[number3fac]

You guys do remember that RTD put Tennant through some pretty stupid stuff too, right? Love and Monsters, Tinkerbell Jesus Mode,  Handy McHanderson, he okayed all of those. Maybe I'm being a Moffat apologist, but you can't pick and choose your evidence either.

That and I fully admit to being biased to any episodes where Dinosaurs are on a Spaceship.

Oh, I'm not saying RTD's era was perfect, he had some clunky stuff and for finales, it was either "throw a ton of Daleks at the Doctor!" or "throw Timelords at the Doctor!" which just made things escalate to greater and grander scales, so it was getting ridiculous.  One thing I did appreciate from the S5 finale was that the last episode was basically the Doctor, the Ponds, and a rusty Dalek, and it still worked (though I have huge gripes about the Crack, and Moffat's decision in both finales to "break" reality so he can simply make stuff up left and right until the episode is over).

But one of the distinctions is that, whatever the flaws in RTD's scripts, there was some real attempt at using thematic elements and developing characters.  A great example: in the RTD era, the Cybermen exemplified being cut off from emotions.  The people who were converted (without others noticing) were people who had already become distant and detached (Torchwood personnel, the people wired into the Cybus network, the wealthy owners of orphan poorhouses), so that no one noticed any difference once the earpod things were implanted and they came under Cyberman control.  And the only way to fully defeat them was to force them to feel their humanity and emotions once again; the exploding heads might've been a bit overkill, but it made the point.  And so the RTD Cyberman stories were about the personal costs of shutting yourself off from your feelings.

Moffat's first example of using the Cybermen in a story was in the Pandorica episode; and the reason for including them was...to eat Amy's face.  While they had to make an appearance to show the extent of the Alliance against the Doctor, having one lumbering around as a threat didn't have any thematic relevance (though it did look cool, and dangerous too).  Ditto for their appearance in A Good Man Goes To War; they were an easily-recognizable villain with a cool scene...but had zero relevance to either the story or the theme.  As with the cotton-candy analogy: a delicious treat, but ultimately insubstantial (just like Dinosaurs on a Spaceship  )

[number3fac]

I did want to mention that our favorite Dr. Who episode of the modern version was The Weeping Angles, many people agree, and ironically it hardly had the Doctor Who in it. The writing is very good, it stands alone and made such a good antagonist for the context of the series that is forever changed the show. Much like the Borg in Star Trek.

"Blink" was a superb episode, and by none other than Moffat himself; which is why, given that excellent example, his **103** as showrunner seemed like it would be the best thing for the show.  But I've been largely dissatisfied with the results since he took over, including his 5th season two-parter revisiting the Angels where their previously-established powers were largely ignored and new abilities were introduced in a series of twists that mainly existed to draw out suspense until they were dropped into the Crack (which I've admitted to having issues with).

The return of the Angels this week was better mainly in that they returned to their "original" time-zapping (and therefore more interesting) tactics.  The Liberty Angel was a bit much to take, and it was odd that they didn't even bother to deal with the "surviving" Angel at the end after the Ponds had been zapped away.  For that matter, I felt it was a bit disappointing that the Ponds ended by getting time-zapped by a random lone Angel after going through the supreme (and dramatically well-earned) sacrifice to create the paradox that saved the entire city.  It was practically the equivalent to the Tenth Doctor's reaction (in the Next Doctor XMas special) of "I hope I don't trip over a brick?  That'd be embarrassing."  At least they ended up together, and in the meantime River was looking especially "Yowza".

[Keisha_Evans]

How did I miss this thread?

[rtpoe]

The Doctor's Alignments

(and I hope you can make out the small print)

[salem]

I have to say that I have been slightly disappointed with Moffat's first two seasons as showrunner, but so far season seven has impressed me no-end. A much better variety of stories. Sure, we have had some great stories in the last couple of years especially the Vincent Van Gogh episode and 'The Girl Who Waited' , but a lot of the last two years felt a bit too 'samey'. Similar to the first two seasons of the RTD era. I think Moffat is finally settling into the role more and as the next year is the 50th anniversary, the bar will need to be raised for that, so there will be a lot of expectation riding on his shoulders. The new companion looks very attractive though, but I will miss the endless legs of Amy Pond!

I have been a huge fan of Doctor Who ever since the late 70's when Tom Baker was the Doc, and I am delighted to see the show stronger than ever. Here's to the next 50 years!

