Doctor Who

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Michelle Gomez was even more stonking in the final episode. Jemma Redgrave being in it made me very happy too.

There was a fair amount of cheese, but also plenty of good stuff too. A fitting finale for the series.

[Naitch]

I really hope Moffat leaves the show after next season.....

Top notch season finale. But...

I'm hoping Missy actually teleported out right at (or before) the shot fired by the Cyber-Brigadier hit. Because the Master actually returning from the dead....again....would suck. And I definitely want her to face the current Doctor again.

(I'm guessing the Cyber-Brigadier probably flew off and self-destructed like the other Cybermen?)

Definitely gave Pink one hell of a sendoff, but at the same time its kind of a bittersweet/borderline shitty one for Clara if Jenna Coleman really is done with the show. At least Pink went out a real hero.

But....WTF? with the Santa Claus thing. Should have done it post-credits instead of part of the way through.

Hopefully next season will be more about the Doctor actually trying to find Gallifrey.

And I want more UNIT, rather than them popping up once a season.

Why? He's consistently been the best writer since 2005. Almost every good episode since the series' return was written by him. The most common complaint about him (ie everyone dies) is untrue. He's directly responsible for the sudden influx of continuity, not only with the old series' but with newer ones as well. I really don't understand the seemingly prevalent view that Moffat being the show runner is a bad thing.

[Benji]

He's a great writer, but his showrunning leaves a lot to be desired.

[Naitch]

There are certainly flaws but he's the strongest writer the show's had since 2005 and I still think things are better than in the RTD era, although that could be due to stronger acting rather than format.

[TheWho87]

A duck could of handled the series better than RTD who was essentually a fanboy who made his fanfics reality.

[Skummy]

I think "Moffat is a poor showrunner" is the sort of complaint that comes out through too much knowledge, not out of any real fact - most TV shows, you'd never know who the "showrunner" was, and if you hadn't been told it about Doctor Who, you wouldn't know it was Moffat. But it gives you a finger to point at when there's the odd niggling thing you don't like.

I think the show is better acted, and certainly better directed, than it was under RTD and that more often than not the stories are stronger too.

The only real criticism I had of Moffat as a showrunner was that at times he could overcomplicate things, but he's scaled that back enormously in this series, yet now people have complained that it felt like nothing was happening, or that nothing had a point when, really, this series has followed the RTD format of every episode being a "monster of the week" with a buzzword tacked on at the end, which would pay off in the finale. "The Afterlife" was this series' "Bad Wolf".

[TheWho87]

There has always been complaints towards the showrunner/producer of Doctor Who in one way or another, John Nathan-Turner I believe had a lot of flack when he was in control as the last of the classic series.

[Hobo]

I think "Moffat is a poor showrunner" is the sort of complaint that comes out through too much knowledge, not out of any real fact - most TV shows, you'd never know who the "showrunner" was, and if you hadn't been told it about Doctor Who, you wouldn't know it was Moffat. But it gives you a finger to point at when there's the odd niggling thing you don't like.

I think the show is better acted, and certainly better directed, than it was under RTD and that more often than not the stories are stronger too.

The only real criticism I had of Moffat as a showrunner was that at times he could overcomplicate things, but he's scaled that back enormously in this series, yet now people have complained that it felt like nothing was happening, or that nothing had a point when, really, this series has followed the RTD format of every episode being a "monster of the week" with a buzzword tacked on at the end, which would pay off in the finale. "The Afterlife" was this series' "Bad Wolf".

I agree completely. I enjoy Moffat's era of Doctor Who a lot more than I ever liked RTD's. I found the latter's series to be kinda schmalzy and like you said "monster of the week" type episodes which led to everything being too neatly wrapped up every week.

Also I just could never be arsed with Torchwood or Captain Jack.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I was annoyed with RTD for all of the reasons brought up in the last few posts.

That said, I still believe that Christopher Ecclestone was an amazing Doctor during that period.

His comments in why he left were also very interesting about that time.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2017666/Christopher-Eccleston-left-Doctor-Who-just-1-series-politics-bullying.html

[Thrilla]

That season finale was so much better than such a middle of the road season like this deserved.

