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  • #67034
    ScaryB @replies

    Thanks for the clarification on the length a  Rel, @countscarlioni, although I also think @pedant has a point that it’s as long/short as it needs to be for dramatic tension, haha. (And thanks also to Pedant for the extension to my vocabularly – so a cruft is a bit of a shaggy dog then…? )

    @miapatrick – I agree that the dads being complicated… “or so I’m told” comment was loaded, and also said with a metaphorical wink.  As was Ryan calling Graham “Gramps” in front of his dad – that was for Aaron more than it was meant for Graham, I reckon.

    #67020
    ScaryB @replies

    Well I liked that! As @pedant says – lone daleks are scary. Especially when they’re on a mission. Not perfect, but loads to like. And yay for the return of skeleton exposing extermination effect.

    Loved the steampunk dalek, and the parallel with the Doctor constructing her new sonic from bits of Sheffield steel in ep 1. And was the Doctor really going to sacrifice Ryan’s dad for the greater good of destroying the dalek? Looked like it to me. A definitely darker steely edge to 13.

    Lots to talk about re this series, once I’ve had a chance to catch up on previous discussion (could be a while!) But there’s definitely a feeling of very old school Who for me, like way back to 1963. I also like this move away froom Christmas Day special to New Year, tat definitely freshened it up a bit – and gave them a great reason for fewer cast and empty streets.

    PS How long is a rel – no idea! I think it’s relative – and depends on whether there’s time travel involved 🙂

    #67019
    ScaryB @replies

    Happy New Year to everyone. And apologies for AWOL-ness from the forum thro most of this series, caught in that pesky alt universe vortex (ie too much RL) again! Mega thanks to @blenkinsopthebrave (and hi to your resident aliens masquerading as earth type felines) and @thane16 among others for not forgetting me and lighting the route back!

    #64259
    ScaryB @replies

    Mega sympathies to @blenkinsopthebrave. Good to see you back tho, brave warrior in the colonial outpost! Glad the cellar continues to be well stocked.
    @thane16 *waves*

    Cheers all,

    #64258
    ScaryB @replies

    Greetings to @fatmaninabox – you completely lost me at line 2, haha, but sending you back some caffeine saturated squishy hugs!
    @craig – thanks for the quick tutorial on photos (can’t believe I’ve forgotten). Had another shot at it, but still not working. Hmm… more practice needed.

    #64257
    ScaryB @replies

    Here we go again! And as others have said, great to see lots of familiar faces again, as well as new ones. Hi everyone.

    I’m totally up for this, and agree with everyone who says that Jodie nailed it from the outset. Felt quite Tennant-y (not a bad thing IMHO 🙂 ) and I loved how, apart from a couple of throwaway lines, she just gets on with being the Doctor… and she very definitely is. Couple of call backs as others have mentioned, eg to Pertwee’s pottering, and also to Troughton’s speech about dead loved ones sleeping in your head. They’re dead, but you still bring them with you.

    I agree with @bendubz11 that Grace’s demise felt significant. I kept waiting (and hoping) that the Doctor would syphon off a little spare regeneration energy to heal her… but it didn’t happen. That really does set a tone – in this incarnation of the Doctor, despite her fizzing energy, not everyone lives. I also liked the smaller scale of the story – going from the Doctor’s first theory that it was 2 rival space races using Earth as an intergalactic battleground (and the whole Earth at risk) to being about just a few people being picked off.

    And like @fatmaninabox *waves excitedly* I suspected the (Tardis) blue marshmallowy thing to be Tardis coral… so first theory of the new series following my usual track record. 😛

    Other than that, I loved what I heard of the new theme tune, does sound like it has more echoes than recent themes to Delia Derbyshire’s atmospheric andcreepy original, and I’m very excited to see what they’ve done with the Tardis.  And much as I tried not to watch the “coming soon” bit…. Art Malik!!! 🙂

    #64209
    ScaryB @replies

    Heeeey!

    Just a quick hello to anyone who still remembers me! (Been AWOL for ages 🙁  ).  Great to see the sofa’s still here, and still as comfy.  Ooh, is that still some of my Christmas glitter hanging about?!

    I am SOOOOO excited and looking forward to watching the new series, new era and new Doctor. Can’t believe it’s finally here.

