Doctor Who opinions
- Thread starter Kaitou
- Start date
Well, I personally really liked "The Magician's Apprentice" so I can't say much about it without seeming disrespectful, but I personally think that at least the first 5 series of modern "Doctor Who" tried to be consistent in story, but it did eventually taper off into trying to be more fun in situations that have plot holes that only become apparent when you put thought too, which I've always found irritating, but they are very self aware about it and it's somehow managed to be pleasantly amusing.
Kerr Avon
Master Member
Looking at the titles of the entire season episodes, it looks like it's entirely made of 2 parters. The titles of the odd numbers match in theme up to the titles of the even numbers.
I loved the episode last night, every bit of it. I think we're looking at a really strong opening. I loved the setup and when the kid said his name. It sent chills up my spine, and I like how they referenced the Tom Baker episode talking about the very scenario the Doctor was then facing. I WISH they would explain how Davros is alive though. Last we saw him he was on the Dalek mothership when he stayed behind as Tennant left him to tow the Earth back to it's normal location.
Angelus Lupus
Sr Member
I'm getting tired of this multi-platform promotion thing that modern shows do. I mean, this episode had two, separate, on-line prequels. If you really want to add more stuff to the story then add it into the episodes. Make them longer, heck, give us three-parters if you need to.
At least Who doesn't require me to follow fictitious social media accounts so I know what the characters are doing.
Oh, and Moffat? Stop killing people for dramatic effect when we know that you'll be undoing it in five minutes. It's lost its impact and now it's annoying because we know you'll be creating plot-hole-ridden technobabble to justify the reset when we'd rather have more action/adventure.
Other than that? Good story, I actually liked Missy this time. The anachronisms were ok, I can deal with the guitar stuff (especially as it was actually Capaldi playing) but the tank just reeks of Moffat thinking "this will look cool" without bothering to think how it works in the story. After all, bits of a guitar could rot and break down, but a huge rusting tank is bound to bugger up the archaeological record.
At least Who doesn't require me to follow fictitious social media accounts so I know what the characters are doing.
Oh, and Moffat? Stop killing people for dramatic effect when we know that you'll be undoing it in five minutes. It's lost its impact and now it's annoying because we know you'll be creating plot-hole-ridden technobabble to justify the reset when we'd rather have more action/adventure.
Other than that? Good story, I actually liked Missy this time. The anachronisms were ok, I can deal with the guitar stuff (especially as it was actually Capaldi playing) but the tank just reeks of Moffat thinking "this will look cool" without bothering to think how it works in the story. After all, bits of a guitar could rot and break down, but a huge rusting tank is bound to bugger up the archaeological record.
JD
Master Member
It's not like either of the online prequels had any bearing on the story. They were simple, throwaway add-ons that would've never made the final cut of the episode (had they ever been intended for the episode). They could've let that footage sit on the cutting room floor - instead they gave it to us as a free teaser - what's the big deal?
Viewing figures aren't too hot http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34307519.
I rewatched last night to see if I hadn't been too harsh with it, but I still mostly hated that opening. Where as I welcomed the deranged Missy's return the fact she can stop time around planes just made me go WTF and that happened so many times I almost gave up. So why doesn't she do this ALL THE TIME, you know, when it would be useful to her against enemies (but perhaps this is how she escaped last time?) And she must have known where Clara was working last time so why go to all that trouble? Why bother with UNIT other than too allow Missy to go mental and whack a lot of people in suits just to show us how nuts she is again.
And the tank in the ring and why? Why bring a **** ing tank? What purpose did it served ? How did he get it back to the Middle Ages and where did he nick it from? And why play the guitar to people who just wouldn't have a clue what he was doing ? If the spy Dalek was already there why send the skating Snakeman to look for him?
I just thought that part of it was mostly senseless "utter b*ll*cks " and complete showmanship twaddle and so suddenly out of character for this Doctor . Where as the storyline with Davros from that opening and everything after they actually arrived was really well done and hugely enjoyable ,particularly the "history lesson" . I can see why many liked it overall because the originally styled Daleks ,effects and atmosphere were terrifically old school and made me leap back decades, just like a Time lord. But that was the awful disjoint for me, everything I dislike about the way the series has gone over the last few years in the first half and then suddenly they got it completely and brilliantly right for the rest of it. As a two parter I hope we get a lot more answers to the questions that everything raised and then I'll be more appreciative.
