[geoffers @replies]

@wolfweed – thanks for the screengrab. i confess, i still don’t see a person. maybe a ghostly figure of some sort? i still wonder if there was someone there to hand him the spoon (and not as a prop, but in story, in the tardis)? maybe he has a robot butler, now?! 🙂

[geoffers @replies]

@wolfweed – any chance you can screengrab the spoon? i’ve paused it many times, now, and only see the reflection of the console lights…

[geoffers @replies]

also, in the tardis, did someone hand the doctor that spoon?! and was that custard on it?!! i’m sure i didn’t catch sight of a mircrowave oven, or a mini-fridge!

@verbal – i saw the batman symbol, too, upon re-watching!

[geoffers @replies]

i may be in the small minority, so far, of those who like this episode. i thought it was well-paced, with just enough “dark” (people being stabbed to death, robots frying others to ashes) to play against all the lighthearted bantering going on. and the witty dialogue, the back-and-forth between characters (including the superb scene between clara and the sheriff), demanded a second watch (then a third), to try to gather it all in…

so, the sheriff was part mechanical? i think he said, “the first of a new breed: half man, half engine?” i guess he didn’t make missy’s tea party, since he didn’t die helping the doctor? or maybe yes, as his death can still be attributed to the doctor’s meddling?

having seen many BG-who stories set in similar, “medieval” times, i loved how this one paid homage to those, especially with the overly-evil sheriff, who bore a striking resemblance to a certain overly-evil timelord! indeed, when i first saw him, i thought they were bringing back The Master!! 🙂

 

[geoffers @replies]

@ultimatecompanion – the doctor cheated. his first arrow was a homing arrow, so it had mechanical/computer components in it. thus, presumably, could also have had a “detonating tip,” or something similar?

😉

[geoffers @replies]

hello, everyone, again. just finished a third watch, after catching up on everything going on in here. while i don’t have much to add regarding “who is missy?” or “slapgate,” (or the justifiable banishing of the trolls, lol), i did come up with a disturbing idea…

just before everyone is miniaturized, the doctor states that he doesn’t need “armed babysitters,” and ross is the one who replies, “we’re here to shoot you dead if you turn out to be a dalek spy.” is it possible that the doctor prejudged ross at that moment as someone reckless and mean, and “not worth trying to save,” in the event that something goes bad? i don’t believe this, myself, but given his cold and calculated “use” of ross once he’s attracted the attention of the antibodies, it is possible…

i do believe the doctor is almost always in “analytical” mode, especially when there’s danger ahead for sure, and i could believe that he had already made up his mind about him, just from that one exchange. i.e., if there’s an order for people on the mission to “go,” ross jumped to the head of the line, while clara is probably #5. (or, scarier thought, clara is only #4, and the doctor will sacrifice her, too, as long as he makes it out?) keep in mind that dialogue in every episode is written to maximize information. (it’s to be hoped) there’s never really any “filler,” once the script is finalized, so that line isn’t there just so the doctor can have his snarky reply of “well, that’s a relief. i hate babysitters.”

on a lighter note!… i wonder how the dalek came to be floating about in space? would the others jettison it, because it was a danger to them? was it the only survivor of a blasted ship, and if so, why no mention of a debris field when they picked it up? or… was it a “plant,” by the other daleks, to infiltrate the aristotle (or other human ships in the area)? journey did say they thought it was “deactivated.” now, i’m no military guy, but i might have thought “trojan horse” if i found a “deactivated” dalek floating about, anywhere near my ship!

…and! why didn’t the dalek recognize the doctor (at once)?! i know claricle oswin erased knowledge of eleven from their databanks, but then, while he was stuck defending christmas for umpteen-hundred years, they certainly figured out who he was, again. right? rusty certainly figured out (or “remembered”) who the doctor is, once he shared his memories with it, though, so i guess the point is moot…

🙂

[geoffers @replies]

ah, @wolfweed – “Gretchen Alison Carlisle sacrificed herself. Did Humpty sacrifice himself?”

someone around here theorized that missy could be some cosmic toymaker, i believe? if so, is she collecting all the “playthings” the doctor is “discarding” along the way, for some future devilry? or is she setting up the board for a cosmic game of chess, and gretchen and humpty are two of her pawns?

(and, yes, i’m firmly of the opinion that he jumped voluntarily, after accepting the doctor’s “persuasive” argument.)

[geoffers @replies]

@purofilion – bless you for being a teacher. you are made of tougher stuff than i, and a hundred times more brave! 🙂

[geoffers @replies]

i am wondering if anyone else got the obvious nods to ‘star trek: the next generation’ (episode “I, Borg”), where the enterprise captures a member of the borg (“resistance is futile!”), and he becomes semi-independent (even choosing a name for himself, “hugh”), and strikes up a friendship with geordi la forge. at the end, captain picard chooses to let him return to the collective, with hopes that his new-found individuality will weaken the hive mentality of the borg…

[in looking up this info on wikipedia, the article states that “resistance is futile!” is a proclamation from BG Who by none other than the master, in “The Deadly Assassin,” way back in 1976! that’s some knowledge dropped on me, right there! lol]

[geoffers @replies]

@TimeCahoot – greetings, and welcome!

i thought that woman was rather rude, and i am hoping that there are few like her in the actual british education system!

also, the lady in the window in that scene, with the “crazy” looking hair, wasn’t she one of the schoolchildren in clara’s dream sequence in “deep breath?” the one who challenged clara to expel everyone?

cheers!

[geoffers @replies]

@barnable – I suspect that combining the VE with the TL’s RE may be a contributing factor as to why…

excellent idea! perhaps there’s an “allergic” reaction to vortex energy, that triggers a regeneration? or even death, with long enough exposure?

oooh, if so, then all the daleks need to do is harness vortex energy and use it as a weapon against the timelords (when/if they return)…

🙂

[geoffers @replies]

@serahni – lovely defense of clara! i would add that she clearly stated to HFM that she was afraid for her life, after the doctor left her on the other side of the door. she knows he makes mistakes, sometimes (big burning dinosaur included), so her confidence in him was at an all-time low…

@ everyone else – has anyone worked up a theory as to why missy’s “paradise” is so bright and vibrant, while it was rather empty and drab in amy’s visit in TGWW? (assuming it’s the same place, in-story, and not just a recycled shooting location?) do the current events happen before those of TGWW, or after?

i think the similarity is intentional. i also prefer to believe (at this early point) that missy is a new character, not someone recycled/re-purposed…

🙂

[geoffers @replies]

@silverman – “I probably shouldn’t over-exam a sci-fi programme, but the dinosaur irked me for a couple of reasons, and mainly that it presented Vastra as ‘knowing the truth’ that dinosaurs used to be that size…when they weren’t.”

have you considered, and accepted, that the doctor has two functioning hearts? if the sci-fi aspect of the show asks you to accept that (not to mention the tardis, lizard women from the dawn of time, and 10,000 other things), and you do… then an overly large dinosaur should be easy!

and if you still have trouble with it, we can come up with some (pretty tame, in comparison) bonkers theories as to why the beast is too large. i thought the latest godzilla incarnation was too enormous (steroidal, even), but it didn’t ruin the movie for me! i just chalked it up to “what would have made the movie slightly more awesome? a slightly more believably sized monster.” but, back to the dinosaur, i believe the creature was that big, to appeal to the younger audience, without also scaring the immortal crap out of them, like the smaller, faster, smarter raptors in ‘jurassic park’ may (or may not) have done to me, once upon a time… 🙂

also, consider that it had to pretty huge to even be able to get a tardis stuck in its throat. otherwise, how else would it have been time-traveled to london? might as well go as big as the budget will allow….

cheers!

