ellestra | Entries tagged with doctor who

I' not big on Award Shows. I had Galavant to watch today and Downton Abbey and The Good Wife is back (it's still funny to see Gwynne morph into Daisy and Allan Cummings announce show competing with his own). But I did look up the results and I'm positively surprised by the love the Golden Globes voters have shown to Mr. Robot and The Martian. But none of this makes me even slightly interested in seeing The Revenant (it's just not a movie find interesting at all). Also YAY for Taraji.

To go back to the important stuff.

No one clarifies murder like Madalena. But the “wedding plan, evil plot and colour scheme” guy is doing real good. I’m afraid this mind control will end up with the same scene as Madalena’s rescue. Isabella will tell Galavant she wants to marry cousin Harry. But Madalena was doing it for money and power and Isabella because of magic. However, Madalena learnt from her roast was that she has feelings. She aspired to emulate their cruelty all her life and when she finally though she made it they crushed her spirits. Show the commoner she is not one of them (they made me almost feel bad for Madalena and she is pretty evil and loves it). Good Gareth was there to lift her mood with some ear(ings).

It’s nice Galavant tried to set Richard and Bobby up after his big break up with Gareth but we all know Gareth still dreams of Richard. Too bad it’s nightmares. He feels guilty about taking his crown. And he misses hugs. Awwwww…

King Richard’s land (which shouldn’t really be called that any more, should it?) is now a real Democracy. Just like Greeks (or American funding fathers) intended - for rich, straight, white men only. At least they are not going to get themselves into pointless foreign wars, right?

Life was just too good in Hortensia for Gwynne and Vincenzo. Those clothes are way more colourful than the ones at Downton. And there’s so much more sun than in Yorkshire. It's hard to switch. It's also sad because the two of them were the only ones who noticed what was going on with Isabella and had an idea why.

On The Good Wife Alicia not giving a fuck was the beautiful and I loved her reaction to Eli confession (the calm sorting of the plates killed).

Also watching Sherlock special again made me realise how many similar ideas to the last season of Doctor Who are in it. It might be good that Moffat is starting to look for someone to take over Doctor Who. I don't dislike him like some corners of the web do but I think change could be good for everyone.

This was the time when some of The Husbands of River Song met and I loved that Alex Kingston got the first billing in the intor (I also liked the added snow).

So we learn River had at at least three husbands and two wives. She does get around when Doctor is not around. And she keeps stealing his ride. Of course I don't know why he acted so surprised he gave her the keys so why wouldn't she take rides when she needs to and she was never shy to mention her conquests (but I loved how they threw the names at each other).

I took great pleasure in Doctor getting all peeved by the fact that River had another husband. And was borrowing his TARDIS when he wasn't looking and he never noticed. And that she shown great disregard for him (and lives of people in general). And then he gets completely heartbroken when he hears River believes he never loved her back (or really cared that much). Do I think she meant any of it? Yes and no.

Yes - because she always treated him in a kind of utilitarian way - he's her ticket to adventure, ride when she need it and when she says love is an easiest lie you can tell a man and that he is terribly useful it hurts him right in the feels. She also obviously has a lot of her own adventures (in TARDIS and without it and plenty of other spouses) and life without him (even when she's in prison she gets out for things that are not dates - see Byzantium). I never really cared about complains that her life completely revolves around him (birth, childhood, death, prison) because that's only the part we see - the Doctor part. I always figured out she did stuff, a lot of stuff, neither we nor the Doctor knew about. It's easy to believe that Doctor is the hero of every story because he is the hero of every story we see but he's not the hero of every story of River Song life. To her he is Damsel in Distress and a ride. It was nice to get it confirmed. Sometime all she needed was TARDIS.

And yes - because we see that fragility and uncertainty about how much he cares before. The Time of Angels only just happened to her and she tried to hide her injury because he wouldn't like it and even after this she was surprised he saw her in The Name of the Doctor. There is this ever present doubt that he doesn't care nearly as much as she does. That he is only there for the fun part not the hard ones. It's not completely unfunded but she also does everything she can to hide it and he always try to show her how much he cares (heals her hand with his regeneration energy, tells her he always sees her but it hurts too much and tells her there is always a song when you need).

