1701

It made sense to me as well, due to the mirror aspect. I pretty much enjoyed the episode, and am intrigued by the Oswin thing. I just hope/pray we see more Strax, Vastra and Jenny, I love them so, especially Strax.

1702

I have a feeling Oswin is going to end up something like Scaroth (though not alien I just mean time fragmented.)

1703

Don’t be ridiculous. Are you upset about how they left, or are you just upset that they had to leave at all? Because you know the actors were going to leave anyway, so there had to be some way to write them off the show. They’ve already tried the other ways of getting rid of companions. Why not have them leave in a way that A) allows them to live long and happy lives, and B) never see the Doctor again?

I thought it was elegant, heartfelt, and most of all, it had the fake ending where I really thought they were going to be just killed off. I loved it.

1704

+1

I really like the fact that Oswin (going to be hard to think ‘Clara’ now) is ‘clever’ like the Doctor. Amy caught up over time, but Oswin seems to be on the ball right out of the gate (though I supposed Martha was too). But the quick witty banter dialog reminds be of Moonlighting or Studio 60, which is great and I hope they keep it up.

The new TARDIS interior I thought looked nice, but my kids immediately said ‘hey, they went back to the original’ - so I guess it is retro afterall.

As for the chameleon circuit - I thought that was the device that allowed the TARDIS to actually change what it looked like to blend in to the time period/civilization that it was in. It broke a long time back, which is why the TARDIS always looks like a police box now. And no one seems to notice a police box, because (per some earlier episode) “people can’t reconcile seeing something so out of place, so they automatically ignore it”. And a spacey as the Doctor can be at times, it probably helps that he always knows what to look for.

I disagree with Malderi. Needs more Oswin.

1705

New Lindalee Doctor Who Review: The Snowmen

You can actually see quite a bit the entire history of the console room. The blue-silver does call back the white of the original, the central console controls are closer to that of the 1980s, the time rotor harkens back to the Fox TV movie, the hand rails resemble the 4th Doctor’s victorian “secondary control room”, the circular walkway around the outer wall and lights come from the first of the new series.

“It’s still a Police Box? Why hasn’t it changed?”

1706

New Lindalee Doctor Who Review: The Snowmen

You can actually see quite a bit the entire history of the console room. The blue-silver does call back the white of the original, the central console controls are closer to that of the 1980s, the time rotor harkens back to the Fox TV movie, the hand rails resemble the 4th Doctor’s victorian “secondary control room”, the circular walkway around the outer wall and lights come from the first of the new series.

“It’s still a Police Box? Why hasn’t it changed?”

1707

I’m not being ridiculous. A little over-dramatic maybe since I wrote that shortly after viewing the episode and was still angry. Amy and Rory were hands down my favorite companions in Who history. The dymanic they developed both with the Doctor and with each other over time may have been some of the best scripting in the series to date. To say that this ending allowed them to “live long and happy lives” and gives closure to the Doctor is ridiculous. They were snatched away by the angels to live trapped in a past where they can never see friends, family or the Doctor again, meanwhile the angels will feed off their time signature or whatever for the rest of their days. The only small glimmer of hope in the whole thing was that Amy made the decision to sacrifice herself so that Rory would not be alone, she chose her husband over the Doctor, and rightly so. There was nothing at all happy or nice about that ending, as is evidenced by the Doctor’s condition when we see him at the start of the Christmas episode.

Look, I get that actors need to leave the show, and while I loved the Ponds and wanted them to stay on forever, they can’t. It pained me to see such a sudden, jarring and pretty much unhappy ending for them after becoming so invested in the characters, so I maintain my opinion that the ending was shit and reserve the right to be angry about it.

That said, I’m liking Clara more than I thought I would. The Christmas episode was fun, and I loved the other “companions” as well. While Oswin may not measure up to Amy in the eye candy roll, she certainly has quite a bit of spunk as a character and that could be very entertaining if handled well (as it was this episode). I’m kind of bummed that they killed off Victorian Oswin though, as I think it would have been more fun with her than with a modern day version as they seem to be indicating from the previews. Either way, she seems like she’ll be a decent successor to Amy, and at least I won’t have to suffer through a season of River (I really dislike that character intensely).

1708

But they had been establishing for a while that Amy and Rory were getting frustrated that they were having to choose between galactic romps with the Doctor and living a normal life together. So, this gave them the chance to focus on their life together. It might not have been an optimal life, but hey, who gets that? :) I’d hardly call it unhappy; I think they only person they’d really have missed would have been Brian.

Really like Clara/Oswin, though. Great energy and excitement in the character. (If you’re going to write off her enthusiasm as “Manic Pixie Dream Girl,” you pretty much have to write off the Doctor as “Manic Lurch Dream Time Lord,” so why even watch the show?)

1709

It probably doesn’t help that the reason given for their not being able to be rescued is really hand-wavy and easily gotten around. So the Doctor can’t visit New York again due to all the “time turbulence”? Why not just travel to New Jersey in the past, and then take a train to see them?

