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3 July 2017 at 23:34 #60322
Well, I really enjoyed it too. God, my heart hurts thinking we’re losing Capaldi at Christmas though. He was fabulous here, especially when he delivered his big speech to Missy and Simm!Master. I really liked their denouement too. It felt right. I kind of got the impression that there might have been at least one more regeneration in between him and her though. I definitely think there’s scope for The Master to be brought back if Chibnall so wishes. I’m also happy that the door was kept open for Bill to come back with that tear she left on Twelve. I like her as a character in her own right, and not just as an extension of The Doctor. Can’t shake off the feeling that Nardole’s ‘happy ending’ felt a bit rushed and, well, weird though. Perhaps it’s just me on that front.
I love the fact PCap’s Doc is all ‘HELL NO’ to his regeneration as well. It really does open the door to an in-depth exploration of what it means to be The Doctor, especially with his first iteration by his side. What awesome pay-off for that photograph of Susan on his desk! Speaking of photos on his desk, I still hold out hope that Twelve will be uploaded to the Library, rather than the Matrix, or that River has found a way to fuse the two together. HA! She’d love hanging out with all the previous Doctors too, and the shipper in me can’t help but hope for it.
27 June 2017 at 17:52 #59791Haven’t been around for ages, but I just thought I might bob my head above the parapet for the last couple of eps.
I really do think this might be a simulation, or an alternate reality. I wonder if there isn’t an Inception-esque quality to the way The Doctor is testing Missy. In this episode she knew she was being tested, but what if there’s another layer to it that she’s not really aware of? Maybe even this ‘version’ of Twelve, Bill and Nardole aren’t aware of it either. The precedent of other iterations of all three of them was set up earlier in the series. The thing that really set me off on this train of thought is the fact that Missy has zero re-collection of ‘Mr Razor’, or the circumstances surrounding her meeting her former incarnation. Surely she should have if they share a timeline?
All in all, I think that kind of scenario might pose troubling answers to questions that were hinted at in The Monks trilogy, i.e. are simulated lives worth as much as real ones? “Am I a good man?” is the conundrum that’s been hanging over Capaldi’s Doctor since the start. If he were to start playing God with ‘simulated lives’ then perhaps the ultimate answer to that question might not be what we expect.
Just as a really quick aside, I thought Twelve mentioning his superior two hearts, and then Bill ending up with her cyberman heart might point to something. We already know he more or less put Nardole together during his time on Darillium. Would he sacrifice one of his hearts to save her? I know it’s probably a really daft notion, but I couldn’t get the idea out of my head.
31 January 2017 at 02:11 #55311God, I’m gutted, but I had a feeling he might.
31 December 2016 at 00:44 #54957@pedant Yeah, I’ve wondered if we’re on a trajectory to allow the Doctor to have another member of his family travelling with him too. Let’s see if that has a bearing on how things play out with Bill. To be honest, I’d enjoy having a new companion/Doctor dynamic. I think Peter would enjoy playing that as well.
@missy Mr. Huffle is the companion we never knew we wanted!
29 December 2016 at 21:59 #54949@pedant I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Moffat is planning another twist in River’s arc. Love her or hate her, she defines his tenure as much as both the Ponds and Clara do, so I won’t be at all surprised if she pops up again before he leaves. I did wonder a while back if she’d make an appearance around the time Twelve regenerates, after all, he is her Doctor now. (To be honest, I’ve always thought River is ripe for a spin-off, but perhaps that’s just me.) Very interesting about Clara making an appearance as well.
Also, speaking of the Library, seen as River only exists now as a non-physical entity, is it a coincidence that a multi-national organisation is stealing bodies?
29 December 2016 at 15:29 #54947Was a little late to the party with this one, but I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. Perhaps not as much as THoRS, nevertheless it was a fun ride. I loved the River references as well and I’m glad they allowed Twelve to show his grief after she’s gone to the Library. Peter knocked that out of the park. I still love how wide-eyed and protective Twelve gets around babies, and Nardole does seem to have hidden depths and talents too.
