The Doctor Who thread

Lixarto

Well,  that was different.

I'm glad to say Moffat's promised new approach looks like it's going to work - the Smith years were far too breathless and the whole thing needed to slow down a bit - last night's title reflected that as much as anything else.

Capaldi is obviously a better technical actor than Smith, who now appears to be a silly little boy in comparison - although the John Hurt stuff began that reinterpretation.

Clara's a bit dull yes, but if some of the stuff I've heard about is true - well, we'll wait and see.

And yes, it is nice to have a Doctor that's older than me again.

Niallmo

I thought it was a very good start from Capaldi. Head and shoulders above Smith. I think we'll see a weightier series with a big payoff. Coleman was a bit better too, probably because Capaldi can draw in other actors with his sheer presence...yes, I think that's it, This Doctor will have a much bigger presence. 

I couldn't quite put my finger on why Smith and Tenant seemed a bit lightweight in the really serious stuff, it was a lack of prescence.

Lixarto

Yes - gravitas

ESchap

Disappointed there was no crossover from "the thick of it" in Capaldi's character, would have livened it up a treat.  But my 13 year old still enjoys it, so I've still got an excuse to drool at Jenna-Louise Coleman.

Fretwired

A mixed bag- great opening titles, I didn't like the theme tune. I wish the BBC would just fire Moffat - I'm sure the T-Rex was only there so the BBC could use it in the trailer to drum up young viewers for the first episode. They were obviously worried younger viewers wouldn't take to an older Doctor so they dug up Matt Smith in a wig to reassure people that the old grey guy with the Scottish accent was still the same person. And the Doctor's comments about I've seen this face before - yes Pompeii. He obviously liked the Roman and 'pinched' his face. Why bother mentioning it?

Moffat's jokes are getting weak - "I'm Scottish .." said the Doctor. No your not you're an alien. And the pouring of the glass of scotch and blame the English comment was just poor stereotyping - what next a deep fried Mars bar?

Nice idea to bring the droids back although they could have done more with them - Victorian steampunk robots would have been cool. And Moffat's being lazy again - with the Weeping Angels you don't blink, with the droids you don't breathe.

On the plus side I thought Capaldi was excellent - there's just a hint of madness and as @Lixarto said gravitas. It was also good to see some interesting scenes with dialogue that developed the characters - the Doctor with the tramp, the restaurant scene and the Doctor with the half-faced droid.

The ending was intriguing. The half-faced droid in 'heaven' which looked just like the garden Amy Pond was trapped in and who is the woman? Did the Doctor push the droid or did he jump? Did the woman save the droid?

I hope this series doesn't end up being Sherlock in space and time.

digitalscream

Fretwired said:

The ending was intriguing. The half-faced droid in 'heaven' which looked just like the garden Amy Pond was trapped in and who is the woman?

Seems to me they're setting up a new story arc with that. Having spent some time thinking about it, I think there are logical explanations for her being anyone from the Rani to River Song. Hopefully it's going to be a clever story arc, rather than an endlessly convoluted one like the last few series.

Also...did anyone think that garden looked suspiciously like a TARDIS control room?

Fretwired

digitalscream said:

Fretwired said:

The ending was intriguing. The half-faced droid in 'heaven' which looked just like the garden Amy Pond was trapped in and who is the woman?

Seems to me they're setting up a new story arc with that. Having spent some time thinking about it, I think there are logical explanations for her being anyone from the Rani to River Song. Hopefully it's going to be a clever story arc, rather than an endlessly convoluted one like the last few series.

Also...did anyone think that garden looked suspiciously like a TARDIS control room?

Yes. I did think the woman could be the Tardis cleaning up some of the Doctor's mistakes.

suspiciousminds

I cant see coleman staying with capaldi tbh unless they change her character - he's definately in the "pertwee" camp which i like, and not "touchy feely".
I thought the "i've seen this face" reference and the fact that he seems to be able to have a little control over his regeneration faces a good line tbh.

digitalscream

suspiciousminds said:

I thought the "i've seen this face" reference and the fact that he seems to be able to have a little control over his regeneration faces a good line tbh.