[geoffers @replies]

@purofilion – it’s great to be seen, again! twas a long, long summer, and i’m glad to have this wonderful program back, and this wonderful forum along with it… 🙂

@bivium6 @arbutus –  i, too, don’t give much weight to missy’s “my boyfriend.” substitute “the object of my obsession,” instead. i predict that will be closer to the truth, as we find out more about her. she is probably the “egomaniac, needy game-player,” stalker-type. and those types try to live out the fantasies in their own heads…

which, admittedly, i have fantasies in my head (we all do, i guess), but i don’t try to impose them on reality! lol

 

[geoffers @replies]

@scaryb – ah, thank you for the link. i agree with that assessment. i also believe that the trenzalore affair is now a “closed timeloop” sort of situation, in the same way that most of the events in ‘journey to the centre of the tardis’ happened, then were un-happened (i feel so sorry for any non-native english speakers who might be trying to figure out what we are saying, lol). clara is clearly the original, now, and all her claricle interactions happened in the doctor’s final incarnation… in that aborted timeline. which should also mean that we can’t have any more claricle stories, right? though twelve can still cross paths with eleven? it’s all so confusing, sometimes!! lol
<h2 class=”user-nicename”>@steve-thorp @stevethewhistle  – that could be. i thought he was just “refreshing” his mind, of things he wanted to remember.</h2>
@thommck – i’m firmly in the camp with those who think half-face man jumped. when he lowered his flaming arm weapon, and extinguished its flame (a metaphor for losing the drive to keep living?), i took that as acceptance of the doctor’s reasoning, and his fate was sealed. yes, twelve talked him into it, but it wasn’t murder in the sense of all of HFM’s previous victims. they had no choice, whether to live or die. HFM could have resumed the struggle, or sneak-attacked the doctor, but then it would be self-defense, anyway, for the doctor. (plus, the scenes were edited in such a way that more struggling wasn’t forthcoming, at that point.) twelve convinced him that, not only was he more human than machine, now (and thus, could override his original droid prohibition against self-destruction), but that his ONLY chance to reach the promised land was to really die.* otherwise, it would be more killing and replacing himself, on “the long way around” in time, that might never end…

* something the doctor doesn’t think HE can do, or could/would choose to do, himself? or perhaps that he wouldn’t be admitted to any heaven, because of his chequered past?

as for whether the doctor could/would murder someone? i think, definitely (but always with the opponent having a chance to defend/redeem himself/herself)! but he has his own rules for when that might be an option, and it’s always the final option. a good example is the old man in ‘dinosaurs on a spaceship.’ he gave that guy many opportunities to turn back from the path that would lead to the doctor killing him. but the old man wouldn’t accept those other ways out, and was trapped at the last by his own refusal to do so. i don’t think eleven took any pleasure in killing him (or “arranging” his death, if you will), and he only reaches that point of no return with the worst of the bad. the really stubborn, reckless, hateful, spiteful (anti-life) people. i often wonder if he will ever reach that point with the master? that dude has more blood on his hands than the doctor could ever dream of, yet he still tries to rehabilitate him!

anyway, this is why i love this forum! being open to other peoples’ ideas, and getting to share my point of view back with you guys. whether we are right or wrong, regarding what actually happens in the episode, we learn so much that we otherwise might miss, had we just stuck to our individual opinions. this is what the trolls miss out on, in their eagerness to insult and belittle: the sense of community, and shared passion, that makes us all slightly more learned creatures, at the end of the day…

🙂

[geoffers @replies]

@serahni – holy crap! your clara theory fits, especially if we consider that she‘s been chameleon arched, to protect her identity (by her mother and/or father)! perhaps someone else has thought of that, too, i don’t remember? but, gallifrey coming back through the clock tower on trenzalore, or clara learning of her timelord heritage via big ben… i would love to see either of (or both!) those ideas be true!

and you raise a good point about eleven’s earlier farewell. i had forgotten about that. but, i remember thinking at the time, that a possible reason he left her there (other than for her safety), was because he hoped she could work some magic of her own on the timelords. we can only guess what the doctor may know about his own possible futures, but he may have (somehow) “remembered” he would have at least one more incarnation (from the events of TDotD, “no sir, all 13!”), just as he sort of “remembered” saving gallifrey. even if he didn’t specifically know that she would be able to sweet talk the timelords into a full set of regenerations, i still think he hoped for some kind of intervention that would give him at least that one more life…

but i look at it more from her point of view, too. the old man on trenzalore, whom she doesn’t really know anymore as her doctor, has said goodbye, and is going out to die, without her, but then she saves him (yet again). without her, he would have truly died. but at the bitter end, she couldn’t save him for herself, the wayshe wants him to remain. he “immediately” turns into someone she doesn’t recognize, or connect with. and that’s the confusion and angst that carried over into the new episode, that has now been nullified by the call. he knew she needed that extra attention, from that face, even if he doesn’t realize her full role in the events that gave him his extra time… if any of that makes sense? lol, i’m sure i’m over-analyzing everything little thing!

“He really did have it bad, didn’t he?” – this, assuredly, no matter how we psychoanalyze it! 🙂

@whisht – i find that a good cleaning of the dust from my eyes makes my contact lenses work better! 😉

your theory sounds pretty solid. i’ll have to try to rewatch TGitF before next week’s ep, to catch up on these rubbish droids and the ss madame de pompadour. but, one of my questions (with no answer, yet) concerning half-face man is whether he’s a “digital ghost” in heaven, or the real physical thing, transported there by __________? for the moment, i’m guessing “digital ghost,” in a heaven akin to CAL, from the library de silence…

@scaryb – to which earlier post are you referring? there’s A LOT to go through! 🙂

as for your other comments, that’s a heartbreaking of a different kind. 🙁  no elderly relative troubles, yet (thankfully), but earlier this year, in fact, i re-connected with an old friend from high school, whom i had not seen or spoken to in over 10 years. we had a good talk, and a good meal, but the friend i remembered had been “replaced” with someone sort of familiar, but vastly different. i know he’s “in there” still, but there are so many more layers on top of him, now, that i wonder how do we move forward (or do we, at all)? and to complicate it further, he just moved out west this week, so now we can only interact via facebook. (UGH!) there are many echoes of my real life, throughout the run of dr who. perhaps that’s one reason i lean so heavily upon it, now, to try to help me make a bit more sense of it all, and myself?

cheers!