[Colly]

Saved the two parter for after my hols and finally caught up, loved the first part (in hindsight Missy is so obvious, but I didn't catch it before) but was left underwhelmed by the second. Someone said earlier that RTDs problem was having a neat wrapped up ending for everything, whereas I think the problem in Moffats run is never having a clean ending to anything, I honestly couldn't tell you what the big point of each series has been because I'm not convinced there is one. Clara just decides she'll find small middle eastern boy's family on her own because why not, and something about Gallifrey and punching the console.

Combining that with Pink being a cyberman but not quite being 'Rory is an Auton but not quite' again, plus the frankly confusing 'all the cybermen blew up apart from the brigadier who is also still a goody for some reason' and the last ten minutes were up there with that John Simm finale for naff endings.

The episode itself was decent, but there just felt like a very vague threat (Sue White was brilliant but pretty ineffective) and a very 'all you need is love' resolution, then its over.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Since watching a couple of programmes on BBC about sci-fi, I went and read the website belonging to the two guys who hosted the episodes - Geek Syndicate.

Very interesting to read the reviews of the Doctor Who episodes on their site. While I don't agree with everything they said of course (I hated the episode where they go into the Dalek - although I was drunk when watching it, found the Robin Hood one average at best, but loved Listen), what was interesting was how the reviewer talked about the Danny/Clara relationship. They spoke about how they came from a very controlling relationship and it felt the same coming from Danny - that his character exhibited the same characteristics as their controlling partner did. Very interesting as I'd not liked him all the way through and thinking back I think that the way he emotionally controlled Clara was part of it.

[Benji]

I really liked him at the start but as it went on he did come across as an ass. Like you say, he came across as controlling when I think they just wanted to have him seem concerned.

[GhostMachine]

Now they're saying Jenna Coleman may not be leaving after all. FUUUUCK.......

[Colly]

[TheWho87]

[Benji]

Not the worst Christmas special ever (though that Titanic episode did set an incredibly low bar), but nothing amazing. Massively let down that Clara is sticking around, she's got better but isn't even close to a good enough companion to have been around for two, maybe even two and a half seasons. I hope they at least introduce a third regular companion.

[King.]

This is morbid, but I was kind of okay with Clara's character receiving a tragic end. Either her choosing to stay with dream Danny, or her refusing to wake up from Santa's Sleigh. I think it would've have brought a whole new dimension to the Doctor/companion model if suddenly one of his companions didn't walk away from the adventures without a problem. I would have also been okay with old Clara dying peacefully in the Doctor's arms and him taking a moment to look at pictures and scrapbooks of this terrific life she lived away from him. Make it clear that even though she was without the doctor, she's fine. Give her a big family. People lose first loves all the time and re-marry later in life.

I'd really like to see Capaldi with one or two younger companions. I think him taking a brother & sister on would be ideal. Make them younger so the fan base can't hope for any sort of romantic involvement between them and the Doctor. I just love how Capaldi interacts with children.

[Rainiac]

Not the worst Christmas special ever (though that Titanic episode did set an incredibly low bar), but nothing amazing. Massively let down that Clara is sticking around, she's got better but isn't even close to a good enough companion to have been around for two, maybe even two and a half seasons. I hope they at least introduce a third regular companion.

It's been revealed that Clara is staying on for the whole of the next season. However, it's entirely possible they're joined by a second companion for Series 9 as well. The way Shona exited the episode and her calling the Doctor "a Magician" makes it me think that she could be coming back in the future, either at the start of Season 9 (the first episode is titled the Magician's Apprentice, and that clearly doesn't fit Clara now) or perhaps after Clara leaves for real. Or, as usual, I may just have read too much into those details

As for the episode itself, I'm not quite sure yet what to think about it. It had its moments, and it certainly wasn't as bad as Voyage of the Damned or the Doctor, the Widow & the Wardrobe, but the dream within a dream concept overstayed its welcome after the first couple of times. Also, well I personally don't dislike Clara, any of her false exits (staying with Dream-Danny, refusing to wake up from the ride on Santa's sleigh, going out as an old woman etc.) would have been a fitting way for her character to bow out. I'm optimistic for Season 9 though: Capaldi & Coleman have pretty good chemistry together

[TheWho87]