Doctor Who

[sheepdean]

Did not like the reference to things sounding like the devil knocking, then going to bed in an empty house and waking up to knocking sounds I'd never heard before.

Try being 6 years old and watching Tomb of the Cybermen before going to bed

[theimage13]

Try being 6 years old and watching Tomb of the Cybermen before going to bed

Yeah...no thanks.

[theimage13]

So...Journey to the Center of the TARDIS. Thoughts?

[Trains]

Thought it was excellent! Lots of little fan-pleasing tibids and nods to old stories. I thought it was good to finally see the library and swimming pool, and there a couple of nice little nods to the 1996 TV movie -- the Eye of Harmony, obviously, as well as the Gothic architecture in one of the rooms. The 'energy circuit tree' looked fantastic, and the Time War book was pretty intriguing. I thought the story held up pretty well too; Fringe it was not, but it was the first episode of Who that required me to use my brain in a very long time.

Criticisms? Too much time spent wandering through the same corridor, weak acting from the three brothers, and maybe a slightly duff ending. But still, the best episode of series 7 so far, and potentially my favorite Who story since 2010.

Also, am I the only one who thought that when Clara scanned through the Time War book and said 'so that's who', she was referring to the Daleks?

[ibanez33]

Also, am I the only one who thought that when Clara scanned through the Time War book and said 'so that's who', she was referring to the Daleks?

Never thought of that. I thought it was Moffat making another little joke, more like "so that's Who (wink wink nudge nudge)". He's been poking at calling him Who all season long, and now we know we're going to find out the Doctors actual name in the finale with the whole "Silence will fall when the question is answered" thing.

[theimage13]

Never thought of that. I thought it was Moffat making another little joke, more like "so that's Who (wink wink nudge nudge)". He's been poking at calling him Who all season long, and now we know we're going to find out the Doctors actual name in the finale with the whole "Silence will fall when the question is answered" thing.

That's what I thought, too. To me, that was obvious - so if I'm wrong, well done Moffatt.

On the whole, I liked this episode. Loved the different sets, although I can agree about maybe spending too much time in the same corridor. And I thought he got rid of the swimming pool?

Yeah, brothers' acting wasn't all that great. But Smith seemed to be in pretty good form in this one. And the creatures kind of creeped me out a bit, which is always a plus.

[orestes]

The Pond room.

[Trains]

That's what I thought, too. To me, that was obvious - so if I'm wrong, well done Moffatt.

Probably me reading too much into things, I tend to do that with Who. I am curious about his name though, I wonder if it'll be something Gallifreyan (like Romana or Rassilon) or an English name. And if they're going to give us the answer to the Clara mystery as well as the Doctor's secret in one episode, surely the two things must be linked right? My 2 cents: what if they're two parts of the same entity, like a yin-yang or something, with Clara being the light to complement the Doctor's darkness? Or maybe all his companions are actually the same person, and perhaps all the female companions in the show's history have always been Susan, just different regenerations of her, and somehow they both forgot?

Nah, that all sounded pretty rubbish...

[orestes]

Maybe it's just projecting but someone on tumblr pointed out that Clara and the Doctor's daughter are sitting in the same black pilot chair.

Oh, here it is: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/04/doc...mystery-solved

[WorzelG]

What's all this doctors name stuff? I just spoke to my uber-Who dweeb husband who said in The Armageddon Factor episode you found out the doctor was called Theet Sigma (no idea how to spell it) at the Time Lord academy - whether they've included this in the current series I don't know

[DF118]

What's all this doctors name stuff? I just spoke to my uber-Who dweeb husband who said in The Armageddon Factor episode you found out the doctor was called Theet Sigma (no idea how to spell it) at the Time Lord academy - whether they've included this in the current series I don't know

Yep, River Song wrote it on a cliff face at the beginning of The Pandorica Opens.

[WorzelG]

Yep, River Song wrote it on a cliff face at the beginning of The Pandorica Opens.

Thanks for that - I just researched it myself on wiki and found Theta Sigma was a nickname, so they have accounted for it. I've not been paying attention!

[sheepdean]

Theta Sigma has varied between being a nickname and being his real name for a while, but I think the new canon has stated it firmly as a nickname.

I'm hoping against hope that his name will be said but not HEARD, that is, the viewers won't hear it. Fuck, in the early episodes, the end credits listed him as "Doctor Who", that WAS his name.