 

 

 

 

[geoffers @replies]

i have just finished watching the end, again, and have one more thought to add about the surprise call from eleven. i didn’t have any problem with it, at all, as some had, and it makes sense (both in-story, for clara, and in a meta way, for younger viewers) that moffat wanted to ease the transition from the young doctor back to an old doctor…

but, might it also have been throwing clara a bone (hur hur), in that her farewell to eleven was usurped (in part) by amy’s “visitation” at the end of TTotD? she didn’t get the closure she wanted then, as eleven was all wrapped up in his farewell speech. (just re-watched the end, and the falling bow-tie, and her “please don’t change,” are still heartbreaking… then BANG! he’s gone.)

and after ten’s rather prolonged “farewell tour,” i felt sorry for her, that she was left without a proper goodbye… but that has now been corrected. and i like that, a lot. we rarely get closure in the real world, why deprive us of it in our fantasy world? the impossible girl is being asked, once again, to help her doctor, but at least her last impression of him, now, is that he cared enough to say goodbye…

could just be sentimental old me, though… 🙂

[geoffers @replies]

@serahni – on the contrary, gallifrey (or just one timelord) popping out from virtually any old clock tower (whether on earth, or elsewhere) is a brilliant idea, one that could be easily realized in our favourite timey-wimey show! it was i who assumed you meant the one on trenzalore, because that’s where the “gallifrey crack” was…

also, if the watch the doctor traded for the coat now can’t be used as a chameleon arch, as one had been used before, might the doctor try to use an iconic timepiece like big ben as a chameleon arch, instead? (or, again, some other timelord?) i wonder how that would work? i know it would look great on my tv screen!! 🙂

[geoffers @replies]

@bluesqueakpip – i see your point, and i’m sorry that i transgressed! i really don’t know anything, though. beyond having seen a few official bbc pics (and there was no avoiding a HUGE one before the cinema showing last night), i’ve avoided all the leaked scripts and episodes, as i don’t want to know what’s coming up, either. my main speculation about missy being an older tasha lem is from 2 known things: she was dalek-ised, and she was part of the papal mainframe (whatever that is, exactly), which was (i think) also taken over by the daleks, in the attack on trenzalore. so she might have gone a bit crazy(er)…

and she’s obviously going to be in at least one future episode, if not many, as the overall big bad (like the great intelligence)…

but, i’m almost certain i’ll be proven wrong!! i usually am, except on the odd occasion (as when i correctly guessed that the time lords would have to give eleven more regenerations). but, still, i apologize for the slip. i will be more careful in my hypothesizing…

🙁

[geoffers @replies]

oh, and i’ve been meaning to ask this question for a while, now…

am i the only one who doesn’t like the windows of the tardis, now?! they look so plastic, and… FAKE! (fake, as in, like a prop, not like real windows would look…) i can’t pinpoint when this started bugging me, but i think it started with promo pics on the bbc site? just before trenzalore (TNotD), maybe? i can deal with the exterior of the tardis being shiny and unscathed (most of the time), but the plastic-y windows bother me. especially those two white-ish ones…

http://www.hireatardis.com/matt-smith/

[geoffers @replies]

@serahni – i really like your idea of gallifrey being hidden behind the clock tower! you seem to be thinking it’s on earth, though? the town of christmas is/was on trenzalore, not earth, so there’s no reason that gallifrey coming back to displace it would harm the earth. indeed, i remember some thought that trenzalore was a future (“dead”) gallifrey, back when it first appeared. so how cool would it be if it became the “new” location for gallifrey, in real space, once it’s restored back to the doctor’s prime universe? 🙂

as for my thoughts on the episode, and the new doctor… i’m so glad this show is back!! i really need this escape from boring old real life stuff. i’m still catching up on the BG episodes, too, but i already love how capaldi is squaring up against the elder docs…

there is some excellent stuff to ponder, almost too much, already! (thank you, to all the bonkers pudding heads!) some brief notes…

i like clara much more, now, that she seems to sense that there’s (now, more than ever) a mortal danger to travelling with the doctor. he probably won’t trick her into staying home, ever again! and i like that she decided to stick by him, despite her initial reservation. but i couldn’t have said “no” to eleven, either! (yes, i was surprised, and yes, my eyes betrayed my manliness, appropriately…)

i love the childishness of the paternoster gang. in small doses! but i love, Love, LOVE jenny!! she is just a bit more than, er, a pretty face, now, somehow… 😉

i wish every episode could be watched at the cinema! there’s a communal thing that goes on, there, where everyone is reacting in unison (for the most part) to what’s happening, that is such a joy to be a part of (as is lurking about here on this forum). and there was a stunning young version of river at the showing i attended this past evening (and lots of sonics being used, all around), though there weren’t as many cosplayers as there was for TDotD. lots and lots of cool t-shirts, though (note to self)…

i have watched it in private, too, to be able to rewind and replay (especially for dialogue). there have only been a couple of episodes that i didn’t watch at least twice. i may just be slow to gather it all in, but i think it’s more that there’s so much packed into it than is obvious, in only one viewing. i agree with those here who think it’s more of a character exposition story, than an adventure-centric story. just enough action to keep up the pace, but lots of great dialogue and character insights…

and, finally, my first guess was that missy is an older (much, much older) tasha lem (or some similar connection to the papal mainframe). for spoilery reasons, i won’t elaborate on how i think this… except to say, i wonder if she had help getting her dalek-y bits removed (if she even did), and if so, maybe there were… complications? the idea that she’s the matrix is very intriguing, too. either way, or whichever other bonkers theory she proves to be, i Loved that snorting laugh at the end!! it was so adorable in its sheer madness. and also, the way she breathed out “paradise” to the half-face mandroid’s “digital ghost.”

anyway, cheers to everyone! it’s good to be back, and i will attempt to de-lurk more often, as i’m able…

🙂

[geoffers @replies]

@wolfweed

re: the photos in post #28436

 

i knew i should have avoided this forum!! lol. my own curiosity got the better of me…

but i have to point out, for those who may have missed it, the cyberman “teardrop” is featured prominently in those pictures, on the memorial stones. (the red circle, with the tear-shape on the lower left.)

