Doctor Who Series Seven |OT| The Question You've Been Running From All Your Life

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godelsmetric said:
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I thought that took off a lot of the mystery. I always sort of supposed that they only look like stone angels when they're staying still, and they're some kind of Lovecraftian horror when they move.
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I like this interpretation. Didn't think of it that way.
 
Seeing the Angels move in the 2 parter was the only problem I've had with them. It did kinda ruin them a little, but it's something I can overlook. Hopefully we don't see the Angels in Manhattan move.
 
The two-parter just changed their mythology in weird ways, and less then a season after their introduction under the same writer. Well, and the whole episode was a bit more action-focused IMO
 
Re: Manhattan Episode,
I've heard it suggested that the Staute of Liberty might be a Weeping Angel, which doesn't make sense per se (it's made of copper!) but might under a very liberal interpretation of 'anything that takes the image of an angel is an angel'.
 
Finally watched the latest episode.

Liked it much more than last episode, possibly even more than Asylum. Still not overly impressed with the beginning of the season, but I like it when the Doctor has doubts about what the right way is.

That said, all 3 episodes so far felt a bit rushed to me. Next week's episode looks good, hope the season picks up from there.
 
Kilrogg said:
Finally watched the latest episode.

Liked it much more than last episode, possibly even more than Asylum. Still not overly impressed with the beginning of the season, but I like it when the Doctor has doubts about what the right way is.

That said, all 3 episodes so far felt a bit rushed to me. Next week's episode looks good, hope the season picks up from there.
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Its pretty hard to top the beginning of S6 though, which had the best season premier and The Doctors Wife. So far this series is much much stronger for me then the beginning of S5 (or really most of S5 quite honestly). I just find it more interesting
 
godelsmetric said:
Re: Manhattan Episode,
I've heard it suggested that the Staute of Liberty might be a Weeping Angel, which doesn't make sense per se (it's made of copper!) but might under a very liberal interpretation of 'anything that takes the image of an angel is an angel'.
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Well, when the Cloverfield monster destroyed the Statue of Liberty, they rebuilt it, out of Angels
 
Not sure about this episode. It's reiterating the whole 'doctor getting mean when left alone' thing from the dinosaurs episode, but beyond that there wasn't much. Why was Amy so vociferous about defending the scientist guy? And 'we give people second chances' is a bit rich if the town doc turned out to have killed countless people in horrific experiments. Just jarred a bit.

And then Amy telling the doc he needs them around, and a couple of minutes later saying 'oh drop us off at home, we'll be older than our friends'. The 'Amy being less needy' card has been played in every episode so far.
 
The Technomancer said:
Its pretty hard to top the beginning of S6 though, which had the best season premier and The Doctors Wife. So far this series is much much stronger for me then the beginning of S5 (or really most of S5 quite honestly). I just find it more interesting
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Moffatt and co are great at setups, so for me, this season is all building to the companion change over, which they've been slow burning towards (mostly with Amy dialogue). Not dealing with River has also helped imo. It's kept most of the focus on the Doctor.
 
Green Scar said:
I'm imagining they'll air the 50th Anniversary special(s?) mid-year, so an Easter return would likely get in the way of that. I'd expect Jan/Feb. It's 8 episodes, remember.
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Really? I'm expecting the 50th anniversary special in November. With any other specials being in the August to October slots.
 
The Technomancer said:
Its pretty hard to top the beginning of S6 though, which had the best season premier and The Doctors Wife. So far this series is much much stronger for me then the beginning of S5 (or really most of S5 quite honestly). I just find it more interesting
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Season 5 is when I stopped watching the show entirely out of boredom, and I only finished it and season 6 in the weeks prior to the beginning of season 7. That's a hell of a gap. I stopped after part 1 of the weeping angels 2-parter, and I really liked Blink! This goes to show how weak early Moffat Who is.

I agree with you on Doctor's Wife, though I didn't remember that it was a season opener. It felt like a regular standalone episode (and a good one at that).

Season 7 though? Meh, besides the idea of a human turned Dalek I'm getting flashes of the time when I started to get burned out on the series during season 5. Episode 3 is only just beginning to foreshadow good stuff, and I hope I won't be disappointed.

