@Miapatrick

@JanetteB ‘s quote is from W B Yeats’ poem ‘The Second Coming’ ; lines that have been echoing in my mind for some time now.

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the…[Read more]

DISCUSSION ABOUT CLASS - SPOILERS...

@thane15

The Trials and Time of Steven Moffat -or something

I wouldn’t dare 😮

he HAD those adventures with her even though he cant remember them.

I’m not sure it is entirely the case that he can’t remember them; after all, he remembered enough about the events on Gallifrey to be able to recount the story to Clara in the diner and, as I pointed…[Read more]

@MissRori

Further to my post above:  You ask why the Doctor doesn’t just stop caring and travel the universe enjoying life and looking out for himself alone.  Yes, caring often entails pain along the way, it comes with the territory, but anybody who possesses even an ounce of empathy cannot help but care. People who don’t or can’t care, who th…[Read more]

@MissRori

Why was it wrong for the Doctor to want Clara back? @pedant said it: because it exposed Clara to danger both from others and from himself and, as he had observed more than once, he had a duty of care. To hang on to her in these circumstances would have been selfish on his part. Everything he did, even when pushed to his mental and e…[Read more]

@CathAnnabel

As regards the confession dial, my view is pretty close to yours.  As I think I outlined in comments I posted on Heaven Sent, the interpretation which makes the most sense to me is that what the Doctor experienced was in a virtual reality generated by the dial, and the time he experienced was subjective. The alternative, that the ca…[Read more]

@Missrori

Others have beaten me to it and have covered almost all there is to say.  As @Arbutus has said in different words, the Doctor is the Doctor because he can do no other; in essence that is who he is – or who he has become over the centuries.  Sometimes he yields to the force of circumstance and lapses – which is why he does not ackno…[Read more]

DISCUSSION ABOUT CLASS - SPOILERS...

@ichabod

The earlier episodes of Upstairs Downstairs were, I think, pretty accurate with regard to that kind of London household  – i.e. upper class but not in the grandest aristocratic style. Later on a certain element of sentimentalism tended to creep in.

The best thing about Downton Abbey was the Guardian blog, where above and BTL people…[Read more]

DISCUSSION ABOUT CLASS - SPOILERS...

@janetteB   @ichabod

I watched Victoria, partly to see what Jenna made of the role, and partly because V interests me as a historical figure; her journals and letters bring her so vividly to life.

It stuck pretty closely to the known historical facts – there is plenty of material to draw on, after all – although Jenna is a lot prettier than…[Read more]

DISCUSSION ABOUT CLASS - SPOILERS...

@ichabod

My copy of next week’s Radio Times, which arrived to day, has a five page feature on this, and an offer of a month’s free subscription to Netflix.  I am tempted because, although I would normally avoid dramas about the Royal family, whatever the writer’s credentials and however lavish the production, it is Matt Smith and also Claire Foy,…[Read more]

DISCUSSION ABOUT CLASS - SPOILERS...

DISCUSSION ABOUT CLASS - SPOILERS...

DISCUSSION ABOUT CLASS - SPOILERS...

@SeverusOswald

The title relates to The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, a story in a ballad by Goethe. The sorcerer goes out, telling his apprentice to draw water from the well, but the apprentice thinks to spare himself the labour by casting a spell on a broom, making it carry the bucket and do the work.  Unfortunately he doesn’t know how to stop the bro…[Read more]

DISCUSSION ABOUT CLASS - SPOILERS...

@SeverusOswald

my teacher always encourages me to use words like ‘somewhat’, ‘therefor’, ‘whereas’, ‘moreover’ etc.

All power to you and your teacher!

Words are wonderful, and a large vocabulary and the skill to deploy it flexibly and appropriately are valuable assets.  Conveying your meaning simply and clearly does not mean restricting your…[Read more]

DISCUSSION ABOUT CLASS - SPOILERS...