Really, that continues to be my biggest concern with Moffat, that he’s even more loose than others with the “psuedo-science” of Who.

1710

It had already been established that although they enjoyed traveling with the Doctor, it was slowly killing them. They were addicted to traveling with him, and it was interfering with their daily lives. They desperately wanted to have a normal life, but they couldn’t resist the lure of going away with him for days or weeks or months at a time. As a result, they were aging more quickly than normal. Much more. What kind of a life is that?

On top of that, they had just been reminded, rather painfully, of the risks they were taking by traveling with the Doctor. Not just risking their lives: They were also risking the much worse possibility of being eternally separated from each other. Amy realized that it wasn’t worth traveling with the Doctor if she could lose Rory forever, so she made a snap decision that would ensure she could remain with Rory, while also removing the temptation of staying with the Doctor.

And no, they weren’t trapped where the Angels would feed off their time signature. That was part of the hospital the Angels set up, where they would send you back in time over and over again if you escaped. That was destroyed when the paradox happened, so all the final Angel did was “kill them nicely” (as the Tenth Doctor said) by sending Amy back to the same time as Rory, where they could live their lives out together.

It was happy and nice for Amy and Rory; I didn’t say that it wouldn’t have repercussions for the Doctor.

No one would take that right away from you, but I fail to see how Amy saying “know that we lived well, and were very happy” is an unhappy ending for them.

You’re presuming that the Doctor’s highest priority was to rescue Amy and Rory at all costs. Her afterword stopped just short of saying, “Please don’t try to come after us,” but the implication was clearly there. She needed to make a break from the Doctor, and she already told him that they lived long and happy lives together. Why would he ruin that by showing up expectedly to take them on more adventures, when they already knew that they were risking their lives and their future every time they traveled with him? He didn’t need a watertight reason why he couldn’t visit them again; he just needed it to be difficult enough for him to realize that they were better off, so he wouldn’t try.

1711

Strax stole every scene he was involved with. I would love to see a lot more of him as he actually made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion during the Christmas episode.

1712

RE: Amy and Rory
I already said this here, and Derek made the same point, so to be brief: the main problem with Amy and Rory’s send off is that it doesn’t make any sense. There seem to be several ways around the time distortions, so you have to assume they chose to stay in the past. Which seems cruel since the episode immediately before had Rory’s Dad, Brian, saying something like “Go with The Doctor, but make sure and come back safe.” I can’t believe they would have decided, “You know what? Screw it. Let’s just stay here,” when they knew what that would do to Brian.

Of course, this is the couple that decided not raising their kid was OK by them, so who knows? I haven’t been so disappointed by a send off since Sarah Jane was suddenly kicked to the curb.

RE: The Snowmen
I’ve noticed that I have started watching the Christmas specials a little later each year (I just finished The Snowmen ten minutes ago). I think it’s because I have found them pretty underwhelming.

So, of course, I have to be contrary to most people posting and say that this is the one I’ve enjoyed the most. The comic relief was firing on all cylinders, and it was interesting to see the Doctor as Ebenezer Scrooge. I never like it as much when the Doctor survives by luck, especially when his savior is the power of sadness, but the set up for the Search for Clara/Oswin was nicely satisfying.

And forget Torchwood; the next Who spinoff I want to see is The Great Detective, starring Vastra, Jenny, and Strax.

I love the new interior of the TARDIS. I was never that taken with the Romper Room Love-In look for the post-Tennant era. Derek made note of the many past influences, but I’m digging the retro-ish console the most, especially the fact that it brings back some of the classic console sound effects.

Of course, fan service has always been a Moffat strength. The new “old” look of the interior. Returning the face to the opening sequence (with a touch of subtlety that I thought was nice). And, of course, the graveyard shout out to the Second Doctor adventure, The Web of Fear.

The jury’s out on Clara/Oswin. Her perkiness isn’t cloying (yet), and I always like a companion who stands toe-to-toe with the Doctor. But I hope we don’t see more of the same macking with the next incarnation of Clara/Oswin.

Or should I say “regeneration?” Wouldn’t it be cool if she turned out to be Romana?

Looking forward to the rest of the season.

1713

Who just finished season 2?

THIS GUY

Damn what an ending!

ROSE!!! :’(

1714

You’ll be happy she’s gone. Trust me. ;)

1715

Well I hope so… The new lady isn’t exactly one of my favorites, I don’t like her at all on The Office. :|

1716

Martha is great, but the one after that, Donna, is the one to beat.

1717

She has a nice rack.

I guess this could apply to both Donna and Clara.

1718

Ok the episode with Donna was ok toward the end she grew on me. Was she only cast for the holiday special?

But the first episode of Season 3 with Martha was fantastic.

Rhino cops! :D

1719

I will not answer your question because, spoilers! Enjoy Season 3, and report back here! I want to live vicariously through you.

1720

Since you mentioned the “t-word”, compare Doctor Who’s Victorian trio of otherword investigators with what Torchwood made do with in the same era.