Amph Doctor Who Discussion (Russell T. Davies returns)

Sounds a bit Star-Trekky

 

Also, it will end with a conversation between The Doctor and Clara about some aspect of humanity he doesn't fully grasp. The conversation have been prompted by events in the episode, and will take place in The Doctor's ready room.

 

Has anyone noticed that so far

Spoiler

the holding of a person's breath is necessary for their survival? First we had the appropriately titled Deep Breath followed by the latest episode where their breath needed to be held while undergoing the shrinking process. The Doctor also remarks that "he was already dead". Could there be a link here?

 

NOTTINGHAM REPRESENT!

(Even though it was filmed in Wales. Well, whatever, we got Wayne Manor.)

Random aside: Don't tell me if I'm on to something (I've not read any of the leaked stuff) but does anyone else get the feeling that we're going to learn that Time Lord "faces"/bodies come from this "Heaven" place?

 

No idea why this is spoilered, but no matter.

In this episode, it was the opposite. Holding your breath would kill you!

 

I'll use spoiler tags again. Not really sure if necessary but just in case:

Spoiler

It's been established that since at least Time Of The Doctor the Timelords know the Doctor is alive and toward the end of his lifecycle which is why they granted him the regeneration energy. I have a feeling the lady in the garden is The Rani and somehow those who die by the Doctor's hand are extracted out of time and sent there. Kind of like the time cracks. I'm not sure how precisely that works but there are some clues which may allude to it.

 

It would be nice if Missy is a Time Lord, but please not The Rani, or Romana, or anyone we've met before.

 

Alrighty just watched Into the Dalek and...man oh man, I loved this episode.

http://couchci.blogspot.com/2014/09/couch-doctor-who-new-series-8season-34_1.html

Spoiler

Journey was a nice character and it's a shame she didn't join up. Though Danny may do good too if they're going with the "soldier" angle. Also really dug the Doctor and Clara dynamic here, still showing that even though Clara is with him again, they've still got issues. The Doctor and his banter with Rusty, especially near the end, was just brilliant.

If Deep Breath is a spiritual sequel to The Girl in the Fireplace, Into the Dalek is definitely a followup and closure to Dalek, especially in regards to how The Doctor may be just as bad as those good old pepper shaker robots. The mystery with Missy also deepens, and I hope this becomes a recurring thing in the episodes to link them despite Series 8 being marketed as less over-arching.

 

Journey for next companion!

 

Susan's grandmother, Death!

 

Maybe Gaitiss will right Clara with a brain this time (unlike a good chunk of The Crimson Horror). Maybe.

 

Be prepared.....for the first good Gatiss episode......maybe.......

(It's gonna be awesome!)

 

Then tune in next year

 

Actually I think giving Clara a romantic interest is a good setup for her pending departure. For once we'll actually see a companion look to the Doctor and go, "it's been good, but i've found a reason to enjoy being human" rather than:

a) already having a boyfriend and having your parents back together

b) trying to make the Doctor feel bad after being friend zoned

c) putting a time bomb in the companion's head where the mere mention of his name will literally make her explode


It will be a welcome change just to see a companion leave because they realise they have simply had their share and have found what they are looking for in life. Perhaps that might motivate the Doctor to dedicate his time to finding Gallifrey rather than meandering around from planet to planet.

 

If you believe that's going to be the case then I have a bridge to Brooklyn I'd like to sell you. It's cool, man, I live in NYC, I can totally do that.

 

I do hope they give Clara a more Martha type Companion departure rather than an angsty one like Donna, Amy and Rose.

 

Some former Who guest stars doing the Ice Bucket Challenge:

 

Frankly, no. However, I did notice that this is the second mention of being in a Lada...no, wait, that's a car. In a larder, both under the restaurant in Deep Breath, and the nutrient gloop place in this one.

Should we count Matt Smith's Doctor as an anomaly here, because thinking about it, he hasn't been too much of a 'hole about soldiers, like Ten was. For instance, Ten was really nasty about the Judoon, yet Eleven was not, and given how pleased Eleven was when Strax finally developed some tactical and strategic nouse in The Snowmen, that would be anathema to some of the incarnations. Eleven was positively over-awed and respectful of the Ice Warrior in that submarine adventure, and wasn't that fussed about the Russian sailors till they started trying to defend themselves without first reading the Ice Warrior equivalent of Sun Tzu's The Art of War.

