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

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]

@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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

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]

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

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

I would put money on Graham’s time in the Tardis being his time in remission and him sacrificing himself in some way…

Yes- much more what I’m thinking. Although… now that I think back, Graham was out of his medipod first- conceivably that leaves room for him to have gotten a nasty diagnosis from the machine that he’s keeping to h…[Read more]

I liked this episode a whole lot more than the first one in the series. I felt that the tone swung back much more to where I expect the show to sit. Some hints towar…[Read more]

First the main positive. Jodie Whittaker o…[Read more]

Locke is obviously well before any understanding (nascent though it still is) of the brain and was, I imagine, a cartesian dualist, so in his view, memory presumably resided with the soul, so a reconstituted body containing that soul would contain the same self.

I’d argue that in the modern understanding, and disregarding…[Read more]

It was not so long ago that the Twelfth Doctor was fumbling with Clara’s index cards containing her notes on human social cues he’s supposed to heed. Has he really finally picked up on those clues?

I’d agree there’s something of a disconnect there. I think that’s more about the cuecards than his sensitivity at present though. I was cri…[Read more]

I am actually a bit amazed that people are really commenting on this -or in any way commenting negatively about this? There wasn’t this level of criticism of Peter Capaldi’s clothing -but I could be wrong?

I wouldn’t comment on Jodie Whittaker’s personal choice in clothing, or Peter Capaldi…[Read more]

Braces/suspenders on women have never seemed very practical to me. Women have hips to hold up pants; those who typically prefer braces are obese men for whom belts aren’t very effective. And the straps on the braces would seem to me…[Read more]

We should keep…[Read more]

…maybe the transition (in universe/story and in reality) will be easier to accept if he CHOOSES to regenerate into a woman (perhaps in an attempt to honor missy’s and bill’s sacrifices)?

It’s a little difficult to see the Doctor getting to a position of making that sort of choice (and has had precious little control over previou…[Read more]

DALEK: You are a Time Lord?
MISSY: Time Lady, thank you. Some of us can afford the upgrade.

However, I actually think it may be a good time to ditch the Time Lord/Lady terminology altogether, as it’s not just the gender of the term that’s the issue. The modern connotations of “Lord”…[Read more]

To be honest, I’m ready for the Master to be gone for a long time. I’ve said this repeatedly but I want to see new twists and villains or even old ones we have yet to entertain in the new series.

Agreed- I think that as things stand, the Master/Missy, cybermen and Time Lords can all disappear for a season or more. The daleks are dou…[Read more]

Does the Doctor now have existential angst not knowing how many regenerations he has left, I wonder? Or has he now got all the regeneration energy of all Time Lords no longer around, and is effectively immortal…

If anything the angst appears to stem from not knowing how much more change he can go through, rather than a more c…[Read more]

I really think it’s quite a small group who’ve had the inevitable kne…[Read more]

So I think this is why Missy clasps the Doctor’s hand as they part ways near the end. Without words, just this gesture, she is reassuring him that she is on his side.

When they clasp hands, earlier in this episode and previously, it clearly affects Missy emotionally. She actually rejects an attempt by the Doctor to clasp both her hands w…[Read more]

In fact if you act on the basis of any expectation for reward or recognition (in this life anyway) you can’t claim any moral basis for your action, whatever it is.

I really don’t see that the phrase “(in this life anyway)” is particularly relevant ethically- the expectation of personal gain is still present, even if that comes later on. And…[Read more]

But there was a long beat, holding on that hand-clasp, so *something* was sure going on.

There have been several points, including earlier in this episode where holding hands affected Missy, so I don’t think that something beyond it likely being the last time they’d do it was necessarily implied.

Somehow I find it difficult to imagine…[Read more]

And I think the War Doctor can fully be regarded as the Doctor- by retrofitting him into the timeline it was just tricky to number him- I think he deserves more…[Read more]

We did get the answer to the question “Missy, would it kill you to be kind for once?”. That answer appears to be yes :). It wasn’t only Bill who was unwilling to live if she couldn’t be herself. It seems the Master felt the same and didn’t want to become what M…[Read more]