No - because River lies and exaggerates. When she tells Hydroflax about what she will do with the diamond she gives a Doctor-like speech about giving it back to good people and then just steals it and sells it to highest bidder. She has a reserved space on a ship for mass murderers but she tries to save it from crashing. She says what is necessary or just sounds cool at the moment. Or just to distract people or gain time. It doesn't make what she says true. It doesn't mean there isn't a core of truth in there but she also knows how much he cares about the humans he is close to, how much he would sacrifice for them. To her they last saw each other in Manhattan - she saw what the loss of her parents meant and what he'd do for her. We see her say outright lies or just half truths all the time (including this episode) with full conviction and it's often hard to say when she lies (remember how she pretended she didn't know why they were at Lake Silencio or who was the girl in spacesuit or that Doctor is alive). I'm not even 100% sure she really didn't recognised him (95% sure but not 100%). (So I can believe they could meet again before this for River and after for him.)

So I think there truth in all she says about him but it isn't the whole truth. The first part is exaggeration for lulz and the second is exaggeration of her fears for time. Just enough to fool the lie detector. Not enough to full encompass the flowchart of their feelings.

I liked how Doctor smiled and laughed when he met River. He’s so happy to see her again. And then she keeps refusing to recognise him and he can observe how she is when she’s not with him and what she calls him - Damsel (in Distress) who needs rescuing all the time (I suppose from her point of view that happens a lot) - and how she behaves - steals and ~~kills~~tires to kill (like a good psychopath she was raised to be) and how much he loves him. And they can’t stop flirting even when one of them doesn’t know who the other one is. Or even when both of them think the other one just doesn’t love them as much as they love them (it breaks my heart and makes me feel fuzzy inside at the same time). And then they get even ~~worse~~better. And he finally stops avoiding it (he always avoids things he doesn't like) and just like with his death (until the Brigadier died) and Clara (until she erase herself from his memories) so with saying goodbye to River (so many times) there has to be something forcing his hand. But there is always last time. For everything there is always first and last time.

Of course I’m biased because I love River.

"What do you think by the way?"
"About what?"
"My new body."
"Oh, I'll let you know. I've only seen the face."

General observations:

I love how Doctor said people need flowchart for their relationship.

River carries fez in her bag and she knows where he keeps alcohol/has secret storage for alcohol in TARDIS cotrol room (every control room - the new design doesn't seem to faze her). And once again she knows better what console levers and buttons do (let's all avoid deck 7).

Some people seemed to be (pleasantly) surprised River had wives but River has been based in 51st century when Jack's from) most of her life and this is 54th - it'd be surprising if she didn't.

Doctor mentions the haircut and suit just before he recognises River. She's not impressed. But she likes the new one he wears for their last night/(beginning of) 24 years.

People complain she seemed much nicer and caring about human lives in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. This is last time they meet for the Doctor and second to last for River - next time it's Ten and she dies - but we don't know how long it is between these two events for River. She is still mostly Doctor here and she is very insistent on Professor then so it might be a while (and the 24 years).

This is their last goodbye (as far as we know). The first one was when Ten met her but it didn't mean much as the Doctor (and we) didn't know her yet. The final goodbye for the River was in The Name of the Doctor (for her and Eleven) and now this is the Doctor seeing her for the last time (this is why she said "Spoilers" in TNotD). Now he (and we) know how much it really hurt.

"Sonic trowel. Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?" says a man with sonic sunglasses.

Also the Williams family and trowels

Just made me all misty eyed a bit.

This was season full of references - to old Doctor Who episodes and to newer ones - places, enemies and friends. And so was this episode - Doctors (Ten, Eleven, One), friends (Donna, Amy and Rory), places (diner, barn, home). It was also about dealing with loss and letting go and boy, the Doctor is truly bad at that.