Actually, in relation to River, did anybody else raise an eyebrow that the The Shoal were in THoRS and this year’s Christmas Special too? Not only that, doesn’t Harmony Shoal sound more than a little like another pseudonym for River Song? It could just be that Moffat is messing with us, but when you consider that ‘a shoal’ can also be a shallow stretch of water as well as a collective noun for fish then it’s possible he’s cooking something up.
17 June 2016 at 18:00 #52735@kharis Seen as Twelve has basically stolen one of River’s companions, you’d hope that’d be the case, right? Nardole returning has left me wondering if Season 1o is going to take place mostly while they’re still spending their night on Darillium, or if he got custody of him after River went to the Library. Strangely though, it’s making me think that Peter will leave after this Series and that there’ll either be a Library Fix-It, or Twelve is going to be uploaded there during regeneration. I don’t know how I feel about it. I love the idea either way, but I really started adoring Peter’s Doctor in Series 9.
11 May 2016 at 01:05 #52250@arbutus I just think it stands to reason that he’d at least be a little different. After all, River goes to the Library knowing with certainty that The Doctor a. loves her and b. that he’ll turn up whenever she asks him to. She’s also changed enough to sacrifice herself without giving it a second thought after verging on begging him to re-write history just before he does the ’24 years’ reveal at the end of THORS.
10 May 2016 at 02:37 #52236Interesting discussion here. I think the thing with Twelve is that whilst he doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve, it’s very much a case of still waters run deep. He doesn’t reveal his empathy in obvious ways, but it’s very much there. Look at the way he slowly grinds down Bonnie during his big speech in ‘The Zygon Inversion’. Everything he says comes from knowing what it’s like to commit genocide and not wanting anybody else to feel that kind of crushing guilt. Even someone who’s ostensibly his enemy. In stark contrast, lovable, cuddly Eleven could be off-handedly cruel at times, which I think I betrayed something much darker in him. He was awful to Rory when he told him Amy wasn’t more important than all of creation, and then he treated River terribly when he refused to trust her and later told her she brought shame on him shortly before they married. In fact, he was pretty horrible to her most of the time, even though he knew she was ultimately going to sacrifice herself for him.
I’m totally with @ichabod though. I do think we’ll see a changed Doctor in S10 as a result of what happened with Clara and because he’ll have spent 24 years with his wife (has he ever spent that much linear time with someone?). To be honest, I think we already saw it in that short clip of Bill. Without whining, he immediately grabbed her hand when the Dalek was approaching. He seemed more grounded, more connected, if not any less exasperated.
4 May 2016 at 16:35 #52124@puroandson @bluesqueakpip @petri19 I must say, I really love the fact that there are so many different possible interpretations, but I don’t mind if it is used as a ‘springboard’ to bring River back at some point. She’s almost too good a character to close the door on permanently, especially as she only pops up now and again. Whether or not that would mean Twelve is going to go back to Darillium at some point before he regenerates, or something else, I don’t know. I love the idea of his consciousness being uploaded to the Library rather than the Matrix during regeneration. It’d be fitting seen as Capaldi’s Doctor is unquestionably her Doctor now.
4 May 2016 at 01:00 #52109@petri19 It sort of is a dropped plot. You think he tells her in ‘The Wedding of River Song’ when he whispers in her ear, but he’s actually just telling her he’s inside the Teselecta. Moffat would probably just argue that he has 24 years on Darillium to tell her, but it seems like it’s linked to a big event in their lives together. IMO it’s a great way back in for River if they wanted to bring her back before Capaldi leaves. As much as I love the seeming finality of THORS, I hope they do.
4 May 2016 at 00:45 #52108@kbranagh I can see them pulling that out of the bag for a big episode. It obviously depends where Jenna Coleman’s career is at that point.
29 April 2016 at 01:38 #51969Yeah, I’m fine with shutting it down for a while too. Even if I’ve never felt so popular with young women as heterosexual female before.