[rtpoe]

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship - OK, let's be honest. This is nothing more than an attempt to make a story around a title. Once you go "We want to have Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", then everything follows from that. You need it to be set on or near Earth, so you have recognizable dinosaurs. Then, to put them on a spaceship, you need an advanced civilization that for some reason wants to move dinosaurs across space. But simply moving dinosaurs from A to B isn't going to be exciting, so maybe someone is trying to steal them? If he's stealing them, who are the 'rightful' owners? One thing follows another, and soon you've got your story. Toss in a big game hunter and a historical figure who has no rational reason for being there just to increase the excitement level enough to keep people from noticing any possible deficiencies in the episode. Cast a noted comedy duo as the voices of two robots, just because…

An underappreciated highlight of the episode is Rory’s dad, Brian. When they are in a bit of a spot, Brian just happens to have something useful on him. Have to dig in wet sand? Here’s a folding trowel! How many times has The Doctor pulled something out of a pocket (and not just the sonic screwdriver) that just happened to be of use? Maybe we could all be a bit more like The Doctor if we had more than just a smartphone with us, and had the wits to find a way to use what we had.

Anyway, it looks like the Theme for the season is going to be along the lines of “The Doctor *needs* Companions to keep him from going off the rails into megalomania. After all, the Time Lords aren’t around anymore to keep him in line.

A Town Called Mercy – Possibly one of the best episodes yet! Not so much for the production values or the acting, but for the philosophical issues it raises. If the ends are clearly to be desired, does it mean that you can use any means necessary to achieve them? At what point does one finish atoning for their sins? And who decides what that point is? Serious ethical questions, which do come up in the real world. The show does not flinch from facing them, and it doesn’t pretend to have the answers.

These issues are handled so well that one doesn’t much notice or even care about other unanswered questions. What’s the point of the wood and stone ring around the town? What’s stopping The Gunslinger from just strolling into town in the wee hours of the morning when people are **83** and finishing his mission? I suppose that we’d have been given the answer if the episode was more than 45 minutes long and they had the time for it.

A few other things to the episode’s detriment. The music was too intrusive at times, and did we really need the closing narration? Surely a brief scene with the new marshal saying goodbye to The Doctor, Amy, and Rory would have sufficed. It’s not like we couldn’t tell he was going to become the marshal anyway. It totally broke the mood.

Anyway, we are clearly shown that The Doctor needs Companions to keep him morally grounded – in keeping with the apparent theme for the season.

[number3fac]

Anyway, it looks like the Theme for the season is going to be along the lines of “The Doctor *needs* Companions to keep him from going off the rails into megalomania. After all, the Time Lords aren’t around anymore to keep him in line.

(snip)

Anyway, we are clearly shown that The Doctor needs Companions to keep him morally grounded – in keeping with the apparent theme for the season.

Actually, I'm pretty sure this was the theme of the Tenth Doctor's season with Donna (and through the end of his tenure).  Her shouting, slapping, etc. and "Earth-girl"-ness was generally in response to his giddy/pompous "spaceman"-ness.  It was not only fun to watch (for me), but I think it made Donna the absolutely perfect companion to the Tenth Doctor.  He had perhaps allowed his own self-importance get inflated after two starry-eyed/swoony companions with romantic feelings, and Donna's absolute refusal to take his proclamations as ultimate authority (as well as her inability to see him as attractive) was exactly what was needed to "ground" the Doctor's ego and pull him away from that "Lonely God" archetype.  And once Donna was gone, he regressed heavily into that persona; after a light moment in The Next Doctor where he managed to briefly connect with the deluded Jackson Lake, he went around on his own, turned down the Bionic Woman as a companion for fear of losing someone else, and then in Waters of Mars he practically broke time itself not only to keep alive another woman he came to respect, but also because he realized that there was nothing stopping him from making the attempt.  I thought The End of Time did a good job of wrapping up that story, as the Master and the return of the Time Lords both showed the ramifications of what the Tenth Doctor might become if he kept going on; defeating them both not only showed his rejection of that path, but put him on what I thought would be the next sensible step: "stepping down" from that "God" pedestal that he'd climbed up on, and engaging/reconnecting with the Universe and the people in it on a more personal level.  I thought that was well represented by the fact that, immediately after saving all reality from all the other Time Lords, his next (and final) act was to sacrifice himself (well, the Tenth Doctor version of himself) for just a single good man, someone whom he'd felt a strong personal connection to.

Unfortunately, Moffat seemed to ignore all that wrenching character progression as Eleven banked on his demi-god-like reputation multiple times in his first two seasons before finally considering the notion of stepping away from his self-appointed role of grand savior.  Not that the Doctor hasn't earned the right to play up his importance, but there wasn't any indication that he'd learned or accepted or even changed from that aspect of the Tenth Doctor, which undermines the notion of each regeneration having its own distinct persona.  But it also seems like Eleven's borrowed a significant amount of other traits from his previous lives in addition, and that's kind of disappointing because it means that Moffat's just coasting on previously-established characters rather than making something new and interesting.  Which is too bad, because Matt Smith has done a fine job performing all the little personality elements that make up his pastiche of a Doctor, and I'd really like to see what he could do with a real direction and character arc for Eleven.

