Doctor Who

[cassidy]

Yup defo Channels Tom in that scene. And that first reveal of the scarchophogus gave me shivers as it looked sutekthesq.

[Nick R]

Great episode. Up there with The Caretaker as my favourite this series so far.

Gus was a bit Portally (GladUS?) and a bit Hitchhikersy - an irresistible combination!

One disappointment was that most of the crack team of experts in the lab barely had any more presence than the hard light simulated passengers. After the holograms were revealed, all the of the people attacked were characters we knew, so having a large team didn't really give us a guessing game about who would be next. Maybe a couple of the scientists in that scene should have been given a few lines, with all the other non-speaking characters stripped out?

[Not Thread Owner]

Boobs.

Jelly babies.

Frank Skinner.

[Dr Derek Doctors]

If the other guests on the train were simulations and the ones that were there were invited because of their expertise, then why was the old lady and the daughter on there?

Great episode, though.

[Harsin]

Who wrote this episode? That need to write more.

[Not Thread Owner]

Who wrote this episode? That need to write more.

Am right you say.

[sdmilne]

Who wrote this episode? That need to write more.

They're doing next week's too.

[Fusty Gusset]

[Lorfarius]

If the other guests on the train were simulations and the ones that were there were invited because of their expertise, then why was the old lady and the daughter on there?

Great episode, though.

Because Gus wanted easy pickings to be taken first to give the rest chance to work out what was happening?

[Dr Derek Doctors]

Because Gus wanted easy pickings to be taken first to give the rest chance to work out what was happening?

But he didn't know the criteria by which it selected its victims, otherwise he would have supplied that information to them in order to further their research.

[Gregory Wolfe]

But he didn't know the criteria by which it selected its victims, otherwise he would have supplied that information to them in order to further their research.

So, just randoms as potential victims then. Surely Gus didn't want any experts killed, ideally.

[Alex W.]

Didn't the mummy and the computer between them manage to kill the kitchen crew? So they, at least, were also humans? In which case it had its pool of disposables without adding the other two.

Who wrote this episode? That need to write more.

Seems that he wrote for a bit of British TV (including an episode of Dirk Gently) and Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel.

[Dr Derek Doctors]

So, just randoms as potential victims then. Surely Gus didn't want any experts killed, ideally.

Right, so in order to decrease the odds of someone useful being killed you'd have as many of them as possible, rather than simulating a bunch of fakes to make up the numbers.

[Gregory Wolfe]

Right, so in order to decrease the odds of someone useful being killed you'd have as many of them as possible, rather than simulating a bunch of fakes to make up the numbers.

Nice effect though and good for the story though eh?

[Garwoofoo]

That was an absolutely tremendous episode. Up there with Listen for me as a perfect example of what Doctor Who should be about.

"Are you my mummy?" made me laugh out loud.

[joeplus]

Great premise. With the artifact on the wall and the specific time limit, it felt like something you might find in care of the SCP Foundation. I really enjoyed Gus too, was trying to place who it was (my guess was Miles Jupp: turns out it's John Sessions).

Next week looks like it might be a good version of "Fear Her".

[HarMGM]

Fantastic episode, nice to see Jamie Mathieson being asked back to a second episode. Series 8 is going really strong so far.

On a related note: Mathieson did a AMA on reddit yesterday. You guys might want to check it out.

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2iyngn/i_wrote_tonights_doctor_who_and_next_weeks_ama/

[jonamok]

Thanks for that. He seems like a nice, witty, hard grafting bloke.

[Space Gibbon]

Malfunctioning technology picks off weak from an isolated set of individuals on a vessel. Technology functions in such a ridiculously convoluted way that it matches a superstition/legend.

This is the same recycled plot from that Season 6 pirate episode. This one was better though.

[Mogster]

There's an obvious similarity in the monster, but the episodes couldn't be more different in every other way. I thought it was superb, and such a step up from Kill The Moon. This series' hit to miss ratio is pretty bloody good at the moment.

Capaldi is just superb in the role. I'm really impressed at the direction he's taken the character, and think it's really quite brave after so many years of likeable, chummy younger Doctors. I really loved Smith, but Capaldi's dark, ruthless take is hugely entertaining to watch. Thinking about it, he's not a million miles from Cumberbatch's Sherlock, complete with his utter bewilderment at human behaviour.

[Dr Derek Doctors]

Nice effect though and good for the story though eh?

I think the holograms of the surroundings was enough. Seems odd to deliberately add something to the plot which isn't logical.

[Nick R]

The episode's writer has posted a couple of blog posts about it.

This first one's about how he solved the problem of hiding the monster on an enclosed train between its attacks (victim as the only only one to see it = child telling a disbelieving parent about something that scared them). And also some unused ideas:

http://jamiemathieson.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/building-better-mummy.html

There was Clara seeing the Foretold, and hiding inside the sarcophagus, which was then revealed as actually being a Foretold making machine, wrapping her in bandages...

He recorded the lines for Gus that were played on set:

http://jamiemathieson.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/i-was-teenage-computer.html

[Gregory Wolfe]

Right, so in order to decrease the odds of someone useful being killed you'd have as many of them as possible, rather than simulating a bunch of fakes to make up the numbers.

Perhaps enough people couldn't be enticed into the scenario so the shortfall were represented by holograms to help maintain the illusion.

It really isn't a plot breaker in my opinion. I just think the holographic people disappearing heightened the impact of the revelation, at least for me.

[Lag]

They had to use holograms because the budget isn't big enough for that number of actors.

[Dr Derek Doctors]

Oh, I don't think it's a plot breaker by any means and I really loved the episode, but it seemed an odd thing to add given how illogical a move on the part of the bad guy it was.

[Monkeyboy]

I loved the shot near the end where Clara wakes up on the stony beach. Where is that?

[Fury4k]

I was pretty sure they were all in that after life place at that point.

[Delargey]

Has Gus been mentioned before?

EDIT: Never mind. Found it.

[Hello Goaty ♥]

Brilliant Episode, and in some respects ( well the Mummy draining people of course! ) reminded me of:

Must watch that again soon!

[planneroftowns]

Aberthaw Power Station - plus some CGI!