24 April 2016 at 17:48 #51859@Morpho I think part of the reason they’re no longer that scary is because they’ve been around so long. Sure, they’re iconic, but the fact they’ve been used so much has lessened their fear factor. Aside from anything else, kids these days find different things frightening than their parents and grandparents did, because of what they’re now exposed to in mainstream media. More generally, I don’t think ‘gallows humour’ is a problem, or that it necessarily demeans the scariness of a scene. It’s just a, well, completely British trait in a thoroughly British show.
24 April 2016 at 16:21 #51857@Morpho The thing is, Daleks don’t look like terrifying killer aliens. They look like futuristic plumbers. If she genuinely doesn’t know what they are, I don’t think it’s too unrealistic for her to want to take the mick. Personally, I loved her comment about one Dalek at the back being given two suckers and being hacked off.
I do wonder if there’s going to be something significant about Bill’s name. Moffat has a thing for names. It seems like a nice nod to both Billie Piper and William Hartnell.
Out of curiosity, and I know this was just a trailer to introduce the new companion, but did anybody else notice how Twelve didn’t even think twice about grabbing Bill’s hand and running? Post Clara and Darillium, he’s a far cry from Series 8, contact averse Doctor. If this is something they’re going along with in Series 10, I’m really pleased Moffat is allowing PCap’s Doctor to evolve, because, as much as I love Eleven, I’m not sure he ever did.
23 April 2016 at 23:29 #51834@blenkinsopthebrave @thedentistofdavros I’ve always seen the companion as the proxy for the audience, hence them needing things explaining to them (to a degree).
I really liked her in this clip and I’m glad they seem to be knocking the romantic undertones on the head with this companion. It bugged me that they kept on falling back on that with Clara in spite of promising not to. She’s definitely got Donna vibes, but I also thought there’s a bit of Mels/River-post-regeneration in there too.
Anybody have any thoughts about the fact she’s wearing a Prince t-shirt? I’m presuming this wasn’t filmed yesterday, so how prescient is that?! What about the possibility that she’s actually from the 80’s? Consider me intrigued…
14 March 2016 at 17:55 #51342@jimthefish I vaguely remember watching that doc a long time ago. Might be time to have another look.
What with our robot overlords starting their ascent with the trial of driverless cars next year, it really is time we started to strongly consider a basic income for everyone. In fact it’s long overdue. There’s a lot of very dense people at the top who don’t seem to realise that people with next to no money can’t afford to spend in their shops or businesses.
14 March 2016 at 17:49 #51341@missy I just meant that if they ever want to get River out of the Library there’s a precedent for it with Rassilon escaping the Matrix. If she ever does, I hope she manages to do it by herself. She wouldn’t be River if she wasn’t escaping something.
13 March 2016 at 16:51 #51332@missy @winston @janetteb You can count me in on a River vs Missy ep too. How epic could you get?! It’s something I’d love to see at the end of Moffat’s tenure actually, and why I’m not averse to a secret Time Child dragging River out of the Library. I mean, come on, if Rassilon can escape the Matrix…
Alternatively, I’d be quite happy with Twelve being uploaded to the Library when he does go. I LOVE that Moffat made Capaldi River’s Doctor. Their chemistry was pretty much instantaneous.
13 March 2016 at 01:34 #51324@jimthefish I watched that vid earlier today and was blown away by how quickly the time passed by. He is a wonderfully interesting man in his own right. I’m dying for him to do a Bowie documentary. I know how much he loved him as a musician, so he’d be absolutely perfect for it.
@fatmaninabox I’ve been through the whole job centre malarky in the past and it was honestly one of the most depressing experiences of my life. I think it says it all that the people who work there get bonuses depending on how many people they sanction. The whole thing is a mess. I hope you find something better than the slave labour you’re being forced to do soon.
