Doctor Who (again) [SPOILERS]

[Selrahc]

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Blargh.
Not a great episode.

Lots of confusing ill explained running around, followed by a slightly better attempt at stitching together a conclusion that I don't think quite fitted.

Pirate stuff was shoe-horned in. Which is fine, but I don't think they even had that much fun with it considering.

The next episode preview and the schrodingers pregnancy were both interesting. I don't believe we'll be seeing another timelord though.

EDIT: Not saying this episode was horrible or anything. I'm not sorry I watched it. Just not particularly great.

[Aotrs Commander]

I thought it certainly beat last year's Beast Below and Vincent and the Doctor. (The latter was better than the former and had some good character moments - what Curtis is best at - but the monster-y element was really kinda lacking.)



'Course, I'm really waiting on the inevitable Dalek reappearance (and/or the Mondas Cybermen in anger...) Victory of the Daleks was my favourite episode last year. But I'm an unapologetic Dalek fanlich, so there you go...

[Tiger Duck]

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Did they tell what happened with that pirate that was stabbed by the boy so he couldn't leave? His "friend left, and that pirate ran in the doctor and the captain and eventually the siren. But when the doctor and captain were back with Amy and co, the pirate was gone.

[Aotrs Commander]

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I noticed that too, I don't think they did. Unusual oversight, for a program usually more watertight. Deleted scene, maybe?

[factotum]

Actually, that's a good point--I'd forgotten all about him!

As for the episode, I thought it was OK, but a bit reminiscent of the setup in "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances" for my taste.

[Jair Barik]

I too noticed 'the missing pirate'.

Were some other holes

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Why were the others with minor scratch injuries sedated but not the Doctor and co?
Why did the tardis get trapped except for plot expediency?

In general this is becoming a pet peeve of mine with this season and the last one.
In a way it feels almost as though it is a case of 'guess which of the unexplored plot strands turns out to be important' than nice and well explained stories.
At the time I pointed out some of the plot pieces that seemed to be forgotten/ignored last series and whilst one (that I didn't notice) is being expanded upon (silence will fall) it still erks me.

[Avaris]

I enjoyed this episode, towards the start at least, but I felt it fell apart towards the end. Reflecting back, there is one MAJOR reason why it leaves me cold...

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They've already done this sort of plot, and far better. Alien hospital ship losing it's crew and acting on autopilot to heal humans, but not knowing how to properly heal them? Empty Child anyone?

[The Big Dice]

I finally figured out my issues with Doctor #11. It's not the scripts, it's not the actors. It's the directors. They don't seem to know how to handle the subject matter and some of them seem to either be good with the technical stuff or with the actors. But few of them over the last couple of years have been good with both.

Bring back Colin Teague, Euros Lyn and most of all give Graeme Harper a few episodes. He's the only man to direct new and old Who that I know of.

[Kobold-Bard]

...

As for the episode, I thought it was OK, but a bit reminiscent of the setup in "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances" for my taste.

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Indeed, I got a bit annoyed when I remembered that.

Though, because I apparently find it very easy to suspend my knowledge that they won't kill main characters so easily, the whole saving Rory scene got me all agitated in the same way the furnace scene from Toy Story 3 did, which meant I got the lovely relief when he inevitably survived.. Gotta love not being a trope-fiend.

A theory I just saw on the site which shall not be named:

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I'm worried, guys. I'm really, really worried. I think this season is going to see us saying goodbye to a character we all know and love. It's going to hit us all hard. Some people may never recover. It's a loss too great to consider.

The Tardis is dying. Why else would the siren/doctor have taken it?

Anyone more knowledgeable than me think there's any weight behind it?

[Aotrs Commander]

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Honestly, I'm kinda no longer worried about Rory, who is rapidly closing on "died more times than Optimus Prime" territory. It's like he's contractually obligated to be killed six or seven times a season or something. To completely mix obscure references, if, as Vigo the Carpathian says, "death is but a doorway", as that guard in Asterix and the Goths once said, "they ought to replace that doorway with a curtain" as far as Rory's concerned...

As a Lich myself, I can really get behind Rory's kick-sand-in-death's-face attitude.

[Drolyt]

Good episode. Not great, but good. I also noticed the missing pirate, and I'm still not sure what was up with the TARDIS but I can ignore that. Got bored during the whole resuscitation scene. A little confused about why the TARDIS doesn't have a defibrillator, or better yet a magic Time Lord healing machine. Seriously, Time Lord tech seems to amount to 21st Century Earth tech + time/space travel.