Also, this is good reading for people who are interested but haven't seen much outside of the new stuff http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Aliases_of_the_Doctor


(also: John Smith is totally a contender due to a lapse in canon - the alias was originally given to him by companion/lover Jamie in his SECOND incarnation, but in the Vampires of Venice, there's a library card shown on screen with "Dr J Smith" and a picture of his FIRST incarnation. Probably continuity error, possible Moffat overarching nonsense).


edit: that got me thinking so I wrote a thing about it http://sheepdean.com/post/4937938804...-is-john-smith

[theimage13]

I wonder if Clara could actually be The Doctor...just the product some uber-bizarre timey-wimey mixup thing. I know...99.99% chance unlikely.

But then again, I called (spoiler: Amy being pregnant with River) during the first episode of Season 6.

[sheepdean]

I'm assuming Clara is human, it'd be a pointless dick move to constantly reaffirm that she is otherwise.

Of course, I'm also totally down for her being Susan but using the magic watch thing that I hate SO MUCH as a plot mechanism, because I just love Susan

[DF118]

Clara is quite obviously THE RANI.

[orestes]

Great episode thanks in part to Diana Rigg. Loved the little nod to Monty Python!

Also, the Doctor and Mrs. Smith.

[sheepdean]

Rigg senior's character choices made like, no sense?

The reference to Tegan was nice though. Generally good episode, though I did get the feeling it was made primarily so the Doctor could say "There's trouble at t'mill".

[orestes]

What kind of trouble?

[sheepdean]

One o'crossbeams gon' ou'skew on'tredle

[DF118]

Diana Rigg isn't nearly as hot as she used to be.

[thevoid99]

Diana Rigg isn't nearly as hot as she used to be.

That didn't stop Daniel Radcliffe from hitting on her in Extras.

[orestes]

I don't know if it's because of the children, seriously stfu Angie, but that was a meh episode. The back and forth between the Doctor and the Cyberman was disengaging. I did like the callback to Elizabeth X, though.

The sneak preview for next week's episode looks great!

[sheepdean]

Fast cybermen are ugh. They're scary because they don't go fast, just never stop until they reach you. Also, the kids were only there for Spoiler: being a bargaining chip and to reveal Porridge was the emperor WHICH WAS OBVIOUS ANYWAY. Not a bad episode but would've been 100x better without the kids and the deus ex machina.

The web-only preview of the next episode throws loads of extra speculation out there:

[orestes]

Fast Cybermen gave me flashbacks to flying Daleks. The pivoting head was cool, though.

Is it just me or has this season been hit and miss?

[sheepdean]

Flying Daleks started in Classic Who though, and whilst fans didn't like it, it was well established canon.

Do you mean this half of the season, or just the season generally? I thought the pre-xmas episodes weren't too bad, esp Asylum of the Daleks

[orestes]

This half of the season.

[sheepdean]

FEELINGS COPYPASTED FROM MY TUMBLR
Obviously, spoilers

They actually made the clara thing make sense which is awesome
So happy for john hurt being in it
SO FUCKING HAPPY FoR WILLIAM HARTNELL GETTING SIGNIFICANT SCREEN TIME
so much classic who references asdfdsgdhj
I AM VERY HAPPY WE DID NOT FIND HIS NAME
jenny is still awesome
strax being evil made me sad
yay that the kids weren’t in it
evil faced men were scary
taaardiiiiis
WHAT IF SUSAN COMES BACK, WE’VE SEEN HER PROPERLY NOW
ahhh idk, but easily the best episode of this season


JOHN HURT IS THE BEST ACTOR EVER

[gorast]

FEELINGS COPYPASTED FROM MY TUMBLR
Obviously, spoilers

They actually made the clara thing make sense which is awesome
So happy for john hurt being in it
SO FUCKING HAPPY FoR WILLIAM HARTNELL GETTING SIGNIFICANT SCREEN TIME
so much classic who references asdfdsgdhj
I AM VERY HAPPY WE DID NOT FIND HIS NAME
jenny is still awesome
strax being evil made me sad
yay that the kids weren’t in it
evil faced men were scary
taaardiiiiis
WHAT IF SUSAN COMES BACK, WE’VE SEEN HER PROPERLY NOW
ahhh idk, but easily the best episode of this season


JOHN HURT IS THE BEST ACTOR EVER

My absolute favorite parts of that episode were the scenes with the classic Doctors, and Clara taking the place of various companions (that's what the scenes were implying, right?)

Especially the end scene where she shows up and tells him which TARDIS to take. Golden.

[sheepdean]

She wasn't taking the part of the previous companions, just lurking about and guiding him

Also, iirc, that's the first time we've seen the TARDIS in its natural form