The worst quality of Doctor is that he is always right. He will do whatever it takes - even punch a wall for billions of years - and he always wins. But he spent all this time teaching Clara how to be just like him. And she is great at this. She is so great at it she out-doctored the Doctor. He has tendency to force his solutions on people. Clara said "no". This was the best talk of the season - "Nobody is ever safe. [...] Tomorrow's promised to no one, Doctor, but I insist upon my past. I am entitled to that. It's mine." It's reverse Donna only Doctor can figure out some of it because he's really clever.

The thing with prophecies is that they can be easily misinterpreted. The prophecy said the Hybrid will kill billion hearts to heal it’s own and Doctor dies billions of times to heal his heart - to get Clara back. It says the Hybrid will stand in the ruin of Gllifrey and he does at the end of time when everything is gone. And he unravels the web of time save Clara. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy - it only happens this way because Time Lords decided to force Doctor to tell them who the Hybrid is so they created the situation that lead to Clara dying and that lead to him doing all the prophesied things

They’ve been teasing us with Clara’s death the whole season. Daleks kill her but not really. Zygons kill her but not quite. And finally Raven kills her dead but Doctor finds a way around that too. Clara always had special relationship with death - there were all those versions of her who died for the Doctor and her whole existence was struggling with it - she saved Doctor (got him more regenerations) and tried to get Danny back (almost made it) so this was all very much part of the course. Of course this time Doctor went all the way to destroy the Universe level but he watched her die for him twice already - enough is enough.

The other recurring themes this season were confession dial - and now we know what it does. Frenemies - with enough time it’s hard to tell friend from enemy. We saw it played with Missy - his greatest enemy (at least she thinks so) and his oldest friend (the one he gave the confession dial to and who gave him Clara). Now we see the opposite wit the Time Lords and even Sisterhood of Karn. Friends, enemies - it all becomes fluid with time. Like Ashildr - friend, foe, victim, rescuer, adviser, companion - all depends on perspective. And time.

Also the Doctor says he came long way round - that’s what Me says. And Ashildr did it again at the end. Doctor might’ve went 4.5 billion years to get there but she must’ve lived much, much longer. As we know from Utopia end of Universe is more like 100 trillion years in the future. And now she adds time travel to it. And now she travels with the dead girl. They say the time slows and you can live you whole life in the second before your death. Clara does it literally.

I like how the diner from Impossible Astronaut was foreshadowing what happens in the end. Clara is basically doing what Eleven did after the events of Impossible Astronaut (and the Doctor went all The Wedding of River Song on Clara). He travelled to his death - fixed point in time - the long way round. Took about 200 years, didn’t it? And he told Me you can avoid anything if you stole a time machine - the summer can last forever. Also the Orient Express version of “Don’t Stop Me Now” playing in the background. Having a good time. I’m sure you do Clara.

And she leaves Doctor with one last smile and a version of her trademark phrase. And the last of memories peel off the TARDIS.

Peter Jackson posted this on his facebook. It looks like he is going to direct that Doctor Who episode. And that he is getting his Dalek.

This was an interesting weekend...
Posted by Peter Jackson on 29 listopada 2015

Also some nice jabs at Moffat writing and Jackson directing styles. And he is actually sir Peter Jackson.

I liked this episode of Doctor Who. Even though it was a bottle episode and had only one character in it. Also Peter Capaldi is a great actor and he seemed to have great fun doing this. I also like the visuals of the clockwork castle. It was very opening credits like.

I figured out it was a loop by the time Doctor found the clothes but it was a nice look at how much work Doctor puts in figuring it all out. And also at his ego - even in his imagination he needs audience to impress.

There are few recurring themes this season. The frenemy part - after long enough time you can't always tell the difference - Missy, Davros, Ashildr (Me) but now it also seems to include the Time Lords. Then there is how they keep teasing us with Clara's death - it basically happens in every story she's in (Daleks, Zygons, now the Raven) - it's getting hard to imagine how the real thing is going to be like. And now we have the whole thing with the will and testament being the forced confession. A torture device meant for extracting all the deepest secrets. Even if it takes billions of years.

