Doctor Who. Official!

[Makuta Miras]

Heck Bent

 

 

Disappointing. Gallifrey was completely underused- and trust Moffat to just handwave away how the Time Lords got out of the pocket universe, which is even worse since he said that we would be revisiting Capaldi's scene in DoTD in this episode! 

Anyway.

 

New Sonic gets a thumbs-down from me. Looks like a lightsaber. Clara return gets a massive thumbs-down for me- it completely cut off the Doctor's emotional reaction to her death back in Face the Raven. Vanilla TARDIS gets a thumbs-up. As with the rest of this series, Ashildr's become better every time we see her, which I like- by now she's actually an interesting character, instead of the naive Viking she was in The Girl Who Died. 

 

The Christmas special is looking really good- I feel like a comedic Christmas special is what we need after Last Christmas and The Time of the Doctor.

 

Overall, I give Series 9 a 7.5/10- it had some amazing episodes (The Witch's Familiar, The Zygon Inversion, Under The Lake and Heaven Sent, I'm looking at you) but Heck Bent and Sleep No More really pulled it down from the 9 that I would have given it otherwise. Definitely a massive improvement over Series 8, though- I'm looking forward to Series 10.

 

 

[Voltex]

 

 

I rather enjoyed the finale. But Clara is also my favorite and seeing her get to run around for all of time in her own TARDIS is essentially everything I'd hoped for and more.

 

I am obviously entirely biased on this matter.

 

 

[The 1st Shadow]

 

I've said this before, but not on here. I hate what they've been doing recently. Ten got a great sendoff, and then he came back just for a mediocre sendoff. Eleven had two going-away speeches, and then we got to say goodbye to him again in the next episode. With Clara, she had a great sendoff with Face the Raven. And then she comes back, gives the Doctor another fantastic goodbye speech, and then just goes, "lol Nope! Gonna go party with Me while time crumbles around me." Her final goodbye was turned into the worst sendoff for any character in this series. I love Clara, but that finale ruined her entire development for me. Not even the new sonic makes up for it.

Plus, I preferred the shades.

 

[Makuta Miras]

 

Oh also did anyone else notice the notes of Vale Decem that played whilst the Doctor was on Gallifrey?

 

[Alyska]

 

 

Really disturbing that the Doctor seems to have learned nothing from Donna, and still thought wiping Clara's memory against her wishes was the right thing to do. I like the ending they gave Clara, though, and there were some good emotional character moments there.

 

Anybody else shipping Clarashildr now?

 

 

 

Looking forward to the Christmas one- looks like good demented fun.

 

Also, found this. (video)

 

Go home, BBC. You are drunk.

 

(Though the idea of a universe where the Doctor and Sherlock both exist alongside sentient food and toys is an intriguing idea. Now I'm picturing Sherlock running around trying to solve mysteries involving decapitated gingerbread men and eviscerated teddy bears. Also, was that Graham Norton at the party? Norton meeting Sherlock would be hilarious.)

 

"Ooh! Oooh! Sherlock! Look! The Internet thinks you look like an otter!"

"John, help, he won't leave, can you punch him for me?"

[CHTrilogy]

Heck Bent

 

 

Disappointing. Gallifrey was completely underused- and trust Moffat to just handwave away how the Time Lords got out of the pocket universe, which is even worse since he said that we would be revisiting Capaldi's scene in DoTD in this episode! 

Anyway.

 

New Sonic gets a thumbs-down from me. Looks like a lightsaber. Clara return gets a massive thumbs-down for me- it completely cut off the Doctor's emotional reaction to her death back in Face the Raven. Vanilla TARDIS gets a thumbs-up. As with the rest of this series, Ashildr's become better every time we see her, which I like- by now she's actually an interesting character, instead of the naive Viking she was in The Girl Who Died.

 

 

 

 

Marvelous! I knew Moffat would screw it up! Now her death means nothing - just like all the others!

 

 

There's been another thing playing on my mind... I can't be the only one who thinks Day of the Doctor was the most disappointing thing since The Phantom Menace?

[Makuta Miras]

You're the only one.

[CHTrilogy]

I thought as much.

