Doctor Who — Page 36

Well, it seems like Steven Moffat is trying to tie up all the loose ends of his tenure thus far and start anew with Capaldi. Trying to tie together The Cracks, the Silence, and the exiled Gallifrey together results in a really convoluted story. I'm glad they didn't bring Gallifrey back yet (after just revealing it still exists in the 50th Special), but the fact that they needed to bring it back up again just seems a bit sloppy.

I suppose-- trying not to spoil too much-- that this story suffers from being primarily sloppy. New characters are quickly introduced as having a prior existing relationship with the Doctor, and, given a 60-minute running time, they are not fleshed out. A good deal of the events of the episode is glazed over with some oddly-placed narration. (POSSIBLE SPOILER) The Doctor allies himself unexpectedly with a former enemy, and it's only mentioned in a throw-away line.

This really seemed to emulate story-wise and ambition-wise the classic series episode: The War Games (possibly the single-best Doctor Who episode, IMO). However, that was a 10-episode serial. With 60 minutes, this fell flat on its face. The story feels incomplete at its end, and I'm not sure if the plot's been completely resolved yet (it's that convoluted). There's just too many ideas for what should have been a more straight-forward swansong to Matt Smith's tenure.

I feel bad that this is Matt Smith's send-off. Not too hot about Capaldi, as I'm not sure how well an older-looking Doctor will work the way the show is formatted nowadays. Unlike the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, he did not genuinely amuse in his opening moments. Then again, first impressions aren't always the most accurate...

Not excited to wait for Autumn 2014.

Mrebo said:

Anchorhead said:

For me, there wasn't enough of the Doctor saying goodbye to Clara or her getting to say goodbye to him. As an actress and definitely as the character, she deserved much more.

Capaldi was a shock. More so than I expected. I hope I'm surprised as the season progresses, but honestly, I feel like this will be a struggle for me.

And I agree about Capaldi feeling like more of a shock than I had imagined, but not in a good way.

 Why is Capaldi a shock?  We've known for a while that he was going to be the next Doctor.

Does everyone here agree that the stuff about having to be naked in order be able to go to 'church' was stupid and silly and should have been left on the cutting room floor?

Yeah, the whole episode was kinda quirky,....the Dr knew he was naked to everyone exept Clara when he went for Crimbo dinner,.....why would he do that?.....maybe for an alien thats never been to earth before

Seams that theres a backlash about the episode:

http://www.dailydot.com/fandom/doctor-who-christmas-special-disappointment/

J

I will give it this, though: the final scene of Matt Smith in the TARDIS was done well. If it was shown in a clip show of the Doctor's regenerations, it would look very good, in comparison to many others.

It's a pity that the ending was somewhat ruined by Capaldi's entrance, which oddly didn't have the standard morphing effect.

Then again, Davison's regeneration ends with Colin Baker trying to kill Peri... yet it's highly regarded, so go figure.

Him trying to kill Peri occurred in the next episode.   

I for one loved most of the episode.

Handles should have been the companion after Amy instead of Clara.

His interactions with the Doctor were pure Doctor Who and the conclusion of that character's long/short arc was perfectly pitched.

Loved the crazy cutting between the same Christmas dinner on Earth and the siege of Christmas over centuries in space.

Punched the air when the mug coaster of Rassilon from The Five Doctors came out of the Doctor's dimensional transcended pocket like something out of a Christmas Cracker.

And I absolutely love Capaldi's shock entrance I wish he could be that odd and scary for the next three or four years. It about time the Doctor stopped being cuddly and started being prickly and unpredictable again.

Shouldn't he be called the new first Doctor instead of the 12th Doctor?

Deus Exed again though... I really wish they would stop doing that and to blame it on Moffat is to forget every series finale and Christmas Special since the show came back in 2005 or even the much more incomprehensible content of the 1996 movie or practically anything since JNT took over.

I also thought the eulogy for the the 11th Doctor went on for too long, it was genuinely touching to see his memory drift back to the beginning of his parting self but it would have had more emotional impact if that happened when he was a dying senile old man instead of the rejuvenated rebooted self.

Still it wasn't as syrupy and mawkish as The End Of Time. I find it ironic that so many people seem to be upset by this one but loved the really terrible final outing of Tennant.

Speaking of which did the voice from the crack sound a bit Simmish to anyone other than myself?

Unanswered questions.

Who is the voice heard when the TARDIS exploded? How did the Kovian Chapter blow it up? What was going on with the pseudoTardis that they had? What left the strange marks outside Amy's house?

Moffat's inability to write anything that makes sense in Doctor Who these days is all the more confounding when you look at how good Sherlock is in comparison . . .

It made sense to me I just thought the transmission of the regenerative energy was a bit too convenient and it's explosive effect would make Gallifrey a very dangerous place to live methinks.

Appealing to the Time Lord's affection for the Doctor was a bit daft too.

They put him on trial twice and attempted to execute him (the only other Time Lord they did that to was Morbius).

The Master meanwhile was invited back and offered a new set of regenerations to save the Doctor (not because they worried about the Doctor but because someone had activated the Death Zone).

The only people to put the Master on trial were the United Nations and the Daleks.

Sherlock is much more silly and incomprehensible.

Bingowings said:

It made sense to me I just thought the transmission of the regenerative energy was a bit too convenient and it's explosive effect would make Gallifrey a very dangerous place to live methinks.

 ....makes me think...with a weapon like that....if all the TimeLords were to regenerate like that at once they could have ended the Time War in 'Day of the Doctor'

J

Ryan McAvoy said:

All this talk of regeneration made me wonder has a time-lord ever topped his/herself in the Doctor Who EU (Or in the show for that matter)?

I could imagine situations where a Timelord wanted to escape into anonymity and forget their face. Also as regenerations seem to involve some memory loss, change of attitude etc I think temporary-suicide would be quite appealing given the right tragic situation.

In the Doctor Who Unbound audio Exile, the second Doctor evaded the Time Lords in The War Games by 'killing' his second body.

Such an act causes him to change gender and the resultant female Doctor gets a job working in a supermarket. David Tennant played a different Time Lord in that one.

The Doctor working a a supermarket?   weird, very weird.

As a woman too. It's very funny and I highly recommend it.

Indeed the whole Unbound series is worth a listen if you get a chance.

David Warner's alternate third Doctor makes for a great what if.

Derek Jacobi's Doctor/Sidney Newman figure is one of the most touchingly tragic audioplays I've ever heard.

Warbler said:

adywan said:

 There were two shorts before the film (yes i will call it a film because that is exactly what it felt like, not an episode/ special) that weren't shown on TV and probably won't be making it to the DVD/ Blu-Ray because they were cinema viewing specific.

could you describe what these shorts were?

If you haven't seen them yet here they are.

I was miffed that they weren't on the first blu-ray of my collection but thankfully someone disobeyed the Sontarans and sneaked it to us.

I do wish I had gone now.

Oh well I guess I can get me 12D glasses ready for the next one.

thankyou.

That does it, for now when I go to the movies, I will bring along a squadron of Sontarans to deal to with those that annoy me.