But we are back at Gallifrey. Finally, some answers! Like who is that old woman.

So finally, my long postponed thoughts on the story about Doctor and his friends and enemies and their long tumulus history together.

I was meh about another Dalek story but this was really about Doctor's relationship with his oldest enemies. How after such a long time they are defined by each other. And may even be sort of friends. We saw it with Missy - perfectly fine to taunt and torture the Doctor but unwilling to even contemplate the Universe without him. Their relationship is antagonistic but it also depends on each other. It's similar with Davros - their whole lives are intertwined and defined by hate of each other. Doctor was there for all the important, defining events of Davros life. And Davros actions defined Doctor's life in may ways (and the rest of Time Lords - Missy's quip about killing Daleks was priceless). No wonder he came when Davros asked. He cannot not to even though he spent a lot of time mulling about this.

And I think what they said to each other was genuine in many ways even though they both planned to cheat the other. It was part of their old, old argument - Davros showing compassion is weakness and Doctor letting Davros ruthlessness destroy his plans. I also think Doctor was expecting he might die when his regeneration energy was drained from him but was rescued by Missy not letting anyone else kill him.

I also loved how most of the time we got two pairings that hate each other. Doctor and Davros are ancient one but Clara has a very good reason to hate Missy and her working with an enemy until she gets betrayed but preserving in the end mirrored Doctor very nicely.

Some quick reactions to the episode.

I liked how Missy was the Doctor for most of the episode. Doing seemingly random things that turn out to be a brilliant plan to outsmart the enemy. Including a lot of trash talking. Of course she is also evil so she has mean streak where Doctor has compassion so she tried to make him kill Clara.

Also the ending - last year she used Cybermen as her personal army. I wonder if it’s now Dalek turn.

Miss Oswald was back inside a Dalek. That’s how the Doctor met the Impossible Girl. Maybe if he told her she’d know she should’ve rambled about souffles.

We’ve seen Daleks say “mercy” before - it wasn’t that surprising but I think that’s the first time Doctor wondered why. But of course the “I show mercy” part was really shocking thing to say for a Dalek.

The whole thing where basically every emotion is turned into “Exterminate!” was brilliant and made such a perfect sense for Daleks. The name thing however didn’t - or the thing with Daleks having names has been retconned? I lose track sometimes what is the current cannon.

Davros knows Gallifrey still exists. I liked how Davros set up Doctor for a trap only it turned out Doctor made his own trap but there is no way that confession won’t come to bite his ass.

The Doctor is back and this episode had so much past it was almost as old as the Doctor. I wait till the second part to write something more about the plot this is just gushing about the connections both with the Doctor Who history and the people and places. And it has reminded us Peter Capaldi used to be in a band.

I liked the jokes - both Doctor with his anachronisms and Missy with her pay attention to me attitude (every plane in the world stopped just to talk to Clara) - from fish tank to the square in hot country. But the Danny Pink jab was low one and the fit she threw at even the mention of being good was a little sad. She deserved al that hissing and booing.

And it was really nice to see The Maldovarium, Shadow Architect and Sisterhood of Karn again. The New Who is old enough to have it's own references now so it wasn't all just the old Doctor foes and memories of Four. Of course the references to classic stories were the meat of the episode - Skaro's back (proving again that nothing is ever dead in sf - especially if that sf is Doctor Who) and the should Doctor kill Davros dilemma is back and it was all nice but this all happened before so I preferred the YA dystopia with that War (see the young people with bows in a apocalyptic war being killed left and right by incomprehensible weapons). Could've been a major motion picture or at least a book series.

