I didn’t mind this one as a stand-alone episode, after the flurry of series arc revelations in the previous episode. @jomomentor In terms of pacing, I’d agree that it might have been better to have some of that in this episode though, rather than in the rather overstuffed previous one.

Probably the main positive for me, after a period where the…[Read more]

Running behind and have only just caught up. For some reason, it seems the BBC didn’t personally notify me that there was a new season starting…

I won’t go back to comment on the older episodes at the point, except to say that the hint of a story arc from the opening two-parter was very welcome. And like most it seems, I found Orphan 55 a wea…[Read more]

Apologies if this is a double post, but my attempted edit seems to have deleted the post…

@kevinwho @pedant

I’ve got to admit, wiping UNIT away, some of the most-longstanding “cruft” in Doctor Who, was something that caused me a certain amount of disappointment. It can obviously be reinstated as necessary though, so that’s not a decisio…[Read more]

Late watching this one, so not sure how much I have to say that hasn’t been said.

I thought there were some interesting ideas in this one, that carried it into being a pretty decent episode, if not a huge finale. I haven’t always been that impressed by some of the previous over-the-top finales, so that’s not necessarily that big a criti…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip

Producing a good talking frog was the responsibility of the special effects people, not the writer or the producer.

If I’d been directing, I suspect I would have been shooting an additional scene with Grace as the Solitract’s embodiment, in case the frog didn’t work out. I think the idea of the frog is OK, but it didn’t quite w…[Read more]

A bit of a different style to this episode and one that appealed to me. Some heart to it, but without getting melodramatic, and while retaining some pacing to the plot. Some real Doctor-y solutions to problems also.

Because I was generally engaged, I let slide some of the more unnecessary off-the-wall stuff. The Doctor is talking nonsense about a…[Read more]

@pedant

It is much more common than not that the Tardis crew go out in their regular clothes… And literally nobody gave a fuck.

One fuck was given here. Particularly for some of the more egregious examples like Roses’s miniskirts. It’s not a sudden issue for me, just a repeated niggle that came up again here, as it was particularly obvious.

@bluesqueakpip

Yes- It’s clearly a deliberate choice to keep the Doctor in particular in much the same costume throughout the season, not the choice of the individual writers. I can only hazard the reasons- perhaps to try to firmly establish an “iconic” look? Maybe they’re concerned that JW doesn’t come across as Doctor-y in period dress. At…[Read more]

For some reason, this episode pushed a number of wrong buttons for me, so I struggled with this one.

I was annoyed that the crew were intending to attend the coronation of Elizabeth I, and turned up in whatever they were wearing. They’re scarcely dressed for the period. Showing up a century late. in odd clothing at a witch trial would also be…[Read more]

I rather enjoyed this episode. In many ways, a classic type of episode that could easily have been made with many of the previous Doctors. I thought this script was tighter than some previous ones this series, with each of the companions doing something meaningful.

I assume that a current-day worker in an Amazon fulfilment centre would feel a lot…[Read more]

@ismellofhockey

One thing this series gets right and better than the previous ones, is the visuals. This has been a stunning series.

I’d agree that the production values have been generally of a high standard- costumes, props, locations, environments, computer inferfaces and CGI (leaving aside some choices for the Pting) have all been…[Read more]

@jimthefish

Mostly though I’m reminded of Eccleston with Whittaker

It’s also Eccleston that I’m reminded of most. Not always in a good way. Eccleston’s forced cheeriness sometimes comes across to me in Whittaker’s portrayal. I wasn’t that fond of that, but I came to accept it with Eccelston, as (over)compensation for his inner pain/insecu…[Read more]

@mudlark

why not a shalwar kameez for Yaz, especially when she knew she was going back in time to see her grandmother?

It’s something that I feel that would make sense more often- for all of Team Tardis to get dressed suitably for the period and location where that makes sense to do so. With a planned visit like this, to a known time and place, t…[Read more]

Another small-scale, personal story (I recognise that the actual partition of India was very large scale, but the story that was told was a personal one). No great stakes for the Doctor here- in fact things play out the same when the Doctor and crew are there or not. They are as much observers as the Vajarans. I think telling the historical…[Read more]

Another decent episode, but not one that had enough to it that I’d be in any hurry to rewatch.

Visually, I thought the environments and costumes in this episode were a real highlight. A white-dominantly environment, but not some generic white environment in BG Who style, but one that showed some real design had gone into it and highlighted the p…[Read more]

@ichabod

I didn’t mind the coda either- I think it was useful to make it clear that Rosa’s actions didn’t make things at all easy for her and there was still a lot more to be done. I did think that JW played the Doctor as a little too enthusiastic during that part though. The Doctor is not the sort to be impressed by Presidents and so on, so sh…[Read more]

This one was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Overall I found it fairly enjoyable though.

I thought the spiders were well realised and generally looked quite real. Not really much scare factor to them though. Arachnophobes may disagree 🙂

The interactions between the companions were generally well done and we learned a good deal more about Yaz in…[Read more]

@pedant @mudlark

The time displacement device appears to have been capable of sending people forward to the 85th century, from memory. If its ability to send people backwards is similar, then Krasko could have ended up around 6000 BCE. At that time, the American continent was populated solely by native Americans. Krasko would have found himself…[Read more]

This episode clearly wasn’t action packed. That didn’t stop it being good viewing by any means. In particular, I felt the characterisation for all three companions took leaps forward. I particularly appreciated Graham’s reaction upon being forced to play a central role and stand on the wrong side of history without being able to act. Apart from…[Read more]

@mudlark

Another thing which I noted was that the police box is now, for the first time I think, represented as a kind of vestibule to the whole rather than as containing it, as if it were merely a portal to another dimension. Maybe that shift in concept shouldn’t bother me, but it does a little.

Noticed that also. I’ve always rather enjoyed the i…[Read more]