Doctor Who (1 Viewer)

[NeilO]

The first two scripts of the season are available for download from the BBC Writers Room

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

"Don't look at my browser history!" "WHOA!' "Yeah, I said don't!"

This one replaces last week's episode as the weakest of the ninth series, but there was still a lot to like.

I was thinking, though, as Bonnie and Clara had their conversation with built-in lie detection, that it's a shame that Clara only really clicked as a character during the series she's leaving on. The Twelfth Doctor and Clara, galloping through the universe, has been wonderful this year and a great lot of fun. And now that they've finally gotten it right, she's on her way out.

I suppose that's better than the situation with Amy and Rory, who overstayed their welcome by a few episodes.


Capaldi's Doctor got his big Tenth Doctor-esque speech in this one, and to be honest it felt a bit played. I didn't really need a return to the tortured Doctor of the Ninth through Eleventh Doctors. I found his big speech in "Kill the Moon", another Peter Harness script dealing with similar themes, was far more interesting and impactful.


That being said, I loved the Osgood boxes being a visual reflection of the Moment from the 50th Anniversary Special, and the brilliance of the Doctor using the person who had turned him back from that terrible decision to turn Bonnie back from her terrible decision. And I liked that Osgood refused to travel with the Doctor, and that the Osgood identity had effectively become a position at least as much as a person.


Next week is a "found footage" episode written by Mark Gatiss. If there is going to be any outright weak links this series, my guess is that it will be that one. The final three episodes, however, look VERY interesting.

 

[David Weicker]

Well, I disagree with your ranking.

To me, this pair of episodes were the best of any of the Capaldi era.

Granted that last year was utter and complete dreck, this series started with a low bar.

But tonight's episode was one of the best episodes of NewWho.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Different strokes for different folks. I will say that, despite being the weakest pair so far this run in my book, they're better than all but "Listen" from series eight. This has just been a great run of "Doctor Who" so far; everything's clicking in a way it didn't the last couple series.

 

[NeilO]

Well, I disagree with your ranking.

To me, this pair of episodes were the best of any of the Capaldi era.

Granted that last year was utter and complete dreck, this series started with a low bar.

But tonight's episode was one of the best episodes of NewWho.

I also thought they were a great pair of episodes. There were lots of good moments.


I am dreading the "found footage" episode next time, but maybe we'll be surprised.

 

[Doug Wallen]

I am dreading the "found footage" episode next time, but maybe we'll be surprised.

We can only hope. I am not a huge fan of found footage stories.

 

[David Weicker]

Doctor Who -
I now have headache. and - ugh.
Fear Her
Forest Of The Night
Sleep No More.

Last week was so brilliant. This week - a waste

 

[Doug Wallen]

What was that dreck? I was totally underwhelmed. I guess that I am still not a fan of found footage stories. That was horrible.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Mark Gatiss continues his streak of (for me) underwhelming "Doctor Who" episodes. That was the first one this series that felt like an outright dud. They wanted to do a found-footage episode, but then they didn't want to be bound by all of the limitations of found-footage episodes, so they turned everyone into a camera. The "Sandmen" villains were ludicrous and didn't make much sense at all, and the final "twist" at the end didn't really come off.


Clara was one of the cameras, so it would seem she was infected -- perhaps making her this episode's "hybrid", per the series-long theme -- but when the TARDIS took off, the spores or whatever supposedly recording her visual output seemed to stay on the station, so maybe the TARDIS taking off cured her (and Nagata) of their infection?


Based on this spoiler-ific trailer for next week's "Face the Raven":



... it appears that:

Spoiler

It's going to be Clara's departure episode. It also features the return of Ashildr from the "Girl Who Died"/"Woman Who Lived" two-parter and Rigsy from "Flatline".

 

[NeilO]

I thought it was an interesting attempt to make a found footage episode. It worked in of itself as a creepy horror episode. I don't think it really worked as a Doctor Who episode. I do not want them to try again.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I thought it was an interesting attempt to make a found footage episode. It worked in of itself as a creepy horror episode. I don't think it really worked as a Doctor Who episode. I do not want them to try again.

