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Ok, so far every episode of the new who i fund in Black and white and has a box around it.
Why is that?

Yeah, I can see why people didn't enjoy the episode itself too much. The whole dinosaur setup very much felt like a. "I wrote myself into a corner with the idea of the tardis being coughed up by a dinosaur in the Thames and I want to get rid of that as quickly as possible." - The interview I saw afterwards (I was watching it in the cinema), said that the whole episode started from the idea of that.

Peter Capaldi was good, he had a good mix with Matt Smiths wild movements, plus, what I'm guessing is a more classic character for him. I actually quite liked Clara's reaction to the change. - It seemed quite, I dunno, realistic? to me.

The whole 'Dont Breath' aspect of it was silly and I'm pretty sure Strax's laser gun could have beaten the bots in seconds.

On the other hand, the whole scene with The Doctor and the half-face man in the balloon was good and I quite like the idea of leaving it ambiguous whether the guy jumped or was pushed. - It brings us an edginess to the Doctor now, leaving us as the audience unsure of whether we can 'really' trust him... - Something no doubt that will be part of Clara's storyarc going forward.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Ok, so far every episode of the new who i fund in Black and white and has a box around it.
Why is that?

It was shot on film, that aspect ratio doesn't correspond to digital broadcasting and av equipment. It's as it should be.

I liked the new episode, Carra getting a paper in the face was funny. Dino lesbian, wife and servant good as ever.

Weird end, leaves it open for this episodes lame baddies to come back.

Capaldi seems alright though. He's much more strange and alien than the other more recent Doctors, more old school.

Oh....Im watching the leaks

I left DW when the resolution to a huge evil sun-thing about to eat a planet was to sing at it and throw a leaf.
I watched the episode today, and was pleasantly surprised that it was a bit less... juvenile?
I mean having either a murder or a suicide as the plot resolution seems a bit more edgy...
Idk

Tactical_Genius wrote:
I left DW when the resolution to a huge evil sun-thing about to eat a planet was to sing at it and throw a leaf.
I watched the episode today, and was pleasantly surprised that it was a bit less... juvenile?
I mean having either a murder or a suicide as the plot resolution seems a bit more edgy...
Idk

Matt Smiths doctor was as one reviewer put it, The Childs Doctor. He was Peter Pan, off to whisk you to an adventure.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:

Tactical_Genius wrote:
I left DW when the resolution to a huge evil sun-thing about to eat a planet was to sing at it and throw a leaf.
I watched the episode today, and was pleasantly surprised that it was a bit less... juvenile?
I mean having either a murder or a suicide as the plot resolution seems a bit more edgy...
Idk

Matt Smiths doctor was as one reviewer put it, The Childs Doctor. He was Peter Pan, off to whisk you to an adventure.

Thing is, I liked his acting, just not the storylines at all...
Did his episodes get any better after the giant sun thing?

Some did. But that is what I mean. That is how his doctor is supposed to be. just think. Alot with the original 11th companion was that he took her on adventurers but got her home ontime

The Cold War episode was good (The one after the singing to he sun episode) and Matt Smiths final episodes were good as well - The Name of The Doctor, The Day Of The Doctor and The Time of The Doctor were particularly good and should be watched together as a mini marathon.

I think the other few episodes of the season all contained something that annoyed me a whole lot. - I dunno if it was in this thread, but I went on quite a rant about the 'Nightmare In Silver' episode.

Still early days but it looks promising. Capaldi's look to camera after the robot guy 'fell' from the balloon was exquisite.

The writing was a little better than the previous season, but still fairly naff. Capaldi's a better actor than Smith at least, though it would help if he didn't have to deliver such horrible lines. The whole thing seemed to be written at the same level as some fan fiction. I skipped the last season, but probably will stick with this one for Capaldi at least. The writing did come across a little too much like Sherlock, as were certain bits pretty cringe worthy (people don't talk like that in the real world...). It'll be nice when the Companion's killed off at least. Something to look forward to (her character was too much for me to put up with with that last series. I'll stick with this one hoping she'll die eventually in an overly weepy manner).

