Doctor Who

[ariich]

Yeah I think it was the Cybermen that slightly killed it for me, I actually really enjoyed Craig's role in the episode. The Cybermen are like the Daleks, you have to include them every now and then, but there's not much that you can do with them that's very interesting anymore.

[adameastment]

Yeah I think it was the Cybermen that slightly killed it for me, I actually really enjoyed Craig's role in the episode. The Cybermen are like the Daleks, you have to include them every now and then, but there's not much that you can do with them that's very interesting anymore.

For me that's because of RTD, he over did the Daleks and Cybermen. Pretty much killed it.

[ClairvoyantCat]

I doubt I'd be much more excited by them regardless of how much they showed up under RTD.  I think they're way too similar to be the two primary recurring villains.  One steel machine bent on killing everyone is alright, but two is just unnecessary.  I'm glad Moffat has limited their role, because in this episode more than any other they felt like a very lazy addition.  Maybe I'd appreciate their appearances more if I'd seen some of the classic episodes, but right now nearly every appearance they make just seems like a crutch for a lack of better ideas. 

On a side note, I liked the throwback to K9 with the robodog thing.  There's a machine they should bring back. 

[ACID_FOX]

I doubt I'd be much more excited by them regardless of how much they showed up under RTD.  I think they're way too similar to be the two primary recurring villains.  One steel machine bent on killing everyone is alright, but two is just unnecessary.  I'm glad Moffat has limited their role, because in this episode more than any other they felt like a very lazy addition.  Maybe I'd appreciate their appearances more if I'd seen some of the classic episodes, but right now nearly every appearance they make just seems like a crutch for a lack of better ideas. 

On a side note, I liked the throwback to K9 with the robodog thing.  There's a machine they should bring back.

Agreed, I don't think he'd have worked with DT, but with MS he'd be awesome, even if he just stayed on the TARDIS.

[Sigz]

Man, that was a mixed bag. It had lots of great scenes and dialogue and such, but the main plotline was pretty poor.

[ariich]

Man, that was a mixed bag. It had lots of great scenes and dialogue and such, but the main plotline was pretty poor.

Yeah pretty much this. Still, it had lots of redeeming qualities, so I don't think it was too bad. And it set the finale up nicely.

[XJDenton]

The plotline wasn't important in this one. Its main purpose was to serve as a framing device for what was important: a character study of a very old, very tired man, saying goodbye to everything. I think it was stronger than you all give it credit for, though given the overall quality of this series its easy to see it as a weaker episode.

[ariich]

Oh don't worry, that whole aspect I got and loved - like I said it set up the finale brilliantly. It's just a shame the Cybermen plot was quite weak.

[Sigz]

Yeah I totally saw that. The bit in the nursery was probably my favorite scene in the entire episode.

[Logical Nightmare]

I just found this Tumblelog:

https://whatdidthedalek.tumblr.com/

[ACID_FOX]

totally dressing up as The Doctor for Halloween, even if I don't go outside once.

[Sigz]

I'm going to make a big TARDIS costume, get smashed, and run around singing the theme song and drunkenly throwing 'bigger on the inside' lines at fresher girls who have no idea what the fuck I'm talking about.

It will be epic.

[skydivingninja]

I liked "Closing Time."  I agree that the main Cyberman plot was just kind of "there," though there was nothing really wrong with it.  There were tons of great dialogue and scenes, and it sets up the finale really well.  I'm really really excited for Sunday morning now.

[Logical Nightmare]

I'm going to make a big TARDIS costume, get smashed, and run around singing the theme song and drunkenly throwing 'bigger on the inside' lines at fresher girls who have no idea what the fuck I'm talking about.

It will be epic.

I'd take you home at once.

[skydivingninja]

Oh, almost forgot: does this mean the Doctor we see in "Closing Time" is the 1103-year-old Doctor we see at the beginning of The Impossible Astronaut?  So now we have an even older doctor we'll be travelling with for the next series (assuming he doesn't get out of this in some clever way that makes him 907 again).

[TheMadgician]

My friend claims to have read somewhere that Closing Time was set roughly 200 years after The God Complex. And most of it was spent with the whole "being a fool through history to get our attention" thing you see at the beginning of the season.

[ariich]

Oh, almost forgot: does this mean the Doctor we see in "Closing Time" is the 1103-year-old Doctor we see at the beginning of The Impossible Astronaut?  So now we have an even older doctor we'll be travelling with for the next series (assuming he doesn't get out of this in some clever way that makes him 907 again).

That's what I was thinking as well. He mentioned that he'd been having adventures on his own, and he certainly seemed old and tired, like he does at the start of the first episode. I guess we'll find out this weekend though!

[TheMadgician]

So. My friend and I may have figured some things out.

