@missrori  . . . they’re all, effectively, set free in the end. Freed of chains, of programming, of…oaths…or promises…don’t mind me, I’m just overthinking things again.

Oh, please, indulge — Well, drat, I just overthought of something: the Doctor, end of S9, set himself and Clara “free” of each other.  Is he now going about committing oth…[Read more]

@jimthefish    Much as I hate to torpedo a fine bit of bonkerising, I think the reference is to the Pertwee story The Time Warrior. As to other oaths, I’m not sure. Depending on what kind of Doctor he actually is, he might have taken the Hippocratic one?

Always a sad moment to watch a bonkers theory slip sedately beneath the waves….

In Tooth an…[Read more]

Very enjoyable, I watched the After show on YT and heard Steven Moffat’s explanation about cutting the Dalek scene.

Still a shame, but I could understand his reasoning.  I do believe they said something about it being on the special Edition? May watch again. he is a delight to watch and listen to, a natural comic.

Thank you again @jimthefish;

Missy

@jimthefish I am really enjoying these episodes but feel that it is time for something meatier. I did like the two parters last year though they would have benefited by the odd single story and would like there to be a two parter this series, just to vary the pace. I don’t think we are entirely without an arc this series. There is the mystery of…[Read more]

@jimthefish; How rude of me!  Thank you so much for the info about the After show, I shall have a look.

@ichabod: No, I’m pretty sure it was fro Clara, because he heard her voice.

@winston: You took the words right out of my mouth. Yes I would like to hug him and I felt it even more so in Thin Ice.Thing is, it’s making it harder to say goodbye…[Read more]

@jimthefish @mirime @idiotsavon @thane15

I think we have here two stylistics mixed, the first is drama with all this conversations and speeches about morality, killing and moving on, and the second is comic-book in which bad guys get what they deserve and an urchin becomes an heir (after what had happened with Ashildr, Doctor should be very…[Read more]

@morpho    I liked the Doctor’s explanation that the butterfly effect happens anyway, even without time travel.

*Loved* that; a quick and easy way of dispensing with a long, depressing disquisition on why Time travel into the past is bound to change the future to *some* extent, but you’d probably never know (who says it has to change in ways you…[Read more]

@Jimthefish

Oh I’d agree 100%.  I also agree that AG Who seems to work best with 75 minute episodes. It’s a shame they aren’t making many of those. I guess its a scheduling issue more than episode cost.

Did you ever watch Nathan Barley (written by Charlie Booker and Chris Morris) ? Truly loathsome character. Nicholas Burns is a way underused…[Read more]

@jimthefish

Don’t mind me, it’s just my usual moaning. I’ve noticed that because for the last two days I menaged to rewatch the whole season 1 and now I’m watching season 2. Both are full of memorable characters even in the first three episodes. @morpho has pointed out that Thin ice is the Beast below II and I agree but I like Beasty better…[Read more]

@jimthefish  

I’d argue against it purely by mentioning his reasoning for doing so and the fact that Bill considers his reasons before agreeing. In other words, she makes a choice to let the Doctor take the lead. This is a considerable step up from say the Pertwee days when the Doctor would just arrogantly assume the lead and Jo/Sarah would be ex…[Read more]

@jimthefish

I sort of agree with you as well. If you were to rewrite The 10th Planet today, you might not change the story (which is very simple invasion concentrating the action at a base under siege) that much, but you would add an episodes worth of character discussion into the pro’s/cons of Cybernisation as an acceptable method for global…[Read more]

@Mudlark @thane15

Indeed – Cardiff has had a resident black population for at least 350 years. And, of course, recent evidence suggests that Chinese traders were present in Roman London. That’s the thing with port cities. Ships turn up from all over the place.

BTW, puro and @jimthefish – nice to see, over on the Graun, a certain @bluesqueakpip…[Read more]

@thane15 @jimthefish @pedant

Hi there

Just the clarify, I said the stories were lame, not the episodes. If you take out the introducing Bill and Bill/Doctor relationship building parts of episodes 1 and 3 (especially), you’re left with poor largely unmemorable stories. As adventure stories, they could be dealt with in 20 minutes. What’s made…[Read more]

@jimthefish   I’ve loved the guitar/fading rock star aspect of Capaldi’s Doc…

D’you think I’m off in seeing a gleam of self-satire in the flamboyance of the entrance-with-guitar-and-tank?  It never struck me as “fading rock star” but rather as “wannabe rock star” — which was, at one point, what Capaldi and his friends all were.  “If you can’t be…[Read more]

oh Dr Disco…

@pedant  @jimthefish  Here’s what’s required…

Did ‘It’s okay to punch a fascist in the face’ trend on twitter tonight? If not it should have done…..

@mersey @jimthefish @juniperfish @mudlark @bluesqueakpip

Just as a contribution on the tricky question of clues and our interpretation of them, my own particular take on them is this:

A lot of what we talk about is invariably a construct we propose and then test. The one thing I’ve always liked about this forum and the group of people who p…[Read more]

Hi @blenkinsopthebrave!  And thanks!

Oh!  Great thinking on the “I shall come back” vow.  That’s one I think most of us would like to see kept.

Hi @jimthefish.  Nice to be back and see everyone theorizing away! 🙂  I would be shocked if any idea I come up with actually panned out.  Hasn’t happened yet.  Why break a perfect record. :p

For…[Read more]

Welcome back @craig

@jimthefish:     It’s horses for courses, of course, but personally I prefer SM’s approach. RTD’s stuff was fun and exciting but lacks the depth, nuance and richness of the SM era.

Oh I do agree.  I wonder whether SM will write at least one episode in series 11, after all, he did in previous series.

@ichabod: All this strea…[Read more]

@JimTheFish

I wouldn’t overstate the strong position of the Beeb. It’s been on the ropes politically for a decade now and if the next general election goes the way it’s looking it’s going to get worse.

If it can get off the public purse and pay for itself, it can hopefully cease to be a political football. It seems to me it would be better…[Read more]

@jimthefish @juniperfish
But how much more satisfying it would be if all those clues were relevant, pieces of a bigger picture? There was no meaning in Tarot’s card (were there any cards in the series or it was only a concept from the forum?) and because of that now you sound disappointed and skeptical. Do paintings hold any meaning? I don’t know,…[Read more]