17 February 2016 at 02:05 #51012@missy @arbutus Just to butt in on the whole Martha thing, yeah I struggled with her too. As you’ve mentioned RTD was always too concerned with making Ten wear his heart on his sleeve, and having him fall in love at the drop of a hat. To be honest I find RTD’s characters overly emotional in pretty much everything he writes. That’s not to say that he didn’t achieve some damn good things during his tenure on the show, but he had a tendency to allow his characters to say exactly what they were thinking at all times. That worked with someone like Donna who was really forthcoming. It was part of who she was. It didn’t work with everyone though, and I include Martha in that. I mean she might as well have had ‘heart eyes’ every time she looked at The Doctor, and that got annoying fast for me.
In contrast, I think Moffat has always allowed his Doctors and the rest of his major players to have more mystique to them and a much richer interior life. Their relationships are more complex. Of course that’s in part due to the actors he’s been lucky enough to utilise. Nevertheless, and I’ve been shot down for saying this elsewhere, in spite of the ‘epic’ scale of his stories, I think he’s always created the more three-dimensional, relatable, ‘human’ characters. But that’s just me!
11 February 2016 at 18:10 #50948I was mulling over the presence of the Matrix in this episode the other day, and it occurred to me that it just serves to underline the fact Ten essentially gave River about the closest thing to a Time Lord funeral by uploading her to the Library as he possibly could given the circumstances. I have no idea if that was intentional on Moffat’s part before he wrote THoRS, but it’s little details like this that have made me love his tenure.
11 February 2016 at 17:56 #50947@kbranagh Hi guys, i loved the episode but i have a question about the continuity that bother me.
The mercy line, the doctor and boy-davros…all of this is always happen from the beginning right?
So Davros should remember that the Doctor have save his life! But when the doctor said “i left you to die in that field” why Davros don’t tell anything to correct the doctor?I interpreted it as him not having re-written history until that point, but it’s a fair question. The ‘bootstrap paradox’ was a big theme this series and, to be honest, always has been on the show.
7 February 2016 at 23:06 #50894If we do have a female doctor, it’ll hinge entirely on the casting and the writing gelling with the actress as to whether or not it’ll work. I’m not against it at all, but I reckon whoever they cast would have to have nerves of steel and a strong aversion to reading the comments section in the Daily Mail, because there will be a backlash. In all honesty, it might be too risky a proposition for a lot of actresses out there, which is incredibly sad in this day and age.
31 January 2016 at 20:05 #50714@pedant S10 will be interesting but I hope, if Gallifrey features at all, it will be sparingly and with a tightly focussed narrative purpose – exactly like it was in Hell Bent. The moment Doctor Who starts getting bogged down in its own lore is the moment it starts to spiral.
Yup, totally understand what you mean here, BUT I’m itching for Moffat to pop the bonnet on Twelve and root around a little more. Capaldi’s too good an actor to resist the possibility and Gallifrey is too enticing a means of doing that now it’s ‘back in the sky’. I’m absolutely fine with it being sparingly used, but until then that part of ‘Hell Bent’, which is otherwise a damn fine ep, will feel like a part of jigsaw puzzle I don’t have all the other pieces to. I dare say I’d admire the ep even more if we find out it was just a crumb dropped by Moffat before an even bigger reveal in the future, in the same way that Clara grabbing the Doctor’s leg when he was just a boy in ‘Listen’ now seems all the more poignant and important. I often go back back and find I like eps twice as much after I give them a little space to breathe. Come to think of it, nothing with Missy has been resolved either, so surely there’s scope there too?
@puroandson I suspect, though, that the Stupids have won and want all episodes to be like Blink or The Family of Blood. I loved them actually -Paul Cornell did a pretty good job in that Human Nature two parter. Mainly, though, the Doctor ran, cried, sobbed, snogged and talked (fast). All in no particular order. I’ve adored Capaldi’s neat and focussed Doctor. Others maybe haven’t and I’m fine with that. Well, actually I want to kill them but the better half of the Hybrid aint in so I’m posting this anyway.