A few pages ago someone said they wouldn't mind a new doctor that's not as quirky as the last 2/3 doctors. I'd be down with that. Asylum reminded me of Dalek in S1 and how much I liked the 9th doctor. He was both quirky and somber, not to mention more mysterious with the whole Time War background. I don't blame Matt Smith at all though, it's just the writing of the characters and the scenarios. He's cool in my book.
 
While I was hesitant last week, I'll say it now; this is easily the highest quality triplet of opening episodes in New Who, with only series 4 coming close. Bolded are those that let the side down:

Rose/The End of the World/The Unquiet Dead
New Earth/Tooth and Claw/School Reunion
Smith and Jones/The Shakespeare Code/Gridlock
Partners in Crime(depending how I feel on any given time of watching)/The Fires of Pompeii/Planet of the Ood
The Eleventh Hour/The Beast Below/Victory of the Daleks
The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon/The Curse of the Black Spot
Asylum of the Daleks/Dinosaurs on a Spaceship/A Town Called Mercy
 
Kilrogg said:
Season 5 is when I stopped watching the show entirely out of boredom, and I only finished it and season 6 in the weeks prior to the beginning of season 7. That's a hell of a gap. I stopped after part 1 of the weeping angels 2-parter, and I really liked Blink! This goes to show how weak early Moffat Who is.

I agree with you on Doctor's Wife, though I didn't remember that it was a season opener. It felt like a regular standalone episode (and a good one at that).

Season 7 though? Meh, besides the idea of a human turned Dalek I'm getting flashes of the time when I started to get burned out on the series during season 5. Episode 3 is only just beginning to foreshadow good stuff, and I hope I won't be disappointed.
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Sorry, it was, it was the fourth episode of the season. The opener was the fantastic Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon two-parter.


Exterminieren said:
While I was hesitant last week, I'll say it now; this is easily the highest quality triplet of opening episodes in New Who, with only series 4 coming close. Bolded are those that let the side down:

Rose/The End of the World/The Unquiet Dead
New Earth/Tooth and Claw/School Reunion
Smith and Jones/The Shakespeare Code/Gridlock
Partners in Crime(depending how I feel on any given time of watching)/The Fires of Pompeii/Planet of the Ood
The Eleventh Hour/The Beast Below/Victory of the Daleks
The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon/The Curse of the Black Spot
Asylum of the Daleks/Dinosaurs on a Spaceship/A Town Called Mercy
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Man I love Fires of Pompeii. Vampires of Venice felt like a weak attempt to do that story again (although the general structure of the story is common enough for Who)
 
Green Scar said:
I dug the Shakespeare Code... although Gridlock blows chunks so the point is moot
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Gridlock is the best episode of new Doctor Who, and possibly the best 45 minutes of television in the past 15 years.

Abase yourself, heathen.

The Technomancer said:
Man I love Fires of Pompeii. Vampires of Venice felt like a weak attempt to do that story again (although the general structure of the story is common enough for Who)
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Pompeii would have been one of my favourites... were it not for the monsters. Never has there been a group of monsters so superfluous and unnecessary. I loved the community and the family that were built up in Pompeii, but easily-defeated rock monsters distracted from the actual interesting bit of the story; the Doctor and Donna's immediate reaction and differing viewpoints about the disaster.
 
DoctorWho said:
Really? I'm expecting the 50th anniversary special in November. With any other specials being in the August to October slots.
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Moffat has said an episode will 100% air on the 23rd November, the original date of Who's debut. 23rd happens to be a Saturday next year! I can't remember where he said it; at a panel someplace or on twitter, maybe, but there was a big to-do about it, I remember.

I'm going to agree with the Gridlock love. A really great little story. Feels more action-packed than it is, but that's kind of the beauty of it.
 
Exterminieren said:
Gridlock is the best episode of new Doctor Who, and possibly the best 45 minutes of television in the past 15 years.

Abase yourself, heathen.
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Dermot Morgan being a furry and having his human wife carry a litter of literal kittens alone made the episode terrible. Other than that I found the episode to be pretty dull when I watched it a few weeks ago.
 
I'm a sucker for world building, and Gridlock is the best example of that in Who for me.

