Doctor Who - Discussion Thread III (no untagged future spoilers)

I agree that the series is a lot better than most of the Matt Smith series. I like the darker tone and I like how the companion no longer wants to jump on the Doctor's sausage, which is what we've been subjected to ever since Matt Smith David Tennant.

Rose Tyler?

Still seems a bit weird. Why does Danny have to choose to be deleted? Why not convert everyone automatically? Why would the master help the cybermen? Why is Clara still here? They travelled apparently to the depths of the universe, switching off shields and nav-com just so they could get into London, they could have just taken the bus?

Wasn't all that interesting. Even though I saw the cybermen in the thumbnail (great job BBC) it was a surprise to see that logo of their eye thing appear when they closed the door. Then it ruined the moment by putting the Russell T Davis cyberman music in.

Also, unless they're lying about people being concious while dead, that concept makes no sense. People feel pain because of their nervous system. If their nerves have rotted, decomposed or disconnected due to the body being dead, then how does someone feel pain? Also how are the people in the matrix thing able to maintain a connection to their bodies? I know Doctor Who uses fictional and/or questionable concepts and actions but this just sounds incredibly retarded.

Oh and it's in London present day at the end as well. Wow. And no-one cares about anything. I liked how she was just sat on the floor and he didn't do anything. You could try subduing her or something?

This felt so ... lame. It was hilarious how it finished with just six cybermen walking and no-one of the public cared at all. I knew that secondary 'twist' was coming and I was so disappointed I was hoping they'd either use an actual Time Lady or do something new which could add to the whole Galifrey story, but when she revealed her identity, so disappointing.

I really dislike the idea that people can change genders when regenerating because it's never happened in Doctor Who other than for satirical purposes in that Rowan Atkinson comic relief show. If they have as much change of changing gender, or race if someone wants to randomly force that on the scenario in the future, then explain why the Doctor has stayed male and white the entire show. My interpretation is that he can only stay the one race and the one gender his whole life. Please don't **** about with that.

There wasn't a lot of weight to her anyway, I found her to be a lame 'villain' and seeing her before at the end of all those other episodes they threw her in so they can technically call this a 'series arch', she came across as just some random contrived villain who espouses quirky dialogue like 'lol you're in heaven now'. There wasn't a sense of mysteriousness about it, more like 'ok Steven Moffat just get it over with'. I never once cared about those random scenes they threw in, usually I'd care about what certain things mean.

I feel my brain became stupid enough to not warrant emotions just by watching this.





That's not even what anyone is complaining about. They clearly stated that changing from a man to a woman is retarded because the Doctor has been so consistently white and male throughout the show, and so has the Master. And even if he wanted a sex change like real life human transgendered people, neither character would wait 900 years or whatever to get that procedure done just to feel like they're in the right body.

I took that all to be propaganda bull**** to be honest, so they didn't have to explain the truth to them.

Show hasnt been worth watching since that redhead left. Dont even like Doctor Who, used to leave it on mute if she was on.

agreed, donna was a corker.


last weeks episode was good, compared to the others in s8. im trying to be hopeful for next weeks episode, but i cant shrug off the expection of danny saving the world a la

Rose Tyler?

agreed, donna was a corker.


last weeks episode was good, compared to the others in s8. im trying to be hopeful for next weeks episode, but i cant shrug off my expectation of danny saving the world a la

Am I the only one who thinks this series has been a huge improvement compared to basically all of Matt Smith's series? Maybe it is just because the tone is a bit less childish (most of the time) but the only episode I've thought was absolutely terrible this series was the first one, which I think is one of Doctor Who's worst episodes. I'm not saying it is amazing but I feel it has improved. The Dalek episode was one of the best in years I think and last weeks was pretty good too.

This is what I'm really dreading. Danny saves the world after the Doctor makes a hash of things, the Doctor then warms to him and some bull**** happily ever after ending occurs. And then there's the whole "goodness of humans" predictable outcome from Danny saving the world.

Nope, I think also think that series 8 is the best Doctor Who has been in years, and I'm constantly baffled by the bad reception its been getting from some people.

I struggled with the slightly contrived series 6, and thought that series 7 was such a mess to the point where I'd given up by The Crimson Horror, and missed the 50th anniversary without really caring that much.

I gave the new series a go though hoping the arrival of Capaldi would pick things up, but my expectations have been massively exceeded. It just feels like the effort's being put in again, with a straight focus on original stories (see Flatline, Listen and Time Heist) and thoughtful characterisation for both leads that I didn't think was possible for Doctor Who.

My issue with some of the complaints leveled at the series is that they seem to be very nitpicky, driven by some blind, irrational dislike of Steven Moffat, or that they are often applicable to previous series as well. For example, I really don't understand the mass hatred for Danny Pink - at best I find him to be pretty intriguing and a warm, quirky character in episodes like Listen, Into The Dalek and Dark Water, and simply bland but inoffensive in some other episodes at worst. I've seen people moaning about the cheesy heroic backflip at the end of The Caretaker, seeming to forget the time when the Doctor once used the energy of a supernova to declare his love for Rose, or how Rory was suddenly rewritten as a badass action hero whenever it suited the plot after series 5. Likewise, I don't understand why people suddenly have an issue with Clara taking a prominent role in some stories, when the entire arc revolved around her in series 7B and her character is actually being written as realistic and layered (if still overly witty) person.

