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Thank you, @janetteb and @dentarthurdent! I too was amazed at the number of people who attended my mother’s funeral, not only in the choir, but also in the congregation. I got a nice surprise when I saw a good friend of mine there. I don’t think she knew my mother, but she was there to support me. Pretty wonderful!

My mom’s partner worried ahead of time whether many people would be there. She had been to funerals for 91-year-olds, where only a handful of people turned up. That’s because so many of their friends and family had preceded them in death. That’s sad. But Mom made friends with people of all ages, and it showed.

I do find comfort in the many good memories I have with my mother. It was also quite a remarkable thing to be able to go through Mom’s massive photo collection, along with one of my cousins, before my mother/her aunt died. We were able to find so many great photos from Mom’s childhood and young adulthood that I’d never seen before. The nice thing about that is, when it came time to put together a slideshow of photos for Mom’s memorial service, I didn’t have to put in hours and hours of searching because that work was already done. I knew exactly where to find these photos and scan them. Mom never thought of herself as a beauty … but she was. I love looking through those photos of her!

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@winston I love the connection you shared with you mother through music! We, too, had a strong connection through music. The piece I requested for the postlude was played as the postlude at my sister’s first wedding (and seems to be a popular choice for weddings … though on the surface it may seem like an unusual choice for a memorial service). It’s a demanding piece for organists, “Toccata” from Organ Symphony No. 5 by Charles-Marie Widor.

The church’s music director was born in Cambridge, England, and graduated from Cambridge University. When, during our meeting to plan Mom’s service, he suggested that they often end on a triumphant note, that piece immediately flashed through my mind, and I blurted it out. He didn’t bat an eye, and played it beautifully. It truly was a jubilant ending to the service, played on a Fisk pipe organ that my parents had a hand in getting built and installed at the church there.

My family bonded over music. Some of my clearest memories are of us loving music together. After my sister got married, she moved out west. And then, about a decade later, my sister had returned to the area, but my parents divorced. So, this postlude at my sister’s wedding is the last time I can remember all four of us in our family standing together, united in our love of music. That gives the piece an emotional meaning for me beyond the music, itself.

Other beautiful pieces sung by the choir included “I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes” by Leo Sowerby and “Gaelic Blessing” by John Rutter. And then there were the hymns. It was hard to pick only three.

A cellist played a piece close to my mother’s heart: “Sicilienne” by Maria Theresia von Paradis. Note the name; the composer was a woman. That was an argument between my parents. My mother pointed out to my father that there were significant female composers all throughout the history of music. My father insisted that if there had been any, we’d know about them. (I loved my father, but he was frustratingly prone to tunnel vision at times. This was one of them. Surely he knew that history is written by the victors?)

I could feel my mother’s spirit singing and dancing through it all. So her memorial service is a lovely memory!

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@winston My sympathies to you on the election result. I read about it and sighed. Not much else one can do.

I spent nearly the entire month of May in Indiana. My mother’s health took a bad turn, and she passed away. Then several of us had a close exposure to Covid via my sister’s husband, who got a mild case of it. My sister then tested positive, but was asymptomatic, and the rest of us tested negative. So, as these things go, we were very fortunate.

My mother’s memorial service was wonderful, with lots of beautiful music, just as she would have wanted it. “A mini-concert with a few words” is how Mom’s partner envisioned it. It did my heart good to walk in the sanctuary, before the start of the service, and see all the chairs and music stands up in the choir loft, where Mom spent so many Sundays singing tenor in the choir. She was much loved, and it showed in the turnout by the choir, and also the music director, who gave their all to honor their friendship with her in music.

I get such comfort from my memories of the service, and also of being there with Mom in the week before she died. It’s something I could not do for my father, because of Covid, so I was especially glad that I could spend this time with my mother before she died. Parts of it were hard, yes. But there were also moments of great beauty, and for that I feel forever grateful.

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@janetteb There were some good episodes in series 11. I liked the set up of the Timeless child story line though I have not watched the final of that, mostly because I was rather upset by the destruction of Gallifrey. I felt that trampled on the lore established my Moffat who restored Gallifrey with RTD’s blessing.