I did a proper belly laugh when I read this, even though I suspect I might be one of the ‘Stupids’. Seriously though, I’m not looking for more exposition. Just more depth. I’m starting to think that half my problem with ‘Hell Bent’ is that it came after ‘Heaven Sent’, which not only sealed the deal about Twelve becoming my fave, but was an absolute, unequivocal masterpiece and pretty much anything was going to feel like an anti-climax next to it.
31 January 2016 at 00:19 #50675@pedant Didn’t Moffat think he’d be leaving at the end of S9 for quite some time, but the BBC offered him another contract? The Christmas Special could have played out quite well as his swan song, especially with that dialogue between Twelve and River in front of the Singing Towers. In fact it had him saying goodbye written all over it.
Season 10 should be pretty interesting, although fairly difficult for him to navigate. It could be Capaldi’s last and he’s just brought the latest companion’s arc to a close, as well as seemingly completing River’s loop. Moffat loves gentle build-ups for big pay-offs, but things are probably going to have to be a lot tighter in his final year. Personally, I hope he really uses the re-introduction of Gallifrey to good effect because it was so under used in ‘Hell Bent’.
29 January 2016 at 21:13 #50650@ichabod @winston @jimthefish It’s funny because I think this whole thing about not being able to please everybody is probably going to force the show online eventually, and that’s what we’re seeing the start of with them possibly rolling out their own streaming platform for the US. That way pleasing certain demos won’t matter at all. They’ll just rely on healthy subscription fees from a wide range of fans if they have their own space to stream new content alongside the show’s back catalogue. It’s all a bit strange though considering global iPlayer closed down last year because BBC America were refusing to let them offer DW because it would affect their live viewers. Something’s obviously changed.
28 January 2016 at 01:43 #50611@ob-wan @puroandson Capaldi isn’t any less popular than Smith really and with Smith the show finally took off in a huge way globally, admittedly after the BBC finally pumped the kind of money into it that they needed to to make just such in roads. I’ve seen people suggest that the ratings are an indication of him being unpopular and, well, it stands to reason that the viewing figures for a family show are going to take a hit when the start time is constantly moving and is nearly always past 8 pm on a Saturday night. Scheduling it after Strictly and against The X-Factor wasn’t their best idea, and is probably half the reason for the shift to Spring again, at least partially on Moffat’s insistence I reckon. That way they’ll get their 6.30-7 pm slot back and terrorize a few more of the younger members of the audience before they trot off to bed.
@craig @allonsy Relating to what you said about the Beeb wanting to cut out the middle man with Hulu and Netflix, conversely, Season 9 consolidated viewing figures were pretty good, and we’ve just had the news over the last few days that, for the first time ever in the UK, kids are watching more online than they are on TV. I suspect there’s a similar trend elsewhere, so they’ll be wanting to capitalise on that. Getting that cash directly through downloads isn’t a bad idea, particularly when the channel is facing pretty deep budget cuts. It’s very likely they’ll use BBC 3’s move online and the launch of shows like ‘Class’ there to gauge whether or not ‘Doctor Who’ could exist solely on that platform when the conventional channels are crowded out with cooking programmes and reality series that bring in high viewing figures relatively cheaply.
27 January 2016 at 17:36 #50595From what I can gather they haven’t even cast the new companion yet, so we might not hear about a New Doc for a while yet. Suspect we’ll have a companion-less Christmas Special at the very least. I will be absolutely gutted if Capaldi goes with Moffat, primarily because it took me so long to warm to him and then I fell hard for his Doc in Series 9. As other people have mentioned though, is Chibnall really going to want a baptism of fire like Moffat did? It wasn’t ideal. His comments about The Moff ‘going out with a bang’ did make me wonder, however.
If they do cast someone else, I really hope it is someone who’s relatively unknown. Part of the beauty of New Who has been it’s ability to find new talent and then really propel their career forward.
