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I saw this article after Mark Gatiss tweeted about it after the episode “Listen” – Doctor Who Recap: A Lesson In How To Upset The Fanbase

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Just good story writing @pedant???

Have you met us?

😉

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@bluesqueakpip, @scaryb @pedant –

why did the Doctor have him enter the restaurant sealed inside a spacesuit?

Don’t forget, the Doctor hasn’t met Danny yet.

Neither Orson or the Doctor knew that Clara was in the restaurant with Danny, so the intention wasn’t to stop Orson and Danny meeting, more likely to look unearthly enough to make Clara follow the spaceman and break off her date, again

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New Theory Alert!

Danny is the a future regeneration of the Doctor!

Young Rupert was found abandoned and taken in to care, the only thing he had in his possession was a little toy soldier.

That could explain the similarities between him and Orson, it’s really the same man. He got stranded at the end of the universe because he wanted to be the last person to see it (as Doctor 12 himself admits).

That also may explain Clara’s instant attraction to him.

The more I think about it, the more similar Danny and the Doctor are, both ex-soldiers, both tried to help others while at war, both drawn to Coal Hill school, angry eyebrows!? I’m in danger of convincing even myself 😀

On a side note, we now know that the Doctor can use old faces for new regenerations, so theoretically he may see Danny but then later regenerate into Orson.

Or perhaps Danny is the Valeyard? (Just thought I might as well throw that into the mix too!)

One other thing that sticks out, is that there was no obvious link to Missy or the Promised Land in this episode. Funny how Moffatt sticks his arc into everyone else’s stories but not his own! Or maybe we just weren’t looking hard enough …

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@hunterl

The toy soldier moved through time like this

1) Created in the 20th Century and ended up in Rupert Pink’s orphanage

2) Kept in the Pink family as a good luck charm

3) Orson Pink gives it to Clara

4) Clara gives it to the young Doctor in the Barn

What happens to it after step 4 is unknown. The Doctor could have it in his TARDIS but would have probably remembered it in that case. More likely, it got lost amongst the straw in the barn.

Wouldn’t it be fun if we looked back at the Day of the Doctor and saw the little soldier figure in the background 🙂

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Welcome along @thebrainofmoffat, your “Evidence 3” reminded me of something. Didn’t Doctor 11 go and look all over Clara’s timeline (or at least her past) to try and figure out why she was so impossible?
Surely Doctor 12 should’ve known that the orphanage was somewhere she had never been? I guess that can be swept under the rug marked memory loss.

@phileasf What a return! That is some great bonkerising there :D. Orson actually being a future Danny (he’s already changed his name once) is really clever and a possibility I can see panning out.

Danny’s “Family Stuff” could just be an excuse to hide something from Clara (more lies)

Orson was probably wearing his helmet in the restaurant because he didn’t trust where the Doctor was sending him, he didn’t know the atmosphere would be breathable.

I also noticed (like @phileasf) that Clara and Danny’s ‘romance’ scenes are often non-linear on screen, comprised of lots of mini flashbacks. It makes me imagine someone going back in time to fix past mistakes but maybe that is the point? Clara doesn’t have access to her own time-machine 24/7, she is human and makes mistakes. This is maybe why she is so brave in coming back to Danny and pursuing/apologising to him. She doesn’t rely on the Doctor, she makes her own future by not letting herself regret anything.

This is similar to how, at first, she walked away from the young Doctor in the barn but then turned back to him, thinking she was right to comfort him even though the Doctor would have told her not to interfere.

@wolfweed Floofing ‘eck!

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One part I don’t really understand is why Clara is lying so much. To Danny, Orson and the Doctor. Is she just scared of the timey wimey repercussions our does she not really trust the Doctor anymore?

If the Doctor finds out, he may just kick her out of the TARDIS for good

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@bluesqueakpip I had to smile when you mentioned that the name Rupert means “bright”. When I realised Danny wasn’t his real name that was the first thing I looked up to see if Rupert was significant! I didn’t realise the connection to the meaning of Clara. Very interesting.

@skywalkerwho We know the Doctor is connected to the barn but I don’t think we have ever been told the barn was on Gallifrey.

Orson knew his great grandparent told stories of time travel but we know from what the doctor said earlier that Orson was one of the first earthlings to do so.

I think this could mean he is related to the Doctor/Susan more than Clara.

Also, I had to laugh when we saw the Doctor drinking the coffee at the orphanage. He must’ve really freaked out the caretaker!

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@barnable Nice extra connections to Pompeii there, especially the all seeing eyes

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@timeloop I know she’s been to the barn before but I think they made the whole psychic link ambiguous on purpose.