There’s still some part of me that wonders (hopes) that maybe the Master was gaslighting the Doctor over that. Was it ever established that this actually happened? I think it was … but that shows you how poor my memory of these past few seasons is. Nothing stands out in my mind enough to make me remember it. That happened plenty of times during the RTD and Moffat eras, but it’s more the details I lose. I remember the broad strokes. With Chibnall’s era, I barely remember that.

The Chibnall episodes I like most are those set in historical periods, like “Rosa” and “Demons of the Punjab” (which was an especially good Yaz episode from Season 11), and then “Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror” from Season 12.

Season 13 seemed to be building up nicely, right on up through the “Village of the Angels” episode. Yes, it was a sort of “greatest hits” package, but I still felt forward momentum, like we were headed toward a true climax. And then the last two episodes dispelled that notion. We got smoke and mirrors, not a satisfying resolution to the mystery I thought was unfolding.

Chibnall has showed enough moments of possibility that I kept hoping, only to be disappointed in the long run. I wish I didn’t feel that way … but I do. So I look forward to RTD’s return!

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@blenkinsopthebrave Very well put. I agree with your analysis of Chibnall’s run. Given the problems Covid created, why not go small, with small casts playing intimate stories set in singular locations? Instead, we got these grand ideas, often with lots of CGI and seemingly wide-ranging locations (many of which were sets), but little in the way of making me care what happened. Lots of telling me, but little showing me why I should care. Your comparison of this with how Moffat wrote Amy’s story in Matt Smith’s first season is revealing. I never stopped caring about what happened with Amy and the Doctor. But sadly, I stopped caring, for the most part, about this Doctor and her “fam” (yeah, not really a fan, either).

That’s not true for all of Chibnall’s episodes. “Eve of the Daleks” is one outstanding exception. Why couldn’t they all have been like that? I don’t think Covid gets all the blame here.

@winston I don’t have the hardware, but I do have the option of Crave.TV in my on-demand streaming service, which has all of the post-gap Doctor Who episodes. Now, if only I can find the time to view them!

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@devilishrobby To be honest I think it would have been better if the baton had been passed back to RTD for Jodies final/regeneration episode because in part I have a feeling that Chibbers has in part been purposely steering the Who franchise to its demise.

Interesting, I never contemplated that it could be deliberate. I’ve always felt he just wasn’t up to the task … and perhaps no one would have been, following in Steven Moffat’s footsteps. Chibnall had this one Big Idea (the Timeless Child) and built an entire season around it, with the aim of rewriting the Doctor’s origin story. While I commend him for at least having the idea, the execution of it (especially having the Master tell the Doctor about it, rather than showing us) robbed it of its emotional intensity. There was no payback for the audience in that revelation.

The Flux was another Big Idea, but at least it offered us a more customary story arc, not one that tried to rewrite Doctor Who history. The sad thing is that last season seemed to be building up rather nicely … only to fall flat in the finale.

Then we got the delightful “Eve of the Daleks” New Year’s Eve special, and I felt hope that at least Jodie’s departure was being handled with care. That episode made me care what happened to the characters. It was tightly written with wit and all the elements I’ve come to expect from Doctor Who. (I wonder if having the episode set in one location made a difference.) Even the fact that it fell back to using the old, reliable Daleks did not detract. They were just menacing enough to create suspense … yet they were funny.

And then we got this episode, which had little offer in the way of convincing character development. Yes, we got the Doctor’s “sorry, Yasmin” speech, but somehow it just didn’t carry the emotional weight I have felt between the Doctor and other companions whose emotions got the better of them.

Reading the synopsis by @craig up top, you’d think “Legend of the Sea Devils” couldn’t miss. Yet it did.

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I should add that not all of the CGI and special effects looked awful. The Sea Devils and the huge sea serpent all looked great. But it was the background scene images, specifically especially those showing the ship in the harbor, that looked so amateurish they took me out of the moment. My husband was walking by and laughed at one. Not a good sign.

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Thank you for the reminder, @craig. I received a couple of spammy messages, but those were easily deleted and have not recurred. Whether that is due to action on your part or inattentiveness from the spammer, I don’t know, but either way it’s resolved.