24 January 2016 at 17:13 #50411So many reservations about Chibnall, but I sure as hell won’t be declaring him the anti-Christ just because he’s not Moffat. A lot of the hate the Moff got was irrationally directed at him because RTD and Tennant had the ‘audacity’ to leave, and he dared to take the show in a different direction. It was nauseating. So if Chibs isn’t my cup of tea, then so be it. I’ll express an opinion, but my voodoo doll will stay in the drawer. I’m sure some people will love his era anyway. That’s how it’s always worked. I do, however, think that many will look back extremely favourably on Moffat’s tenure pretty damn soon. Hindsight etc.
23 January 2016 at 15:52 #50361@jimthefish No, I believe they’re going to try and spread HDM out to at least 5 series, depending on how well it’s received. A lot will depend on how well they do coming out of the long hiatus, and then obviously if Chibnall can keep the ratings fairly decent. You could be right about them downgrading it, rather than canning it altogether, but my gut is telling me that we’re moving into the final stretch. I’d love Moffat to be a part of winding things up because out of all the writers on New Who, he seems to be the one who can pull something out of the hat when it’s most needed.
Actually, I don’t know why I’m worrying. The way TV is at the minute, it’ll be rebooted about 5 years after it ends.
23 January 2016 at 15:28 #50359I really hope I’m wrong about this, but does anybody else think that the BBC are cooling on the show? I suspect that it’ll move permanently to Spring and their prime Saturday night family fantasy slot in the Autumn/Winter is going to go to ‘His Dark Materials’, which they are apparently throwing loads of money at. They’ll allow that to get established and then cut DW loose around 2019/2020. I know it’s ridiculous to be worrying about something this far ahead, but all of this occurred to me last night when I was mulling the news over.
23 January 2016 at 00:40 #50342@pedant Only the Christmas Special. Kinda sucks, but I get the rationale.
23 January 2016 at 00:24 #50339@countscarlioni I was wondering the same thing. I really hope he doesn’t because it feels like he’s only just warming up, but he might want to leave Chibnall a clean slate. I hope this extended time off makes him miss it enough to want to stick around for at least S11.
22 January 2016 at 23:46 #50336Very, very mixed feelings about this news. I knew Moffat’s time was coming to an end. I even think the hiatus is probably a good idea, because this year the BBC just didn’t give the show the right slot it needed and there’d be no chance of it getting that against the Euros and the Olympics. The problem for me is Chibnall. I wasn’t a huge fan of Broadchurch, and I’m not a massive fan of his Who eps. Of course I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. I just wish they’d taken a bit more of a gamble.
22 January 2016 at 17:27 #50324@ob-wan @mccottonthedoctorfan For me, I don’t think it’s about the status they have, it’s the function they have in the narrative. Generally, the companion(s) are the ones who learn from The Doctor, but who also act as a means of us finding out more about him. In effect he/she are a proxy for the audience. I’m not sure River, specifically, has ever been that because she’s always come from a place of knowing more than anyone else. Perhaps there’s an argument to be made that she truly became a companion during THORS as Twelve finally jumped ahead of her in their timelines?
It doesn’t really bother me too much either way though. I’d not fight anyone to the death if they were adamant she was just a companion.
21 January 2016 at 16:49 #50306@mccottonthedoctorfan Obviously this question wasn’t directed at me, but I thought I’d jump in anyway. I believe someone asked about River being his companion at a Q&A and Alex Kingston jumped in and declared her character was a wife not a companion. I’d agree with that to be honest. It chimes with what Moffat says about their interplay being distinct from that between The Doctor and those who travel with him full-time, because the relationship is different. They’re on more of an equal footing in that her expertise match and compliment his. I’m not sure about the Brigadier. I think a distinction probably needs to made there too.
19 January 2016 at 20:18 #50255@pedant Oh yeah, I know that the ‘hybrid’ was ultimately a combo of The Doctor and Clara, but my speculation has stemmed from the ambivalent way that Twelve denied that he was half human, which I thought was deliberate. Thanks for clearing up the 8th Doctor thing though.
