Doctor Who, Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures...

[SteampunkDoc]

What's this? Doctor Who mid-season, gearing up for the finale, and the last post was a whole month ago?

Here, these reviews should create some nice discussion, if nothing else.

Cold War:

I do really see the similarities to “Dalek”, but it’s still different enough to not feel recycled. Problem is, not all the differences/changes are good.

The captain seems to bounce between trusting and not trusting the Doctor, but then practically became his best friend by the end. And um, where was that Barbie in the last episode? Clara seems to have taken to this adventuring thing too quickly, and doesn’t exhibit the wonder and amazement that she should. There has got to be a better way to deal with the TARDIS , and really, it didn’t need to be inaccessible. The threat to all of humanity should have been enough to keep The Doctor from leaving.

The CGI creature is worse than usual, but at least it’s covered by smoke. The creature’s arms look interesting, but it’s a shame we never see the whole thing. It’s also bad since the suit is so great, to see the rest fail like that. Didn’t see that ending twist coming, but truthfully the Martians didn’t do anything but solve all the problems just in time. Deus ex machina big time. While we see Mr. Icee’s hands all over people’s faces, we never actually see him take out a foe, which would have added greatly to making him feel more threatening. (And is precisely the reason the Dalek was scary.)

It was a nice episode, but as one other reviewer pointed out, Clara doesn’t do much, and it’s got a fair number of filler scenes, and Skaldak seems won over to the side of peace too easily. I didn’t feel much tension/suspense while watching it, and while it’ll be a good one to come back and watch again, it just doesn’t stand out from the crowd.

Hide:

Two minutes in, and it’s already scary. It’s off to a great start, and trust me, things do really continue that way. I like how It just jumps right into the story, and doesn’t bother with how they got there and why they came. It gives the story more time to develop, and that stuff is explained later once things settle down. The candle is a brilliant idea, and gives off a nice scary feel. I like the returning spacesuit, and the umbrella, and really, just about all the stuff referencing old Doctors/episodes. The pocket universe stuff is a great concept, as is the time travelling montage.

"It isn’t a ghost story, it’s a love story." –Interesting quote, interesting twist.

I really like the episode. It’s got scares, it’s got action, it’s got timey-wimey stuff, what’s there not to like?

The twist at the end with the girl and the psychic being related was great, but the romance was just a bit heavy-handed, and the ending felt cut off. The “Crooked Man” was a great monster, and while the one in the mansion is not explained at all, the tension created by the quick glimpses was a great way to do things. Also, hurrah for prosthetics! No flaws stood out to me in this one, which is a great relief. I was able to just sit back and enjoy the amazingness of Doctor Who without worrying about some silly detail.

The Crimson Horror-

I wasn’t sure what to think going into this, as I’m not a fan of the Gang. I like Strax, being a nice and violent companion. But the other two aren’t special, and even if they do get a spin-off, I probably wouldn’t watch it, and will be glad when they leave the main show. They all seem like one-trick ponies, and there’s just not enough depth to them to do much. They were great in Series 6, the Christmas special was stretching things, and this was lessened IMHO by their presence.

Stupid fainting guy, you have lost any respect I may have had for you. And that wasn't even funny the first time. Doctor? Ok, that was a bit odd. Kinda hate seeing him that way, but at least he got healed up quickly. I don’t care for the grainy flashback format, but at least it ended soon enough. And 'Tom-Tom,' I love it!

“Sontar-ha!” Strax was an entertaining part off the episode, but the humor didn't fit in well, and it's his only memorable trait.

It seems like The Doctor hardly did anything this episode, and that Jenny, Vastra and Strax could have done everything themselves. The Doctor was conveniently captured, changed, and changed back just to fit the plot, and Clara came to no harm at all. The treatment, for being so horrible, was too easily solved, and to tell the truth I felt that the last few scenes in Yorkshire weren’t that great. The real ending in the modern day however, was greatly entertaining, and touches on something that few others have. The ability to track time traveler’s movements around in history books. Also, Clara's surprise should lead to The Doctor being asked some awkward questions. Can't wait to see that finally happen. The Gang did most of the work, but to tell the truth, it seemed like the main role was split up so much that only Jenny did much of significance. Strax was shoved out of the way and only returned for comic relief, and Vastra just stood around a lot.

This is probably my least favorite episode of this series, as it felt all over the place, and just didn’t work for me. The evil plot was shut down quite easily, the blind girl had a predicable secret, the monster was just a cute spiky red thing, and the villain didn’t seem capable of pulling it all off by herself. Ada was the main bright spot, but her character isn’t worth the rest of the show. Also, The Doctor does everthing possible to save a deadly Ice Warrior, but doesn’t really care about a slug. Not even an annoyed “No, Ada….Don’t…Noooo….”

