Doctor Who opinions
- Thread starter Kaitou
- Start date
Really?? The sleepdust in your eyes now takes a life of it's own? That was a stretch even for the Doctor and he was able to make me believe that fat could just fall off you and run away, mannequins were able to come to life, and stone statues are actually other beings who when seen their skin becomes rock solid! This was a very big stretch!
drcraig13
Sr Member
I did not like the "Blair Witch Project" and I did not like this episode. I have seen porn with better POV filming. Also the sleep monsters looked like a swamp monster from a Scooby Doo Episode and they were horrible. I hope this is the last that we have seen of them because if Moffat thought that this could be his next Weeping Angel he is just mad.
astroboy
Master Member
It wasn't the monsters that wrecked it for me. It was everything else. There were no discernible characters to speak of and the entire point of it felt moot.
What exactly happened in the end? So the scientist dude made the video as a way of transmitting the signal across the universe....but then what were the doctor and clara doing there? Did any of this actually happen? Part of me thinks that this is an episode you need to watch twice...except that I don't want to.
And so far I'm loving this season. This was just a huge misstep for me
Gatiss wrote this episode & is writing a sequel. According to him, it was originally a two-parter, but he & Moffat agreed it should be more concise. He also said, the ending was to show the Doctor NOT winning. There was nothing he could do, so he just left well enough alone, not knowing that the broadcast was the way it spread. There is a long game to it, but it may not even be next season when we get any resolution.
I didn't hate it at all. I'm not a fan of the POV gimmick, but since it was integral to the story, I didn't mind.
I didn't hate it at all. I'm not a fan of the POV gimmick, but since it was integral to the story, I didn't mind.
Zombie_61
Master Member
Speaking as someone who also plays guitar, this kind of thing annoys me as well whenever I see it. It would be different if Capaldi couldn't actually play guitar and was faking it (which is also obvious if you know what to look for), but he can play. But then, the people who produce these television shows (and movies, for that matter) are counting on the fact that the majority of the viewing audience won't know the difference.
Not concise enough. "Sleep No More" was at best a 20 minute episode with 40 minutes of unnecessary filler and commercials; one of the worst conceived episodes I've seen.
Riceball
Master Member
The best part about this last episode was that it was heavy on the Asians, something that, as an Asian, I really appreciate and there's something very cool about an attractive Asian woman with a British/English accent. The other good part of this episode was that Clara wasn't a prominent part of it, she was (finally) just along for the ride this time around.
cboath
Master Member
It could be that whatever he originally played it turned out they didn't have the rights for so the grabbed something public domain as close as possible. I agree, it's not hard to tell when someone can't play, and sometimes it's really bad
Solo4114
Master Member
It could be that whatever he originally played it turned out they didn't have the rights for so the grabbed something public domain as close as possible. I agree, it's not hard to tell when someone can't play, and sometimes it's really bad
My favorite is when they're basically putting their entire hand across the fretboard.
I'd be willing to believe that there were rights issues with whatever he played, but still. Have the decency to TRY to match the notes with the finger work. He was, like, still doing something around the B-string on the 12th fret, hitting four or five different notes and bending...and they just had a single, sustained note playing. It was embarrassing.
JD
Master Member
Just finished up Face the Raven and I've got mixed feelings.
A part of me feels that Clara deserved a bigger, more epic farewell... part of wanted it to tie into Danny Pink and all that from last season; and, of course part of me wanted nothing to do with that - so I'm both disappointed and relieved at the same time (?).
I liked Clara, I liked her a lot more than some of the folks in this thread that seem to be pretty vicious towards her. I don't think there was too much focus on her at all - afterall, we even had an episode or two without her at all. But, I think the showrunner (love him or hate him) purposely set her up to be a larger part of the show and part of the Doctor's life... that was to make her death more meaningful. If that was Moffat's intention, I don't think it exactly worked - but, I can at least understand and appreciate what he was trying to do.
...and by her death being "meaningful" I mean it in a sense that it looks like we're going to see the Doctor on a mission the next two episodes - the Doctor seeking vengeance.
"Make no mistake, it's not revenge he's after. It's a reckonin'."
I liked Clara, I liked her a lot more than some of the folks in this thread that seem to be pretty vicious towards her. I don't think there was too much focus on her at all - afterall, we even had an episode or two without her at all. But, I think the showrunner (love him or hate him) purposely set her up to be a larger part of the show and part of the Doctor's life... that was to make her death more meaningful. If that was Moffat's intention, I don't think it exactly worked - but, I can at least understand and appreciate what he was trying to do.
...and by her death being "meaningful" I mean it in a sense that it looks like we're going to see the Doctor on a mission the next two episodes - the Doctor seeking vengeance.
"Make no mistake, it's not revenge he's after. It's a reckonin'."
Agreed. I gave up making any comments about the series a little while back it wasn't worth the effort. But this was. Well written and plotted for a change,and the Doctor actually LOOKED like THE Doctor so I found I could easily forgive the JK Rowling ripoff. I actually enjoyed it. Clara's death was well deserved,as with the rest of the series the most irritating thing about her has been she has been consistently "cleverer" than the Doctor, almost like his carer than companion and that never worked for me. This time her plan didn't work out and for once the Doctor couldn't save her. Watching the hawk like cold fury in Capaldi's face took me back to John Pertwee days. Like always its entirely the writing that gives the show its structure and this was so clear in this one episode. No Moffat , no Moffats friends, no playing to the actors quirks (no guitar) it felt like traditional Who again. Lets hope the next series of Sherlock doesn't suffer the way this has.