I wonder who wrote all the lines regarding the Scots too? They seemed a bit out of place. I mean I like that there's Scottish actors in this season, but it'd been nice if the writers didn't think they needed to draw attention to them with big signs and arrows. The references to the Independence referendum at the end too seemed pretty odd too (well I took them to be talking about the referendum. The choice of the word "vote" being used implied it to me). Meh, Moffat's a terrible writer.

 Wyrmalla wrote:
The references to the Independence referendum at the end too seemed pretty odd too (well I took them to be talking about the referendum. The choice of the word "vote" being used implied it to me). Meh, Moffat's a terrible writer.

I thought that as well. - So much so, that when I came back from the cinema, I watched it again at home with subtitles on.

The way the conversation plays out is:

"I uh, I'm don't think I'm a hugging person now."
*Hugs* "I'm not sure you get a vote."
"Whatever you say."


Then....

"Coffee, yeah, coffee would be great. You're buying."
"I urr, don't have any money."
"You're fetching then."
"I'm not sure I'm the fetching sort..."
"Still not sure you get a vote."


It may just have been entirely coincidential (well, maybe the word 'vote' was in the back of Moffats mind, perhaps), but I think the lines are more to show Clara's 'bossiness' asserting itself more.

Oddly enough, I was having that conversation shortly before it came on, where I mentioned the 'bubbly personality hiding bossy control freak' line from Time of The Doctor, where it was countered with 'she didn't really show any of that until that very episode.'

So, maybe they're highlighting it more now, to try to give Clara more personality than the slight 'lost puppy-ness / plot device' she had beforehand with the Impossible Girl storyarc.

Happy enough with that.

Capaldi was great and will, probably, only get better.

Great use of his eyebrows and nose especially.

Liked all the use/reference to veils and reflections -- which does indeed make one wonder about the Lady we saw at the end.

The victorian era has always worked well for Who and did so last night again.


And many bonus points to them for using Brian MIller too




Has been in various Who episodes and even stage shows (!) over the years and was the husband of the late and dearly missed Elisabeth Sladen.

 Compel wrote:
Yeah, I can see why people didn't enjoy the episode itself too much. The whole dinosaur setup very much felt like a. "I wrote myself into a corner with the idea of the tardis being coughed up by a dinosaur in the Thames and I want to get rid of that as quickly as possible." - The interview I saw afterwards (I was watching it in the cinema), said that the whole episode started from the idea of that.

Peter Capaldi was good, he had a good mix with Matt Smiths wild movements, plus, what I'm guessing is a more classic character for him. I actually quite liked Clara's reaction to the change. - It seemed quite, I dunno, realistic? to me.

The whole 'Dont Breath' aspect of it was silly and I'm pretty sure Strax's laser gun could have beaten the bots in seconds.

On the other hand, the whole scene with The Doctor and the half-face man in the balloon was good and I quite like the idea of leaving it ambiguous whether the guy jumped or was pushed. - It brings us an edginess to the Doctor now, leaving us as the audience unsure of whether we can 'really' trust him... - Something no doubt that will be part of Clara's storyarc going forward.

l

I pretty much agree with this. The dinosaur was nothing more than an advert of sorts, so they could put it in the trailer and get people thinking 'look, T Rex', and then was wasted (on another note, it was to big, even if they dealt with that in a throwaway line)

I liked how Capaldi seemed to lose the last vestiges of Smith in his opening scenes, evolving rather suddenly into a new character. There were also some nice parallels with Tom Baker in Robot (his first episode). I can't fault Capaldi at all.

I felt all the Scottish stuff was Moffat doing his bit for the referendum, and was really out of place, not least because the Doctor is Gallefreian, the accent is just an accent.

Clara was better written nor that she's not a plot device, and it was nice to see the Doctor being critical of a companion for once. I still eagerly await her departure, I think that she is easily the weakest of the modern companions.

