Rate and Discuss: The Witch's Familiar

[Philipnet]

After last week's shocking Doctor Who, we now know:
* how Missy and Clara survived extermination
* how the Doctor ended up back on ancient Skaro
* and what's in the Dalek's sewers

Tell us what you though of The Witch's Familiar!

[SiHart]

Awesome.

Never trust Davros.

[Jon Masters]

Much, much better than last week - Davros is awesome. Again, needs another rematch to fully rate but lots to like ( just two major plot holes...)

[Andrew Curnow]

I really enjoyed it. It's an odd story to get a handle on, it doesn't really seem to be about anything exactly... except in the last ten minutes or so when suddenly it turns out Davros and the Daleks have a crazy scheme going on and the Doctor is already ahead of the game with a trick or two up his sleeve!! Until then it's been a mix of Talking Heads and some grim fan fiction, but enjoyable nonetheless.

I didn't really think Clara would be written out via the Doctor killing her by mistake - but even so, that scene was very tense, that awful sense of not being able to make oneself understood. I liked the end too, as they stood looking over the Dalek city - a bit like the end of Evil.

[SiHart]

No-one gets under the Doctor's skin quite like Davros does. For moment I was taken in and I neatly believed Davros was genuine... But of course he wasn't!

Wonderful scenes for Capaldi and Bleach tonight. Some of the best Doctor v Davros moments ever.

One of the finest episodes of Doctor Who ever.

[Rob McCow]

What a corker. Absolutely loved it. All the little side comments about Dalek lore too... they're immortal but decay, their sewers are full of Daleks, they can only say Exterminate...

Missy was hilarious too. Oh I loved it.

[davethesailor]

Oh, I really enjoyed this! I think I even understood some of it! It certainly reminded me more of classic Who than any other recent episode...

[Jason Thompson]

Random thoughts on this 2-parter:

Excellent opening teaser. Got the series off to a great start, and overall was better than all of last season put together, in my opinion.

Not quite enough material to fill the two episodes, so it seemed a bit padded in places. Several scenes failed to hold my attention.

Julian Bleach is superb as Davros. Almost had me convinced there would be some kind of reconciliation between the two of them.

Derivative in places (aside from the obvious fact of being based on that scene from Genesis). Davros wanting to look at the Doctor with his own eyes was very 'Return of the Jedi'.

Was there any reason for calling a Dalek grveyard a sewer aside from having the climax being the Daleks defeated by poo?

[SiHart]

3.7m for last night so far. Ouch.

[Andrew Curnow]

Do we know what last week's was?

[Dino]

Do we know what last week's was?

I think it was around 4.7. Never thought we'd be seeing figures that low for some time! There might be all sorts of crisis meetings going on, but I think viewing figures are down for most other things as licence fees? Subscriptions? Pah! We can get everything for free (Albeit in reduced picture and sound quality) now!
Either that or people just don't like the show any more.

[SiHart]

Well, it was against the rugby- England vs Wales. That was always going to win. You're not likely to time shift that.

[duncan]

Superb again! This two parter was better than most Who in the last four years! Great lines for Missy. I didn't particularly like her last year but she has been great in the last two episodes. And Julian Bleach was excellent as Davros.

[Si Hunt]

Where did Davros get all those clips of old Dalek episodes? Has he been tricked into getting Amazon Prime and made a bulk order of Doctor Who dvds?

[MacNimon]

This was much better than last week! Those scenes of the Dalek city on Skaro, and the interior of the city, just looked and felt so right. You just knew that this was the same planet as that which appeared in the original Dalek story back in 1963...something which few other stories set on Skaro have managed before. Genesis was obviously set a long time in Skaro's past, and Destiny looked like it could have been set anywhere....it was Skaro in name only imo, not look. Full marks straight away simply for the overall look of the episode.

Great performances from all the cast, even Missy who had previously annoyed me. This was more like it, devious and cunning and last seen in a typical 'Master' situation...seemingly left for dead, but ready to strike a deal with the daleks...we all know she'll survive, though! She had a couple of lines in both episodes though which I'm surprised no-one has commented on yet...last week's "...when the Doctor was a little girl...I lied about one of those, but which one?" and this week's "...our daughter" (to be honest I'll have to watch that bit again to see exactly what it was)

I loved the scenes with Clara trapped inside the Dalek, unable to communicate. Although I didn't think for a moment that the Doctor would kill her, I did wonder if somehow the Dalek casing would take control of her mind...those scenes were reminiscent of Jenna's first ever scenes, trapped iside a Dalek and not even knowing...it would have been fitting for her to come full circle, wouldn't it?

I'd give this a 9/10, an excellent episode and probably around 8/10 overall for the story, only let down by the amount of padding in the first episode. It could have done with a bit of trimming, probably a 75-minute running time for the two episodes together would have been about right for this.

[Si Hunt]

There was lots in the two parter to enjoy, but lots of frustrating missed opportunities too. The opening was excellent - I had no idea Davros was returning, and the 'hand mines' were a brilliant, spooky idea. I liked Colony Sarff, the unfurling snake man was excellent and beautifully realised.

I don't for the life of me know why the story was so slow in getting to the Dalek city though, as there was plenty of scope for action there to fill two episodes there. Instead we got one of the worst, boring scenes for a long time. The pointless bit in the medieval arena added nothing and was a total waste of time and money, tank and all. I still don't get why the Doctor was so sure he had a day left to live (and haven't we had all this before in the Matt Smith era?) and the shades and guitar business was just embarrassing.