Timey Wimey
Active Member
Disclaimer: I've written some things as if they are definitively the case (and even just definitively my opinions). There is a good chance that isn't the case. I quite often refer to a Single Era, Season or Episode as the whole series.
Doctor Who doesn't make sense, is never consistent, pulls everything out of it's !@#$ and even when it makes good decisions for an episode it either falls flat by being portrayed poorly, betrays everything the episode stood for or jarringly doesn't fit with anything the show has done before. Regardless I'm obsessed. I really get nothing out of it anymore but the hope that there could be something to analyse is too much for me not to watch. I'm usually negative just for the sake of negativity but I'm tired of fighting watching it and tired of being mean to it. I'm planning on getting everything about the show now, in my perception, in just one post. Doctor Who (as far as I can tell) has always been bad more often than good. The reason I think most people watch it is when it is good... it's really good. That used to be the case at least but there isn't enough solid goodness for me to be sure anymore. Even when the actors don't have anything to work with they do the best they can and the best they can for actors with that much talent is impressive. I'm not sure if the story's have ever intended to be entirely original or even meaningful but I believe it is more about what throwing the Doctor and his gang in a situation could create... which is quite often good enough a pitch to get me excited. I suppose a good and bad thing about Doctor Who is how nothing is sacred. Anything can be gone and changed in an instance. The problem with all of this is how, even though these formula's can create an excellent show, they almost always go the wrong way with it. The "Next Time" sequences rarely excite me for an episode and the episodes are usually worse than the sequences. Even though it is an incredibly long running show, I'm sure better concepts could be come up with. When good concepts are come up with, it's either overcomplicated with a monster of the week or just feels ugly in general. At first glance Season 9 honestly felt like the people gave up on the show and just kept making it without creative effort or enthusiasm but a lot of effort has gone into making the right kinds of changes. The show has vastly improved in many regards recently. The show needs a lot less effort to better itself now but it still needs some changes. First some restrictions and rules and then some courage to take the show in new directions plot wise. Season 9 has nailed the pacing, got the characters right and are focusing on much better story telling tools. They've reminded us of the show's history and try to get us to think about some interesting concepts. They've done quite a few things that the show needed that actually made some episodes noteworthy in my mind. All the show really needs is to be fun and make sense.
Doctor Who doesn't make sense, is never consistent, pulls everything out of it's !@#$ and even when it makes good decisions for an episode it either falls flat by being portrayed poorly, betrays everything the episode stood for or jarringly doesn't fit with anything the show has done before. Regardless I'm obsessed. I really get nothing out of it anymore but the hope that there could be something to analyse is too much for me not to watch. I'm usually negative just for the sake of negativity but I'm tired of fighting watching it and tired of being mean to it. I'm planning on getting everything about the show now, in my perception, in just one post. Doctor Who (as far as I can tell) has always been bad more often than good. The reason I think most people watch it is when it is good... it's really good. That used to be the case at least but there isn't enough solid goodness for me to be sure anymore. Even when the actors don't have anything to work with they do the best they can and the best they can for actors with that much talent is impressive. I'm not sure if the story's have ever intended to be entirely original or even meaningful but I believe it is more about what throwing the Doctor and his gang in a situation could create... which is quite often good enough a pitch to get me excited. I suppose a good and bad thing about Doctor Who is how nothing is sacred. Anything can be gone and changed in an instance. The problem with all of this is how, even though these formula's can create an excellent show, they almost always go the wrong way with it. The "Next Time" sequences rarely excite me for an episode and the episodes are usually worse than the sequences. Even though it is an incredibly long running show, I'm sure better concepts could be come up with. When good concepts are come up with, it's either overcomplicated with a monster of the week or just feels ugly in general. At first glance Season 9 honestly felt like the people gave up on the show and just kept making it without creative effort or enthusiasm but a lot of effort has gone into making the right kinds of changes. The show has vastly improved in many regards recently. The show needs a lot less effort to better itself now but it still needs some changes. First some restrictions and rules and then some courage to take the show in new directions plot wise. Season 9 has nailed the pacing, got the characters right and are focusing on much better story telling tools. They've reminded us of the show's history and try to get us to think about some interesting concepts. They've done quite a few things that the show needed that actually made some episodes noteworthy in my mind. All the show really needs is to be fun and make sense.
Well, now that Jenna has officially departed the show, Moffat has revealed what most people have guessed- Clara was supposed to have left last season, but Jenna kept changing her mind.
Just finished an article released after the show aired. He revealed that she had been written out in the last series finale, but Jenna called while he was working on the script & said she wanted to stay for Christmas. So, he wrote her out of the Christmas episode, but wrote two endings, just in case, & sure enough, after what he called an emotional read-through, she asked to stay again. Moffat went as far as saying that he & Capaldi weren't very effective at lying to everyone about the clumsy ending.
Just finished an article released after the show aired. He revealed that she had been written out in the last series finale, but Jenna called while he was working on the script & said she wanted to stay for Christmas. So, he wrote her out of the Christmas episode, but wrote two endings, just in case, & sure enough, after what he called an emotional read-through, she asked to stay again. Moffat went as far as saying that he & Capaldi weren't very effective at lying to everyone about the clumsy ending.