I loved how both the shorts fit with the story - The Doctor's Meditation ends where this episode begins and that's where he is hiding (and he mentions the well, visitor's centre and all the other stuff in the episode) and that's the party Bors promises him. But I do have some questions - if Bors was Dalek agent all along why Davos couldn't find him? Davos says he does not control Daleks but would they really not tell him if they knew when Doctor was all along? Doctor was there for weeks and they didn't do a thing - didn't tell Davros (or Colony Sarff), didn't try to kill him, only took TARDIS after he was gone. Maybe he was only coverted after that snake bit hime because why go with all the Doctor crazy for that long otherwise. But then Doctor told Bors about that War and meeting Davros. Maybe that was the point?

Missy the best friend who really hates not being THE Archenemy. The Master always had an obsession with the Doctor but this is the full admission of the frenemy status. As Doctor says himself in the prologue with enough time friends and enemies are almost the same thing. He gives the Sisterhood of Karn the testament to give to Missy so they both know she is firmly in that category. But if he didn’t believe she was dead then why does he believe it now? After all both she and Clara had vortex manipulators (and Missy said hers is controls Clara’s) and this looked almost the same as when she died the last time. I can’t believe he didn’t notice. Missy was really great in this episode and I’m pretty sure she had a plan from the very start.

I suppose we are to believe Doctor will decide to kill Davros this time (unlike Four - the one with the scarf) but we all know Daleks are not going anywhere so all this can end in is status quo. Too bad as it could've been fun if he actually killed the kid or saved him and gave him a nice home (or you know stopped that war). So I give up on that. What I really want is for that guy with the bow to be saved. He was awesome. Skaro could use more people like him.

Here is a new Doctor Who minisode where he revisits the Sisters of Karn to prepare for a meeting with an old enemy

And here are the trailers for the Syfy coming attractions

And now I go to deal with my headache

It's tow weeks until Doctor Who returns with new episodes and for those watching them in cinema in US there will be even a little extra minisode - The Doctor's Meditation. There are also all the news about all the people coming back (often from the dead). Michelle Gomez is returning as Mistress and one person she killed is also coming back - Ingrid Oliver is Osgood again (now, which one was Zygon) and whoever Maisie Williams is playing also might be someone from the Doctor's past.

And then the best of all River Song is coming back on Christmas (a prefect gift). I always felt she should've hang out with more than one incarnation. After all she told 10 she knows many of his faces.

And here are some of the new trailers for series 9:

Ten years ago last week a new episode of Doctor Who was shown in UK. There's an anniversary post at the

who_daily with all the links s there is no point of reposting all of that. And I written my thought about the series before too so there isn't anything more to say really. Doctor Who is more popular than ever and there is no sign of stopping even though most TV series never last that long. Of course we only just had 50th anniversary so it can hardly be called any series. And of course it was gone for 15 years before that (not counting the TV movie) so even if it stopped now it wouldn't necessarily meant it's gone forever.

When I started watching it ten years ago I didn't expect it to be so fun or that I will end up caring so much. I thought about Doctor Who as a kid show so it took me some time to get to it. I think it was almost finishing the first series when I started but it didn't take long for it to become one of my favourite sf series. By the time Captain Jack shown I was completely sold. I was so sad about Ecclestone leaving after just one season and couldn't imagine the show without him even though I knew how Doctor Who works. That's how it's still is for me - hard to say goodbye every time - but in a way that was the hardest because that was the Doctor who made me start thinking about Doctor Who as a proper science-fiction series. So in some ways he's always be my Doctor even when I love some of the other incarnations more.

So here's current Doctor's (remember Peter Capaldi's an old fan) thoughts on Rose

It finally stopped raining and was sunny today. This means it's now quickly getting colder and almost feels like winter (there should be frost in the morning). And it's time for Doctor Who episode while I'm wearing one of my presents. This really starting to feel like Christmas.

I loved Last Christmas. I think it went there on top of my favourite Doctor Who Christmas specials along with A Christmas Carol and The Christmas Invasion (The Time of the Doctor is a bit more special than normal special). I loved everything about Last Christmas from the Inception and The Thing (and of course Alien) borrowings to the classic Moffat obsession with looking and monsters. Everything including Santa Clause worked perfectly in this episode.

