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I'm not sure if the bit about the Doctor's childhood should have been done, but it was definitely the best possible way to go about it if you've decided to go and do it anyway. "Fear makes companions of us all" and the soldier without a gun were fantastic. Lots of lines about soldiers this season, at least in this and Into the Dalek. I'm wondering if this is going to go anywhere.
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Sep 13, 2014 22:28
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I really liked the cyberpunks in this episode. Wouldn't mind seeing them again. Apparently I remain the only person on the face of the earth to remain a fan of the Paternosters, so between the cyberpunks, Paternosters, and Cleopatra and the hunter guy from that one episode, there have been a lot of nice part-time companions. I liked the episode, though it wasn't particularly great. It moved along at a good enough pace and with all the heist-y stuff it was nice to have an emotional conclusion.
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Sep 20, 2014 22:27
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Day of the Daleks is really good too, though admittedly the Daleks are the worst thing about it by far. It would probably be even better if they weren't in it at all, or maybe if they were entirely absent until the second episode cliffhanger.
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Sep 27, 2014 16:46
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It's already been posted in this thread that Sandifer called this the greatest episode of Doctor Who ever, and coming from one person, that's understandable. But there have been others giving it super high praise as well, there's the AV Club's review and two of my friends have been over the moon, so to speak, at how good it is. (What's interesting, too, is that Sandifer and Alasdair Wilkins from the AV Club both generally cite different parts of the episode as the best; Sandifer goes for the general plot about the space thingy and Wilkins goes for the confrontation in the TARDIS.) I think this season is great so far and I really liked this episode, but I'm not quite seeing the all-time classic that some people are already calling it. It seems the thread has definitely been a little cooler (though not negative, really). Is there anybody in this thread who feels this way and wants to give it a go?
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Oct 6, 2014 01:20
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I think that Clara's turnaround on the Doctor was too quick and not earned enough based on the previous couple scenes, but other than that it was a really good, solid episode. This is shaping up to be as good as, at least, Series 5 for me.
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Oct 12, 2014 00:48
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Curse of Fenric is quite possibly the best single serial of the classic series, and an easy top ten for the whole show. Only The Brain of Morbius or City of Death could really hope to compete, really.
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Oct 15, 2014 23:16
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Really, really fun episode, and the conversation about Clara's being the Doctor at the end is a really good way to continue this plot thread about her reservations over Twelve. I'm glad that bit isn't just going to be dropped. And it looks like it will probably be brought out into the open next week, too. I might just have to go ahead and say this is my favorite season of the revival so far.
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Oct 18, 2014 22:36
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Thinking back on it, I'm not sure the "Goodness has nothing to do with it" line was really earned. It doesn't seem to flow from how Clara acted in the episode. And just to make sure, was this the Doctor-lite episode of the season? Coleman doing her thing while Capaldi's in the TARDIS set? If so, they've gotten really good at disguising that fact.
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Oct 19, 2014 01:07
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vegetables posted:It's not just the Sixth Doctor, it's the Doctor full stop. Six is the Doctor, whether you like it or not; people aren't absolved of culpability for their pasts because they change, even if they atone for what they've done. Which the Doctor doesn't, ever. In regards to the strangling, it's obvious that the writer did not intend for the Doctor to become a beater or abuser of women, and you kind of have to take that path going forward or the whole character is just totally morally bankrupt from 1984 or whatever on. I really do think pretending it didn't happen is the best way to go about it. I don't think any bit of headcanon or actual canon can sufficiently explain it away. I mean, ignoring it is lovely, but not ignoring it just casts a shadow over the rest of the show.
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Nov 7, 2014 12:51
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pinacotheca posted:He can also claim to have given the best/worst reason for being unable to complete his Who script: his typewriter exploded. I know that Saward wrote the final scene in Androzani with Baker, so he likely wrote the first scene of The Twin Dilemma as well. I quite like Baker's bit in Androzani, shame about the rest.
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Nov 7, 2014 15:38
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Doesn't the cyber-pollen still need to be controlled to start Cybermanning everything? Each molecule has got the plans for a cyber conversion, but it sounded like they're basically just blueprints. They still need a control signal or something.
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Nov 9, 2014 00:05
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surc posted:Honestly I'd forgive the weird soldier-fetishization if the season didn't feel like a series of weirdly disjointed poorly-written vinettes that somebody was all "Oh poo poo we have to tie these together!" I really didn't see any soldier fetishization at all in this episode. Hell, last week Doctor Who acknowledged that the murder of children is a part of war. I think that is going to leave a lot more of an impact than some vague stuff about duty.
