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Doctor Who Series 8; The time of the man that stops the monsters (v2)


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Much, much better than last week. Probably the best of the season so far.

Nice set for the train (and nice Queen cover during Clara and the Doctor's entrance), I was actually disappointed when it got replaced by the generic sci-fi lab. Good supporting cast, too, which always helps. I thought the resolution worked fine except for the question why the person who had just surrendered could also tell the mummy to stand down.

It was also amusing that the Doctor wasted a couple of his 66 seconds to make a joke nobody (except the viewers) would get. Might be arrogant, but as he immediately went to prove is equally arrogant boast that he could stop the thing if he was the intended next victim he kind of earned it.

Clara's decision wasn't unexpected. I thought it was clear what her decision was going to be from her conversation with Danny, but it comes with the added insight that she is acting like an addict. Clearly that's not good.

Addiction on both Clara and the Doctor's sides it would seem. As an underlying theme that is...

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There's an observation going around elsewhere that Perkins was 6th sensed, apparently only the doctor seems to intersect, or even acknowledge him at all.

I'd need to rewatch to form my own opinion on this, but thought it worth mentioning here.

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There's an observation going around elsewhere that Perkins was 6th sensed, apparently only the doctor seems to intersect, or even acknowledge him at all.

I'd need to rewatch to form my own opinion on this, but thought it worth mentioning here.

The Captain asked him to stop doing his countdown while the Foretold was chasing him because it was annoying.

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Yeah, other people could see Perkins but there was definitely a moment where when the Doctor was talking to him Perkins was right next to him but in other shots he was clearly not there, although one instance I believe he was just standing somewhere else. Not sure if it was deliberate or just bad continuity.

There's definitely something odd about him though, and his 'job like that could change a man' comment almost seems to hint at Time Lord.

Maybe he's River. :unsure:

Anyway, good episode overall but I'm getting increasingly irritated by Clara's writing. We're gonna have to have another showdown between her and Danny now, ffs.

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The Captain asked him to stop doing his countdown while the Foretold was chasing him because it was annoying.

I hope Perkins isn't something "bigger" as Frank Skinner cannot act. It's really distracting when you're familiar with him as a stand-up/talk show host.

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I was very impressed with the Orient Express. Capaldi is my run away favourite doctor in the new series already, and that was probably his best episode to date. Although, having said, I thought the two episodes that preceded were absolute mince, so that likely makes me especially favourable to this one.



As is usual with new Who, the ending was a bit rushed.


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Well I liked this episode very much. Everything was pretty good,train was interesting (Sheldon Cooper peaking trough here), mystery was ok,even the reveal was fine enough with me. and again we have malfunctioning things that attack humans/use human parts etc because they are stuck in some kind of repeat. This mummy reminded me of Robots we saw at the beginning of the season and the one's we saw in "The girl in the fireplace" I just got the same vibes. The solution to both was to rewrite their first orders...kind of...



When mummy soldier saluted to Doctor I thought it reminded me of Danny very much. We again have solders too. I hope they will connect all of this together in more than one episode packed with time jumps and loopy loops of wibbly wobbly timey wimey explanations.



Doctor's behavior sometimes makes sense but this time it wasn't nearly as logical as he said it is. So he has no time for wasting so he eliminates caring to get more time...but doesn't that make more distractions cause people around him always...but I mean always focus on that and they start telling him he's too cold and then he does his explanation why he has to be and that is actually taking away more time than just not being rude. not to mention,the truth WAS that he was saving everyone and he's helping and he's doesn't want them all to die so actually saying the truth would not only shut them all up,eliminate unnecessary time consuming question,everyone would be more likely to follow all his instructions but it would also help him in the future. :dunno:



One thing I didn't like was how they just jumped to Clara and doctor traveling together again even only for one last time. Also her lying to Danny...I mean who cares. I'm not that into htese two,I just don't feel any chemistry there so I couldn't care less if they fight or not I just don't want to see it.


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Any news from the series front?

Another great episode, with Clara being pushed by circumstances in the role of the Doctor. Continued great character development, and continuation of the 'good man' question.

The antagonists worked great, even if they were of a secondary importance to what seems to be the real plot: Clara understanding better what it means to be the Doctor.

Some slightly irritating connection to Missy in the end, which might be redeemed by the way that arc is played out.

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Another great episode, with Clara being pushed by circumstances in the role of the Doctor. Continued great character development, and continuation of the 'good man' question.

