Doctor Who v. Patrick Troughton

[BlobVanDam]

I wouldn't even put it in the ballpark of those episodes. I liked both of those episodes, even though neither are among the better of the season. Night Terrors has nothing to redeem it. Annoying jerk kid, and a silly imagined doll house as the threat.

[ariich]

I thought Night Terrors was very good, and enjoyed Love & Monsters just fine. Fear Her is fairly terrible though, and Forest of the Night isn't very good either.

[BlackInk]

Had to look up which episode Night Terrors was, but yeah, I didn't mind that one either. Not that I can remember, at least.

[abydos]

Not a huge audio drama fan (other than We're Alive) but I will certainly try to get my hands on this: https://www.vulture.com/2015/10/tennant-and-tate-returning-to-the-who-niverse.html

[BlobVanDam]

Decent episode this week. The Doctor didn't do a lot, but it looks like it will be much more reliant on him next week with everyone else taken out. I can't think of much else to say about it.

[BlackInk]

The soldiers agreeing to follow the aliens into the church was infuriating. They know the enemy are shapeshifting aliens, and the lead soldier gave in so easily. He tried two questions, one of which the alien didn't even bother to answer. Maybe because the Zygon knew just how completely stupid this guy was. Damn.

Clara makes a really good evil-face though. That whole twist was cool.

[BlobVanDam]

Yeah, those soldiers knew in advance what was going to happen, and were actively being told it was a trap, so there's no way you'd go inside. Admittedly it would be very difficult to shoot an imposter who looks exactly like a loved one, but any other soldier could have taken the shot instead. Or there are any number of ways you could handle the situation without falling into a blatant trap.

[BlackInk]

Yes, he could have asked the question about his birth again. The alien just ignored that one, and "I don't remember" just wouldn't work there. Or he could have shot it in the foot or something. I think for the sake of world security that would have been acceptable. Or if he didn't have the balls for that then like you said someone else could have done it.

[BlobVanDam]

I also forgot, there was another mention of a hybrid, with Osgood being a mix of Zygon and human. First there was Dalek / Timelord, then the human / Mire hybrid of Ashildr, now this one. I am curious what comes of that prophecy, perhaps it has something to do with Clara's departure?

[BlackInk]

Noticed that too. Interesting to see what they have in store. Also, I'm guessing the Doctor's "confession" will come back into play at some point and it will all tie together.

[Scorpion]

Another great episode. Season 9 is shaping up to be my favourite New Who - it might even top Season 5 if it continues like this.

Clara makes a great villain.

[Chino]

I finished season 2 last night. I can't get over how amazing this show is. It's got some of the best writing I've ever seen. So many feels in that last episode. I'm going to miss Rose. I really liked her.

[BlobVanDam]

If you think it's amazing at that point, your head is going to explode once you get to the good stuff like Day of the Doctor.

I've watched a few more episodes in my classic viewing.

The Evil of the Daleks was slow for the most part, but once it got to Skaro it was pretty cool. Farewell to the Daleks for now. The reconstructions for this story were the most elaborate so far, which made it a little easier to watch.

The Tomb of the Cybermen was the best Cyberman story so far, and introduced a lot of elements. The first appearance of the Cybermats, the first appearance of a Cyber Controller, and the ladders have been reused as generic Cyberman wall sections in more recent stories. That was neat. A good story overall too.

The Ice Warriors was ok. The Ice Warriors weren't too exciting with their whisper voices, but I love the 1960s futuristic look. So funky.

The Enemy of the World is pretty good so far. I'm not sure how I feel about Troughton playing a Mexican Dictator, but he does a good job of it, and the introduction of the underground group creating the natural disasters is a good element.

Jamie has been a pretty good companion so far, he's got some fire in him. Victoria doesn't do much, but she's damn cute, so she gets a pass.

[ariich]

I really like the Enemy of the World, definitely one of my favourite classic stories. Tomb is also great.

And yeah, Jamie is awesome and Victoria is kinda rubbish but gorgeous. Pretty soon you'll meet Zoe (think she joins in the Wheel in Space) who is best of all worlds - cute AND awesome (which isn't to say that Jamie isn't cute of course ).

[Kotowboy]

I snigger everytime I hear Zygon because my bro and I have a running joke that all aliens in kids shows are either called, or come from the planet called Zargon

[BlobVanDam]

I really like the Enemy of the World, definitely one of my favourite classic stories. Tomb is also great.

And yeah, Jamie is awesome and Victoria is kinda rubbish but gorgeous. Pretty soon you'll meet Zoe (think she joins in the Wheel in Space) who is best of all worlds - cute AND awesome (which isn't to say that Jamie isn't cute of course ).

But is she cuter than Victoria?

I also forgot to mention I really like the second doctor now, just as much as the first, maybe even more. The moment that sealed the deal for me was in The Evil of the Daleks, the first time the Dalek wheels in. The look on Troughton's face and the way he reacted was just excellent. He always puts in a great performance.