Doctor-lite episodes have a tendency to not do well, (Other than Blink) and this one follows the pattern. Well, this one really isn’t either side of the coin. It’s more like a Spin-off pilot than anything, which brings me to my last point….Just get the Paternoster Gang out of Who, I don’t care if they’re dropped, or giving a spin-off, or what, just get them out. After reading some other reviews, one last thing arose. The episode took itself too seriously. Had it been made with a camp-y tone, some of the issues would have been less severe. As is, the horror/gore just clashed a lot with the more absurd moments.

[BrickG]

This season is real Meh for the most part. Some decent episodes. The Tardis episode was decent but they they had to go an set back everything instead of letting the story advance from there.

I'm really not digging the cinematic style of the latest episodes which I attribute to the new head writer. And ALL of the "scary" stuff is ridiculous and absolutely laughable.

"Oh look! Their heads are turning around and have something in them!"

"Oh noes these dead people are covered in Ketchup or something!"

It's like the return of Season 1 (new series) and creatures like those lardy things and stupid yellow people who wear human skin...

The new companion has an interesting story which I'm legit interested to see answers in, but the way they're just lazing along literally undoing any progress sometimes...

And her character is too much like Pond. Sassy attitude confidence stuff. Pondish. Why do all the women lately act the same in Doctor Who?

I just wish they'd get this story arc over with and go on. Too many episodes that both aren't very good and don't advance the story. Too many of the same character traits. Too many laughable "monsters". Blablabla...

Worst season for this doctor so far. Not to mention the Pond's lame sendoff.

[commodore_legolas]

'Nightmare in Sliver' tomorrow! Can't wait! And next week is the 'Name of The Doctor'!! It's going to be amazing! Is anybody else hoping that it is more of a two-parter with the 50th as part two?

Also, I read that Character Building is not doing well financially, meaning Lego could get the licence! We can always hope!

[Zilcho]

Yes! I'm looking forward to it too, I love cybermen :D

Edited May 13, 2013 by Zilcho

[SteampunkDoc]

Nightmare in Sliver

I truly have no idea what to say about this one.

It felt a bit all over the place, and didn't ever settle down into one story/style/tone. It's certainly better than Closing Time, but it it just doesn't quite work.

The new Cybermen aren't as scary as they were hyped up to be, and while some of the new features work (Head turning around, The Cybermites.) others are either over-powered or unnessecary. ("Upgrade in progress", detachable hand/head, super-speed.) I liked the creepy "Pick off the defenders one by one using stealth" idea, but the inclusion of extra gimmicks wasn't always that great. The Super-speed was a one-off power that either should have been ditched, or used later. If they have such a weapon, why not use it more? I never saw what was so wrong about the Cybusmen's slow and stomping ways. It gave a sweet "You can run, but we're still coming and there's nothing you can do about it" feel. While it's a neat looking re-design, no mention of Mondas was made, and they really weren't the main antagonist.

Matt Smith was amazing in this episode. Great acting, great flip-flopping between personalities, and I love all of the references to his past. As another reviewer pointed out, the Cyber-Doctor was far from a emotion-less Cyberman like personality but the performance was so good I never even thought about that in the episode. It was nice to see Clara take charge, and the confidence The Doctor showed in her has certainly developed over the series. Porridge was great, and while the twist at the end was unexpected, it was a bit too fast and out of the blue for me. And his proposal was equally so. The kids were not needed, and didn't even add the "Child-like wonder and excitement" that they should have. The girl just complained about everything, and the boy wasn't hardly featured at all. The Captain was just a jerk, and I was glad to see her go, and the rest were left undeveloped.

While it was a mildly clever episode, it just doesn't stand out. It was all over the place, and the Cybermen were once again not really the main focus. And really, they haven't been since Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel.

We need another good CYBERMEN story, not just another story that happens to have the Cybermen.

Sadly no more hints at Clara's mystery, and it seems like this could fit just about anywhere in the timeline of Series 7b.

At least the next episode looks fantastic!

[Faefrost]

It's just great seeing Warwick Davis in a Doctor Who episode.