I also want to echo the sentiments @blenkinsopthebrave posted in the latest episode thread. Craig, I am grateful to you for keeping this site up and running, even with diminished interest. I feel hopeful about the future of Doctor Who, and I love being able to come here and engage in witty, heartfelt, intelligent, insightful discourse about all things Whovian, and also the general state of the world. This site has been a safe haven in what seems to be an increasingly insane and chaotic world. Thank you, Craig!

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I’m with @jimthefish. For me this was an underwhelming episode. It carried the “flash and action, but thin on substance” story style that has plagued much of Chris Chibnall’s run on Doctor Who.

And the CGI? Don’t get me started. I felt like we were back in the Tennant era, which had its share of dodgy special effects.

This was a disappointing relapse after what I felt was a marvelous return to form with “Eve of the Daleks” (which hubby and I plan to rewatch tonight).

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@blenkinsopthebrave You mentioned that Slow Horses is on Apple TV, which we don’t have. I will have to seek it out via some other network (which might be possible in Canada).

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@blenkinsopthebrave I keep hoping things will improve, but it just doesn’t feel like the same series at all. It was telling that I didn’t even recognize the opening theme music. I had to give the old theme another listen to remember what it sounds like. Why they felt they had to replace it with that overly dramatic mishmash is beyond me.

Last year, I measured Picard against the mixed success of Discovery. I liked the first season of Discovery, but then was put off by the Marvel Comics cloning combined with the “we must connect every last friggin’ dot to the original Star Trek series” approach in Season 2. That, along with the forced insistence on making the lead character more appealing by directly relating her to Spock, all felt very hyper-paced and derivative, while failing to bring many (any?) original ideas to the table.

Once they got themselves unchained from their current time stream in Season 3, that’s when I felt Discovery finally came into its own as a series, and I was happy to sit back and enjoy it. My verdict is still out on this season. It’s not coming together for me in the same way. But I’ll see it through to the end before making a final decision.

So you can understand why, in comparison, Season 1 of Picard felt like a breath of fresh air. I appreciated the slower pacing, and I thought it did a wonderful job of bringing new and familiar characters into the story without telling us to care about them, but showing us (through good writing and acting) why we should. Sadly, much of that is missing this season.

Has anyone watched Gomorrah? I should warn you: If you are not into violence, do not watch this series. Think a more authentic Godfather … on steroids … in Italy.

We just watched the last episode … and I’m still processing it. One thing that struck me was the production values. I really haven’t felt that way about a TV series since Miami Vice. For better or worse (and Miami Vice was a very uneven ride, especially after the first season), it did change network television by filming each episode like a movie: Framing shots in artistic ways, creating beautiful interiors and utilizing exterior locations to their maximum effect, incorporating original and recorded music, etc. I found each episode of Gomorrah similarly riveting. The emotional intensity between the characters, combined with exquisite cinematography and set design, created an amazing television series that, unlike Miami Vice, actually got better as it went along.

I have read that Season 4 of Westworld is due out this summer. Again, be forewarned: Violence … on steroids … on an island (well, at least in the first two seasons). I loved the first two seasons and, while I liked the third season, I felt that by reducing the number of episodes, HBO forced the writers to compact the story and push it along too quickly. As a result, I didn’t feel the same connection I felt to the first two seasons. Still, Season 3 of *Westworld* is better than 90 percent of what’s on these days, so … who am I to complain? Hopefully they don’t repeat that in Season 4.

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Has anyone been watching Picard this season and finding it … well, a little off? It feels very different to me … and not in a good way. Season 2 is really lacking the serenity of Season 1, IMO. And what on earth did they do to the opening theme music?

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@winston I too love the fresh scent of line-dried laundry. I stopped using scented products years ago, after reading Slow Death by Rubber Duck by Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie. They pointed out that, in trying to rid our lives of artificial chemicals, the easiest place to start is to avoid anything with “parfum” on the label. So that’s what I have done, as much as possible. (Now, when I walk through the cleaners/detergents aisle at our store, the impact of all those chemical scents is overwhelming.)

When using the dryer, I use woolen dryer balls rather than dryer sheets, and my laundry detergent is unscented. So there isn’t much scent to our laundry when it comes out of the dryer, other than the drop of tea tree oil I add. But when they come in off the clothesline? My husband really notices it. My sense of smell is not good, but even I can tell that there is a freshness unlike anything else. Especially since we live along the ocean. I can remember my grandmother, who lived in Homestead, Florida, saying that there was nothing like the smell of laundry right off the line. When my sister, cousins and I stayed there summers, we dreaded the chore of hanging heavy, wet laundry on hot, humid days. But she was right about that amazing scent, and I have carried that memory with me ever since.