I loved Nick Frost's Santa and his banter both with the elves and the Doctor - especially when Santa was using Doctor's own lines against him. Of course the last scene that leaves you wondering whether they are out of the dream or the Santa was real all along was perfect too. Especially after all his jibes about how Doctor is no more believable - alien in a blue police box - and of course call back to the Robin Hood episode (Doctor should now by now not just call people non-existent). So is the Doctor another dream? Of course the Inception doesn't end there - the whole thing with old Clara was also part of it (the callback to last year with helping with the cracker was almost too much - especially after the kick in the feels with Danny). I knew she wouldn't die but I thought that that was true, that this is how Clara leaves, that this was what Jenna was alluding to in all those interviews. They completely got me there (but I knew there were still dreaming because Santa on Clara's roof so at least I got that).

The facehugger crab monsters got Alien callback in the script but everything else from crab legs to polar base and taking over and the paranoia was The Thing. In the movie they didn't know who was real here they didn't even know what is real and nothing is. I loved how it seemed like they are in the (near) future and even that wasn't true. The whole polar expedition is just a fantasy - both a dream - better life than their real ones - and a nightmare - alien horror movies kind. And of course they were typical Moffat monsters - only see you when you see them and think of them - a kind of reverse Silence scenario. There's a reason why it works so well so many times.

I loved that Santa saves the day. Multiple times. Even if he was imaginary.

Even dream Danny is perfect and saves Clara. I'm still so mad that he's dead.

I now consider my theory that Twelve have face recognition disorder confirmed - he couldn't tell if base crew are the same people nor Clara's age - our faces mean nothing to him.

I loved the jokes. I loved the plot. I loved the guest characters - Ashley, Shona, Fiona and Albert (another Troughton on Doctor Who) and of course Santa and comedy elves.

There was a lot of episodes this season that just made me angry and it made it hard to like Twelve as much as I liked the other Doctors but this one was perfect. And Clara and Doctor are perfect and I'm so glad she's staying.

This was not my day. I was a walking disaster today - dropping and spilling and crushing everything I touched. I'm surprised there isn't more damage. Although my laptop might be dead - I'm not sure yet. So at least I had the Christmas special - it went perfectly.

It's been raining for 3 days now. Yesterday evening it was a regular downpour with water streaming down the streets today it's mostly back to drizzle. It's also been getting warmer and it's 16 ^oC outside now and I just was walking outside in my short sleeves t-shirt. So it looks nothing like Christmas. But in a way it does as who really have seen snow on Christmas? Most of my memories is rain and mud and that's what's outside (only warmer) and that's what my family says they have back home. So I talked to them while they've been eating Christmas Eve supper and they showed me their presents (we open them after the supper is done) - my favourite was when my nephew got a nerf gun and my nice got a bow and they proceeded with shooting everything including each other.

So here is your presents - BBC radio adaptation of Good Omens. The first 3 episodes are already available worldwide and will stay on for next 4 weeks. The final 3 episodes will be out in next 3 days. It is pretty awesome and there's cameo in first episode that you really want to pay attention to.

And in preparation for traditional Doctor Who Christmas episode here's Doctor Puppet Christmas special:

And here's the card with that tiny bit of winter I got last February.

And now I go to celebrate Christmas Eve with friends. Enjoy your Holidays.

It's been almost a week and I still don't know how I feel about the ending of Doctor Who. There were things I loved and the things I hated but mostly my patience for grand, emotional things that make no sense has been worn thin by this series so I feel kind of annoyed.

Let's start with Clara. She has no idea what 3W is but it seems like Danny only just got there and she just buried him so shouldn't she know about this new funeral thing that taken over the world and allows for communication with the dead? So it means that this is all happening in the future (and Missy transferred Danny to Nethersphere timey whimey right in time for Clara's arrival). Near future but still the future for Clara. Which means that if Doctor takes her home she has to live through 3W taking over and not react. Not tell Osgood she is doomed. Not try to find Danny earlier. Just wait till it's over and never see Danny again.