I rewatched last night to see if I hadn't been too harsh with it, but I still mostly hated that opening. Where as I welcomed the deranged Missy's return the fact she can stop time around planes just made me go WTF and that happened so many times I almost gave up. So why doesn't she do this ALL THE TIME, you know, when it would be useful to her against enemies (but perhaps this is how she escaped last time?) And she must have known where Clara was working last time so why go to all that trouble? Why bother with UNIT other than too allow Missy to go mental and whack a lot of people in suits just to show us how nuts she is again.
And the tank in the ring and why? Why bring a **** ing tank? What purpose did it served ? How did he get it back to the Middle Ages and where did he nick it from? And why play the guitar to people who just wouldn't have a clue what he was doing ? If the spy Dalek was already there why send the skating Snakeman to look for him?
I just thought that part of it was mostly senseless "utter b*ll*cks " and complete showmanship twaddle and so suddenly out of character for this Doctor . Where as the storyline with Davros from that opening and everything after they actually arrived was really well done and hugely enjoyable ,particularly the "history lesson" . I can see why many liked it overall because the originally styled Daleks ,effects and atmosphere were terrifically old school and made me leap back decades, just like a Time lord. But that was the awful disjoint for me, everything I dislike about the way the series has gone over the last few years in the first half and then suddenly they got it completely and brilliantly right for the rest of it. As a two parter I hope we get a lot more answers to the questions that everything raised and then I'll be more appreciative.
Noeland
Master Member
Dude, honestly I think you just take the show too seriously. I thought the scene with the tank was funny as hell. It wasn't supposed to make sense. That was the whole point. It was a party thrown by a time lord who flies around in a blue box that's bigger on the inside. There is a swimming pool in the Tardis for crying out loud. How he got a tank (for his fish) in that arena, while playing a guitar (during an ax battle) is all there for humor. He's The Doctor.
Maybe you just need to stop watching Doctor Who until Moffat is gone and a new Who is cast. You sound pretty miserable.
My wife stopped watching once Capaldi was cast. Though honestly she was never happy after Tennent stepped down.
Overall, I thought the episode was very well written and it entertained me right from the moment that kid said his name. I thought the dialogue in that scene was great. The "concentrate on the 1" was good stuff. The "hand mines" were a great visual gag. The invisible planet was a cool trick. The snake in a cloak thing asking into the Cantina was very cool.
always good to see The Ood.
Maybe you just need to stop watching Doctor Who until Moffat is gone and a new Who is cast. You sound pretty miserable.
My wife stopped watching once Capaldi was cast. Though honestly she was never happy after Tennent stepped down.
Overall, I thought the episode was very well written and it entertained me right from the moment that kid said his name. I thought the dialogue in that scene was great. The "concentrate on the 1" was good stuff. The "hand mines" were a great visual gag. The invisible planet was a cool trick. The snake in a cloak thing asking into the Cantina was very cool.
always good to see The Ood.
Cephus
Master Member
I hated it. I swore I wasn't going to watch any Doctor Who this season, my wife wants to watch and I was in the same room so I ended up seeing it, and I was not at all impressed. Of course, the second they said this would be the last Davros story, I was rolling my eyes. It's never the last anything story. I wish it was the last Davros story. I wish it was the last Dalek story or the last Cyberman story, all of these have been ridiculously overdone since Doctor Who returned. It's like in comic books where they have a "Death of <fill-in-the-blank>" Who cares? It isn't, stop pretending.
This was very close to being my favorite story of the modern Doctor Who, but... Come on... I honestly don't know how to feel or what to say really... I really really genuinely wanted this to be it for Davros, and especially for the Daleks though I know they'll never do that, I was hoping that Davros would die, it was beautifully done, it was perfect, if that was it, I can't find the words to describe my satisfaction if that were the case, I still think this was a really good two parter, but again I feel it was a wasted opportunity. What I wanted at least was closure with the Doctor and Davros, the end of the Daleks until AT LEAST the regeneration story of the next Doctor, and maybe even the Time Lord Dalek idea to be the formation and concept of the Valeyard, I still think the story is good, just no where near as good as it could have been in the end. If they went all out I still think it would make a fantastic regeneration story and by modern Doctor Who standards at least, I think this was the best Dalek story, at least at first viewing, but not one I'm anxious to see again knowing what happens beforehand.
