[TV] Doctor Who

[Feredir]

Why would he need to be psychic? He would just need to want to cast a Scot as the doctor

They already had a Scot cast as the Doctor, David Tennant.

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moffat doesn't plan that far ahead.

See above post, no planning needed

[Dasffion]

They already had a Scot cast as the Doctor, David Tennant.

Sorry, cast a Scot and have him play as a Scot.

[Deleted]

The Doctor's Daughter coming back when she's married to a previous Doctor would be meta as hell.

You forget to mention who her Father is.

[MatadorMedia]

If they're going to play up the Gallifrey storylines next season, they seriously need a story arc involving the Valeyard or the Other. Let's get something epic going on in Doctor Who. And they seriously need to stop dropping arcs in the middle of the season, like why are Davros and Missy set up as major players if they never circle back to them?

[SirRobin]

It did seem odd this season. Davros is back. The Daleks are back. Their planet is back. The Master/Missy is back. Gallifrey and Rasilon are back. And what do they do with it? Well, not much.

The whole Hybrid prophecy seemed odd too. So that is why the Doctor originally stole a tardis? So the wraiths messed with the Doctor's mind like Rassilon messed with the Master's? Was the Doctor really that obsessed with Clara? People die all the time, it happens. He even says so in the episode where he first meets Me.

Hell Bent definitely hit me in the feels. No doubts there. But in hindsight the entire season seemed off somehow.

I can understand why the Doctor doesn't make a bigger show about finally finding Gallifrey. He's been tortured for billions of years and each time realizes that its his own people doing it. The people he put himself through so much to save. The realization that he's died hundreds of billions of times because of their cowardice and that they let it go on for billions of years must be a mind numbing realization.

So I could perhaps see the obsession with Clara. She was the last "good" thing he had. The last person he knew who actually cared about "him" as him. You might say that the Doctor we see in Hell Bent is suffering through a severe PTSD attack.

[Arrowstormen]

It did seem odd this season. Davros is back. The Daleks are back. Their planet is back. The Master/Missy is back. Gallifrey and Rasilon are back. And what do they do with it? Well, not much.

The whole Hybrid prophecy seemed odd too. So that is why the Doctor originally stole a tardis? So the wraiths messed with the Doctor's mind like Rassilon messed with the Master's? Was the Doctor really that obsessed with Clara? People die all the time, it happens. He even says so in the episode where he first meets Me.

Hell Bent definitely hit me in the feels. No doubts there. But in hindsight the entire season seemed off somehow.

I can understand why the Doctor doesn't make a bigger show about finally finding Gallifrey. He's been tortured for billions of years and each time realizes that its his own people doing it. The people he put himself through so much to save. The realization that he's died hundreds of billions of times because of their cowardice and that they let it go on for billions of years must be a mind numbing realization.

So I could perhaps see the obsession with Clara. She was the last "good" thing he had. The last person he knew who actually cared about "him" as him. You might say that the Doctor we see in Hell Bent is suffering through a severe PTSD attack.

To your first paragraph, they are now out there, and can be played with, whereas they were presumed dead before the season. I also have a sneaking suspicion that it is all setup to something, and that the whole hybrid thing is not done yet, kinda like Trenzalore and that whole thing was a recurring theme throughout the Eleventh's run.

[Kelimbror]

You forget to mention who her Father is.

Yeah it's this thing:

[Vladimeir]

Was the Doctor really that obsessed with Clara? People die all the time, it happens. He even says so in the episode where he first meets Me.

One thing that troubled me in "Hell Bent" was the time spent in the confessional was kept being brought up. Yea, the doctor spent a collective 2 billion+ years in there. But each incarnation only spent a couple days, if that. The incarnation of the doctor who finally escaped would have only spent a few days conscious and about 2.5 billion years as code locked inside the transporter (which wouldn't be remembered). Even if he somehow accumulated the memories in the last instant of what he has gone through, he still only spent a couple of days locked inside and only aged slightly.