It was... different.


And I did enjoy the wonderfully creepy, Watchmen-esque "I did it 35 minutes ago" ending.


I'd say the season as a whole has been pretty strong, though.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

MAJOR episode tonight. If you haven't watched it, close your browser immediately and go do so. Some massive spoilers are coming in the next sentence.




I'm still digesting that hour of television, but it may just be my favorite companion exit in all of "Doctor Who", certainly of new-"Who": Rose's exit was too drawn out, too convoluted, and -- ultimately -- too fan service-y. Martha played second fiddle to Rose her entire tenure in the TARDIS, and her departure was more of a sense of "good on you" for having some self respect than anything else. Donna Noble's exit absolutely broke my heart, and the bitter irony of the circumstances felt too cruel. Amy and Rory's departure was undercut by the ridiculous logic used to bring it about: if they really wanted to meet up again with the Doctor, it seems like they could have just taken a Greyhound to a more TARDIS-safe location for pickup.


By contrast, Clara's departure feels like a satisfying culmination of her entire time in the TARDIS. The circumstances of her death are the consequence of her ever-increasing recklessness since Danny Pink's death, circumstances that the Doctor has foreseen in one form or another all series long. At the same time, her death mirrors Danny's; he set a high bar for how to go out of this world, and she matched it. The calculation in her head, once she realized that this was really it, was classic Clara, in its fiercely intelligent pragmatism. And what followed was more or less pure selflessness, using all of her knowledge and understanding of the Doctor to tell him exactly what he needed to hear, in exactly the way he needed to hear it.


There was something powerful about Ashildr being a witness to it, the other person this hour besides Clara who was too smart for her own good. Clara's farewell monologue was a perfect encapsulation of why Ashildr wouldn't have made a good companion for the Doctor, because she needed to hear what Clara had to say as much as the Doctor did. While Jenna Coleman owned that scene wholly and completely, Maisie Williams did great work in the background, a chastised child abashed in the face of the school teacher's good sense and adult wisdom, especially as the school teacher devoted a few of her precious last moments to saving her from the Doctor's wrath. Clara in that moment was the kind of person that Ashildr can never be.


Next week is apparently a one-hander, with the Doctor as the only actor in the entire episode. As much as I'll miss Clara, I'm excited to see where we're headed next. Something tells me the Time Lords of the lost Gallifrey are involved in Ashildr's shenanigans.

 

[NeilO]

I'm still digesting that hour of television, but it may just be my favorite companion exit in all of "Doctor Who" ...


By contrast, Clara's departure feels like a satisfying culmination of her entire time in the TARDIS. The circumstances of her death are the consequence of her ever-increasing recklessness since Danny Pink's death, circumstances that the Doctor has foreseen in one form or another all series long.


... Something tells me the Time Lords of the lost Gallifrey are involved in Ashildr's shenanigans.

I was disappointed in the exit. It was a completely wasteful tragedy. She acted on faulty knowledge and threw away her life. She might as well have just fallen down from the TARDIS while she was "mapping" the area. It was almost as bad as Danny Pink's first death which was amazingly stupid - killed while not paying attention, talking to Clara on a cellphone. (Speaking of Danny Pink, I thought it had been rumored we were going to hear more about Orson Pink this season. I guess they dropped it.)


As far as Gallifrey - I'd find it hard to believe that it is not somehow involved in Parts 2 and/or 3 of this season ender.


Was there any mention of hybrid this episode? Was that a red herring all season or will it somehow tie everything up in the end?


