Doctor Who

[theimage13]

I'm convinced that Maisie Williams' character will be the new companion.

Just gonna say it: major roles in both that and GoT at the same time? Fat chance.

[Patrick_Nicholas]

I really liked "Under The Lake". Good to see the Twelfth Doctor and Clara finally functioning as a proper Doctor/Companion duo! It would even make a good Tom Baker episode if the classic series had the revival's budget. (Even though the revival's budget could still only take us to other planets occasionally [beyond passing mentions] and almost never to other countries besides the occasional trip to the US).

[Patrick_Nicholas]

Just a reminder: Next week, we get to find out who Maisie Williams' character is (though I'm sure we won't find out who she really is until the following episode). Should be interesting, despite the fact that when the titles for "The Girl Who Died" and "The Woman Who Lived" were revealed, I was worried that that Clara was going to be the titular girl/woman given that she was the primary source for soap-opera drama last year.

I am now officially thankful for the BBC iPlayer, now that my cable provider is refusing to show what's on the bloody guide, therefore preventing me from making use of the features I used to have no problem with until a couple weeks ago. Problems that also coincided with me finding out that they air Big Finish weekly on one of the radio channels.

[Space Suicide]

Last night's was ok. It was kinda alright but I wasn't intrigued during the entire episode. The next story looks excellent though! Also, look what is out in 3 weeks:

[eversonpoe]

i quite enjoyed the conclusion. i like it when stories include unsolved paradoxes. also, the extra electric guitar in the theme song was a nice little touch.

also, if you look on wikipedia, it seems like the whole season will be two-parters. i'm quite excited about that, because old doctor who was always serialized, and this makes it feel a bit more like that, which i enjoy.

[Space Suicide]

i quite enjoyed the conclusion. i like it when stories include unsolved paradoxes. also, the extra electric guitar in the theme song was a nice little touch.

also, if you look on wikipedia, it seems like the whole season will be two-parters. i'm quite excited about that, because old doctor who was always serialized, and this makes it feel a bit more like that, which i enjoy.

But if you don't like the premise that's 2 episodes wasted. Rhetorically speaking.

[orestes]

i quite enjoyed the conclusion. i like it when stories include unsolved paradoxes. also, the extra electric guitar in the theme song was a nice little touch.

also, if you look on wikipedia, it seems like the whole season will be two-parters. i'm quite excited about that, because old doctor who was always serialized, and this makes it feel a bit more like that, which i enjoy.

Was that electric guitar intro new?

Some things were left unanswered, like what's the deal with the one guy who was immune to the ghosts? *shrug*

Next week does look interesting even though I did scoff at the Vikings wearing horned helmets.

[playwithfire]

I'm really digging this season.

what's the deal with the one guy who was immune to the ghosts? *shrug*

Cass didn't let him into the ship so he never read the words.

[Patrick_Nicholas]

I would probably like "Before The Flood" a bit better when watching it and "Under The Lake" in one sitting like I usually do with classic serials. I never would have guessed in a million years that the roar of the Fisher King was from Corey Taylor if it wasn't announced ahead of time. I was half-expecting it to sound a bit more like his metal scream he does with Slipknot. I'm a bit disappointed though that the one time the Scottish Doctor gets to go to Scotland, there's exactly one Scot Spoiler: who openly defies the "don't wander off" thing and gets herself killed.

[Space Suicide]

Loved this episode!

Spoiler: Really enjoyed the connection to tying Capaldi's Pompeii citizen (I forgot how to spell his name) to his new face. I think that was rather clever though I know a lot will bash it and say its a horrible retcon, blah blah blah

I'm ready for next week! Where are they? France?

[Patrick_Nicholas]

I really liked "The Girl Who Died", though I wonder how many people are disappointed to find that Maisie Williams is an original character, given that there was a bit of speculation a couple pages back that she was going to be an incarnation of an established character, Spoiler: though unless she loses her immortality next week, there is a chance that she could eventually become a companion.

It also helps that this was co-written by the guy who wrote "Flatline", the only episode in the second half of s8 not to have The Doctor and Clara fighting.

Loved this episode!

Spoiler: Really enjoyed the connection to tying Capaldi's Pompeii citizen (I forgot how to spell his name) to his new face. I think that was rather clever though I know a lot will bash it and say its a horrible retcon, blah blah blah

I'm ready for next week! Where are they? France?