So I guess my point is, everyone is telling a time traveler, and treating him as such, that he spent 2billion years trying to escape because he wanted save Clara. When Clara questioned this, it just didn't sit right because time is irrelevant to the Doctor, it could have been instant from Clara's perspective, and in reality, it was only a couple days from the Doctor's perspective.

To answer your question: is the Doctor that obsessed? From my point of view, he never even had time to get over her. It was only a couple of days. The Doctor also started down the path of breaking his rules a while ago and unrelated to Clara. So Clara was closer to the final straw; the Doctor will try to fix everything instead of let things run their course.

[SirRobin]

So Clara was closer to the final straw; the Doctor will try to fix everything instead of let things run their course.

That does make sense to me. And yes time should be irrelevant to the Doctor. What happens though during that time is not. Its all about the context, so to speak. They knew he was in there and they knew for how long. That had to be monitoring him to one degree or another in order to tell when he revealed what he really knew about the hybrid.

They left him in there for billions of years. Let him die in agony hundreds of billions of times. It should have been clear after the first few that the doctor wasn't going to spill the beans. The people he went through so much to defend, and then save, and then protect. More than just Rassilon had to know. That lady who didn't even belong on Gallifrey knew.

But they all were perfectly fine with leaving him in there. Imagine that realization hitting. When he realized just how "monstrous" they all actually were? Well, then fuck them. They can take their cloister, rules, and everything else and shove it where the sun don't shine.

[Wondercrab]

I just caught up on the rest of this season. Heaven Sent was probably one of my favourite episodes ever, and the finale was pretty darn strong too. I absolutely adored the heavy character focus of having an entire episode featuring only the Doctor and really delving into the depths of his soul. The ending montage of breaking free was super hype, probably one of the strongest single moments of exemplifying the stubborn, tragic, time-worn hero that the show's ever had.

The final episode felt a little cluttered with Gallifrey, the explanations of what's been going on, and the central plot with Clara (and the Hybrid storyline felt like it could've used a lot more foreshadowing this season), but it hit all the right emotional beats and had a ton of cool moments and fun callbacks. Overall certainly one of the stronger finales. I realised during the final episodes that Capaldi is the only doctor in recent memory that I genuinely buy when he delves into his darker side. He's really a magnificent actor, and he gave some fantastic performances this season.

But that being said, aside from the fun of the opener and the drama of the finale, I found this season pretty weak overall. It's the only time I can recall going weeks in between watching episodes, since I really wasn't compelled to keep going. The underwater ghosts story was fine, but very generic Doctor Who. The Ashildr episodes were a neat idea, and there were some strong moments in the second one when they lingered on the concept of immortality, but the character didn't really blow me away, and the individual storylines she was involved in again felt quite bland.

The Zygons story I found exceptionally dull, save for the Doctor's speech at the end which was pretty darn good. Oh, and evil Clara was fun. It probably doesn't help that the design of the Zygons is absurdly goofy B-movie stuff, which would be charming in a sillier episode, but every time there was a full-body shot of one of them running I had to struggle to maintain my suspension of disbelief in what was ultimately a pretty heavy story about the psychology of war.

Unfortunately Sleep No More had all the hallmarks of the worst kind of Mark Gatiss script. It's a shame, since his last couple have been pretty solid, but this time I felt like he swerved head-first back into "trying too hard to write a scary Moffat episode" territory. The whole idea was just so weird and convoluted with head-scratching twists that came across as neither scary nor clever. Definitely one of the weakest episodes in recent memory for me.

Overall there were a couple of major things that stood out to me in this series. One is that the show needs at least some degree of overarching continuity. Even just breadcrumbs. I never thought I'd say it, but I almost found myself missing the days of Bad Wolf when episode after episode went by without any hint of an ongoing story to get invested in. It seemed especially strange given how easy and appropriate it would've been to weave in some threads relating to the finale. The lack of tidbits to keep me going played a large part in my interest tapering off mid way through, and I didn't realise how important they were to me until now. I've always felt that Doctor Who would be a far better show if they wove a stronger sense of continuity through the episodes, which is perfectly doable even with the adventure-of-the-week formula (Matt Smith's first season was probably the best in this regard).