not clicking any of the links, i’m going now. i haven’t learned too much, so the upcoming season will still be immensely enjoyable!! i will add, though, that i am glad that kate and scarf-girl will be back…

🙂

 

[geoffers @replies]

@scaryb – oooh, good point! 300 years is well enough time for the doctor to supervise the building of the tunnel, himself, knowing it had to be there at a future point in time…

@purplecup -the doctor and clara appear in front of the console room, meeting the g.i. and others…

you’ve brought up a point about that episode that is confusing (and this is how i understand it). the paternoster gang and the g.i. (with his whispermen) are already inside the tardis. when vastra and strax wake up (with jenny lying there, dead), vastra looks up to see the back of the tardis doors. the “police public call box” sign is clearly backward, indicating they’re on the “inside.” to make sense of this, i think that only the console room was made “the tomb” proper. (notice, also, that it’s normal sized when they go in, whereas the doors are gigantic.)

so clara and the doctor (and the others) can run around under, around, and inside the tardis, as it leaks its size outward, but no one can enter the console room, except through the passworded doors. those doors are not the same as the police box doors leading to the “outside.” (and who could possibly open those giant doors, anyway? :))

so, the purpose of the tunnel, then, would be simply as a shortcut, or a hidden path to the tomb. specifically, to somewhere under or near the console room…

and i agree with your point about the differing deaths. he had them burn the teselecta body, so that no one else would know he was still alive. whereas he knows he can’t do anything to stop the scar tissue thingy, as a result of his actual death… other than hide it in a tomb!

@devilishrobby – fuel for your donna-related theories… http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Name_of_the_Doctor_%28TV_story%29

“A full address for the Maitlands’ home is finally given in this episode. A closeup on Madame Vastra’s hand-written envelope reveals that she’s living at 30 Oak Street in Chiswick. This squares with The Bells of Saint John, where there are no fewer than three exterior shots of the house number — 30 — on the right doorjamb. A previous companion, Donna Noble, had also lived in Chiswick at about the same time.”

at the bottom of the entry, under ‘continuity’… 🙂

 

[geoffers @replies]

ah, just thought of a perfectly good reason why he’d have them burn his body… it’s the “fake” doctor, the teselecta. it wouldn’t turn into the space/time healing scar tissue, anyway!

so obvious, once i’ve had a bit of caffeine to clear the cobby webbys!

😉

[geoffers @replies]

greetings, and welcome, @purplecup – it’s always nice when a fellow lurker de-cloaks and begins throwing around some good questions!

re: 1) i always took “they” to mean “everyone else” in the universe, for the reason that we (the audience) already know… river doesn’t have a physical body to require burial, after the library. only amy and rory are likely to have access to that knowledge, and i just don’t see him telling them such a terribly sad story, about how their daughter died. also, they’re stuck in the past til they die, so they have no way to get to trenzalore, anyway. i suppose the g.i. could have dug up the info about what happened in the library, but how/why would he then build a secret tunnel into the tomb, to “help” the doctor?

it could also mean either “my friends” (indeed, tasha lem is the prime candidate, semi-dalek or not) or “my enemies,” but moreso, perhaps, simply “those who survived.” but i firmly believe that the doctor knew that the grave (and tunnel) were arranged by river, herself, as he says earlier in the episode, “river would know, she always knew,” or words to that effect. plus, she is the only person who could have sealed the tomb… as the only person who knows his given name (that we know of). few others could have placed him in the tardis (tasha lem, again), but only river knows the magic words to seal (or open) the doors. also, remember that he pretended not to see (or hear) her, as well, as he tried to work out for himself why she was able to appear there. (which he, apparently, failed to do? we are left to speculate…)

as for “why a tunnel?” so that we can learn that clara and the doctor hate catacombs! river, however, loves a tomb, and thus (presumably) catacombs, as well… 🙂

re: 2) i think her mysterious comments to him before she disappears were a hint to him, that she does, indeed, have some sort of extended life (and possible interaction with him/his future selves) beyond the library. whether we’ll see any of those ghostly (or “new body”) adventures is entirely up to moffat, at this point. i would love to see her interact with capaldi, if only for one episode. (but, then, i’d also love to see mcgann in an episode or two of the new series. but that’s not quite as likely to happen.)

re: 3) this one is probably the easiest to answer. clara saw the cot in her wanderings around the tardis, so there’s no reason that river couldn’t, as well. she had more off-screen time with the doctor than clara (i presume), or even the ponds, perhaps. there needn’t be a reason beyond discovering it randomly (i.e. she needn’t have ever slept in it herself, or have put her own child in it), but only time will tell if moffat intends to add to our knowledge of the depth of the river/doctor romance…

i was actually just thinking about this episode this morning, for a different reason, so i’d like your thoughts (and everyone’s) on this question…

it appears (in ‘the time of the doctor’) that the doctor resigns himself to dying, for reals, as he can no longer regenerate. how/why then, did he not arrange for his friends to dispose of his body, for good, as he did in ‘the impossible astronaut?’ why would he allow his body to be placed in a tomb this time, instead of being destroyed outright, again (the daleks, surely, would have obliged him, had he needed a thorough zapping)? why the change of heart(s)? simply to slowly decay until the tears in space/time are healed? wouldn’t the same healing process occur at lake silencio, had that been the real doctor’s body? or will burning the body negate those tears being healed, somehow?

i’ve thought all along that the doctor did, indeed, “have a plan” as to how he was going to survive on trenzalore. (or, at least, a good guess as to what was going to, or should, happen!) just as he retained knowledge of what had happened in ‘journey to the centre of the tardis,’ i believe he also retains some, if not most, of what happened in ‘the day of the doctor.’ specifically, that he remembers talking to the caretaker (or even that capaldi appeared, to lend a hand in hiding gallifrey, which moffat has clearly stated was a part of the plan all along). so he knows he doesn’t die at trenzalore, just not the details? so he’s fairly confident that something good will happen. but when clara finally shows up at the very end… then, he realizes that it’s got to be her (again), and that she’s going to intervene with the time lords, on his behalf. he wouldn’t ask the time lords for a new cycle, but he knows their odds of coming back are pretty much zero without him, and he remembers a future version of himself (or two), so, putting two and two together…

and this also ties in with a question i had earlier. does the aborted trenzalore timeline “fix” clara’s impossibleness, so that the g.i. is again out there, somewhere? has the whoniverse (in show) gone back, pre-trenzalore scenario, where the doctor picks his own tardis to run away in? if that’s the case, then he would die in the dalek asylum, no? (or, just figure out some other clever way to escape, i guess…)

ouch, too much wimeyness so early in the morning!

cheers!

