@wolfweed Thanks for that info. IMO this script clearly needed work and we now understand better why it couldn’t get it. It’s a pity that schedules couldn’t have been moved to allow Moffat to take time away from the pressures of work. I guess this came at a really bad time (not that there is ever a good time for this to happen of course), coming…[Read more]

@steffstaff @missrori– Despite his description of what he was creating as an explosion (and that wouldn’t have been of much use anyway- that may simply have released the pathogen), it was really closer to an ethanol fire- the depiction I think was actually fairly accurate- more of a “whoosh” than an explosive blast- and it would go out basically…[Read more]

The phrase “Clueless of regeneration” from @thane15 has reminded me of a point I was going to raise. I’m not sure whether @thane15 intended this, and this was alluded to earlier by a couple of people in passing, but I’ll make it explicitly…

The Doctor was actually keeping two secrets from Bill- his blindness was only one. He also deliberately…[Read more]

@missrori

I think you’re also onto something about budget issues — some of the special effects were quite poor (especially the withering plants).

I was also thinking that budget might have meant a more realistic airlock system wasn’t implementable. Even some sort of token effort like a decontamination spray would have been better than doing not…[Read more]

Thanks to those encouraging me to continue commenting- to be clear I don’t feel ostracised in the slightest due to making negative comments on an episode- my reluctance to make further negative comments was my own, though a preference not to add too much negativity to the thread, since there are doubtless positive things to be said. I don’t wan…[Read more]

@whisht

But when re-watching an episode I simply ignore those bits I had an issue with or see them differently and overall like the episode!

I’d usually be the same- I think this one might be a bit too dense with issues for me to rewatch.

@thane15

And yet they were successful.

Successful at earning “love”- no. Successful at gaining anything…[Read more]

Another challenging episode for me to comment on. In the end, I enjoyed some elements of the episode, but there were a awful lot of misses in there too and I’m afraid I can’t rate the plot much above a shambles.

@jimthefish made some good points and @blenkinsopthebrave hit some of my issues here:

OK, bear with me, because you know how much I l…

[Read more]

I realise now that I said “I don’t think the BBC would allow a suicide in a program with a younger audience base in any case” in comment on an episode where there were multiple suicides (and a feigned execution). So I’d better try to justify that a little better.

Those suicides were of course off-screen and justified somewhat as not being real p…[Read more]

@jimthefish

I like the idea but I wonder if a suicide-regeneration might be too dark even for Moffat.

I don’t think the BBC would allow a “suicide” in a program with a younger audience base in any case (nor do I think that would be an appropriate way to handle it). The Doctor could voluntarily regenerate without self-harm though.

@phaseshift

The custodians of the Execution world reminded me heavily of the Jaffa from Stargate, with their ornamental robes and elaborate staffs and neckpieces.

Oh yes- I can see that now that you mention it. I think I was a little distracted by recognizing the actor from Humans, so that slipped by me at the time.

@thane15

Goodness, I have been blagging on.

Apologies for that! I just really enjoyed the meaty episode – totally understand how others might not.

No apology needed. TBH I’ve probably enjoyed the discussion, your self-described “blagging” included, more than the episode itself. As always, I’m glad to see that there are still places where t…[Read more]

@arbutus

The CERN scientist, when asked what they were doing, said, “Saving the world”. That suggests that it wasn’t escape, but foiling the plans of the simulators, that was the goal. Presumably also true for the clerics, as that goal might be viewed of being worth going to hell for, and a president who thought he was helping his people.

I don’t…[Read more]

@steffstaff

I suppose he just HAD to know! He’s a stubborn old fish is our Doctor!

I’m fine with him wanting to know what’s in the message. It’s just a perverse way he goes about trying to read it. At the end of the episode he “emails” a message to himself that is shown to him via his glasses. Earlier he’s actually trying to read an email– s…[Read more]

@thane15

I don’t really have too much of a problem with CERN being used in terms of the story- it’s showing two ends of a worldview spectrum, in CERN and Vatican, being shaken by the same thing. But the combination of the two really took me out of the story as I battled with the parallels to Angels & Demons (where the two were used for sim…[Read more]

Firstly to clarify something- some commenters are describing the episode as playing out in a VR world- VR implies real people in a simulated world. From the point of view of the Doctor, Nardole and humans, it was purely a simulation, i.e. simulated people in a simulated world. For the aliens it would be VR, as they would be real-world entities…[Read more]

Overall I quite liked this episode, despite having some reservations about some elements.

The sequences with Missy were the highlights of the episode. The initial setup that had it potentially the Doctor being terminated initially was nicely done and momentarily confusing. However, in the end it was so hard to see the Doctor actually going…[Read more]

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