Doctor Who

[Colly]

That was a lot of fun. Smith and Corden (who I'm not normally a fan of at all) have a lot of chemistry

This. Their chemistry reminds me of the way Catherine Tate came in. Someone I really don't care for, and The Doctor just somehow makes them brilliant. If Amy and Rory don't come back next year, I hope Stormy and Craig get a brief run in the TARDIS.

Fact is as much as Corden is a dickhead and not very funny, he is actually a reasonably good actor. Make him talk and I'll punch him in the face, give him a script and I'll watch and possibly laugh. See also: Mitchell and Webb.

[AnnIQ Edison]

I agree with everyone that the script was hilarious and overall the episode was good but my god, I hope we don't see a Cybermen episode for the next 3 or so years. They have been done to death and when you can start having main stay enemies being destroyed by "love", you have an issue. At leas the last Dalek episode had them appearing in something new and novel. This was just filler for the sake of filler and could have been replaced with any number of throw away aliens.

[stokeriño]

But if all you need is a throwaway alien, you may as well use one that

a) needs no time wasted on introduction/explanation

b) sells toys

[AnnIQ Edison]

But if all you need is a throwaway alien, you may as well use one that

a) needs no time wasted on introduction/explanation

b) sells toys

That's a terrible excuse for using them. They could have used all that time looking for a rat thing with introducing the new alien. Hell, I'd rather them have used the plastic people things and have the mannequins come alive again.

[Frederick Jameson]

I've been wondering if these were the Mondas Cybermen as they had a spaceship which they crashed landed thousands of years ago knew who The Doctor was and about Time Lords and they had Cybermats.

[Skummy]

I thought I'd hate that episode, and I didn't. I bloody loved it. And I agree with stoke - that episode didn't need the Cybermen, but if it were a new baddy instead we'd have wasted half of it with exposition as to who they were and why, at least this way they were there, and the bulk of the episode could focus on the story. While the Britain's Got Talent and "I've got an app" for that jokes raised a smile, I hope that's not the direction the Doctor's dialogue is going in the future, as it doesn't really make sense for his character to suddenly start dropping pop-culture references. I think in his brief period of trying not to be the Doctor he probably just watched too much TV.

Corden and Smith have pretty good chemistry - I still found Corden fairly grating, but he brings out the best in Smith as a comedic performer, so that more than makes up for it. The Amy & Rory cameo was nice, too, and suggests that Amy's capable of being "someone" and moving on with her life without needing the Doctor by her side. Another baby popping up as well, which I don't think is a coincidence considering River's back for the next episode.

Stormageddon is the most awesome of names.

I especially loved how effectively this episode shifted gears at the last minute - it didn't seem odd for the Doctor to suddenly switch to super-serious mood, and him getting the stetson and the ominous blue envelopes didn't feel forced, or over-stated. The next episode looks fantastic, too.

[thatblindgeye]

I didnt mind the whole "love conquers all" thing as much as I thought I would. The fact that The Doctor tried explaining it as being "not that simple" also helped.

Nor did the Cybermen bother me. As Skum and Stoke said, it would have required more time to introduce a new alien just for one episode, when they could just use pre-existing enemies. Didnt they go on about how these Cybermen were using spare parts and such, too? Could explain why they were relatively easy to overcome.

Next week can't come soon enough, even though it wont be a year until a new season.

[AnnIQ Edison]

I'll concede that using the Cybermen allowed for less exposition and more focus on the fun but my point still stands that they should not use the Cybermen for a long while after this. Use the time to develop some new enemies or refresh some old ones so that Doctor Who doesn't rely on Daleks and Cybermen when the time comes to resort to an established villain.

[Jimmy]

But they haven't been relying on them at all for the last two seasons since Moffat took over. We've had The Silence built up for two seasons - which is a big departure from Daleks and Cybermen, who have barely been used/mentioned, if I'm remembering correctly.

[AnnIQ Edison]

I guess it's more their constant presence that bugs me more and how they have been degraded over time from over use in the new series. Maybe it's just my hate for them as villains and how they've been used. I'm not really sure. I alway groan when a Cyberman shows up and the only time I felt they were used properly since Tennant destroyed them in that alternate reality was when Rory showed up for Directions last season.

And yes they've been building the Silence this whole time but they are the major story arc. I'm talking about the villains in between that the Doctor faces off against for an episode or two. I feel that there needs to be a few more options other than Dalek or Cyberman.

This is all scrabbled cos I can't figure out what I want to say. I guess I feel like the writers are including them for the sake of including them.

[Colly]

I really enjoyed it, but it properly reinforced my dislike of the council estate episode the other week, unless 'fathers unconditional love' has replaced RTD's deus ex machina nonsense for beating villains.

