Rate and Discuss: Time Heist

[SiHart]

The Doctor plans a heist. The Job's on TONIGHT!

What did you think of Time Heist?

[SiHart]

It's about time Doctor Who did Hustle if you ask me (which you did back in 2008 or so) and so i loved that. Great fun!

[Philipnet]

Hi Si,

I'm glad they put the word Heist in the title to good use, Si.


And I can't get over the fact that one of the main characters of the epsidepo was called Si, Si.

[SiHart]

Quite right too.

They even had Byron Zunestra's vault of precious things!

[dalekkiller]

I fond it good but not as good as last week's

[Andrew Curnow]

I never really watched Hustle (just caught an episode or two over the years) so probably some of the little touches were lost on me - but I 'got' some of the directorial style, and the 'end of episode flashback to fill in the gaps'.

So totally different to last week, but still very enjoyable. I must admit to being a little confused, but I'm sure that's more me than the episode (and I'm sure a second viewing will clear that up anyway). The seeker looked extraordinary, and it was nice that ultimately 'it' turned out to be not just simply 'a monster' but an actual person, and in fact the motive behind the whole story really.

Daft but nice touch to flash up so many 'infamous faces' when Si was calling the Seeker off Clara - a Terileptil, Abslom Daak, and Fingers the renegade Sensorite Technician amongst them!!

[Nyder]

I thought The Teller was a terrific monster - one to scare the kids! Yep a darn good rollicking story - though I think I'll have to watch it again to catch all the nuances! Still no Missy - but I guess there were no deaths tonight - just memory sucking! I don't know if it was my telly's sound settings, but when they were all sat around the monitor near the beginning getting debriefed, the sound was barely audible. Or was that meant to be?


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[Jon Masters]

The best episode so far - nice to have guessed some of the twists. Fuller review after a second watch, but 9/10 (can't give it 10 - can't be better than Heist !!)

[Diddy Doc]

Well after a solid return to form last week with Listen, tonights episode was very poor indeed and,it seems, a return to the banality of the first 3 episodes.
Capaldi continues to irritate with his constant whispering/mumbling making it often very difficult to understand what he's saying. I have very good hearing yet I find I have to turn up the volume on Who just to try to understand what he says a lot of the time.
The episode itself was dull in that it seemed to be aping other bank heist films (notably Oceans 11) yet it provided little to nothing new to this formula. Indeed I found myself looking at the episode and wondering about budget cuts rather than concentrating on the storyline, the endless featureless corridors just with changes in lighting being an obvious example of this with not even a few bits of set dressing to liven things up.
The most impressive aspect to tonights episode was the Teller - an impressive original creation and with arguably the only surprise element of the episode at the climax. (probably where the majority of the budget of the episode was spent it seems)
As to the guest cast, Hawes was adequate though given her character and screen time I felt she was ultimately wasted in the role having proved in other dramas how good an actress she can be.
The other 2 members of the heist crew seemed initially quite promising but ultimately both came to nought in my view largely due to the saccharine ending whereas their initial sacrifices would have given the quest and the story more impact had they not been miraculously saved.
One nice yet very fleeting touch was the blink and you'll miss him appearance of Abslom Daak Dalek Killer as one of the fugitives shown on the most wanted list
Overall another disappointingly slight episode (especially after last weeks example) in an overly disappointing season sadly
2/10
Regards
Diddy

[Andrew Curnow]

I'm not just saying this, but genuinely I don't have any problems hearing Capaldi - not the volume, his delivery, or his accent.

I agree about Keeley Hawes though - she was absolutely fine doing what she was given (and was at least not as wasted a bit of guest casting as David Warner last year) but she wasn't given enough! I'd liked to have seen a scene where her clone character loses its calm, for example. Or at least a longer & more confrontational exchange with the Doctor.

I quite liked the corridors though (is it me, or were they a bit like those in The Sun Makers?). And as a Doctor Who fan, you will appreciate that I've seen a lot of corridors in my time...

[Rob McCow]

Acting - 10/10
Direction - 10/10
Effects - 10/10
Monster - 10/10
Story - 5/10

I thought the plot twists were all BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS but still enjoyed it tremendously. As soon as you see the Teller in chains, you know it's going to be something to do with rescuing him. The Architect was either going to be the Doctor or Ms Delphox. The teleport/death thing worked very well in Bad Wolf and that was years ago, so why not do it again? Sadly the effects made it look like they were teleporting instead of being disintegrated. I didn't guess about the clones though. So that's something!

Lots of good aspects. The brain-souping was soup-erb. The monster was one of the best we've had. Loved the style and the design. Oh yes and Capaldi is blisteringly good, my favourite moments of the episode involved him talking about stuff. He hasn't won everyone over, but I think he's the best.