"Silence will fall when the question is answered."

Higher, time sensitive races are aware of the encroaching Silence. The Silence caused the TARDIS to explode.

My friend suggested perhaps The Silence is The Moment that The Doctor created to end the time war.

I ask "What if the question is The Doctors true name?" He responds that silence would surely fall if that were revealed, as there's a lot of power in a name.

He takes this further. Perhaps Silence falls because the universe learns his name. So he sets up a way of killing himself before the universe learns. Took River with him, she became Madame Korvian and got her younger self to kill The Doctor. She knew his true name, and still would after this ordeal.

This could totally work. Obviously just a theory, but it's got potential.

[Implode]

I thought it was, "Silence will fall when the question is asked."

[skydivingninja]

And the thing about Madame Kovarian convincing her younger self (IYO, River) to kill the Doctor doesn't work because River Song dies.  Plus, Implode's right.  Its "Silence will fall when the question is asked."

[TheMadgician]

Hmm, this is true. Though worth noting, her consciousness was saved. Meaning were they to have a receptacle she could be brought back just fine. Y'know, something like The Flesh. So her story really doesn't have to end there. Plus, high level time travel shenanigans. Because it's Moffat.

As for asked as opposed to answered. That definitely does throw a wrench in the works. I'd still say it's a possibility though. Having this all do with his true name.

[skydivingninja]

Speaking of timey wimey balls and Steven Moffat in general, I bet $10 everything is resolved by a "Terminator Paradox," or that its at least a major plot point in the season finale. 

[Implode]

Well something's going to change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orfHRu80CPE

I noticed that at 0:15 in this video, when the Doctor is shot, he jumps as if he's unharmed instead of being knocked onto his back like in The Impossible Astronaut.

[Sigz]

No I went and checked, it's the same clip from around 7:17 in TIA.

[Implode]

Oh...well then ignore me.

[Sigz]

I'm going to make a big TARDIS costume, get smashed, and run around singing the theme song and drunkenly throwing 'bigger on the inside' lines at fresher girls who have no idea what the fuck I'm talking about.

It will be epic.

I'd take you home at once.

...

So, how do you feel about a Halloween vacation to California?

[ariich]

Aw man, BBC Three have scrapped DW Confidential after this series.

Hopefully they'll still film some behind the scenes stuff for DVD releases.

[skydivingninja]

Aw man, BBC Three have scrapped DW Confidential after this series.

Hopefully they'll still film some behind the scenes stuff for DVD releases.

WAT?  I love Confidential!   

[ACID_FOX]

Reppin' the Sonic.

[Fiery Winds]

Just finished season 3 and the season 4 premiere.     Great show!

[ariich]

Aw man, BBC Three have scrapped DW Confidential after this series.

Hopefully they'll still film some behind the scenes stuff for DVD releases.

WAT?  I love Confidential!   

Me too. But there are general budget cuts in the BBC, and the head of BBC Three decided to focus more efforts on original programming and less on supplementary programmes like DWC.

Like I said, hopefully they'll still film some stuff to go on the DVD releases.

[adameastment]

That. Was. Pure. Genius.

Even though plenty of us could see it coming...


DOCTOR WHO?

[petrucci07]

That was a pretty disappointing episode for me. Hardly any resolution really. "The Question" seemed like an afterthought, etc

[ACID_FOX]

That was a pretty disappointing episode for me. Hardly any resolution really. "The Question" seemed like an afterthought, etc

That. By far the worst series finale yet. All the build up for that?

[ClairvoyantCat]

SPOILERS





It was all much too fast.  It even felt much shorter than it actually was.  The whole thing was rushed and it left a hell of a lot to be desired.  I'd gladly see a lesser episode cut from the series (the recent "Closing Time" comes to mind) to make this at least a two-parter. 

To be more particular, one of the things that jumped out at me most of all was when River was talking about sending a message to everyone he had helped.  Definitely could have been very nice and touching, but then it was abandoned right afterwards.  The final "question" was clever enough, but it felt too much like an afterthought to have the intended effect.  I was also pretty disappointed in seeing that it was just a fake Doctor after all.  I don't want to be the jackass who says "I knew it all along it!" in retrospect, but I had a strong suspicion for it being the Tesselecta when they showed up.  (Why else bring them up again?)  Either that or the flesh doctor.  But, besides the obviousness of it, my deeper complaint was that it was a completely underwhelming way to resolve the whole "Doctor dies" thing.  After the big deal that was made over it being a "fixed point" and all; sure, it made enough sense, but it also felt like a fairly lazy cop-out for something that an entire season had been building up to. 

It was fun, though, I'll give it that.  Rushed, fairly messy, underwhelming, but still fun.