NakedMoleRat
Legendary Member
Sonic sunglasses? Really? As much as I love Doctor Who..... I fear it may have just "Jumped the shark"
Yet again. More Monty Python than Dr Who, I agree. Some superb elements here ruined by the bleeding stupidity of a script oblivious to the rules of common sense and what has been written before. I wanted to use that pointy stick on that muppet Mofett. All style ,no content nor coherent writing.
Totally agree that the rather excellent Davros gradual death was ruined by the "twist" in the tail (unfortunately quite literally in the case of Comrade Hiss), but you knew it was coming,just as you knew that Missy and Clara survived the extermination last week.So why do it? These fakeouts are becoming so common and boring its going to become almost impossible to believe in any death scene in the series and that robs it of something very essential.
Talking of dying on screen did anyone else think that making the Dalek corpses look like the pooh of somebody who existed on a diet of nothing else but coco beans and coffee grounds was a bit of a crap idea. To me ,at the very end , with it spewing comically out of the Dalek heads it looked like some coked out Starbuck advertising executives worst nightmare or a cautionary tale about what can happen if you exterminate all the worlds sewage workers, and I did end up laughing a hell of a lot as the ex Dalek Frappuccinos overwhelmed the mighty regnerated forces of Davros, particularly when they can stop bullets with their shielding but apparently not simple Dalek induced diahorrea or terrifyingly lethal antique victorian brooch pins. One small wafer thin mint too much perhaps????
And given that the Daleks can fly (and God knows we saw enough shots of them sky dancing around the City cheering the "Davros" goals like an ill tempered pepper pot football crowd ) why the effing hell did they just trundle around in panic ,waiting to be to suffacated to death by all that ***t that poured out of the sewers,sorry ,graveyards? "Weird" was not the word I had for it (and I did have several others but none suitable for the polite company here), though I did laugh out loud again when I heard the Clara Dalek say that.
And also the bit where Missy squashed her sitting into said beastie. For a moment I thought "Oh dear they seem to have totally forgotten all about the "Into the Dalek" episode just a season ago" but that was swifty banished by the vision that Clara was actually having the most satisfying dump of her life in some deranged sci fi fans custom made portaloo (which also might have accounted for where actually all the Dalek ***t comes from). Is it perhaps Missys clever idea to convert all Daleks into the galaxies most stylish but deadly mobile convieniences, shes just potty enough to do it.
Also, instead of the promisingly daper Doctor we saw for most of last season we seem to have got ended up with a rather terribly consumptive and raddled version of a Timelord Mick Jagger crossed with a "Skegiss" from "Dark Crystal", complete with scruffy jacket,messy tee shirt and , rather regretably, sonic sunglasses. This is not a good look for Timelord, he does not look at all well ,like he has suffered a cruel kind of degeneration instead of regeneration this time. To be honest I kept expecting him to get caught out at any moment as he nipped around the back of the Tardis for a quick puff on a ciggy .
He certainly seems to be the most socially inept of all the Doctors.Why didn't he just take the kid he finally decided to rescue to another nice planet where he could be adopted by nice people with a nice house that would give him a nice education and nice life instead of leaving him to scrape his survival on the not so nice planet of Skarro .Oh and making a genicidal race of monsters as well.
But that would be a bit too obvious wouldn't it.
I look forward to other such well written and cleverly plotted episodes in this series.
Totally agree that the rather excellent Davros gradual death was ruined by the "twist" in the tail (unfortunately quite literally in the case of Comrade Hiss), but you knew it was coming,just as you knew that Missy and Clara survived the extermination last week.So why do it? These fakeouts are becoming so common and boring its going to become almost impossible to believe in any death scene in the series and that robs it of something very essential.