If Clara does have children with Danny then his childhood becomes party of her history, or if she is related to the Doctor then Danny could be her descendant! Ooh-er missus!

There was definitely a non-human under the blanket as it was shown on screen, so although we know the Doctors original bed bug was just Clara, there still could be something lurking in the shadows (or spoon reflections!). @timecahoot, I think the other people getting their legs grabbed was just a visualisation of their dreams.

Also more talk of eyes today, particularly Clara’s but Danny also said he can tell when people are lying (psychicly?)

I love how the Doctor constantly insults Clara like a sibling might but then she gave him a very motherly telling of near the end.

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I was born in 1982 & have vivid memories of Doctor Who. Surely I wasn’t only 5 when it was cancelled? Did they repeat it later? It always annoyed me when people my age said they never saw it (e.g. Billie Piper & Matt Smith!) because it wasn’t on in their youth.

Sly was definitely my Doctor, although I didn’t have anyone to compare him to really!

I’d be very keen to see what the collective mind think is his best story

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Wow, loved that episode, 5 stars.

So, if it was all Clara’s timeline then she is related to the Doctor!

Also, reminded me a lot of the episode Hide, which also had a time traveller with a family link and monsters that hid in the dark.

I did have to smile at the return of the space barn 😀

Off to re-solidify my brain now

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Thanks @midnyt ffor the screenshots, you have better pausing skills than me!

@barnable, some nice extra links to chalk up on my blackboard 🙂

@wolfweed 😀

 

BTW, if you’re spoiler sensitive, try and avoid any of the official pre-release shots for the next episode. I saw one with somebody’s name on that I wish hadn’t been revealed to me (although it has set my mind whirring!)

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@zeitgeis it’s that futuristic space metal that ships are made of 😀

I had a look at the ships display screen and it didn’t reveal any amazing secrets. There was a lot of interesting useless data, someone obviously spent a lot of time on it. A few references to damage and gold (Au).
When it says Promised Land it had a burning orb behind it. Is that the planet or just their wallpaper!

Someone upstream also made a good point, why are the robots going there and where did they come from? Are they missionaries? Who created them?

So many questions!

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I’ve been going bonkers trying to link this Doctor with the man with the same face in the Fires of Pompeii episode.

I’m not having much luck but not ready to give up yet!

Tenuous link #1 – That man’s name was Lobus Caecilius. Whether intentional or not at the time, the name Caecilius is derived from the birth son of the God Vulcan, who was created by a spark. A bit like how the Doctor got a new set of generations from a very sparky bit of time lord “magic”.

Tenuous link #2 – We have seen this Doctor loves Chalk, which is comprised of the same base elements as marble. The character in FoP was in the marble business so maybe he can smell it out!

Tenuous link #3 – I’m currently commuting to a training centre opposite the Tower of London. Outside the entrance of Tower Hill tube station is a statue of Roman emperor Trajan. It turns out he was one of the rulers commonly known as the “Five Good Emperors” – Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.

Now, doesn’t that last name stick out from a few episodes! Trajan ruled in the same era that Caecilius would have been living in years after the destruction of Pompeii.

So, what if this Doctor is riffing on the 5 good emperors & there are another 4 good time lords/emperors around somewhere?

This is what happens when you let a monkey type into Wikipedia while watching Doctor Who 😉

P.s. On another note, & more on topic, did anyone pay attention to the screens displaying the Promised Land in this episode? I’d love it if someone could grab a couple of screenshots to see if there is anything of value in them

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Posting from a train so this may come out a bit garbled.

You get the idea straight away that this is going to be one of “those” episodes. I usually can’t stand them but this seemed just on the right side of panto and knowingness to just enjoy the ride.

That last bit with the arrow boosting the ship into orbit was really terrible, I’m sure they could have thought of a better solution that could have still involved using the arrow without all of the cheesiness.

My 10 year old was smiling his head off through most of it so that somewhat made up for the loss of drama. Did it remind anyone else of the, usually naff, comic strips in the doctor who adventures magazine?

I thought this episode may try to sneak some wider themes or clues part us and I want disappointed in that respect.

It seems the link between all 3 episodes so far is sabotage. The crack in the Dalek, and the castle-ship both had radiation leaks. Do we know what caused the ship from Deep Breath to crash? I’m thinking these have been purposefully damaged by an external influence to draw in the Doctor (though I’m not sure why!?)

I think Clara’s “telepathy” is more likely normal human empathy rather than anything supernatural.

The bit with the Doctor licking the spoon at the beginning seemed to jump out of nowhere, did I miss a bit where he was supposed to be mid-supper. I wondered if Clara is still trying to cook souflés and the doctor is growing quite fond of them! @wolfweed The person in the reflection is very creepy but I’m going to chicken out and claim it was a crew member on set.