    See you all on the other side.

    Anyone for a jelly baby? 🙂

    PS If anyone can remind me how to post a pic that would be much appreciated! 😛

    #62917
    ScaryB @replies

    @ichabod

    Other people have said to me before that the Doctor finds you/you find the Doctor when you need him most. For me the worst was during Smithy’s era, when my mum’s memories were disintegrating rapidly (my mum who watched DW from 1963 with me, including the episodes I had to miss, and would then remember them and relate them back to me); at the same time Amy was remembering her Doctor back into life. Sadly no such happy ending for me, but it helped.  A daft wee programme that’s bigger on the inside! Hang in there, and stay strong. Treasure what sparks you can still find.

    @idiotsavon I’ve completely ruined my screen spluttering at your tales of snotty sleeves! (thank you 😉 )

    @wolfweed A million thanks (as ever) for your researching and trawling of the cloister archives. The script link in particular is magic, love Moffat’s little asides. I could get lost in that little treasure trove forever!

    @fatmaninabox – that would be very sad, but as we’re Who knows how many years beyond the Paternoster Gang’s timeline, maybe not so surprising. Will need to go and freeze frame!

    @bluesqueakpip War Doctor/NOT being the Doctor of War – avoidance – ingenious as ever, I love it. (Hope #13 works for you better than Twelve)

    #62915
    ScaryB @replies

    @janetteb

    Beautifully put (sometimes the real world seems more surreal and fantastical than Doctor Who), and thanks for the words of hope.

    HAPPY NEW YEAR. May 2018 be the year it all starts to get better.

    I second that.

    Cheers to all on the DWF. Lang may yer lums reek*, as we say in my little corner of the northern hemisphere of the blue planet.

    Yay!! We’re in the Pub… and the drinks are FREEEEE 😉

    Image result for doctor who themed drinks photos

    *TARDIS translation circuits: Long may your chimneys smoke… WTF??! (TARDIS explodes)

    Image result for exploding tardis

    #62914
    ScaryB @replies

    Just came across this on Twitter… dismantling the Tardis.  My heart is broken!

     

     

    #62913
    ScaryB @replies

    Great to hear all your stormy crossings tales. I tend to work on the basis that the Captain/pilot/driver doesn’t have a suicide wish, and is experienced enough to what’s safe… but then you can never be 100% sure 😛

    @janetteb That sounds very disconcerting! And similar to a recent experience I had, on a rather bumpy flight, watching Interstellar as the spacecraft started to disintegrate! Eek

    #62887
    ScaryB @replies

    @ichabod @cathannabel

    Thanks for sharing your RL experiences of dementia. It’s a horrible thing to watch in a loved one. And yes, it does focus one’s thoughts on what is “self”. Very often personality changes come in too. We hang on to the little flashes in the eyes that suggest the person we knew is still in there, somewhere. Hugs to you both.

    #62886
    ScaryB @replies

    @missy

    There was absolutely no harshness intended, and if it read that way, I apologise.

    Just that for me, a 15 month break, with 9 months (a good gestation period, no?) from the Xmas special, plus a new showrunner (and associate team of writers, directors, camera crew, music director etc) plus a different kind of Doctor, and new companions, does seem like a definite break – long enough to slow down even a mammoth ship like Dr Who, and change direction. “Chibbers” has said he wants to shake it up. The new series will have longer episodes, and a more “filmic” quality (he’s aready ordered new cameras apparently).

    2 years is a long time in TV-land, enough to lose a chunk of your core audience when they’re under 12s, and possibly your BBC slot; it took 16 years to get it back the last time.

    Anyway, enough of this here, let’s adjourn to the pub if you want to continue the discussion, or not. Let me get you a drink of your choice, and salute the coming new year in a spirit of reconciliation. 🙂

    #62863
    ScaryB @replies

    Same jacket, as originally worn by the 3rd… could be the same man, haha. (Apparently it’s hanging up in the background in the final scene of TUAT).

