@Kharis

Ravens are also associated with the Norse god Odin, who had two ravens, Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory), which he sent out over the worlds as his messengers, to observe and bring back news.

I am happier in the world of Scandinavian and Germanic mythology,  but the universe of Doctor Who is, after all, a melting pot of cr…[Read more]

BBC APPROVED SPOILERS...

@ichabod

These “ghosts” aren’t holograms — not if they can take an axe or harpoon gun down from the wall and chase you with it — but I don’t think they can be “ghosts” (in our usual meaning of the word) either.

I agree that they cannot be simply holograms, although the hologram of Clara could be seen as an analogy and a pointer to what they reall…[Read more]

@Donnydhuum @purofilion

Now, why would a Tivoli, a race who wants to be conquered want to leave their planet, and what could he possibly be hauling? I mean, the craft was small, and since he was the only ghost, it only makes sense that he was the only crew member.

My assumption in the absence of further information was that the ‘mole man’, as a…[Read more]

@ichabod

her own Doctor-y ability to keep herself safe, now that she’s more like him than ever.

But is she really?  Some mystery still attaches to her origins, and she entered the Doctor’s time line in order to undo the damage caused by the Great Intelligence, but clearly she has little or no conscious memory of this.  She has in the past des…[Read more]

@purofilion

I recall you and others analysing parts of The Ring cycle and Gotterdammerung from which emerged interesting themes

Strictly speaking, we were discussing Norse myths, although the discussion began with a mention of the Ring cycle.

Wagner drew on several different sources – The Eddas, the Volsung Saga and the saga of the Nibelungs, but…[Read more]

I have just been reading through all the comments again and see that the majority opinion is that that the ‘sword’ coordinate is a sword-in-the-lake reference and, by extension points to an Arthurian theme.  I confess that I have had difficulty seeing it that way and am in favour of taking the Doctor’s interpretation at face value. But of cou…[Read more]

@Miapatrick

One question- if the ghosts ‘don’t come out during day’, how are they messing with the computers to bring day?

At a guess, it is only the ability to project as ghosts and the associated telekinetic ability to manipulate material objects that is inhibited when the Base is in day mode, and that whatever is behind the projections retai…[Read more]

@purofilion   Yes, as @Bluesqueakpip observed, the mural on the wall of the Base canteen appears to be an illustration of the scene in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader where a sea serpent coils round the ship and attempts to crush it, though I don’t recall it as one of the originals by Pauline Baynes (I no longer possess a copy, so can’t check).  Th…[Read more]

One afterthought on the eyes as mirrors/windows of the soul.  It is surely significant that the ghosts are eyeless, with black pits where the eyes should be.

Yet another episode to savour, and I enjoyed the shift in style and pacing.  In some respects it was like a more highly polished and streamlined version of a really good BG episode, although I am sure that the ARSE brigade will find something to complain about (I cannot bring myself to read BTL on Dan Martin’s blog).

What grabbed me initially,…[Read more]

@lisa  @ichabod    I agree that the terms ‘voting’ and ‘democracy’ which Colony Sarff used were probably a somewhat inaccurate approximation to what was actually going on.  As Lisa realised, I was thinking in terms of a collective entity analogous to a hive of bees, but whereas bees only form a single physical identity when they swarm in the pro…[Read more]

@ichabod

“Colony Rat” (what’s Welsh for “bat”?)

I meant to look up the answer to this, and having now consulted a dictionary I am able to inform you that bat in Welsh is ystlum, and rat is llygoden fawr   😉

@PaperMoon

Also, the Doctor riding in on a tank is a nice reference to the Daleks.

Exactly what I thought, especially when the Doctor referred to the Dalek ‘travel machines’ as tanks.  That tank wasn’t there solely for the purpose of making an anachronistic splash which would resonate through time, or to provide the Doctor with an opportunity to…[Read more]

@ichabod

Colony Sarf is just Colony Sarf, not “Colony Sarf #1” or “Colony Sarf pal of Davros”, which suggests that maybe CS is in fact unique in its sarf-ness

Perhaps, but there could be other snake-colony entities who call themselves by other names.  How many words meaning snake must there be throughout the universe   🙂

I have been trying to…[Read more]

@lisa

I wonder maybe if Mr. Sarff just had some innovative notions in regards
to his personal life choices?

Why not?  I guess it would have depended on how they voted – they are a democracy, after all.  I have a feeling, though, that they might have been a wee bit offended by your implied assumption in referring to them as ‘Mr’    🙂

[Read more]

@lisa  @ichabod

There’s a Mrs. Sarff that has democratically voted to hunt Missy down to avenge her late SO.

I love the image that you conjure up, but since Sarff entity is/was a colony , I suspect that this kind of thing would remain strictly within the community.  Think in terms of a hive of bees or an ant or termite colony, but one in which…[Read more]

@bendubz11  Anything relating to episodes which have not yet aired counts as a spoiler.  If it concerns information or material released officially by the BBC, then it goes on that thread.  Anything from any other source belongs under general Spoilers.

@DenValdron   @ichabod

I have been hesitating whether or not to butt into this debate but, as you may have gathered, my position is somewhere in the middle, so maybe I have something to contribute.

Yes, Davros was being devious; he had made his plans and set the trap and he was calculating and manipulative throughout.  On the other hand, he kn…[Read more]

@purofilion

they’re playing a clever game with each other.” But not a game in the sense of chess: Knight 2 to Bishop….This is more organic

That is pretty much how I understood it.  On one level it does resemble a chess game – move and counter move, as I said in my first post on this thread; but there are many more levels, and few of them purely c…[Read more]