Would someone mind detailing the cut scene? Was it shown in one of the leaked episodes? Did it change the story in any way? I wonder if it will be on the DVD?

Gold always makes me think of Cybermen, and this episode also seemed to link to humans being transformed into robots. Did it remind anyone else of nightmare in silver? The gold plated Sherriff would be an ideal display piece in that episode. I wouldn’t mind seeing him come back again. In fact, someone upstream mentioned the Bat symbol on the chalk board & the Sherrif’s death was very reminiscent of the Joker falling into a vat of acid from the original Batman film and he got out ok 😉

I didn’t spot any links to Rome in this episode, unless you count all of the religious symbolism as roman catholic? It was very symbolic, wasn’t it. Those holy cross death rays were quite something! King Richard was off fighting his holy war, so is the Doctor also on a religious crusade?

By the end of the episode, are we meant to think Robin Hood was real or was he and his merry men a creation of the alien robots landing. I must admit, I found that whole part of the story rather confusing?

The Doctor seemed quite angry that Clara had told Robin his backstory. Is that just because he never trusted Robin or is he trying to hide/deny his past?

Ok, now about to press submit just before I head into a tunnel… Wish me luck and see you on the other side!

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Check out this wallpaper

You can even download a set of 12 where only one Doctor is illuminated in each one, meaning you could cycle through them on your desktop for a Clock effect 🙂 http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2014/09/04/geektastic-doctor-who-wallpaper-cycles-through-12-different-doctors/

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Looks like the Doctor messing around with dinosaurs is having some unintended consequences!

flickr.com/photos/aledlewis/14888056299/

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Welcome @drdai, great 1st post, I love how people here are so engaged that they read through every post, not just dive in 🙂

What you said sparked a thought in my head (what I think we are now calling a Moffart 😉 )

This could explain why he is frustrated (he may not remember a lot from his past regens, hence his first words as capdoc do you know how to fly this?).

These could very well be the first words the 1st Doctor said to Susan as when he originally stole the TARDIS!
Wouldn’t it be cool if we got another flashback/minisode that showed the first jouney Doc 1 ever took, they surely have the technology to do so but I guess it might be a bit expensive. They could even recreate it with Doc 12 in his place in a timey-wimey way. Maybe I just like the idea of a modern episode filmed in black and white!

Also, great observation about the connection with journey blue and the TARDIS. Maybe that’s why her family connections were so important in the episode. By that I mean, maybe one of her ancestors was saved by the TARDIS before and she was named after it (a bit like how the name Melody Pond became River Song)

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@bluesqueakpip @brewski re: everyone getting de-glooped after ending up in the Dalek’s “Organic refuse disposal” I didn’t even notice them all get cleaned up, I was too busy looking for links to Rome! On my re-watch you actually hear the Doctor say

DOCTOR: Watch it, decontamination tubes are hot.

I guess it makes sense that anything leading to a disposal area would have some sort of decontamination part in it.

Re: Miniaturisation – Am I mis-remembering or wasn’t the Master’s Laser Screwdriver capable of miniaturisation? That’s what I thought of when I first saw this ep.

@serahni If you are trying to get quotes you can always go to a number of websites were they have the entire script! Here’s one http://www.chakoteya.net/doctorwho/ although it may be considered cheating by the purest theorists 😉

Re: Missy – I wonder if we will get any episodes dedicated to her in this series or if it will just be quick clips all the time. Has anybody said that she could be the Doctor himself? I suppose that kind of links in with the theory it is going on inside his head?

I just saw all of the episode titles for this series again. I won’t say what they are as I know some will consider as spoilers (they are extremely mild ones perhaps) but I’ll just say episode 12 certainly makes a lot more sense than when I first saw it. Also, Episode 6 has a very teasing title.

Finally, @miapatrick, I don’t think you meant this on purpose but one of your typos made me spit out a bit of coffee

Moffart

Is that what happens when we squeeze out a new bonkers theory :D?

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@Phasehift LOL, you don’t work for BBC Three do you? I can just see “Top 10 TV Slaps” on their schedule, although it would need some talking head reactions from d-list celebrities who know nothing about the show 🙂

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@wolfweed I got that exact same feeling as @pedant, that the Doctor will forget to honour his promise, which will in turn earn him the ire of Gretchin.

Also, @wolfweed, you made me remember, Journey’s uncle seemed to be her commanding officer, and her brother was also with her in combat. I wonder why they included that family link. The uncle bit was rather unnecessary and didn’t seem to affect anything on screen (that we’ve seen so far).