Talking of dying on screen did anyone else think that making the Dalek corpses look like the pooh of somebody who existed on a diet of nothing else but coco beans and coffee grounds was a bit of a crap idea. To me ,at the very end , with it spewing comically out of the Dalek heads it looked like some coked out Starbuck advertising executives worst nightmare or a cautionary tale about what can happen if you exterminate all the worlds sewage workers, and I did end up laughing a hell of a lot as the ex Dalek Frappuccinos overwhelmed the mighty regnerated forces of Davros, particularly when they can stop bullets with their shielding but apparently not simple Dalek induced diahorrea or terrifyingly lethal antique victorian brooch pins. One small wafer thin mint too much perhaps????
And given that the Daleks can fly (and God knows we saw enough shots of them sky dancing around the City cheering the "Davros" goals like an ill tempered pepper pot football crowd ) why the effing hell did they just trundle around in panic ,waiting to be to suffacated to death by all that ***t that poured out of the sewers,sorry ,graveyards? "Weird" was not the word I had for it (and I did have several others but none suitable for the polite company here), though I did laugh out loud again when I heard the Clara Dalek say that.
And also the bit where Missy squashed her sitting into said beastie. For a moment I thought "Oh dear they seem to have totally forgotten all about the "Into the Dalek" episode just a season ago" but that was swifty banished by the vision that Clara was actually having the most satisfying dump of her life in some deranged sci fi fans custom made portaloo (which also might have accounted for where actually all the Dalek ***t comes from). Is it perhaps Missys clever idea to convert all Daleks into the galaxies most stylish but deadly mobile convieniences, shes just potty enough to do it.
Also, instead of the promisingly daper Doctor we saw for most of last season we seem to have got ended up with a rather terribly consumptive and raddled version of a Timelord Mick Jagger crossed with a "Skegiss" from "Dark Crystal", complete with scruffy jacket,messy tee shirt and , rather regretably, sonic sunglasses. This is not a good look for Timelord, he does not look at all well ,like he has suffered a cruel kind of degeneration instead of regeneration this time. To be honest I kept expecting him to get caught out at any moment as he nipped around the back of the Tardis for a quick puff on a ciggy .
He certainly seems to be the most socially inept of all the Doctors.Why didn't he just take the kid he finally decided to rescue to another nice planet where he could be adopted by nice people with a nice house that would give him a nice education and nice life instead of leaving him to scrape his survival on the not so nice planet of Skarro .Oh and making a genicidal race of monsters as well.
But that would be a bit too obvious wouldn't it.
I look forward to other such well written and cleverly plotted episodes in this series.
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Kerr Avon
Master Member
I'm pretty sure the dressed down appearance was because he spent 3 weeks partying. When Tennant showed up on the Marie Antoinette after being at a party (his wedding I think to the Virgin Queen) he was all ruffled up and wearing his tie on his forehead. It looks like he's back to the normal cleaned up look next week.
I did love everything about the episode, but I REALLY hope they aren't doing "Sonic Glasses"
I did love everything about the episode, but I REALLY hope they aren't doing "Sonic Glasses"
JPH
Sr Member
I remember a friend telling me to watch this tv show, Dr. Who, it's a really important episode. It opens with Pertwee regening in Tom Baker. Baker was a great doctor,
but Davison my fave.
The subtleties in chemistry between characters, Davison had some really damaged companions. He made the show more sporty and his eccentricities like looking down a hall with his thumb pointed in one direction only to watch him slowly convince himself to take the other path were wunnerful. Bowling cricket, losing a companion and *NOT* going back, too many awesome moments
And Caves (Davison's last) was so hard core! And he didn't point his sonic screwdriver at everything that eecked him, like the newer doctor's do.
but Davison my fave.
The subtleties in chemistry between characters, Davison had some really damaged companions. He made the show more sporty and his eccentricities like looking down a hall with his thumb pointed in one direction only to watch him slowly convince himself to take the other path were wunnerful. Bowling cricket, losing a companion and *NOT* going back, too many awesome moments
And Caves (Davison's last) was so hard core! And he didn't point his sonic screwdriver at everything that eecked him, like the newer doctor's do.
