@mirime:

As for hunting, that’s what cats do – well, most of them. When the odd person has told me that they don’t like cats because they kill wildlife, I remind them that if dogs could climb trees, so would they. Also, cats do not hunt in packs , bring down sheep and lambs and attack children or adults. You,  I tell them,  don’t like them b…[Read more]

@ichabod, @Nick et al–

Thanks for the interesting comments on the TLs which I plan to reply to. However, don’t want to derail the discussion here too far away from the episode in question so I’ve revived @phaseshift‘s excellent blog on the subject from a few years back and bumped it back onto the front page for ease of access….

@ichabod Over at the essay/discussion site DoWntime, the roundtable on this episode pointed out that privilege is a big part of this story.  The Doctor is hyperfocused on helping out his fellow wo/man Missy, convincing the reluctant Bill and Nardole to help with the test.  But when things go pear-shaped with Jorj, it’s poor Bill, a person with n…[Read more]

@ichabod @thane15 @wolfweed On the Level 1 clock going backwards, general relativity means that the rate of the passage of time differs, not the direction. So the clock can’t go backwards from relativistic effects. The direction of time shouldn’t be different at the two levels, unless something in addition to relativity is in play- it is Doc…[Read more]

@thane15 (both sides of the hybrid)

I too loved the opening section, the witty sharpness of the too-and-forth between the TLs. Missy loving hamming it up – because that’s WHO she is. I love how she expresses that very Scottish haughty-disdainful-coquettishness.  It was very well constructed with the flashbacks – clearly showing that Bill wasn’t…[Read more]

@blenkinsopthebrave I think I mentioned this here or elsewhere, but the pre-titles scene was actually shot just 2 weeks ago*, so I think Capaldi grew out his hair for it.  As for why he’s so disheveled, well, perhaps the real Doctor really gets put through the wringer in “The Doctor Falls”.  And he never did show so much as 5 o’clock shadow in “…[Read more]

@ichabod:   They just delight my eye so . . .

Indeed they do, whether they be Tigers or good old moggies.

Their stare, their grace of movement, their purr, their treading, needle clawed on your lap and the sinuous winding of their soft bodies around your legs. Beauty at its highest degree, how can you resist them?

Missy

@ichabod:   “when some of these ‘humans’ were born, the pediatrician slapped the wrong end”

“Thank you for that!  I am officially stealing it, okay?”

Be my guest, I don’t mind sharing. *big grin*

I think my last post has gone AWOL, first time for me. To repeat, I think SM is a genius, even though he broke my heart in episode 11. Let us hope…[Read more]

@ichabod:   when some of these ‘humans’ were born, the pediatrician slapped the wrong end

Thank you for that!  I am officially stealing it, okay?

Be my guest, I don’t mind sharing. *big grin*

Missy

@ichabod  I like The Thick of It.  There’s something weirdly cuddly, as well as funny, about Malcolm’s cussing, isn’t there?

@thane15  That’s an interesting way of putting Twelve — “equally confused as his companion”!

@ichabod (cuddles)  I’m sorry to make you cry.  I think many people are crying right now tonight…

@ichabod: So you dropped off after Eccleston too and came back with Capaldi?  That’s my story!

Yes.  I wound up binge-watching much of that first series and was eager to get into the Tennant Doctor.  I liked his style.  But I started thinking things were getting rather cornball and too needlessly angsty around the time of “The Girl in the Fir…[Read more]

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@missrori:

Yes, well said. Davros told him that his compassion would kill him one day.

@ichabod:

Being a cynic, I’ve never admired the human race, but admit there are exceptions.

Missy

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@ichabod  @missy  But if the Doctor stayed away from humans, he might hardly have any more heart than a Dalek.  He comes from a cold, mean race, those rotten Time Lords.  Getting to know humans and others made him the greatest of all heroes.  And if he’s sick I don’t think he wants to be cured if it meant losing all the love in his hearts.  He’…[Read more]

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

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

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