[geoffers @replies]

@juniperfish – “I think the fact that there was a crack at Trenzalore lends more weight to my theory that Trenzalore is a special place of quantum superposition, because when the Doctor rebooted the universe the cracks disappeared. The fact that one still, paradoxically, exists at Trenzalore suggests a place where the walls between ‘verses in the multiverse are especially thin.”

his tomb (with the decaying timeline) would have made it a “special place of quantum hoo-ha,” as well. 🙂 i’m guessing the only thing special about trenzalore is that that is where the time lords chose to communicate with their previous universe. this led to the doctor arriving there, which led to his death, and to the tardis tomb containing the “track of tears.” it probably could have been anywhere/anywhen in this universe, where a suitably “thin” skin seperated their bubble universe from ours, and that same pattern would emerge. in other words, trenzalore should be as “normal” now as it was before the crack, since both the crack and his tomb are gone, thanks to the new timeline/aborted death event.

[which, i believe, technically alters clara’s timeline, as well. she should no longer be the impossible girl (except in his and her memories, as in ‘journey to the centre of the tardis’), because he doesn’t die at trenzalore. that entire timeline has been re-written.]

but are there still “thin” walls elsewhere, where they can open future cracks, when needed? i’d guess yes, and the time lords are obviously capable of exploiting those weaknesses wherever they find them. it needn’t take a tardis exploding to allow them through, as it (seemingly) did this time around…

[geoffers @replies]

@whisht – i think clara has a “step-mom” now, and isn’t thrilled that her dad has moved on. that woman was so cold and self-centred, that i never for one second thought it was her real mum…

or, that was her dad’s christmas date…

🙂

[geoffers @replies]

@timeloop – ah, thank you. i thought he was saying “that’s how i got HER in the first place.” meaning the tardis, yes, but with a different stress. there were a couple of other bits of dialogue that it took me some effort to decipher (as usual). and i’m going to avoid spoilers in the future, as well. the tasha-as-dalek pic gave away way too much for my liking, too…

@d12345 – wow. i’m sorry your experience over the latter part of matt’s run has been so abysmal. it’s been a wonderful crutch for me, in many ways. this made-up universe of time lords and time machines has helped get me through some tough days here in the real world…

having said that, i believe the spirit of this forum is one of loving criticism and debate (and help in understanding, in general), and the reason i chose to begin posting here, after a few months of lurking, is simply that. “i hate this” and “this just sucks” are too easy. if you can’t find any reason to love it, then your decision to quit watching is understandable, and appreciated. but, if i’m not mistaken, @craig can point you towards another blog where everybody there posts only the things they hate, and all the ways that moffat is horrible. you might find discourse easier there…

as for me, i disagree with you. i’m not putting any onus of literary genius on the writer(s) of the show… it’s a kid’s science-fiction show. it may seem to aspire to be shakespeare or tolstoy, at times, but i don’t see it that way. it’s good, fun entertainment, of a specific genre, that draws from many other genres (sometimes to the dismay of some)… but it’s still just a tv show. and there’s much more that goes into being a good tv show than just the writing…

what tv show are you the showrunner for, again? i didn’t catch your credentials when you came in. maybe we can start a blog about it?!

🙂

sorry to everyone else here. it’s just that i learned from @htpbdet that there’s a loving way to criticise your favourite show, without giving up on it in the process, after reading his blog about the doctor who tv movie (i hate the eric roberts “terminator” master, too)…

cheers!

[geoffers @replies]

ah, one last thought. i was a bit disappointed with the crack opening in the sky, too. i would have preferred for it to have opened behind him, in the giant bell (like the liberty bell), and he hears it, and turns around to get his surprise reward. that way the daleks would have no clue that it was happening, till it was too late. as it was, surely they could see it open up, and see the tendrils of energy floating down to the doctor?! plenty of time to obliterate the bell tower. although every enemy in the episode was a fairly poor shot (to say the least), so there’s no guarantee there, either…

but, that’s just me being nitpicky…

and…. how cool was the “lava” effect, during the first moments of his regeneration? pretty powerful magic, that time lord technology! (dare i say, nearly as powerful as midi-chlorians?)

🙂

[geoffers @replies]

hi, all! just finished up, like, the 4th rewatch, and i may be able to make some coherent observations… maybe…

loved it, of course. took a couple of rewatches to adjust to the “slower” pace. just not what i’m used to with AG episodes. felt much more like a BG story (and maybe because of the time lord involvement). as others have stated, perhaps it’s just because moffat tied up so many loose ends, and didn’t create as much mystery for the next series, as he has been wont to do?

@craig – i think the cybership in this ep was one the doctor was unfamiliar with? the tardis identified it as “unknown,” or somesuch, and that’s why he chose to go there in the tardis, instead of transmatting. the dalek ship? i thought it strange, too, that he wouldn’t recognize a dalek ship, but maybe it was just too dark? and that light was in his eyes, sort of… lol.

yes, the weeping angel thing bugged me, too, when i first saw it. but perhaps, when the doctor activates the tardis remotely, several of the angels are frozen when it disappears, as happened way back in ‘blink?’ maybe the only one to survive that first encounter was the one he eventually trapped with the mirror? as for clara not being zapped when her ankle was grabbed, i guess we are left to assume that it’s the will of the angel, whether to zap you, or not. also, it couldn’t see her, being buried in snow, so maybe that made a difference, somehow?

and the message, i can only guess that it was encrypted in such a way that the tardis wouldn’t automatically translate, or recognize it. it was specifically for the doctor to figure out how to decrypt it, and handles was only able to do so when the doctor connected that seal to him (that thing he got from the master)…

as for the truth field, when the doctor says “i’ve got a plan,” and then contradicts himself… poetic license? or a commentary on how expert a liar the doctor is, that he can fool a truth field with a “minor” lie? or to fool himself, from moment to moment? or, maybe his plan was…

@scaryb – i believe the doctor made clara stay behind at the last moment, because he still had a sliver of hope that she might work some of her “impossible” magic. how could she possibly remain safe down there, if he fails to defeat the daleks? the tardis would be the only safe place to put her, but even the tardis stays there, and dies, according to the trenzalore timeline. if he fails, she dies later, rather than sooner. it’s always difficult to know what the doctor knows, for sure, until he reveals it (onscreen), but i think he’s always a couple of steps ahead of everyone else. knowing that there are time lords on the other side of the crack, and knowing that his cycle of regens is up, he’s probably gone through every conceivable scenario of getting a new set from them that he can think of (without asking), over the 400/500 years that he’s been the protector of trenzalore. they are his only hope to keep living, and he has decided to die with grace (not grovelling, or begging)… but, just in case, here’s clara, back again, after he’s sent her home twice, so let’s see if she can intervene just once more to save the day! (and then, “take all the credit,” as he jokingly puts it!)