@bluesqueakpip & @pedant, slapgate –  I suppose it was more from the look on my kids faces that made me find it so shocking. Perhaps if it was River or Amy doing the slapping it would have seemed like more of a natural reaction but I don’t particularly feel Clara and 12 have that kind of relationship yet. I understand how it was a realistic action to take but maybe not the one that should have been taken :/

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As ever, so much to comment on!

I really enjoyed the episode, I love these ones that are a bit quieter, despite all the explosions and outer space bits, it is more about what is being said than done. Here’s my breakdown and comments

Danny Pink – I thought people’s comments on a link between Journey Blue and Danny Pink to be a bit of a long shot but then I heard how people are saying that her dying brother at the pre-credits scene was a dead ringer for him. I had a quick look back and it is too vague to confirm it but also to similar to deny! I also saw another person (I think on the Guardian) mention how he was referred to as a ladykiller, was this meant to be taken literally!

I am a bit confused to why Clara is only just meeting him, It was obviously not his first day (running the cadets club/getting asked repetitive questions in class). Did Clara say to the Doctor she had been back for 4 weeks or months? If so, I presume he only started after the Christmas holidays. Can anyone clear the timeline up for me a bit please.

As for his past, is it possible he was/is a Pinkerton? A detective agency and “security” service sometimes sent to round up outlaws?

Did anyone else spot the notice board Clara walks past (at around 0:9:40) outside her classroom? More links to Rome, with photos of temples etc.

Daleks – Great to see them being scary again. I love seeing them talk to each other on their battleship, I always think it’s really eerie when we see them planning something and communicating intelligent thoughts. The soldiers guns weren’t really up to much for fighting Daleks, I think they need to upgrade their weapons!

Is the good Dalek, Rusty, still around? He now has the knowledge that Gallifrey is still around! Surely he could communicate that across the Dalek pathweb and start of Time War II. What if he gets captured and is interrogated before being destroyed as inferior?

I was slightly disappointed when we found out that voice from the trailer isn’t Davros after all :(. Also, I thought when the repressed memories were being shown on the Dalek’s screen we weren’t shown anything a bit more historical/familiar from past episodes.

via twitter.com/bbcone

The crack – I din’t think it was the same shape as Amy’s cracks but I had a quick look back and, apart from being vertical, it was almost identical. I doubt it’s connected as I though that plot was done and dusted, but in that case why make it so similar!?

The slap – It seems most people find it amusing when Clara slapped the Doctor accross his face but all of my family, my wife in particular, thought it was actually quite abusive and not jokey at all. Can you imagine the uproar if the Doctor had slapped Clara that hard? Nothing excuses domestic violence like that IMHO

Soldiers – I do think the Doctor was overly harsh denying Journey Blue a ride in the TARDIS but maybe this was to drive a story theme rather than a typical example of who the Doctor lets on board? I know he doesn’t like soldiers on the whole but it all seemed a bit damning to me, leaving her with no chance of redemption. Hopefully we’ll see Journey again sometime. Perhaps she’ll find Jenny and team up with her 😉

Heaven – (@confusedpolarity, @theatreguy et al) I loved how we got another quick glimpse of heaven. It really took me by surprise as I was expecting something (or nothing) only at the very end of the episode. Was anyone still around to see Gretchen die or weren’t they paying attention? We still don’t know if it is just the bodies or “spirit” that makes it to paradise.

So, we learn that Missy (Miss C?) isn’t only collecting villains but heroes too. They could possibly still want revenge on the Doctor but doubtful, as Gretchen died of her own choice (as perhaps Humpty also did). Is Missy collecting martyrs or just people who wouldn’t have died if the Doctor hadn’t interfered? Maybe this is the last spoiler River Song was talking about. She fits the criteria for heaven so far! I’ve heard the Rani was in to collecting people? Is this true?

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@pufferfish For some reason, I believed all the Claricles to be infertile, even if I just made that up, it would be a good way to dead-end all the “older Clara” theories. I’m not a big fan of that as there are just to many possibilities from the sheer amount of Claricles

We see a Claricle gets “born” in one episode so they certainly have the ability to age but we don’t know if they live past the age of Clara as she entered the timeline. Maybe they just spontaneously combust ;). It is kind of implied that if a Claricle fails to save the Doctor then she dies. We certainly only saw that on screen and she was also roughly the same age each time. Whether that was just good timing or an actual “rule” we will probably never know.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I think Clara’s mum is definitely important and is something that will be re-visited.

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@pedant Well done remembering the P.O.V. shots from the previous series. That definitely implies that someone was watching Clara & the Doctor and steering them together.