[ariich]

I love Troughton, he's definitely one of my favourites. Among the classic Doctors, he sits only behind Tom Baker for me.

But is she cuter than Victoria?

IMO, yes. Though that may be influenced by the fact that she's less useless.

[ozzy554]

Jamie is my favorite companion. He and troughton work so well together. They also liked to improv a bit, and sneak inside jokes of their own into the show as much as they could.

[Kotowboy]

Capaldi's acting in the Osgood box scene.


And next week looks nice & dark again a la Under The Lake.

And Reece Shearsmith !!!

[BlobVanDam]

I thought last week's episode was ok, but the payoff with this week's episode was amazing.
At first I was a little annoyed that Clara was so tough she could overcome the Zygon, but once the Zygon overcame her, I enjoyed the whole idea.
The Osgood box scene was the centerpiece of the whole episode, and tied it back into The Day of the Doctor wonderfully. I like that there wasn't much action in this episode, and it was all talking it out, without losing any steam.
While it initially seemed like a cheap way for Osgood to return, I thought the way it fitted into the episode was great too.

And The Doctor was in top form this episode. Capaldi continues to get better and better in the role.

I'm excited for the tail end of this season.

[BlackInk]

Holy shit, The Doctor's monologue about the time war may be one of the best things this show has done. Perfect moment of Doctor Who.

Yeah, this episide was loads better than last week. The entire box scene was really well written and really intense.

[Scorpion]

Yeah, that was an amazing amazing episode. Holy shit that monologue.

This has the story rocketing to the top of the season for me, and so far, the season has been superbly amazing. Not a single episode that I'd call weak.

1. The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion
2. Under the Lake/Before the Flood
3. The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar
4. The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived

[BlobVanDam]

It's hard to rank this season, but I think I'd go-

1. The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar
2. Under the Lake/Before the Flood
3. The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion
4. The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived

The first two area probably interchangeable. The Zygon Inversion alone is one of the best things they've done, but The Zygon Invasion was only "good". Even The Girl Who Died / The Woman Who Lived weren't bad, but they were average for me.
If that's as bad as it gets, this season will be the best of nuWho. The rest of the season looks like it could be amazing.

[Scorpion]

What are your thoughts on how two-parter heavy this season is? I personally love it, they've been using the extra time to develop more complex plotlines extremely well, and to superb effect.

[BlobVanDam]

In the past I've been very mixed on Doctor Who's two parters, but this season I think they've largely done an excellent job. The two parts of each story have all had distinct differences that keep each episode interesting and unique, and as you've said they've used the extra time to develop the plots and characters better. They haven't felt drawn out, or crammed with confusing subplots, they've made use of the double episodes perfectly.

The only one that I've felt didn't entirely work was The Girl Who Died / The Woman Who Lived. It was a nice idea, but the first episode's plot was very rushed and secondary so they could set up the immortality plot, and then the next episode's plot also felt very secondary without a good payoff for that story imo. I am interested for her upcoming appearance though.

On that note, are the next two episodes at all related? They don't appear to be from the information I've seen, but maybe there will be some connection I don't know of, or that won't be known until we see it.

[ariich]

Doesn't sound like it. They're the only episodes this season given separate story numbers on Wikipedia, not that this particularly means anything but it's generally kept pretty up to date and accurate by geeky types.

And I'm definitely loving the two-parters, and have bemoaned the lack of them in the last few seasons. I do think the stories have better pacing a development than when everything is squeezed into single episodes. Not that single episodes can't be absolutely wonderful, as they are sometimes, but when every episode is like that, I just felt there wasn't enough in the way of strong stories.

[Kotowboy]

Yes. The fact that there was a lot that was crammed into one episode was a complaint of mine from the last series.

Nothing was dwelled on - something was introduced and resolved a scene later.

Now they have time to let things breathe.

[BlackInk]

Very much digging the double episodes, those are often my favorites.

[Kotowboy]

As much as I hate " To Be Continued ".

I do prefer a longer story.

[BlackInk]

I have no problem with "to be continued", I don't even mind it with a year between. A week is nothing.

[Kotowboy]

I'm not a huge DW fan so I could probably leave watching part 1 of a 2 part episode a week and then watch both.

I did that with Under The Lake.

[ariich]

Aren't you a fan of Classic Who, Kotow? Those used to have 4-6 parters, which meant LOADS of "to be continued"s.

[Kotowboy]

Aren't you a fan of Classic Who, Kotow? Those used to have 4-6 parters, which meant LOADS of "to be continued"s.

I was when I was about 9

Back then I didn't understand what regenerating was and watched every week in case Tom Baker came back.

I enjoyed Peter Davison though but like most people - was not a Colin Baker fan at all.

I remember liking Sylvester McCoy though.

Didn't really like the TV Movie.

[Scorpion]

Speaking of long stories, one of my favourite Classic Who stories is the longest story that still exists in full - The War Games. Definitely some of Troughton's best.

[BlackInk]

I wish the new series would do 4-6 parters, the more serialised it is the better.