The antagonists worked great, even if they were of a secondary importance to what seems to be the real plot: Clara understanding better what it means to be the Doctor.

Some slightly irritating connection to Missy in the end, which might be redeemed by the way that arc is played out.

I agree it was a good episode in terms of Clara's characterisation, aside from the slightly annoying subplot about her not telling Danny where she is. There have been a lot of high concept monsters in recent seasons but I think this is one of the more interesting and inventive concepts. I was convinced they were going to defeat them by using the 2Dis to make a picture the graffiti artist drew into something that would defeat the monsters, it did slightly undermine having Clara take on the Doctor's role when the eventual resolution was to bring him back to save the day with the sonic screwdriver. I did think Clara's 'Adams Family' solution to the Tardis on the train tracks was hilarious.

The first half of this season was a bit mixed but it's really got into its stride in the last couple of episodes, hopefully that continues.

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I was a major detractor early on but it's getting pretty decent.

I still feel the dialogue isn't always up to scratch and the tone too often fluctuates in a rather chaotic fashion but given how terrible I thought the first episode was it has improved immeasurably.

Very good episode.

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I was just looking at the imdb ratings of this season's episodes and it's pretty right on:

1. Listen 9.1

2. Flatline 9.0

3. Mummy on the Orient Express 8.7

4. Time Heist 8.1

5. Deep Breath 8.0

6. Into the Dalek 8.0

7. The Caretaker 7.7

8. Kill the Moon 7.5

9. Robots of Sherwood 7.3

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I was just looking at the imdb ratings of this season's episodes and it's pretty right on:

1. Listen 9.1

2. Flatline 9.0

3. Mummy on the Orient Express 8.7

4. Time Heist 8.1

5. Deep Breath 8.0

6. Into the Dalek 8.0

7. The Caretaker 7.7

8. Kill the Moon 7.5

9. Robots of Sherwood 7.3

I agree Mummy and then Flatine are among the best but I didn't rate Listen at all and I thought Moon, Caretaker and Robot were all actually quite poor. Dalek wasn't up to much either, nor was Deep Breath.

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I really enjoyed Kill the Moon.



And "Into the Dalek", on second rewatch was actually a very well thought episode !



Anyway, "Flatline" was great. Visually, the 2D monsters were impressive but what really stood out was Clara's writing and taking the shoes of the Doctor for a while !


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I was just looking at the imdb ratings of this season's episodes and it's pretty right on:

1. Listen 9.1

2. Flatline 9.0

3. Mummy on the Orient Express 8.7

4. Time Heist 8.1

5. Deep Breath 8.0

6. Into the Dalek 8.0

7. The Caretaker 7.7

8. Kill the Moon 7.5

9. Robots of Sherwood 7.3

Listen seems to be the most "realistic" in the sense it's not one of the most recent either. I bet flatline and Mummy won't be as high in a month's time.

I do think that list backs up the fact this has been a very consistent season. There hasn't been an awful episode and even the weaker ones have been average. I do like how there's a lot more science/time-travel being played around with than before and Flatline shows how creative they've been visually with things too.

Besides the creepy visuals (and being based in Bristol) I did like how Clara showed signs of being dismissive/rude while dealing with a Doctor crisis. It was a nice little insight. While I don't think it's the case, I like to think that the reason why this Doctor is being a lot more unpleasant could be because his brain is always working on the "timelord problem".

I have to say that the woman at the end of certain episodes is no longer working as a tease for me and is now tedious. I need a bit more dangled in front of me for this aspect to work.

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I think the problem with Missy is that Moffat is trying to tone down the importance of the season arc but isn't doing a very good job. Rather than just having a few subtle hints, themes and concepts that will come back in the finale, he's instead inserting disjointed scenes that stick out like a sore thumb. I'd much rather the seasonal arc was based on less obvious hints. Like the season introduces a couple of new monsters or concepts which are then used in the finale. But during their debut episode it's not obvious that they're connected to the seasonal arc. The Fob Watch is a good example of this.


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Loved last night's episode. Great, GREAT visual effects, and I loved the Doctor being taken out of it and trapped in the TARDIS while Clara is put in charge. The scenes with Missy are definitely ominous...I can't wait to find out who she is and what her connection with the Doctor is.

"Listen" was still the best episode for me this season, but "Flatline" is a close second. Then Orient Express.

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