The balloon scene was great, but unfortunately the other side of the plot let it down. Vastra, Jenny and Strax are really showing signs of being overused now, and while it was almost nice to see a return of the Clockwork Robots, thinking about it more it just seems like Moffat running out of ideas. There was no visual link between the two, they would almost have been better left separate (especially as first episodes are meant to be able to bring in new viewers)

In the end, it left me with the same sense of mediocrity that blighted the last half of series 7, there was nothing that really stood out, and it wasn't massively memorable. Compared to the earlier stuff, particularly Tennant's series and Smith's first couple of series, it just seems flat, and that looks to unfortunately have become the standard. It's a shame, after Name/Day/Time of the Doctor, which were all excellent, but this was just a return to less than stellar form.

Next week, I feel, will either be amazing or terrible. I just cross my fingers it's not another Nightmare in Silver...

Wow so that was a pretty crap episode

poor effects
Tied and hackneyed writing
Wasted opportunity for a dinosaur in London
laughable "enemies" - please hold still whilst I ever ever so slowly raise my sword arma dn then even more slowly try to hit you with it...........

the end was quite nicely done but should have been the start.
The Lizard lady and her maid/husband is fun - but both are apparently completely inept in combat
The Sontarian is just embarassing

I find Vastra and team pretty tiresome to be honest, it the same jokes and things from them. They didn't need to be in this and they didn't interact much with the doctor in a meaningful way. They didn't need to turn up at the end with swords. They could have been written out and the episode shorted to the standard 45 minutes which would focus more on the characterisation of Clara and the new Doctor, who were the best bits of the episode anyway. I felt like the story was longer for writer Stephen Moffat to include his favourite characters. I suppose I should be thankful River Song didn't turn up too. I don't know if Moffat is angling for a spin off series like RTD got with Torchwood, but it sure feels like it.

But that aside, the bits with the Doctor were great. The 'threat' was pretty low in this episode, no risk of planetry destruction or mass death, but still a villain needing to be stopped. That gave time for the Doctor and Clara to shine. The best scenes were with the tramp in the alley and later in the restaurant. That's really where they found their feet and it was lovely. More of that and less of the dead wood with Vastra to tighten this up would have imoroved it a lot. As it is, I found it a bit long which I almost never feel with Dr Who.

True, I think if you were to cut the Heaven bit at the end, cut most of the Vastra/Jenny/Strax stuff, and life the ultimately pointless dinosaur, and it ran for 60 mins rather than 80, there might be something good here.

I haven't seen the New Who yet. I'm saving my viewing for Monday. That's when it plays at the Ithaca Theater.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I haven't seen the New Who yet. I'm saving my viewing for Monday. That's when it plays at the Ithaca Theater.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/08/26/a-doctor-who-comic-book-character-is-about-to-enter-tv-canon-for-the-first-time-spoilers/

good grief, never would have seen this coming !


.... doubt he'll ever really play a big part but leaves it open for the future.

I thought the new episode was pretty good. Still hate the companion, but I like the new spin on the doctor.

He seems pretty morally ambivalent so far, which is an interesting progression. Did he steal the coat and clothes (I know there was talk about the watch trade, but what good does a watch do to a guy that could freeze)? Did he push the guy out of the balloon? The little speech he gave at the end about being good and bad.

I watched it again, and it was much better the second time. Still nothing on the best of Tennant's era (series 3&4 are really the best of the new era, I think), but then it was never going to be.

I also realised, if you cut about the last 15 minutes, end it with the guy 'falling' from the balloon, it would have been a much better episode. The Doctor abandoning Clara only to come back added nothing at all, I really could have done without the 'plot arc' but at the end, and while Matt's cameo was neat, the episode would be no worse for losing it.

Capaldi has so much potential, I just hope it isn't stifled by bad writing.

Haven't seen it, but I am disappointed to hear that Vestra and her entourage are in it. They are kind of pointless characters.

I thought it was ok, I feel Capaldi has potential to be a good doctor, though I sincerely hope that a new companion is coming up soon. One question I had though - who was the woman at the very end? I figured it was a call-back to an earlier episode or something?

I'm just guessing that it's yet another version of Clara...