[Toa of Gallifrey]

There will never be such a thing as disappointing as Phantom Menace, unless Valve outsources Half-Life 3 to EA.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

There will never be such a thing as disappointing as Phantom Menace, unless Valve outsources Half-Life 3 to EA.

People give that movie too much hate. Sure it wasn't as good as the Original Trilogy, but even they aren't as good as people often make them out to be (which is like 'the holy grail of movies'). Valve doing that, however, would be one of the great crimes of the millennium (which since it just started it can be on there).

[CHTrilogy]

Well it wasn't that bad, in fact I have some nostalgia for it. So let's say, I dunno.... well, just that DotD was disappointing. This guy sums my issues with it up better than I can. (I don't know if this link is allowed or not?)

 

It also explains why I cannot accept the whole "12th Doctor, 14th Incarnation" thing. Capaldi is the 14th Doctor, and nothing can convince me otherwise! And such a waste too, because John Hurt would've been an awesome present-day Doctor. (Not to mention he survived not one but two Chestbursters!)

 

And the sad thing about it is, there definitely was a real party in the air at the time, even I felt it (this was when I was in denial). Sure, it felt like a celebration... but not of the last 50 years.

 

"An Adventure in Space and Time" was better, and so is "The Light at the End". Maybe.

[ChocolateFrogs]

What color is Matt Smith's/The 11th Doctor's hair? I would argue black, which is why I am really annoyed that the LEGO Ideas set gives him brown hair. That, and it is even parted in the wrong direction!

 

-CF

[Trijhak]

I would say brown, definitely dark brown. 10's hair, however, is definitely black. 

[Alyska]

I'd say brown for both, but 11's is less saturated.

[Makuta Miras]

 

I feel like Moffat has redeemed himself for the train wreck that was Heck Bent by writing The Husbands of River Song. Amazing episode- it was exactly what a Christmas special should be, in my opinion; fun and lighthearted, albeit with some overall story significance. The ending with River was especially poignant. My only minor complaints are that a. River having almost run out of space in her diary and therefore knowing she would die soon kind of sucked some tragic emotion out of the episode, although this wasn't too bad, and that b. I may have missed some of the episode because I was building the Lego Doctor Who set that I got from my grandparents.

 

I rate 9/10; quite possibly the best Christmas Special in the history of Who.

 

Edited December 26, 2015 by Kylo Ren

[ChocolateFrogs]

I enjoyed The Husbands of River Song as an episode, especially with its story/character significance, but it didn't feel like a Christmas special to me. The best Christmas specials IMO have been the ones that you can use at intro episodes into Doctor Who if you family or friends happen to be with you at the time the special comes on, so they may as well keep celebrating the holiday with you by bothering with that weird TV show you're excited about. Like The Time of the Doctor, it was more heavily focused on a story that just coincidentally occurred on Christmas than it was at saving the day while celebrating all the many facets that bring people together for the holidays. Telling stories are great, and Moffat did a great job with this one (of course), but as a Christmas episode it fell short in being new-viewer-friendly.

 

-CF

[Trijhak]

I have to say, I feel like 12 and River work so much better together than 11 and River did. Their relationship never quite worked during series 6 or 7 IMO, but here? Works so much better.

 

Still, I'm not quite sure what to make of the episode other than that. Seemed a bit rushed, though nowhere near as much as Time of the Doctor. Probably could have used an extra 15 minutes like Voyage of the Danged.

[Makuta Miras]

Raggedy man... goodnight.

 

 

Bye, Moffat.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Kylo Ren

[Toa of Gallifrey]

In my opinion Chibnall did great on Torchwood, not so much on Who. Gonna wait to see what he offers before judging, of course. I hope Moffat sticks around and writes the odd episode every now and then, I think he writes best when it's an individual episode such as The Girl in the Fireplace or Blink. I also still wish Davies would come back for some episodes, too.

[Rahkshi Guurahk]

I'm just going to ask as there is going to be a hiatus for this year, does anyone else hate hiatuses (hiati?) that last that long?

And I'm not just saying this in terms of Doctor Who only, I mean television in general.

EDIT: Apparently filming starts in May, so this isn't as bad as I thought, so ignore what I originally said about it probably conflicting with their coverage of the Olympics.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Rahkshi Guurahk

[ChocolateFrogs]

Well, yeah. Firefly has been on hiatus for...11 years now? Sheesh.