[Mr Man]

It was wrong. It mixed broad humour with horror, like Love and Monsters meets Tomb of the Cybermen. Parts of it worked really well, like the 'Borg like adaption' and the retcon that gold disrupts the connection between the cybernet and the drone, explaining why the touch of gold (in Silver Nemesis) is fatal as opposed to gold powder. The Empty shells just complicated matters a bit, they had the cybus logo on, but all the cybusmen where destroyed in The Next Doctor (with the Pandorica, A Good Man, and Closing Time Cybermen supposed to be Mondas ones without having to change the costumes). Other than the Cybermen, the episode was crap, except from Warwick Davis who did a great job (occasionally very poorly writing dialog though). That late episode shot of the Cybermen leaving the tombs (indecently looking like the inside of a Borg Cube) and marching on the castle was fantastic.

[BrickG]

Spoilers for the last episode:

Bad episode :P. The kids were the biggest idiots I've ever seen. It was just so unrealistically exaggerated how insane these kids are. I mean they thought they were ON THE MOON for a second and literally complained. THE MOON! Kids aren't THAT dumb. No kids their age would pick an amusement park over THE FREAKIN' MOON!

And the older girl's comments were just really stupid every single freakin' time. It's like these kids don't seem to care they're on a freakin' time machine/spaceship, they're going to another world. It's all "dumb" to them. They were (mostly the older one) the most unrealistically unappreciative and entitled little brats in the whole universe! Not to mention how they figured out that their fake-mom was a time traveler...

It's just all so unbelievably stupid.

Honestly, I was looking forward to giving more specific examples of the absurdities but I seemed to have erased it from my mind. It was so painful.

Another bad episode in a "meh" season.

[SteampunkDoc]

Spoiler-free review of:

THE NAME OF THE DOCTOR

Whoa...I'm speechless...That was so amazing, and the ending was just so....Squeee!!!

I won't say much, but it's a must see, and got me extremely hyped for the 50th special.

Basically, it answers some questions well, leaves others alone, and throws in a huge earth-shattering reveal at the end.

It solves the Clare arc brilliantly, includes some great bonuses for classic fans, and wraps up this series quite nicely.

Whatever you may or may not think of this series, you've got to watch this one. It's fantastic.

And that's all for now.

[Mr Man]

Really fantastic episode with only one problem which I'll put in a spoiler tag. Other than that it was easily the best episode since series 5.

What was the Great Intelligence's motive for this? The Doctor has interfered with it's plans in only 5 or 6 episodes, this would suite the Master much more. Also John Hurt, Valiyard or the Doctor needed to fight the Time War?

[SteampunkDoc]

Really fantastic episode with only one problem which I'll put in a spoiler tag. Other than that it was easily the best episode since series 5.

What was the Great Intelligence's motive for this? The Doctor has interfered with it's plans in only 5 or 6 episodes, this would suite the Master much more. Also John Hurt, Valiyard or the Doctor needed to fight the Time War?

Oooh, good points...

Hadn't thought about the GI's motives, before, so I may need to do some rewatching and look for hints on that. The Hurt Doctor is the Time-War Doctor for several reasons:

#1, Costume is a mix between 8's and 9's.

#2, 11 knows all about him, but would forget a future doctor's story until he lives it.

#3, There are very strong and persistent rumors going around that he is between 8/9, not least among them is a story that Hurt confirmed this outright. (Although I heard this second hand and can't provide a source right now.)

And one last point to clear things up for some others:

#3, "For all peace/sanity, but not the name of the doctor," Means it has to be after he chooses the name, meaning post-Hartnell, and there were visible regens from him to 8, 8/9 was not seen, or ever described in any media. And with recorded regens from 9-11, the only two possible places he could be are between 8 and 9, or after 11. And see point #2 above to discredit the last possibility.

[Mr Man]

Oooh, good points...

Hadn't thought about the GI's motives, before, so I may need to do some rewatching and look for hints on that. The Hurt Doctor is the Time-War Doctor for several reasons:

#1, Costume is a mix between 8's and 9's.

#2, 11 knows all about him, but would forget a future doctor's story until he lives it.

#3, There are very strong and persistent rumors going around that he is between 8/9, not least among them is a story that Hurt confirmed this outright. (Although I heard this second hand and can't provide a source right now.)

And one last point to clear things up for some others:

#3, "For all peace/sanity, but not the name of the doctor," Means it has to be after he chooses the name, meaning post-Hartnell, and there were visible regens from him to 8, 8/9 was not seen, or ever described in any media. And with recorded regens from 9-11, the only two possible places he could be are between 8 and 9, or after 11. And see point #2 above to discredit the last possibility.