More good ideas in "The Witches Familiar" (two dreadful titles by the way, do they make any sense?) the centre of which was the Doctor/Davros exchanges. Getting Julian Bleach back as Davros was a master-stroke, he was brilliant and I loved his deception and (genius) Davros has eyes! Who knew? It was bizarre seeing a character you have known for 30 years as not having eyes suddenly opening them but it's never actually been said, I just always assumed they were hollow sockets! Though where he got clips from "Genesis of the Daleks" from (including scenes he wasn't present at), I don't know.

What we wanted here was set pieces though. They almost delivered in the 'Dalek sewers' (another horribly great idea; Daleks never age so they rot, living, down there as twitching slime. Fantastic!) with the captured Dalek and trip to the City. Clara' frustration at screaming and not being heard somehow chimed with real world issues, though I'm not sure which ones - it was a bit like you'd imagine a deaf or autistic person feels perhaps? But the Classic Daleks and the Dalek City proper was STILL wasted.

Think back to the film "Daleks Invasion of Earth: 2150AD" or even "The Chase" and "The Daleks Masterplan", all made 50 years ago. When we entered Dalek Control, what did we see? Daleks at their battle stations, some operating controls, often panning shots of them gliding round their control room. Thought given to what each Dalek was doing and how it worked. Here, yet again, someone had just dumped a load of props in a room and had them jiggle about a bit. What was the Special Weapons Dalek doing just standing there? Why did we only see one room? We ought to have enjoyed them climbing through vents, being cornered by a Destiny style Dalek in a lift, discovering Incubator tanks, finding a Daleks munitions room with a SW Dalek in it etc. Yet again, we just get a big room with the Doctor and the Daleks shouting at each other.

So lots to love, but also a few things I'd have done differently. A mixed bag, but welcome back Doctor Who.

Si.

PS It was also very grim, and next weeks looked dull. We need another "Robot of Sherwood" soon.

[Jason Thompson]

Here, yet again, someone had just dumped a load of props in a room and had them jiggle about a bit.

That's what it is that's been bugging me about those Dalek scenes, thank you. Yes, why were they all just milling around in a room? The fact that the Dalek Supreme was on a pedestal suggests some kind of control room, but there were no controls.

I found a lot of things mildly irritatingly inconsistent as well. One of the most obvious being that if Davros has no legs (as we see him out of his chair with nothing below his waist) why does his chair have space for the Doctor's legs rather than all the connections to the various tendrils and things we see sticking out of Davros's torso? Why couldn't Colony Sarff, Davros or the Daleks find the Doctor but Clara and UNIT can find him in seconds? Even during their search they found dozens of examples of the Doctor's presence just through Earth's history, so didn't it occur to Davros that Earth might be a good place to look for him? Isn't he supposed to be a genius? And we won't get into how they know which of the Doctor's friends to look for when seeking a man who can roam freely through all of time and space.

[Stuart Wallis]

Why do they need any of his friends at all given their own long association with him? And why has Davros never used his real eyes before (apart from the small matter of his eyelids apparently having been fused together)?

Even duller than last week - a lot of talk, little action. I saw what Davros was up to a mile off. The Dalek city interiors were cheap and grotty. Only Julian Bleach and Peter Capaldi's performances gave me anything to enjoy. Only 2 from me I'm afraid, down from 5 for last week's episode.

[Perry Vale]

As many others have said, a huge improvement on last week. Much to enjoy, the face-off between Davros & Capaldi, Clara inside the Dalek, the double-cross and the chair gags. Missy was still too annoying, and I really didn't get/understand (or care very much) the Dalek graveyard/sewer bits.

8/10

[Rob McCow]

Loved reading your comments Mr Hunt! Very pleased people seem to be enjoying this one overall.

We ought to have enjoyed them climbing through vents, being cornered by a Destiny style Dalek in a lift, discovering Incubator tanks, finding a Daleks munitions room with a SW Dalek in it etc.

Yes! The Daleks themselves haven't actually done anything physically interesting since Parting of The Ways (flying up lift shafts & attacking a space station). All they do these days is turn up in vast numbers to make people go "Ooooh!"

[MacNimon]

...and I really didn't get/understand (or care very much) the Dalek graveyard/sewer bits.

Maybe an in-joke about those people who say that the series is nothing but a load of old sh**e...?

[Nyder]

Okay I've caught up now Well I never thought I'd say this, but Julian Bleach is as GOOD AS Michael Wisher when it comes to Davros. That image of his torso flailing on the floor was really haunting. And yes I got a bit tearful too along with Davros not able to look at th sun - I was completely taken in! I didn't see the need of the "made up story" first section either - much like the tank scene in Ep 1 I thought it totally missed the mark. But overall, yes yes yes it was a fantastic story. Still totally in love with Missy .

Now what about these ratings? Even Tom Spilsbury is eerily quiet about them on Twitter..... I see it has a much later time slot next week.


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[Darren]

8 out of 10

Much better than last week (which I gave a 2 but in fact wish I'd given a 5). The relationship between the Doctor and the Master/Missy felt a bit like Pertwee & Delgado, almost a mutual respect. Her character is growing on me as she was written more of an equal to the Doctor in terms of intelligence and rational thinking, as opposed to being a cackling nutjob.

Capaldi and Bleach were amazing and I was taken in at first, feeling sorry for Davros. I think the Sonic Glasses may become annoying.

[Alex]

Really enjoyed this one, not quite as much as last week's but it was a solid 8/10 for me, with the scenes between Davros and the Doctor being quite stunning. And even Clara was quite good fun this week, though that might be because I enjoy Missy pushing her in to holes and then trapping her inside a dalek and that sort of thing!

[Antony Cox]

A great episode - thought-provoking, surprising, poignant and entertaining all at the same time.

It has its faults, as most episodes do, and I agree especially about the seeming randomness of a whole load of Daleks in a room not doing anything in particular.

7/10