1. Spoiler: Well, at least this retcon makes more sense than some of the other retcons in the revival. At least it makes more sense to connect The Doctor to Peter's character in Pompeii than, say, Colin Baker's character in Arc Of Infinity (the Time Lord security guy who shot the Fifth Doctor).

2. Nope. England again. (surprise, surprise)


EDIT: I actually want the new companion to be a younger Scotsman, sorta like a modern-day Jamie (but obviously anthing but a carbon copy) to complement the older Scotsman. But I really want a TARDIS trio along the lines of Two/Jamie/Zoe and Four/Sarah/Harry. A classic-style trio that does not involve any love triangles like pretty much every trio in the revival. I actually wanted to see a male companion interact with Clara, but apparently Moffat has decided that Clara is too "special" to have her share her place in the TARDIS with another companion (not counting Courtney in "Kill The Moon"). Ten/Donna proved that there no longer needed to be any romantic tension (both ways or one-sided) by the time the revival was on its fourth season (it was apparently needed to get the revival greenlit by the BBC), so they really should do away with this companion-being-synonymous-with-love-interest thing next year. (Doctor/Clara was apparently intended to be platonic, but bad writing made it anything but.)

[eversonpoe]

^ ^ ^ Troughton / Jamie / Zoe were the best. so much fun and so great at working together to get out of ridiculous situations.

[Space Suicide]

http://moviepilot.com/posts/2015/10/...,manual,manual

I don't believe it but yeah.

[Patrick_Nicholas]

Unidentified "inside sources" are claiming Peter is leaving? If I wanted to take "inside sources" as a reliable source, I would be reading fucking gossip magazines. And if they really are considering replacing him with WHOOPI fucking GOLDBERG, I will go to Skaro and personally ask the Daleks to come to Earth (in other words, I will have officially lost all hope for humanity).

But if they're doing no full season next year, but instead just a handful of specials like in 2009 when RTD was on his way out, maybe this is a sign that Moffat is finally leaving!

[gorast]

Guys, that's such obvious satire. Tommy Wiseau as showrunner? Come on. Also, a satsuma is an orange.

[Patrick_Nicholas]

Sneaky bastards edited the article sometime after I posted! I've even noticed that one of the comments quoted a small part of what I originally read.

[Space Suicide]

Sneaky bastards edited the article sometime after I posted! I've even noticed that one of the comments quoted a small part of what I originally read.

Yeah, they changed it.

Losers.

[gorast]

Did they really? That's hysterical. Shame that we gave them some pageviews.

[Patrick_Nicholas]

So, how many of you enjoyed the (mostly) Clara-free episode "The Woman Who Lived"?

Spoiler: I was seriously worried that they were going to rule out the possibility of Maisie joining the TARDIS by making her evil as a result of of becoming immortal (even though Jack never really became evil, though he's always been an anti-hero). I was also set to complain about how Jack wasn't mentioned, in spite of having a former Torchwood writer write this, but he did get a convenient mention near the end (referred to as someone he traveled with, no less) to prevent others from complaining and provide room for her to return. I still suspect that The Doctor's explanation for not taking her as a companion is not entirely the reason, which I suspect is more along the lines of Clara-Sue being the only one worthy of being his companion (but we know he's going to have to take someone else in next year regardless because Jenna is leaving). I honestly would have preferred if he took Ashildir/"Me" to present day(ish) Cardiff to introduce her to Jack, so she doesn't go crazy again (doesn't have to be Torchwood-related, given that the show and its main setting are defunct until The Powers That Be say otherwise) , but scheduling conflicts are obviously the out-of-universe reason nothing more will be done with her... for now.

tl;dr version: We may not be seeing this in the near future, but there's still a good chance we haven't seen the last of her.

[Space Suicide]

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/...ocial_facebook

This was an enjoyable read.

[gorast]

This story turned the season around.

It also was two entirely different stories masquerading as a two-parter, which is the way they should always be done. Connect with characters and concepts, not an overwrought plot that falls completely flat in the second half (Before the Flood). Maisie Williams was great here and it's a shame (to an extent, of course) that she's tied to Game of Thrones for the forseeable future, because her character could be very interesting as a recurring character. Maybe they could do that anyway if her schedule permits, bring her back once every two seasons or something. Just don't make her River. We don't need that again.

