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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2015 0:16:44 GMT -5
Agreed that there were some weak episodes this year (the trees? the moon? and while I liked the Doctor/Danny bits in 'The Caretaker' the 'main plot' was underdeveloped and uninvolving). But when he's given good material Capaldi is a delight to watch (I'm thinking the Orient Express episode, here). The antagonistic relationship between him and Danny was refreshing, especially compared to the Doctor/Clara thing. Hopefully people have a better idea of who Capaldi's Doctor is, and we'll see some better scripts next year (even if they are stuck with Clara).
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 2, 2015 11:20:09 GMT -5
I'm a big fan of Capaldi and thought the chemistry between him and Coleman (Clara) was quite good after a rocky beginning - their slightly antagonistic relationship a welcome change from the recently over-used Doctor-Companion romance. The Clara/Mr. Pink romance was neither here nor there, for me. Danny Pink was fine, the actor was likeable, but the whole thing felt to me like something introduced purely to give Clara someone other than the Doctor to be romantically involved with, as if it was taken for granted that she had to have a romance of some kind with someone - IOW, that this is the only kind of story you can tell about a young female character. But the next to last episode went a long way towards ruining not only that chemistry but the entire season for me with Clara written as an utterly selfish person totally caught up in her own emotions, hysterically demanding that the Doctor allow entire universes to be destroyed in order to satisfy her personal desires. Up to that point her Clara had been a high point of the show, for me, but after that turn I'm not sure I want the character to return at all. So yeah, I didn't like the writing much this year either, though for the most part the rest of the year was neither particularly good or bad. I agree that the Robin Hood episode, which I had been expecting to be pretty dire, turned out to be surprisingly fun - I think largely because of the interplay amongst the Doctor, Robin Hood, and Clara. I agree, Capaldi's acting was pretty solid, and I did like the interplay between him, clara and Mr. Pink as the series progressed I just wished they had more to work with. |
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Post by Jesse on Jan 5, 2015 16:33:48 GMT -5
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Post by foxley on Jan 6, 2015 7:15:37 GMT -5
I've never watched Doctor Who before now, but I have been catching Season 7 on BBC America, and I have to say that I am quickly falling in love with the show. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship was brilliant, and The Angels Take Manhattan was both exhilarating and heartbreaking at the same time. Luckily for me, that station is showing a whole lot of Doctor Who starting tomorrow, and my DVR will be running an awful lot as I am recording about 30 episodes or so. Can't wait to get further in! I got into Doctor Who thanks to the Christmas marathon last year. And,yeah, Angels Take Manhattan was devestating. Interesting that new fans find "Angels Take Manhattan" so enthralling. Personally, I came to really dislike River Song as a character and watching any episode with her in it began a real grind for me, which probably seriously diminished the impact of the episode for me. |
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Post by badwolf on Jan 6, 2015 10:21:23 GMT -5
I was getting tired of River by then but IIRC this episode treats her basically as another companion, with little to none of the baggage that she carries. The ending was, for me, almost as emotional as the end of "Doomsday" (Amy being my favorite companion since Rose). The only thing I really didn't like about it was it further diminished the "uniqueness" of the Angels. (Now they can be any kind of statue? Then they're not really Angels any more...)
