Doctor Who v. Patrick Troughton

[bout to crash]

Not that I know of! 

[ariich]

I liked it just fine.

Apart from that, though, I agree with pretty much everything in your post Blob. I was going to post something similar last night but was too tired so just went to bed. I really loved the twist that it was the Doctor who forgot - really didn't see it coming and even they did the whole russian roulette thing I didn't think it would happen. Great twist.

Though Season 5 is still the best them.

[Scorpion]

Gawd, Sleep No More was bad.

Did ANYONE like that episode?

Mark Gatiss, maybe?

Anyway, Hell Bent was superb. I had a lot of mixed feelings on my first watch, but I watched it again this morning and it really comes together very nicely. The way the Hybrid storyline was resolved was superb and while the whole Clara thing did feel weird, it really was a proper end to her arc.

I must say, I don't think I've ever enjoyed a Doctor/companion relationship as much as I have enjoyed Doctor/Clara in Season 9. It was a little wobbly in Season 8, but this season knocked it out of the park.

1. Heaven Sent/Hell Bent
2. The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion
3. Face the Raven
4. Under the Lake/Before the Flood
5. The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar
6. The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived





7. Sleep No More

Also, preliminary season ranking:

9
5
8
7
4
1
6
3
2

EDIT: As I thought, pretty much the entire internet says that this episode sucked because it brought Clara back and shows that nobody actually dies on the show.

Oh well, their loss. I liked it.

[BlackInk]

Loved the finale.

Gawd, Sleep No More was bad.

Did ANYONE like that episode?

I didn't really have a problem with it. Not even my least favorite of the season.

[BlobVanDam]

EDIT: As I thought, pretty much the entire internet says that this episode sucked because it brought Clara back and shows that nobody actually dies on the show.

Oh well, their loss. I liked it.

I'm sure some people (especially Moffat haters) will bitch that Clara actually survived somehow

Called it! So predictable.

It's a family show that's intended to be suitable for children. I don't expect them to do anything too brutal to the characters. The only companions of the modern era that really died were Amy and Rory, and even that was off screen by living out their lives together until they were old and died of natural causes.

Mark Gatiss, maybe?

I'm not even convinced of that. He probably forgot he had to submit a script that morning, so he just grabbed some random pages from old scripts, crossed out and changed the names, and had Mr Sandman stuck in his head after it woke him up with his alarm so scribbled some drawings on a post-it and stuck it on the front.

[Kotowboy]

So....

Clara isn't actually alive OR dead at the moment...Which means she could crop up again in the future...

Is she going back to Gallifrey to be put back in the trap street or will she go off on her own with Ashildr for a while first ?



Also...Diner at the End of the Universe ? 

[BlackInk]

So....

Clara isn't actually alive OR dead at the moment...Which means she could crop up again in the future...

Is she going back to Gallifrey to be put back in the trap street or will she go off on her own with Ashildr for a while first ?

Pretty sure they were going on their own adventures first, taking the "long way around".

[Scorpion]

EDIT: As I thought, pretty much the entire internet says that this episode sucked because it brought Clara back and shows that nobody actually dies on the show.

Oh well, their loss. I liked it.

I'm sure some people (especially Moffat haters) will bitch that Clara actually survived somehow

Called it! So predictable.

It's a family show that's intended to be suitable for children. I don't expect them to do anything too brutal to the characters. The only companions of the modern era that really died were Amy and Rory, and even that was off screen by living out their lives together until they were old and died of natural causes.

Well, to be fair, they've been quite brutal to characters in quite a few episodes - Heaven Sent comes to mind. And I would have a problem with it if the entire reason for Clara's survival was that they thought that a death would be too brutal. But that wasn't the reasoning behind it, and the reasoning made sense within the scope of both who the Doctor and Clara are, so whatever.

Also I will concede that it was a step down from Heaven Sent, but that doesn't really have to mean much, because Heaven Sent is probably Top 5 of all time for me.

[Kotowboy]

I love endings like Hell Bent.