I'm worried about next week's UNIT story. UNIT sucks. I guess this is before Osgood got zapped by Missy? Or are they going to go ahead with the "oh it was the Zygon Osgood so the real one's still here and still obnoxious and her death predictably meant nothing so fuck you" deal? I feel like it'll be the latter. Great. I love when characters are resurrected so that their original death has no emotional impact after the fact.

Man, I sound bitter, don't I? I just didn't like the first two stories. Weird writing and bad plot points. The show needs a real refresh soon. And by refresh maybe...Moffat? He's got his five series under his belt now. He'd probably be better served turning his eye to Sherlock and letting someone else make their mark on Doctor Who.

[Space Suicide]

This story turned the season around.

It also was two entirely different stories masquerading as a two-parter, which is the way they should always be done. Connect with characters and concepts, not an overwrought plot that falls completely flat in the second half (Before the Flood). Maisie Williams was great here and it's a shame (to an extent, of course) that she's tied to Game of Thrones for the forseeable future, because her character could be very interesting as a recurring character. Maybe they could do that anyway if her schedule permits, bring her back once every two seasons or something. Just don't make her River. We don't need that again.

I'm worried about next week's UNIT story. UNIT sucks. I guess this is before Osgood got zapped by Missy? Or are they going to go ahead with the "oh it was the Zygon Osgood so the real one's still here and still obnoxious and her death predictably meant nothing so fuck you" deal? I feel like it'll be the latter. Great. I love when characters are resurrected so that their original death has no emotional impact after the fact.

Man, I sound bitter, don't I? I just didn't like the first two stories. Weird writing and bad plot points. The show needs a real refresh soon. And by refresh maybe...Moffat? He's got his five series under his belt now. He'd probably be better served turning his eye to Sherlock and letting someone else make their mark on Doctor Who.

Well the whole Zygon thing still ties into Day of the Doctor and we never did see how that panned out when he locked them in the armory. I assume Osgood was still dead after Death in Heaven, unless this is before that. Too lazy to explain...you know, typical timey wimey stuff.

[Patrick_Nicholas]

...and the preview looks like it's a base-under-siege episode. Great. Love those.

(I hate them.)

I'm worried about next week's UNIT story. UNIT sucks.

Well, this pretty much solidifies my suspicions that revival fans can't be fans of the Troughton or Pertwee eras, respectively! :P

Troughton is probably my favorite Doctor and The Invasion (the very first UNIT story) is probably one of my top five serials of his era. (Haven't watched enough Pertwee serials to pick a favorite).

Or are they going to go ahead with the "oh it was the Zygon Osgood so the real one's still here and still obnoxious and her death predictably meant nothing so fuck you" deal? I feel like it'll be the latter. Great. I love when characters are resurrected so that their original death has no emotional impact after the fact.

Well... the opening two-parter tried to sweep the events of "Death In Heaven" under the rug, including "that nasty business with the Cybermen", so I'm not too surprised that the "next week" trailer acted as if her death never happened. Keep in mind that Osgood was created to represent the show's fanbase and probably wouldn't have needed to be killed if John Simm were the one orchestrating the invasion. (Seriously. Anyone with a passing knowledge of The Master should know better than to keep the villain simply handcuffed and in proximity to working personnel [let alone the boss' assistant] and should immediately alert the boss if said villain escapes and/or threatens a coworker).

I would actually bring her back on the grounds that The Mistress would do something FAR more sinister after her first big appearance that would all but eclipse the things she did last time. And I would at least TRY to keep it secret, or as secret as possible in the age of information leakages. But since a million is a statistic unless the plot says otherwise (and that's usually when it's on The Doctor's end, like with the Time War), wiping out a whole planet would mean nothing unless an important individual is killed by her directly in a separate scene (like with Osgood). Granted, Missy did TRY to kill Clara in "The Witch's Familiar". But I'm sure that Moffat knows damn well by now that loads and loads of fans absolutely detest Clara and would likely cheer Missy on if she tried to do it again... unless she actually succeeds. Then it would be on the same scale as Adric's death in Earthshock.

Well the whole Zygon thing still ties into Day of the Doctor and we never did see how that panned out when he locked them in the armory. I assume Osgood was still dead after Death in Heaven, unless this is before that. Too lazy to explain...you know, typical timey wimey stuff.