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One thing I just wondered about was why did the Doctor go sniffing for chalk and then find it behind a radiator? Is that a common thing for Victorians to have? I found this earlier reference to chalk in a the Fourth Doctor’s debut episode, so perhaps it was just a nice throwback

BTW, that picture was from quite a good post-episode article for all us fact-fans 🙂 http://www.buzzfeed.com/tardiswiki/deep-breath-stole-more-than-just-a-dinosaur-from-xnui

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apologies for spelling, that’s what I get for using my so called smartphone

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@wolfeed as well as getting him down, she had to find his hat too!

 

thought I had earlier was that Humpty isn’t humanoid/alive anyway, even if he thinks he has in a Frankenstein way. He’s just a robot with human pays tracked on. Artificial intelligence.

 

so why would he go to heaven at ask. Also, the doctor should have no qualms about destroying him.

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Who’d have thought 5 mins of a Dinosaur could lead to so much bonkers theorising (well I suppose we would!).

@silverman @purofillion Regarding the Dino’s size, do we know it was an earth dinosaur (@Cath Annabel)? For all we know, Dinosaurs could’ve been able to time travel or there is some Planet of the Dinosaurs we are yet to visit. It was definitely some special dinosaur to carry itself through the time vortex, just look what eventually happened to Captain Jack’s head in terms of size.

As to the “Wouldn’t it be in history books?” question. We see that it is 3 o’clock in the afternoon when the Dinosaur appears. It then spontaneously combusts at nightfall. So, despite a few eyewitness accounts, it was kind of a blink and you’ll miss it event. Especially in those days when they didn’t have the benefit of smartphones and twitter to spread the news!

@devilishrobby I believe the dinosaur was real due to the fact that Humpty harvested organic matter from it

@barnable Your Dinosaur = Missy post made me laugh, it’s just crazy enough that it is actually plausible! Of course, I would refer to the fact that the dino is now a pile of ash filtering through the river bed of the Thames.

Away from the dinosaur (we know Moffatt likes to do stuff just for the pure visual fun of it (and why not?))

@deluxescarf A different Doctor is certainly a possibility. I wonder if Eleven’s Ganger regenerated as well?

@janetteb the story featuring the Clockwork Droids is a 9th Doctor novel, The Clockwork Man, http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Clockwise_Man_(novel)

 

Finally, a word of warning…

I was Googling images of Humpty Dumpty in hopes of finding one impaled on a tower to illustrate my earlier post. The results proved to be more terrifying and nightmare inducing than any Doctor Who story! Don’t do it people!

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Thanks @flirtingdinosaur, don’t forget all Clara’s talk of her mum’s soufflés!

The soufflé wasn’t the soufflé itself, but rather the recipe

It’s Trigger’s Broom all over again!

• This reply was modified 12 years ago by  thommck. Reason: formatting

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Wow, that took a while to catch up on messages since my last post!

First of all, thanks to @pedant for helping me understand why Clara found the Doctor’s new look so hard to take

Clara isn’t a Claricle, she is Clara

Secondly, I half re-watched the episode again while reading through the email alerts from this forum and I made sure I listened really carefully to the new theme tune. I have to say I absolutely love it! Less ooh-weee-ooooooooh and more wah-wee-waaaaaaaah :). It definitely seems more alien and sci-fi (in an 80’s synthesizer kind of way).

Was Humpty pushed? – I’ve been wondering if the Doctor did push the cyborg from the balloon. The Doctor says only one of them is lying about their basic programming after just telling Half-Face man that he doesn’t murder people. Well, he has, hasn’t he?!? He’s ended the lives of 100s of lifeforms, so surely that is proof that he did the pushing.

A fair trade – @wolfweed, and others mentioning watch-for-coat trade the Doctor did with the vagabond, do you all think he was talking about a fob-watch? I thought he meant Eleven’s rather snazzy wristwatch. It’s a good swap IMHO because presumably the tramp could sell it and buy a lot more than an old smelly coat. I don’t think it was of any value to 12 and was just another example of him shedding his former skin.

Missy – I got hit by a bolt of inspiration on her identity, and I’m so glad no one else has stolen my thunder 😉 It’s got to be Clara’s mum, Ellie Oswald<span style=”color: #1f1e38;”> (née</span> Ravenwood<span style=”color: #1f1e38;”>). </span>

<span style=”color: #000000;”>ELLIE : It doesn’t matter where you are, in the jungle or the desert or on the moon. However lost you may feel, you’ll never really be lost. Not really. Because I will always be here, and I will always come and find you. Every single time. Every single time. (source)</span>

We were maybe thrown off the scent by Missy’s fascination with the Doctor but she is actually just trying to keep Clara safe.

