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Post by foxley on Sept 24, 2015 2:53:40 GMT -5
The Robin Hood episode was a romp. I loved it. If you want weak writing, I point you to the turgid pile of fetid dingo kidneys that was "In the Forest of the Night". I liked that one way better, it had a unique concept and I really liked Danny Pink's character beats and the little girl who found the Doctor was great. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I found it managed the unusual combination of being pretentious, nonsensical, and boring; all at the same time. Still, one of the great joys of Doctor Who is the sheer variety of stories that it can tell. And it would be a rare story that could appeal equally to every fan. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2015 8:40:58 GMT -5
I'm just about to finish Season 1! It'll be sad seeing the doctor as someone new, I enjoyed the Eccleston Doctor!
Random thought: now that I've finished Season 1, can I skip to the current Capaldi Doctor or am I going to miss out on too much?
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Post by Dizzy D on Sept 24, 2015 13:19:18 GMT -5
You could skip on, but you miss some great episodes.
I'd at least check out (good episodes IMHO, though not all important lore wise):
10th Doctor:
Series 2: Girl in the Fireplace
Series 3: Human Nature, Family of Blood, Blink
Series 4: Midnight
Series 5: The Eleventh Hour, Pandorica Opens, The Big Bang
Series 6: Impossible Astronaut, Day of the Moon, The Doctor's Wife, A Good Man goes to War
(Series 7: I can't really remember anything of series 7, earlier series I have watched several times)
Series 8 is the start of Capaldi.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2015 15:29:43 GMT -5
Along with your suggestion, Dizz, I was suggested to just venture through and continue to watch it and make my way to Season 8 without skipping so I'll continue on! Thanks!
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Post by spoon on Sept 24, 2015 22:19:14 GMT -5
I though the first episode of the new series was okay, but nothing stand out (to me). However, I have come to expect this as the big season openers and closers are never my favourite stories. They always feel too big and too full of 'timey-wimey' stuff, and that the writer (almost always Moffet) wants me to be knocked out by the sheer scope of things. I tend to like the the less 'epic' stories that make up the rest of season. For instance, my favourite episodes in the previous season were "Mummy on the Orient Express" and "Robot of Sherwood". I liked both "Mummy on the Orient Express" and "Robot of Sherwood". Sherwood was very fun-loving, and I think the episode did a good job at maintain the "is he or isn't" question throughout. I also generally like history episodes (even though Robin Hood is more folklore). I agree with you halfway. I like some of the smaller episodes, but I also like a lot of the epic or big concept episodes. When I tend to dislike the epics is when they having a numerical huge threat like billions of Daleks or Cybermen descending on Earth. Those threats essentially require a deus ex machina to be resolved, so it tends to be less satisfying than a more measured threat with a "real" solution. I think the real stinker of Season 8 was "Kill the Moon". First, the idea of the moon as an egg is ridiculous even by the charimngly ridiculous standards of many Doctor Who episodes. Second, I felt the political message was really forced on the storytelling, regardless of my personal political/moral opinions. |
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Post by spoon on Sept 24, 2015 22:26:17 GMT -5
I'm just about to finish Season 1! It'll be sad seeing the doctor as someone new, I enjoyed the Eccleston Doctor! Random thought: now that I've finished Season 1, can I skip to the current Capaldi Doctor or am I going to miss out on too much? My entry into the Doctor Who revival was watching reruns of the Season 8 featuring Capaldi on BBC America this summer. Then, I went back and started watching in order with Season 1. I'm almost done with Season 4 (Tennant's last regular season before the Specials). I don't think I missed my viewing experience suffered by watching Capaldi before Eccelston and Tennant, but it's been fun to go through the new series in order. It seems to me that the missing backstory from watching Capaldi first probably comes more from the Matt Smith episodes I haven't seen that rather than from the prior two Doctors. |
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Post by dupersuper on Sept 25, 2015 12:26:09 GMT -5
I'm just about to finish Season 1! It'll be sad seeing the doctor as someone new, I enjoyed the Eccleston Doctor! Random thought: now that I've finished Season 1, can I skip to the current Capaldi Doctor or am I going to miss out on too much? All of Tennant and Smith? Yeah, you'd miss a lot. |
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Post by Jesse on Sept 26, 2015 19:11:53 GMT -5
Episode 2 "The Witch’s Familiar" I thought this was a decent enough conclusion with some good visuals. Loved seeing a nod to Tom Baker and William Hartnell in Missy's flashback. I'm glad she explained how she survived the Daleks last episode and the Cybermen in "Death in Heaven". Clara and Missy have pretty good chemistry on screen and it's interesting watching them work off each other. Crazy seeing Skaro so full of Daleks and really cool to see so many classic versions pop up. The Doctor riding around in Davros' chair was pretty cool. I laughed when Missy pushed Clara into the sewers. The snakes enveloping the Doctor was disturbing. Missy killing the Dalek in the sewer was great and her line "I'm a Time Lady, that's how I golf" made me laugh. I liked seeing Capaldi revisit the moral from "Genesis of the Daleks" and struggle with that decision again. Creepy seeing Clara encased in a Dalek again and I kept expecting her to mention soufflé when she was reunited with the Doctor to let him know it was her. I thought Julian Bleach gave an excellent performance as Davros in this. I was not expecting the Doctor to willingly use regeneration energy on Davros like that, not a bad double switch I guess. The sonic sunglasses were a bit goofy though and nearly made me roll my eyes. Satisfying enough conclusion seeing the Doctor save kid Davros and introduce mercy to the Daleks. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 26, 2015 19:18:53 GMT -5