[Si Hunt]

Once the story was underway and I got into it, I found much to enjoy here. The characters were well rounded and interesting, each with their own little twist. Keely Hawes was brilliant as the villain and pitched it just right - the twist at the end was nice and it was suitably scary for the kids. Not only the Teller (although I guessed he would turn out not to be evil) but also the guy who had his brain sucked out and was left with a flat head.

HOWEVER I thought the first five minutes were awful. The storytelling was a mess, and all the characters seemed to appear at once. I didn't have a clue what was going on, and I think if I were a casual viewer I'd have turned over - I felt left out and annoyed! The device of the teams memories being wiped made for enough of a mystery, but the way the direction kept flitting around on top of this made it feel like someone was fast forwarding the action every few minutes. I like trying to work out what's happened with a few clues, I don't like not having the foggiest idea what's going on. I really think the direction interfered with the story on a few occasions - there was a bit late on where (I think) the Doctor went through a ventilation shaft using the sonic screwdriver, but the weird 'venetian blind' effect was either a fancy directional way of switching scenes or a visual effect of him going through the door. Still not sure which.

As it was, I don't think it was entirely clear that Ms Hawes phoned the Doctor on her death bed because she was ruminating on her life's regrets, one of which was trapping the creature. Even so, why was it necessary for the Doctor to dress in a hood and adopt a false voice? Also why were the other characters there and how did the Doctor know that their specific "dream gifts" were in the vault? Why were those things there?

I thought it excelled on many levels - great set design, characters, good idea for a story. But if only the script had been made a bit simpler in parts, and the explanation made a bit clearer, I'd have been even happier.

Si.

[Jon Masters]

Also why were the other characters there and how did the Doctor know that their specific "dream gifts" were in the vault? Why were those things there?

I'd have to watch it again to be sure but I think
[*]The Doctor deliberately recruited them to be in his team[*] He asked them what they would want as payment[*] He put those things into the vault when he visited the bank BEFORE the heist to put all those suitcases and other stuff in


At least I think that's what the flashback was showing

[Jon Masters]

I fond it good but not as good as last week's

You're not going to fill many threads with that length of review

[Nyder]

Daft but nice touch to flash up so many 'infamous faces' when Si was calling the Seeker off Clara - a Terileptil, Abslom Daak, and Fingers the renegade Sensorite Technician amongst them!!

I was going to put this section on "slow watch" tmw but you've saved me the trouble Andrew :-)

Glad we got some TARDIS scenes in this story too. It's looking pretty darn good this season!


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[dalekkiller]

I'll get round to a full review by the end of the week.

[Si Hunt]

So if the Doctor put the things in the vault, why didn't he just free the creature at the same time and not need any assistants?

Si.

[Paul Clement]

So if the Doctor put the things in the vault, why didn't he just free the creature at the same time and not need any assistants?

Si.

He wasn't able to access the Private Vault until the solar storm, so couldn't free the creature earlier, and needed the help o the other two to be able to achieve access to that vault.

[Paul Clement]

I loved this episode. I'm a big fan of Hustle, and this episode emulated it so successfully but at the same time provided a very unique to on the idea. The supporting cast were excellent, and it was great to see the Cyberpunk genre woven into the story through Psi. Doctor Who's previous attempts in this sphere have always left me cold. 9/10 from me.

[Wayne]

Starting to get that 'seen it all before' feeling.... I'd seen the leak and found it distinctly average, but watching the episode with Jane, we ended up flicking over to Dad's Army after 15 minutes....

5/10

[Leah Betts]

Someone asked me "why is Clara dressed like a British school boy walking home from school for a date?"

I pointed out that British school boys rarely wear high heels on a date.

[dalekkiller]

or make up

[SiHart]

Well not at my school anyway...

[Dirk Gently]

I'm not a huge fan of Hustle, but I loved this episode. If this is what I've been missing in Hustle I should probably check that out.

This was fun, complex to a certain point & very watchable. I found the whole thing very well done. I'm not a huge fan of flash back TV but this was well done. The 'monster' was a great creation & REALLY well realised, I loved it. Keeley Hawes was brilliant in the scenes she was in but criminally under-used.

Guest cast were really good & played well. I guessed the devices were teleports when it was first used but it didn't really ruin my enjoyment of the story.
What I do dislike is the whole time paradox issue...if the Doctor got a phone call from the future Madame Karabraxos & then goes back in time to rescue the creture, who made the call if the creature was rescued? She'd have no reason to make the call when she got older.

Any hoo, 9/10 for me.

[Nyder]

Well not on a FIRST date.....


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