The other takeaway -- which is one I've had for a while, but this season cemented harder than ever -- is that episodes involving soldiers are miscast and/or poorly directed the majority of the time. I can probably count the number of times I've seen a military character in Doctor Who and thought "yeah, I buy this person in that role" on the fingers of one hand. It's probably a result of casting low-rent British TV actors who've probably never played these kinds of roles before (and don't look the part for them) combined with direction that doesn't give much instruction on what kind of body language or behaviour they should exhibit, and scripts that aren't primarily concerned with military accuracy. This kind of stuff is obviously broadly true of low-budget stuff like this on the BBC in general, and it happens for a lot of other character archetypes in Doctor Who, but given how frequently the show uses soldiers it stands out pretty darn hard in this one area. It's probably the most notable single thing alongside special effects that makes me very aware that I'm watching a TV show and takes me out of the fantasy.

So: Awesome finale, fun opening, and a mixed, but ultimately bland bag in the middle. There was only one episode I actively disliked, but a lot that I expect I'll have completely forgotten a year from now.

[Skandulous]

I just caught up on the rest of this season. Heaven Sent was probably one of my favourite episodes ever, and the finale was pretty darn strong too. I absolutely adored the heavy character focus of having an entire episode featuring only the Doctor and really delving into the depths of his soul. The ending montage of breaking free was super hype, probably one of the strongest single moments of exemplifying the stubborn, tragic, time-worn hero that the show's ever had.

The final episode felt a little cluttered with Gallifrey, the explanations of what's been going on, and the central plot with Clara (and the Hybrid storyline felt like it could've used a lot more foreshadowing this season), but it hit all the right emotional beats and had a ton of cool moments and fun callbacks. Overall certainly one of the stronger finales. I realised during the final episodes that Capaldi is the only doctor in recent memory that I genuinely buy when he delves into his darker side. He's really a magnificent actor, and he gave some fantastic performances this season.

But that being said, aside from the fun of the opener and the drama of the finale, I found this season pretty weak overall. It's the only time I can recall going weeks in between watching episodes, since I really wasn't compelled to keep going. The underwater ghosts story was fine, but very generic Doctor Who. The Ashildr episodes were a neat idea, and there were some strong moments in the second one when they lingered on the concept of immortality, but the character didn't really blow me away, and the individual storylines she was involved in again felt quite bland.

The Zygons story I found exceptionally dull, save for the Doctor's speech at the end which was pretty darn good. Oh, and evil Clara was fun. It probably doesn't help that the design of the Zygons is absurdly goofy B-movie stuff, which would be charming in a sillier episode, but every time there was a full-body shot of one of them running I had to struggle to maintain my suspension of disbelief in what was ultimately a pretty heavy story about the psychology of war.

Unfortunately Sleep No More had all the hallmarks of the worst kind of Mark Gatiss script. It's a shame, since his last couple have been pretty solid, but this time I felt like he swerved head-first back into "trying too hard to write a scary Moffat episode" territory. The whole idea was just so weird and convoluted with head-scratching twists that came across as neither scary nor clever. Definitely one of the weakest episodes in recent memory for me.

Overall there were a couple of major things that stood out to me in this series. One is that the show needs at least some degree of overarching continuity. Even just breadcrumbs. I never thought I'd say it, but I almost found myself missing the days of Bad Wolf when episode after episode went by without any hint of an ongoing story to get invested in. It seemed especially strange given how easy and appropriate it would've been to weave in some threads relating to the finale. The lack of tidbits to keep me going played a large part in my interest tapering off mid way through, and I didn't realise how important they were to me until now. I've always felt that Doctor Who would be a far better show if they wove a stronger sense of continuity through the episodes, which is perfectly doable even with the adventure-of-the-week formula (Matt Smith's first season was probably the best in this regard).

