That was fantastic. Confusing, but fantastic. The spaceship was amazing. The additional budget definitely shows.

 

 

And Wilf

:wub:

One of the best episodes I think I've ever watched since the shows revival. Definitely got midnight vibes from it.

A geuninely strong episode. Minor issues with some of the effects, set design and parts of the dialogue but overall this was a very capable re-write of Event Horizon for a PG audience.

 

A smart way to reference the Flux without makng it a big thing, but if they could just dial it down on the silliness it would have been a classic episode

Also, I may have missed something but why did The Doctor suddenly stop calling it mavity and revert to gravity? Maybe I need to watch this again...

It was an insane episode, just the kind of thing I love from Doctor Who. Batshit, tense, and so so exciting. I love that they've thrown an episode like this into the middle of the anniversary specials!! The conclusion with the fake Donna getting onto the TARDIS and the real Donna left behind... for a moment I thought we'd actually be having fake Donna next week with the real one dead... superb acting and direction!

 

And the final scene... :wub:

 

4.83 million on the overnight ratings too, barely down on last week which is a ridiculously strong hold. Behind only Strictly and I'm a Celeb last night.

Also, I may have missed something but why did The Doctor suddenly stop calling it mavity and revert to gravity? Maybe I need to watch this again...

Maybe that will be explained next week, possibly with another appearance from Isaac Newton.

Surely Isaac Newton has to come back at some point, otherwise that will be one of the most random asides ever!

 

 

As for the episode, I enjoyed it again - I think it could have spent a little longer building up the tension and a bit more on the part where they were first talking with the imposters - it lost me a bit whenever they went all bendy or had extendable arms etc, it kind of just killed any tension - but it did make it memorable haha.

Ooh now that's the kind of Doctor Who I love *.* Very much a bottle episode in the vein of Midnight, and while not quite reaching those heights, it was largely fantastic. The increase in budget certainly made the empty spaceship seem so much more daunting.

 

The copies were wonderful, although I do agree I wish they didn't look as cartoonish at points as that would've been so effectively scary if they looked just like them like in Midnight, but given Disney and the Saturday evening slot, I feel we are limited in how creepy it can go. I have no other complaints otherwise, and Wilf at the end was the cherry on top <3

I am LOVING Doctor Who again, and I'm so relieved. I didn't mind Jodie's Doctor, but I was so frustrated with finding episodes "okay". I really wanted to enjoy them more.

 

The trio of David, Catherine and Russell is just magical. The two episodes so far are exactly what Doctor Who should be. I am so looking forward to tonight's final ep.

Edited December 9, 20231 yr by Slick

I absolutely loved what the did in the final episode. So thrilled honestly. I don't want to say anything else for fear of spoiling it but they handled tennants departure very well.

All three have been fantastic with tonight's being the best of the lot. One again, the extra budget is really making a difference.

That was a freaking awesome episode... one of the best episodes I've seen Neil Patrick Harris playing the Toymaker was excellent and on point, especially the dancing scene to Spice Up Your Life :lol: the track will probably enter the top 40 chart later in the week :lol: hoping for the Toymaker to return at some point Loved Mel (Bonnie Langford) making an appearance, and all the references to Rose and a few other female companions, I think Adric was mentioned at some point during that episode.

 

The bio-generation gave the episode a bit of a twist. On first impression of the new Dr. was very good and I was impressed, hoping great episodes from Ncuti to come, Looking forward to the Christmas episode and the new female companion.

Edited December 9, 20231 yr by Mart!n

Does this now mean Donna is employed by unit and they can both pop into doctor who whenever they want?

I loved the mick taking premise of the threat. I loved the Toy Maker, I loved Ncuti and I loved seeing Mel and Donna get happy endings.

 

Not too sure on the bi-generation though. It feels a bit like they’ve given the gammons a straw to clutch when they inevitably hate Ncuti’s Doctor by saying he isn’t even a real Doctor because Tenant still exists. Tenant’s Doctor being allowed to remain has also happened once with the human Doctor getting to live happily ever after with Rose.

I thought that was an excellent episode, interesting twist on the regeneration.

I think Ncuti will be excellent.

 

The trailer for the Christmas Episode looks really good.

Edited December 10, 20231 yr by Santa Mark

Hope that means we have a new Tenant-Donna Disney spin off!! Arrogant 15 can keep his winks and smirks in the main series, that no one has to tune in to, along with that arrogant, tantrum-throwing, stroppy piece of work from Corrie, nd the rest of us can watch Tenant and Donna!

