Doctor Who

[Benji]

Face The Raven done, and Clara's full time run technically with it, and she goes out by her arrogance thinking she's the main character who will survive no matter what by taking Rigsy's mark. An appropriately fitting ending in all honesty.

[Colly]

That was a really nice finale, lots of little callbacks and cameos but a strong enough story to go with it. Is there a New Year's episode? 2023 felt vague.

[Benji]

Spoiler

The story itself was typical Chibs crap with too much going on and no decent rhyme or reason for any of the villains (and given it had three...).

The Spy Master came into his own in this episode and I really hope that isn't the last we have seen of him, because I feel like his previous appearances haven't done him justice. The Rasputin bit I knew would happen the second I saw he was Rasputin

Dan getting bunked off might be the least ceremonious exit of a companion ever. Was lovely to see Graham again, and whilst Yaz was nice, I can't say I'll miss her in particular, but her ending scenes with The Doctor were touching.

All the callbacks made my heart sing, so much happiness. I'm extra delight that McCoy has bookended his rather lug-headed comments about The Doctor being a man (which he had since rescinded) by appearing in the first female Doctor's finale. Seeing them with their companions was a joy. Paul McGann getting another outing as The Doctor made me very happy, and given the rumours of Tennant's return I genuinely hoped we might somehow see more of him also. One day he will get another full adventure. One day.

Overall, it was a bad story held up by a lot of nostalgia and cameos, but honestly that's largely what I was here for, so I have no real complaints. Jodie's sent off was beautiful and unique, and I hope one day she returns with a better writer to do credit to her dorky Doctor.

Interesting to see Tenannt back, all the stuff about it being a past version and all that jazz is clearly out of the window now, so I am hoping against hope that this doesn't mean they're going to undo the Doctor-Donna because that heartbreak remains arguably the show's greatest tragedy. Having said that, if they do then the new Doctor could have worse companions to go around with them.

[Skummy]

On 11/10/2022 at 15:53, Benji said:

Kill The Moon is the moment I decided I genuinely disliked Clara as a companion, and it is very much the same the second time. She manages to have zero character growth in a story where she should theoretically be making a turning point, and has zero chemistry with anyone in the show by this point.

I think this is a problem with Jenna Coleman in general, I found her much the same in Sandman, she just feels like she's acting her part with no consideration for what other actors are in the scene. 

Loved the new episode. It was a storytelling mess, full of all of Doctor Who's worst instincts, obvious melodrama (I'm still not keen on Doctors having a load of time to wander about and say their goodbyes before regenerating, but I get that's just how it is now) and the cracks papered over with blatant fanservice. The story was nonsense, it barely tied together, none of the solutions to any of the stories problems made a lick of sense, very little of the resolutions felt particularly earned, but it was somehow all fucking brilliant. I have no idea how Doctor Who manages to be this good in spite of itself.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

I watched it with no context for anything having missed most of Jodie's run and thought it was a mess really. A fun mess, but a lot of it was nonsense. 

Ending was great though.

[Hobo]

I was actually watching a montage of all the regenerations and they really make  the New Who ones far more melodramatic.

 

[Benji]

I think I prefer the melodrama. The whole getting to say goodbye thing is good for audience engagement.

Also I tend to think of it less as melodrama (which it is) and more that The Doctor has regenerated enough times that they've developed at least a little control over the whole thing (see also, Ten displacing energy into his own hand).

[Hobo]

The same video remdinded me how I hated David Tennant's meandering around for ages before regenerating.

[GhostMachine]

Tennant's is still not the worst, though. That would be Smith using the regeneration energy as a nuclear level weapon...after being made into the longest lived Doctor. Only cool thing about it was the actual regeneration, when he leans back and suddenly turns into Capaldi in a snap.

[Vamp]

I don't think Matt Smith is a fan of his last episode ever if recent comments are anything to go by. Actually, I get the feeling he thinks his first series was the best and it was all downhill from there.

I'd love a more sudden death and intimate regeneration but I get why they don't. Supposedly RTD came up with a smaller, more intimate regeneration story for Tennant but they'd already committed to the big epic. 

I think this one works through its sheer gusto. Even the Dalek and the Cybermen exchanging a "what the fuck" look was utterly joyous.

It's also bizarre that ultimate fan boy Moffat doesn't use any classic companions or Doctors in the 50th and then Chibnall, who started his run by not using any classic monsters, ends his with so many nods its amazing his head didn't fall off. 

