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This was superb. The preview made me a bit dubious, but in practise, it knew it was silly and fun and just went for being really enjoyable silly fun. I also love Clara's development as a character. She's so competent, capable and self-assured in these episodes and it's really funny and a good dynamic to see her managing the Doctor as he bickers with Robin Hood and mithers off on tangents. Standout moment for me was the Sheriff of Nottingham's spiel on how his rule of England would proceed. ("And after that..." "...Worksop?" "THE WORLD!!"). That bit was legitimately very well-conceived, well-delivered comedy that fired on all levels.
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Sep 7, 2014 16:59
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Big Mean Jerk posted:Why are people in this thread so quick to shout down criticism? I think people are rightly dubious of criticism coming from people along the lines of, "Well, I read the leaked script and watched the unfinished workprint, and let me tell you, this is not a complete episode of television!".
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Sep 7, 2014 17:06
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He's been working on chalkboards all season, and I think it's a really good way to do a "season arc" kind of thing subtly. It's definitely building up to something, but it doesn't dominate the episodes it's in or create a sense of manufactured mystery. Capaldi's really fantastic as the Doctor, incidentally. I love...I guess the way to describe it is, if this had been a Tennant episode, he probably would have been right way more often and screwed up way less. Making him smart, cynical, charismatic and comically fallible is a really good approach and lets Clara shine by being the goal-oriented voice of reason.
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Sep 7, 2014 17:30
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I remember there was some talk in the threads for the second half of Season Seven that, despite Clara being a weak character right now, a few people hoped she'd stay on for the next Doctor and maybe gel better with him. At the time, I disagreed. I thought she was such a void of personality opposite Smith that I didn't see how she could be any better just from a change of Doctors. I was totally wrong, though! Clara is fantastic in this season, works really well against Capaldi, and is swiftly on the track to becoming one of my favourite companions. She's Donna-esque, a companion that challenges the Doctor, isn't afraid to call him out, and often sees things more clearly than him. I think she has the potential to be better than Donna, though. I also like how her real life and her job are a relevant thing in her personality and dialogue - it makes her seem even more her own person rather than just a foil to the Doctor, like the worse companions can be.
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Sep 7, 2014 19:11
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A script is only one component of a film production, and there's so much more that goes into it that it's an unlikely prospect to accurately judge what the finished product will be like by the script alone. Especially since lines are often cut and added even very late into production! What is said (roughly) and the progression of the plot are decided by the script, but the same script can be translated a multitude of different ways into a finished product depending on the decisions of directors, actors, editors, producers &c. Professing to judge the quality of an episode by the script is like saying, "I know the am-dram production of Hamlet tonight is going to be amazing, have you read the script?"
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Sep 7, 2014 19:21
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It would have been really sweet to see him hallucinate Craig. Craig ruled.
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Sep 7, 2014 20:35
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That is such a good horror movie poster. Like, wow. I almost want a non-Doctor Who horror movie to be made using that poster as a premise.
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Sep 12, 2014 19:35
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| # ¿ Apr 19, 2024 21:14 |
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To make the comparison you have to accept the premise that the Doctor is on a mental level so far above his companions that they're basically animals to him, which is totally incongruent with the general tone of the show. He keeps his companions around to ground him, to provide input, and to make him see things he can't see by himself, amongst other reasons. They need to be close to his general level of intelligence in order for any of that to happen. In general the Doctor's intelligence is highly technical and logistical but other than in those areas, he isn't any smarter than a particularly smart human and can sometimes be slow on the uptake when it comes to ethical, emotional or lateral thinking-centred quandaries. Who figures out that there's another way to end the Time War than using The Moment? Clara. Who figures out that the space whale in The Beast Below is still sapient? Amy. Without his companions to be smarter than him in those situations, the Doctor does extremely bad things because he can't think of any better way. There's a whole kettle of other reasons why he shouldn't be in relationships with them, but "it'd be like a human dating a cat!" is an angle that deifies the Doctor's intelligence while short-selling the importance of his companions, eye em ohh. He's no good, even dangerous, without a companion, and it isn't just because they provide a moral grounding, but because they're often perceptive and smart enough to see things his single-minded focus misses.
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Sep 13, 2014 07:35
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