I have a feeling that Missy is trapped in “Heaven” and only has some form of psychic communication. She may also have a one way portal she can suck the Doctor’s victims into. However, as Twelve would say, “That is not the question!”. The question is Why is she collecting them. Is she trying to amass an army against the Doctor or is she trying to lessen the Doctor’s sins by helping his victims. I also wonder if she will always wear the same costume or if that depends on who she is saving (if she even is saving people!)

BTW @chickenelly & others, when she said “Think I’ll keep it” about the Doctor having a Scottish accent, I took that as meaning she will keep his accent. As in, she likes to copy him, not that she gave him the accent in the first place.

A few little things I noticed…

Strax throws Clara a newspaper called “The Times”. A very suitable choice. Come to think of it, maybe the Ad in it was actually printed on psychic paper!?

I spotted another useless connection – The Doctor gives his “Trigger’s Broom” speech, and Trigger was an Only Fools & Horses character played by Roger Lloyd-Pack, who was also the voice of the Cyber-Controller, giving this episode another link to the cybermen 😛

On the official site, the BBC Fact file points out Clara refers to Marcus Aurelius in her fight with Vastra. Another link to Rome in the show. It turns out he was famed for progressing soldiers into a higher rank based on merit and ability, not class or status as was the done thing in those days.

@scaryb @arbutus Torchwood is cannon. I saw a show were Moffat says that RTD told him how Capaldi from the Pompei could be linked to Frobisher, and when RTD heard Capaldi gotthe job as Twelve then they both talked about how it still worked. So there is definitely a theorised connection (whether or not it ever is shown on screen). AFAIA the Doctor wasn’t aware of Frobisher but I’m not sure if that is important

The Doctor says he doesn’t know where his faces come from but does anybody else? The Sisters of Karn perhaps?

Missy is short for Melissa, and there have been several characters of that name in the show. The only one that really stands out for me is Melissa Heart for her involvement with Clockwork Droids but that is only a DW book, not a cannon episode.

@craig Do you think it would be a good idea to have a separate Missy topic/blog or should we keep it in the relevant episodes thread?

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Oh, I forgot to add, we were all holding our breath during those scenes under the restaurant and non of us lasted as long as Clara! I know Straxx admired her spleen but did he also say she had extremely capacitive lungs?

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Can we exhale now?

Great to get back into bonkers theorising again, I love reading all your ideas and everything that I didn’t spot! I kept expecting to see the wise words of @htpbdet, I think I’ll always miss his absence from here :'(

On with the episode then. I “borrowed” a projector from work and we had our own mini cinema at home. We watched the last bit of the Xmas special to re-cap on Smith’s regeneration and then it was on with the main event! I was actually impressed with the new opening titles. I had thought the fan attempt on Youtube was a bit OTT but they’ve managed to pare it down to a successful montage of imagery. I can’t really comment on the music, a) because I was listening through tinny projector speakers, and b) I’m ashamed to say my ear isn’t that musically inclined that I ever notice the differences over the years!

I thought the episode was really good, and my two sons (12 & 10) were on the edge of the sofa for most of it, even my wife sat through it all with much less tutting than the Matt Smith era 😉

It was great to here about “The Woman from the Shop” again, and then so quickly see Missy opening up a new thread of theorising for us. As someone else wondered on here, is Missy also the “So that’s who …” from the Time War book? I’m pretty confident it isn’t River Song. It could possibly be Tasha Lem but only because of a similar “look”. The Mistress/Master is a good shout and one that completely flew over my head at the time but it almost seems too obvious now. The initial thought I got about Missy in Heaven was that she was Moffat’s representation of an overzealous Super-Fan, obsessing about the doctor so much that she thinks he is her boyfriend. Collecting all of his victims in a vain attempt to impress, console or connect with the Doctor. This makes me wonder who could have such all-seeing power and it would certainly seem to be a timelord.

I have always been a fan of Clara but (seemingly in contrast to other people) in this episode she confused me. Surely she should be the most comfortable with the Doctor changing faces, she has seen into his soul and watched through his whole lifespan, why was she so unable to accept his new superficial look? She seemed like a different character completely. I know from the 50th anniversary special we are meant to understand she doesn’t really remember much about the whole Claricle thing but it just didn’t gel with me that her character would be so distraught about the Doctor’s change.

The Matt Smith cameo was a nice surprise. I wanted to give myself a pat on the back for being so good at avoiding spoilers this year! The DW team know how much we love to see old characters returning and so it was an easy little treat for them to slip in. It wasn’t really necessary for me but it seemed to be for Clara, as well as my youngest son. He didn’t like the look of the new Doctor at all in the run up to this episode and was determined not to like him. However, as the end credits rolled he was acting like it was the same Doctor as always, so mission accomplished!