It'd be interesting to rank the final episodes for New Who Doctors. I'd guess Tennant's would top most lists. But this one feels utterly different to the others. There's very little brooding or foreshadowing and a far more celebratory feeling. Sometimes to its detriment, contrary to what others here are saying I was very struck by how unmelodramatic the farewell between the Doctor and Yaz was here and it doesn't feel particularly believable. 

Is there any reason Ryan didn't appear? Not saying he was missed at all but seemed a bit odd that he didn't even appear in the Doctor Annonymous meeting.

[DFF]

Loved this feature length episode. Yes, there's a bit too much going off (not sure we quite needed all the different threads - on the other hand, it got us Ace and Teegan back and gave them significant things to do) but I felt the nearly 90 minutes flew right by. 

So many lovely nods back to previous generations (that meeting near the end ❤️), and i think this was one of my favourite regenerations too. Why couldn't Jodie have been given more like this during her run? 

As mentioned by a few above, I hope RTD can use Jodie in future for the inevitable multi-doctor stories and do her a bit more justice. 

Looking forward to the next special now! 

[Colly]

Just because I'm useless at remembering things, am I right in saying there's still loads to explore/explain in terms of there being pre-Hartnell Doctors and where Jo Martin fits into everything? Obviously there's a chance RTD completely ignores the whole thing but I'd like to hope it doesn't just disappear.

[DFF]

47 minutes ago, Colly said:

Just because I'm useless at remembering things, am I right in saying there's still loads to explore/explain in terms of there being pre-Hartnell Doctors and where Jo Martin fits into everything? Obviously there's a chance RTD completely ignores the whole thing but I'd like to hope it doesn't just disappear.

IIRC it was an unspecified earlier incarnation, and we don't know where in the cycle 'the fugitive doctor' takes place. It was during the part of the doc's history that was covered by the memory block/mind wipe. 

[Colly]

Her memory block/mind wipe or mine?

[TheWho87]

4 hours ago, Colly said:

Just because I'm useless at remembering things, am I right in saying there's still loads to explore/explain in terms of there being pre-Hartnell Doctors and where Jo Martin fits into everything? Obviously there's a chance RTD completely ignores the whole thing but I'd like to hope it doesn't just disappear.

RTD has been very open about supporting the Timeless Child concept so expect this to be expanded upon during his run.

Also new Doctor, new logo, love the return of the diamond design.

 

[GhostMachine]

11 hours ago, DFF said:

IIRC it was an unspecified earlier incarnation, and we don't know where in the cycle 'the fugitive doctor' takes place. It was during the part of the doc's history that was covered by the memory block/mind wipe. 

My thinking is that they should shoehorn her in between 2 and 3, rather than making her pre-Hartnell. We never did actually see 2 regenerate into 3, so maybe the CIA regenerated 2 into Ruth and used her as an agent, only for her to go rogue, be captured, then sent to Earth as 3. With memory of being Ruth wiped from his mind, obviously. It was take way too much retconning beyond what has already been done for her to preceed 1. The faces from Brain Of Morbius being earlier incarnations of the Doctor is a bit of a plothole: if the Doctor had been mindwiped, how could those images have been pulled from his mind during that serial?

My reaction to the results of the latest regeneration? OH, FUCK YEAH!!

*edited to add* The diamond logo has always been my favorite DW logo. But that's probably because Tom Baker was my first Doctor.

Edited October 25, 2022 by GhostMachine

[Benji]

Heaven Sent, Hell Bent and The Husbands of River Song is such an amazing trip of episodes. River's scenes at the Singing Towers make all her previous episodes so much more heartbreaking. The desperation in her voice makes me crack every time

[TheWho87]

 

[Benji]

Man, series 10 kicks off so so well. That intro for Bill, followed by the incredibly fun Smile. I remember disliking Bill when I first saw the trailer for this series and quickly being turned around on her, and I see why. She's so full of wonder and joy and helps The Doctor without ever feeling like she's making him superfluous. Her reaction to the "emoji" robot makes me laugh so hard. She and Capaldi have such a natural chemistry, and it allows Capaldi to be both The Professor and The Fun Doctor in equal measure. Intrigued to see how she and this series holds up to rewatch because I remember it being the best since 5 at the time.

[Benji]

Thin Ice is a decent enough stand alone episode purely for The Doctor punching the racist dude. Knock Knock is a wonderful episode, it paces itself really well and hangs around in the right places, and I had entirely forgotten the twist. Very good.