i have no clue why tasha lem is always young, except that maybe she doesn’t want the doctor to see her age? perhaps another slim connection to a possible river connection? or maybe she has connections to the sisterhood of karn, and their potions…

as for the hologram clothing, it was confusing, wasn’t it?! you have to be naked, but you’re allowed (or required) to wear fake clothes? i’m guessing it’s to maintain a token modesty… or, to keep people from bringing stuff in that is prohibited. remember how tasha knew that the doctor had the tardis key on a chain around his neck? if he was allowed to wear real clothes, he would have to be searched for such a thing. and other “pilgrims” coming to the mainframe would likewise be subjected to searches (for security purposes, perhaps), so it’s easier to wear fake clothes…

a couple of things i noticed… the doctor still had his limp, whilst he was in the middle of his regeneration in the tardis. and tasha lem’s forehead jewel is absent (understandably) after she’s been dalekised…

one question i still have, though. when the tardis returns with clara clinging to the outside, what is it that the doctor says to barnable? something like “that’s how i got her in the first place?” is this a reference to clara intervening in ‘the name of the doctor,’ where she advises hartnell to take a different one? that’s all i can figure, as it doesn’t make sense that the tardis just materialized in front of him when “he first got her.” but in the scene, clara isn’t fully visible, yet, either, when he makes the comment to the boy, so it’s a bit confusing, what he means there…

@The Krynoid Man – he wasn’t really regenerating. he didn’t have enough left to go through a full regeneration, only enough to heal river’s broken wrist, and a little more to fake his own death (via the teselecta)…

 

cheers!

 

 

[geoffers @replies]

@ everyone

well, i’m off to the cinema to watch that ‘other’ paragon of british entertainment (or is it officially australian?), ‘the hobbit, part deux,’ and won’t be able to check in until after the special has aired tomorrow, so…

as this is my first christmas here, i just want to wish everyone a Merry Meh!, and a Happy Hum Bug!  😉

 

er… merry christmas, everybody, and happy ‘who’ year!

[geoffers @replies]

@wolfweed – re: #23328

“kids are bonkers with excitement…”  sums up this forum quite nicely! 😉

[geoffers @replies]

er, here’s the video…

[geoffers @replies]

@craig – not sure where to put this, perhaps you can move it somewhere more appropriate?

i get a bad feeling, from the tone at the end of this clip, that moffat is surely intending that the next doctor is a different body (not one continuous time lord, that is)… 🙁

wouldn’t be the end of the world, assuming he has written a very good story ‘splaining why, of course…

[geoffers @replies]

hmmm… definitely something to chew on, having river pop up for one last farewell. i would love it, as a big fan of hers right from her mysterious debut. i can’t help but wonder (as is my twisted wont), tho…

wouldn’t it be a gutpunch if a “pre-river song” river showed up (pre-mels, even), allied with the daleks/papal mainframe, to kill the doctor? i guess the events of ‘let’s kill hitler’ would preclude it… technically. but, in a show about alternate time-lines and re-written histories, i wouldn’t be surprised! (she needn’t “pull the trigger,” as such, but merely contribute something crucial to the plot against him.) check that, i would be pleasantly surprised, as an additional “ghostly” farewell from the post-‘silence in the library’ river would then be a bit more heartbreaking, knowing that an earlier version of herself is ultimately to blame for “her” doctor’s death. (and neither need know, necessarily, that he will regenerate, anymore than he himself will know.)

sorry for the rampant, most unlikely speculating! just a thought that entered the brain, and wouldn’t be denied. i just remember reading that moffat has said that this episode will turn some common, long-held (mis-)conceptions about the show on their heads (or words to that effect)… but surely he was referencing the regeneration limit? that’s the 24 bajillion dollar question, right… how that is resolved?

only 4 days!

cheers! 🙂

[geoffers @replies]

@tardisblue – good point! how could i forget the person who saves the doctor the most? she may even still have the vortex manipulator from tDotD (or she may have turned it over to him since then, and he has it in his pocket all along?)…

as for who she’s imploring for help, perhaps it’s the tardis interface? and she’s trying to do the same thing she did in ‘hide?’

 

only 7 more days!!

[geoffers @replies]

@purofilion – it’s been a while since i watched tBB, but i rewatched it several times after broadcast trying to figure it out, and i don’t remember him explicitly acquiring the vortex manipulator. perhaps i should rewatch both episodes, with that in mind. still, how did he get his hands free of the arm restraints, to use either his sonic or the manipulator? plus, he was still in the pandorica, arms restrained. didn’t rory let him out, using the sonic? how did future-him give rory the sonic? (i may not be remembering correctly, it has been a while!) perhaps as the universe was collapsing, it simply “spat him out” at some random point in time, and he used the v.m. to go back?…

i know, timey wimey!

as for the time lords, their disposition on the matter doesn’t matter. if the doctor dies for good, he can never find gallifrey, hence no time lords, ever… grateful or ungrateful!

@tardisblue – the only problem with using the angel to send him back is that he couldn’t take the tardis with him. no tardis, no doctor. unless it sends him back in time on trenzalore, and he waits around for himself to show up 1000 years later?! that would really piss him off, if nothing else, lol! (or maybe he still has the v.m. that clara used in tDotD?) but that also sounds too much like rory the roman, guarding the pandorica for 2,000 years…

bonkersness, ahoy!

[geoffers @replies]

@devilishrobby – i said a while back (and will now repeat what i was only considering back then), and make this my official prediction regarding the regen limit…

since gallifrey is now set up to be found (at whatever future point, it doesn’t really matter whether it happens on screen, or not, in the next few seasons, or the next 50 years), i’m predicting moffat will go the most simple of routes to get past the regeneration limit, as he did (much to my dismay) in tPO/tBB. in that two-parter, a future version of matt simply came back in time to facilitate his own rescue from the pandorica. it bugged me so badly that he used such a simple “trick” to get the doctor out of such a tight spot, at the time (and i can’t say my opinion of the low-down dirtiness of that “trick” has dimished any). put simply, once he was trapped in the pandorica, how could there be a future version of himself, if he couldn’t escape by his own wits? and furthermore, how/when did future-matt acquire the knowledge that he needed to be released, back in the past?

