From a storytelling perspective, I didn’t like the ending either—the three doctors around Billie Piper’s doomsday device felt like the climax, and I would have been happy with the ending being there.
On another note, I’m a little bummed we probably won’t see much more of John Hurt’s doctor.
Been thinking about it off and on all day and I still can’t decide what I think about the story. I don’t mind the retcon aspect of it too much, really, as that’s always been something Who does a fair bit of. Guess I’m just institutionalized by now. I’m trying to decide what I think of the new and what it’ll mean for storytelling coming up in the next few seasons.
The story was ridic, but whatever, FEELS man. Soooo good.
Zylon
2044
The drunk thread is over there, man.
Really, really enjoyed it, even though, as usual, I have no idea what it means in terms of the continuity. Plus, it cheapens the dramatic shift between the original series and the reboot (even though no one remembers it). And, like folks are saying, it makes The End of Time utterly confusing (but I was never a fan of that use of the Time Lords anyway).
More when more people have seen it. And thanks for the prequel mention. I would have completely missed it, and it was as much (if not more) of a milestone than the special.
LeeArac
2046
I wasn’t expecting much from Steven Moffat, and he managed to deliver worse than I thought possible given the awesome cast and David’s return. The man seems to have a gross disrespect for the work of writers others than himself, insisting that /his/ Doctor is somehow more super-speshul than all the others.
Spoiler
On another note: Did he have to make Rose into an AI-lady because she was a fully-fleshed out female character and he knows damn well he can’t write those for beans?
ShivaX
2047
As long as they explain it (as much as the explain anything in Dr Who) I’ll be fine with it. I just wish we had Jack around to go, “Wait a minute, how the hell does this work?” Instead we have Clara who isn’t going to bring up anything about Time Wars, time locks or paradoxes anytime soon.
Edit: And I kinda agree about Moffat. Sometimes he can be amazing, sometimes I think he’s just out to shit on things that aren’t his.
The last five minutes had Tom Baker in them, which is never a bad thing :).
This episode confirmed what I’ve feared for a while: Modern Clara is dullsville. I don’t think it’s Coleman’s fault. I’ve found her other incarnations interesting, but this version is written so blandly, it’s like it was done by the Script-o-Tron 5000: blank look, worried look, warmly depricating remark about the Doctor, repeat.
I just finished the last series (without Day of the Doctor). I just don’t get Moffat’s style. I started Doctor Who with Eccleston and Tennant and loved it a lot. I found Moffat’s Doctor ok, but the stories were never very consequently executed. It was all “I’m the center of the world”, but it wasn’t very interesting. Sure, there were some good episodes, but I couldn’t connect to the stories. I know, that’s all very vague and a matter of taste, but it was missing the warmth (or whatever) of the former series.
I never understood the enthusiasm about Amy and Rory. They only had one facial expression and I couldn’t get behind that “We’re a couple but the Doctor is the most important thing in our live” thing. I enjoyed the appearance of Clara a lot, because I found her a much better actor and a more lively character. Still: I’m missing something in this Doctor’s incarnation and I’d rather see the series put to rest for a couple of years again so that it can get a fresh start some time.
ShivaX
2051
Those complaints are fairly common, to be honest. Smith is decent, but he’s no Tennant.
ElGuapo
2052
Just started watching this last night (The First Season of the modern reboot). I’m on episode 6, I think, the one right after the Dalek episode on the space station. I always dismisses this as campy crap but if you accept the campiness, it’s very entertaining. Almost feels like a bunch of Philip K. Dick or Asimov stories come to life.
I couldn’t find any old threads though. I’m going into it blind, not knowing anything but the pop culture stuff that’s risen. Obviously I’ve seen a Dalek before, heard of the Tardis police box, etc.
Can anyone with better search fu point me to an old thread? Searching brings up this thread and one about the “cybermen” and that’s about it.
I think the turning point for me was the episode with the goofy unzipping their foreheads green monsters. The story was so fun I just didn’t care about the special effects or bad acting. I kind of expect cheese now and am surprised when they pull off a cool shot, like the sun in the end of the earth episode when the shields are lowered.
On another note: Which older Doctor series would you recommend? I bought the very first Doctor Who episodes, but more for “historical” reasons. Which Doctors of the Pre-Davies era are the most fun and interesting ones?
I’d do more a sampling of all of them. Tom Baker is generally the most loved though,
Daagar
2055
You are all killing my buzz. It was fun to watch, retcon be damned. Watching the 3 Doctors together was great, and I actually found it quite clever how they managed to resolve the Time War without actually resolving it in the manner we assumed happened. Seriously, how can you not love having not one, but two crazy timey-wimey solutions to escaping the Tower just to have the door open all along?