I really didn't like this episode, it started off fine but then ended up showcasing all of RTD's weaknesses and became brderline annoying.

 

It started off with a decent premise but took an iconic character from the show's history and stripped him of all his previous menace and played him for laughs and forgot to include anything resembling a decent plot, and after that it just went downhill. The plot was non-existent and could be written on the proverbial postage stamp and the attempts at fan service were lacking in any meaning. The return of Mel felt like an attempt to shoe horn in a classic series companion but they picked probably the most hated of all and then forgot to give it any reasonance or purpose. That could have been a nameless anybody with alomost the same lines.

 

Credit to Neil Patrick Harris for giving it his all but he deserved so much better. The Toymaker was orginally a powerful entity that was a serious threat but here we had a character played mainly for laughs. When your episode's big set piece is basically a dance routine for an old Spice Girls track you're in trouble and just pandering to a specific audience. Harris is a good enough actor to have really leaned in to the character's darker side but the script instead decided to go with silliness in favour of threat. It completely evaporated any the tension they had built up (which was there despite the weird choice of a crap German accent) and it became almost Pythonesque.

 

Tate and Tennant I cannot fault, and their chemstry was the only real plus in the episode, but David must have been dying inside when he saw that cop out of an ending. RTD simply cannot commit to any resolution of note. He wilfully avoids anything with serious or deeper meaning as much as possible. There was a real opportunity to give 14 a reason to exist but it was lightly brushed over with some crap about 'just living a normal life'. This robs The Doctor of his core essence - he's an adventurer (not a superhero) who exists to discover new things, and is often out of his depth. The shift to him trying to follow this path is jarring and out of character.

 

As for 15... too early to say but I felt he was poorly served by a bad episode, a stupidly contrived bi-generation (seriously just kill 10 off) for his introduction and a terrible game catch to kick off his tenure.

I have no knowledge of the actor from prior, but initial thoughts weren't great. He did seem a bit smug and lacking in depth but I can run with that if it is written well. There's no reason The Doctor should be likeable so that's fine but I did get the impression that he was far less alien than he should be, and may lean in to RTD's worst flaws.

 

We will reserve judgemant for now.

 

 

Overall, these three episodes have been a reminder of a time long gone but a bit like getting back together with an ex - it's fun for a while but ultimately things are not what they were. You've moved on and it's all a little underwhelming.

 

 

 

I also think the Bi-generation may be the second time the show has jumped the shark.

I was somewhere between everyone on this one. I feel like there was a great episode in there but it should have been contained within the Toymaker’s shop. The parts of the episode in that timeline were great, the modern parts all distinctly less great.

 

The part where NPH danced around to Spice Up Your Life felt like the Master. It would have been far more effective to just have a sequence where he changed the physicalities of the scene without the music and dancing - it felt like we’d been there done that etc.

 

The bigeneration was sort of okay but they should have separated it out from the main plot as the game of catch was rubbish and was such a boring way for the Toymaker to be defeated, rendering the supposedly all powerful villain into a sub plot at the end.

 

Yet again Donna was great. Tenant and Tate don’t need the ensemble cast, they are more than capable of carrying the whole thing.

 

Ncuti was just fine (although OMG at my phone autocorrecting that to C**t I when I never even use that word!!!) - I thought he managed it all very well, not least considering the bizarre choice to have him half dressed throughout.

I absolutely loved it. I think it could have been a two-part episode really, to give the Toymaker more time to cause chaos and show off just how evil he really was, but I quite enjoyed that a villain so powerful and chaotic was defeated by something as simple as a game of ball! Neil Patrick Harris was sensational and so creepy as the Toymaker. The Spice Up Your Life scene was ridiculously camp, so much fun and I loved the juxtaposition of the song/imagery with what was actually happening... the soldiers turned to balls! :o

 

Obviously Tennant and Tate delivered as they always do, I'm going to miss seeing them again but I'm so excited for what's coming next. Ncuti really impressed me in his first moments, and though I'd heard the rumours and was unsure of the bigeneration, I thought it worked really well in practice. Some questions remain unanswered, probably on purpose to allow the future to touch on them if it ever wants to. For now, I love that 14 and Donna have a happy ending. This is no fault of RTD's, quite the opposite imo and it sends such a positive message out. It was beautiful!

 

Huge shoutout to Bonnie Langford who was fabulous as Mel. I haven't actually seen any of her classic episodes but I've not really heard positive things about Mel (through no fault of Bonnie's), but she exuded warmth and strength in this episode! :heart:

 

Doctor Who is well and truly back and I am so ready for 15 and Ruby *.*