It's like the Moon thing. Clara doesn't seem like a person who would let all those millions die when she could just tell UNIT to help organise a way to save them and to spread the news that Moon dragon is harmless. Same with 3W - is she really just going to sit there ignore the Mistress setting up her trap? The whole thing starts with what she'd do to save Danny and it's blackmailing Doctor into creating a paradox. She doesn't seem like a person who would just stand by.

Maybe Doctor left her in that future. But then what her family and co-workers think about there being missing all that time? Maybe she doesn't live long enough. But what about Orson Pink? Is Clara pregnant and that's why she stays away? But she doesn't look pregnant in Christmas previews and I don't think she'd abandon a toddler to go on adventure with the Doctor.

This is just a tip of the iceberg of thought that sinks the plot when you start to think about it. How could remains of long dead people be any better than dirt? What about future people who have no remains (and robots)? If they get re-bodied too why would burning or not of a corpse really matter? And why say noone ever had this idea when Egyptians obviously did? Where does all that metal come from? Why were they even on a plane when they know about the clouds? Why did

I hated Danny's death. I suspected that he was going to die as he was way too perfect - understanding and forgiving and responsible and loving. So obviously he was fridged just to set the events in motion. I hate it when they make us like a character only so they can become a plot point. Especially when it's so obviously the only reason for their existence. (And no the reversal of usual male/female dynamic doesn't make it any better.)

I also hate that the Nethersphere had to disintegrate. I hate when things get a tidy ending like that - like it never happened and everyone will forget by the next day, right? Especially when I know it's so Danny could sacrifice himself one more time and Clara would be truly heart broken. Also because I'm sure Missy will be back and we went through so many fake deaths so far and resurrections it almost feels like Amy/Rory ending. Instead of sad I feel cheated because I feel like I'm being forced to feel sad. And I haven't even mentioned Osgood yet. She was way to genre savvy not to know what the whispering thing means. Is there a more cliche way of escape?

But I loved Michele Gomez as the Mistress. She was perfect mix of deranged and brilliant. The overcomplicated plan to give Doctor a present out of human race was perfectly in character. For a while Master was becoming more and more obsessed with the Doctor and now it reached true stoker level. I loved that she pretended to be android interface and the kissing and the Doctor's horror when she finally told him who she really was.

Clare impersonating the Doctor once again and lying and talking and manipulating her way out of the tight spot. I even liked how she did what the Doctor asked and didn't believe it was Danny even though he repeated her "I love you" back at her but then believed in him to the end and got Doctor to turn his emotions of because he asked her to do it. And how she risked everything to make Doctor bring him back. Just like Rory was ready to sacrifice the Universe for Amy. The Docotr responds well to that so helping her was a nice bit of continuity. I also loved how she couldn't get over how ordinary and boring his death was. She risked her life on dozens alien planets with the most bizzare circumstances and he was run over by a car. This was one moment when I truly felt the sadness about Danny's death (instead of annoyance).

And I loved Cybermen reveal and UNIT and Kate and Osgood and how Osgood tricked Missy so she could be captured. I loved Cyberman Brigadier saving his daughter and Doctor saluting. This was perfect and perfectly timed in the weekend before the 11 of November. And that Doctor in the end gave the choice back to humans - Danny and the other dead - to save their own world.

So I don't know how I feel. But hopefully the Christmas episode will make it better (and resolve some issues). It has Nick Frost as Santa Claus and can there be anyone more perfect for that (just look at his name)? And it seems like he can go toe to toe with Doctor - at least in this Children in Need (you can donate here) special:

There are a lot of awesome Halloween costumes all over the web but this one beats them all (straight in the feels). I never noticed the resemblance before.

The clear sign that the year ends is near - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies trailer is here:

We are also getting promos for winter TV.

The Librarians series is coming next month and it looks fun (I always liked the movies and as Discworld teaches us one should not cross librarians)

And the Agent Carter preview that aired during Marvel special (Jarvis actor looks a lot like Paul Bettany, doesn't he?)

