I thought this was the weakest episode this season … which surprised me, given the subject matter. I’d have thought the script would be written to enable Jodie Whittaker to knock it out of the park, dramatically. But it seemed like every time there was menace creeping in, the script undercut it with light banter, and the moment was…[Read more]

I admit that I prefer standalone episodes to those with long, complex story arcs. (Especially in a series like The X-Files, where the mythology arc got so convoluted that I reached a point where I didn’t care.) It’s not that I don’t like story arcs; I do. But when I am required to know every last detail in order to understand an episode, then I…[Read more]

Well, some of us Americans think the show is doing just fine now, so please don’t overgeneralize and make it sound like no one in the U.S. or Canada likes this season. I, for one, do!

@cathannabel I agree with @winston in that the 10th Doctor, and also the 11th, apologized … a lot. It was usually in the face of something very bad that the Doctor knew was imminent and couldn’t prevent. It kind of became Tennant’s calling card, and Smith took it up. Capaldi’s Doctor apologized less. So I have felt that Whittaker’s Doctor is…[Read more]

@margaret-blaine You could be right about the bonkerizing. Doctor Who can’t please everyone, and that was the case in Moffat’s era, too. I lost count of the number of complaints I read about his stories being too complex, about how Capaldi wasn’t “my doc” … etc. Part of the fun many of us found with the Moffat era was our endless speculation…[Read more]

@miapatrick I do understand that this was really a story about two brothers, and the tragic divisions politics and religion can create within families and communities. I didn’t really expect there to be a major focus on this by having additional Sikh characters, but I guess I expected a bit more than a brief mention. Sikhs were equally affected by…[Read more]

@missy I understand your comments about Capaldi, and I do miss him. But then, I’ve said that about all the Doctors after their regenerations. It’s not enough to keep me from watching, so I do continue on and am finding a lot to enjoy with the current Doctor and her companions. Not without complaints, mind you … but that’s always been the…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip @juniperfish Just to be clear: Even though it’s natural for us to want the Doctor and/or Yaz to rush back to save Prem, I knew it wasn’t possible, and so I didn’t really yearn for it. The Doctor established that changing this outcome might very well erase Yaz’s existence, and of course I don’t want that. But I thought, despite her…[Read more]

This is an interesting conversation, re: who is the most “alien” of all the Doctors. I’m most familiar with the post-gap Doctors, so for me it goes like this:

Chris Eccleston convinced me of his alien-ness. I found him to be a believable in his portrayal of an alien needing companionship and trying (but not always succeeding) to understand and…[Read more]

Overall, I thought this was a wonderful episode. However, I thought there were a couple of missed opportunities:

I know there was a need to simplify a very complex subject, the partition of India. And there was a need to dramatize the two opposing points of view. However, I was surprised that (at least as far as I can recall) there was no mention…[Read more]

@mudlark Fair enough. I certainly understand that point of view. But for me, it isn’t a prerequisite for Doctor Who.

@chiana I had the same feeling about Matt Smith, to the point where I avoided watching Doctor Who for quite some time after he started. It was only when we happened upon a repeat and watched it that I realized he was quite convincing as the Doctor, and every bit as good as Tennant, just different.

In fact, I loved Chris Eccleston, too. But…[Read more]

@mudlark I was saying something similar to my husband, that re-watching these episodes isn’t mandatory. And, in a way, it’s a relief. As much as I loved Moffat’s writing, I sometimes got a bit tired of having to first watch an episode, just to get a sense of it, and then re-watch it multiple times in order to understand it. Needing to meet that…[Read more]

@chiana … but I am getting a bit tired of the sonic screwdriver pose with the big arm swing!

Why more so with Jodie Whittaker than with any of her predecessors? They’ve all shown a flair for swinging out the sonic screwdriver and striking a dramatic pose.

@azzitay Who lets Chris Chibnall write Doctor Who stories? The same people who let him write Doctor Who stories prior to him becoming showrunner. I take it you don’t recall episodes like “The Hungry Earth”?

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Chris_Chibnall

I’m really enjoying this new Doctor and her companions. For me, this season harks back to the David Tennant era (whimsy and adventure, but without the Rose angst). The Pting was cute enough to add a bit of humor, but without being Disney-cute … if that makes any sense.

As much as I liked Peter Capaldi’s Doctor, I find Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor…[Read more]

@geoffers Sarcasm understood! Bravo!

@miapatrick Thank you for expounding so eloquently on how and why Graham is such a good role model, period. We can’t go too far wrong in trying to emulate him, regardless of our race, sex and other innate characteristics.

@hobbyco White male children need positive role models too!!

I would say Graham qualifies, wouldn’t you?

@msrbahar Let me make that more grumpy and arrogant: having a PHD in music? Who gives a shit?

I am sorry for your loss. I truly am. But I’m with @cathannabel. I can’t read your dismissals of Segun Akinola as anything other than racist, mainly because you claim he was chosen specifically because of his race. Why not because of his talent, which is…[Read more]

@thane16 Bravo, Puro! Your explanation was a joy to read. Any thread citing my favorite composer, Aaron Copland, is a winner in my book.

And that clip from Close Encounters. Such marvelous musical interplay, one of John Williams’ best moments. But the thing that makes the scene so utterly engaging is the look of wonder on everyone’s faces. As @ich…[Read more]