 

The long wait between Sherlock seasons is terrible. Splitting seasons between two years (essentially giving us half a season a year) is unfortunate (DW and Warehouse 13 did this). And I really don't understand why DW will essentially be not airing at all in 2016 except for the Christmas special. It's literally a year between Doctor Who seasons. It's literally a year without a season, because it's one episode. At least David Tennant put out 4 episodes in his "off year."

 

Like, do your job, Moffat and Capaldi.

 

-CF

Edited January 30, 2016 by ChocolateFrogs

[Trijhak]

Episode scheduling isn't up to them, it's up to the BBC Controller.

 

 

 

 At least David Tennant put out 4 episodes in his "off year."

 

It wasn't his 'off year'.

[CHTrilogy]

 

Raggedy man... goodnight.

 

 

Bye, Moffat.

 

 

Can't say I'm going to miss him. After all the harm he's caused to the core integrity of Who, at least Chibnall should be able to balance it all out.

Edited January 31, 2016 by CHTrilogy

[Trijhak]

Yeah, all that harm that made DW internationally popular as opposed to just popular locally... yeah... That sure is some harm he did, totally, definitely. 

[CHTrilogy]

Don't make me laugh! I suspect it was BBC America getting up to date with new episodes that had to do with that more so than the show itself. Furthermore, while this is not always the case, many of these new viewers just watch Moffat's series and nothing else beyond that, and go around complaining that the classic series is the worst because it's the most boringest one. Not the finest addition to the Whovian community. This fanbase is evidently not worth Moffat's respect either, seeing as he's lashed out at them in the past. So honestly, what has Steven Moffat really done for Doctor Who? Brought in a ton of kids whose first and only experience with Who is the Matt Smith era, caused a ridiculous divide among the fans, and generally brought nothing but hostility and bad times for everyone involved. I highly doubt anyone's going to call that anything but harmful!

[Trijhak]

...You're... against... new people... enjoying... a show...??????? Every era in a show is going to bring in new fans, why is that a bad thing? RTD brought in a bunch of new fans whose only experience was with his era, was that harmful too? And new fans complaining about classic Who? Can't say I've seen much of it... and even then, if it's not their cup of tea, it's not their cup of tea. They are allowed to have their opinions, even if you don't like them. I myself have to say that quite a few stories in the late 4th Doctor era were nowhere near as good as the stories in the earlier-mid 4th Doctor era.

 

This fanbase is evidently not worth Moffat's respect either, seeing as he's lashed out at them in the past. 

 

 

Funnily enough I agree with you, for completely different reasons, because I've seen this fanbase lash out at Moffat far more. I've seen some reprehensible things be said by some people. He has his flaws but that's no justification. Recently, Capaldi had to move house because a bunch of fans kept annoying him after they found out where he lived. Is that a fanbase that deserves respect? I am also aware that some people actively avoid DW because they find the fanbase obnoxious and annoying, and frankly, I don't blame them.

 

 

 

caused a ridiculous divide among the fans

 

....how? There was already a divide between those who saw Classic Who as the only 'true' DW and those who accepted new Who when it started in 2005. And even then, it's not like he has any control over what people are going to think. He can't just magically say 'fanbase divide, begone!' and have it be gone. Nor could RTD or JNT for that matter. There's going to be another divide when Chibnall takes over, I guarantee it, and people are going to be just as vitriolic towards Chibnall as they are towards Moffat, eventually. Because he's not RTD and not Moffat, he's different, and different things must be disliked, obviously. 

 

 

 

generally brought nothing but hostility and bad times for everyone involved. 

 

 

Yeah. it's not like Smith or Capaldi really enjoyed working on the show or something...

[Toa of Gallifrey]

All those new people coming into the show are what turned me off from watching it. That's why I stopped watching when William Hartnell left. I hope I haven't missed anything important.

[CHTrilogy]

...You're... against... new people... enjoying... a show...???????

 

What? No, that's just stupid! But I will be against it if all they're going to do is complain when the next showrunner comes along! And, as you say, they will!

Edited February 13, 2016 by CHTrilogy