Dr. Who

[Segoris]

I liked the episode overall, but would have liked it a lot more without those last ~10mins or so

[Surlyboi]

Three words:

Sweet Papa Crimbo.

[Khaldun]

The problem that you can see clearly in this episode is that Moffat is not only bored with his own tropes, he's bored with the classic Who plot structures, and so ends up making every episode a sort of recursive commentary on his own boredom. For example, as the episode unfolds, you start to understand that the reason the whole thing started with a secret base at the North Pole is that the Doctor was the first to get Dreamcrabbed. So what kind of dream does the Doctor weave when he's trying to get out of a dream created by alien dreamers? Yes, you guessed it, a base defense story. Because it's so familiar to him. And of course to us, and to Moffat. I think it's fine to be bored by those plots, but then let's mess around and try something really new. Maybe something a touch less self-referentially clever, maybe something less arch. Definitely something that doesn't have a monster you mustn't look at, must think about, don't dare hear, or whatever. That's gotta stop.

[NowhereMan]

Well that's if you want to get into the less obvious ways Moffat showed he was bored. You can always just stick with 'they look just like face huggers, you know, from the Alien films'.

[Khaldun]

Though that line about the film Alien was pretty great.

[Threash]

That and Santa's "bigger on the inside" line were great.  I usually hate to nitpick but i found it odd that one of the facehuggers actually won and nobody seemed to care.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Aside from people dying in Dr Who all the time, no one really even knew who the guy that died was.  I thought it was a fun enough episode and while the season was generally terrible this felt fine to me.

[satael]

I would've actually liked it if there had been no retcon and that would have been a rather bittersweet way to say a final goodbye to the companion with the last meeting being 63 years into her future.

[Khaldun]

I think that was the original plan for ending it.  NuWho in general has been pretty great about thinking about what it means for the Doctor to come back into the lives of companions when they're much older. They could do more of that. Or descendants--imagine if Leela got her grandkids away from the Time War or whatever, what they'd make of the Doctor...

If the Dreamcrab killed that guy, what happens next? Does it have babies? Is there a spreading plague of Dreamcrabs?

[Lakov_Sanite]

The old Clara ending would have been super cheesy.  Even if the actress left I would rather they not end it there but I'm sure they would have.

[HaemishM]

I probably don't need to repeat but I will. Some good acting and a couple of fun scenes but the overall plot idea was a bit tiresome. I guess at least there was a semi decent excuse for having Santa in it.

This. So much this.

[palmer_eldritch]

The BBC have put up a prologue for the new series. It's a two-minute scene, not a trailer.

I've watched it and there are no spoilers.

Observations:

i) Peter Capaldi looks really old
ii) his delivery is really good

If the BBC won't let you watch iPlayer then you may be out of luck, sorry

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0326pdj/doctor-who-new-series-prologue

[Signe]

I heard that it'll start this year on BBC America, too.  You can get around the iPlayer with a proxy if you don't mind being a criminal in the eyes of the BBC and have the Queen condemn you with her almost dead royal eyes.  Tsk tsk in advance.

[Sir T]

http://io9.com/river-song-is-returning-to-doctor-who-great-whee-1728203234

River Song will return to sass the Doctor in this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special, according to the BBC. It’s like a Christmas present, except you can’t leave it under the tree and you can’t regift it later.

Sorry, I’m still burned out on River Song. Her increasingly convoluted saga with Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor was way too long, and even though it’s been 14 episodes (series 8 and two specials) since we’ve seen her, it still feels like she was just here, completely hijacking the series’ narrative.

There are of course no details on the 2015 Christmas special, including how River Song—a.k.a. Melody Pond, a.k.a. the Doctor’s Wife, a.k.a. the daughter of Amy and Rory, a.k.a. Little Miss Moffat (okay, I made that last one up, but I really think we should start using it, guys)—makes her appearance. As showrunner Steven Moffat explains:

    “Another Christmas, another special for Doctor Who - and what could be more special than the return of Alex Kingston as Professor River Song. The last time the Doctor saw her she was a ghost. The first time he met her, she died. So how can he be seeing her again? As ever, with the most complicated relationship in the universe, it’s a matter of time ...”

The easy answer is that being a time-traveler herself, River could just be showing up in the middle of her life, with no knowledge of her eventual death. But when did a River Song storyline ever choose the easy answer?