    #62862
    ScaryB @replies

    Capaldi’s last day, wearing Jon Pertwee’s jacket from Planet of the Daleks (now owned by Mark Gatiss (who took the pic))… these guys are bigger fanboys than we are! 😉 :

    #62847
    ScaryB @replies

    @ichabod – Agreed

    @missy

    “There is a part of me that wonders whether they should have  ‘rested’ DW for a couple of years. Then start afresh”

    That’s pretty much what they’re doing, is it not? Last Capaldi/Moffat epi – July 2017, next one (bar the Christmas “Coda”), with completely new team, not till Sep 2018. That’s a long enough gap for me!! I’m gasping from lack of new Dr Who already 😛

    @ALL Can I respectfully suggest we keep on topic, please. This thread is for “Companions Past & Present”. There’s really nothing more to be said about the incoming no. Thirteen, till we’ve seen at least her first episode.

    #62846
    ScaryB @replies

    @blenkinsopthebrave

    Islands are great, I don’t need convincing. Thanks for the pic, it looks stunning. And yes to “I Know Where I’m Going”, a bit dated, but still a great film (not watched it for ages, thanks for the reminder).

    Stay cosy.

    PS The downside of islands and ferries:

     

    #62830
    ScaryB @replies

    @pedant

    Indeed, haha. Or maybe the Doctor just wasn’t remembering her, so she wasn’t “called”.

    🙂

    #62827
    ScaryB @replies

    It’s not just the demands of actually filming, including it being a physically demanding role, with all the running down corridors, being blown up etc. It’s also the promotional parts of the role, which these days includes the major Comic Cons and events all over the world. There’s always been a bit of that (I think since Pertwee), and all the Doctors have taken the role seriously (there are lots of lovely stories about Tom Baker “being the Doctor” for fans), but nowadays “being the Doctor” is pretty much a full time job. (Although not in the same way it was for Hartnell and co, when they were turning out more than 40 episodes/year).

    Apologies if anyone’s posted this before, but this just surfaced today, a really lovely story about Capaldi’s letter to a young fan, which seems to be typical of his attitude, especially to the younger fans.

    https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/dec/28/peter-capaldi-writes-to-reassure-young-fan-about-doctor-who-regeneration

    #62826
    ScaryB @replies

    @karenmarie – it’s usually pretty instant as far as I know, add it to “profile photo”.  Our Emperor in Chief (aka Head Geek), @craig will advise 🙂

    #62825
    ScaryB @replies

    @bluesqueakpip I thought the ring slipping off was a very powerful moment, so simple

    #62824
    ScaryB @replies

    Interesting comments about the First’s *sexist attitudes* (or rather his *sixties attitudes* 😉 ). Should Twelve have commented on it/noticed it? Hmmm… I know if I somehow met up with my younger self several decades later (never mind a couple of millennia later) I would be very likely a bit embarrassed (hopefully combined with a fond tolerance) by some of my attitudes/phrases. We are all products of our time, and we all change and learn and grow as we get older, the Doctor no less than anyone else.

    Rusty – In Into the Dalek, the Doctor explicitely pinned his hopes on finding a “good” dalek, one that could override its programming. It would seem Rusty has been able to maintain the change. He’s still exterminating things, but he’s on the side of the good guys (there’s potentially a whole existentialist thesis to be written on that one, but it’s probably as *good* as a dalek gets!). The point is he’s been permanently changed by his encounter with the Doctor.

    @ollie14 Some good points raised… Re the Captain – he wasn’t taken by the glass people (not dead yet), he was caught up in the “frozen moment time crisis” caused by the 2 Doctors (esp the First) refusing to regenerate. The Tardis being the Tardis delivered them to the Captain (the place where he’s “meant” to be). The moment remains frozen till the Captain is returned… doesn’t matter if that was 2 minutes or 2 hours after he was extracted.

    “do the enchanted glass people only turn up when someone thinks of them?” – I think that’s exactly it. The dead are preserved as their own memories but can come back when someone thinks about them. Not as themselves exactly, but from the POV of the person who remembers them – eg the group cuddle, from which Bill and Nardole dissolve back into glass.

    Bill is dead, but for the Doctor she’s alive when he remembers her (as a previous Doctor (#2) said of his family that “they sleep in my mind”).  How is she travelling with puddlegirl Heather? No idea! Still working on that one!

    #62769
    ScaryB @replies

    *waves back* at @thane16 and your mum. Hope you get the big screen working, it’s worth it. Look forward to hearing your thoughts. (Have another jelly baby (and some more glitter, heehee) to keep you going).

