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In the words of Noddy Holder, "It's ChristMAS!!!"
Alternatively, in the words of the BBC Continuity Announcer, "It's Doctor Who."
So, three Doctors, five companions, some big bangs, a lot of snow, a Dalek and a regeneration. What did we make of all that then, eh?
Loved it, great reaction from hubby and the in-laws too. Lots of disappointment that we won't get the next series for months.
If I had to make a small criticism, would have liked a little more from the new Ben and Polly and The Tenth Planet in general.
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I really enjoyed it too, it was a solid 8/10 with lots of great moments and the only reason it didn't get a 9 was that I thought they overplayed the first doctor's casual sexism, I was fine with the idea initially but they did overdo it a bit. Oh yeah, and Clara popped up, but that was inevitable and at least it was brief. But bar that it was lovely stuff, and a rare Christmas special that I'm already looking forward to revisiting.
Did it really extend much further than referring to female companions as "My Dear"?Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex
The first Doctor was equally patronising towards male companions, but was he really sexist, beyond the institutional norm of 1963? I'm not so sure.
Moffat's typical over-egging of the pudding in an attempt to say 'look how much our attitudes have improved since the 60s', was done at the expense of the character of the first Doctor. (Up to a point) It's almost as if he was confusing him with William Hartnell himself.
I agree that they probably overdid the 60s attitudes - talking about Polly doing the dusting, and suggesting that it's bizarre for men to be nurses. But equally, I must admit I didn't find it annoying and it was quite funny.
In fact, I've only one real 'complaint' which is that, excellent as he was, I don't think David Bradley (other than appearance) was anything like Hartnell. There was none of that 'aggressive fury' about him, it was almost as if they'd shown him The Three Doctors once and left him to work it out from that.
However, that aside, it was a nice performance and an entertaining ep. I knew Bill was coming back, but assumed it was going to be a cameo or something - very pleased that it wasn't, and was actually surprised to find how much I was glad she was in it. I'd enjoyed Bill during season 10, but hadn't realised how much until she came back.
Other nice touches - the 'bad guys' not being bad; Mark Gatiss; the old TARDIS; the mention of the Valeyard & 'flashbacks'; the first Doctor's interpretation of the phrase 'Doctor of War'.
Especially liked the bit where Bill asks the first Doctor why he left Gallifrey, I thought that was very neat. Oh, and of course I loved that it opened with the original footage - "Previously on Doctor Who... 709 Episodes ago" made me laugh!!
All in all, I enjoyed it - and as always, very very exciting to see the new Doctor appear at the very end!
The only other thing that I wondered about was, did Moffat put in a mention to every other Capaldi story in this one? Bill does the "you can't see me" bit from Deep Breath; Rusty reappears from Into the Dalek; and there's a salute with a Lethbridge-Stewart as with Death in Heaven. Anybody spot any others?
Oh that's what I meant, that it was out of place because Hartnell wasn't really like that at all and I wish Moffat had toned that element down.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne
I don't think so however the planet Villengard was referred to in The Doctor Dances so there was a nice sense of everything coming full circle.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Curnow
I've seen a few complaints about Capaldi's final speech but remember this was also Moffat's final scene of Doctor Who probably ever after 12 years since his first proper TV episode (unless we count the Colonel X episode of Press Gang ;) ) so I think he's allowed a little self indulgence.
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A couple of interesting thoughts mentioned on the latest Verity! podcast:
1) The First Doctor being a sexist idiot at the start was a commentary on a certain subset of fans responding to the news that the Doctor would regenerate to have two X chromosomes.
2) We're being set up for a 'Doctor searches for the TARDIS' season while stuck mostly on Earth.