Tremendous character work sketched quickly and efficiently, great acting, the best closing shot in the history of the show, advancement of the series' arc in a meaningful and interesting way, old obscure monsters used in a creative new way, imagery, thematic depth, the slow-burning horror of what happened to the upper city and the length of the traffic jam... I just love it so, so much, in all its bonkers, creative beauty.
 
Exterminieren said:
Gridlock is the best episode of new Doctor Who, and possibly the best 45 minutes of television in the past 15 years.

Abase yourself, heathen.
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...

Maybe if all you watched in the last 15 years was Doctor Who, and not even all of that.

Seriously? I mean, really? Come on.
 
mrklaw said:
Not sure about this episode. It's reiterating the whole 'doctor getting mean when left alone' thing from the dinosaurs episode, but beyond that there wasn't much. Why was Amy so vociferous about defending the scientist guy? And 'we give people second chances' is a bit rich if the town doc turned out to have killed countless people in horrific experiments. Just jarred a bit.

And then Amy telling the doc he needs them around, and a couple of minutes later saying 'oh drop us off at home, we'll be older than our friends'. The 'Amy being less needy' card has been played in every episode so far.
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Amy saying "oh, come pick us up after a few months" in Dinosaurs and Mercy isn't supposed to suggest the Doctor should travel by himself, just that he should drop them and immediately fast forward the TARDIS to sometime later to get them back again, so they have time to sort real life stuff. What she doesn't notice (for now) is that what's an off-hand comment to her is affecting the Doctor in a bigger way, and instead of doing it in 5 minutes like she expects he's probably going off by himself for a while when she says that.
 
Just watched. It had some great moments strewn around and it looked absolutely fantastic, but it was let down by an extremely heavy handed script, an overblown score from Murray Gold (this has been problematic for a while now), and poor direction of key scenes. Marshall Crichton's death made me eyeroll with the ultra cliche'd overhead shot pulling back. Some restraint from the director would have done wonders. It's like they tried to give the material more emotional weight than it deserved and it just came off as overly cheesy... and not the good kind of cheese either.

Exterminieren said:
Gridlock is the best episode of new Doctor Who, and possibly the best 45 minutes of television in the past 15 years.
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I enjoy Gridlock, but this is just crazy talk!!
 
This season certainly is a curious one so far. Really liked the first episode and dug this episode, and thought the second episode was ok. I hope they keep exploring the Doctor's attitude as he travels alone for longer periods of time, although I guess with Jenna coming that's going to be backdoored for a while
 
I just had a thought. With the pace of the episodes so far, I don't believe the Ponds will be gone after episode five. I'm almost positive they'll be back for 12 and/or 13. I know the next two seem very Pond-focused, and though something major will happen, I just think they're too involved with the Silence not to be there at the end of that story. Considering they were able to hide JLC's early appearance, it's conceivable that the "final scene" for Karen and Arthur hasn't quite been filmed yet.
 
maharg said:
...

Maybe if all you watched in the last 15 years was Doctor Who, and not even all of that.

Seriously? I mean, really? Come on.
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This. I don't know what wonderful version you all watched. I came for the Face of Boe. I stayed because... well, I just did. The episode was about as fun as sitting in a traffic jam.

D-
 
The third episode was honestly fantastic up until the Marshall's death and only...reasonably enjoyable after that. Overall felt it was a strong one though.
 
Felt too much like RTD era Who. I could almost picture Tennant in this role.

Could explain why I didn't like it as much. Can't believe they made a weak Western.
 
Spirit of Jazz said:
Dermot Morgan being a furry and having his human wife carry a litter of literal kittens alone made the episode terrible. Other than that I found the episode to be pretty dull when I watched it a few weeks ago.
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Pretty sure that was Ardal O'Hanlon (who I loved from My Hero).

Really enjoyed Town called Mercy. I like the hints about the Ponds pulling away from the Doctor ("this is what happens when you spend too much time on your own!"). Next episode looks like it'll be another step down this path.

I disagree that this series has been weak. While Series 6 had a very strong focus on its theme, Series 7 is being much more subtle about it. The theme being the Doctor's identity. In the opener, he becomes anonymous to the Daleks. In Dinosaurs he gets scanned by the pirate captain and comes back anonymous. In this episode, we learn that the Doctor is not the only one who goes by the name of 'the Doctor' and we get to see a little of the Doctor's inner turmoil.
 