    And to @blenkinsopthebrave, my fellow original, veteran (ie ancient and crumbly… but we were there at the beginning!) Whovian! Hope all’s good with you in the western provinces 😉

    #62766
    ScaryB @replies

    @blenkinsopthebrave

    ” the significance of the Christmas truce of 1914.”

    If newer viewers don’t know about it, what better way to tell them about it – such an important, unique moment of real life hope, a small glimmer of light in the darknes of war – than through Doctor Who?

    #62765
    ScaryB @replies

    Ah,

    *sniff*

    I really enjoyed that. Made me laugh, and cry. And very much on a favourite Moffatt theme of keeping people alive through memories  – from Amy with Rory, and now gifting Twelve with his restored memories of Clara. At the end of the day, that’s all we’ve got. I agree with @juniperfish, I was hoping for a cameo from River, but we’ve seen from the photo on his desk, that Twelve still remembers her.  Clara and Bill are clearly still dead (small quibble – what happened to the restorative powers of The Puddle?), but live on so long as someone remembers them. We’re all just stories/memories in the end.

    The little 8 year old fangirl in me particularly liked that the First (finally) got a proper send-off, and I thought Bradley did great.

    @miapatrick – nice callout about Moffatt’s tenure beginning and ending with a fire in the TARDIS.

    @countscarlioni and Cromer – missed that completely.

    As others have said, this was very much a character piece, and beautifully made. I liked the return of Rusty – a source of doubt for Twelve – who turned out to have been fighting daleks since his encounter with the Doctor, a tangible sign of the change Twelve has made. Unlike @bluesqueakpip, I’ve been a big fan of Capaldi (and we all have our favourites, and not so favourites, so it goes), I take her point that Moffatt was working a bit on a PTSD theme for Twelve (which had already been done with Ten and Eleven), but I agree with @jimthefish about Twelve  having a more defined character arc, that actually worked through that, and beyond. I think Capaldi was magnificent (and at his most Doctorish, and inspirational) on the big speeches particularly, and I thought he knocked it out the park (again) here. I especially liked that this wasn’t a big explosions style episode, but concentrated on the (apparently) small differences the Doctor can make (esp Rusty and the Captain).

    Finally, I look forward to the new era, it feels like something very fresh coming through (although I do hope the TARDIS lets her back in (no TARDIS would push even my good will, haha). As I’ve said elsewhere, I can’t imagine a better role model for 21st century boys than one who is so in touch with his female side, that he’s happy to embrace changing gender. (And really, where’s the challenge in that? He was happy to embrace his Scottish side after all!)

    So farewell Moffatt and Capaldi, Thank you both for a helluva ride. The Doctor is dead… long live the Doctor! Personally, I can’t wait. Aaaaaargh.. not till September you say..????!

    And thanks as ever to everyone who contributes so positively in here… I managed 3 BTL comments in other places, and gave up in disgust!

    Apologies for this being a bit garbled – it’s late, there’s been several gins, and I’m feeling very emotional (all of that’s a good thing!). And it’s great to be back!

    #62758
    ScaryB @replies

    And special waves to @thane16 (and your mum) and @whisht (love the card, you talented so and so!). Missed you guys 🙂

    #62756
    ScaryB @replies

    @phaseshift – thanks so much for sharing – I hope it lived up to expectations. Time travelling with the Doctor is always special, I’ve found. (The Christmas episode just took me back to being an excited 7 year old, watching weekly, with my mum (and that is special indeed))

    @xad4 – thanks for sharing, I love the Doctor Puppet stuff… that was very special… “thanks for the stars…” *sniff…damn grit in the eye!!*

    @miapatrick – Ha! Hope you hung in there! Raising a GnT to you 🙂

    @Karenmarie Welcome. As A Doctor Who fan since the very first episode (which makes me very old, but hopefully, only in body, not in mind), some advice (if you’ll forgive the presumption) – don’t fear the change, just hang on, and enjoy the ride. Be open minded, be kind 🙂

    #62725
    ScaryB @replies

    A very happy Christmas to all my fellow Whovians.

    Personally I can’t wait to hang with the first again, I’m going to shed a tear or two of goodbye to the magnificent twelfth… and I really can’t wait to meet the thirteenth. (Will be timeshifting tho, so will catch up with you all in a couple of days (NO internet for me till then!!)).

