I think it was pretty good. Still a bit too 'lots happening-nothing-lots happening-nothing' but I think that's just standard now. Capaldi was great and I really enjoyed Clara in this episode-she's better now she's relatively mystery free. I noticed the similarities between this and The Girl In The Library quite early on but instead of moaning, I assumed there would be a link. It could have been delved into a bit more I suppose. I'm glad they've completely wiped any romantic potential between the Doctor and Clara because it's all tired now.

Didn't even pick up on that but the similarities are quite obvious now! Why was it deliberate?

The Doctor kept saying that he felt there was something familiar about what was going on.

I liked it as a whole, but the opening did drag a lot and contained just a little bit too much komedy which seemed very forced in places, particularly with the sontaran character. I was somewhat scared that dinosaurs would be the focus in the first part, so great to see the Clockwork robots return as they're a villain that really haven't been used enough (and from a brilliant episode as well)

 

Loved Capaldi though, a refreshingly more stony style but still very recognisable as The Doctor.

 

I also cracked up when Clara got hit by a newspaper... Bullseye!!!! :lol:

"You all sound so... English... I think you've developed a fault."

 

THAT LINE *.*

 

I really want to say that this was a perfect episode, but I'll refrain from doing so. Probably one of my favourites by a country mile. I think Capaldi really has captured absolutely every element of what the Doctor is, but also what he has to do to make the Doctor his character. Hilarious all through the episode, and for once I felt I could genuinely laugh along with the episode and not feel like the humour was bordering cringey or annoyingly out of place. Strax aside, it all seemed to flow very naturally.

 

Was so pleased to see the Clockwork Droids return, one of the most underrated villains. And it was great to have all the callbacks to 'The Girl in the Fireplace' as well. I'm not really understanding where the criticisms for scenes dragging out a bit is coming from. I agree with everything Moffat said about actually having some breathing space with this episode. The pace and timing was spot on, which is something we missed a lot of in series 7. And I think with the good pacing came more time for the villains to actually do something (unlike, for example, the Vigil or the Spoonheads). The scene with just Clara and the Doctor in the restaurant was probably one of my favourites.

 

Clara definitely shone a lot in this episode as well. Seemed like Moffat genuinely wanted to turn the general consensus that she's just a pretty face who's there to guide the audience along and make sure we know what the plot of the episode actually is by asking the Doctor around. Her scenes with Vastra and in the restaurant when the Doctor abandoned her were particularly fantastic (obviously she was perfect in all of the episode though).

 

The scene in heaven at the end also, omg, I cannot wait for this arc to unfold. So yeah, I really can't fault very much at all with this episode and if Capaldi manages to continue basically being Malcolm Tucker the Time Lord then we're onto a definite winner here in my eyes.

Strax was one of the best parts of it for me, lightened up pretty much every scene he was in :lol:

Haven't watched this yet, but do you guys mean The Girl in the Fireplace, or Silence in the Library?

Haven't watched this yet, but do you guys mean The Girl in the Fireplace, or Silence in the Library?

 

The Girl In The Fireplace :heehee:

"You all sound so... English... I think you've developed a fault."

 

THAT LINE *.*

 

I really want to say that this was a perfect episode, but I'll refrain from doing so. Probably one of my favourites by a country mile. I think Capaldi really has captured absolutely every element of what the Doctor is, but also what he has to do to make the Doctor his character. Hilarious all through the episode, and for once I felt I could genuinely laugh along with the episode and not feel like the humour was bordering cringey or annoyingly out of place. Strax aside, it all seemed to flow very naturally.

 

Was so pleased to see the Clockwork Droids return, one of the most underrated villains. And it was great to have all the callbacks to 'The Girl in the Fireplace' as well. I'm not really understanding where the criticisms for scenes dragging out a bit is coming from. I agree with everything Moffat said about actually having some breathing space with this episode. The pace and timing was spot on, which is something we missed a lot of in series 7. And I think with the good pacing came more time for the villains to actually do something (unlike, for example, the Vigil or the Spoonheads). The scene with just Clara and the Doctor in the restaurant was probably one of my favourites.

 

Clara definitely shone a lot in this episode as well. Seemed like Moffat genuinely wanted to turn the general consensus that she's just a pretty face who's there to guide the audience along and make sure we know what the plot of the episode actually is by asking the Doctor around. Her scenes with Vastra and in the restaurant when the Doctor abandoned her were particularly fantastic (obviously she was perfect in all of the episode though).

 

The scene in heaven at the end also, omg, I cannot wait for this arc to unfold. So yeah, I really can't fault very much at all with this episode and if Capaldi manages to continue basically being Malcolm Tucker the Time Lord then we're onto a definite winner here in my eyes.

The line about sounding English was surely another reference to one they made earlier with the "Lots of planets have a north" line.

 

I thought this was Clara's best episode. I felt she was a bit of a nothing character in the last series but she seemed a lot more feisty this time.

 

And yes, there was a definite pre-watershed Malcolm Tucker feel to Capaldi's performance. Presumably that is why he got the part.

 

From the Guardian website - "Commander Strax, that cross between R2D2 and a pepperoni Wayne Rooney" :lol:

God that Clara is just a waste of oxygen.

I found most of the episode a bit dull really, the bit at the end was good though.

I am a huge fan of the new doctor! Finally back on board with Dr Who after barely watching any of the Matt Smith series.

A really fabulous episode and a fabulous ending to match. It feels weird that we're starting afresh and that there's no unresolved issues from previous series and I'm really liking that. I do hope it's like the RTD era where it's hinted throughout and it's resolved by the finale. I did really enjoy that 'heaven' scene and can't wait to see how it unfolds.

