ClivePwned
Member
Next season will see a cum monster
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Doctor Who Series 9 |OT| Let Zygons Be Zygons
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- Start date
Next season will see a cum monster
tonysidaway
Member
Mad scientist wants his creation to thrive using humans as fodder, but lacks a viable propagation mechanism. He fakes a story of a space station takeover in a calculatedly gripping way, and embeds the necessary brain reprogramming in the video, then ensures that the video is widely broadcast.
Shorter version: Ringu meets Blair Witch.
"Every time your boyfriend ejaculates only one spermatozoon gets the chance to fertilise an egg, to create life. But did you ever wonder what happens to the other 99,999,999? What if... they also... created life?"
Gatiss you can have that one for free on the condition that I'm not alive to see it
CrimsonFist
Member
Torchwood did it
Sounds like it's inline with most of Gatiss' episodes
I'm imagining Capaldi giving an ominous speech about cum and I can't stop laughing
I'm imagining Capaldi giving an ominous speech about cum and I can't stop laughing
StalkerUKCG
Banned
I really didn't like this episode nothing about it made me "think or actively watch" the story isn't some carefully crafted enigma riddled sherlockian tale it's purposefully vague and sparse in the exposition to confuse some of the simpletons among the audience but ultimately it's a poorly written and poorly executed episode with a weak ending. It's one of, if not the worst who episode we have had in such a long time.
I don't rate blink highly for what it's worth but I can see it's merits as a novel episode with interesting (at the time) enemies and being doctor-lite.
tonysidaway
Member
Cat got your tongue? Or did they do that in New Earth?
I'd watch this
tonysidaway
Member
Rufus Hound too, perhaps? I think that could be him at 11" and 14".
Spirit of Jazz
Banned
I didn't think the episode was hard to follow; the Doctor constantly went on about how he was missing something and it ended with an info dump that explained everything. With that said I don't think it was anything special and the dialogue/direction was terrible. The scene where the Doctor explaining the camera footage featured the weakest acting I've seen from Capaldi on the show.
Napoleonthechimp
Member
Good god this episode was shit.
okay hold on
are they literally trying to get me to be afraid of sentient eye crust? is that what's happening?
also if this is supposed to be a video record from all these points of view, why are there "recordings" from people who aren't wearing cameras?
are they literally trying to get me to be afraid of sentient eye crust? is that what's happening?
also if this is supposed to be a video record from all these points of view, why are there "recordings" from people who aren't wearing cameras?
infiniteloop
Member
watch the episode.
Maddocks
Member
That episode wasn't horrible or bad, but it was def the weakest link in the series so far. It just wasn't scary and it didn't capture me. I usually rate the show on if it can make me smile and forget about the world for an hour and sadly this episode didn't do that for me.
The episode was just ok and passable and if it was removed from the season, I wouldn't feel bad or miss it.
The episode was just ok and passable and if it was removed from the season, I wouldn't feel bad or miss it.
infiniteloop
Member
Yeah, I agree. I used to look forward to new episodes, even re-watch them during the week. Now I struggle to get through an episode. No stinkers, but no great episodes.
Not really bothered if we don't get a new season until 2017.
Yeah I feel the same way. There hasn't been any episodes this season I would say are really bad, but none that have been really great yet either. Everything is just very average. Normally Who has some pretty average episodes, but most seasons have some pretty great episodes to go along with them.
CrimsonFist
Member
This series has felt like it's tried to be a bit different and take a few more risks. There's been quite a lot of good ideas. The problem has been in the execution, where even the strongest episodes have felt flawed in ways that prevent them from being elevated above "decent enough."
Still, there's three more episodes left, and they're some of the more interesting sounding ones.
Still, there's three more episodes left, and they're some of the more interesting sounding ones.
infiniteloop
Member
Will the Doctor visit ollivander's wand shop next episode?
I agree with both of you guys. I use to rush out and buy the DVDs and Blu-Rays instantly for this show every single year. I even bought Torchwood on Blu-Ray to sort of complete my New Who experience (being that it's a spinoff of sorts).