Well 2-3 also wasn't shown . The biggest problem with the Time War thing is that the Doctor has openly discussed it as well as killing his whole race and home planet, in order to disown this 'Doctor' what could he have done that was worse? Also on the Great Intelligences motives I just remembered that The Abominable Snowmen, The Web of Fear, Downtime, and The Web Planet all take place after The Snowmen, so it has only been defeated by the Doctor 2 times (The Snowmen, and The Bells of Saint John.

[Ceroknight]

Decent finale

I'm sure the Great Intelligence will appear again somewhere someday because he's in the Doctor's timeline, so he'll probably pop up somewhere in the future..

John Hurt is an awesome actor so I can't wait to see his portrayal of the Doctor, but I think he will only be in the 50th and not stay for series 8..

Or is he the Valeyard..cause that's a separate character himself right?

[Leewan]

Just saw the episode. Wow. That's very impressive, some clever ideas. I'm pretty sure Moffat planned all that from the very beginning.

So Trenzalore is what, like a giant Timelords Graveyard ? Also, it was nice to see the "naked" TARDIS. And about the John Hurt thing... Well, I guess that's a good way for setting things for the 50^th special. He will either be an old Eight, either a Eight-and-a-half, or something like that. With all those references to the number eleven all along the seventh series (especially the second half), Eleven can't be Twelve. Well, technically, Hurt is not the Doctor, since he didn't seem to deserve that name, but he's still the same being, the same person. Oh, and how does the Great Intelligence knows all the timeline thing. It is just because he's extremely intelligent ? Anyway, I would never be a Time Lord, their tombs are the most dangerous places for themselves. This is scary...

Now, everything I want is to be the 23^rd November for the Special !

[BrickG]

Well that was better. The season has been weaker than usual. I'd say the first and last episodes were the best episodes of this season.

As for the new doctor... yeah he's 98% chance going to be the REAL 9th. I don't think that causes any plot holes or anything. I mean, maybe this doctor is simply not recorded in anyone's history due to his involvement in the war (and anyone who would know died). So potentially the Doctor just went with the technically incorrect regeneration number. He hated that regeneration anyways. Why not pretend it didn't exist? Him talking about what he did during the war also isn't a contradiction if he's denying that regeneration because he's simply a person and they can SAY what they want.

Now one interesting issue is that the doctor might be out of or nearly out of regenerations. He's suggested he can still regenerate (when he was poisoned he said he couldn't because of the type of poison). But he supposedly only had 12. That means there can be 13 doctors (assuming the first doesn't count because he didn't regenerate yet, not sure if it's counted that way). With this new regeneration that would mean he's REALLY 12 and not 11. Meaning he can die one more time.

But then years ago there was that whole issue where 10 stopped his regeneration by shooting the energy into his chopped off hand. Did that take up a regeneration? If not why doesn't he just keep a chopped off hand "handy" (;p) all the time. Seems to be a cheat for free regenerations.

Of course maybe the Doctor was given more regenerations during the Time War making this mystery mute (as he'd have plenty of regenerations left). The Master and other Time Lords were seemingly given extra regenerations for the war. Why not the Doctor?

Or maybe they'll retcon it...

Edited May 19, 2013 by BrickG

[SteampunkDoc]

BrickG, the regeneration limit is not really valid anymore due to several things:

#1, Most agree that this was a limit set in law by the Time Lords, and not a physical limit. (Or something similar like 12 is a real limit, but easy to get around with the tech of the day, so extending the number of lives was outlawed.)

#2, It's established that the Time Lords can offer people new sets of regeneration, and it was very likely that they did so a lot in the Time War.

#3, River gave up all of hers to the Doctor. (Although nobody is quite sure if he got them, or if they were just all used up at once and nobody got any of them.)

#4, While might make a fun storyline, there's no doubt that an easy work around will be found once the time comes to re-cast.

I'm not sure if the partial regens count, and what happens when he just uses some of it.

Mr. Man,

Yeah, the 2/3 wasn't shown, but I really don't think Hurt's Doctor was stuffed in there. I just don't see the Moff doing something like that.

Nothing could be worse than the Time War IMHO, and while The Doctor talks about it, he usually leaves things at "I fought on the front lines" and doesn't go into the nasty, gritty details.

And I think there are enough hints that he is 8.5/9. See this for more.

Yeah, it's agreed that the GI's motives and connections with the Whispermen are a bit vague at best, but I'm sure that'll be cleared up eventually. (On the other hand, we've still asking who blew up the TARDIS back in Series 5 )

I mean, two defeats and then WHAM! becomes a huge finale foe who jumps into, and totally ruins The Doctor's life? It's a bit too big of a jump to go unexplained, but again, that may be answered/explained later.