    I can’t think of any better role model for anyone (young boys in particular) than a hero who is so completely unafraid of his feminine side that he’s happy to regenerate into a female for a while.

    (I’ve been AWOL for a while, I’m afraid, and it’s going to take a while to catch up with all the postings, but particular thanks to @bluesqueakpip and @cathannabel for the recent blogs and to @juniperfish and @jimthefish for keeping me alive in the alt universe by tagging me! And a mega thank you as ever to the mighty @craig for setting up and maintaining this great little space (that is definitely “bigger on the inside” )).

    *throws some Christmassy glitter, some jelly babies and some jaffa cakes on the sofa*

    #58895
    ScaryB @replies

    Final thoughts on this for now (and apologies if it’s already been said and I missed it).  I think the trilogy is a bold experiment that maybe doesn’t quite come off, but it has a lot of depth and resonance to it. And it shows how far you can push the envelope in terms of writing Dr Who. The whole thing is a metaphor – I said above it’s about fakery, but it’s also about truth. It’s about the Matrix-type themes of whether you allow yourself to accept the lies you are told, and live in that world, or if you shake off the blind faith (which is why the invaders look like (degraded) monks) and choose free will.  This is Bill’s journey – in Pyramids she chooses to disobey the Doctor so he’ll get his sight back, in the faith that he will get her world back for her. In Lie of the Land she fights to retain her sense of reality. She then chooses to shoot the Doctor (who fakes the start of a regeneration) when she believes he is part of creating the myths/lies. She then has to mentally fight to blow apart the fake world – it can’t be done by the Doctor, she has to do it herself – in order  to find the (presumably!) true reality where she is truly aware, and understands, free will.  Although the monks have gone by the end, most other people still do not have this awareness. They choose to go along with what they are told, and to not examine their thoughts/memories or the world around them in any depth.

    #58893
    ScaryB @replies

    @Thane15 You too (Are you old enough to be in the pub??!). Got some jelly babies if you’d like some.

    #58891
    ScaryB @replies

    @wolfweed‘s comment on costumes – interesting – back to the Tenth Planet again.

    @missrori Very true about Missy, but I’m with @winston – I still don’t trust her! (“Realising you’ve left the cage door open…” I like it!).  And I do like a dialed down a bit Missy (at least for now). There’s amazing chemistry between Gomez and Capaldi). The callback to the Troughton adventure Tomb of the Cybermen when the Ice Warriors start to wake up and burst out of their cells was great.

    Last thoughts for now – eyes seem to be a recurring theme in the series – the Doctor losing his sight, people being metaphorically  blind to the Monk’s fake world,  the awkward moment for Bill when she’s telling the Doctor about Terminator and big Arnie’s lost eye and then realises that the Ice Warrior has also lost an eye; one of the soldiers says “an eye for an eye”… not sure if this is building to anything, but keeping an, er, eye on it! (Anyone else spot any eye/vision references in any of the other episodes?)

    #58887
    ScaryB @replies

    @idiotsavant

    Your paragraph about PRs, spin and truth and lies sounds very Monk-ish method to me!  😉

    (And thank you – I didn’t make it tho (wish I had), just popped up on my twitter feed). Happy birthday btw

    #58883
    ScaryB @replies

    @nerys

    I agree with you that there’s a lot the resonates with this episode, especially on a second viewing. Everything about it is about being fake, nothing is what it seems. Even the Doctor (at the start). Even Bill’s memory of her mother isn’t what it seems. It’s her fantasy of her mum (albeit enabled by the photos the Doctor took). Much like Clara and her souffles when she was trapped in Asylum… (So is there another layer to the Monks that’s not been revealed yet? (I don’t expect it but I’m keeping my theoretical options open!))

    @blenkinsopthebrave  I have a feeling that we might be left with a tragic end for this Doctor. Not just a sad end, or a wistful end, but a tragic end.

    It wouldn’t surprise me. I’m also seeing a lot of callbacks to Hartnell’s run – starting with Bill’s name (and (his wife) Heather), the photo of Susan (in the Pilot), the talk of impending death, the impairment of losing his sight (cf the first Doctor’s comment (just before his (first) regeneration) in The Tenth Planet that he was “wearing a bit thin” (as @missrori mentions as well).  The Tenth Planet, of course, being the episode which introduced those pesky cybermen that Capaldi is apparently so keen to get back.

