Tee hee hee.

This reminded me of the old RTD finales. Reveal of an old monster/villain. London landmark. Cliffhanger. High-concept issue to do with humanity/lots of humans (eg ghosts of the (human) dead, or the human race of the future killing that of the present, or the human race being turned into Daleks). On reflection, mainly of Army of…[Read more]

@Bluesqueakpip

Everything I’ve said so far is based on the idea that there’s a difference between performing an act and making a choice. Hopefully I can show you why:

Killing 2.7 billion children is wrong. Letting 270 trillion children die is wrong. As acts they are both wrong.

But, in the sense that I’m speaking, if you have to choose between…[Read more]

@Bluesqueakpip

shall we agree that sometimes he decides it’s not worth it and sometimes he decides that it is?

Yes. I think it was just a slightly badly worded paragraph from me (sorry), but I was just trying to put right a misunderstanding between us that arose from my previous post. Yes I agree he does it from time to time.

I don’t quite und…

[Read more]

@Bluesqueakpip

On General Time Travel Stuff

When I say the Doctor doesn’t have the option to change his past, I don’t mean he literally can’t do it, but that if he did do it he’d end up creating more problems than he’d solve (paradoxes and suchlike – what I think you refer to as Churchill on a Mammoth) – thus making it not an option ever worth…[Read more]

@Bluesqueakpip

As long as you’re happy to, I’m interested in what you have to say. There’s no rush, I’m enjoying this discussion of ours, but I don’t always have the time to ‘check in’ regularly. Sorry if I’m rambling a bit. I try to be economical with my language, but sometimes it seems I need a lot of words to explain my ideas clearly. I too…[Read more]

@ScaryB

I agree that for the Doctor choosing Bad over Worse isn’t good enough, and I think that’s something that’s true for all of us. None of us would ever want to choose Bad – that’s sort of what makes it ‘Bad’ – and I think a lot of us would put off making that decision for so long that, sometimes, the Worse would sadly come to pass. And I…[Read more]

@thommck

Very sorry about that. Yes @JimtheFish, @Phaseshift, @FatManinaBox go ahead and get rid of the final paragraph my post #33916, before the ‘PS’ (but please leave the rest of the post, it took ages to think/write out!). My apologies again @thommck, I hope I didn’t ruin things too much for you. I reminded myself not to refer to the ‘…[Read more]

@Bluesqueakpip

On rewatching Into the Dalek, I agree that the Doctor doesn’t exactly cause Ross’ death. But, as you say, you understand my overall point about fixed points not being the only ‘impossible choices’, and the example of Ross was only really to explain that, so I suppose my mistake there has little bearing either way now.

(I will say…[Read more]

@Bluesqueakpip

If something isn’t a fixed point, then the Doctor can never have an ‘impossible decision’ because he can change stuff.

I’m not certain that fixed points are actually the only time an ‘impossible choice’ can occur in Doctor Who; there surely are other times when he can’t change Time. My two main ‘impossible choice’ examples, which…[Read more]

This one was good fun. A fair few original ideas. I like it when the show can use the sci-fi/fantasy ideas that are available to it to make really bonkers things happen, in this case the tiny Tardis in particular, the fun-ness of which was multiplied by Clara carrying it around and the Doctor’s hand popping out of it now and then (the best bit…[Read more]

@ScaryB – Yes, I concede he has at least chosen the lesser of two evils off camera during the Time War. And I really enjoy that it is explored further in The Day of the Doctor, and similar ideas this season.

Maybe I’m cynical but I think these sorts of impossible choice would face the Doctor more often, given the life he leads. The real ones,…[Read more]

@Bluesqueakpip

Why?

Who benefits?

Who benefits from teaching kids a moral viewpoint that… [etc]

Why? Firstly, because I think it would make good drama. I think a television show should try to explore as many facets of its premise as possible. I’m not saying I want this thing to happen all the time – just one episode would do (and i feel…[Read more]

@thommck – Thanks. I’m not saying I have anything against Clara/Danny myself either – Danny seems to be a decent bloke – but I just wanted to emphasise that the ‘format’ of a character-driven arc-plot seems very effective.

@MTGradwell – Yeah I have to say I’m erring in your direction about whether Clara lied to Danny or not. I don’t believe she…[Read more]

@ScaryB – I appreciate you’re not disagreeing with me re the new darker shade of Doctor. Also, your point about The Beast Below is a good example of what I was looking for actually, and one I’d forgotten, so thanks for that. I respect the Doctor (and more importantly the show itself) because in that one he was willing to commit a terrible act,…[Read more]

@ScaryB – Yeah it’s true that the Doctor was more morally complex in Hartnell’s day, but I think most of the examples you give (though I’ve not seen the St Bartholomew’s Eve Massacre one) are about allowing Time to follow its proper/pre-ordained course, particularly in the Tenth Doctor examples. So you’re right in that these are morally d…[Read more]

@Juniperfish Yes I very much prefer Clara this season too. In the first four episodes this season she became my favourite companion, I think for the same reasons that some people have complained about the show actually being too much about her now.

I felt she had more scenes of her own that I was actually interested in because of what she was…[Read more]

What’s all this about Clara lying at the end of this episode? Various posters here have said she lied to either the Doctor or Danny or both (can’t remember who said this though, sorry). Watching it back, I don’t see it that way.

I think Danny had already said that he didn’t mind her traveling in the Tardis. If you look at Clara and Danny’s…[Read more]

I find the conversation at the end about addiction strange, because they both seem to have forgotten about the fact that the Doctor did give up traveling for ages and ages – in The Time of the Doctor (as @Bluesqueakpip pointed out). But if you watch that scene, it’s as if the two of them have completely forgotten that. Unless the addiction being…[Read more]

I quite enjoyed this episode.

Thought I’d have a say on some the issues that have come up in these discussions. Can’t remember who’s said what previously so apologies for that.

Some have been complaining generally that the show is too ‘soap-opera-y’ now. While I’m not necessarily sure Doctor Who needs yet another love story subplot, I am glad…[Read more]

Not yet read through all these posts (I’ve only just had chance to watch the episode), so apologies if I repeat things others have already said, but I feel the need to get my thoughts on this episode off my chest.

I didn’t particularly like it overall, I’m sad to say. Dramatically it was good, ie the performances were mainly good, and there were…[Read more]