Either that or have her somehow be aware of how Missy was able to pull off pretty much the same thing when she appeared to get vaporized.

[Space Suicide]

http://www.vulture.com/2015/10/tenna...cebook_vulture

Ten and Donna together again.

[Patrick_Nicholas]

Good to see the revival Doctors finally being integrated into the expanded universe! Tennant is actually my least favorite revival Doctor, but still...

Just moments ago I finished watching The Mind Of Evil (through some obscure French website, as dailymotion can be unreliable [at least for my slow computer]). I'd recommend it to anyone who may have doubts about how sinister The Master can get, this scene notwithstanding.


Spoiler: Oh, and Jo survives!

[Space Suicide]

BBC America is airing "Wholloween" and has aired some more creepier and scarier episodes of the revival. I've watched a bit for some fun haha. I'm awaiting The Zygon Invasion tonight!

I bought an Evolving Dalek Sec POP TV figure today to sit next to my computer on my desk.

[Patrick_Nicholas]

So... apparently... there were two Osgoods, and apparently the Zygons are taking over the world because the humans supposedly killed one of them. If that Osgood's real killer goes unmentioned in the next episode, I may consider said killer to be a Mary-Sue by the end of the season. The reason the Zygons are doing this was only mentioned once, relatively early into the episode.

And it seems that UNIT has been gradually decreasing in usefulness and competence since Nicholas "Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart" Courtney passed away. Sure, they weren't exactly perfect when the Brig was around, but they now seem to be the opposite of what they were like in the classic series (or even the Sontaran two-parter from the Tennant era). They almost always had redshirts with them, but their s9 appearances have made them into a fucking joke. For starters: instead of firing their guns at all things bulletproof, they're not firing their guns at all things not bulletproof. Then there's that guy who was trying to bluff the impostor impersonating his mother by asking some questions only his mother would know. After not answering the first question and conveniently not remembering the answer to the second, he simply gave in and accepted it as his mother then led his fellow men to their deaths.

I'm impressed that writer Peter Harness of "Kill The Moon" infamy was allowed to come back; though Moffat may have had some second thoughts, as he's co-writing part 2.

[eversonpoe]

So... apparently... there were two Osgoods, and apparently the Zygons are taking over the world because the humans supposedly killed one of them. If that Osgood's real killer goes unmentioned in the next episode, I may consider said killer to be a Mary-Sue by the end of the season. The reason the Zygons are doing this was only mentioned once, relatively early into the episode.

And it seems that UNIT has been gradually decreasing in usefulness and competence since Nicholas "Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart" Courtney passed away. Sure, they weren't exactly perfect when the Brig was around, but they now seem to be the opposite of what they were like in the classic series (or even the Sontaran two-parter from the Tennant era). They almost always had redshirts with them, but their s9 appearances have made them into a fucking joke. For starters: instead of firing their guns at all things bulletproof, they're not firing their guns at all things not bulletproof. Then there's that guy who was trying to bluff the impostor impersonating his mother by asking some questions only his mother would know. After not answering the first question and conveniently not remembering the answer to the second, he simply gave in and accepted it as his mother then led his fellow men to their deaths.

I'm impressed that writer Peter Harness of "Kill The Moon" infamy was allowed to come back; though Moffat may have had some second thoughts, as he's co-writing part 2.

well, we knew there were two Osgoods from "The Day Of The Doctor", and we also know who killed the one of them who is dead: Spoiler: Missy in Dark Water / Death In Heaven. so after that happened, the peace treaty which was embodied by the two Osgoods began to dissolve, and that's why we are where we are.

[Patrick_Nicholas]

So... how many of you bothered to watch part 2?

For me... this is definitely the weakest s9 episode so far. The entire conflict was resolved slowly and verbally, emphasis on slowly. While the link is conveniently restored at the end, The Doctor seemed to be too preoccupied with making a peaceful resolution to even mention that Missy was the one who broke the link in the first place, thus triggering the invasion. Oh, and they didn't even bother at all to remind us why again the Zygons were taking over the world for anyone who may have missed part 1. Way to conveniently ignore the person (indirectly) responsible for this mess, Moffat! And thanks for wasting yet another cool monster, like with the Daleks and Cybermen!

[eversonpoe]

i thought this new episode was pretty cool, but i'm REALLY looking forward to next week's. this season has, overall, been extremely enjoyable and immersive.