    #58880
    ScaryB @replies

    @wolfweed

    Funny to think that a being which looks like a big green Theresa May is now an asylum seeker

    and

    My bonkers theory is that the Doctor is pregnant with Missy’s baby…

    Now I’ve got wine spluttered all over my screen! 😯  🙂

    On the last one – there’s definitely that sort of a look in the photo. (Love the steampunky look of the Doctor’s special gear this season – the diver’s kit in Thin Ice and tonight’s spacesuit’s breathing pack in particular)

    #58878
    ScaryB @replies

    For info – anyone in Edinburgh this August might want to check out this show (14-26 Aug) – a 3 hander, written by Minister of Chance writer Dan Freeman, with performers including SYLVESTER McCOY!!

    https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/joke

    (Not a joke… well it is, as in A Joke is the title! 😛  )

    #58877
    ScaryB @replies

    I enjoyed that much more than I was expecting to, a fun one, and well realised I thought. I liked it. Lots of little digs at colonialism (eg Empress of Mars v Victoria’s title of Empress of India, Bill’s LOOK on hearing the ice warrior called Man Friday and realising he was in such a subserviant position (much like the dalek in V for Victory (also by Gatiss)) was brilliant).  I liked Catchlove’s (played by Ben Kingsley’s son) portrayal of the arrogant cad who’s ultimately a bigger coward than Godsacre (who was probably just more honest and ultimately turns out honourable).  And what’s not to love about the return of Alpha Centauri (from Pertwee era) – played by the original actor – Ysanne Churchmanm who’s now 92. I confess to a squeee at the hearing her voice!

    Re what was up with the TARDIS – I assumed the HADS kicked in (last time it did that, I think, was in Cold War (also an Ice Warrior story by Gatiss)). Nardole is nowhere near the controls. Unless it’s Missy with her hands on a remote control. (Out of story it was apparently because the story was written before Gatiss knew Nardole was going to be in it so he had to find a way of getting away from the others!).

    But what is it with Missy’s repeated concern for the Doctor’s health at the end? That was a very pointed “Are you all right?”. Does she know something we don’t? Was there more to that blindness incident than we know? And is she just going to go sweetly back in the box? Can’t wait to find out, but, but… there’s only 3 more Capaldi ones (and presumably the Xmas one) to go 🙁  🙁  🙁

    @miapatrick A dues ex River – I like it! (I wouldn’t rule it out)

    #58876
    ScaryB @replies

    @fatmaninabox

    “The scare room”

    LOL – sounds like my kinda place (and also sounds very familiar (come and do mine too if you like 😉 ))

    #58874
    ScaryB @replies

    @wolfweed You are the king of memes and interweb pics!! 🙂

    #58872
    ScaryB @replies

    Great posts (as always), Thanks @whisht, @toinfinityandbepond, @phaseshift, @craig, @wolfweed and all. @pedant – you have great taste! Thea Gilmore is fab.

    Bit hard to get away from politics in the UK this week, but I don’t really need an excuse for The The, haha. Love this –

    #58871
    ScaryB @replies

    I can completely forgive the Monks their flaws for enabling the internet to come up with this (thanks to Twitter) –

    “Thanks to our friends, the Monks, I can now form a strong and stable government!”

     

    #58547
    ScaryB @replies

    @Thane15 – Aw, that’s so lovely, thank you. And I completely second your thoughts to @fatmaninabox.

    @fatmaninabox – Heehee, still some glitter there, huh? No IDEA where that could’ve come from 😉

    @wolfweed – LOVE the Weclome mat, and a picture of a squishy MEEEE (and my Doctor)! Thank you.

    @pedant (you have no idea how much that made me laugh!), @Thane15 – you doubt my existence? Oh dear… I was hoping you could tell me!! I just came across this site by accident and it seemed to know me!

    Image result for Dr Who - silence gifs

    To all of you, thanks again for the warm welcome back. Made me feel all squishy. Will do my best to sustain the transfer window, till end of the series at least.