The Doctor new his face was familiar but it hasn’t twigged he saw it in Pompeii. Is it a reminder to him that he can make a difference and saving one family from Pompeii is better than letting time roll on without interference. Has it giving him the go ahead to be more of a meddler?

One other thing I’d like to talk about was how beautiful all of the cinematography was. I’m not sure if it was the Director or the fact it was going to be on at the cinema but the quality was amazing. I really hope we get treated to this luxury every week. It makes all the US SciFi shows look cheap in comparison!

I think that is probably enough rambling for now

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Fan Creativity level 10!

Not sure if this is old news but I just heard that the guy who created that popular alternative Title sequence was actually employed by Moffat to create a new official one! http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2014/08/new-title-sequence-is-fan-inspired.html

I wasn’t overly keen on the whole “cogs represent time” element but hopefully they’ve come up with something impresive

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Cool 3D effect GIF

http://www.buzzfeed.com/robinedds/3d-gifs-are-a-thing-now-and-theyre-really-quite-cool

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@wolfweed I enjoyed The Musketeers too, although it seems like a mash-up of BBC dramas! I saw elements of Doctor Who, Robin Hood, Ripper Street, Merlin and Atlantis. All that was missing was a bit of Sherlock 😉

The king was delightfully wimpy, and each of the Musketeers seem like they’ll all have a decent bit of development. I’m not quite sure where the lady-with-the-northern-accent fits in but she seemed very companion-esque. In fact the Milady character was a bit of a River-in-psycho-mode character.

I heard this was originally going to be a Doctor Who gap-filler and my sons all liked the look of the trailers, so I was a bit bemused why it was scheduled after the watershed. I didn’t let them watch it but recorded just in case (as I’m doing with The Tomorrow People). Perhaps it’s all the prostitute/sex stuff (which was quite mild IMHO).

As for Capaldi, personally, I thought his performance was a bit off. Like he was struggling a bit with how evil he should be! Maybe he just stood out because of him being the new Doctor. I guess they will need to kill him off if this gets past one series. I can’t see him fitting both shows into his schedule, or binning DW off in favour of Musketeers.

The only major downside was that they got the theme tune wrong 😉

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Not exclusively DOctor Who but I thought it might be appreciated here!
The B.B.C. (Best British Cats)

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@fatmaninabox These look great, I’m glad you’ve lost the hump, that really did look awful in the show. I also love the shadow on the bottom picture. The only thing that looks a bit odd is the “neck” area i.e. it looks like if you press down the head, ketchup might be dispensed from the ray gun! 😛

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No Spoilers 🙂

The final episode of Sherlock was much more what I wanted to see from this series :D. However, it still felt like it dragged on by about 20 minutes longer than it should have.

It’s odd that, in a way, it can feel like it is dragging on, with lots of ‘filler’ in it’s 90 mins runtime, yet I’d be happier to have seen a more slower development of the whole CAM plot. Perhaps my attention span is just too short nowadays (I blame YouTube!) but don’t you think the same episodes re-edited as 6 x 45 mins could have maybe told the story in a bit more of a thrilling and succinct manner?

If people are looking for another intelligent thriller to watch, I’d suggest you take a look at season one of Hannibal (was shown recently on Sky), starring the brother of the actor who played CAM, Mads Mikkelsen. I have a feeling they may have swapped tips on how to be creepy on screen! I loved it, and am very happy that season two is going to be on in February.

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Sherlock SPOILERS and probably a bit of ARSE, sorry.
…

This episode had me on the edge of my seat. Not because of any plot line but because I was thinking, “something better happen soon or my wife is going to switch this off never to watch again!”.

I don’t mind the odd bit of plot relating to the personal lives of the Watson & Holmes but what we got in this episode really isn’t what I’m paying for 😉

As last weeks ep was, this seemed to be more behind-the-scenes, internet minisode fodder that detracts from the core of the show i.e. some sleuthing! It really does seem to have turned into a buddy comedy. I almost wish that the actors weren’t such A-listers as I think that also detracts from the shows mystery.

My wife spotted the soldier’s belt similarities as soon as she saw them being put on and I said “The Cameraman did it” as soon as the first wedding photo was taken! The whole story seemed as predictable and formulaic as an episode of Sarah Jane Adventures (no offense SJA team). Who wasn’t thinking, during the opening scene, that Sherlock summoning Lestrade wouldn’t be anything but a trivial matter?

I enjoy the visuals but it is possibly going a bit over the top in some cases, like the “I’m dating a ghost” web chats. Why did he need so many laptops, he could have done all the chats on one! Plus I didn’t buy the bit with Mycroft demanding Sherlock to think harder. I doubt Sherlock really needs that kind of ‘encouragement’ in his mind.