When we bought our house in southeastern Ontario, it came equipped with a clothesline, and we used it. That’s when I rediscovered the joy of hanging laundry on the line. When we first moved to southwestern Nova Scotia and didn’t have a clothesline, I really missed it. The place we subsequently moved to has two clotheslines, so I’m doubly happy!

Guerilla tapping, I love it! Happy foraging, and kudos to you both for using what your natural environment provides. I have always been amazed at how much sap it takes to make maple syrup. My husband, who has worked in food manufacturing all his adult life, is very cognizant of that fact … and really of what it takes to make anything. He has helped me to be more appreciative, and not take these things for granted the way I so often did before.

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@devilishrobby I wonder if the new Doctor will be introduced in the 60th anniversary special? Or maybe we’ll get a look at “the eyebrows” … as with our brief intro to Peter Capaldi during the 50th anniversary special. We weren’t fully introduced to the new Doctor, just got a little tease before his official introduction later on. Of course, “The Day of the Doctor” joined forces between Matt Smith’s Doctor, the current one at that time, with his predecessor, David Tennant, and John Hurt’s War Doctor. As you noted, Jodie Whittaker has finished filming, so it sounds like she would not be a part of this special (although I have read that she might return for it). If that’s the case, no continuity there. it may be that, if the special precedes the series, then it will be our introduction to the 14th Doctor.

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@winston Oh my, homemade maple syrup? How wonderful! Do you sell it, or make it only for your own consumption? My husband made blueberry pancakes this morning, and we had Canadian maple syrup, but not made by us. Still, it’s so much better than the table syrup I grew up on. I thought that was maple syrup, until I finally had real maple syrup. I’ve never gone back. When we go to community breakfasts (something we haven’t been able to do for the past two years, but now they are finally starting up again), we always take our own bottle of maple syrup. We have developed a reputation as maple syrup snobs, LOL!

Yes, spring is slowly making itself felt here. We have had some gloriously warm days, only to be dragged back down into chillier temperatures. No snow, though. It’s been warm enough that I’ve had laundry drying on the clothesline a few times so far. We had rain earlier today, but now the sun is trying to break through. So fingers crossed that we get a nice afternoon!

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@mudlark Thank you for your cautionary tale about Time Team. My husband and I have watched the series and, not being archaeologists, we wouldn’t have taken into consideration the points that you make. The flip side is that series like this encourage me to be more aware of local history and the steps needed to preserve its artifacts. One other series we have enjoyed is Digging for Britain. But this features already established archaelogical digs, correct? So I assume that these were not the rushed three-day digs commissioned for Time Team.

We like a similar Canadian TV series called Wild Archaeology, which ran for two seasons on APTN. I wish it had gone on longer. On a related note, I wrote this story back in 2019. I’m amazed the link is still active, as most of the links to my stories are not. My husband tagged along with me as I accompanied these archaeologists on their investigation, and it was fascinating. We always hoped their work would be featured on Wild Archaeology, but it was not to be.

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I would love to see Michael Sheen or Ben Whishaw as the Doctor. Sheen would be a fun wink, since he has partnered up with David Tennant in Good Omens and Staged (and also that voiced role in “The Doctor’s Wife”). But I agree with @devilishrobby that they may go for a younger and/or lesser-known actor to take on the role, someone who does not bring a recognizable screen persona with them.

@janetteb Thank you for sharing that lovely interview with Jodie Whittaker. I appreciate the pressure she must have been under to “take one for the team” … as it were. We’ll never know what that really felt like, for Jodie, in addition to all the usual pressures of playing the Doctor. As an aside, I love the blouse she was photographed in. Looks like it has lobsters in the print?

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@thane16 Good to see you back here in these parts! I’m glad you enjoyed the New Year’s special. It hit all the right notes, for me. I could ask, “Now, why weren’t we given more of that with this Doctor?” (And I did.) But I’m also grateful that we got what we got.

