So I’m as intrigued as anyone about who Mrs Flood is. Theories I’ve seen so far: River (Flood), the Rani (it’s never the Rani like it’s never lupus. Until it is?). The Master. Ruby’s biological mother. Ruby herself. What about The Doctor’s adoptive mother? What about the Doctor’s biological parent when it comes to it?

But why was she so angry…[Read more]

@wishit I agree. I actually really enjoy the Star Wars spinoffs- and as a rule, the further they move from the Skywalkers the better (though I liked that Hayden got a bit of a revival.

I think I just like spin offs, I like seeing the wider implications of the created universe explored. I never watched the Sarah Jane one, but I liked Torchwoid (up…[Read more]

<span class=”useratname”>@oblique To be honest, much as I’ve enjoyed him in these three episodes, Ncuti’s bounding energy made Tennant’s Doctor seem, if anything, ripe for retirement. (Don’t you think he looks tired?). And I don’t mean that in a snide way – he needs to rest and recuperate. If I’d known ahead of time how the episode would go I…[Read more]

<span class=”useratname”>@whohar Yes! I’d missed the Master comment.
</span>RTD definitely isn’t ignoring the timeless child etc, he’s making use of it – but he might not be tying himself to it completely in the form it is there.

sometimes I feel any new Doctor Who/time Lord information is picked up by the next showrunner  in the spirit of improv…[Read more]

@scaryb @juniperfish “you get a prize, honey” was just so beautifully delivered.

and also Rory at one point: “You know what it’s dangerous about you? <b>It’s not that you make people take risks, it’s that you make them want to impress you</b>. You make it so they don’t want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you’re around.”

And at this point, with Donna, the Doctor is right…[Read more]

@whohar yes, regarding the ‘I’ve seen her walking’ rant – my partner really liked that they put that in.

@whohar indeed, and in fact the puppet show scene kind of made a point about Moffat’s companions all dying but not dying. Seeing it all summarised like that did feel like quite a theme. And then… the Doctor doesn’t actually die at regeneration. And all the companions ended up with their own companions – Rory, Ashildr, Heather. And he gets to…[Read more]

So after a rewatch last night I noticed this line from The Toymaker: ‘I made a jigsaw puzzle of your past – did you like it?’

We know the flux stands, revelations about The Doctor’s origins and the genesis of the Timelords stand. But I wonder about this. Is this a little seed that can be used when needed? Something not dissimilar to the Time…[Read more]

And as for mr ‘I don’t want to go’ not going, I don’t know. He might become the Curator. He might get more stories. He might genuinely retire, live, work through the new dump of trauma , then die and regenerate into fifteen, wobbly wobbly etc. But meanwhile we see Fifteen adventuring around as a energetically zen madman in a box. And I think I’ll…[Read more]

NPH as the Toymaster was wonderful in a string of wonderful here. Great casting, based partly on him working with RTD before, partly on this being a role involving a musical bit, magic tricks, terrible accents, repeated acceptance of a challenge, charisma, and raised eyebrows.I might have been looking forward to NPH here as much as I was…[Read more]

This is strange to me, really. Because I only actually quite liked RDT’s original run. I fell in love when Moffart took over – denomintionwise, I am a Moffatite through and through. I quite liked Chibs’ run, and probably had a higher tolerance than a lot of people (I’ll return to that somewhat in a second) because I never really rated, for…[Read more]

I watched this too late after too many beers to trust myself to get all my thoughts down but I will say this: going head to head against Tennent and NPH (who I’m surprised didn’t actually do his own vocal) and Tate, Ncuti Gatwa burst into this episode with beautifully energetic charisma. Stunning debut.

now I’m going to do the mature thing and Go…[Read more]

@robertcaligari it’s interesting that ‘what if a white man was cast to play Martin Luther King’ is the example so often used, because it’s a really, really bad example. Unless Newton was campaigning against racist laws and politics applied against white people by people of Indian heritage.

@jimthefish plus there is the largely under explored debt…[Read more]

@juniperfish yes the differences – and his awareness of them – are interesting. I mean, metacrisis Doctor was pretty much sold to Rose on the basis of his being able to say he loves her (I believe that’s what he whispered to her to make her kiss him like that). Each Doctor incarnation is a distinct personality influenced by the same (and making…[Read more]

<span class=”useratname”>@blenkinsopthebrave I think for Donna that is now the word. Not gravity but mavity. I noticed the Doctor looked at her when she said it, noticing that something had changed.

</span>

I mean that’s how important a person Donna is. Changing English vocabulary with a mum joke. And it was so much fun just watching her make i…[Read more]

@juniperfish chemistry was the name of the day here. regarding the salt – I think that’s calling forward. But I also really enjoyed the idea of weaponising English ideas regarding the Fae in a Pratchetian way (varies are terrific, they begat terror) and Other Donna Donnaring it.

Also what is harder? counting grains of salt, or correctly…[Read more]

So, last episode bought us back the double act, the Doctor and Donna, whilst solving the Doctor-Donna crisis, with a lovely reference back to 1980s comics.

This episode lingers on their dynamic, even to the point of sinister and tells us that it all, the flux, the timeless child, remains canon.

One thing I love here is that the casting -…[Read more]

@whohar oh thanks for the ear worm!

hello everyone!

I still need to do a sober re-watch of the episode, though I loved it not sure how much detail I remember.

There are some things I really, really loved. The pronoun scene (my sibling is non binary, and, yup), and little things like Shirley Anne Bingham very much on screen moving her legs somewhat (it’s amazing how many people s…[Read more]