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Post by The Captain on Jan 6, 2015 12:14:41 GMT -5
I was getting tired of River by then but IIRC this episode treats her basically as another companion, with little to none of the baggage that she carries. The ending was, for me, almost as emotional as the end of "Doomsday" (Amy being my favorite companion since Rose). The only thing I really didn't like about it was it further diminished the "uniqueness" of the Angels. (Now they can be any kind of statue? Then they're not really Angels any more...) I've only seen a handful of episodes with River in it, but I don't find her thoroughly appalling, at least not yet. As far as the ending of "Doomsday" compared to this one, I felt this one was far more powerful. Rose didn't die, she just got separated from The Doctor; she still had her mom and Mickey (not much of a consolation, I know) and her alternate universe dad. Amy sacrificed her life because of Rory and not wanting to be apart from the man she loved; maybe it's because of where I'm at in life, but that just resonated so strongly with me. |
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Post by badwolf on Jan 6, 2015 12:37:20 GMT -5
I've only seen a handful of episodes with River in it, but I don't find her thoroughly appalling, at least not yet. As far as the ending of "Doomsday" compared to this one, I felt this one was far more powerful. Rose didn't die, she just got separated from The Doctor; she still had her mom and Mickey (not much of a consolation, I know) and her alternate universe dad. Amy sacrificed her life because of Rory and not wanting to be apart from the man she loved; maybe it's because of where I'm at in life, but that just resonated so strongly with me. For me a lot of it was due to Rose being the first companion on the resurrected show. I guess it doesn't make objective sense, but by the time Amy came round other companions had come and gone so I was more used to the idea. |
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Post by The Captain on Jan 6, 2015 12:47:29 GMT -5
I've only seen a handful of episodes with River in it, but I don't find her thoroughly appalling, at least not yet. As far as the ending of "Doomsday" compared to this one, I felt this one was far more powerful. Rose didn't die, she just got separated from The Doctor; she still had her mom and Mickey (not much of a consolation, I know) and her alternate universe dad. Amy sacrificed her life because of Rory and not wanting to be apart from the man she loved; maybe it's because of where I'm at in life, but that just resonated so strongly with me. For me a lot of it was due to Rose being the first companion on the resurrected show. I guess it doesn't make objective sense, but by the time Amy came round other companions had come and gone so I was more used to the idea. I get that. Part of it is that I have been watching them out of order, so I caught the first half of Season 7 first, then went back and have been watching upwards from Season 2 on. It's been slow, so I am only in the middle of Season 3, but I get between 1-2 episodes in per evening; I'm hoping to get as many in as possible this week, before the majority of the regular shows I watch come back from their holiday hiatuses. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2015 12:51:52 GMT -5
Amy chose Rory over the Doctor and lived another 60+ years. Saying she sacrificed her life is a little off the mark, I think. Rose chose the Doctor and was then stripped of her choice. I was much more upset by Amy's departure, but it's almost entirely for the Doctor's loss, and I don't think it's more devestating than "Doomsday".
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 6, 2015 13:40:47 GMT -5
I got into Doctor Who thanks to the Christmas marathon last year. And,yeah, Angels Take Manhattan was devestating. Interesting that new fans find "Angels Take Manhattan" so enthralling. Personally, I came to really dislike River Song as a character and watching any episode with her in it began a real grind for me, which probably seriously diminished the impact of the episode for me. Eh, I've been a fan since I first saw the fourth Doctor on PBS back in 1994 and I don't have a problem with River as a character so I don't think there's an old fan/new fan dichotomy with her. Were there some episodes with her that were better than others? Certainly, but that's true of just about any companion. |
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Post by badwolf on Jan 6, 2015 13:57:35 GMT -5
I've been a fan since the 1970s and I thought River was alright, but her cutesy-lovey-dovey behaviour towards the Doctor got really irritating. And her catchphrases.
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Post by foxley on Jan 6, 2015 14:10:29 GMT -5
I found her an annoying Mary Sue who could do everything the Doctor the could, only better. (She can pilot the TARDIS better than him? Really??) And the fact that she seemed to know ever single thing that was going happen before it did? Irritating.
But apparently a lot of fans who came to the show with the new series really like her.
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Post by badwolf on Jan 6, 2015 14:17:19 GMT -5
Yeah, that was annoying now you mention it. I liked her when she was acting more like a regular companion.
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Post by The Captain on Jan 6, 2015 16:01:25 GMT -5
Amy chose Rory over the Doctor and lived another 60+ years. Saying she sacrificed her life is a little off the mark, I think. Rose chose the Doctor and was then stripped of her choice. I was much more upset by Amy's departure, but it's almost entirely for the Doctor's loss, and I don't think it's more devestating than "Doomsday". Maybe I misinterpreted the episode. I thought that when she let the Angel take her, she wound up in the same place that Rory and the others did, where they fed off her until she died. And maybe "devastating" isn't the right word. I should probably just use "sad." |
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Post by dupersuper on Jan 7, 2015 3:33:12 GMT -5
Amy chose Rory over the Doctor and lived another 60+ years. Well, not quite that long. More like 40-50. They mention at the beginning of the episode that they've been traveling on together on and off for like 10 years (hence Amys reading glasses and crows feet). |
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