so… the time lords, as a reward for being saved and brought back into the universe, will go back in time, to the events on trenzalore, and grant the doctor a new set of regenerations, so that he can continue his newly-found mission to find (and restore) gallifrey. how this will be accomplished, i haven’t a clue (though i think something similar to the potion that brought back mcgann wouldn’t be out of the question). now, i really think matt dies believing that he will not regenerate (thus his passionate farewell speech that’s been hinted at), and i suspect that capaldi might even be a bit confused as to why he’s still around, once he’s sorted out the bad guys and basically calmed everyone else down (and/or proven to them that he really is the doctor)…

again, the simplicity involved is the key. moffat likes to throw a lot of information around, to keep us all guessing (and theorising bonkersilly/bonkersally?)… which is a good thing! otherwise, this forum wouldn’t exist, and we’d be the poorer for not having one another to soothe and/or to further torture our twisted brains. 😉 but i’ve been wrong enough, now, for all of matt’s run, trying to untangle all of moff’s feints and false leads, that i have to believe in the most basic resolution i can think of. and since gallifrey’s “rescue” featured so prominently in the 50th special, and because i want the doctor to remain the same person, going forward (i.e. not some other timelord taking up the “mission” of this one, once he’s run out of lives), i lean towards this fairly simple, straightforward resolution… to a most ballyhooed, ongoing, and nagging problem of simple story continuity!

but…

i might be wrong… AGAIN! if so, i will face up to my ignorance with head held high, knowing that i did my best…

[shakes fist at the laughing spectre of the grand moff…]

🙂

[geoffers @replies]

@arbutus @blenkinsopthebrave – i was thinking paintings (cherubs?) or statues (non-weeping, garden variety), as the most obvious ways to sneak in some nudeness… but a baby? eeenteresting…

also, didn’t i read somewhere that moffat said “no more weeping angels,” or something to that effect? liar, liar, gallifrey on fire…

:-O

[geoffers @replies]

@purofilion – thank you for that excellently elegant post (22609)! i can’t agree more, and would just like to add one more thought…

how many inhabited planets has the doctor personally destroyed? in the entire history of the show, has it ever been revealed that he destroyed even one, other than gallifrey? he couldn’t even push the button that would destroy all the daleks, before there was a full-scale time war…

so, why is it so hard (for some) to imagine what a terrible, terrible decision it was to use the moment? it’s his HOME! he burns his home planet, and all the people on it (including children), as the only way to end the time war. is that, alone, not enough to tell you how horrible the time war was? that the best person in the universe could think of no other way to stop it, except to destroy his own world?

why must you see that? and if you still insist that it would just be cool to see, then what kind of budget would the bbc have to give moffat, and how long would the resulting movie(s) be, to convey all that horror effectively enough?

before hurt was revealed as the war doctor, i tried to imagine what his crime was, and how it could possibly be worse than that. i’m glad it wasn’t something far worse, because killing nearly everyone and everything you know is pretty bad! (not to mention, those enemies he thought would be gone, as well? some escaped. just another little twist of the knife for our “hero.”)

at least, i think that’s pretty bad. and i don’t need to see worse than that to be entertained. certainly not in a show for children…

🙂

[geoffers @replies]

@whohar – i’m guessing the memory loss will be wiped away by the regeneration, to let capaldi have his own problems to deal with. however, it may play a part in whatever mistake matt makes that gets him killed, maybe?

yes, there were a few other memory loss “clues,” most notably in ‘hide,’ i think? or ‘the crimson horror.’ (or both!) but there was also the fact that he was forgetting the war doctor, on purpose, and that might have had unintended memory consequences. i’m not sure that he precisely remembered the war doctor, at all, until he showed up in his timestream. but, i think he knew the cyber planner nearly gained access to “a deeply buried secret” in ‘nightmare in silver.’ that blockage was there to protect himself from himself, as much as it was to keep the cyber planner out…

[geoffers @replies]

@ everyone – as quite a few have debated the whole “did the doctor re-write a horrible past event (and three incarnations just can’t remember it’s fixed, now), OR did he never really make the decision to let gallifrey burn in the first place (because he could/would never do such a thing)” question…

well, i’ve had too much time to kill today, and have a further question to throw into the cauldron! (let’s see what timey-wimey-ness ‘splodes out of this, lol…)

what i believe: the war doctor must have made that original decision to use the Moment, and that it led directly to the events in ‘tDotD.’ 9, 10, 11, all suffer from the knowledge of what was done, for the next 400-ish years, and to varying degrees. and now only 11 “remembers” that he’s changed his personal timeline…

but… on that original day, when the war doctor actually used the Moment (remember, he only decided not to in the re-write, due to clara’s intervention)… where was the interface??!! did it not appear, to guide him, that first time around? if it did (as i assume it would have to), why did it allow him to choose that course of action, unhindered? could it not have shown him the consequences (what would happen to his future selves), without bringing them there to help him avoid that future? or did it just guarantee that he would live on, knowing that a future version would come back to revisit the decision, much later on? (which may only be a blink of an eye for such a sentient creature, of course.)

to be more specific, i’m just wondering how that original conversation might have gone, because, if the interface did bring his future selves (and clara) to him on that original day, as well, to try to persuade him to make the right choice… wouldn’t that mean that gallifrey never really burned, because he never really used the Moment (since 11 decided not to)?!!

apparently the most dangerous weapon in the universe might as well have been just something to sit on, at least that one time…
🙂

[geoffers @replies]

@devilishrobby – it’s worth exactly two pence, right?
😉

but, i don’t think rassilon and the other time lords are out of the bubble universe, yet? they’re still a painting, waiting for their moment to re-enter moving time, like the zygons in the under gallery…

or, now that i think about it… you’re probably exactly right!! once capaldi (or whomever) finds the hidden gallifrey, in the future, the grateful time lords will grant smith’s doctor extra regenerations… in the past!! they will ensure they’ll be rescued by ensuring that the doctor lives on… to find them!

that totally works for me. it’s so simple, as most of moffat’s twisty stories seem to be, once viewed with hindsight…

[geoffers @replies]

“Per my (completely ignored, sniff) post on the DotD thread, I wonder if the Doc’s memory loss will be linked in some way to the Silence and their memory wiping abilities? Or possibly the mind worm from Snowmen.”

@whohar – sorry, i forgot to post a reply when you postulated this on the other thread. not because i’m the doctor… just because i’m old! 🙂

i was of the impression that the memory loss is due to the great intelligence’s shenanigans, whilst inside his timestream, in ‘the name of the doctor.’ wasn’t there a scene to that effect, after he steps into the timestream, showing the confrontation in ‘the snowmen’ in a slightly different light?

and, yes, i am a suitably dirty old man, and i “went there” when i first saw the promo pic. i just had no idea what the object she’s holding is! knowing now that it’s a “cracker,” only makes me laugh more evilly, as it looks more like clara is intending to use it on the doctor!!

but, she doesn’t look nearly as frightened or as serious as she should, does she? what’s up with that, i wonder? matt looks like a zombie…

🙂

[geoffers @replies]

“So Tardises seem almost common,  everone’s got one…”

@scatamonky – but not everyone who gets one travels in it, constantly, for thousands of years, like the doctor! recall, his journeys through space and time were damaging enough to endanger all of time and space…

and, those other tardises probably didn’t develop sentience (again, over time) like Sexy has…

so, even if some other time lord took the name of the doctor, he would only become “Our Doctor” if he managed to also acquire this unique tardis!