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Nov 9, 2014 19:49
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All this talk of audios and reviews make me wish we had some kind of thread repository for reviews from this thread. The reviews for BF audios elsewhere on the internet are particularly hideous; pretty much the only useful ones are right here. I myself probably wouldn't do any long detailed analyses, but I'd much like to do some Leonard Maltin style capsule reviews for the ones I've heard.
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Nov 13, 2014 21:19
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Jerusalem posted:
It's kind of sad that Terror Firma is probably Joseph Lidster's best script. By which I mean it's the only one that might be made bearable with a rewrite. It's somewhat vaguely serviceable as is, but if you gave it to somebody who didn't love torture and misery to really revise the Gemma and Samson plot it might work. Almost. I banged out a couple capsule reviews of some of the stories I've listened to over the past month at work. Big Finish 79-Night Thoughts The Seventh Doctor, Ace, and Hex, seeking shelter from a storm, are taken in by a number of odd characters in an isolated manor. There are researchers, scientists, and a traumatized young girl and the rabbit she talks through. A middling script rendered somewhat more interesting, for a time, by the practical implications of time travel accidents. But then this, too, turns into a riff on an overdone story. Originally submitted for season 27 of the original run. C+. Big Finish 90-Year of the Pig The Sixth Doctor and Peri take a break from reading to meet a talking pig at the hotel they are staying at, but it turns out that somebody has it out for them, the pig, or both. Scattershot, with a beginning that doesn't go anywhere and a resolution that doesn't really work, but the middle of the story is marvelous. Maureen O'Brien (Vicki) plays the aging nurse to Toby the Sapient Pig, but sadly doesn't get to do much in the story. Good enough once you get through the beginning, and even that has the Doctor drunkenly yelling at Marcel Proust. B-. Big Finish 106-The Dark Husband The Seventh Doctor, Ace, and Hex try to take a day off and end up in the middle of an interplanetary war. Two moons are locked in a centuries-long conflict over the planet they orbit, but once every few centuries they host a joint festival. The Doctor must find a way to bring an end to hostilities. An endlessly clever script, starting out almost farcical. The writer really gets the Ace-Hex relationship; this might be their best story. The humor gives way to seriousness as the story goes on, but it never truly loses its sense of fun. Almost like a Robert Holmes script without the cynicism, in particular with the reveal of the villain. A. Big Finish 112-Kingdom of Silver & Keepsake The most bog-standard of bog-standard Cybermen stories. Basically Tomb of the Cybermen with Seven but not as good and in three parts. Fairly dull; Terry Molloy can't make much of one of his only non-Davros performances. But the epilogue of sorts, Keepsake, is fantastically interesting and sad. It's a shame that it requires listening to Kingdom of Silver to find out what's going on. If you REALLY like the Cybermen, it's worth it to get to Keepsake. D. Big Finish 121-Enemy of the Daleks The Seventh Doctor, Ace, and Hex run into the remnants of a fleet fighting against the Daleks on an isolated research outpost. There, a brilliant mad scientist has birthed some creatures dangerous enough to destroy the Daleks...but at what cost? Mediocre, but elevated by some performances and character arcs. Has everything that you would expect from a Dalek script, so make of that what you will. It ends up better than it starts out, so if you really like Dalek stories, you might want to stick with it. C. Big Finish 142-The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories Four short stories featuring the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa. Big Finish's short collections are almost always great and this is no exception. Only the first story is somewhat disappoint, but that is only in comparison to the other three. The second story gets some fun jokes out of music history, the third has a wealth of ideas and a funny running gag with Nyssa. The fourth is probably the best, where the Doctor is recording a DVD commentary over a movie in which he and Nyssa inadvertently featured. A-.
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Nov 14, 2014 00:26
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| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 12:43 |
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I wouldn't mind them staying away from another giant Dalek-Time Lord War for a while. It seems like it would be too soon coming off of Day of the Doctor. You could maybe have both groups deciding to hold off on hostilities for a while so as to not destroy all of time and space. Or hell, have them decide to form an alliance against some bigger threat. The Time Lords are probably big enough assholes to ally with the Daleks for a small gain.
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Nov 16, 2014 05:20
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