Sorry, too late now for me to edit, but I left out a word in my post above:

As for the question over when a Zygon copy might have been made of the Doctor ….

@lisa The two scenes you mentioned bothered me on first viewing, for much the same reasons as your own. However, on second viewing, I thought the first scene was a play at humor. Stranger sitting in a swing on a children’s playground, then approaching two little girls who are eventually snatched away? It is creepy on first take, but I thought that…[Read more]

@torchwood3 Nice to see another Eccleston fan here! I enjoyed his too-short (IMO) run as the Doctor. But I have also enjoyed all who succeeded him.

OK, as I guessed was going to be the case, this was much better on second viewing. I felt like there were even more commercial interruptions than usual. I know they’ve gotta pay the bills, but it really disrupts the flow of the story. It all held together so much better when I could fast-forward through the commercial breaks!

Question: When Osgood (we assume this is Zygon Osgood) visits Osgood’s (copy or original?) gravesite, doesn’t the marker say, simply, “My sister”? If that were the original Osgood, then wouldn’t the headstone be far more detailed? Dates of birth and death, some sort of inscription, etc.?

Oops, sorry, Truth or/and Consequences. And yes, I figured that’s not the real town, but rather a set depicting (not very accurately, it seems) the town.

I hope that this episode improves on second viewing. I have a feeling that it may be one of those episodes which I think I dislike initially, but it’s because of the countless jarring commercial interruptions which disrupt the flow. I found the first three-quarters to be a bit plodding, only picking up at the end … and oh, how it did pick up! So…[Read more]

And yet what’s remarkable to me about Donna was that she wasn’t cast as the “babe” I’d imagine most 18-year-olds would find appealing. She was attractive enough, but not according to Hollywood’s skewed image of the female form, as she was curvy in an “average female body shape” sort of way. Which, by the way, I applaud. How I wish more leading…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip

An Adventure in Space and Time is a nice drama doc for the Hartnell period.

I watched that on Space (in Canada) and loved it. If I recall correctly, it aired around the time of the 50th anniversary special. I felt like I’d traveled back in time, appropriately enough, and caught a glimpse of what it was like to be developing Doctor…[Read more]

EON’s James Bond has had multiple film reboots, with the most striking probably being the Daniel Craig era. The series also celebrated its 50th anniversary with Skyfall. Reboots and anniversaries are not mutually exclusive.

Audiences are fickle. Some shows that I thought hit their stride artistically were largely abandoned by their audience. So ratings are not always a measure of quality. I wonder if it’s as simple as the new-era Doctor being written, early on, in a rather romantic way, with younger actors in the leading roles. That’s a natural audience draw these…[Read more]

@denvaldron

I’m the opposite myself.  But I recognize that the showrunners are opting for emotional and relationship payoff, and shorting rationality and coherence.   I don’t necessarily see the two as being opposed.  But I do see a prioritization of one and a rather shrifty attitude to the second.   Eh, so it goes.

I disagree; I don’t think the…[Read more]

@pedant Thanks for the reminder about others who have shared a similar bonkers theory. I didn’t mean to claim it was my idea alone. That’s just my version of the idea. And yes, I forgot about that type of Dalek. Hmmm … maybe not so bonkers after all!

I think this gets back to different people’s expectations for Doctor Who. Personally I love the emotional resonance that powers so many of the Doctor’s stories. I think one of the reasons I liked Donna so much is because she wore her heart on her sleeve. Her emotional power struck a chord with the Doctor, often at just the time he needed it. The…[Read more]

@lisa @purofilion I enjoy your splendid expansions on my theory. But now my brain is done trying to tease this out. Can you believe this is keeping me up at nights? It is! (That and too much caffeine yesterday and today.)

Hmmm, @lisa that could indeed be the reason for the sonic sunglasses. The Doctor sees her as Clara, and somehow the sunglasses make it so that everyone else (except the Tardis) sees her that way. And except for Lady Me, who is there to let the Doctor know she knows exactly what’s going on. Maybe thanks to Missy, who unlike River is big on…[Read more]

I have a little trouble with the idea that Me/Ashildr is impersonating Clara, and the Doctor wouldn’t spot it. After all, in the Christmas special he said he always saw Clara as Clara, even when she was an aged Clara. There was a brief moment when we in the audience saw the younger Clara, and then she was the older one again. The Doctor doesn’t…[Read more]

@seeoswald So little use? Clearly you need to get around more. One or two posts a day constitutes “little use” in my book. But that was feigned indignation, of that I am sure. A common fallback, when all else fails. of trolls.

As for the quality of the scripts, “eye of the beholder” and all. And Eccleston? We’ll agree to disagree.

Thanks for the kind words, @purofilion and @gamergirlavatar !

You know what hooked me on Chris Eccleston’s Doctor? “Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once — everybody lives!” I still get chills remembering his unbridled joy and exuberance. In fact, I think I must revisit “The Doctor Dances” again!

@countscarlioni I was thinking exactly the same thing. Maybe the reason we’re seeing and hearing these anachronisms is because Ashildr has been traveling up and down her time line. And here’s a good argument for Missy entering the picture. The Doctor refused to take Ashildr along with him. Wouldn’t that be the very thing Missy might seize upon?…[Read more]