 

By far Clara's best episode, she was given lots of stuff to do, loved the veil scene, the restaurant scene and when she was abandoned. From what he wrote in DWM, it seems that he admits that she wasn't developed enough with Matt's Doctor so you can see him already changing that. What a nice unexpected return of the Clockwork Droids too, I really never thought they would ever return! Currently still a bit unsure over Peter's Doctor but I was never going to instantly warm to him like I did with David/Matt as he's not that type of character. Talking of Matt, that was a lovely cameo from him and it was like a message to the viewers that it was still him.

 

As I said, it was a fantastic story and it's probably one of my favourites from the last few years. A strong start, let's hope it's kept up. Extremely excited for the rest of the series now!

Initial impression on the episode is a resounding 7/10. Solid start but a number of misgivings that i don't have time to elaborate on yet. I will watch again before offering more detailed thoughts.

An additional thought, surely the woman in the shop/woman who put the advert in the paper is

the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere ie the woman seen at the end of the episode.

An additional thought, surely the woman in the shop/woman who put the advert in the paper is

the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere ie the woman seen at the end of the episode.

Certainly makes sense. Especially with Capaldi's line in the TARDIS saying that somebody wants to keep him and Clara together.

Right, full thoughts now and this is full of spoilers so stop if you havn't seen it.

 

Firstly, the obvious - Capaldi. Very good, certainly makes the role his own and I particularly liked the way he started out very similer to Matt Smith and then after his regeneration calmed down he became much more his own man. A much more intriguing and subtle take on The Doctor could be afoot.

 

Clara - finally here is a story that allows her to be more than just a plot device and she's actually quite good in places. The judgement scene with Vastra and the restaurant scene with The Doctor were her standouts, but overall it was much better even if the 'new' take on control freak was a tad overdone Let's hope it continues.

 

The Paternoster Gang - Vastra, as always is brilliant, but I would happily see both Jenny and Strax die. The comedy element is far too overused and whilst I acknowledge it is well done it just seems completely ill fitting within the show. Personal gripe probably but Doctor Who is at its most amusing when it is clever with it. Slapstick doesn't help.

 

As for the plot, well, it was a bit disappointing. After the overlong comedy intro and nonsense with the dinosaur that could easily have been trimmed we finally 30 mins in get to some semblance of a story... and sadly it's one we've already had years ago. Yes, the clockwork droids were great but they always seemed very much a one story wonder with little scope for development and although they were still very good simply re-working the same story proves they should have been left alone. (I'm always prepared to retract this in part if Moffat's series finale does something amazing). Like I said the restaurant and the veil scenes were standout but the big 'hold your beath' idea was at best flawed and a little insulting. As soon as you hold your breath that stop recognising you so why didn't Clara pause for air when she was around the corner out of sight of the droids before moving on. As proved near the end it doesn't matter if they know you're the target as long as you hold your breath in which case you could take a big gulp whenever you feel like it before moving on. It made the droids (and Clara) seem rather stupid.

 

As for the big cameo, it felt right, tied up a loose end from the last episode and was lovely to see Matt again. However, it did feel like Capaldi's moment was being taken from him in that the danger is Smith is the one who saves the day. I also think the idea of The Doctor not being able to cope without Clara flies in the face of all Doctor Who history. It jarred somewhat as never before has The Doctor been seen as so needy and I hope that's not a direction they're thinking of heading.

As for 'Missy', well Michelle Gomez is always brilliant even if she was chewing the scenery a bit this time. Was it the garden from 'The Girl Who Waited'? Looked very similar to me. And was she the girl in the shop - too obvious maybe but definately a contender. And it's noticeable that the droids were described as the opposite of the Cybermen when we know full well they will return this year for the finale.

 

Not the best ever Doctor debut by some distance - it's definitely behind An UnEarthly Child, Spearhead From Space, The Eleventh Hour and (although I've never seen it) apparently The Power Of The Daleks remains one of the greatest Who stories ever.

So all in all it's a promising start with many things to be optimistic about and once they iron out the kinks it should be fabulous.

Tripe. Absolute tripe.

 

Humour at the lowest common denominator, gettin hit by a newspaper and other silly shit. How did he confuse her eye and mouth when HE HAS THE EXACT SAME FEATURES!!

 

Absolutely atrocious episode!

 

:puke:

 

Abysmal in every single facet.

 

Crap new doctor, too.

 

The assistant was incredibly irritating, INCREDIBLY, her new personality transplant has her bein a bossy, and quite frankly unbelievably thick, idiot out of nowhere. She is a non-entity of a character, and trying a new 'control freak' and 'irritatingly stupid' angle did not help at the 11th hour.

 

#Jump. The. Shark.

Edited August 24, 201410 yr by Rate Slayerrrrrr

Was it the garden from 'The Girl Who Waited'? Looked very similar to me.

Yes it was! This is the downside to rewatching episodes as you notice if they've used the same scenery multiple times. I noticed one of the streets used for the introduction for the droid was the same that was used for the 'Time Lord Victorious' scene in The Waters of Mars.

 

There's one location that's used in 'The End of the World', 'Cold Blood' and 'Let's Kill Hitler' as well as a couple of others I think.

The Paternoster Gang - Vastra, as always is brilliant, but I would happily see both Jenny and Strax die.

Something I forgot to include in my review! I definitely agree that Vastra was brilliant in the episode, certainly a lot more tolerable than previous appearances (such as 'A Good Man Goes to War' particularly). She just seemed much more essential this time, but I think she could do without Jenny and Strax. They should have killed Jenny while they had the chance in 'The Name of the Doctor'.

 

It made the droids seem rather stupid.

I think that was the whole point...

 

And it's noticeable that the droids were described as the opposite of the Cybermen when we know full well they will return this year for the finale.

Are you under the impression the Droids are supposed to be returning in 'Dark Water'? :unsure:

I think the droids will return this series. Just a feeling.