Anyways lately the show has not only lacked a great overall story arc (and I don't mean tiny hints like hybrid, etc) but a lot of good side characters disappeared and the episodes are very samey now with none of them being that good. Just watchable.
I use to have to watch this immediately when it aired and now I'm finding it hard to even bother watching the episodes. I keep hoping for it to "pick up" but each new season seems to be worse then the previous season in my opinion. :/
I mostly zoned out during the episode and I still understood the ending. The episode itself was pretty damn bad though it had its good points, which is more than I can say for something like In the Forest of the Night.
It's gonna be so jarring to go from this ultimately pointless filler episode to Clara getting offed in the next one, especially after a whole season of 2-parters.
It's gonna be so jarring to go from this ultimately pointless filler episode to Clara getting offed in the next one, especially after a whole season of 2-parters.
So does Gatiss have plans to bring the sandmen back or was the ending just rubbish since we know humanity doesn't get wiped out?
Wasn't the great tragedy he mentioned before the events of this episode?
Wasn't the great tragedy he mentioned before the events of this episode?
CrimsonFist
Member
There was an interview posted a few pages back about him having further plans for it: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015...a-sequel-planned-to-doctor-whos-sleep-no-more
Although the sandmen's plan kind of foils itself, since it's dependent on the video being good
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
Pretty much every time Mark Gatiss writes Doctor Who, he's doing the same thing. Trying to write the sort of creepy, tense base under siege type story he remembers from when he was five. And he almost always gets the same result.
Until tonight. The impossible has happened, and Mark Gatiss has written a very good episode of Doctor Who. Even as one of his biggest critics, I have to say that this was very good. Perfect? No, it had some notable flaws, but it was very good. There's even some interesting lefty politics to be found with the concept of the way technology is being used to manipulate labor in the future and basically force laborers to constantly work by not even getting the chance to sleep anymore. This is the last thing I ever expected from Gatiss, who is typically ultra reactionary and jingoistic.
The episode also actually nails the tension. It was a very tense production throughout. And Mark Gatiss finally gets what made the horror tinged stories Doctor Who did in his youth so effective. They were wrapped up in the language and tropes of the popular horror stories of the era. Just as the Hinchcliffe era "borrowed" from Hammer Horror, Gatiss here turns to the found footage type of horror films that have been particularly popular in recent years. This decision grounds the episode very well as a reaction to its own era and culture, just as much of classic Who was. After years of trying and failing to imitate the Hinchcliffe era, Gatiss seems to have finally understood what made it so effective.
There are some quibbles, to be sure. Chopra and 474 have some nice moments, but the characters are for the most part paper thin. They could have been explored more, but the episode largely doesn't really bother with it. The scene where the Doctor tells Clara about her infection feels oddly stilted. It seemed like the Doctor was over actin on purpose, but it never really came up again, so it feels kind of like it was just a bad take.
Finally, the ending felt a bit unnecessary. I would have been fine with it just being chopped off entirely and leaving some aspects unexplained. It would be perfectly fitting in with the found footage type feel of the episode.
So not necessarily a classic, but definitely the best effort of Gatiss by a mile. I hope we see more of this type of effort from him in the future.
Until tonight. The impossible has happened, and Mark Gatiss has written a very good episode of Doctor Who. Even as one of his biggest critics, I have to say that this was very good. Perfect? No, it had some notable flaws, but it was very good. There's even some interesting lefty politics to be found with the concept of the way technology is being used to manipulate labor in the future and basically force laborers to constantly work by not even getting the chance to sleep anymore. This is the last thing I ever expected from Gatiss, who is typically ultra reactionary and jingoistic.
The episode also actually nails the tension. It was a very tense production throughout. And Mark Gatiss finally gets what made the horror tinged stories Doctor Who did in his youth so effective. They were wrapped up in the language and tropes of the popular horror stories of the era. Just as the Hinchcliffe era "borrowed" from Hammer Horror, Gatiss here turns to the found footage type of horror films that have been particularly popular in recent years. This decision grounds the episode very well as a reaction to its own era and culture, just as much of classic Who was. After years of trying and failing to imitate the Hinchcliffe era, Gatiss seems to have finally understood what made it so effective.