[Weezer]

And the sonic screwdriver, can't forget that.

[Rappy]

I enjoyed this episode, towards the start at least, but I felt it fell apart towards the end. Reflecting back, there is one MAJOR reason why it leaves me cold...

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They've already done this sort of plot, and far better. Alien hospital ship losing it's crew and acting on autopilot to heal humans, but not knowing how to properly heal them? Empty Child anyone?

I agree.

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My first thought when the episode was ending was "'The Empty Child' did it better", followed closely by "a holographic siren nurse? Really?"

I mean, I know this is Doctor Who and the supernatural is verboten, but I even would have taken the old alien species argument over that.

Still, it wasn't a bad episode, just...a "meh" one, to me.

[SuperPanda]

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"Empty child did it better" hit me shortly after "Girl in the Fireplace did it better" with the whole window's are portals into another world bit. This episode was fun, but it felt more like there should be a drinking game for it where you have to drink if your slower on the draw calling out the references being made to who episode's that did the same thing better. "Just one drop is all it takes" when talking about the water being dangerous and all that.

The bit about alternate dimensions/universes felt like it really should have been a bigger plot point, in fact it felt almost exactly like the Lodger did last time around where the necro-tardis (never figured out why its called a necro-tardis) was waved away only to come back a year later to bite us. The alternate universes colliding bit could easily have been a introduction to the return of Time Lords and old who elements which hadn't gone completely insane and would allow the TARDIS is dying theory to be played seriously.

The best part of this episode was the preview to the next one. On the Ood though, I feel like the idiot from Planet of the Ood right before he dies when he sees the Ood go red eye and asks "Ooh, do they come in different colours?" Red, now green... I'm predicting a technicolor ood army fighting the Dalek Rangers from Victory of the Daleks. (I like both races, I think both races are equal parts awesome and ludicrous camp, I also think balancing the two is what makes them great.)

Was okay, can't wait for the next one.

Also, I think Rory is an unofficial part of SG-1, I mean that team got so used to dying and coming back that their boss more or less would say, Only certain death? Give them another hour and keep to soup hot for them.

[Iskandar]

Also, I think Rory is an unofficial part of SG-1, I mean that team got so used to dying and coming back that their boss more or less would say, Only certain death? Give them another hour and keep to soup hot for them.

To be fair, Daniel did outright die... um, three times? At least. And I think most of the rest of the team died at least once, if you consider trips through the sarcophagus.

So...yeah.

anyway, on topic:

That women with the eye patch is back. Betcha that for Amy these episodes are just memories she is reliving, that she is having a dream of past events?

[factotum]

That women with the eye patch is back. Betcha that for Amy these episodes are just memories she is reliving, that she is having a dream of past events?

No. Just, no. If this ends up being "It was all a dream!" then I will, at the very least, lose all respect for Steven Moffat...

[Jibar]

I don't know if it's too early to call this, but she's only been seen at medical places thus far. Orphanage and hospital ship thing.
I fully believe she's a doctor of some kind, but she may only be appearing wherever Amy is close to doctors.
But not Doctor doctors, doctor doctors.

[Drolyt]

No. Just, no. If this ends up being "It was all a dream!" then I will, at the very least, lose all respect for Steven Moffat...

Lose respect? That's too light. An appropriate punishment for making a season of Doctor Who All Just a Dream might be boiling him alive in oil, but that might be too light.

[SuperPanda]

RE SG-1: I didn't mean it as a mark against Stargate, actually I think its one of the funniest/best parts of the old series continuity that certain death is almost always treated as one of those just another day at the office things that people maybe get hazard pay for. For the most part SG-1 manages to play death serious in continuities where there is no easy escape from death and play it as a cheaply veiled attempt to raise suspense when there is an easy escape.

I sort of wish Rory would start doing that.

"A little affection would be nice. I only nearly died. Again. That's, um three, five, seventeen, carry the one - okay so the exact number isn't important." That would be a funny piece of dialog to cram into one of these episodes.

Re: It was all a dream - If they somehow link it to the Dream Lord early enough in the season so that there is a clear separation of dream/reality while keeping the audience unsure which is which... it might work.

Re: Overtly violent forms of vengence:

Dipped in molten gold and put on display in the BBC head office?

[thegurullamen]

That women with the eye patch is back. Betcha that for Amy these episodes are just memories she is reliving, that she is having a dream of past events?

I thought about that, too. But it seems a little obvious.