@dentarthurdent Re: the Doctor not asking the waitress for her name, why didn’t I think of that? It’s a question I often ask of Doctor Who. That’s a big part of why I visit this forum, to get insight from the many smart people here. I agree with @mudlark that it’s possible the Doctor recognized Clara. My own take on it was that the Doctor didn’t recognize Clara, and she knew that. Hence, her eyes welling up as that realization (IMO) set in. But I love the ambiguity that Moffat gives us, letting those of us in the audience decide that for ourselves.

@janetteb I’m sorry about your awful committee experience. I hope it was a one-off, and the rest of your meetings are productive (as they should be) and not so upsetting.

@catymcinulty Welcome to the group! I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

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We made it through this latest nor’easter without incident. The power stayed on, and there was no storm surge along our waterfront. (Fortunately, the wind was blowing from the northeast, driving the waves away from shore, rather than toward it.) We took advantage of a lull in the snow, then ice pellets, then freezing rain, then rain, to get out the snow scoop and shovel our cars out, then clear the part of the lot not plowed out by the snow plow. Amazing how much work that is!

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@dentarthurdent No wheels on the roof rake; just a wide, narrow shovel blade attached to a long, (often) extendable handle. The shovel blade part carves off the snow as you pull it down the roof toward you. If you Google “roof rake,” you should see photos of the contraption. This article from Erie, Pa., shows someone doing it. Our roof rake extended farther than hers, reaching all the way up to the ridge atop our 1.5-storey house.

And no wheels on our snow scoop, either (though some may come equipped with wheels). The scoop has ridges on the bottom and slides quite easily on the snow. You dig the blade into the snow, then push using the handle, and the snow scoop slides along, gathering snow. When the scoop is full, you push it over to where you want to dump the snow, then rinse and repeat till the job is done.

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@dentarthurdent Still. shovelling snow off the roof sounds high-risk, isn’t there a danger that he’ll slip and fall off?

When we lived in Ontario, we used something called a roof rake to pull the snow down off our roof. It’s basically a long, narrow shovel on an extendable handle. You stand on the ground and maneuver the roof rake up onto the roof, then pull down. Much safer that way! Of course, then you have to shovel the mountain of snow that you just pulled down! But it’s better than have it piling up on your roof, potentially causing your roof to collapse.

Another trick is that we use a snow scoop for most of our snow removal, rather than shoveling. It’s still a workout, but it’s much easier to fill up the scoop, then push it to where you want to dump the snow.

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I just watched Eve of the Daleks again this afternoon and enjoyed it even more. Now, this felt like a proper Doctor Who episode! Which is baffling. Clearly Chris Chibnall is capable, so why can’t all of his episodes draw me in like this? It’s an old question, at this stage of the game, and I’m not sure it’s worth debating. Better to celebrate the episodes like this one that give me that old timey wimey thrill!

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We recently finished up all four seasons of Unforgotten. Powerful, powerful stuff. In between waiting for our DVDs we’d put on hold at the library, we also watched two other series, Time (starring Sean Bean) and Mare of Easttown (starring Kate Winslet). All equally powerful, in their own ways. Between that and watching No Time To Die (Daniel Craig’s final Bond film) on Blu-ray, our viewing has been a little on the heavy side. We like dark stories, but now it’s getting to be a bit much. Though Time and Mare of Easttown both deal with the subject of forgiveness, which lends hope to an otherwise dark story. Oh, and then today we watched 1917. Definitely need something lighter now!

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@devilishrobby Spelling is a thing for me going way back. I can blame my parents, I suppose, since they were always such perfectionists about it. It must’ve rubbed off on me.

@miapatrick I was a newspaper reporter and freelance writer from 1981 right up through early 2020, when my freelance assignments dried up and have never resumed. So I know all too well the “I meant this, but typed this” vexation. It was part of my love/hate relationship with writing. And then to see it as I intended to write it, when it’s not what’s actually on the page or screen, is even more frustrating! But I’m told that’s how our brain works.

Oh, and I enjoyed how you brought us back on topic!

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@winston Good news regarding your granddaughter and her family! Given the lockdown, her boredom level won’t improve much, but at least she can freely interact with her household again. And she’s healthy. That’s the most important thing.