Even more so, I feel like Moffat has missed another great opportunity of his own design: he brought onboard Amy and Rory as a couple, with Amy as a woman whose life was messed-up (however inadvertantly) by the Doctor's lifestyle (the TARDIS made the Crack and skipped the Doctor over her youth), but who found a stable, happy, loving relationship with someone anyway.  Having them and their "domestic" lifestyle paired with the Doctor would not only give the show a new dynamic (a "couple" on the TARDIS), but could showcase Eleven engaging with those "human"/non-god-like perspectives that he'd so desperately lacked as Ten (and to some extent, as Nine).  Instead, we got the Crack erasing the Universe and scrambling timelines and the companions' memories, followed by the mind-screwing Silence and an even more scrambled timeline as Amy and Rory become parents, have their ch!ld **70**, get left on Earth repeatedly by the Doctor, and only reunite after time actually does get broken (but despite the lessons of Waters of Mars, the only remarkable aspect of that event is that the Doctor apparently gets married).  So rather than show the Doctor's new personality and develop a character arc for him, or even establish Amy and Rory coherently, there was a massive mishmash of crazy time-traveling/reality-breaking events that sounded (and even looked) good as ideas, but made a mad mess of the show's continuity and seemed to barely affect the Doctor's entourage.

Ultimately, I probably won't be rewatching most of seasons 5 and 6 (apart from a handful of gems that I really liked a lot), and so far the same goes for season 7.  That said, I *am* looking forward to having a new companion on board, because it means new opportunities for stories and development with the Doctor and the new character, and I'm hopeful that they won't be wasted this time around.

[rtpoe]

I wonder if it's all out of some misguided need to build towards a Season Finale.

Back in the "Classic" Era, you rarely had pre-planned season-long story arcs. Other than the "Key to Time" and the "Trial of a Time Lord", you'd be hard pressed to find any. And none of them built to a grand "Doctor saves the Universe" finale.

It's all awkward and forced, which is why none of the finales (so far) have been particularly satisfying.

[salem]

I think the season finale is now the common thing in modern television with seasons building towards it. Buffy and Angel were famous for it and now the 'season finale' is everywhere. I think it is probably (like most things in TV nowadays) geared towards ratings. You always get a bump at the end of a series when finale time comes around. It also gives writers the chance to seed things through and tie-up all plot threads that have been woven throughout the season. I'm not against the season long build up per se, in some cases it is something to look forward to, but in the case of Doctor Who and the non-linear narrative of the show it is not the easiest thing to do. Every story is a different place and different time, so to have a running theme through a season doesn't really make sense. Having said that, there is certainly something exciting about a rip-roaring season ender.

Anyway, certainly looking forward to the Christmas Episode and then onwards to the 50th anniversary year.

[MunchWolf]

While Moffat bugs me, I think he does have a grand scheme that will be fully realized when 11 is done and we switch to the next doctor.  I think that scheme is he is doing the whole 11 arc in reverse, with the 1st season being the tardis exploding, the second season was basically a war against the doctor, and this season is the doctor being erased from everyone's memory (thus the question Doctor Who) ... thus if we flip it around, the Doctor erases himself, he is discovered anyway, and mistaken for an enemy, attacked, and the tardis destroyed, which causes the cracks in time.

-Munch "but until we see how Moffat ends, we won't know the beginning" Wolf

[salem]

Very good point, and very Moffat-esque!

[number3fac]

I wonder if it's all out of some misguided need to build towards a Season Finale.

Back in the "Classic" Era, you rarely had pre-planned season-long story arcs. Other than the "Key to Time" and the "Trial of a Time Lord", you'd be hard pressed to find any. And none of them built to a grand "Doctor saves the Universe" finale.

It's all awkward and forced, which is why none of the finales (so far) have been particularly satisfying.

I think the season finale is now the common thing in modern television with seasons building towards it. Buffy and Angel were famous for it and now the 'season finale' is everywhere. I think it is probably (like most things in TV nowadays) geared towards ratings. You always get a bump at the end of a series when finale time comes around. It also gives writers the chance to seed things through and tie-up all plot threads that have been woven throughout the season. I'm not against the season long build up per se, in some cases it is something to look forward to, but in the case of Doctor Who and the non-linear narrative of the show it is not the easiest thing to do. Every story is a different place and different time, so to have a running theme through a season doesn't really make sense. Having said that, there is certainly something exciting about a rip-roaring season ender.

Anyway, certainly looking forward to the Christmas Episode and then onwards to the 50th anniversary year.