I am disturbed by the episode, but maybe when we have seen the final two episodes I might view it better in retrospect.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I was disappointed in the exit. It was a completely wasteful tragedy. She acted on faulty knowledge and threw away her life. She might as well have just fallen down from the TARDIS while she was "mapping" the area. It was almost as bad as Danny Pink's first death which was amazingly stupid - killed while not paying attention, talking to Clara on a cellphone. (Speaking of Danny Pink, I thought it had been rumored we were going to hear more about Orson Pink this season. I guess they dropped it.)

She's been throwing her life away all season; the Doctor's reprimanded her for it on more than one occasion. This time it finally caught up with her. She was too cocky, and too sure of the Doctor's omnipotence.


The thing about Danny Pink's original death is that it may be pointless, but it's the kind of death that happens all the time. Barring illness, murder or war, we all die from stupid accidents.


I do agree that Orson Pink is one of those frustrating hanging threads.

Was there any mention of hybrid this episode? Was that a red herring all season or will it somehow tie everything up in the end?

In one of the trailers for the season, they had a clip of the Doctor talking about the hybrid that wasn't in any of the prior episodes, or set in a location we've seen in the prior episodes, so my guess is that the resolution for that is still to come in the two-part finale.

 

[NeilO]

She's been throwing her life away all season; the Doctor's reprimanded her for it on more than one occasion. This time it finally caught up with her. She was too cocky, and too sure of the Doctor's omnipotence.

I understand how it is completely consistent with how things have been going this season, but it doesn't mean I have to like what they did or how they did it.


Meanwhile, I was listening to the Incomparable Teevee podcast discussing the episode and one point brought up early is that Mayor Me's standing in the town has to be irrevocably changed after this. 1) She promised protection of Clara and Clara died. 2) The person who they all believed committed murder, didn't commit the murder. 3) The victim isn't even dead and the whole situation was a lie. 4) The town justice system is built on zero tolerance. I do hope we will see the impact to the town and Mayor Me or the actions in this episode.

 

[David Weicker]

Put me in the camp of those who were disappointed with this episode..

I was very critical (and horribly dejected) with last season's episodes. There were too many 'magical' aliens/entities (instead of the normal pseudoscience aliens). This year we seemed to have gone back to aliens that might exist in the real world and followed some of the rules of the physical universe..

Then we get this all-powerful weapon. Something that can kill anyone at any time and at any distance. Something that couldn't be stopped by traveling in the TARDIS (running away) or by putting the victim into stasis. Something that could be transferred (except when it couldn't). Something that could be turned off (except when it couldn't).. Something so all-powerful, yet the Doctor has never mentioned it, warned people about, or discussed it possible ban or prohibition.

Here we have a momentous episode - the death of a Companion - and it happens it a very arbitrary way.
No Katarina sacrificing herself and killing an enemy and herself.
No Sara Kingdom being caught by the Time Destructor fighting Daleks.
No Adric never knowing if he was right.
No, we get this.

Oh, the acting was terrific, but the story was wanting.

 

[Simon Massey]

I loved the episode and also thought it was one of the strongest this season. I especially liked the way in which Clara's recklessness has played into this and though it has been telegraphed obviously all season, it played out really well here. I like the fact it could so easily have been avoided and was a wasteful tragedy - it is a much truer reflection of the arbitrariness and sudden nature of death than the epic conclusions we expect sometimes from major characters leaving the show or the need to let them live on somewhere. We could have spent all episode trying to save her and made it emotional and epic, but even though it was obvious to the audience it was coming, for the characters when it came it was almost too quick, brutal and over with not enough time for them to deal with it/say goodbye etc. The show runners needed to find a different compelling way for this companion to leave than the others and I think they succeeded.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I understand how it is completely consistent with how things have been going this season, but it doesn't mean I have to like what they did or how they did it.

Absolutely fair enough.

Meanwhile, I was listening to the Incomparable Teevee podcast discussing the episode and one point brought up early is that Mayor Me's standing in the town has to be irrevocably changed after this. 1) She promised protection of Clara and Clara died. 2) The person who they all believed committed murder, didn't commit the murder. 3) The victim isn't even dead and the whole situation was a lie. 4) The town justice system is built on zero tolerance. I do hope we will see the impact to the town and Mayor Me or the actions in this episode.