The other takeaway -- which is one I've had for a while, but this season cemented harder than ever -- is that episodes involving soldiers are miscast and/or poorly directed the majority of the time. I can probably count the number of times I've seen a military character in Doctor Who and thought "yeah, I buy this person in that role" on the fingers of one hand. It's probably a result of casting low-rent British TV actors who've probably never played these kinds of roles before (and don't look the part for them) combined with direction that doesn't give much instruction on what kind of body language or behaviour they should exhibit, and scripts that aren't primarily concerned with military accuracy. This kind of stuff is obviously broadly true of low-budget stuff like this on the BBC in general, and it happens for a lot of other character archetypes in Doctor Who, but given how frequently the show uses soldiers it stands out pretty darn hard in this one area. It's probably the most notable single thing alongside special effects that makes me very aware that I'm watching a TV show and takes me out of the fantasy.

So: Awesome finale, fun opening, and a mixed, but ultimately bland bag in the middle. There was only one episode I actively disliked, but a lot that I expect I'll have completely forgotten a year from now.

i feel the same way.

[Gallahadd]

i feel the same way.

Did you really need to quote his WHOLE post just to add 5 words after?

Back on topic, this season seems to have been quite divisive, people either totally loved it or totally hated it... Wierd thing is the haters all say the same thing "I love Capaldi, but just can't see him as the Doctor" Then when pressed further, they can't explain WHY they don't see him as the Doctor.

Odd.

[Skandulous]

Did you really need to quote his WHOLE post just to add 5 words after?

Back on topic, this season seems to have been quite divisive, people either totally loved it or totally hated it... Wierd thing is the haters all say the same thing "I love Capaldi, but just can't see him as the Doctor" Then when pressed further, they can't explain WHY they don't see him as the Doctor.

Odd.

I dont feel like writing out all the things i find wrong. I think Capaldi is an awesome Doctor and i totally see him as the Doctor they just haven't written a great arch or had consistency in the episodes for him. Clara was also good but they made her the focal point and put the Doctor to the side and thats what totally messed up this season for me. I wish they had a series of Capaldi, Smith, and Tennant as 3 Doctors just being the Doctor that would be awesome.

[Gallahadd]

I have to agree about both the consistency and lack of an excellent arc. Tbh I think both can be lain squarely at the writers (and Moffat's) feet.

[Skandulous]

I have to agree about both the consistency and lack of an excellent arc. Tbh I think both can be lain squarely at the writers (and Moffat's) feet.

Yea i just re watched Matt Smith's first season and thats how you do it. If i can rewatch a whole season then it was good but the only thing i really have rewatched with Capaldi was these last 2 episodes.

[Gallahadd]

Heh, I'm actually rewatching Tennants run as we speak. Just finished Silence in the Library, stunning episode and it actually gets BETTER going back to watch it now, because you know more about River Song and you know WHY she's so upset. Truly one of the best episodes ever.

[Immitis]

"Capaldi has said he would happily make more episodes of Doctor Who each year, if he was allowed.

Speaking in the new issue of DWM (#494), he states: “I’m shocked at the speed at which it’s going. I’ve done 26 episodes already, and I don’t know how that happened.

“I’m amazed that people ask me all the time, when I am going? It makes you feel very unwelcome! ‘Please, when are you leaving?’ Or…someone said this morning, ‘You’re only doing six episodes next year because you’re too tired?’ I don’t know where they’ve made this stuff up from. Six episodes?! That’s not what I’m contracted to do.

“And I would do 20 episodes if they let me. I could do Doctor Who all the year round, quite happily.”"

http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/capaldi...year-78958.htm

[apepi]

Heh, I'm actually rewatching Tennants run as we speak. Just finished Silence in the Library, stunning episode and it actually gets BETTER going back to watch it now, because you know more about River Song and you know WHY she's so upset. Truly one of the best episodes ever.

That episode is the scariest DW episode for me.

[Skandulous]

Heh, I'm actually rewatching Tennants run as we speak. Just finished Silence in the Library, stunning episode and it actually gets BETTER going back to watch it now, because you know more about River Song and you know WHY she's so upset. Truly one of the best episodes ever.

I remember watching Doctor Who as a kid but never seen any new Who till i was scrolling the tv and came upon Silence in the Library and i watched it and i was hooked on Dr Who again.

[the game]

So I've finally watched Dr Who and am almost through Season 8. I've decided that David Tennant is my favorite Doctor.