Doctor Who TV Show • Page 18

How’s the most recent season been? I kinda finally lost interest towards the end of Capaldi’s run, even though I loved him as the Doctor. I watched the first episode of Whitaker’s run and was so damn bored. Has it gotten any better?

 

Not until very recently.

 

The first season plodded along but there were some real gems such as the Rosa Parks episode and an episode about the partition of India. The true strength of these episodes were the history element.

Overall there was a feeling that there wasn’t enough threat. There was no overall arc or anything like that. I think Jodie has been brilliant throughout - it was more the stories.

This new series has been so much better and I, for one, have absolutely loved it. This weekend’s episode probably goes up there as one of my favourites. Definitely my favourite episode since the Matt Smith era.

 

That is really annoying. Sorry to hear that.

 

imo even though Capaldi's last season had some clunkers it also had some of the highest peaks of his run. specifically his last two-parter, World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls, which is my favourite regeneration story in the history of the show - def watch that if you haven't

Jodie's first season was super inconsistent, with a lot of scripts that were borderline unfinished and/or seemed hastily edited at the last minute. that said when it slowed down and took some breaths it hit some high points, specifically Demons of the Punjab and It Takes You Away which were phenomenal. this current season seems to be building on the momentum of Resolution by bringing in a craptonne of old faces, evil and good, and throwing the whole fanbase for a loop. whether or not it's building to something satisfying has yet to be seen, but it's undeniably been as thrilling as the show's been in quite a while, and Jodie is indeed terrific

 

I think that the through line of the Doctor dealing with the fallout of the Time War gave them some friction that drove the character and explained why the did the things they did. So far w/ 13 that friction has mostly dissolved, and I feel like finding new character arcs for her is something the writers have struggled with. Jodi is a great Doctor, I just want them to make this incarnation more complex. I get the impulse from the writer’s perspective to say “fresh start”, and I do feel like they’re beginning to flesh out the character more in really exciting and strange ways. Not sure if it can hinge on the destruction of Gallifrey, but I’m excited to see where it goes.

 

Just finished last weeks episode and I’m all on board with this season arc. I do prefer when there’s something holding the episodes together, even with some one offs between. Having Captain Jack back was such a treat (even if it was spoiled for me), and I was not expecting the 2nd Doctor twist at all. I do hope Gallifrey isn’t destroyed by the end cus like I’ve said before I really would love to actually go there one day and see it as a real society. Also curious if we’ll learn more about Lee - doc2 didn’t seem too disturbed by his death. Really excited for the rest of the season

 

Is it weird that every episode this season has taken place almost entirely on Earth? Sure, one of those was a far-future Earth, but usually we’re seeing a new planet at least every few episodes.

 

I really liked this episode and totally did not expect the Cyberman development. Curious if that will somehow tie into the Master story by the end of the season.

Also, kind of funny timing with Lord Byron being in this episode - I was just listening to this episode of Decoder Ring last week, which explains the “rumors” about him that are mentioned in passing when the Doctor and friends are meeting the writers.
How Lord Byron’s Incestuous Affair Nearly Destroyed the Atlantic Monthly

 

probably my favourite episode of Jodie's era so far, that was absolutely phenomenal

 

Yeah that was fantastic.

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/doctor...iVCmUknVRhxmySgc1E0&acampID=614286&mpid=10078

$15 for the Tenant collection!

 

My brother’s friend played Mary Shelley in the most recent episode! Irrelevant to everyone else, but it’s one of those silly things you have to post!

 

No way that’s awesome! I’d be telling everybody too haha She did a really nice job

 

that's fucking cool, and yeah she killed it

 

wow these last two episodes... I don't know how I feel. on the one hand I love the bold swings but on the other... kind of a hot mess? I have no idea where next season is supposed to go now lmao

 

It’s definitely not where I thought this series would end up.

 

Yeah I'm completely bewildered by this season. I don't really know that I like where it's going but I'm happy big moves were made.

 

Not sure I liked that finale last night. I don't mind the lore change that much, I just hate how boring and dull it was. Like, not a lot happened, we were just told a bunch of stuff. And then immediately told that the big reveal doesn't matter

Oh well. At least we have an explanation for Brain of Morbius now I suppose??

 

lmao I would absolutely believe 13yo Chibs watching The Brain of Morbius and being like "no. no this needs to be addressed. we can't ignore this" and then here we are today

 

Hahaha exactly. He then dedicated his entire life to explaining it at ANY cost

 

Honestly, I was hoping Captain Jack was going to feature in this two parter. Seems strange to have him randomly bring a warning earlier in the series but then no context for why he brought that warning.

 

Overall I liked that. This is the kind of nonsense I love from doctor who so I’m happy they took some big swings and had a story woven throughout. I am curious if this will open things up to crossing paths with more doctors. I guess the one thing I don’t get is did they wipe the doctors memory multiple times? Or does she just mean she doesn’t know how many lives she had before her memory was wiped. I was half expecting to find out the Master was actually just another version of the Doctor.

Also one other stupid continuity complaint I have is the time lords gifting the doctor with more regenerations for Matt Smith’s exit. Should we just take that to be another time lord lie?

Still hoping one day we get to see Gallifrey not destroyed or in war.

Captain Jack has to be coming back in season 13 right? Why on earth would they just have him pop in like that otherwise. My suspicion is he goes and gets the crew to break the doctor out of jail. They included that scene to make it believable that they would trust him.

 

lol so much stuff kinda doesn't make a lot of sense in light of this. why didn't Clara see any Doctor before Hartnell when she was inside the Doctor's entire timeline in The Name of the Doctor? why did the explorer Timelord arbitrarily put a limit of 13 regenerations when she could have given her people literally infinite life? The Last of the Timelords hinted pretty heavily that exposure to the Untempered Schism was what made Gallifreyans into Timelords, which I always really liked, but I guess they just take children and show them the continuum of time itself for no reason? and what's the probability that the Doctor has never encountered her pre-Hartnell self in her thousands of years of travelleing, and then encounters one like a few weeks before she learns about all her past lives?

idk, I'm not someone who's obsessed with continuity to the most minute detail, and this show is kind of designed to be constantly remade, but this twist seems pretty close to show-breaking imo. moreso because it fundamentally changes the Doctor's arc in a way I'm not sure I like and can't really be undone. I care a lot less about The Brain of Morbius finally making sense than I do about the wonderful arc from Hartnell to now being lost.

 

Currently I'm just hoping that the Matrix was messed with (by the Master, or Rassilon, or someone else) to be made to look like the Doctor was the timeless child, for whatever reason, but it turns out it wasn't her. Like the whole story works as an origin story for Time lords, I suppose, I just don't get why they needed to make the Doctor this special. She's always been special because of what she's done, not who or what she is. If Chibnall was going to retcon the history of the Doctor and Gallifrey and the Time Lords and then immediately say none of it matters to the show or the Doctor, what is the point of doing it at all?

Also firmly believe Ruth Doctor was a season 6B Doctor, until exclusively proven otherwise