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@miapatrick @dentarthurdent Ha, thanks for helping me out! Usually my proofreading skills are better than that. I kept staring at “snog” and thinking, “Well, I think that’s correct.” I was focusing on the wrong word and reading the rest of your post as you meant it … not as it is.

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@miapatrick Please don’t apologize for rambling! I enjoyed every word of your thoughtful analysis. It’s one of the reasons I love this group! (But I’m not seeing the typo.)

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Now we’re talking! I really enjoyed this episode. The relationship arc between Sarah and Nick built in a predictable way, yet the romantic in me wanted it to go there. Sarah’s flintiness is hard to pull off believably, but Aisling Bea nailed it. Sarah wasn’t trying to be intentionally cruel to Nick (beautifully played by Adjani Salmon), yet her words and actions hurt him and others. Seeing that realization dawn on Sarah with each successive time loop was one of the most satisfying elements of this episode.

In some ways, the relationship between Sarah and Nick felt more real to me than the relationship between Clara and Danny … which is strange, since we spent a lot more time with those two. As heartbreaking as Danny’s demise was, I was never fully convinced that he and Clara had much in the way of a relationship. It was one of the few missteps, IMO, of the Moffat era.

I was afraid yet another Daleks episode would annoy me, but I felt the Daleks were utilized effectively. And, since world domination wasn’t their ultimate aim here, just getting revenge on the Doctor by exterminating her, that upped the dramatic tension. And containing the action in just one storage building, compared with all the massive set pieces we saw in the “Flux” story arc, brought it down to a more personal level.

The success of this episode shows how the “Flux” series could have benefited from fewer characters and more intimate interactions between the Doctor and her companions.

@winston I’m glad this episode provided a welcome diversion for you.

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@scaryb and @winston I’m sorry that you have had to deal directly with Covid. @scaryb, I’m glad that your case was a mild one, and @winston, how relieved you must feel that your granddaughter is asymptomatic (though I understand what you mean about the possibility of spreading it to the rest of her family). That’s the best we can hope for with this virus.

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@devilishrobby It had a bit of a Marvel Comics vibe to it, didn’t it? It struck me as a feeble attempt to capture the spirit of The Avengers (the Marvel Studios film, which I haven’t seen … not the TV series starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg, which I love). It just felt like this big mob of characters stuck together in an overly convoluted plot. I never got a chance to really feel the danger the Doctor or her companions were in. When that’s lacking, it’s hard to commit to their situation and root for them to come out of it OK. I find it especially disappointing, since early on I thought this season might be heading in the right direction. Then, with the finale, it all just fell flat.

Which is such a strange experience with Doctor Who. I am a post-gap viewer, and while there might have been a hiccup here and there, I can’t recall feeling such a prolonged stretch of ennui with any Doctor or companion, starting with Chris Eccleston and continuing all the way up through Peter Capaldi. Fingers crossed that the new RTD regime can right the ship!

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@blenkinsopthebrave A quick preview: looked fabulous, was lots of fun from week to week, but was ludicrously frustrating in terms of plot, and character development, and motivation, and coherence, and…

Sadly, I agree. I had such high hopes, because the storyline had the potential to wrap up with a satisfying conclusion … and then didn’t. Part 1 set the stage: Too many characters, too much far-flung plotting, too little coherence between all the different threads. And, most importantly, too little real urgency or depth of feeling between the characters who matter to us.

I wanted to like it, but in the end I felt frustrated, as I have through much of Thirteen’s run. It’s such a shame, because it didn’t have to be this way. It’s easy to blame Chibnall, but part of me wonders about the “too many cooks in the kitchen” curse. Would it have been better, stretched out into eight episodes rather than six? I’d like to think so, but there’s been precious little in what I’ve seen to make me believe that.

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@janetteb Thank you so much for posting that story! It’s just what I needed. As you say, with so much of the news being bleak these days, it’s nice to have a break from that with this lighthearted piece.

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@devilishrobby I agree. I think I need to rewatch this season now, from the beginning, and work out my thoughts about this. @juniperfish mentioned a “kitchen sink” vibe, and that’s exactly how I felt. Everything was tied together, but it felt rushed and a little unsatisfying. Yet parts of it were wonderful. I loved the Doctor finally showing us a little something there at the end. I wished that all of the thematic and emotional threads had been pulled together similarly. But maybe that will resonate with me more on second viewing. Fingers crossed!

