Amph Doctor Who Discussion (Russell T. Davies returns)

Yeah, I thought the Fisher King costume was effective in shadow and silhouette, so why the hell did they have him march out into daylight? Is it an unwritten rule that the show must have something cheap-looking?

 

Haven't read any of the other comments yet. Anyway, I'll put this as a spoiler, just in case...

Spoiler

The opening where the Doctor is, apparently, talking to the audience was good, though I had no idea how it related to the story until the very end, which was the point, of course.

So, the Doctor can't change even one line of history without risking utter disaster...except when he can. He can't change his own personal fate...except when he does. He can't change events even to satisfy his closest friends...unless it's Clara. The TARDIS won't let him change history to that extent...except that it has up to now. The Doctor can't change fixed points of history...except when he has. Um...huh? Can we have a bit of clarification?

So, when O'Donnell said, "We'll have to split up," did anyone else say, "She's dead."?

The whole "It was really a hologram I put together" thing was a bit cheap, but the idea of a stable time loop was interesting. And, as a bonus, he didn't say it was "timey wimey".

I really figured the cause of the problem would be either the government or the company. Instead, it turned out to be yet another one-shot bad guy who thinks he's more powerful than he actually is. I'm not sure that's an improvement.

It was a nice touch to have Clara get called on her developing the Doctor's habit of putting others at risk, sometimes needlessly. I still wonder if this, and her more gung-ho attitude, will be looked into further this season.

And I did like how Cass picked up on the axe by feeling the vibrations on the floor.

The episode had some good points, but the plot needed some work.

 

Oh, one more thing, when Cass felt the vibrations of the axe and the video image changed, did anyone else think, "Daredevil!"

 

Just seen Doctor Who. Today because I forgot it was on yesterday. Four things:

1) The rock theme is better than the standard theme.
2) They really have remembered that The Doctor is the main character.
3) I thought the Fisher King's costume was effective in broad daylight.
4) Clara Oswald is an absolute bitch. All the stuff about The Doctor treasuring her falls completely flat.

 

No. I thought of Toph Bei Fong.

 

I thought the Fisher King looked great in the trailers, but really didn't work in the sun or as a full reveal.

 

A new photo of the complete Enemy of the World and Web of Fear film cans has been released, including the stolen Episode 3 of WoF:



We were so close...

 

At the risk of being pedantic, it's called the Cloister Bell. According to Wikipedia, it was last heard in "Dark Water" when Clara (supposedly) starts destroying the TARDIS keys.

My problem was that the Doctor was utterly bound and determined to go the extra mile for Clara, but, to cite the most obvious example, he absolutely refused to give in to Tegan and Nyssa's pleas to save Adric, which wouldn't have wrecked the timeline, either, so far as anyone knew.

 

In response to The2ndQuest.

Though that argument isnt without merit, it's too high-level. There's a bottom line. She's consistently horrible to The Doctor - bullying and selfish. None of this is reflected in the stories. She's doesn't even have it in her to be grateful for her opportunities, instead somehow positioning herself as a victim. She's insufferable. Moffat has had no consistent idea for Clara since 'The Snowmen'. Endless rewrites, finally settling on the most unpleasant aspects of the character. Indeed she's barely even the same person we first met. Thank **** she's leaving soon.

EDIT: Furthermore, she was pushing him to find a solution for her own selfish ends.

 

Whoops, yeah, its Cloister Bell. It sounds occasionally. Checking the wiki, several times since the 12th showed up, alone. Generally it signals danger, either to the Doctor, itself, the universe, that sort of thing. They should just be careful with just how often it sounds, since this kind of story is pretty low-key. They try playing it up that its supposedly high-stakes, like last week when the TARDIS first arrived, it wanted to leave, but the Doctor put the handbrake on.

Just felt like a waste that O'Donnell died, especially after her enthusiastic reaction to the Doctor. It was supposed to prove the veracity of the Doctor's "ghost", but not sure it had to be that cryptic, aside from forcing a cliffhanger (and for the romantic angst cliche). Like that other guy accused the Doctor of breaking his supposed rules to save himself, but no, instead its hearing Clara will die that pushes the Doctor over the edge and try to break the rules, but he fails (as he should). Then turns out the whole thing was just another stable time loop, that Bethoveen's 5th is written so who cares who really wrote it? And kind of make the Doctor look uncaring about other people a bit- he did try to stop O'Donnell, but not that hard. We've had stable time loops based on cryptic messages before (last season had at least one), this one just didn't turn out that interesting.