It was like a Christopher Nolan ending. Tied up all the loose ends and showed you everything you wanted to see.

If it was an episode of Star Trek Voyager - the diner would have dematerialised - the blue TARDIS would have been there and it would have cut to black.

[Onno]

Caught up on the last three episodes this weekend. Loved all of them. I thought they were really original. Fantastic ending for the season.

[Heretic]

Yep, phenomenal ending for the best series yet, really. So proud of the entire DW team and the support from the fanbase as well.

Series rankings:

9
5
4
7 (including DOTD and TOTD)
8
1
3
2
6

Hasn't been a series I haven't loved, though, just loved some more than others on the whole.

[BlobVanDam]

I don't know how I'd rank them all, but I think 9 would rank highest, followed maybe by 8, followed by the Matt Smith seasons.

[Scorpion]

If it weren't for the entire Slitheen arc, then Season 1 would be much higher for me than it is, and it might even top Season 4. Eccleston is a great Doctor.

[masterthes]

I still think Tennant is my favorite of the reboot era, but Capaldi is definitely slowly catching up to Matt Smith for second place. This was a fantastic season, so much better than last year. Season ranking so far:

4
5
9
1
3
8
7
6
2

[BlobVanDam]

Well that was a better episode than I expected. As I've said, I don't like Christmas episodes, and I don't like River Song, but it wasn't very Christmas-y aside from being snowy and technically being Christmas at the end (I don't know why this planet would have Christmas, but hey), and even River Song wasn't annoying by the end of the episode.

I thought this was going to be an early River Song in her timeline, since their timelines are mostly opposite to each other, but I was glad it ended up being the end of her timeline for various reasons. This episode was actually a very nice sendoff for her character (good riddance ), and I enjoyed the closure of seeing it come full circle back to Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead too, especially once he handed her the gift you knew would be the Sonic screwdriver.

Given my dislike of River Song, it showed how good the writing has been this season that I enjoyed it as much as I did. The first 2/3 of the episode were ok, but the last 1/3 once she gave her speech about The Doctor and realized he was The Doctor, was excellent. Capaldi and Kingston had more believable chemistry than the 11th did.

[bout to crash]

Oh gawd, that speech

[BlackInk]

Yeah this was a really emotional episode, at least the end, or last third as Blob said. The rest was a lot of fun, I laughed out loud at several moments.

[bout to crash]

True that. If I hadn't been watching with friends I probably would have been crying my eyes out in addition to the laughing out loud.

[ariich]

Yeah the emotional stuff at the end was really nicely done, and I'm really glad Moffat went and brought River's story full circle as that definitely felt missing!

[BlobVanDam]

Yeah the emotional stuff at the end was really nicely done, and I'm really glad Moffat went and brought River's story full circle as that definitely felt missing!

The sonic screwdriver thing from Silence in the Library is one of those hanging threads I've been waiting for them to deal with for a while, because it seemed like it was going to come from the 10th Doctor but never did.

I'm still waiting for them to show how the 12th Doctor ended up at the Time War for the events of Day of the Doctor (no sir, all 13!).

[ariich]

That one I'm not sure they'll do, though you never know with Moffat. It wouldn't be so much of a hanging thread though, as they didn't show how any of 1-8 or 9 got there either.

[BlobVanDam]

That one I'm not sure they'll do, though you never know with Moffat. It wouldn't be so much of a hanging thread though, as they didn't show how any of 1-8 or 9 got there either.

The difference is the 12th Doctor is the current Doctor, so I think it's an important event to show how he got involved and when it occurred for him. Even though we don't see every single thing The Doctor does, I feel that's a significant event to skip over, and showing how he ended up there would basically explain how the previous Doctors got there anyway, without needing to show them too. Some kind of mass message or beacon etc.
None of the earlier Doctors had the events of that episode happen in their original timeline/run; it only happened after the timey wimey stuff, so obviously I don't expect to see them. Those Doctors are decades in the past. The 12th Doctor is the only Doctor from after that point in the Doctor's life to be involved, and he's the current Doctor, and they set up those events before Capaldi even started. That's a hugely important difference. They set it up beforehand, so I do consider it a hanging thread.
I'm kind of expecting it to be part of Capaldi's final episode in the same way that The Time of the Doctor dealt with the 11th Doctor's loose ends.

