@missy According to IMDb, Rachel Talahay directed seven Doctor Who episodes: Dark Water, Death in Heaven, Heaven Sent, Hell Bent, World Enough and Time, The Doctor Falls and Twice Upon a Time.

@magickirin I disagree that Graham has not moved on. Graham is not Clara, who used her travels with the Doctor to avoid dealing with Danny’s death. I think we have seen Graham coming to terms with Grace’s death in a number of ways. He doesn’t avoid thinking or talking about her (for example, in Rosa). And I think what happened in “It Takes You…[Read more]

@craig I remember you posting about your wife before. Thank you for continuing to share your thoughts about her here. She must have been such a lovely person!

@kevinwho One highlight for me that no one else has mentioned is when the Doctor talked about being a bit more flexible about shooting things and blowing them up. “My rules change” gives more scope for discussion than “guns are bad.”

Isn’t that always the way? When we first meet and look up to an authority figure, we often take their every word as…[Read more]

OK, I watched the episode again tonight, and I was wrong about what happened with the civilizations of the planets held in stasis. The Doctor noted that as soon as the planets were removed from their orbit, it was planetary genocide. And so the people would not have been restored when the Ux returned the planets. The reason the planets had to be…[Read more]

@idiotsavon Wonderful observations! Thank you for sharing them here. Now I must watch this episode again with your comments in mind.

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@bluesqueakpip Most of the Doctors could talk the hind leg off a donkey, but one thing I suddenly realised last night was that they talked about how wonderful they were.

You are exactly right! Now that I think of it, much of the previous Doctor-babble had to do with the Doctor building himself up in front of an audience. When this Doctor speaks,…[Read more]

SPOILER, SPOILER, SPOILER...

@bluesqueakpip So I think that stopping the stasis on Earth was meant to show the effect was entirely reversible (and possibly no one on Earth even noticed what had happened), and then the returned planets were released from stasis. The one second CGI showed an intact looking planet with clouds and a few lights that might be cities – so I think w…

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I had just got done complaining in another thread about this season being too talky … not enough of the “show, don’t tell” rule of storytelling, and then Chibnall pulls out a balanced script of dialogue with action. I enjoyed it.

For me, the stakes wouldn’t have felt so high if Earth weren’t next in line to be captured. That’s completely…[Read more]

BBC APPROVED SPOILERS...

For me, the little niggle is less that the show has an agenda; as others have noted, it’s always had that. But I have found this season very “talky” … more or less ignoring the “show, don’t tell” rule of storytelling. I rewatched “Midnight” the other night and still find it so satisfying. We viewers are not told all the details, yet we are…[Read more]

@thane16 I apologize for being very late to the party. Happy birthday!

On another topic (and I hope this is the right place to post it): I find myself in need of a musical balm these days. Just in time, this new Carpenters album has been released. I find myself missing Karen Carpenter all over again. Such a beautiful, timeless voice … now…[Read more]

@miapatrick Thank you for posting that link! Sometimes trolling has its virtues, in that it prompts posts like yours with that link. You said you’ve posted it before, but for whatever reason that’s my first time reading it. Sometimes we need to be reminded of how progressive the times before us have been, and how in reality what is deemed “PC” is…[Read more]

Sorry, @amdamiri but I disagree. Several posters here have laid out a strong case for how this story follows a classic fairy tale structure. I have learned much over the years from the posters in this group, who spot things I completely miss. I suggest reviewing those posts to see what you can take away from them.

@amdamiri 2-solaris from steven spielberg

Not Spielberg. Steven Soderbergh directed the 2002 film. There are countless other examples besides the three you named. The story doesn’t have to be an original idea to be engaging. This story drew me in because it’s told in the structure of a fairy tale, and is based on a fairy tale the Doctor was told.

I’d forgotten about Solaris. I’ve only ever seen the 2002 film, which I loved. I subsequently read the book, which I didn’t care for. The book was dry, focusing more on science, less on mystery, and (at least for me) it lacked the emotional resonance of the film, which captured love and loss so perfectly.

This episode didn’t go all the way down…[Read more]

I enjoyed this episode so much more than last week’s … but I think that’s because I was not bringing my own expectations into this story the way I was the last one. The only thing I would’ve changed is to make Grace the final “barrier” through the Solitract’s looking glass. I felt a bit of dramatic impact was lost there by making it Erik’s…[Read more]

Better on second viewing … yet I still feel like this episode was a missed opportunity. I guess, considering the subject matter, I was hoping for something along the lines of “Midnight” in which the menace to the passengers, and the direct threat to the Doctor, felt very real. This felt too comic book-y for my tastes.