I'll agree that a season ender is kind of a fixture in most scifi series these days, and despite the difficulties of Doctor Who's premise of a time-and-space-hopping alien, a finale to wrap up each season is still feasible.  But I also agree that it's been pushed to hard into the "big/overblown" realm of spectacle, which I didn't mind it much when RTD was in charge, because his Doctors were dealing with that god-complex thing, so that was appropriate.  But as I mentioned earlier, when RTD stepped down it seemed like he laid things out to put that to rest but Moffat's just spinning wheels and kept with the big Universe-saving plots, except they got even more ridiculous since both times he's broken reality so that all the rules can be made up as things happen and then everything's put together somehow (but without any real ramifications on what the effects of doing so are).

I'm somewhat reminded of SciFi's Eureka series; for the first few seasons, they had some big finales, and it kinda contaminated the rest of the show in that they were regularly dealing with problems that could wipe out the planet or entire sections of the continent.  Then the Eureka writers kicked off a season (I think it was 4) with a timeline reboot that persisted, but it also represented a scaling-back to stories where the problem-of-the-week didn't threaten the world; only a couple of characters--or at worst, the town--were at risk.  Even though the stakes were lower, it was a vast improvement as it was still made clear that the crisis would still harm innocent people.  If Eureka could do it, I have to think that Moffat would be capable of it if he spent some more effort developing his characters and actual stories instead of cramming a zillion plot twists into his scripts and calling it a day.

While Moffat bugs me, I think he does have a grand scheme that will be fully realized when 11 is done and we switch to the next doctor.  I think that scheme is he is doing the whole 11 arc in reverse, with the 1st season being the tardis exploding, the second season was basically a war against the doctor, and this season is the doctor being erased from everyone's memory (thus the question Doctor Who) ... thus if we flip it around, the Doctor erases himself, he is discovered anyway, and mistaken for an enemy, attacked, and the tardis destroyed, which causes the cracks in time.

-Munch "but until we see how Moffat ends, we won't know the beginning" Wolf

And unfortunately, that's why I have almost no confidence in the notion that everything is part of some grand scheme of Moffat's.  I expect he'll throw something together that connects to various points and elements that we've seen (like the bit with Van Gogh at the end of season 5), and while it'll superficially seem to tie everything together, I seriously doubt that it'll be the result of some master plan he's working from...it'd more likely be just another setup for yet another in a sequence of plot twists which may or may not make any sense or have any overall relevance to anything.

I apologize for being such a downer...honestly, I DO like Doctor Who, and I even like many (if not most) of Moffat's ideas.  I'm just unhappy with what I perceive to be a mismanagement of those ideas, which has severely detracted from my satisfaction with the series.  And, I don't get to talk about it much in real life or elsewhere...so you get to hear my rantings.  Sorry. 

[Breasts]

Mmm I enjoyed that Xmas special!
 I also like the more classic style titles which include the Doctor's face as they should and also finally, finally a long overdue return to the classic style high tech
TARDIS console room!!! Just like it ought to be! None of this cobbled together or steam punk rubbish.

[TheZookie007]

First started watching Doctor Who back in the early 1980's when the Tom Baker episodes were shown on PBS in the USA. His version of the title character is still my favorite. He brought just enough gravitas to an otherwise silly somewhat sci-fi "kids" show. It was very campy and yet it worked because in typical British fashion the acting and plots had something more going on while still ignoring the cardboard sets and models on stings look of it...

...I did want to mention that our favorite Dr. Who episode of the modern version was The Weeping Angles, many people agree, and ironically it hardly had the Doctor Who in it. The writing is very good, it stands alone and made such a good antagonist for the context of the series that is forever changed the show. Much like the Borg in Star Trek.

I completely agree. "The Angels Take Manhattan" is one of the best episodes of the show I've seen yet.

Meanwhile, the Royal Mail is going to issue Doctor Who stamps to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the show. All you UK-based BEArs, get in on it.

And Alex Kingston was pretty in her ER days, but man she is sooooo fucking hot as River. Damn!

[Breasts]

I completely agree. "The Angels Take Manhattan" is one of the best episodes of the show I've seen yet.

Meanwhile, the Royal Mail is going to issue Doctor Who stamps to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the show. All you UK-based BEArs, get in on it.

And Alex Kingston was pretty in her ER days, but man she is sooooo fucking hot as River. Damn!

I've registered so hopefully I'l be able to get some.

Also on the Xmas special I loved the return of The Great Intelligence and the Doctor inadvertently giving it the idea for what was it's 1st appearance in the London Underground.
Also loved the return of Madame Vastra and the lovely Jenny Flint also Strax was hilarious. And even better going by the trailer for next season it looks like they'll be back.