Ceroknight,

The Valeyard, from what I understand, is similar to the Dream Lord, in that he's part of the Doctor, but not one of the incarnations.

And I highly doubt that Hurt is the Valeyard, while V was concerned solely about himself, from what we know about Hurt's he did it for the whole galaxy to have peace, no matter the cost.

Does that answer any questions?

[Ceroknight]

Thank you!

I'm sure he'll be brilliant whoever he ends up being.

By the way, can we all agree on this?

[Peppermint_M]

Saww it. Yay! Though whisper men look like the Trickster from SJA...

I reckon he is the 9th regeneration. Though not the 9th Doctor. His outfit is similar to 8s and 9s and 11 did say he did a lot of terrible things but "Not in the name of The Doctor

[Legofin2012]

I really liked the last episode, but really confused about John Hurt, who is he in Doctor Who, it said "Introducing John Hurt as The Doctor"....

[Bighappysmiles]

Steven Moffat made a point in saying that there was no 2 parters in series 7, and of course there wasn't.

Do you know/think he will do it for series 8 as well?

What do you guys(and girls! ) think of no more two parters? Personnally I think it is a terrible idea and he should not bring it into series 8. I love two parters, it creates excitement around single episodes and not just the series story ark.

Just thought this would be useful and I'm curious to know what everyone thinks

[commodore_legolas]

It is so tempting to read those spoilers!

[SteampunkDoc]

Don't do it!

I was so glad that I went into TNOTD without being spoiled. It was way better that way.

You must resist the temptation.

As for two-parters, that was a rubbish choice. Two parters are great, (In moderation) and help give a change of pace and a breath of fresh air.

They allow a lot more development, and most of my favorite episodes are two parters. (Pandorica/Empty Child/Impossible Astronaut/Bad Wolf/Forest of the Dead)

Two per season is a great balance I think, but after all of the inter-connected-Timey-Wimey-ness of Series 6, it was nice to just plop down for a few stand-alone shows.

At least they didn't go to the other extreme with a serialized format like the Classic Series.

[Faefrost]

Well that was better. The season has been weaker than usual. I'd say the first and last episodes were the best episodes of this season.

As for the new doctor... yeah he's 98% chance going to be the REAL 9th. I don't think that causes any plot holes or anything. I mean, maybe this doctor is simply not recorded in anyone's history due to his involvement in the war (and anyone who would know died). So potentially the Doctor just went with the technically incorrect regeneration number. He hated that regeneration anyways. Why not pretend it didn't exist? Him talking about what he did during the war also isn't a contradiction if he's denying that regeneration because he's simply a person and they can SAY what they want.

Now one interesting issue is that the doctor might be out of or nearly out of regenerations. He's suggested he can still regenerate (when he was poisoned he said he couldn't because of the type of poison). But he supposedly only had 12. That means there can be 13 doctors (assuming the first doesn't count because he didn't regenerate yet, not sure if it's counted that way). With this new regeneration that would mean he's REALLY 12 and not 11. Meaning he can die one more time.

But then years ago there was that whole issue where 10 stopped his regeneration by shooting the energy into his chopped off hand. Did that take up a regeneration? If not why doesn't he just keep a chopped off hand "handy" (;p) all the time. Seems to be a cheat for free regenerations.

Of course maybe the Doctor was given more regenerations during the Time War making this mystery mute (as he'd have plenty of regenerations left). The Master and other Time Lords were seemingly given extra regenerations for the war. Why not the Doctor?

Or maybe they'll retcon it...

I don't believe they have ever mentioned the 12 regeneration limit in the modern era? So it may not still be cannon. Even if it was, wasn't it implied at the minimum, that the Doctors timer was reset during the Tom Baker Key of Time story arc? (Plus the master is quite a few regenerations past 12 at this point.)

[BrickG]

I don't believe they have ever mentioned the 12 regeneration limit in the modern era? So it may not still be cannon. Even if it was, wasn't it implied at the minimum, that the Doctors timer was reset during the Tom Baker Key of Time story arc? (Plus the master is quite a few regenerations past 12 at this point.)

The master was specifically revived and given new regenerations for the Time War so I'm pretty sure his reset at least. He was apparently very dead until the Time Lords apparently got desperate.

[Leewan]

Wow, according to the Doctor Who official site, Matt Smith is gonna leave the show after the next Christlmas Special. That makes me kinda sad, I really went into the show thanks to him, when I discovered the series 5. Source.