There is a plus side here, and that’s basically Peter Capaldi. More than any other incarnation, I have to think the already sassy Twelfth Doctor can go toe-to-toe with the sassy River Song. Also, I feel like the two characters should have a brilliant chemistry Kingston and Smith’s Eleventh Doctor lacked. Basically, if River Song has to come crashing into another Doctor’s life, I’m very glad it’s this one.

Excuse me while I sleep with excitement.

[HaemishM]

Ahhh fuck me, more Moffatry with the world's worst character backstory thrust upon a decent actor.

[Khaldun]

She was a great idea for a character at the beginning, but I'm totally with Rob Bricken on this one--quite aside from the Moffaty mess that her character became, she just became wearisome.

[Evildrider]

[Mattemeo]

New season has begun in the UK. I was semi-forced to watch the first episode while being a captive audience at a friend's house.

Summation? Well, I didn't despise it, which means it's a marked improvement on Kill The Moon, which is where I walked away last season. A 'surprise' comeback for one character and an evaluation of their relationship with the Doctor, and a massive throw-back to classic Tom Baker WHO. More moral dilemmas, but less fuckstupid/preachy. I'm ok with this.

[Khaldun]

Many of the usual defects and shortcomings of Moffat's style, a few of the usual attractions. I would like a season where the Doctor is not fated to die for the whole fucking season. It's been done. Or where the Doctor has some huge thing to confess, or regret, where the person writing the show isn't even really sure what that is. I'd actually love a season where if the Doctor ends up having a regret, it's because of something he does while we're watching him in real time, as a result of a dramatic situation, rather than hints and clues and allusions and handwavium about something that happened once where by the time the season ends Moffat will have forgotten the whole thing and then try to cram it in for the last ten minutes.

I'd love a season that plants its feet and builds up the universe the Doctor lives in a bit more. Moffat doesn't add anything lasting--look at how in this episode alone, he leans heavily on RTD, who actually did make things that stick and hold and flesh out the Doctor's universe some. Moffat's version of the universe is whatever it needs to be for this episode: there's nothing about it that feels even vaguely lasting.

[Samwise]

I've noticed that when somebody dies in a Moffat episode, I give no fucks whatsoever, because odds are pretty good they'll be resurrected within the hour by the Power of Love.

[Ironwood]

I'm pretty much out for the season already.  The worst part about Moffat is when he throws Everything at the wall to see what sticks and you can kinda SEE that there might be a good idea in there, but it's entirely covered in complete frivolous bullshit.

It was a good setup for what could have been a great idea and then it just went to shit.  I do like Missy tho - She's actually a really good Master.

There's also the undertone all the time of 'I don't actually want to write Dr Who' which you can always tell because he'd rather write dialogue and set pieces for any other character.

Also, snakes.  Fuck that.

[Khaldun]

Snake guy was cool except he made no sense whatsoever as a assistant for .

There's just so many random things Moffat does in his episodes that are meaningless. Freezing planes in the air, just because? Missy's weird bigface thing on the monitor, because why? Snake guy. etc.

At least I could see the Will and Testament thing turning out to be the Doctor pulling a fast one on both Missy *and*  in some fashion. And the basic dilemma of the episode is great--it's a very interesting inversion of Genesis of the Daleks. But yeah, there's a palpable boredom in Moffat's scripts, like he can't be arsed to pay attention for the entire story he's writing and has to keep sticking in random crap.

[Threash]

I do like Missy tho - She's actually a really good Master.

Yeah, she was the best part of the episode.  Her "you are the puppy" line was perfect.

[Samwise]

Michelle Gomez is great and I'm glad they didn't waste that casting on just doing that one episode with her.  On the other hand, it's really annoying how she just shows up again (not even having regenerated) with no explanation whatsoever.  I'm alive again because fuck you that's why.

[Threash]

There was no need of an explanation, they actually showed how she survived.  When they shot her the effect they showed was teleportation, not disintegration.

[Mattemeo]

Also, the Master has 'died' several times over the years. Missy even says something along the lines of 'Death isn't so final for us as it is for you' to Clara.

[Samwise]

Also, the Master has 'died' several times over the years. Missy even says something along the lines of 'Death isn't so final for us as it is for you' to Clara.

This ties back to what I was saying about nothing that happens in a Moffat episode having any emotional weight for me any more.  Someone gets hit with a Dalek disintegration beam and I react about the same as if they'd gotten hit with a nerf gun.  They'll come back.  Or not.  Whatever the next episode happens to need.  There's no element of "oo, how will they get out of THIS one?" because the answer will probably be "oh, I did somehow, off screen.  CATCHPHRASE!"

[Threash]

I think this time it's different because they specifically tell you how they can get out of it, except the answer is just as bad.

[Ironwood]

It'll surprise you all, but I'm with Sam.  Hack, hack, hackery...

[palmer_eldritch]

I know asking for continuity is pointless but what was all this about how the Daleks would become even more terrifying if they could get their hands on the Tardis when the Daleks already have time travel? Not just in Classic Who but I thought in the new show too (wasn't the Time War about the two species with time travel fighting each other, which is why it was as destructive as it was?).

That's a rhetorical question I guess.

I'm just going to say this once a season now but it's true for every episode Moffat does: the story doesn't always have to revolve around the Doctor and some secret from his past or some old relationship of his or a prophecy about him or whatever. Back when I was a lad the universe had a bit of a life of its own with things happening on planets and what not, and Doctor Who turned up when something interesting was happening and helped out, and it was better. You can still have Daleks that way, it's just that the Daleks are waging war on the human empire or stripping a planet of all its resources or something, rather than spending their entire existence obsessing about the Doctor.

[Ironwood]

I dunno.  They've almost always had time-travel, from Troughten onwards, I think.  However, I will admit that the Genesis Ark was a scary bit of kit because it was Dalek sized and contained millions of the fuckers.

So, I guess a Tardis would help with that ?  (Though I'm rationalising Moffat here, which is about as pointless as trying to masturbate to furniture polish pictures.)

But yeah, Moffat has embraced the WORST of the RTD 'thing' where the Doctor is some kind of Universal Saviour known by everyone and the centre of the fucking Galaxy.  It's quite boring.  And he loves putting 'Dr Who' in the script.  Twat.  Fat fucking Scottish Twat.

[slog]

I dunno.  They've almost always had time-travel, from Troughten onwards, I think.  However, I will admit that the Genesis Ark was a scary bit of kit because it was Dalek sized and contained millions of the fuckers.

So, I guess a Tardis would help with that ?  (Though I'm rationalising Moffat here, which is about as pointless as trying to masturbate to furniture polish pictures.)

But yeah, Moffat has embraced the WORST of the RTD 'thing' where the Doctor is some kind of Universal Saviour known by everyone and the centre of the fucking Galaxy.  It's quite boring.  And he loves putting 'Dr Who' in the script.  Twat.  Fat fucking Scottish Twat.

Well said.  It's less fun when everyone knows who he is.

[Khaldun]

Even they know it--I thought that's what all that now-forgotten twaddle about Matt Smith's Doctor being erased from memory was ultimately supposed to be about--an attempt to get us back to the point where the Doctor shows up and nobody knows who he is really except for maybe the bad guy, and often not even then. I thought that's what the "idiot with a box" conclusion of last season was about--he's just a bloke who shows up and does what he can. But now we're back to the Shadow Proclamation and the Mos Eisley Cantina and UNIT and everybody else knowing exactly who the Doctor is and regarding him as one of the most important beings in the universe. The whole thing that let the Doctor get away with stuff in most of his best stories is that he's just this weird guy who runs around doing stuff until some of the protagonists in that story decide to trust him or come to depend on him and then some kind of plan comes together.

[Sir T]

The Daleks were able to chase the TARDIS through time and space in the First Doctors time (actually their third appearance involved them trying to steal it) Thje episodes also reveals they have a weapon called the Time Destructor or at least the plans for one. The episodes are collectively called the Dalek's Master Plan.

Actually another ep had them chasing the TARDIS. Sorry...

[Triforcer]

After watching that nonsense, I tried to list all the episodes from the Smith and Capelli eras that instantly sprang to mind as great and memorable.  I came up with Vincent and the Doctor, and (more vaguely in my memory) the 50th anniversary special.  Beyond that I literally can't remember the shapes of any episodes, just bits and pieces of trash about astronauts and dinosaurs and stuff.  I didn't hate them all at the time, but a week after they aired they left nothing. 

Ask me the same question about the Eccleston/Tennant eras, and I immediately think Dalek, the Empty Child Two-parter, Blink, the Silence in the Library 2 parter, the Family of Blood, the Idiot's Lantern, and a few more.  Tell me the names of many other episodes in the era and I immediately remember them fondly too (Gridlock, for example, is underappreciated).

As Palmer alluded to above, none of these episodes involved time travel (except Blink, sort of) and none of them involved the universe revolving around the Doctor.  The question at this point is whether Moffat is fired before the series goes off the air again.