Doctor Who

[TheWho87]

Who was the last companion to die on screen (discounting Jack obviously)? Adric?

 

Great episode, far better than the first part.

Technically Sara Kingdom is the only companion to be seen dying on screen, at the end of Dalek Master Plan, the time destructor is activated and she is seen rapidly aging then turing into dust, all other deaths happen off screen, although to be fair it would a real sicko to want to show being blown up in a spaceship or ejected from an airlock.

[Skummy]

I also think Clara's going to die at the end of this series - just as the Doctor's starting to admit that he cares about her. 

Definitely seems like Me is going to end up being, in some way, the Big Bad of this series now, or at least have a hand in it. Interesting that they suggested Jack returning, too. 

Fantastic episode, in any case. Handled well, the character of the Doctor as a lonely immortal can make for far more suspenseful and potentially scary and heartbreaking storytelling than any number of interstellar baddies.

[Benji]

Not the worst episode, but I'll never be able to take those walking dicks with ass-hole skin seriously as enemies.

[TheWho87]

Maybe those walking dicks should team up with these guys

I liked it, a good setup for a hopefully interesting finale, I do love seeing all the throwbacks to the classic series, I hope they bring back Nessie next week!

Edited October 31, 2015 by TheWho87
Damn, Image BBCode!

[Vamp]

It was interesting to see Doctor Who having something political to say as it doesn't really feel like it's done that while Moffat has been the head writer. So I thought that was brave. I felt somewhat detached from everything though, which might have been the drink rather than the episode I suppose. The hostage video being so close to an actual terrorist video felt a little near the knuckle.  

I 

[Skummy]

I enjoyed that one - this has been one of the best series of "New Who" so far for me - but it did feel a little disjointed, between characters being dotted all over the world, and just the pacing seeming a bit off from one scene to the next. The premise is good, though, always love a "who can you trust" kind of story - I was a little disappointed that they explained very early on exactly how and when Clara became a Zygon, I would have loved that to have been a question mark hanging over the episode, and potentially hanging over the whole series. 

Also, I love Osgood. I shouldn't, because she's such a ludicrous fan-service character, but I bloody love her. She's just genuinely endearing, and I could get behind her as the new companion post-Clara so long as they keep her as she is, and don't turn her into some super-important/super-mysterious being that's the most significant factor in the universe, as Moffat tends to love doing to every single new companion. She should just be there as a slightly awestruck audience proxy getting dragged along on adventures by the Doctor.

I'm really curious about the next episode. I'm kind of dreading it, because this episode ended on such a "well, they can't possibly go through with that" cliffhanger (everyone doomed, the Doctor's plane about to get shout of the sky), and that usually means a clusterfuck explanation in the first five minutes and then move on to something entirely different. But even when you get past that bit...then what? What's the "happy ending" to this story?

[Benji]

I feel like Osgood would be decent as an occasional companion, and not a permanent one. I like the idea of The Doctor having a few companions on the go at once who pop in and out, rather than one dedicated per series. The actress at least makes Osgood bearable, and if she didn't have the whole "dresses like/obsessed with The Doctor" thing, I'd probably like her a lot more.

I adored them talking about most of the zygons wanting to live in peace and not letting a few extremists cause a problem, I wonder if that subtle-as-a-bag-of-hammers message got through to anyone who might have such prejudices.

[Skummy]

Speaking of "subtle as a bag of hammers", I liked the Doctor's line about how the Zygons couldn't take the UK because people already live there, and they'd think they were trying to steal their benefits.

[Benji]

You can't cap the Capaldi at just two seasons - he'll be back for next series.

[Lint]

 

Also, Doctor Who may be a part of The LEGO Movie 2

[TheWho87]

Do all the incarnations have a soundbite or is it just those mentioned excluding Capaldi as I know he did voice work for this, if so it seems a shame, there is enough audio out there to get some good soundbites for all of them, my only other classic annoyance is the use of the modern sonic for the classics, I would argue only Troughton could have it since for him the prop was just a pen torch but for the others it should be vertical although I don't think it shows one of them who use it with a screwdriver.

[Benji]

It suddenly occurs to me that Matt Smith's Doctor basically dressed as Mr Bean but with a bow tie instead of a regular tie.

[Benji]

Wow, I... I really can't stand Osgood and Clara, and doubling them doesn't help.

[TheWho87]

Was I the only one to shout out "Oh fuck off!" to how the cliffhanger ended?

Beyond all that the episode was the weaker of the two, although I did like the sequence at the end, mostly down to Capaldi.

Edited November 7, 2015 by TheWho87

[DFF]

I thought that was comfortably better than the first half. I called a couple of the 'get outs' and they didn't bother me at all. Capaldi's monologue near the end was brilliant as well. 

[Dave]

Am I the only one who feels that Capaldi's Doctor has hit a new stride and has really found himself since the debut of this series? Everything fits much more comfortably and his character is a lot clearer. I loved the monologue at the end. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite Doctors.

[Skummy]

22 hours ago, Dave said:

Am I the only one who feels that Capaldi's Doctor has hit a new stride and has really found himself since the debut of this series? Everything fits much more comfortably and his character is a lot clearer. I loved the monologue at the end. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite Doctors.

Absolutely. This series has felt "his" in a way that the last one never did. The monologue was fantastic, and showed how phenomenal Capaldi just is as an actor - in big impassioned speeches like that one he always looks like he could start crying, but that you're not supposed to notice it, if that makes sense?

I felt this episode was maybe a little weaker than the last - if only for the gimmicky way they dealt with Clara trying to exert control over the Zygon, and the general "her personality is so strong and so good that it can counteract the evil double's evilness" has been done to death with different monsters, and is particularly grating when Clara has very little personality to speak of.

I like Osgood, but it seems the majority of Doctor Who writers can only write one kind of "strong" female character, and that's to go from likeable to smarmy in seconds. Osgood definitely ended up teetering in that area in a way she hasn't before, for me. Though, speaking of strong female characters, I thought Kate was fantastic in this episode, and loved the "five rounds rapid" callback. Nice touch.

[Your Mom]

Did they really hint at Jack coming back?  

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Next episode looks capery but I do love space station creepiness so I'm looking forward to it.

[Jimmy]

Watched the last episode because I happened to be back with my family for the weekend, and wanted to know the general consensus on the series so far. I was really disappointed with the episode, and thought basically everything apart from Capaldi was varying degrees of average to poor. I don't know if it was acting or the writing, but Osgood, especially, came across very poorly. I can't say I thought much of Clara, either. If I have this kind of mindset about this episode, I'm guessing it's not worth me trying to go back to the start of the series and get into it, but just wanted to know what people think.