So far every time we've met up with Ashildr she's been in a completely different place than the last time. Maisie Williams probably only has another 2-3 years where she can believably play someone who doesn't age at all, so I'm hoping they maximize the use of her character without ever letting her fall into a static role.

Then we get this all-powerful weapon. Something that can kill anyone at any time and at any distance. Something that couldn't be stopped by traveling in the TARDIS (running away) or by putting the victim into stasis. Something that could be transferred (except when it couldn't). Something that could be turned off (except when it couldn't).. Something so all-powerful, yet the Doctor has never mentioned it, warned people about, or discussed it possible ban or prohibition.

You're not wrong. The way I justified it to myself is that with all of the centuries Ashildr's been alive, she's been able to make some powerful allies.

 

[NeilO]

The script for Face the Raven is available in the BBC Writers Room.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/doctor-who-series-9-ep-10

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Tonight's episode was another of Steven Moffat's puzzle-box episodes, where the human (er, Time Lord) drama plays second fiddle to the cleverness of the episode's construction and execution.


There were pluses and minuses to that. The major plus was that we got to spend an hour with the Doctor alone and unfiltered, except for a brief cameo from Jenna Coleman as the Doctor's imagined manifestation near the midway point and the young boy in a non-speaking role at the end. I also enjoyed the parallels to the Doctor's solution to escaping the Tower of London (before Clara opened the unlocked door) and, by extension, the Doctor's solution to send Gallifrey into a pocket universe -- by using recursive Doctors to go the long way around. The connection between the Doctor's solution here and the Doctors' solution in the 50th Anniversary Special made his arrival on Gallifrey feel more earned than it otherwise would have.

The major minus is that, after the huge loss of Clara in the prior episode, I wanted an episode that explored the emotional fallout for the Doctor in greater depth. We got that moment at the end where the Doctor decided to win (and by extension live) but otherwise the Doctor was primarily engaged intellectually the same as the audience was. He even said it himself, that the day someone dies isn't the hardest one because there's so much that needs to be taken care of. It's the days that follow where you have to live with that loss that really hurt. Even though this story took place over literally billions of years, we only got to experience that first day with the Doctor -- and he definitely had plenty to keep him occupied.


The revelation at the end that his elaborate torture room was actually his confession dial wasn't entirely unexpected, but it did raise certain questions: Why did the entire thing appear geared to bring him to this specific solution? If the creator wanted him to go the long way around, why? And if not, why create an escape that requires billions of years of beak sharpening to reach? Was it always a portal to Gallifrey, or did it just pop the person out of the dial, and it took the billions of years to get the dial physically onto Gallifrey, much like the program on the Doctor's sonic screwdriver? How did the rooms reset so that none of the mechanical components wore down over time? Where did the duplicate versions of the Doctor's clothes, warming by the fire, come from? Did the original iteration of the Doctor go to his death naked to preserve the comfort for all of the billions of Doctors who followed? And if so, why didn't they disappear in the reset? Who placed the portrait of Clara in the castle?


And the Doctor's final confession to the confession dial at the end, after the boy ran back toward the city: another bluff, or did the 1996 TV movie with the Eighth Doctor have it right after all? If the Doctor is bluffing, who or what is the real hybrid?


Some are speculating that the there was more to the Doctor's statement in "The Zygon Inversion" that thinking Clara was dead was the longest month of his life, and that perhaps the episodes (from the Doctor's perspective) have not been presented in a linear order, and that the episodes with the Doctor in the starch white shirt take place prior to his dressed down look for most of this series.


Next week's finale looks epic, though, hopefully the culmination of the arc that started with the 50th Anniversary Special and has been only touched upon periodically since. If the Doctor is finally able to restore Gallifrey to the universe proper, it creates fertile new ground for the Doctor in Series 10.


Next Time preview from the BBC: