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Doctor Who Series 9 |OT| Let Zygons Be Zygons

There's just so much crazy shit in that season, like concentration camps for not dead dead people, and rock vaginas, and Gwen Coopah blowing up a helicopter with a rocket launcher, and super hot gay Captain Jack sex.

You know what? Everyone should watch Miracle Day, so they can join our club.
 

Ozium

Member
Would Wayne Knight blow your mind enough?

giphy.gif
 

hateradio

The Most Dangerous Yes Man
Don't you dare reply with "Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey".
I feel like this is such an ingrained concept in the show, that most people forget about. I mean, the target audience is children, even if there a hefty bit of lore in the series.

Fuck, I kinda want to watch Miracle Day again.
No you don't.

I think the real issue at fault was that unlike the previous series, which was only a few episodes long, Miracle Day was expanded to 12 or 13 episodes, and there simply wasn't anything in it to make it that long. It was infuriating to watch.

Had it been cut into 6 episodes at most, it would have been interesting.

Has there really not been a "fan" cut in all this time?
 
Fun episode. Not a classic two parter - and like AP, while I continue to think Capaldi is magnificent, I don't like that they've neutered his character a tad - , but the Doctor-Davros exchanges were great, and Gomez was great.

Fun. Solid 3/5 episode, as so many Who eps are. Into The Dalek was a better story from last year though, more of that angry alien Capaldi Doctor pls.
 

Dalek

Member
Man, I thought we were done ever discussing Miracle Day again. I tried to get a friend hyped up about it after I watched Children of Earth. He will never trust my opinion on anything again.
 

obin_gam

Member
Did not like it as much as last week's.
It sounds like a broken record, but he puts himself in these situations: Moffat needs to either get his head out from his ass, or step down.
 

Boem

Member
Loved it, Davros was the highlight here for sure. Stellar work by both Moffat and Bleach. I almost bought that he had 'turned for semi-good' after a while. It isn't often that Doctor Who can fool me with a character's motivation like that, especially when it's such a big, classic villain. Loved all the scenes with Davros. The ending is a bit eh, and some more time could have probably been spend on what Davros' success actually meant instead of just letting the sewers crumble, but everything leading up to it was gold for me.

I assume Missy's ending meant that she might work together with the Daleks at some point in the future (possible allowing them to use her Tardis in exchange for her life), or they'll just use it as an unexplained reason why she's alive the next time we'll see her. I suspect Moffat doesn't quite know yet.

Anyway, great start to the series, very hopeful for the rest. I hope they can keep it up.

'The only chair on Skaro' makes this a classic.
 

Ozium

Member
I was thinking about the "Doctor is going to die" thing and it makes sense if you think about it.. He was going to sacrifice his life to destroy the Daleks.. Since his plan was to give them regeneration energy to reanimate the disintegrating Dalekgoo to murder the planet, and the way to do this was to link up w/ the cables, he could not return. Because it seemed like it was an electricity type thing where you can't let go because of the effects of electricity on your muscles.

But Missy was able to save him but there's no way he could have known that would happen

right?
 

Kevin

Member
I was thinking about the "Doctor is going to die" thing and it makes sense if you think about it.. He was going to sacrifice his life to destroy the Daleks.. Since his plan was to give them regeneration energy to reanimate the disintegrating Dalekgoo to murder the planet, and the way to do this was to link up w/ the cables, he could not return. Because it seemed like it was an electricity type thing where you can't let go because of the effects of electricity on your muscles.

But Missy was able to save him but there's no way he could have known that would happen

right?

I thought the whole Dalek goo thing was dumb and made no logical sense. I realize this is a fantasy show but I thought that was just extra unbelievable.
 

Chariot

Member
But Missy was able to save him but there's no way he could have known that would happen

right?
Of course he would. He send her the messafe that he would die. He expected for her to show up.

Somebody mentionend the Joker. It was a classic Batman Gambit where he was sure that the Master would at least not let him die at the hands of snyone else. Maybe that's why he dropped the "arch enemy" in front of Missy. He just didm't expect that she would've bring Clara.
 
Jesus fuck how the hell did Miracle Day pull anything off.

Is Miracle Day the new Band of Brothers or something?

Except Band of Brothers was good.

This was just "look at all of these well-known actors in Dr. Who!"

Seriously, for the cast it had.... what the fuck happened...
 

Pluto

Member
I really liked this episode (especially Michelle Gomez, she's so good!) except for the end, I almost believed Davros reformimg before his death, great writing and acting there but of course it was a trap. The Doctor expecting the trap and reviving the poopy Daleks was too much though.

What really annoyed me was Clara trying to convince the Doctor who she was instead of getting out of that thing, if there was a tricky way to open a Dalek I could see her being stuck but all she had to do was think "open", she didn't try that even once?
 
I love Peter Capaldi but series 8 he didn't really click for me and I was quite disappointed. These first 2 episodes of series 9 have done it for me though. Especially episode 2. He reminds me of the 3rd/4th Doctor but of course he has put his own spin on it.
 
What really annoyed me was Clara trying to convince the Doctor who she was instead of getting out of that thing, if there was a tricky way to open a Dalek I could see her being stuck but all she had to do was think "open", she didn't try that even once?
I guess she was incredibly upset and emotional which kept the telepathic circuits busy.
 

Chariot

Member
I mean in terms of behaviour, not literally. This was about how eleventh would've solved the situation, down to the boasting speech.
For the record I love Jenna Coleman though sadly Oswin was the best time they ever used her.

But yeah I know. Man though two middle aged people roaming time and space would be incredible.
Haha! Yes, a literal old couple would be refreshing and fun.
Yeah I felt that too, I think someone mentioned it on the last page too, I actually liked that part,even though 11 isn't one of my favourites.
Oh, gotta look back, must have overlooked it. And I agree: Missy is fantastic.
 

Symphonia

Banned
Michelle Gomez was brilliant. The Doctor and Davros scenes were great. Clara in the Dalek was good. The wasted regeneration energy and Clara trusting Missy so easily were meh. The Sonic Sunglasses were shit. A slightly-above-average episode overall.
 

Razmos

Member
So urh, all that regeneration energy being used up is kind of a big deal right? it was kinda glossed over, but a regeneration was wasted on a hand before so..
 
How good Gomez/Missy was really makes me long for a period with a Time Lord companion again. I feel Capaldi could be really good with a Romana-esque figure, a haughty younger Time Lord who has wilder, more radical ideas and perhaps thinks a bit faster than the Doctor but isn't quite as experienced or smart.


So urh, all that regeneration energy being used up is kind of a big deal right? it was kinda glossed over, but a regeneration was wasted on a hand before so..

The Doctor suggested last year that potentially he has no limit whatsoever any more and might keep regenerating and regenerating forever, so I doubt they're really worried. A future writer can either pick up on this or ignore it, basically.
 

Ozium

Member
I liked this week's better than last week but still not great. Think it's a bit silly that the Doctor is so shocked at a dalek saying mercy when River Song made a dalek cry mercy in The Big Bang, an episode written by Steven Moffat.

even more silly is that 20 minutes before this scene Davros tells the Doctor that the Daleks have a flaw he was unable eliminate, that being "respect, mercy for their father." Now, if Davros acknowledges that they have a defect in their design which gives them mercy for their father, then clearly they would know the word and concept of mercy, they aren't stupid.
 

PaulloDEC

Member
Hang on. So Davros' plan backfired because the goop Daleks rose up from underneath the city and sludged all the proper Daleks, right?

So what about all of these dudes?

Hw6b.png


Seen floating up into the air moments after the Supreme declared the experiment a success. Can the goop Daleks fly?
 

D_prOdigy

Member
Best bit: the "only other chair on Skaro" line

Worst bit: the 'half Dalek/half Timelord' idea was really pointless seeing as it ended up going nowhere. Just Occam's razor that shit and say that the Daleks were just reviving normally.

Overall I liked it and thought it was the best opening story for a while. As it was a two-parter it's naturally gonna get compared with Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon, but I have a really soft spot for that one and I think it might win out
 

Razmos

Member
Hang on. So Davros' plan backfired because the goop Daleks rose up from underneath the city and sludged all the proper Daleks, right?

So what about all of these dudes?

Hw6b.png


Seen floating up into the air moments after the Supreme declared the experiment a success. Can the goop Daleks fly?
Flying goop daleks would be far more dangerous than the usual kind
 

hamchan

Member
That was bad. Just really poorly executed.

