• CountScarlioni replied to the topic World Enough and Time

    @thane15   I got the spoiler warning in time. Thanks.

    @wolfweed  In theory, if two Missy’s touch, it could cause Paradoxical Time Distortion (or Blinovitch Limitation Effect). A quick read of the Tardis Data Core on the Blinovitch Limitation Effect has examples where touching has not been necessary to produce the effect; proximity has been enough…[Read more]

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic World Enough and Time

    @bluesqueakpip  What would happen in the Whoniverse if a ship nearly crashes into a black hole while travelling faster than light? Wasn’t that discussed in Prof. Cox’s 50th anniversary lecture on time travel? I believe the speed of light is still taken as an absolute limit so that in the real universe no ship can travel faster than light (ther…[Read more]

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic World Enough and Time

    @nerys  Insignificance Terrific movie! As well as the explanation of relativity, it also carries a very powerful punch and moral message at the end. Here’s Marilyn (played brilliantly by Theresa Russell) explaining special relativity to Albert:  

    @mudlark @thane15 @nick @ichabod   As I understand it…[Read more]

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic World Enough and Time

    A puzzle: If the Master gets zapped by a cyberman in the presence of Missy (say, he’s turned good and is standing with the Doctor, while she has turned bad), prompting a regeneration, what would happen?? He surely could not regenerate into her if she is already standing there.  Also, is it possible there are other `Masters’ between the Master and…[Read more]

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic World Enough and Time

    One thought in reflecting on this episode: SM puts himself head and shoulders above all other AG writers for me in part because of his delight in, and willingness to push up to the limit and beyond, various notions and perceptions of time. Here we had the different time rates at the top and bottom of the ship. His best monster does not obliterate…[Read more]

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic World Enough and Time

    A very powerful episode that will take some digesting, but a few immediate thoughts to add….

    With PC’s regeneration and the protests of “No, no, no!”, I thought there were definitely echoes of the of the Second Doctor’s strongly resisted regeneration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_xRkPUMHhc

    @devilishrobby similar dilemma that he faced in…[Read more]

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic Spoilers (3)

    SPOILER, SPOILER, SPOILER...

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic Spoilers (3)

    SPOILER, SPOILER, SPOILER...

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic The Eaters of Light

    @craig  I was actually thinking of an earlier conversation between The Doctor and The Master, very near the end, where The Master asks for help. I had fun reading this as if it was between Capaldi Doc and Missy. It’s almost flirtatious.

    Thanks for emphasising that conversation and that way of reading it. I was prompted to then watch the final ep…[Read more]

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic The Eaters of Light

    @ichabod  I wonder whether taking on the gatekeeper’s job (for however long before devising a way to shut the gate for good) was almost tempting to him, as a respite from all us “kids” and our mistakes and foolishness for a bit . . .

    That’s a really interesting reading. In Series 9, the Doctor moaned about the pudding brains, but his attitu…[Read more]

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic The Eaters of Light

    Another fine episode, & especially good use of landscape.

    The Doctor is quite testy by this point and not his usual self. He struck me as harsh towards the Picts (“embryos”), and acted in a way that went beyond his usual lack of social skills and indicated that he’s getting a bit fed-up dealing with the “children.” The key point I thought came…[Read more]

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic Empress of Mars

    A fun romp with some serious themes also in play. Hammer horror meets Zulu. And a good change of pace from the Monks (sort of) Trilogy. If we’d not known the writer, I think we’d have all picked Mark Gatiss.

    Greatly enjoyed what I take was a visual reference to Tomb of the Cyberman.

    Related image

    Bill’s right. Everybody loves The Thing.

    I’m with @scaryb,…[Read more]

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic The Lie of the Land

    @nerys  So much misdirection in this episode.

    Yes, that was crucial last week too, and the Doctor even discussed it. On the other hand, we finally got into the Vault and there was no surprise at all that Missy was in there, and she does appear to be alone.

    @wolfweed   We learnt nothing about the Monks really. 

    Including the point of their inv…[Read more]

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic Extremis

    @missy   By this point, my own money too is firmly on an alien race running alone, but have a lingering hope for a connection! The red habits of the Monks are a bit suggestive with red being such a Time Lord colour. For fun, I took the Doctor’s advice, went to Google Images and spent ten minutes entering various search terms such as `Doctor Who…[Read more]

  • The Doctor and the co-ordinated military attack:

    @ichabod  I doubt we’ll find out.  Maybe it was as simple as realizing that his own capacities were so hampered by the blindness that the best first move would be for humanity to try its heavy weapons…

    @tardigrade  I don’t think the Doctor was very invested in the attack- it wasn’t his idea and…[Read more]

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic Extremis

    @missy   Oh for crying out loud, it could be anyone  A very belated thought. Perhaps the answer to most Doctor Who questions is, a) the Daleks or b) the Time Lords!

  • @mirime    This. They would just find the next point of imminent doom. They didn’t look like they were giving up, they looked like they were going back to check out their simulations.

    Yes, I agree, the Monks just don’t look as if they are going to abandon the Earth of their own accord. I argued upthread that, given the information available to…[Read more]

  • @ichabod   I think “power” to the monks is freedom to make effective choices, so their idea of “love” is just what the Doctor says it is: “Love is — slavery.”  Well, he should know: he was recently shown increasingly enslaved (and perverted from his natural, chosen course) by one hell of an obsessive love for his former companion.[Read more]

  • Another politically charged episode with meditations on rulers and ruled, with the main thought, How on Earth do the rulers get away with it? I need a second watch to try to get properly to grips with this one.

    @blenkinsopthebrave  @thane15      and why a pyramid exactly?

    I’d dearly like to think the explanation is: Pyramids have turned up bef…[Read more]

  • CountScarlioni replied to the topic Extremis

    @pitircapaldi     Daleks. 

    The Monks seem likely to be an independent race acting alone. But once the Doctor has dealt with the Monks, then what’s the threat as we work towards the big climax to the series?? Or will the Doctor be fighting the Monks to the end?

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