Finally got to watch it tonight. Good, but not great episode. It was fun, but pretty bland in the end. I expected more from Whithouse.

It was great to see Ben Browder being awesome again. I miss that man. And he did rock the hell out of that bowler hat.
 
This episode was better than the 2nd, weaker than the 1st. Overall, this season feels enormously awkward to me: I'd prefer to see some of the Doctor's adventures without the Ponds. I don't personally have as much issue with them as others in here seem to, but it's hard to get a sense of separation when they're conveniently thrust into every episode. The whole 'traveling alone' aspect is weakened by the fact that, well, we never see the Doctor traveling alone. Amy and Rory are always there, so it makes the payoff to the combination 'Dinosaurs' / 'Mercy' scene with Amy chastising him feel like it has no legs.

I'm all for showing the impact of isolation on the Doctor, but... it feels like we're missing a few dozen beats in the process of it happening.

And frankly, I'm looking forward to seeing the Angels again. I've enjoyed every episode centered on them.
 
Finally got to see it in its entirety just now.

I enjoyed that episode a lot. Special shoutout to Murray Gold for the fantastic music (am I alone with this opinion?).

One critique I have is the townsfolk. I get that they only had 40 minutes to tell the story, but an extra scene or two of the people in general interacting with the Doctor would've made the showdown with The Gunslinger more impactful. I just didn't give a shit about the people highlighted in the episode.

Excited for next week, and I'm happy to see Mark Williams make another guest appearance.
 
wwm0nkey said:
Has it been pointed out here yet that the titles are getting darker each week?
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I noticed this too.

Has anyone else worried a little about the Doctor's increasing anger and aggression? I actually thought he was going to use a gun, the doctor doesn't use guns :(.
 
I liked this episode too. This could be the first time in the history of forever that ever episode in a Doctor Who season is good. I probably all comes down to next weeks episode.

I hope the Doctor kills Amy, that'll disturb the kids.
 
PhoncipleBone said:
But it is isn't as scary. Them wanting to kill you is one thing, but them displacing you in time to feed off the energy left over just seems a helluva lot creepier.

Having said that, there were things in Time of Angels that made them even scarier. Like the videotape of the angel. And that one shot where you could see them actually move.
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I don't remember this at all. At least I don't think. I might've just blocked it out of my memory because from what I'm reading that sounds really dumb.
 
PhoncipleBone said:
But it is isn't as scary. Them wanting to kill you is one thing, but them displacing you in time to feed off the energy left over just seems a helluva lot creepier.

Having said that, there were things in Time of Angels that made them even scarier. Like the videotape of the angel. And that one shot where you could see them actually move.
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Andrex said:
It's handled really well, and creepily.
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Yeah, that genuinely freaked me out. The "Image of an Angel" is definitely one of those unnerving sort of horror things. Very eerie. And the way they moved creeped the fuck out of me. It was just so... off. I read once that they hired dancers and then they walked backwards and they ran the tape backwards to make it look like they were moving forward. It was really eerie.

Angels are still creepy to me. The Silence, not so much. They started out really creepy in the first episode and then most of the second episode of Season 6, but once the Doctor inserted the video instruction into the Moon landing tape, they lost the mystique. Otherwise, there was so much creepy potential there.

"A Town Called Mercy" was pretty good. I liked it. Some interesting stuff on the effects of war here that I really liked.
 
the main thing about the silence is that they don't do shit

they just stand there

and are freaky

and occasionally electrocute people but it's not really that freaky
 
More importantly, we still don't know what the hell they have against the Doctor. I mean, I know he wiped them out in 1996 but if they actually established their mass army of eye-patch wearing loonies solely to destroy the Doctor just because he beat them once, and learnt the inner workings of a TARDIS from scratch just to kill him regardless of the consequences... that's a level of revenge you don't normally see from a Who villain. :lol

Not sure whether clearing up what their goals are would help or hinder their scare factor, though. At least with the Angels we know they're just scavengers, plain and simple.
 
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