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My idea is that it's the quantum baby's dream. That isn't to say the whole season's a dream--that would be lame as hell and Moffat knows it. But there is some real, fundamental aspect to the story, possibly something we don't realize or even notice yet, that is being dreamed up by the child and monitored by the nurses. I mean hell, after last season, reality seems pretty damned fragile. Who's to say a dream state can't affect it?

[Demon 997]

Am I the only one so confused I've almost stopped carrying at this point? Another oddity pops up (the woman with the eyepatch) and I just resign myself to confusion and assume it'll be explained eventually.

[Closet_Skeleton]

My current theory is that Amy is just going insane. It seems the least likely.

[Jahkaivah]

So Amy, who has no medical experiance, undertakes the highly important task of resuscitating Rory.

Meanwhile The Doctor sits and watches.

[Kato]

... SPACE PIRATES.. SPACE YAR!!!

So Amy, who has no medical experiance, undertakes the highly important task of resuscitating Rory.

Meanwhile The Doctor sits and watches.

Yeeeeeah, that really struck me as odd. Okay, he#s not a doctor doctor, but he's the frigging doctor. He can't do a CPR? And whoever pops up to say 'He wanted Rory to die to be with Amy' gets a bullet from my Anti-Ship(per) gun...

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On a whole... it was a decent episode. But yeah, it wasn't that new, just another explanation of a old legend which turns out be benevolent aliens... kinda. I was expecting something about a airborne virus with the blodd and stuff but... yeah, I was going for evil alien anyway.

Well... yeah, I also noticed the missing pirate but then I thought I must have missed it.
And the TARDIS thing... either it just stumbled through, or there might be something wrong with it... I'd think the former but not sure... *shrug*
And... well, there's quite a few other things especially concerning the whole 'reflective surfaces' issue but... meh. It's Who.

Apart from that... I liked the short piece of dialogue with the Doctor and the captain when they were in the TARDIS first. Especially the bit with him being confused and the Doctor saying 'we're a big club, we should get t-shirts' or something to that extent. Hehe... that's what Who does to people.
Uhm... th eye patch lady still reminds me of Alex Kingston but since nobody else mentioned that anywhere it must be my imagination.
Last thing, charmed Rory's babbling really reminded me of Jeff from Coupling, hehe. And pirate Amy is hot. Well, she's hot anyway but still.

[Drolyt]

So Amy, who has no medical experiance, undertakes the highly important task of resuscitating Rory.

Meanwhile The Doctor sits and watches.

CPR isn't hard. I was certified in what, like 3-4 hours of training? It was the simplest part of the first aid course.

[Jahkaivah]

CPR isn't hard. I was certified in what, like 3-4 hours of training? It was the simplest part of the first aid course.

That's nice, when I fall overboard, drown and get hooked up on life support by a crashlanded alien spaceship I will totally choose you over the girl who had little confidence about the matter.

Though first choice would still probably be the super genius timelord who saves lives on a regular basis.

[Drolyt]

That's nice, when I fall overboard, drown and get hooked up on life support by a crashlanded alien spaceship I will totally choose you over the girl who had little confidence about the matter.

Though first choice would still probably be the super genius timelord who saves lives on a regular basis.

Fair enough. He is called THE DOCTOR for goodness sake, and I'm still not sure why he didn't have a defibrillator. Or a bacta tank or something.

[factotum]

Anyone who has a PhD gets to be called "Doctor", but if that PhD happens to be in, say, theoretical physics there's no reason why they should be any better at CPR than anyone you find on the street!

[Fifty-Eyed Fred]

Anyone who has a PhD gets to be called "Doctor", but if that PhD happens to be in, say, theoretical physics there's no reason why they should be any better at CPR than anyone you find on the street!

This.

You never know what sort of degree The Doctor might have picked up during his adventures. PhD in Chronology, perhaps?

[Nameless Ghost]

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Was anyone else disappointed at the Doctor's reaction to losing control of the TARDIS. The entire show used to be based around the premise of him not knowing where he'd end up, and now he flees the TARDIS for just that reason?

Completely wasted the opportunity for a 'well that hasn't happened in a while', type joke too.

But yeah, I think I enjoyed the trailer for next week more than the actual plot of this episode. The basic premise was amusing to begin with, as was Amy fighting off the pirates, who were wielding wooden poles, because they were terrified of being cut. That was quite nice. Seemed to go downhill from there, however.

The scene with Rory needing to be revived at the end just felt like needless melodrama. It was far too obvious he wasn't actually going to die.