I’ll be watching the next episode but probably not so urgently as previous ones.

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@phaseshift @jimthefish @blenkinsopthebrave @whisht

What I find amusing is all these “critics” complaining how confusing it will be for “the casual viewer”.

 

Does that even exist? How can a critic speak on their behalf? I, for one, don’t expect to start midway through a series of anything and be able to get up to speed in a single episode. Its certainly not off putting if there are a few bits I don’t understand!

 

 

 

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I love the disclaimer at the bottom of this strip from nebezial.deviantart.com

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I did enjoy watching the new Sherlock but I’m not sure I like the 90min format. It seemed to drag out the howdunnit of Sherlocks suicide a bit too much. I hope that’s it done and dusted and can be filed away in the “never really know” pile.

The Underground Network was a good pun but the bomb on the train seemed a bit too big for Sherlock and Holmes to be so hands on with. I also think Holmes went too easy on Sherlock. The detective was quite cruel to his accomplice on several occasions. I know that is part of his character’s sociopathic-ness but he needed a few more slaps IMHO 😉

I just want to see a good mystery getting solved, not lots of meta references to the audience. It’s one thing for Doctor Who to shout “There are no rules!” as a slight wink to over-zealous fans but another for Sherlock to have a group of bonkers theorisers as a main part of an episode! The Doctor’s makes sense in-story whereas all the Sherlock nods seemed like a poke in the eye. It felt more like a Comic Relief special in parts. Maybe they’d be better off sticking all that bit in online minisodes.

Having saying all that, it was still a lot of fun and, as @juniperfish mentions, the cinematography is rather wonderful

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@eloise, the Sonic Screwdriver has been explained a lot on this forum already, I suggest you look back on some of the older comments if you want to know all the details.

Basically, the screwdriver’s operating system is the same, and most likely is run in the TARDIS. It’s only the casing that changes.

@toinfinityandbepond Love the “Trigger’s Broom” analogy 😉

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Moffat has said both that
A) Numbering is irrelevant, it’s something we [the viewer] have put on to the Doctor
B) Matt is the 13th Doctor
He also has made lots of references to Matt being Doctor 11 in the show, through other people calling him as such, “the 11th hour” reference and the #11 on his door in the God Complex.

So I think we need to ignore everything that has been said and just enjoy what is revealed tommorow. It could literally be anything!!!

A few other people get confused about this image from TDotD

This is actually Doctor Matt’s dream, which is why Capaldi isn’t there.

The Valeyard is a bit of a spanner in the works. A dark doppelgänger could certainly fit the bill but I think it will be ignored. Maybe the Valeyard was actually from a future cycle of 13 Doctors?!?

How about this for a bonkers theory (although I think some elements of this aren’t completely original, I forget)…

Craig, from the Lodger, comes to help the Doctor and Clara.
Doctor Matt get’s killed and Craig along with him. The Doctor doesn’t regenerate dies for good.

The TARDIS takes Clara home but during the trip she hears crying. She wanders into the back rooms of the TARDIS and finds the Doctor’s old cot with baby Stormageddon in it! Craig had taken him along for the ride and kept him safe in the TARDIS!!!

Nanny Clara adopts the baby, telling it stories of the Doctor. She can tell the baby his whole story because she is the only one who has seen all of it. As the baby grows he fills his walls with his drawings of these adventures.

<insert Doctor Who – The Younger Years CBBC spin-off here>

The episode ends 50 years later with Granny Clara dying and the grown-up Stormageddon opening a small blue box with a little key inside with some swirly circular writing around it

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Just saw this rather nifty freebie from the BBC’s Stargazing live programme and thought some of you might like it.

It’s a printable 2014 Calendar that tells you what to look out for in the skies each month. Could come in handy for those post-Doctor Who stargazing sessions 🙂
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/tv/stargazinglive/sgl_calendar2014.pdf

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@theferret Yes the first one looks a lot more comfy. A woman made it from an old sofa, with a little help from her boyfriend. You can see the before and after pic here http://imgur.com/gallery/mKMDf

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@fatmaninabox No, not mine, just a quick image search!
Here’s another, although it could do with some of @englishmaninnc wife’s cushions on it

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These were all found on tumblr but I’m not sure who the original artist was

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A really nice piece from ArtMonkeyWorld

The Infinite Supper

His blog goes on a bit more about why the Doctor’s were put in certain positions and all the little details you might have missed

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Very comfortable, thanks @fatmaninabox. I brought the batteries here as spares for the TV remote 😉

Time And Relative Dimensions In Sofa

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