There are some quibbles, to be sure. Chopra and 474 have some nice moments, but the characters are for the most part paper thin. They could have been explored more, but the episode largely doesn't really bother with it. The scene where the Doctor tells Clara about her infection feels oddly stilted. It seemed like the Doctor was over actin on purpose, but it never really came up again, so it feels kind of like it was just a bad take.
Finally, the ending felt a bit unnecessary. I would have been fine with it just being chopped off entirely and leaving some aspects unexplained. It would be perfectly fitting in with the found footage type feel of the episode.
So not necessarily a classic, but definitely the best effort of Gatiss by a mile. I hope we see more of this type of effort from him in the future.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
You know, I'm fairly sure that line was written in there when Doctor Scientist-Man said he could hear them (and probably figured out why too), but Capabaldi didn't say it or something.
We did have 'abomination' (aversion of the natural order, in this case sleep) and a reference to the classics (Morpheus, and that mini-rant in the cold storage room) though. That could have been Gatiss thinking he was being clever.
On the whole, I was already thrown out one minute in when the 'non sleeping guy' goes "oh, that must mean the power is on" and the door, that just opened for them, closes behind them. OF COURSE THE POWER IS FUCKING ON, YOU *beep*
I have to say the character of 474 interested me a lot more than everyone else, including the "protagonist" who wasn't the actual protagonist. You know, this was basically a lot of known ideas / tropes stuck together to pretend it's new. It wasn't overly boring like the previous two-parter, but mediocre in a different way. Like setting up a non-user and not paying that off (which presumably was meant for a second part, a la the earlier Before the Flood, but scratched for a singular episode). It was just weird and overly mean (kind of 'bad writer' calling card, in my opinion) to have him be saved and then just waste him.
Btw, this also had both a good consistent moment, where the separated marine has to speak into the mic and there is an effective shot of the Putties moving into the room, as well as a really bad inconsistent follow-up, where said private is then suddenly attacked after using his Dead Space Rig (tm) which doesn't actually make sound, unlike the private speaking into the mic. Just going with "BUT THAT DON'T MAKE SENSE" is not going to cut it in terms of writing, but it is a basic "can get away with it" thing. It's not fun when the viewer knows well in advance he's being 'had' though. In general, you don't want viewers to see through your bullshit until well after they've seen it.
Speaking of which: point rifle at Putty, don't shoot the Putty? Sweet Jesus, Power Ranger Syndrome is contagious! Get to the Tardis! THIS DON'T MAKE SENSE!
Let's just go somewhere else and all.
He forgot to kill off the 'Asian' commander at the end too. So that's going to be awkward, you know, bigger on the inside, and oh hey, half the solar system just died. Whoops.
*rewinds recording*
edit: wait, what the hell? SHE JUST FUCKING DISAPPEARS? Ahahahahahaha. No, no, that's alright, nobody will ever notice. (she's there, then distortion, she's gone). Maybe Capabaldi really was just commenting on the script?
mightynine
Member
I actually like the idea of having an imperfect ending for a change, though I thought this was leading up to a Weeping Angels reveal considering the dust in the corner of your eye bit.
I don't think it quite worked though, and knowing that there wasn't a true ending, makes it hard for me to commit to a re-watch.
I don't think it quite worked though, and knowing that there wasn't a true ending, makes it hard for me to commit to a re-watch.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
Self-aware evolved Putty make Putty recruitment video! Putty smart!
It's basically just a found footage episode where the Doctor is a side character, with a supposed creepy / evil victory twist at the end. Victory of the Daleks anyone?
also, that 'corner of your eye' thing is NOT a reference to the Silence (edit: or weaping angels. I don't even remember where that line came from). It's just Gatiss being sleepy.
edit: on a side note: the effects in this are great, and consistently so across episodes so far.
tonysidaway
Member
I looked up the term he used and there was an article about it on Gallifrey Base or somewhere, but that was set on the forty-second century. It's unlike Gatiss to get his Doctor Who history (or any history) wrong.
