Doctor Who

I generally like the Vastra/Jenny relationship, but Moffat and company need to be more cognizant that Jenny's dynamics in that relationship is where the interest lies, not with Vastra. Jenny's remark about having to serve tea despite her non-need to pose as a servant was interesting, but quickly dismissed. There's also a part of me that, though I thoroughly enjoy these three Victorian characters, feels as though they're thoroughly there for fan service at this point. I'm pleased that we finally have some physicality in that relationship, rather than endless words, but I fear that there's too many marriage puns...

I hope that Clara keeps getting more dimensionality--her arc last season made it so that only now do we have a (vaguely) clear sense of her character. I like how the Doctor suggests that his old form existed largely for Amy/Clara; hopefully this new persona will lead to more River Song down the road.

I'm optimistic Capuldi will continue to excel as we get further from his having to act befuddled...

"Times like these I miss Amy."

Yeah...

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Originally Posted by Mara

Sheesh, everyone's talking about Capaldi like he's eighty years old. And unspeakably ugly.

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Originally Posted by dreamdead

I like how the Doctor suggests that his old form existed largely for Amy/Clara; hopefully this new persona will lead to more River Song down the road.

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Moffat is too meta for his own good sometimes. The episode focused way too much commenting on the New Who fandom or speculating on their reaction to the change to an older Doctor.

Milking Matt Smith for yet another goodbye is pathetic, but I found it more moving than his actual goodbye scene, so I'll allow it?

Didn't like much of the episode, but Wheatley staged some great long scenes. The bedroom scene, the hobo in the alley, and Clara holding her breath to escape are standouts.

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Originally Posted by number8

Moffat is too meta for his own good sometimes. The episode focused way too much commenting on the New Who fandom or speculating on their reaction to the change to an older Doctor.

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"UGH. WHY DO YOU HAVE GRAY HAIR? And would it kill you to be a woman sometimes, or maybe black?"

Capaldi's actually a very good-looking man. Except for his teeth, which are terrifying.

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Originally Posted by Mara

Capaldi's actually a very good-looking man. Except for his teeth, which are terrifying.

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I agree. He reminds me of Hugh Laurie a bit.

I just don't like that his face is never soft. I kind of feel it limits his range as an actor.

I'm finally trying to tackle my gunshy-ness of writing about the cinematography and direction of the show. What changed from RTD to Moffat, and also focusing on these two opening episodes, which I thought had fantastic directing. Anything I shouldn't miss talking about?

"Listen." What a great episode. Genuine thrills in building tension, and unlike the super-silly Robin Hood episode from the prior week, this builds texture onto the Doctor and Clara. It's inevitable that Clara and Danny end up together and while that feels a little rote after Amy and Rory, Moffat's further differentiating of how Clara reaches out to aid others and commandeer the situation (something that Amy didn't always do) helps the flow here.

And Clara's consoling the "kid" at the end. Oof. So good.

I was feeling a little unenthused about Doctor Who after the first two episodes so I got a little behind and caught up on both new episodes yesterday.

And I was pleased. The Robin Hood was silly, sure, but it was the first time I felt this season that they weren't trying to hard, but just relaxing and having fun (which is an important part of the show's tone.) And "Listen" was a great entry all around, with excellent characterization and development. I feel like this show and I have a relationship again. It's nice.

I feel like I fall in love with new Doctors really easily. Other fans always talk about it taking a whole season to warm up to the change, but with Tennant, Smith, and now Capaldi, I get into the "OMG THIS IS MY FAVORITE DOCTOR NOW" mode almost immediately.

I've felt pretty solid about Capaldi so far, but it seemed like the writing/directing and some of the choices with Clara felt desperate and weird to me for the first couple of episodes.

I agree with that. I was just thinking in terms of performance. I remember how giddy I was watching Smith raid the fridge in "The Eleventh Hour," and even though I thought "Christmas Invasion" and "New Earth" were pretty bad, I knew Tennant felt right for the role.

Ooooh. Maisie Williams (Arya from Game of Thrones) to appear on some number of Doctor Who episodes next season. That should be interesting.

I was wondering why, unlike most cable actors like Hamm/Goggins/Cranston/etc, the GoT actors don't appear in a lot of projects between their short 10-13 episode seasons. I just found out recently that GoT's shoot is so extensive that they continuously film episodes 10 months out of the year. Goddamn.

Dull finale. Which is a shame because this season has been their best in years.

I really enjoyed the finale. Series 10 was remarkable save for that messy found footage episode.

I agree that the finale went astray. Largely because the Clara [

Show Spoiler

death

]from the "Face the Raven" episode and the resultant build-up across so much of "Heaven Sent" was the perfect send-off. Moffat needs to know when to let go of these characters, when their journey is at an end and not retrieve them time and again, which makes the tension so slack.

The Christmas special is enjoyable enough until the final 15 or so minutes, which are gold. I'll be curious if Moffat's decision to stay on leads to more of these characters sticking around or if we're legitimately getting new companions and everything.

Being sick I finally caught up on yhe season. Until the last three episodes I thought it was entertaining at best and sloppy at worst. The quality didn't start firing on all cylinders until Face the Raven. Heaven Sent was extraordinary. But can't we... like, spread the quality around?

Haven't seen the Christmas Special yet.

The Christmas special was wonderful. River works best with Twelve.

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Originally Posted by Mara

Being sick I finally caught up on yhe season. Until the last three episodes I thought it was entertaining at best and sloppy at worst.

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We liked the season as a whole, as it was a huge improvement over most of last season.

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Originally Posted by [ETM]

We liked the season as a whole, as it was a huge improvement over most of last season.

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I don't know... I wasn't feeling most of it. But I thought the Christmas special was pretty great.

So... Huge fucking news.

Next season will be Moffat's last. He will be replaced by Chris Chibnall for the 11th season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nTrs-HuuUc