     

    #58546
    ScaryB @replies

    12’s coming up a lot this series.

    12 Monks

    Section 12 (Oxygen) (and at least 1 more that I’ve forgotten).

    The go to “random” number for this series, an in-house wee joke, or something else?

    #58545
    ScaryB @replies

    Some quick thoughts, as it’s late! Overall I liked lots of it a lot, but not as much as the previous 2,  particularly Extremis (which I really liked). My problem with it was much as @jimthefish (and others) have pointed out – that the Monks were just a bit vague in what they wanted, after their set up as near omniscient beings, with their (literal) story strands, simulated worlds, and nasty habit of disintegrating people into dust.  What did they want from our earth? They didn’t seem to be doing much with it apart from building statues and creating fake histories! (Hmmm… a metaphor for the production team, maybe?!). And there’s only twelve of them. Really?

    I would also have preferred if Bill had joined the Doctor at the end rather than replace him at the “dreamweaver” monk’s head at the end, it did seem to sideline the Doctor a bit. Although he did create the means (her “memories” of her mother through his nip back in time in The Pilot to take the photos) for her to break the link. As @nick says (of another choice) “It’s a creative choice. Just not one I’d choose to make” Hey ho, that way lies ARSE! (Sorry to hear about your narrow squeaks Nick. Glad they were misses tho and you’re getting through them. We do all  get through these things differently tho – sometimes people choose to forget/bury memories as a survival mechanism).

    OTOH I liked that the Doctor demonstrated he will not do what Bill (attempted) to do to him – he won’t kill her even for the sake of the greater good. (Trust Missy to come up with that idea (and no, I don’t trust her an inch)). He finds the other option. I also liked that Bill’s fantasy of her Mum (fueled by the Doctor’s photos) was strong enough to break the link and defeat the Monks (I’m with @cathannabel – definitely a bit of grit in the eyes here too). It was also strongly foreshadowed throughout this episode (and previous ones). From the Pilot on, Bill’s need to remember her mum is very strong; and (like Clara in Asylum of the Daleks) it’s these thoughts of her mum which sustain her enough to allow her to resist the brainwashing and not succumb to the Monks’ influence. The scenes at the beginning where she actually sees her mum – An example of  Chekhov’s Mum perhaps…??!! (Ooops, I should probably get my coat very soon!!!).

    @wolfweed – Wow! VERY interesting link (the actor’s previous appearance in DW). If that panned out as being in-show, I can hear a lot of discussion boards cracking and being “dusted” with outrage, quicker than if they were touched by a Monk’s creepy finger, LOL!

    @pedant – I spluttered coffee on my keyboard when the “we’ve got the band back together” line came up (and thanks for your original post, was great)

    #58402
    ScaryB @replies

    *Waves to @blenkinsopthebrave and @janetteb *

    Thanks for the welcome. Good to see you too. (And relieved to hear @fatmaninabox manged to drag his head out from the innards of the sofa before I sat down! (I’ve been more under the sofa than behind it for most of this series)).

    Done a little bit of dipping in to threads – the theories are as bonkers as ever, and I’m loving the Bowie links (I’d spotted a couple, but missed most of them). New pub looks good too 🙂

    I’m likely to get drawn back into the alt universe again – the escape corridor out of it is a bit unstable! But hopefully for only short periods of time.  JanetteB – we need  to “borrow” a TARDIS in order to keep up!

    Timeshifting tonight’s episode watch, but look forward to discussing it soon. Can’t wait to see how it pans out.

     

    PS Big hi to @thane15 (would’ve done it earlier but only just worked out your new tag, Puro (&Son). Thought you’d gone)

    #58398
    ScaryB @replies

    Thanks as ever to @wolfweed for all the brilliant spots and research. Ringtone, eh? I completely missed that. And how sad about Moffat’s mum. As @blenkinsopthebrave mentioned, it’s later that it hits.

