@bluesqueakpip The Le Guin story (the premise of which I know rather than the text, since it’s pretty well-known) comes to my mind too.  But I’m not sure Chibnall is going to radically alter the Who Mythos into a Big Lie thing.  It would seriously undercut something like “The Day of the Doctor” to have the whole of Gallifrey turn out to have n…[Read more]

@juniperfish Well, trust no one — the Master could well be lying about all this Big Lie stuff.  Besides, Thirteen didn’t take a look around.  Could be some Drylanders about, making do.  Or this will prove rewritable like in “Day of the Doctor”.  Thirteen didn’t get to save Gallifrey then, but in this year’s finale, she does!

On the other han…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip I was wondering about that idea myself — that this Master may not be exactly how he’s acting at the moment.

@badwolfalice I was reminded of DNA too!

The AV Club review (which was positive) is right that as with most kickoffs to AG Who multi-parters this was largely puttering about in a flashy way before a last-moment reveal for the cliffhanger (the timing for Yaz and Ryan’s argument about her sister was weird), but it was a big reveal and I agree it was nice to have one actually kept secret by…[Read more]

@lrobby99 I think you are referencing two Season 22 serials featuring the Sixth Doctor, “The Two Doctors” (which has the man-eating Androgums), and “Revelation of the Daleks” (the cemetery planet and DJ).

@winston I’m glad to hear you and your family are getting by despite some very tough times.  Much love!

@missy So sorry to hear that.  I hope you and your husband can bear up the best you can.

Hey @missy, hope you and your husband continue to improve.  (hugs)

I’ve been puttering for a while since Series 11 ended, doing…well, various things (along with work of course).  Catching up on a lot of old movies and stuff.  Frankly I’ve been feeling rundown mentally lately, though not physically.  I haven’t had many people to talk to in “me…[Read more]

I have a different kind of Who news to share — about 2 weeks ago, the online streaming service Pluto TV launched its Doctor Who Classic channel.

Pluto TV is an commercial-supported service, so there’s no fee for watching any of its channels (well over 100 regular ones at this point) or on-demand movies/shows, but you do have to put up with…[Read more]

BBC APPROVED SPOILERS...

I agree with others that this was a bit underwhelming as a season finale goes.  It largely worked on a character level, though Graham’s arc ended up pretty predictable, and the starship crew ended up mainly a plot device that didn’t add much to the story (and people thought Bill got shortchanged in “World Enough and Time”/”The Doctor…[Read more]

I agree that the intended message of this episode (technology is not inherently evil, but can only be as good as the people who use it) was rather muddled when placed up against the real problems it was referencing; the AV Club review of this episode was frustrated by that too, feeling it could easily be misinterpreted as “corporate monopolies…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip I agree that as strong as “The Doctor Falls” was as a story, it would have been an awfully unfitting end for a Doctor who went through as much unusually personal heartache as Twelve did.  Having him die alone right after all that sacrifice and disappointment, with no reassurance that it wasn’t all for nothing to try and redeem…[Read more]

@ichabod I’m really enjoying this season and Thirteen, but you are right that so far we haven’t had a story that really lets her personality and code be the focal point of the action as yet.  We haven’t yet had any development thread this season focusing on her side of the story, but rather on those of her companions in a more-crowded-than-usual…[Read more]

Well, if there’s one thing Thirteen’s era is making itself known for besides having the first female Doctor, it’s really knocking the historical-set episodes out of the park.  Last week’s conundrum was serviceable, but this was a genuinely tearjerking episode, both on the human and alien sides of the story, and it’s nice to finally have a truly…[Read more]

@jimthefish Heck, wasn’t one of the complaints against Moffat during his showrunner tenure that he supposedly couldn’t write female characters who weren’t either companions (or close to it in River’s case) or baddies?  People definitely noticed those villains at the time!  😀

I liked this one — it managed to be spooky without being gratuitously scary or gross, and while I agree the A-plot came to an abrupt (if surprisingly dark) ending, the SFX work was excellent, there were lots of good comic beats, and the B-material about Yaz, Ryan and Graham learning you can’t go home again and realizing that they want and need…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip and others suggesting an end-of-season villain pileup — I remember back when Series 8 was ongoing some reviewers were wondering if the Nethersphere scenes with Missy greeting the characters who died was setting up a big confrontation between them and the Doctor in the season finale, but it didn’t work out that way exactly……[Read more]

I was nervous going into this one, but this is the best Thirteen story so far.  It managed to be respectful, heartfelt, truly suspenseful, and surprisingly a great deal of fun as well — rather like “Thin Ice”, which was also the third episode of its season oddly enough.

While I’m still waiting for an episode that can allow Yaz to truly have the…[Read more]

@ichabod You’re right of course. I do like Thirteen for who she is and if she isn’t my Doctor she can be that for others, as you say. 🙂