Re. Gatiss', for months, I felt dis-satisfied by his Victory of the Daleks, but while I regard the spitfires as a wasted special effect that fell way short of being like X-Wing analogs, his episode has really grown on me. And of course, his writing has been sublime on that other series.

Into the Dalek, I am really loving the Twelve and Journey on the TARDIS when she tries to commandeer the vessel, and he teaches her some etiquette, Scot-style.

 

Loved this episode.

Problems/questions:

• Why did The Doctor materialise the TARDIS around Journey in the first place?
• Michael Smiley got OLD. (This is not technically a problem with the episode, it just reminds me that I also got old.)
• Has anything been mentioned about Clara's place of work? Surely The Doctor knows precisely where it is, has he brought it up? Why doesn't he pop into the headmaster's office to say hi to Ian?
• How did he manage to convince the soldiers to let him fly off to fetch Clara?
• Why doesn't The Doctor recall the events in The Evil Of The Daleks? He seems to contradict them, too...
• Scale. The eye to eye scene has problems. Problems that make me consider the physics of sound as well. How did Tyres Col. Morgan speak to Journey so easily on the walkie talkie? Luckily for Moff I'm a G1 Transformers fan so I can switch off the part of my brain that has a problem with this sort of thing.
• "My mind is in your mind." If this was the TEOTD reference it was subtle as hell. 10,000 internets to anyone who can follow my train of thought.
• How did they get out?
• The wobbly gaze-holding as Rusty left. That was the best take they had?
• "I just wish you hadn't been a soldier." Doctor, in peacetime I couldn't agree with you more, but what if your species is facing extermination from the ******-******* Daleks? What would YOU do?

Actually that last one makes me appreciate the character more. I LOVE this dark Doctor. Someone compared him to a sanitised Colin Baker up-thread, spot on. I think both were trying to channel the spirit of early Hartnell, though poor Col had to play against his costume and took a lot longer to show the sensitivity beneath his arrogance. I think Moff has been careful to show 12's vulnerable and needy side early on in an effort to limit the (inevitable) backlash. There's quite a lot of Malcolm Tucker in him too (and/or a lot of Capaldi in Malcolm Tucker), which I'm sure is a relief to many. "She cares so I don't have to" is a line that wouldn't sit out of place in The Thick Of It.

It's worth noting that this was a Dalek story that didn't suck and didn't diminish the Daleks. A rare gem.

 

Awesome if true:

http://doctorwhoworldwide.com/2014/...aced-by-anthony-horowitz-for-series-9-rumour/

If this is true, then 2014 is a really good year for Moffat to bow out. So far, Series 5 is his best series but if Series 8 continues the way it is, it will end up being his best yet and ultimately an excellent swan song. Judging from Horowitz' resume, his style of writing seems to be the logical show runner needed for Series 9 since I imagine his background would suit the current feel of the show. It may also be a great opportunity to bring in a whole new board of writers too. Not to mention that if Clara is leaving, then the potential for new ideas is there in terms of having a new companion written by new writers with a relatively new Doctor.

 

I too wondered about the Colonel talking to the miniaturised Journey, but did not dwell on it. I don't have enough science knowledge to know what the problem should be.

Also, given my earlier observation about Eleven, and this Doctor's pre-occupation with guns - "This is Gun Girl. She's a girl, and she has a gun," I don't know if he'd be as cool about River's easy gunplay as Eleven was.

Edit: Back in Deep Breath, I totally get where Madame Vastra is coming from in her temporary disapproval of Clara. She had grown protective of the Doctor during the, four years I read somewhere, that he was on that cloud, retreating from the universe; and he acknowledged himself that the Paternoster Gang had looked after him.

 

I suspect his viewpoint may be that there's only room for one soldier in the TARDIS, and that spot's taken. What's more -- and especially while he's still getting a handle on the kind of man he is -- he's looking for people to challenge him and call him out, not people who'll potentially just follow his (possibly amoral) orders because he's in charge.