    I liked this episode, while recognising its weaknesses, especially the frankly rather pathetic attempts at taking on the pyramid with a plane and a bit of dud missile. Is that it?? (I presume the budget didn’t stretch to any more). What I really liked was the real sense of jeopardy – for once the Doctor is wrong footed. He doesn’t know the Monks or what they’re capable of (unlike @jimthefish I do find them very creepy, especially their neediness about being loved. Wondering if that will be built on this week. or if it’s just a throwaway). He doesn’t know what they’re about any more than we do, and the very simple device at the end of him not being able to see the numbers (with an impending regeneration at some point this series (and don’t you DARE pull an early one, Moffat!)) – albeit a bit of a pathetic lock – worked for me. I found myself shouting “Noooo” at the screen along with the Doctor when Bill is about to trade the earth for his sight. Because she has complete faith in him to be able to “get her planet back”.

    (On a side note I also love that Bill’s name is a wee tribute to Bill Hartnell (my very first Doctor)).

    #58397
    ScaryB @replies

    Wow!

    This place is looking very spruce 🙂

    I’ve missed you all – been stuck in a big alternative universe of RL for far too long! Mega thanks to @craig, @jimthefish, @wolfweed and @pedant in particular for dragging me back!

    Absolutely loving this series, Capaldi’s knocking it out the park (hope you’re more convinced now, @bluesqueakpip (but look forward to discussing if you’re not)). Going to take me forever to catch up on all the posts, but delighted the sofa’s still here and just as comfy. Any jaffa cakes? Jelly babies??

    #49885
    ScaryB @replies

    Happy timey wimey New Year everyone (in the past now for Australian fans, very close for us in UK, and future for Canadians and US peeps)

    And happy birthday to The Doctor Who Forum – we are 3!! We started on 31-12-12 with about 30 members – now look at the state of us! Thanks as ever to the mighty @craig for setting it up and to everyone for making it such a special wee space on the interwebs. Cheers folks! See you next year 🙂

    (And a quick wave back to @jimthefish and @pedant (hopefully will get more chance to discuss and banter with you in 2016))

    #49851
    ScaryB @replies

    Hurray!

    Only came across these episodes by accident- and now there’s a board to comment on as well 🙂

    Agree with @bluesqueakpip (love the Christmas party avatar btw 🙂 ) – it’s fun. And interesting in light of some of the criticisms levelled at AG Who – the Doctor needing companions (and one with a story), the Doctor arriving on a random planet and realising it’s all about him! (It was 1977 btw).  And as you say – he can’t remember being here before… maybe he hasn’t yet!

    I like the costume design – the sense of cannibalised space “uniforms” hinting at either a former life, or adapting of “found” items. I chuckled at how quickly the Doctor managed to adapt the available tech to synthesise an antidote to the (previously incurable) Janus thorn poison. And people complain about the sonic! Set-wise it’s the old “let’s flood the forest with dry ice so people won’t notice it’s the studio floor” trick.  And invisible giant monsters… that’s handy 🙂

    The pacing’s OK, tho a bit of padding dodging through the trees. Good to see Tom again – effortless performance as the Doctor by this time, well into the groove!

     

     

    #49850
    ScaryB @replies

    Some lovely posts, still working through all of them!

    Agree with @winston that River doesn’t really notice that the Doctor has a different face – she sees under that. Likewise the Doctor doesn’t particularly notice superficial changes in his companions – he vaguely notices River’s done something with her hair, and comments about Clara’s appearance in S8. He comments because he feels he’s supposed to but it’s not something that’s important to him. I agree with @arbutus – River is so confident she knows all his faces, that she hasn’t contemplated the possibility of extra regenerations (and why would she).

    And as @pedant says – River’s not dead yet – and she only suspects she’s coming to the end, she doesn’t know. For the first time it’s the Doctor who gets to say “spoilers”.  For the first time (as far as we know) he’s not on the back foot where their relationship is concerned.   And they’ve got 24 years to spend the night together!! (Plenty of scope for future Big Finish possibilities).

    Btw has anyone picked up on where the diamond came from? I haven’t managed to have a proper relisten and make out the words – just wondering if it was the bank of Karabraxos…

    Meanwhile – someone’s put together this beautiful little sequence of clips – hardly a wibbly bit in it 🙂

    😥

    #49712
    ScaryB @replies

    Happy Christmas everyone

    Waves, especially @blenkinsopthebrave, @janetteb (Technical glitches, rips in the space time continuum, being kidnapped by space gremlins… you know how it goes! Usual everyday timey wimey stuff!)

    @xad4 Thanks so much for the Dr Puppet Silent Night – rather great

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