Doctor Who

[Harsin]

still might not necessarily be a proper multi Doc story. There's the possibility it might be Rose and her realdoll Doctor from the parallel Earth.

Probably is though, rumour is that they nearly had Eccleston, but it fell through fairly late in the process.

I think they can go back as far as McCoy before it starts to look too weird.

Not that fussed about Piper returning. How many on screen farewells does one character need.

[Flub]

Colin Baker let slip what was happening regarding the special casting a little while ago

Paintings of his past selves in the Tardis that age as if they hadn't regenerated and can talk to him

I believe he got proper told off for it

[Mogster]

I think that's probably rubbish though. Maybe an early plot idea or something. After all,

he'd have to have companion paintings too to allow for Rose to turn up.

I think that's probably rubbish though. Maybe an early plot idea or something. After all,

he'd have to have companion paintings too to allow for Rose to turn up.

[Dr Derek Doctors]

I don't think Ecclestone's completely out of the question now that RTD isn't running the show.

[Flub]

I don't think the Colin Baker spoiler applies to that one. That'll be different

[Davros sock drawer]

This series did away with the season arc structure.

What about all this crap with the new assistant? I don't give a shit who she is, just give him an assistant and send him on individual, one-off adventures.

[Dr Derek Doctors]

I thought that was really good. A creepy "creature", solidly plotted with a nice twisty bit. Yup, a really good start to this half of the series.

[HarMGM]

Well that was the Bells of St. John then. Beware for some huge spoilers so don't click until you watched the episode.

I really liked Jenna as Clara this time. The references back to Asylum of the Daleks were pretty good as well and some nice foreshadowing. Though to what is anyone's guess. I liked the villian as well. The only thing that came a bit to fast was the climax but at least this time I didn't nearly as cheated as with The Angels take Manhathan.

Lovely character moments as well for the Doctor. Him taking care of her after he saved her from a spoonhead was a really sweet thing to see.

On another note: looks like the Great Intelligence really is back this time for the long haul. And instead of Ian McKellen we're going to get Richard E. Grant taking over the role. Fair trade.

All in all i'd rate the episode a solid 7. Not great, but still good

[Hello Goaty ♥]

I didn't like the feel or direction of that. Doctor Who is becoming less and less a must watch I'm afraid.

Don't mind me though, I just don't like Matt Smiths Doctor very much at all.

I can see one or two negs on the way already... Come on! Guys it was boring tonight as per usual lately.

It's going so very wrong. I don't mean to piss you off over it.

I bet the kids loved it and that's all that counts in the grand scheme of it surely?

[linkster]

My problem with Dr Who since Christopher Ecclestone has been David Tenant and Matt Smith. I've found them pretty dull Doctors, decent but unimaginative actors playing him like the office loony. With the very best Dr's the actors themselves had real character and imagination plus a genuine eccentricity and gravitas.

Still, despite not following any series in its entirety for years the episodes I have caught on occasion have often been quite intriguing. I thought the last Christmas special was decent and I'm liking the development of Jenna-Louise Coleman's character, I also find her less annoying than Pond.

Might peruse Netflix for the series I've missed. Skipped to the end of one series and enjoyed the resolution of the River Song storyline despite not being a fan of the actual actress who played her.

Going to give this series a go in its entirety and see if it can win me back.

The problem's not the actor for me, but the nosedive in quality of the scripts. After season 2 it Just became another dumb camp Saturday night bore fest.

[Hello Goaty ♥]

I think it reminded me of the Library episode, with all that downloading malarkey.

[Mogster]

I think it reminded me of the Library episode, with all that downloading malarkey.

Silence In The Library was several leagues better than that!

I thought that was pretty average really. Clara and the Doctor were great, but the story itself was a good idea but fumbled. Plus it did the whole hacking by flailing away on a keyboard while pictures pop up on screen thing, which is always annoying.

That said,

Richard E. Grant as The Great Intelligence of all people was a great reveal, as was the reveal that everyone there was basically under his direct control, and had been for a very long time.

What about all this crap with the new assistant? I don't give a shit who she is, just give him an assistant and send him on individual, one-off adventures.

That's not quite the same but even so why not have both? They're still going off on individual, one-off adventures.

[Hello Goaty ♥]

Oh I think the pairing of them is excellent. It's more rough and ready than it was previously with the Pond. More natural even.