I'm glad that Moffat came up with the wonderful idea to have a hybrid Dalek race and have Clara turning into a Dalek. Really groundbreaking stuff there.

All the Doctor/Davros scenes just dragged on and on forever, and then turned into constant "Aha, you fell for my trap" "Ohoho, but that was actually my trap" nonsense.

Beyond that, why with this insistence that there has to be some terrible secret behind the Doctor leaving Gallifrey? I wish Moffat would just fuck off with this nonsense. The Doctor's life doesn't need to be a constant run of secrets and prophecies and horrific revelations. The Doctor fled from Gallifrey and rebelled against their customs because he was bored by the existence there and hated the stuffy bureaucracy and their bullshit "non-interference" policy when terrible shit was happening in the universe. There's an elegant simplicity to it, but that's enough for Moffat.

Why can't we just leave the past alone? Here's the Doctor. He goes on adventures. Stop with the turning the Doctor into some mythological, godlike figure who always has to have some dark secret waiting at every turn.

I agree with this. It's another dark secret and mystery of the Doctor that will never get a good resolution from Moffat.
 
I was thinking about the "Doctor is going to die" thing and it makes sense if you think about it.. He was going to sacrifice his life to destroy the Daleks.. Since his plan was to give them regeneration energy to reanimate the disintegrating Dalekgoo to murder the planet, and the way to do this was to link up w/ the cables, he could not return. Because it seemed like it was an electricity type thing where you can't let go because of the effects of electricity on your muscles.

But Missy was able to save him but there's no way he could have known that would happen

right?

Although, it'd be pretty silly for him to give his life in this way because the episode is fairly explicit in making clear through some of Davros' dialogue that this whole thing is specifically about the Daleks on Skaro, and based on the likes of Asylum and Into the Dalek we know in Moffat's post Time War lore there are loads of Dalek ships out there.
 

TrueBlue

Member
That was solid.


Felt that the Doctor/Davros exchanges were fantastic - much better than those of Series 4. Capaldi and Bleach were just excellent, particularly Bleach. Even with the inevitable backstabbing, I actually felt sorry for Davros in the build - up.

Missy/Clara sections sort of dragged, though their interactions were amusing. Gomez continues to be awesome. Didn't see the point of putting Clara in a Dalek - Coleman is a good actress, use her!

Also felt that the Sewer Daleks should have been referenced in the first episode. Being introduced here and then being the solution to the episode felt a little contrived. A little foreshadowing goes a long way.

Kuwabara has a point in regard to Gallifrey. The drama surrounding the planet should be focused on his search for it. Hell, one of the best scenes last season was the Doctor's reaction to Missy lying about its location. Trying to make drama out of his reason for living seems a little unnecessary. But then again, it would be perhaps best to see how a resolution unfolds before we judge too harshly. Written well, I can see his search and his reason for leaving supplementing each other as opposed to detracting from the other.
 
Of course based on the excellent scene of Capaldi's reaction to Missy's lie last season the first thing he'd reasonably do is ask her where it is. Even some small scene of "I was bluffing big boy, I've no idea where to find it" would have done.

I feel like Moffat needs a proof-reader or something, or else he's turning The Doctor's hesitance to properly search for Galifrey into some half-baked plotline.
 

mclem

Member
If nothing else, now I'm curious to see if they could do a Doctor-lite episode which focusses on Missy. I think she could carry one.
 

Chariot

Member
There could've been many awesome storylines growing out of the Clarlek thing. The Doctor actually killing her. The Doctor just escaping and her staying on the planet trying to be discovered and not losing her personality. Missy taking the Clarlek with her and taunting the Doctor with her own personal Dalek.

Not to mention a weird romance fanfic between a Cyberman Danny and Dalek Clara.
 
Why's the CGI just getting worse? And why did Davros himself just sorta fade away?

Other than that, it was an enjoyable episode.

EDIT: Oh, and the next time I see an unconvincing kid acting terribly while constantly saying "you were supposed to help me" AGAIN, I quit.
 

Bluth54

Member
Why's the CGI just getting worse? And why did Davros himself just sorta fade away?

Other than that, it was an enjoyable episode.

I thought the CGI was fine in both episodes besides the snakes which were pretty bad. What would Doctor Who be without the occasional bad special effect shot?
 
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