The bitching about the scientific inaccuracy in Kill The Moon is also ridiculous in my opinion - this is a show where magical orbs have terraformed unhabitable planets in a blink of an eye, a hospital has been shifted on and off the moon intact, and a giant Titanic shaped starship has been metres away from hitting Buckingham Palace before making a sharp U-turn upwards into the sky in seconds. People have never complained about how scientifically implausible the show is before, and it seems like people just want an excuse to moan about how Steven Moffat's running the show into the ground.

This series hasn't been perfect (I agree that Deep Breath was an rubbish, confused misfire, and think that In the Forest of the Night was with good intentions, but pretty dull), but I do think this has been a considered and consistent series that's been good enough to restore my faith in the show and Moffat as a showrunner (on that subject, who could realistically replace him anyway?).

The whole thing you've just described is kind of Doctor Who in a nutshell, it's a family show where there's bound to be a happy ending (although I personally think The Doctor is one of the saddest characters ever written). Likewise the show and the titular character has always found the best in humans, that's why he interacts with them so much and why the show is what it is...



And thank you someone's finally managed to some up how I've been feeling about all the Moffat hate! I don't understand why people hate the fact romance exists in the show when they get so hyped up about the Doctor and Rose!

Also people should try remembering a bit harder, the David Tennant era was by no means perfect (see Fear Her, Love and Monsters and more), every series and writer has bad episodes!

Nope, I think also think that series 8 is the best Doctor Who has been in years, and I'm constantly baffled by the bad reception its been getting from some people.

I struggled with the slightly contrived series 6, and thought that series 7 was such a mess to the point where I'd given up by The Crimson Horror, and missed the 50th anniversary without really caring that much.

I gave the new series a go though hoping the arrival of Capaldi would pick things up, but my expectations have been massively exceeded. It just feels like the effort's being put in again, with a straight focus on original stories (see Flatline, Listen and Time Heist) and thoughtful characterisation for both leads that I didn't think was possible for Doctor Who.

My issue with some of the complaints leveled at the series is that they seem to be very nitpicky, driven by some blind, irrational dislike of Steven Moffat, or that they are often applicable to previous series as well. For example, I really don't understand the mass hatred for Danny Pink - at best I find him to be pretty intriguing and a warm, quirky character in episodes like Listen, Into The Dalek and Dark Water, and simply bland but inoffensive in some other episodes at worst. I've seen people moaning about the cheesy heroic backflip at the end of The Caretaker, seeming to forget the time when the Doctor once used the energy of a supernova to declare his love for Rose, or how Rory was suddenly rewritten as a badass action hero whenever it suited the plot after series 5. Likewise, I don't understand why people suddenly have an issue with Clara taking a prominent role in some stories, when the entire arc revolved around her in series 7B and her character is actually being written as realistic and layered (if still overly witty) person.

The bitching about the scientific inaccuracy in Kill The Moon is also ridiculous in my opinion - this is a show where magical orbs have terraformed unhabitable planets in a blink of an eye, a hospital has been shifted on and off the moon intact, and a giant Titanic shaped starship has been metres away from hitting Buckingham Palace before making a sharp U-turn upwards into the sky in seconds. People have never complained about how scientifically implausible the show is before, and it seems like people just want an excuse to moan about how Steven Moffat's running the show into the ground.

This series hasn't been perfect (I agree that Deep Breath was an rubbish, confused misfire, and think that In the Forest of the Night was with good intentions, but pretty dull), but I do think this has been a considered and consistent series that's been good enough to restore my faith in the show and Moffat as a showrunner (on that subject, who could realistically replace him anyway?).

While I've generally enjoyed this series, talking in the pub on Wednesday with a friend made me realise some of the problems with this series. At the end of Day of The Doctor, we were teased with this finding Gallifrey plot arc. Time of... set it up further, and then it just appears to have been forgotten about. Then there was the talk in Deep Breath of why this [Capaldis] face, and Moffatt saying it wasn't random and would be expanded on. And that's just been ignored. Instead we've had the somewhat same-y "woman companion on TARDIS is conflicted about the Doctor and her boyfriend" - For Clara, see Amy & Rose, for Danny see Rory & Mickey. I wasn't expecting them to just bring back Gallifrey in one season, but I'd have liked to at least see something more about that.

Rose's was tolerable and was hidden well behind Mickey. The writing for Rose's little triangle was less cringey. Not only that but Mickey had battled Daleks, Cybermen etc, he was cool, well developed and a major character. Rory was the dull, average bloke from the Butcher's shop who just seemed to find himself travelling along, doing nothing spectacular except a few cool flips while there were explosions in the background