[Scorpion]

I was positively surprised by the Christmas special (which I only just got around to watching for some reason), but it would probably still rank among the bottom of the season for me, but that's mainly due to how astoundingly good the season has been.

The final third of the episode was amazing.

[abydos]

It was a really nice special, not sure how to rank it compared to others and i don't really feel like it. Ending the year on a high-note, as opposed to what the season was (for me) was a pleasant surprise.

[BlobVanDam]

I was positively surprised by the Christmas special (which I only just got around to watching for some reason), but it would probably still rank among the bottom of the season for me, but that's mainly due to how astoundingly good the season has been.

The final third of the episode was amazing.

Christmas episodes always rank among the bottom of the season for me.
That's not necessarily a bad thing this season though, given how consistently great it was overall.

[masterthes]

Really? You don't like ANY of the Christmas specials? I think the only one I ever disliked was the Widow and Wardrobe one, and maybe The Next Doctor, but all the other ones are great

[BlobVanDam]

I enjoyed probably the majority of them, but generally I find them all to be of much lower quality than the season average, and in the Moffat era they're often too sappy kiddy Christmas.

The Christmas Invasion was alright aside from being too light on the new doc. The Runaway Bride had its moments but was silly and not very good on the whole. Voyage of the Damned was alright but silly (a common theme with the RTD era). The Next Doctor I liked. The End of Time was solid. A Christmas Carol was a good episode I suppose, but was obviously very Christmas-y. The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe was too shmaltzy Christmas and not very good. The Snowmen wasn't bad but forgettable aside from Clara. The Time of the Doctor is great, and still easily the best of the bunch. Last Christmas was an ok episode, but Santa put it a bit over the top.

[Chino]

Just about done with Season 4. I left off on the Christmas episode with the doctor with the hot air balloon. Just found out Netflix loses its license in February. I have to kick it into high gear.

[Chino]

I'm 6 episodes into season 5, and I'm not really digging the new doctor or Emilia 

[Kotowboy]

Is that Matt Smith ?

I was never a big fan of him.

[BlobVanDam]

S5 is such a huge step up in every way from the earlier seasons. I love Tennant, but Matt Smith is my favourite (although Capaldi is well on his way there).

[Chino]

I actually don't like the fact that they've started tying the entire story together. I liked it a lot more when every episode was just a random adventure.

I miss Donna and Wilfred.

[BlobVanDam]

I actually don't like the fact that they've started tying the entire story together.

Why? It doesn't stop them from having random adventures, but it gives you an epic payoff at the end of the season. The earlier seasons had similar loose arcs across the season too.
Since the 9th Doctor only lasted one season (and was awful), this is possibly the first time you've had to really go through previous Doctor withdrawal. The cycle is the same every time. You miss the old Doctor at first, then end up loving the new one. Get used to it.

[Chino]

I actually don't like the fact that they've started tying the entire story together.

Why? It doesn't stop them from having random adventures, but it gives you an epic payoff at the end of the season. The earlier seasons had similar loose arcs across the season too.
Since the 9th Doctor only lasted one season (and was awful), this is possibly the first time you've had to really go through previous Doctor withdrawal. The cycle is the same every time. You miss the old Doctor at first, then end up loving the new one. Get used to it.

It makes it more critical for me to pay attention  If I fell asleep for a few minutes in an earlier episode, no big deal. If I do that now, it's easy to miss something major. I actually really liked the 9th doctor. I wish he stuck around longer. I will say though, that last Dahlek episode with Churchill was awesome. They next generation daleks, the blue, red, yellow, white, etc.. looked sooo badass.

[BlobVanDam]

Was that post serious?
Don't get too used to those nasty colorful plastic toy Daleks, because they ditch them very quickly after the unanimously negative fan reaction. They appear maybe once or twice more in S5, then I don't think they appear again.