19 January 2016 at 17:48 #50250@missy Capaldi’s doctor is an odd mix of being the most stand-offish and the most accessible, which therefore makes him the most complex and three-dimensional. I think he’s so likeable because of his flaws, and because of the depth the man who plays him brings to the party. He’s what I like to call ‘The Doctor that Stopped Running’ too. Huge character development, which IMHO makes him the most interesting. Really hope they stick with that.
@ichabod Isn’t the half human theory sort of canon with the 8th Doctor? I’m sure I’ve absorbed that from somewhere. I totally get what you mean about having an air of mystery, but the half-human thing has never bothered me. It flags up a nature vs nurture debate that could be pretty damn interesting to explore if they’re going use Gallifrey in a more effective way in the future. Besides, the beauty of The Doctor is that once you solve one mystery about him, he’s still an enigma wrapped in a carrier bag, locked in a safe and dropped to the bottom of the ocean.
I don’t get the animosity towards Moffat. I really don’t. Yes, he doesn’t always get things right, but the man deserves a medal for all the nonsense he has to deal with. I’m 90% certain that the show wouldn’t have lasted this long if anybody else had taken over after RTD, and it’s pretty damn obvious that he can and will make more money in America if/when he steps down. There are very few people out there who’d be prepared to make that kind of sacrifice for the love of a show.
19 January 2016 at 00:49 #50224@ob-wan Yeah, as others have pointed out, you’re confusing the script with the actor. I’m not even sure the tank thing is the best example. It was meant to be over the top and was a deliberate anachronism. My point about Capaldi is that he can do more in one look than most can, even when the writing is letting him down.
@puroandson Thanks for the warm welcome!
18 January 2016 at 22:20 #50212@ob-wan Personally, I think that it’s Clara who was the deadwood and Jenna Coleman should have been allowed to go at the end of Series 8 when she wanted to after the Danny Pink debacle. That’s why a lot of the storylines have really dragged this year. For me, anyway.
I don’t think you could be more wrong about Capaldi, however. Of course it always comes down to personal preference, but I believe he’s actually the most subtle, nuanced actor they’ve had on this run of the show. Yeah, the writing has left a lot to be desired at times, but again that has loads to do with them tying themselves in knots over what to with Clara. I’d suggest you hang on for Series 10 and see what they do with a clean slate.
18 January 2016 at 21:42 #50209@ichabod I had exactly the same feeling after that episode as I did when I got to the end of the novel ‘Atonement’ by Ian McEwan. It just, well, had me in knots and stayed with me for several days afterwards. Even now my mind wanders back to it every so often.
I actually think introducing ambiguity about the ‘hybrid’ had a greater purpose here, and was a set up for that discussion between him and Ashildr about why he’s so preoccupied with protecting Earth, i.e. because he’s half human, which I don’t think was just a throwaway discussion. He certainly wasn’t convincing when he denied it. I’m ok with Gallifrey being a bit of an anti-climax in this episode if we’re delving deeper into The Doctor’s past next series. Honestly, if you’re going to do that, there’s no better Doctor to do it with. An origin storyline would suit Capaldi down to the ground.
15 January 2016 at 00:55 #50138New poster here! I’m also incredibly late to the party with this episode. What an absolute flipping triumph though! Genuinely had me in tears at the end. Not least because River has always been one of my favourite characters ever since she rocked up on Ten’s watch.
Does anybody else kind of think it’s a shame that Moffat seemed to close her arc before it’s the end of his tenure though? I get that it was because he thought he’d be leaving at the end of Season 9, but it almost seems wrong that her story seems to have been all tied up whilst he’s still at the helm. To me, River Song defines his time on the show almost as much Eleven and Twelve do. I’d be a shame for us not to see her again before Capaldi regenerates because not only was his chemistry with Kingston plain bloody brilliant, as this episode demonstrated, Twelve is River’s Doctor. I don’t expect her to be back for a ton of episodes, but come on, Moffat!
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