I seem to recall that Romana had a regeneration where she tried on a load of different faces/bodies before settling on one - it was intimated that it's one of the things they learn at Time Lord school, but the Doc didn't hang around long enough to learn it. Since he's 2,000 years old, it's possible that he finally figured it out himself to a rudimentary level.

Chuffola

Good comments so far.

Capaldi was great but the story was poor. Awful, in fact.

I'm not sure I get all the hate for Clara (in the interweb, not necessarily here!) - I like her. 

I am also fed up with the Madame Vastra, Strax and Jenny. And I really don't need to be reminded every two minutes that they are lesbian and in a marraiage. Who cares?

But next week - Capaldi and Daleks.  That could be fun. 

Fretwired

Chuffola said:

I am also fed up with the Madame Vastra, Strax and Jenny. And I really don't need to be reminded every two minutes that they are lesbian and in a marraiage. Who cares?

I agree in the context of this episode. They were under used. Could be good in their own Torchwood type series set in Victorian England. Strax is at least funny.

Clara is OK but she didn't gel with the Doctor. She's too 'lightweight' – Capaldi will need a stronger, feistier character like Riversong IMHO.

mellowsun

Basically Doctor Who has gone too much in the direction of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. 

Buffy was groundbreaking at the time, but the whole 'baddies can become good, and inter-species, multisexual romantic interest is cool' has been done to death now, and for Doctor Who to try to rerun these themes 10 years later is just boring.

I liked the androids though and Capaldi looks like he could be a great Doctor. But a new Doctor needs a new assistant. It just doesn't work with Clara. There's no onscreen chemistry.

axisus

Fretwired said:

Chuffola said:

I am also fed up with the Madame Vastra, Strax and Jenny. And I really don't need to be reminded every two minutes that they are lesbian and in a marraiage. Who cares?

I agree in the context of this episode. They were under used. Could be good in their own Torchwood type series set in Victorian England. Strax is at least funny.

That would make a great spin off!

fatherjack

Moffat + story arc = disappointing resolution. 

The story was mostly pish (which unfortunately is typical for Moffatt as a writer nowadays), but I think that Peter Capaldi could be very good.

Lixarto

digitalscream said:

suspiciousminds said:

I thought the "i've seen this face" reference and the fact that he seems to be able to have a little control over his regeneration faces a good line tbh.

I seem to recall that Romana had a regeneration where she tried on a load of different faces/bodies before settling on one - it was intimated that it's one of the things they learn at Time Lord school, but the Doc didn't hang around long enough to learn it. Since he's 2,000 years old, it's possible that he finally figured it out himself to a rudimentary level.

More than that - Romana deliberately took the face of Princess Astra because she liked it.

Astra was arguably not a "person" at all though: http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Astra_of_Atrios

holnrew

Did anybody actually call the dinosaur a T-Rex in the episode? I thought there were bigger, similar dinosaurs that have been discovered anyway.

Fretwired

holnrew said:

Did anybody actually call the dinosaur a T-Rex in the episode? I thought there were bigger, similar dinosaurs that have been discovered anyway.

The Elizabeth Tower is over 300 feet tall - much taller than any known dinosaur that lived on Earth. But then the Doctor didn't say that he was on Earth when the dinosaur swallowed the Tardis so it could be a bigger cousin from a distant planet. In any case worrying about the size of a dinosaur in a programme about a 2000 year old time travelling alien who travels through space and time in a ship that resembles a 1960s British police telephone box does seem a little nit picky .. :-)

RobDavies

Clarky said:

what a pile of shite that was…

I think the only reason I'll think about taking a look at the next episode is the Daleks...

Yes! I know we've disagreed on films in the past, but you're bang on, on this one. It was very, very dull.

monquixote

I believe he called it a "giant" dinosaur in the show

Clarky

RobDavies said:

Clarky said:

what a pile of shite that was…

I think the only reason I'll think about taking a look at the next episode is the Daleks...

Yes! I know we've disagreed on films in the past, but you're bang on, on this one. It was very, very dull.

I thought the only good bit was the "i'll help you breathe" reptile lesbo snog…

being an alien, maybe they could have made her breathe out of her tits..

that would at least have been a bit more interesting and have stirred the "blah blah complain!! yours, angry from Surrey" lot into action.. lmao