No huge issue with Cybermen to be honest, they've only looked threatening in large numbers in previous new Who, so six supposedly weakened individuals are fine for a throwaway. Certainly more so than that Christmas episode with the giant Cyberman.

This is probably me being simple, but did they ever explain why people can't remember Cybermen etc? I've probably forgotten a lot of the end of last series, but Corden not knowing reminded me.

[Vamp]

I especially loved how effectively this episode shifted gears at the last minute - it didn't seem odd for the Doctor to suddenly switch to super-serious mood, and him getting the stetson and the ominous blue envelopes didn't feel forced, or over-stated.

Really? Because I felt like I'd been smacked round the head with it. The envelopes were enough, a bit suspect that they were TARDIS blue but I'll let that slide, but the hat? At least that should end any suggestions that the series is more 'grown up', 'intelligent' or 'over complicated' over night. It's not any of them, its just more convuluted and pretentious at times. Still, a fun episode, even if it did get weaker as it went along. That was mostly because it didn't have much of a plot, or a threat or a conclusion. Which, I suppose, is quite important to a story. Still, some of the lines were fun. Although I'm pretty sure a 'fun romp' episode is meant to involve more, well, romping. Moffat seems like a pretty guilty father though. If he came up with the conclusion that is, I don't suppose that it can be a coincidence that the 'father's love' ending was used twice. I'm still not a fan of this series, not because I'm a Moff hater, I think there's been a few great episodes this series, but the rest have been crushingly dull and cheap. The format hasn't helped, opening with a two parter's a decent idea but not if they make the next few episodes come across as cheap as they did. And I haven't really enjoyed the story arc which feels a tad over done. At least with RTD it was just a word dropped into random sentences, with this series it's felt like there's been a constant suggestion that everything will really kick into gear later and that's stopped me from getting into what's happening in the current episode as much. And I feel that at times the twists and turns in time have threatened to overshadow the dramatic heart of stories. Twist in time narratives are good if they're used as a tool for more and they arn't used almost constantly, or if they arn't used just for the sake of it but that hasn't always been the case.

So overall I'm left with a feeling that there's been some great episodes this year, but I can't help but feel a good deal of dissapointment. The series could have been so much better. Hopefulyl here I won't get the result I'd get elsewhere on the web with people calling me a 'RTD Fanboy' or a 'Moff Hater' or telling me that I 'don't understand' because none of them are true. I can see why other people might think that this series has been great, I've felt bits of it were myself, but to me it has promised more and not quite delivered yet. I suppose that will be rectified if the constant build up to something more actually delivers next week. Although even then I've got the worry that it's going to be a hideously over stuffed episode. Still, we'll see.

This is probably me being simple, but did they ever explain why people can't remember Cybermen etc? I've probably forgotten a lot of the end of last series, but Corden not knowing reminded me.

I think the suggestion is that it was The Silence.

[Colly]

Moff Hater.

[Katsuya]

Well that was underwhelming.

[Benji]

I loved it. It didn't try to do what they've done so often, and try to go over the top with a massive story which could never possibly achieve what it had been set up for. It was a lot of fun little stories creating one bigger picture. I also love how Moffat seems to be using rolling seasons, but has still managed to give a sense of finality to them both.

[marksbros6]

Well that was underwhelming.

Well, it was going to struggle with living up to expectation. It was typical Doctor Who though with a few 'false reveals' and eventually using the Tesselector robot which we'd already seen to 'dodge' the Doctor's death. In that respect it was quite well-structured. I suspect it will hold up to repeated viewings better than the original run-through, sometime the anticipation of the ending will spoil the overall experience?

I think if it was a 2-parter it might have been more fun to explore the 'world where history is happening all-at-once'. Was a fun concept and interesting to see characters pop up in different roles.

Glad we got to see Amy and Rory in the finale too. Was a pleasent surprise with them being left off the teaser. And the ending hinted at some BIG happenings to come.

Gonna have to re-watch 'Silence in the Library' AGAIN now. Wonder if River really whispered The Doctor's name in his ear in that episode? Or 'Look in my eye?' Lol

[stokeriño]

I also liked it. And an additional +1 for acknowledging the Brigadier's passing.

[Daniel Bryan]

It annoyed me that they went to the whole crazy mash-up alternate universe thing again. Really, two season finales in a row? Come on, now.

[stokeriño]

Better than using the Daleks for two seasons in a row...again.

Besides, so far as portrayals of 'time being broken' go, it's better than some.

[DAv]

My mind was blown with the sentence "Holy Roman Emperor, Winston Churchill."