Doctor Who v. Patrick Troughton

[ariich]

Yeah I'd say it was one of my favourite Christmas ones. I agree with Blob that they're usually pretty corny, but I don't care, that's what Christmas specials are all about.

[abydos]

I've been having this increasing pain in my right temple. Is this real life?

[Lynxo]

Well, now I'm all caught up again. But since we're discussing the Christmas episode, I'll just share my thoughts on that first:

Alien meets Inception meets corny Christmas? Only Moffat could have written something like that. And I loved it. The Dream Crabs were REALLY creepy and I absolutely loved the ending, it was really lovely.



Thoughts about the season in general: this was one of my favorite seasons! I love the new doctor and the way he always bluntly speaks his mind, to great comedic effect. I also love that there's a darker side to him. I can't image Matt Smith or David Tennant going into rage mode when not finding Galifrey (which was real sad btw  ).

The episode Listen was one of the best things I've ever seen on television, period. I've never had so many thoughts and ideas about an episode before and judging by the discussions you all were having, I'm not alone.

Deep Breath and Into The Dalek were both great introductions to our new doctor. with the latter also providing an interesting look at our classic nemesis.

Flatline had a great concept and really funny execution. I was laughing so hard when the doctor reached out his hand from Clara's purse to point her in the right direction.

The two-parter finale really showcased why Doctor Who needs twoparters for at least the finale. Awesome setup, amazing twists (at least in the execution - which Doctor Who hardcore fan did not see the cybermen a mile away?) and great resolution! And also, I love that the Cybermen have been awesome for two seasons now. I wonder if they'll continue to use them? I think it would be interesting to raise the stakes with them - have them discover Galifrey before the Doctor do or something!

I don't know but this season felt a lot more...subtle and mature? Like, not all of the story threads was worlds ending and timey wimey things needing resolution. They were about relationsships, about finding out who you are. This Doctor, unlike the others, needed more than an episode to understand his new self - he needed a whole season. And it all came down to him proudly proclaiming he's an idiot. To me, that felt like the Doctor saying that he's still the Doctor - the madman in a box.

I'm so in love with this series right now that I can't decide if I'm happy for having watched such a great season or sad because there's nothing new to watch. Except the classic series I suppose.

[hefdaddy42]

 

[BlobVanDam]

Nice to have you back on board, Lynxo! I pretty much agree with you on the overall season. This was a great one.

My only major complaint is that too many things happen to be on Earth in Clara's time. The Caretaker, Flatline, In The Forest of the Night, Dark Water / Death in Heaven, and Last Christmas. That's almost half the season. What is it about Clara and London that makes it such an alien magnet?

[Lynxo]

Nice to have you back on board, Lynxo! I pretty much agree with you on the overall season. This was a great one.

Thanks! I actually started watching this show around the same time you did - when the 50th anniversary was all new. One of my best friends went to see it at the cinema and it seemed like such a fun show, I started watching it from the beginning.
However, I've been holding off from this season because I wanted to wait until the season was over so I could watch whenever I felt like it. Worked out fine, except I managed to read too much in this particular thread actually.  But nothing major was spoiled.

My only major complaint is that too many things happen to be on Earth in Clara's time. The Caretaker, Flatline, In The Forest of the Night, Dark Water / Death in Heaven, and Last Christmas. That's almost half the season. What is it about Clara and London that makes it such an alien magnet?

I agree to a certain excent. But I really wouldn't consider In The Forest Of The Night and Last Christmas as usual Earth-centered episodes. Both felt as outer wordly to me as the ones taking place on another planet entirely, at least to me. But yeah, in a sense I agree with you. It's always fun when the Doctor Who creators really explore the universe and their imagination.

I forgot to mention btw: the concept of the dead still having a conscious and being aware of their surroundings that they introduced for a short time before revealing it was a hoax was REALLY creepy. Just imagine cremating or burying someone who can still feel pain...

[BlobVanDam]

It's not really about whether it feels other worldly (Last Christmas was a very alien dream setting), it's just the fact that coincidentally bad alien shit is happening in Clara's exact location at that exact point in time. It's beyond coincidence, and it bugged me. I still liked most of those episodes (except Forest of the Night, which can die in a fire).