The biggest question for me is why is Smith’s Doctor the one that can remember (they explained that Hurt Doctor and Tennant Doctor wouldn’t remember what happened, and would still think Gallifrey was toast just like the rest of the universe thinks). I missed why Smith doesn’t forget.
I personally find Patrick Troughton the best doctor–he was funny and rascally and did angry very well. Quick thinking, quick moving, just a lot of fun. Unfortunately, many of his episodes are lost.
Tom Baker is certainly best remembered, because it was during his run that BBCA and PBS started showing Dr. Who in the US. So its where practically anyone over the age if 40 from the US started. His episodes are often great fun too, and they had more money for sets than in earlier years. Which isn’t saying much. His run also includes one of the best (if not the best) long-term arcs, in the Key of Time episodes.
If you really like high camp, go with Jon Pertwee. He’s the campiest by far.
I have a soft place in my heart for the Peter Davison years. There’s just no way to follow Tom Baker’s run and be successful, but he did a fine job anyway.
Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy were screwed from the start–the show was dying, and the writing was just god-awful for much of both of their runs. Plus Colin Baker just isn’t much of an actor. His one facial expression was “who stuck this stick up my ass?” At least McCoy had a range of emotions to play. But I hate hate hated his companion (though I know some really like Ace, personally I’d rather be stuck for eternity with Adric than with Ace).
I’ve not seen many of the Hartnell episodes, again many are lost. He is much older, and more cynical and angry than anyone since I would say.
ElGuapo
2057
Ok, just saw the Season 1 finale. Watching thousands of trashcans with plungers on them pour out of UFOs and bomb the hell out of Earth was awesome. I’m hooked! There were a few that I skipped, but the acting in this is actually pretty decent. I had no idea they replaced the actor who plays the Time Lord every couple of seasons. I always thought the main character was some kind of agent guy working for some British agency. I didn’t even know he was alien. Great show! I want to see where it’s going.
Unfortunately, that episode is by far the peak of the relaunched series. There are some good single episodes in Tenant’s run, but nothing that comes together as well as the 1st season
But why was he OLD? That made no sense to me.
I’m losing my faith in this show. I can buy a long-running show, and one dealing with time travel to boot, to not be totally consistent, but I just don’t know what the hell is what anymore at this point, in this show. It’s all just boring. I enjoyed some of the banter between the Doctors, that’s about the only time I was interested enough to not look at my phone to read email. Billy Piper’s use on the show was pointless - why did the bomb’s conscience take HER form when THAT Doctor didn’t know her?
I really liked Matt Smith’s Doctor, especially those first few episodes before we got Doc & The Ponds (loved the first episode with young Amy), but the story’s have gotten weaker each season. So I think as far as the “reboot” is concerned, Smith’s series have been the worst. Outside of a few great episodes, Tenant and Eccleston’s episodes were just much better written than Smith’s.
Editer
2060
My kid and I really enjoyed this. Surprised to see the reaction so negative here. Well, no, I’m not, given the place. :) But still, I thought it was fun. And the interplay between the doctors was great.
The Daleks being destroyed isn’t a timey wimey problem at all. When Gallifrey disappeared, they were shooting at the planet, and they blew each other up. That was even specifically called out as what would happen. And no issue with the retcon – it doesn’t undo any of the Tennant episodes, because he ends up still thinking he destroyed the Time Lords. The only real issues is that we saw time lords who weren’t total douchebags, which is unusual.
You can’t let forum hate kill the buzz on things you enjoy if you want to keep reading forums. :)
It was fun to watch, retcon be damned. Watching the 3 Doctors together was great, and I actually found it quite clever how they managed to resolve the Time War without actually resolving it in the manner we assumed happened. Seriously, how can you not love having not one, but two crazy timey-wimey solutions to escaping the Tower just to have the door open all along?
Amen. Loved their solution, and loved Clara’s.
The biggest question for me is why is Smith’s Doctor the one that can remember (they explained that Hurt Doctor and Tennant Doctor wouldn’t remember what happened, and would still think Gallifrey was toast just like the rest of the universe thinks). I missed why Smith doesn’t forget.
I’m pretty sure Smith did still think it was toast until he ran into the caretaker.
There was a comment about that… That the doctor would revisit some of his favorite looks in his future. So he was revisiting 4, and stayed in that incarnation much, much longer. The doctor can age during one of his generations – notice Hurt looks younger in the Night of the Doctor prequel than he does in Day of the Doctor. Though if Matt Smith has been around for 400 years and still looks like he’s in his late 20s, imagine how old Tom Baker Gen 2 must have been. (Alternate explanation: He revisited the old look but at a different age point.)