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I just watched the episode this afternoon. I must say, Chibnall is on a roll. I love all the bonkerizing going on here among new and familiar faces. Feels like old times!

Was everyone else as happily surprised as I was to see Kate Stewart back? I should have anticipated that, with UNIT back in the picture. I’m looking forward to next week’s conclusion … and then I will be rewatching all the episodes once the puzzle pieces have all come together!

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@mudlark I must thank you for your amazing synopsis and analysis of where this storyline has traveled so far. I had forgotten so much (particularly that mention of the Division in “The Timeless Children”), or failed to pull a lot of it together in my mind. This really helps me understand it so much better. Thank you!

This was the first properly suspenseful Doctor Who episode in a long time. The Weeping Angels are always good for a scare, and they don’t disappoint here.

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@winston I have been alarmed as I watch this disaster unfolding out west. I’m glad that you are safe. British Columbia is experiencing many of the extreme weather events happening in California, and that is disturbing. It shows the massive reach of climate change and how really, no area is left untouched.

But it seems the farther north we go, the more massive the impact. As Earth’s polar ice caps melt, climate change escalates … and that’s not a good thing.

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@craig I’m feeling a bit heartbroken for you, for feeling as you do. And yet, I can only echo what others have said. It’s also true that for me, this most recent iteration of Doctor Who has not been what I had hoped for. And yet, there have been some surprising moments. I keep hoping that this season will unwind in a satisfying way. We can only wait and see.

You have given us a great gift with this site. It’s a place where thoughtful people gather to collect and share their insights. I have enjoyed my time with this community. I hope it will continue. But really, that depends on whether you gain something from keeping it going. I will respect whatever decision you make, and remain grateful to you for all you have done for us.

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I find myself with @blenkinsopthebrave on this. I have been surprised at how much I have enjoyed these episodes, considering how underwhelmed I have felt by much of what has preceded them. I can’t explain exactly why I feel this way, except that at least there seems to be some direction in the story arc. Previous Chibnall-helmed episodes have felt either directionless or overly forced. I’m not getting that vibe here. Even though the direction isn’t entirely clear to me, at least there is a sense of momentum.

Sadly, my husband (who I know saw the Ruth episode) does not remember her. So that shows you what a strange run this has been. I think he was so annoyed by the whole “mucking with history” element, to the point that he didn’t even watch the season finale, that he jettisoned it all from his memory.

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@miapatrick I am so sorry about your mother. I’m glad that posting and reading here give you some respite. Hugs!

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@dentarthurdent Well, my long reply just vanished into the ether, so I won’t even try to retype the whole thing. But yes, N.B. stands for New Brunswick, the province to our north and west.

I drove 6,289 kilometres (3,908 miles) round-trip. ‘Twas a long one, especially doing it solo. But having the Appalachian Mountains as your backdrop (Berkshires in New York, Blue Ridge Mountains in West Virginia, Poconos in Pennsylvania, Laurentians in Quebec and the Cobequid Pass in New Brunswick) turns it into the most scenic of drives.

And to see family and friends for the first time in two and a half years was such a joy! It took a weight off my shoulders that I didn’t even realize was there … till it was gone.

Now, to bring this back on-topic: We finally received the Season 2 DVDs for Unforgotten. So, between that and new Who, TV viewing is exciting again!

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Many thanks to all who have posted and helped me make sense of these first two episodes! But yikes, alternate reality? Makes my head spin.

I did enjoy this episode far more than the first one, and the only reason I can come up with is that fewer new characters were engaged in the story. I don’t mind new characters, but having them all introduced in one fell swoop is confusing to me (and I don’t care who’s doing it). “War of the Sontarans” felt more settled in, grounded in a path forward … wherever that path is leading.

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Well, I guess I missed the memo that this season opener was going to be timed with Halloween, and yet there it was on our DVR.

Having just returned from my trip to the States, we only got around to watching “The Halloween Apocalypse” last night. Like others, I found this episode oddly paced and confusing. It felt like a big core dump of characters, none of them linked in a way that I could follow. Presumably they will become linked as the season continues, but it’s strange to have them introduced all at once in what felt like a rambling run-on sentence.

