had ‘don’t breathe’, this week, ‘don’t not breathe’. Whatever next…
31 August 2014 at 17:01 #30781Just watched the episode, an interesting mixture of daft and dark… Lots of interesting things developing here, notably the Missy mystery (agreed that it must be significant that Gretchen was the only one of the soldiers who died to make it to ‘Heaven’ and that that sheds light on Humpty’s demise), and Danny Pink (being a firm non-believer as far as coincidences are concerned, I’m fairly sure there’s a link with Journey Blue, but will await developments as to what that is and what it means).
The soldier thing – I know there were always tensions in Pertwee Doc’s relationship with UNIT but he did work with them, and there was a strong mutual regard between him and the Brig (which has already been referenced in the AG Who – can’t remember which ep but I think it was 11 – and possibly in this one with ‘Courtney’). So what’s changed?
There was another blackboard with formulae thingies on it but my physics/maths geek chums haven’t analysed those yet…
27 August 2014 at 16:17 #30399@fatmaninabox – I didn’t even try, years of working with physicists and mathematicians have taught me to nod sagely and say nowt. I should have put a health warning on the link though – ‘may cause spontaneous cerebral combustion’ …
27 August 2014 at 13:29 #30394@steve-thorp @scaryb – re the Doc’s scribbled equations, wouldn’t you know it, someone has analysed them all:
http://www.tychosnose.com/the-science-at-the-end-of-the-whoniverse/
Doesn’t sound as though they will contribute very much to our bonkerising, but just in case anyone is interested!
On another point – the dinosaur. Do we know for sure that Vastra is talking about this planet’s pre-historic creatures?
25 August 2014 at 15:46 #30193@fivefaces – no problem, we’re all independently coming to (some) of the same conclusions around here, and it’s impossible to keep up with who was first to spot what! I’m @cathannabel here I think (so many identities – hard to keep track!).
Over on Reddit they’ve identified the specific location that was used in The Girl Who Waited and other episodes, including The Girl in the Fireplace and Forest of the Dead, both of which have featured in our discussions of Deep Breath.
http://www.reddit.com/r/gallifrey/comments/2eeyic/theory_heaven_is_actually_apalapachia_the/
http://www.doctorwholocations.net/locations/dyffryngardens
All of which may simply tell us that it’s a good location and within budget, etc. BUT – we don’t have any truck with that kind of simplistic thinking round here, do we. In any case, even if that was the reason for choosing it, it would have presumably been very easy to make it look sufficiently different that we wouldn’t have realised. They didn’t do that, and I think that suggests that there’s some significance in it. However, having looked for images from TGITF and FOTD there seems to be only limited use of the place, whereas the shots of the garden in DB match those in TGWW very closely. And if you look at the website, that seems to be the Pompeian garden which one could get over-excited about if one was so inclined.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dyffryn-gardens/visitor-information/
Going for a bit of a lie down now.
25 August 2014 at 14:15 #30180The Guardian blog’s comment section seems to have spontaneously combusted….
24 August 2014 at 22:12 #30098BTW a colleague and Eng Lit scholar has just tweeted this: ‘Caught up with Dr Who. A dinosaur and spontaneous combustion in nineteenth-century London? Echoes of Dickens’s *Bleak House*! ‘ I’d thought of the spontaneous combustion reference but had completely forgotten this quote from the beginning of the novel: “it would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet long or so, waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill.”
Kudos to Dr Amber Regis of Sheffield Uni for spotting this!
24 August 2014 at 15:37 #30069Well, I had to wait till this afternoon to watch it as is traditional with the family gathered on or around the sofa, and I was getting rather agitated as various people created various entirely unnecessary delays (some of them devised solely to wind me up). And then I ended up holding my breath for much of the episode, so I’m not sure I’m in any fit state to comment. I will, obviously, regardless.
Yes, I loved it. The plot was in some ways an irrelevance although we know that Missy and her robot heaven will have a significant role to play, especially if you lot are right about who she is (and I think you probably are). The dinosaur was kind of a joke, I guess, the opening sequence a homage to all those monster movies (and past series of Who) where alien or ancient creatures stomp around in familiar cityscapes. But when the Doc was apparently channelling Dinosaur in its lonely lostness it reminded me of Eleven and the Minotaur in The God Complex – is he ‘translating’, or is it his own thoughts we’re hearing?
Will have to give some thought to the fact that Missy’s Paradise is the garden from The Girl Who Waited. Coincidence? Don’t believe in them. There were droids in that too, n’est-ce pas?
Lots and lots of references to Who past, and the now obligatory ‘You’ve redecorated. I don’t like it’ as Twelve revamps the Tardis.
That will have to do for now. I’m going to whiz over to the Guardian blog and take another deep breath and read below the line. I have a feeling they won’t have liked it. Ah well, I can then come back here and exchange or just enjoy bonkers theories in a much more civilised environment.
Loving Capaldi, looking forward hugely to the rest of the series.
4 January 2014 at 19:15 #239323 January 2014 at 21:53 #23889@scaryb – can’t complain that much, family watching chez Annabel has included not only Who, but also Walking Dead and Misfits (so inappropriate!), and have been spared X Factor or any programmes of that ilk. And at least now she’s older she doesn’t take umbrage when I mock a little bit…
3 January 2014 at 21:34 #23886Yeah, what is this ‘casual viewer’ nonsense? On the occasions when I sit down with my daughter to watch a bit of Hollyoaks (in the interests of mother-daughter bonding, you understand), she has to pause the recording every few mins while I ask idiotic questions about who /what/why. So on that basis, Hollyoaks is unfairly alienating to the casual viewer and should dumb its storylines down a bit to make them more accessible for someone who wanders in randomly part way through…
2 January 2014 at 17:01 #23815Derren Brown again, eh! And does Molly make anyone think of scarf geek girl in TDotD?
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