Edit: here is the article:
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Great_Catastrophe
Some kind of Dalek takeover, probably nothing to do with this episode.
tonysidaway
Member
That was his erstwhile League of Gentlemen colleague Reece Shearsmith. Mark Gatiss is the one who plays Mycroft in another Moffat series.
That was Reece Shearsmith, Gatiss played Lazarus in The Lazarus Experiment.
Worthintendo
Member
I'm fairly certain he's never been in an episode he was the writer on, even the 2 times he's been on the show they weren't episodes he wrote.
Episodes he wrote
"The Unquiet Dead" (2005)
"The Idiot's Lantern" (2006)
"Victory of the Daleks" (2010)
"Night Terrors" (2011)
"Cold War" (2013)
"The Crimson Horror" (2013)
"Robot of Sherwood" (2014)
"Sleep No More" (2015)
Episodes he's stared in
"The Lazarus Experiment"
"The Wedding of River Song"
Grizzlyjin
Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
No hyperbole, this episode put me to sleep...twice. A found footage episode sounded fun on paper, but I was already bored with the concept 10 minutes into the episode. And eye crust...I just wasn't digging it. Still wasn't as boring as that Forest episode from last year with the kids, I keep telling myself that. THAT was one of those episodes you can tell isn't going to be decent just from the preview.
I really wanted to like this one, but it ended up doing something that I feel a lot of other episodes have done lately; it loads in too many red herrings and extraneous details to the point that as a viewer, I'm left not really understanding what it is I've just watched.
There's just loads of bits and pieces happening in this one. The Morpheus machines do something to people by manipulating brainwaves. The video being made is also going to do something to people by manipulating brainwaves. So what use are the machines now? The monsters are apparently composed of "sleep dust", but how are such large quantities accumulated without anyone noticing? What do the creatures want anyway, and why? And do you turn into these monsters, or are you eaten by them? The one in the pod seems to imply the former, but the rest of the episode seems to imply the latter. And somehow the dust can see? How? And it can communicate with all the other dust? And it can record what it sees, like, into a digital file? And there's a side-story about a drone-human who attacks anything that attacks it, but it seems to never go anywhere? And for some reason the dust needs to make a 45 minute episode of Doctor Who to distribute its message? Didn't the Morpheus machines only need 5 minutes or something?
There's just loads of bits and pieces happening in this one. The Morpheus machines do something to people by manipulating brainwaves. The video being made is also going to do something to people by manipulating brainwaves. So what use are the machines now? The monsters are apparently composed of "sleep dust", but how are such large quantities accumulated without anyone noticing? What do the creatures want anyway, and why? And do you turn into these monsters, or are you eaten by them? The one in the pod seems to imply the former, but the rest of the episode seems to imply the latter. And somehow the dust can see? How? And it can communicate with all the other dust? And it can record what it sees, like, into a digital file? And there's a side-story about a drone-human who attacks anything that attacks it, but it seems to never go anywhere? And for some reason the dust needs to make a 45 minute episode of Doctor Who to distribute its message? Didn't the Morpheus machines only need 5 minutes or something?
tonysidaway
Member
Oh I didn't recognise Gatiss as the horny-helmed, chess-playing Gantok. I understand he also provided the voice for Danny Boy in Victory of the Daleks, which just about counts, grudgingly, as an appearance in an episode he wrote.
Honestly after this season I'm starting to think them taking a few months longer for their break so Steven and the writers have more time to work on scripts for season 10 is probably a good thing.
I really hope the last few episodes this year are good. I'm holding out a lot of hope that the Capaldi solo episode is going to be something really special.
Dice//
Banned
I didn't mind it. If anything I found it peculiar this is the second episode this season that was some sort of space-suit rigamarole where the crew was running from enemies, corridor to corridor, that they couldn't beat in "Under The Lake/Before The Flood.
Interesting perspective on sight/viewing, unique ideas, but it all fell...pretty flat.