@nick  Thank you for respecting my perspective.  We’ll just have to agree to disagree…

I saw the Doctor’s choice to save Missy as the heart of the in extremis concept.  He did it “without hope, without witness, without reward”.  Because he knows he can’t trust her, he can’t put too much hope in her being good, and he knows it’s going to be not…[Read more]

@nick, @bluesqueakpip, etc… Although there’s a good point about how the Doctor’s Time War experiences have helped change the dynamic of the Doctor/Master relationship, and I think the comments about their relationship in general are spot on…well, to be honest, I think the Doctor is still the Doctor.

I got the sense in “Thin Ice” that he…[Read more]

@thane15  Yes — until the Twelfth Doctor era began, there were 13 episodes plus a post-finale Christmas special each season.  Ten also had the 2009 specials, and Eleven had a bonus Christmas special (because “The Snowmen” came midway through Series 7) and “The Day of the Doctor”.  Ten and Eleven also had quite a few supplementary shorts for onl…[Read more]

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@bluesqueakpip  @nick I think your readings of the Doctor/Master relationship are thoughtful ones, especially the conceit that Missy truly wants to be the Doctor’s friend but doesn’t know how to do that.

@whisht The TARDIS does know the two of them well, doesn’t she?  And I think that’s key.

A while back in the “Oxygen” thread, I was wo…[Read more]

@janetteb It would be interesting indeed — a sort of Time Lord terminal illness, perhaps.  A lingering effect of the confession dial ordeal?  (Sniff)

The TARDIS is a wise old girl…perhaps she — and the Doctor — know there is a course to be completed, things that must be done before he “sleeps”.  Things he dreads but cannot deny…(hmmm)

@scaryb  Yep, I don’t trust her either.  I think that’s why the Doctor’s so distressed.  He wants to redeem his friend, she’s showing signs that it’s possible — but is it really possible?  What is he to do?  Is it all just another sign of The End for this particular incarnation?  Indeed, does she know that his body is wearing a bit thin?

@soundworld  I agree that if any Doctor’s been aware of his dark side, it’s been Twelve.  That was the core of his identity crisis in Series 8, and the Series 9 finale was all about him temporarily slipping into villain mode after his ordeal with Clara’s death, the confession dial, etc., and there was plenty of foreshadowing of how badly he’d t…[Read more]

@scaryb Good point about the TARDIS also slipping away in the other Ice Warriors story Gatiss penned.  The TARDIS always takes…or leaves…its occupants where they need to be.  (hmmm)

True, Missy might have something to do with it — after all, it’s been established that she can sense the Doctor’s condition, so what’s to say she can’t i…[Read more]

@winston

Missy will have a hard time convincing me that she is nice but you never know.

Davros did say compassion would be the death of this Doctor…(evil laugh)

I think the regeneration bit was mostly a trick for the trailers and such, but at the same time he’s wearing thin too.  Twelve seems to have been feeling his age all season, and…[Read more]

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@nerys  Don’t feel confused or bad about liking this episode.  There’s a lot to like about it, even with its arguable dodgy bits (which most Who stories have anyway).  🙂  This one has really been growing on me, in a way that “Pyramid at the End of the World” hasn’t.

Bill’s pure image being based on a fiction she came up with is important.  A…[Read more]

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@ichabod (raises glass)  Me too!  Yes, it’s okay if the finale is tragic and brutal.  Twelve’s previous season finales were that way.  But never without some hope to lead us into Christmas.  It’ll just come in a surprising way this time, I’m guessing.