The2ndQuest Not sure about the intentional "molding of her". I think in part 1, the Doctor already said that there's only room for one of him, when Clara was really excited about the ghosts? Or last season with that shrunken TARDIS episode (or her bluff to buy time with the Cybermen), being the Doctor isn't always "fun". And I just... dislike the idea that the Doctor owes her more or she's done more than other companions. And while it was the previous incarnation, its not like Amy's life wasn't ruined (years of therapy and more) from meeting the Doctor.

We frequently see the Doctor is guilt-ridden about a lot of things, so her intentionally blaming him doesn't really earn much sympathy for her. Its supposed to "drive him", push him to figure out a solution, but that's not exactly the nicest way to do it (and coming from her, its worse). And becoming like the Doctor isn't the greatest thing either, as people call Clara out for risking lives. That's on top of her eagerness for "adventure". While being a universal tourist is usually an off-screen part of the show (most episodes are about when things go horribly wrong), back when this mess started the Doctor was cautious as he could tell something was wrong but Clara was almost running ahead.

The Fisher King costume was ok, looks ugly enough but for an alien that kind of "rose from the dead", and "enslaves souls", kind of underwhelming. Especially with a name like that, with potential references, but instead, seems like they just chose that name because... um, there was water involved?

 

I'd say this is another sticking point between ClassicWho and NuWho. During the Classic era, the role of the Companion was, as frequently noted, to run, scream and ask "What is this, Doctor?" Companions could get moments to shine and bits of characterization, but the Doctor was still the star of the show. Nowadays, there's more of a push to make the Doctor and the Companion almost equal partners. Thing is, there's the problem that you can reduce the Doctor's role in the situation, even though its his show. And, concurrently, you can elevate the Companion's role to the point to where they may as well have their own show and dispense with the Doctor. (That worked with Sarah Jane, who naturally grew into a hero in her own right over time, but would it work with Clara?) It's not an easy balance to achieve.

And I think that making the Doctor's presence in a Companion's life a bad or harmful thing is a recent move that I don't agree with. In the Classic era, except for Katarina, Sara Kingdom and Adric (who all got killed), and, arguably,Tegan (who just got fed up with an usually violent period in the Doctor's life), traveling with the Doctor was always portrayed as a good thing, with Companions leaving him as friends and going on to live their own lives again, and they're the better for their travels. But now, with the general move to "darker & edgier", it seems like everyone who walks into the TARDIS ends up with PTSD and has their lives damaged to one extent or another. I'm sure I'm exaggerating, and feel free to correct me, but that's what I perceive here.

 

Fisher King looked terrible in broad daylight. So obviously just a tall guy in a costume. The upper part of the costume flopping around was not good at all. They should have kept him in the Shadows.

 

As a roleplayer who has been running the Arcateenian who romanced and manipulated Toshiko in Torchwood's 'Greeks Bearing Gifts', within SW games, I was delighted to hear an update on her race.

Yeah, they have invaded Tivoli!

 

Pincer jaws. That red bit of flesh. Dorsal forward-hook behind head - stylistic similarities between Fisher King and that sea serpent painting in the canteen.

Also, Minister of War?

 

Related to Minister of Chance?

 

Let me know when they get to the Minister of Silly Walks.

 

Matt Smith perfected the Drunken Giraffe

 

Gatiss must be having an off day...he makes sense here:

http://www.digitalspy.com.au/britis...ould-be-very-interesting.html#~prdRlMRfZ1yZVV

 

You had the sister menu to our TiVo...

 

Spoiler

http://www.cultbox.co.uk/news/headl...s-joins-star-wars-episode-viii-cast[/spoiler]
Doctor Who actress to join Episode 8.

 

Spoiler

At first I thought you meant a Doctor Who actress would be joining the eighth episode of Doctor Who in Series 9.

 

Spoiler

I can see why. Probably should have said SW E8.