I though the first episode of the new series was okay, but nothing stand out (to me). However, I have come to expect this as the big season openers and closers are never my favourite stories. They always feel too big and too full of 'timey-wimey' stuff, and that the writer (almost always Moffet) wants me to be knocked out by the sheer scope of things. I tend to like the the less 'epic' stories that make up the rest of season. For instance, my favourite episodes in the previous season were "Mummy on the Orient Express" and "Robot of Sherwood". I liked both "Mummy on the Orient Express" and "Robot of Sherwood". Sherwood was very fun-loving, and I think the episode did a good job at maintain the "is he or isn't" question throughout. I also generally like history episodes (even though Robin Hood is more folklore). I agree with you halfway. I like some of the smaller episodes, but I also like a lot of the epic or big concept episodes. When I tend to dislike the epics is when they having a numerical huge threat like billions of Daleks or Cybermen descending on Earth. Those threats essentially require a deus ex machina to be resolved, so it tends to be less satisfying than a more measured threat with a "real" solution. I think the real stinker of Season 8 was "Kill the Moon". First, the idea of the moon as an egg is ridiculous even by the charimngly ridiculous standards of many Doctor Who episodes. Second, I felt the political message was really forced on the storytelling, regardless of my personal political/moral opinions. I think the big failing of Kill the Moon was the fact that we got the same message, only told better, in the Beast Below. And Jesse...I hate you. I still have half an hour until the new episode airs lol. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 27, 2015 9:08:04 GMT -5
Episode 2 "The Witch’s Familiar" I thought this was a decent enough conclusion with some good visuals. Loved seeing a nod to Tom Baker and William Hartnell in Missy's flashback. I'm glad she explained how she survived the Daleks last episode and the Cybermen in "Death in Heaven". Clara and Missy have pretty good chemistry on screen and it's interesting watching them work off each other. Crazy seeing Skaro so full of Daleks and really cool to see so many classic versions pop up. The Doctor riding around in Davros' chair was pretty cool. I laughed when Missy pushed Clara into the sewers. The snakes enveloping the Doctor was disturbing. Missy killing the Dalek in the sewer was great and her line "I'm a Time Lady, that's how I golf" made me laugh. I liked seeing Capaldi revisit the moral from "Genesis of the Daleks" and struggle with that decision again. Creepy seeing Clara encased in a Dalek again and I kept expecting her to mention soufflé when she was reunited with the Doctor to let him know it was her. I thought Julian Bleach gave an excellent performance as Davros in this. I was not expecting the Doctor to willingly use regeneration energy on Davros like that, not a bad double switch I guess. The sonic sunglasses were a bit goofy though and nearly made me roll my eyes. Satisfying enough conclusion seeing the Doctor save kid Davros and introduce mercy to the Daleks. I agree, it tied things up nicely and I loved the chemistry between Missy and Clara, almost makes me wish we had gotten a female Doctor. |
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Post by foxley on Sept 27, 2015 23:37:51 GMT -5
Overall I enjoyed "The Witch's Familiar", although I thought it was trying a bit too hard to make us love Missy. But good visuals, the Doctor being terribly clever, and an episode that centres on the Doctor's compassion. A good start to the season. I can't say I'm sold on the sunglasses yet, but maybe they'll grow on me.
And next week's episode looks like it features a base under siege and running along corridors: real old-school Who!
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 28, 2015 21:13:40 GMT -5
Overall I enjoyed "The Witch's Familiar", although I thought it was trying a bit too hard to make us love Missy. But good visuals, the Doctor being terribly clever, and an episode that centres on the Doctor's compassion. A good start to the season. I can't say I'm sold on the sunglasses yet, but maybe they'll grow on me. And next week's episode looks like it features a base under siege and running along corridors: real old-school Who! I have a felling the sun glasses really won't stick around for very long. It felt like a "Fezes are cool" kind of moment to me rather than an actual change. |
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Post by foxley on Sept 28, 2015 21:37:09 GMT -5
Overall I enjoyed "The Witch's Familiar", although I thought it was trying a bit too hard to make us love Missy. But good visuals, the Doctor being terribly clever, and an episode that centres on the Doctor's compassion. A good start to the season. I can't say I'm sold on the sunglasses yet, but maybe they'll grow on me. And next week's episode looks like it features a base under siege and running along corridors: real old-school Who! I have a felling the sun glasses really won't stick around for very long. It felt like a "Fezes are cool" kind of moment to me rather than an actual change. You're probably right. But fezzes are very popular among cosplayers.  |
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
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Post by Crimebuster on Sept 28, 2015 23:12:10 GMT -5
Overall I enjoyed "The Witch's Familiar", although I thought it was trying a bit too hard to make us love Missy. Nothing is going to make me love Missy. I'm with Clara for once - if the Doctor doesn't take care of Missy once and for all, it's on his head now too. I don't really care that they were friends 2000 years ago. This is reaching Batman in The Killing Joke levels of iffiness; there comes a point where the Doctor needs to recognize the fact that countless people are dying because he doesn't want to get his hands dirty. In fact, it's worse than Batman with Joker, because we know the Doctor is more than capable of making these tough decisions, since that was the whole point of the Time War stuff. The dude committed genocide, but he won't put an end to Missy in order to prevent who knows how many more billions of deaths? Bullcrap. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 29, 2015 18:37:08 GMT -5
I like Missy, and the Master before her and I don't particularly care that the character may be responsible for all kinds of deaths because ultimately great stories are told with the character and that's all I want.
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