 Dark Apostle 666 wrote:
I thought it was ok, I feel Capaldi has potential to be a good doctor, though I sincerely hope that a new companion is coming up soon. One question I had though - who was the woman at the very end? I figured it was a call-back to an earlier episode or something?

There are many theories. The Rani, The Master, River, Clara, a TARDIS personified, but it's not someone we've seen before, at least in this form. Her announced title is 'the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere', but that is probably just a red herring.

It's also just unnecessary. It would be much better to have a series without a plot arc from the word go. It used to be there were things you could notice, that subtly hinted at a plot arc, like the Bad Wolf references in series 1 or Rose showing up on screens in series 4. Now, there's apparently a need for the plot arc to douse you in cold water to make sure you pay attention, hit you in the face with a cricket bat and scream 'I am a Plot Arc!' at the end of each episode.

Now, there's apparently a need for the plot arc to douse you in cold water to make sure you pay attention, hit you did the face with a cricket bat and scream 'I am a Plot Arc!' at the end of each episode.

Maybe its to draw attention away form how bad the rest of the epsiode is by having something equally dull

 Paradigm wrote:

It's also just unnecessary. It would be much better to have a series without a plot arc from the word go. It used to be there were things you could notice, that subtly hinted at a plot arc, like the Bad Wolf references in series 1 or Rose showing up on screens in series 4. Now, there's apparently a need for the plot arc to douse you in cold water to make sure you pay attention, hit you in the face with a cricket bat and scream 'I am a Plot Arc!' at the end of each episode.

Welcome to "modern" television series.... It's something that someone at the TV executive level noticed made most shows more popular to people. Now, everything has an expanded story arc, as opposed to a serial story arc.

I do agree with you that there are sometimes, better or more proper ways of handling the plot arc of an entire season, and that Moffatt doesn't really like doing that too much.

Watching the new episode, I'm optimistic about the future, and really liked Capaldi's parts, especially the end with the robot in the balloon, but much of the episode, particularly the Clara parts, felt like a waste of air time.

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 Paradigm wrote:

It's also just unnecessary. It would be much better to have a series without a plot arc from the word go. It used to be there were things you could notice, that subtly hinted at a plot arc, like the Bad Wolf references in series 1 or Rose showing up on screens in series 4. Now, there's apparently a need for the plot arc to douse you in cold water to make sure you pay attention, hit you in the face with a cricket bat and scream 'I am a Plot Arc!' at the end of each episode.

Welcome to "modern" television series.... It's something that someone at the TV executive level noticed made most shows more popular to people. Now, everything has an expanded story arc, as opposed to a serial story arc.

I do agree with you that there are sometimes, better or more proper ways of handling the plot arc of an entire season, and that Moffatt doesn't really like doing that too much.

I don't mind a plot arc, but when you get an entirely unrelated part overshadowing the end of an episode, it just detracts from it and just doesn't need to be there. There's no subtlety to it, that's the problem.

 Wyrmalla wrote:
The writing was a little better than the previous season, but still fairly naff. Capaldi's a better actor than Smith at least, though it would help if he didn't have to deliver such horrible lines. The whole thing seemed to be written at the same level as some fan fiction. I skipped the last season, but probably will stick with this one for Capaldi at least. The writing did come across a little too much like Sherlock, as were certain bits pretty cringe worthy (people don't talk like that in the real world...). It'll be nice when the Companion's killed off at least. Something to look forward to (her character was too much for me to put up with with that last series. I'll stick with this one hoping she'll die eventually in an overly weepy manner).

I wonder who wrote all the lines regarding the Scots too? They seemed a bit out of place. I mean I like that there's Scottish actors in this season, but it'd been nice if the writers didn't think they needed to draw attention to them with big signs and arrows. The references to the Independence referendum at the end too seemed pretty odd too (well I took them to be talking about the referendum. The choice of the word "vote" being used implied it to me). Meh, Moffat's a terrible writer.

Spoiler:

And yup, that sure looks like the Rani to me. I was wondering if they were going to do anything with her again.

No, it wasn't her.

All the references to paradise, it was