[Flub]

Does this revelation about the villain mean Moffat has been hiding

Yeti

Later in the series? Could be quite easy if they did a lot of indoor filming

I thought the episode was a bit lightweight but I enjoyed it. New companion episodes are pretty difficult to do in New Who given the time constraints. I certainly would though.

[Harsin]

Thought that was one of the better episodes Moffat has written in a long while. Also Clara was much less annoying this go around, felt more like an actual character and less like a forced sassy catchphrase machine .

[Flub]

It's obviously still the same character but we've had three different versions of her now. Distinct ones. Also

It explains how Oswin was such an ace hacker

Ooo Moffat. I see where you're going

[Flub]

I liked the Sherlock visual style too

[Commander Jameson]

It's obviously still the same character but we've had three different versions of her now. Distinct ones. Also

It explains how Oswin was such an ace hacker

Ooo Moffat. I see where you're going

About that spoiler...

I thought that additional knowledge would have been removed when the "restore" command was issued.

[Flub]

The restore command was for people under the direct control of Richard E. Grant. Given they forgot everything they'd done it didn't happen to anyone who was successfuly downloaded. The bad guys weren't uploaded at all remember. It was just the GI covering its tracks. Presumably so the Doc didn't get wind of who was responsible. So in that case and given what Oswin could do I'd be surprised if she'd lost the knowledge.

[sprite]

I agree with it being a 7/10 episode. A few things I noticed:

- false alarm at earls court

- The Doc and Clara on the top of One New Change, their little 'shut up' exchange was oddly reminiscent of the Doctor and Donna...

[HarMGM]

Hmm, ruminations on series 7 and beyond so beware for potential spoilers:

Considering what we know about the upcoming 7 episodes. It seems to me that the Great Intelligence is either being set up for the finale or for a return in series 8. Seems unlikely he'll return for the 50th as he seems a little bit to obscure. I do remember there being some concept art flying about for a potential Yeti redesign that was supposed to be used in the last Christmas special.

And on another note: considering this GI remembered UNIT it obviously means this takes place looooooong after The Web of Fear.

[Harsin]

One thing that seems a bit of a plot hole though.

If all the people on the 65th floor of the Shard were basically people who'd been kidnapped and taken over by the Great Intelligence, why would they be updating social networks with their location.

[JohnC]

One thing that seems a bit of a plot hole though.

If all the people on the 65th floor of the Shard were basically people who'd been kidnapped and taken over by the Great Intelligence, why would they be updating social networks with their location.

They weren't mindless drones. They were real people, just not the same real people they originally were. Then they were reset to their original selves at the end.

[HarMGM]

Loved the reveal of what "The bells" of Saint John really were.

[Flub]

Key question

A woman in a shop gave Clara a direct line to the Doctor's Tardis. Who was it? River playing silly buggers again?

[Garwoofoo]

Well I thought that was excruciatingly bad. This show is so far off the boil right now it's starting to congeal.

Despite a couple of nice character moments, the basic plot ("humans being uploaded into wi-fi!") was so ridiculous that the whole thing just fell flat on its face from the start. I mean, writing sci-fi is always tricky at the best of times - you need a basic level of suspension of disbelief because you're watching a show about time travel - but within that it needs to be basically coherent. This was just embarrassing nonsense.

Probably, for me, one of the worst episodes since the show returned. I'd honestly rather watch Fear Her than crap like this.

[Professor Puzzles]

I guess Amy must've carved out a nice little career as a novelist back in the whenever she and Rory got sent to, if the cover of the book is anything to go by.

[Nick R]

I think it reminded me of the Library episode, with all that downloading malarkey.

That, combined with "The Idiot's Lantern" (alien takes advantage of new technology to feed on people's minds).

[HarMGM]

Especially the opening reminded me a lot of "The Idiot's Lantern".

[Red Alignment]

Well I thought that was excruciatingly bad. This show is so far off the boil right now it's starting to congeal.

New Doctor Who is total rubbish now, isn't it? It has reached a zombie state of existence where every new episode is merely a poor quality pastiche of the series at its prime. There's literally nothing on offer that you wouldn't have seen done in a superior and fresher manner in episodes produced half a decade or so ago. I know that New DW has never been high televisual art or anything, but it's just plain indefensible trash now, completely exhausted of any remaining creative spark it once had.