🙂

[geoffers @replies]

@scatamonky – i’ve been obsessing over the whole “we die at trenzalore” thing, too, as matt told david in ‘tDotD.’ the timey-wimey-ness of ‘the name of the doctor’ has really put a bend in my brain!

my only way of understanding it (until it’s made more explicit, hopefully in the upcoming xmas special), is that matt’s doctor was the final one, so that made trenzalore the final resting place of all the doctors he’d been (no future doctors because he’s the last, so clara doesn’t see capaldi). but, the “minor skirmish” that killed him (as indicated by the great intelligence) was the battle with the great intelligence that we see in the episode. the g.i. saw the doctor’s future from his own p.o.v., not the doctor’s, whereas the doctor knew if he got out alive, with clara’s help, then he can still have a future. (the doctor knew he was probably going to die on trenzalore, but he also knew he could pull another “lake silencio” because of clara.) thus, the future predicted by the g.i.’s victory was re-written by clara’s saving the doctor (before we even see him die on screen), so that trenzalore is no longer his final resting place. and then he and clara go on to re-write that terrible day in his past, with the future capaldi doctor, in ‘tDotD’…

but… in the upcoming special, we see that matt and clara are going back to trenzalore (i don’t think they’re still trapped there, because of capaldi’s appearance in the 50th), so it looks as if there’s an alternate future where matt’s doctor does die there, just not as a result of the battle with the g.i.. and so he regenerates into capaldi (or some other crazy thing happens, which i will not discuss here due to possible spoilers!)… whom he’s already seen, now, as a future self. (or, maybe he does not remember that little detail, because of the re-syncing timestreams?)

one thing that can really throw off this interpretation, is whether matt’s tardis window is still broken. it wasn’t in ‘tDotD’ (and the next incarnation, capaldi, is there), but if it is in the xmas special… then i’m really at a loss to explain anything! lol! ‘tDotD’ was clearly from matt’s p.o.v., it was his decision to re-write his past (along with hurt’s and tennant’s, and eccleston’s pasts), and he finishes that adventure knowing he should still have a future (because of the talk with the curator). so certain is he, that he’s already excitedly anticipating his search for gallifrey! so, whether he can remember capaldi’s help or not, he still thinks he has a future to look forward to…

as for how he contacted all his other selves, that can be explained by the tardis, and her telepathic circuits. just as he shared his plan to save gallifrey with hurt and tennant, telepathically (quite clearly, in the episode), then he must have also called out to his other incarnations the same way, once they were on their way(s) to do the deed…

 

hmmm. well, it makes some sense to me, as well as all this re-writing of futures can, at any rate! hope this helps? 🙂

[geoffers @replies]

@scaryb – i saw that a long time ago. i wouldn’t use it to glean insight into anything other than moffat’s sense of humour!

the gender thing, i agree, it would have to be story-driven. one possible reason for moffat to change his gender would be so that he could write another conception-in-the-tardis story! the doctor becomes a woman, falls in love with her male companion (who happens to be a prince), gives birth to twins, dies due to complications, regenerates into the valeyard, begins to take over the universe… the twins, seperated for their protection, are hidden with relatives. the boy grows up on his uncle’s farm, the girl is a princess, who rebels against the empire…

oh, wait… i’ve just written another comic episode!!

but the race thing, i don’t think that would affect me, if he changed race. perhaps many other fans would be outraged, but as long as the actor is right (as you say)… and british! the doctor should always have an accent, from somewhere in the isles… 🙂

[geoffers @replies]

“How did 11 change his opinion so radical in comparison to 10 in the end of time? Was it all Clara?”

@timeloop – basically, yes, i think clara is the reason, specifically in ‘tDotD.’ but also, his travels with amy, whom he met as a child. it is clearly established, after amy and rory are gone, that he spent a long, long time by himself, grieving for their loss. but, he also remembered how important his companions are, once he began investigating the mystery that became clara.

hurt’s doctor didn’t have a companion (that we know of), nor did tennant’s (at the point he appears in the special, on his “vacation” before ‘tEoT’). having a companion present (and her insistence that there was another way) at the critical Moment moment (!) is what inspires smith’s doctor to change his own past (and, indeed, he says onscreen that he’d spent 400 years trying to think of a different solution to end the war, anyway)…

i would have prevented the deaths of all those children, too, if clara had looked at me like that!

😉

[geoffers @replies]

i’m gonna have to avoid this topic for the next few weeks, lol! i certainly don’t want to read any synopsis…

but, an idea i had a while back… what if the tardis can give the doctor more regenerations? yes, they might have matt die for good, being at the end of his current allotment that stretches back to his leaving gallifrey. but, the tardis surely won’t let her thief go for good, will she? she could “override” whatever time lord constraints are there, i bet (assuming the limit is imposed, rather than part of a natural thing).

well, i hope, at least. if rory can be brought back from the dead (multiple times!), then there will certainly be a way to revive the doctor, too. or should i say, again, since he was “permanently” dead in ‘the night of the doctor’ for a few minutes, as well, wasn’t he?

🙂

[geoffers @replies]

“Still. I think Moffat needs to find some opportunities to play with the Doctor’s gender and race in a story where he can back out of it if everyone hates it.”

@curvedspace – i agree. it would be so easy to do. there have been doctor-lite episodes, such as ‘blink.’ just come up with a similar idea, when capaldi is unavailable for regular filming, for whatever reason. and it wouldn’t take much to zap him into a woman, or a minority version of himself. he had his dna extracted, and made into a daughter at one point, and was aged into a little dobby creature by the master, so i don’t see why his dna couldn’t be manipulated to change him into a woman for an episode or two…

although, i don’t think moffat has done as much of that? russell davies was responsible for all that (and turning him completely human, too, if i recall). matt has been copied as a ganger, and by the tesselecta, and turned into a mute red monster… but i don’t think moffat’s played much with his dna. he mostly has made the doctor into a detective, of sorts, investigating mysterious girls, for the most part (the one who waited, the one that’s impossible, the one that lives in reverse order to him and was kidnapped and turned into an assassin)… 🙂

maybe he’ll realize that it’s ok to investigate what it’d be like for the doctor to actually BECOME a woman, for a while!

[Author]

Posts