However, we watched the second episode tonight and found that one to be much better (possibly because fewer characters were engaged). On to that thread!

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So happy to be back in the land of the masked and physically distanced! My solo road trip to visit family and friends in Indiana and Ontario was well timed and enjoyable. So glad I did it!

Stuff happens in threes, right? Rear turn signal bulb burnt out (fixed in Auburn, Mass.); tire blowout (fixed in Albany, N.Y.); and muffler coming loose, damaging the catalytic converter, which may have been a casualty of the New York pothole (Band-Aid fix in Florenceville, N.B.). So my southern tour featured stops in mechanics’ garages all over North America.

On one hand, it might seem unlucky that I had these mishaps. But, on the other hand, I was able to get every mechanical issue fixed quickly, and I was safe and in good hands every time. So it felt like I had a guardian angel sitting on my shoulder the whole way there and back.

And a new season of Doctor Who started up while I was away! On to the episode threads ….

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Cleanup in Aisle 9 … er, Faces of the Doctor (2):

“t”

and

buying “something or other” online

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@cathannabel I am so sorry to see this news today. Like others, I wish I knew what to say at this heartbreaking time. I can only imagine the shock and grief you are experiencing at the unexpected loss of your husband. I’m glad that the kindness you are feeling from so many here, and out there, too, is helping. It can’t hold you in your husband’s warm embrace, or recapture the relationship you and he had. But maybe it helps to ease the harshness of (yet another) new reality.

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@mudlark I have watched precisely one episode of Call the Midwife … and it was because I was staying at my mom’s home, and she and her partner were watching it. But I know what you mean. It recalls a time when such harrowing experiences were far more common in hospitals. It’s just the way it was. Yet, in this day and age, it’s still startling to read or hear about.

My one and only sustained hospital stay, due to major surgery, was remarkably good. The food was good (says no one, ever). And my care was excellent. The hard part was (and I apologize; this is not polite dinner conversation) working my way through the days, with much pacing up and down the hallway, to when I could finally relieve my abdominal bloating. How do you spell relief? B-M!

By the way: Has anyone seen the new Bond film? We went to see it Friday night. All I can say is … wow! I was not expecting that. I will say no more, as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.

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@thane16 and @mudlark These hospital experiences you describe are jaw-dropping. I never imagined that, in this “modern” day and age, such things could happen. Like @dentarthurdent, I am very fortunate in that regard. I’ve had very few hospital stays, and now I appreciate the kindness and care I received all the more!

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@winston Re: turning the recalcitrant non-Whovians in your family: Interestingly enough, my husband (who is nine years younger than me) is the longtime Doctor Who fan. He started watching in his youth, during the Tom Baker era, and so he was the one who marked the calendar to make sure he didn’t miss the premiere of the relaunched series. I reluctantly gave in because … well, that was what he was watching. From that first scene of Chris Eccleston’s Doctor with Rose, I was hooked. And now I am the committed viewer!

It’s wonderful news that your son has made such a good recovery from what was a very scary situation. Like @dentarthurdent, I am rather the canary in the coal mine in our household, when it comes to eating anything sketchy. It doesn’t always lay me flat, but my husband and I can eat exactly the same thing, and I’m the one who’s paying for it later on. Just the way my digestive system is.

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@leafysuburbs Catherine Tate was brilliant in this episode. It really showcased her acting range. She is my favourite companion because I find her story arc so relatable. How many good people out there in the world are lost or angry and have no idea what they are capable of?

You’ve nailed exactly why I loved Donna so much. And that’s what is so heartbreaking about her character. Donna’s discovery of what she was capable of was nullified by the Doctor’s decision to remove all memory of it. She found out how powerful she was, but was destined to return to her mediocre life because she was not allowed to remember any of what she had achieved while she was the Doctor’s companion. Later on, Clara Oswald set him straight on that matter … but it was too late for Donna.

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@thane16 I understand what you’re saying about always thinking, “I could’ve done more.” Been there, done that. Because my father had managed his health conditions (low kidney function being the primary one) so well, for so long, I adopted a pattern of thinking he was always going to bounce back … because he always had. Of course, my rational mind knew better. When he contracted Covid, even though it was mild, and he seemed to be getting better, I had a feeling he was not going to bounce back. The physical toll was just too great.

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