[Lynxo]

It's not really about whether it feels other worldly (Last Christmas was a very alien dream setting), it's just the fact that coincidentally bad alien shit is happening in Clara's exact location at that exact point in time. It's beyond coincidence, and it bugged me. I still liked most of those episodes (except Forest of the Night, which can die in a fire).

Ah, I get you. Still, couldn't the same be said about every Who episode ever? They just stumble upon trouble after trouble wherever they go. 

And yeah, the Forest episode was not very impressive. I didn't mind it per se, it just reeeeeeeeeeeeally clashed with the doctor's personality and that season's overall feeling.

[BlobVanDam]

It's not really about whether it feels other worldly (Last Christmas was a very alien dream setting), it's just the fact that coincidentally bad alien shit is happening in Clara's exact location at that exact point in time. It's beyond coincidence, and it bugged me. I still liked most of those episodes (except Forest of the Night, which can die in a fire).

Ah, I get you. Still, couldn't the same be said about every Who episode ever? They just stumble upon trouble after trouble wherever they go. 

Oh absolutely, but I've accepted them randomly stumbling upon trouble in random times and places, it's just when it all happens in one minutely tiny area of space and time repeatedly, it goes beyond my ability to suspend disbelief.

And I agree Forest of the Night was very out of character. It was so clearly a kid's episode. The 12th Doctor wouldn't have been so nice to the kids and let them save the day. He wasn't put to much use in that episode overall, so his usual personality wasn't able to save it.

[Onno]

I watched the Christmas episode two days ago. It was absolutely epic and I loved it. I loved the references to both Alien and Inception. Overall, the season has been great and I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Capaldi as the Doctor!

[ariich]

It's not really about whether it feels other worldly (Last Christmas was a very alien dream setting), it's just the fact that coincidentally bad alien shit is happening in Clara's exact location at that exact point in time. It's beyond coincidence, and it bugged me. I still liked most of those episodes (except Forest of the Night, which can die in a fire).

Ah, I get you. Still, couldn't the same be said about every Who episode ever? They just stumble upon trouble after trouble wherever they go. 

Oh absolutely, but I've accepted them randomly stumbling upon trouble in random times and places, it's just when it all happens in one minutely tiny area of space and time repeatedly, it goes beyond my ability to suspend disbelief.

That's been an issue for DW for quite a while now, I know those sorts of complaints were made during RTD's time as well - too many Earth settings.

I think a feature of New Who is to try and make the companions more relateable by having them all come from the present day, and have a decent number of stories set wherever they come from. On the whole I think it works quite well, but it does require that little bit more suspension of disbelief that all these problems would keep occuring specifically in the UK on planet Earth.

That said, the Third Doctor's first two or three seasons were entirely set on Earth in the UK, so it's not as bad as that.

[BlobVanDam]

I had particular issue with the RTD era with bad shit happening on Earth. EVERY. SINGLE. CHRISTMAS! Christmas episodes do not have a good reputation at all with me.

I need to get back to my watch through of classic Who. I got up to the rescue (I think that's what it's called) then forgot about it. Looooooong way to go yet!

[ariich]

Haha yeah. It's worth sticking with, and it's interesting to see how the show developed over the years. The pace definitely picks up, though very gradually. I definitely found some of the early stories really dragged out unnecessarily, particularly some of Hartnell's. Even by Troughton's time they'd mostly got a little tighter.

[Kotowboy]

May as well watch the Christmas special. *downloading now*

[Scorpion]

Haha yeah. It's worth sticking with, and it's interesting to see how the show developed over the years. The pace definitely picks up, though very gradually. I definitely found some of the early stories really dragged out unnecessarily, particularly some of Hartnell's. Even by Troughton's time they'd mostly got a little tighter.

I have only watched the complete Troughton stories, but most of them are a lot better than Hartnell's stories. I might just prefer his Doctor. The War Games is definitely my favourite story from the black-and-white era.

[ariich]

The War Games is maybe a little overly long, but it is also rather excellent.

[Scorpion]

Blob, have you reached The Time Meddler yet on your Classic Who perusal?

