Doctor Who

Running Dog_sl said:

It does seem that the people involved are actually dying

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The two people we see materialise in the garden we don't actually see die, we assume they do. The automaton fell to his death but we didn't see him die and the girl is about to get vapourized but we equally we don't see it happen as we did with the guy before her. Additionally, there's something about the nature of their deaths. They chose to sacrifice themselves for others which could also be why we don't see the first soldier in the garden.

Phazael_sl said:

The newer companions, with the exception of Jack, Donna, and maybe Rory

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This touches on two things I feel dissatisfaction with regards to the current writing team. Firstly, I really dislike the shrinking of the Dr Who universe they've performed in recent series. I loved the fact they expanded the universe to include Torchwood (which I totally loathed as a series to be fair) and the Sarah Jane Adventures. I could see they were trying to bridge all age groups with these series and there were the odd cameos from various people across each show or at least mentions of the Doctor. They built something really special then Moffat comes along and just tosses it all out with the bath water.

Regarding Rory, I felt he could have been such a great character after the whole Pandorica storyline but they sadly just continued to go with him being the bumbling, lovable idiot foil to Amy who I really disliked as a companion if I'm honest. Moffat seems to say, "This girl is kick-ass now and you all have to believe that!" without actually doing the job of writing a convincing development that supports that. Her lines for the most part just made me cringe, "Stick with me kid!" Really..?

As to the Daleks, they perceive themselves to be the ultimate lifeform. The evolved "new" Daleks had no qualms about obliterating the old tin can that they'd progressed from because he was inferior to them. This was completely then ignored when we see the Dalek asylum episode when all the Daleks are together eating cake and drinking tea in blissful chummyness. Additionally, when they decided the Dalek who was transformed into a human form in the Manhattan episode was weak and inferior, due to feeling emotions, they had no problem offing him as well. I just wish Moffat and the team would write with a level of consistency they appear to be incapable of at present.

To clarify, the Daleks destroyed in the Victory of the Daleks episode and the human-hybrid Dalek in the Manhatten episode were both UNPURE Daleks. The Victory of the Daleks were unpure because they were created post-Time War, and Manhatten because...well...he was a damned hybrid. Don't forget Daleks are super space nazis...one drop of impurity in 1 trillion parts is one drop of impurity too much for them.

It was tolerated until pure Daleks could be created, then their usefulness was expired. It is no different than how the Daleks treat other races...they will use them as long as it furthers their goals, then when that usefulness expires, they exterminate.

Then there are the Imperial Daleks...

Luckily the 2005+ hasn't gone there yet.

Jait_sl said:

Then there are the Imperial Daleks...

Luckily the 2005+ hasn't gone there yet.

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I preferred the appearance of the Imperial Daleks much more than the Ikea ones to be fair.

Dalek history is a complete mess... as is fitting for a race that did go to war with the Time Lords over mastery of time and space. There are so many factions, alternative timelines etc that it is impossible to reconcile all of them or even a good portion.

Most of it is almost certainly the Doctor's fault since they wouldn't have had access to time travel at all or even gotten off Skaro without his interfering.

Chris_sl said:

Did they forget about the new/taller/primarycolour/pure Dalek race by the way? Was that just a gimmick to sell toys or something?

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They were originally made to work with Karen Gillan. Since she was leaving the show, no use having a taller Dalek if the next companion happened to be short. The regular Dalek was sort of Billie Piper/average female height so it worked out.

Edit: Peter Capaldi is tall, so they might dust off those Daleks and use them for a season 9 story. Or just remake them again and throw it away a few episodes later like they did with the "Political Party" Daleks

I heard they were made to be all tall as Matt Smith?

Thought this was funny. Sums up Doctor Who.

that too, but if iirc, one of those behind the scenes things said that the normal daleks didnt have the range or it looked weird.

Blaming Moffat for Sarah Jane is a bit harsh unless you are suggesting he murdered the actress to make cancelling it easier

Well that was nearly good, was amusing in places and they tried to be clever with some of the parallels drawn.

Plots still make no sense. Do arrows have significant mass compared to a caldron of liquid gold or something?

Uhh.. has it already aired in England?

Well.. I watched it now. Same issues still.. I'm wondering if they just don't know how to write for Capaldi, or they didn't write it till he was signed on. In that case, it would have been rushed and that explains a lot.

Won't go into any more details till more people have seen it.

I am not a fan but my wife is. She has been watching the iterations since the 70s and has some cool memorabilia from 40 years ago that she's collected since childhood. This is relevant because I want to accurately portray the level of her fandom in relation to me. So I have been trying for years since two Doctors ago (Tennant I think?) to get into the show. But I just couldn't for some reason The plots were complex and meaningful. The ladies were hot. Overall I like the writing but dammit I couldn't seem to really get invested.

This doctor turned it around for me. It took me awhile to figure it out. It's because the previous two doctors were such insufferable douchebag pussies. This guy? Kinda seems badass to me. Hes a bit crotchety like he's got a little Al Bundy in him. Unlike the previous two doctors this one I can actually take seriously. Now look I understand that whimsical nature is part of the "charm". But wherever the writers take it I hope they keep it up and make him into a ruthless, get shit done for the better of the universe character that has finally captured me. No more of the same please.

I think Robin Hood was basically Matt Smith's doctor. Putting on the brave face joking etc. I'm hoping that Capadli's doctor after this wake up call will come out of his funk a bit.

ganthorn_sl said:

I think Robin Hood was basically Matt Smith's doctor. Putting on the brave face joking etc. I'm hoping that Capadli's doctor after this wake up call will come out of his funk a bit.

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I think he got a little bit too much like his foul mouthed other character, but then maybe that was just the delivery. I also don't find Clara liking him belivable as he is nothing like Matt Smith at all. For Rose, Tennant at least had a friendliness overlap with Eccelston and was young/attractive.

So far I like Capaldi, but these 3 episodes have felt off for me. like was said above, the writing feels like it was written around Smith primarily and Capaldi had to put his spin on it. I usually feel like there are 2 throw away episodes per season, so far the season premiere has been my favorite by default. They could do so much with Capaldi, maybe the episodes filmed later will be better. There is always next season.

Apparently they cut out about a minute at the last second because it was a beheading. Robin beheads the sherrif but he turns out to be part robot etc.Robot of Sherwood: What Was Cut | Doctor Who TV

Well... that was something... A dose too much of Moffat incoherence to make it a great episode, but interesting nontheless.

Time Locks and Gallifrey lore mean shit once again however.

I enjoyed that episode a lot. I'm not sure what happened was consistent with the current state of affairs with regards to lore but it was very watchable.