[BlobVanDam]

Blob, have you reached The Time Meddler yet on your Classic Who perusal?

I've been really slow watching them lately, so I'm only on The Romans. I've seen a clip from The Time Meddler, and it looked pretty cool though.

[BlobVanDam]

Doctor Who Lego set is coming!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SblCKsE3F9c

[Bolsters]

So that's the Lego HQ in that video? I'm disappointed that the whole thing doesn't look like it's made from Lego.

[BlobVanDam]

That's probably some off-site location. I'm sure it's really a giant Lego castle.

[ariich]

So, there have been bits and pieces of news about series 9 in recent weeks, but the latest one intrigued me: Maisie Williams to guest star at some point! Moffat being typically tight-lipped about her role though!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/entries/38990615-a32e-41b5-9765-137ecd727f86

[hefdaddy42]

Saw that this morning.  That is interesting.

SPOILER ALERT - she will play Arya Stark and the Doctor will restore her to Winterfell and give her a pet Dalek.

[BlackInk]

Cool, I like her. She seems like a cool person. Haven't seen much of her acting besides GoT though, but I hear she's good in Cyberbully.

[ariich]

SPOILER ALERT - she will play Arya Stark and the Doctor will restore her to Winterfell and give her a pet Dalek.

She plays Arya Stark in her current form in the show. Brutal. Merciless. She kills the Doctor. Painfully.

[abydos]

And then she goes on a date with Clara.

[BlackInk]

And Amy's there too, hopefully.

[bout to crash]

Finally saw the Christmas special- wonderfully corny. When Santa rolls up on Rudolph like he's in a western, omg 

[Kotowboy]

I thought it was pretty scary for a kids show.



What ? 






No I did NOT poo in my pants !! 

[BlobVanDam]

S9 trailer. Why are we not discussing this yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB8fh4QUy-A

[Scorpion]

That didn't tell us much at all and I am still extremely excited.

Though nothing excites me as much as the extremely dope shades that the Doctor is donning.

[BlobVanDam]

That didn't tell us much at all and I am still extremely excited.

Though nothing excites me as much as the extremely dope shades that the Doctor is donning.

Hey, the first trailer for S8 was made of footage that wasn't even in the season, so I'm alright with this.

It doesn't give any much of anything, but what it does show, I like. The show looks better than ever, Capaldi is looking more comfortable as the Doc, and there are a lot of new enemies.

There's already a lot of speculation about Maisie Williams' characters being Susan or Jenny. People have a habit of throwing around any name whenever there's some new character, especially the female ones, so I'll just wait until we actually have something to base the speculation on besides the possible red herring of "it's you".

[ariich]

Whenever there's a new female character that appears to possibly be someone the Doctor already knows, there's always speculation that she's any of the previous female Time Lords (Time Ladies?). Or indeed, these days the male ones too, in the case of Missy.

So main options:
 - Susan
 - Jenny
 - River
 - The Rani (highly unlikely)

Anyway trailer looked awesome. Only watched it once and it was pretty fast paced, but it definitely looked exciting. And am I right in thinking we saw both Davos and Scaro?

[BlobVanDam]

Whenever there's a new female character that appears to possibly be someone the Doctor already knows, there's always speculation that she's any of the previous female Time Lords (Time Ladies?). Or indeed, these days the male ones too, in the case of Missy.

So main options:
 - Susan
 - Jenny
 - River
 - The Rani (highly unlikely)

Everyone was speculating the Rani and River last season with Missy. I also recall speculation for Madame Kovarian and Tasha Lem being River Song, or maybe I got that muddled. Every female character is every other female character, apparently.
I think people figure that if you throw enough crap at the wall, something will eventually stick.

Anyway trailer looked awesome. Only watched it once and it was pretty fast paced, but it definitely looked exciting. And am I right in thinking we saw both Davos and Scaro?

I think no to the former and yes to the latter.

[ariich]

Anyway trailer looked awesome. Only watched it once and it was pretty fast paced, but it definitely looked exciting. And am I right in thinking we saw both Davos and Scaro?

I think no to the former and yes to the latter.

Hmm, will have to re-watch!