Today on Doctor Who we learnt that Doctor uses Google maps for Terrestrial navigation. With the prevalent use of iPads in the future it looks like someone is going to look really dated in a few years.

Last week the Doctor leant Clara was lying to him and today so did Danny. Of course then she did it again - to save the Doctor. As Doctor said last week - great survival skill but bad habit.

It also showcased the difference between Danny and Clara. She was all: amazing forest - contact the Doctor - mystery to solve - go and see the flare. He was concentrated on making sure the kids were safe and getting them home. She'd rather go with the Doctor and he'd rather stay with the kids. And he even forgave Clara's lying. Again. He's almost too nice and grown up for Doctor Who.

The premise of the episode was once again completely ridiculous but, unlike the Moon episode, in this one the emotional point wasn't undermined by its inaccuracies so I could ignore the magical appearances and disappearances of biomass and all that magical solar flare dissolving by trees (but what about satellites and ISS?). But I liked the call backs to previous episodes - even the Moon one.

Also interesting - this series has many more kids in it. It's much easier to remember I shouldn't overthink the science because it's a kid's show when there are kids listening to Doctor's ramblings.

Also Missy is interfering with the Doctor more and more and it looks like this is only going to get more intense.

I should also probably admit that I finally liked the whole episode of Intruders. I watched the final episode and it was almost fun.

Jack Whelan finally stopped whining about not believing and did a lot of reasonable things - from calling help to burning the Qui Reverti stuff to saving Madison. And then he was invited to be a Shepherd. I'm pretty sure he will accept to get closer to Rose. Now that he knows what she is the only way to keep track of the whole thing is to be close to those people. But I'm not sure why they want him after he destroyed the ability to return for so many of them. Maybe they believe that if they keep him close he'll cause less damage?

Madison, of course, was always badass and she kicked Marcus out to lake afterlife. Now she's back in charge and alone and herself again and if there is another season Jack will probably try to make Amy do that to Rose.

So the good thing is that Jack has finally faced the truth. Too bad Rose didn't. She still doesn't understand that trying to selfishly bring back her love just destroys more lives and that her boyfriend's problems cannot be solved with new body. Also, is Julian Randol everywhere or what?

I still don't understand how the whole possession thing works as Rose in charge 9-10 years ago before Madison was born) to bury Marcus but then Amy was herself again? I thought once they were awaken the Reverti gradually took over in matter of days/weeks/months at most and the original personality just went dormant. Here it looks like they switched for years and Amy and Jack not only moved to Seattle and almost had a baby but Richard Shepherd fell in love with Amy too before Rose took over completely.

I really liked the last two episodes of Doctor Who. The Mummy on the Orient Express and Flatline were both great and I'm very happy about it because - one - they came after than Moon mess and - two - this is the first time this series I like two episodes in row.

What I really liked is how these two episodes, in the essence, are about how it is to be the Doctor. The MotOR was Doctor explaining it to Clara and Flatline was Clara trying it out herself. I think this whole series is about it - the Doctor trying to show Clara how it is to be him - the man who makes impossible decisions. He fails spectacularly in the Moon Egg episode so he then tries a less shock method and it works. But now that she gets it he doesn't seem to happy about it.

Maybe it's because it is a pretty awful job and Clara seemed to like it way too much. As being the Doctor is pretty much sacrificing one person after another until you can solve the problem and lying to them along the way to improve their performance. Sure you save the world and as many people as possible along the way but it doesn't help those who were died along the way.

I also think that Clara is addicted to travelling with the Doctor. We saw this a bit with Amy and Rory - they were never going to give it up all by themselves. And Clara though she could. She thought she had a reason too and then she couldn't. When faced with it actually being the end she couldn't. And she lied about it. She lied to the Doctor and she lied to Danny. When she lied to Danny before it was kind of understandable - it's hard to tell people you are travelling with an alien in blue box through time and space. But now she lies so she can have what she craves without anyone questioning her motives. Like a true addict.

This doesn't change the fact that Clara was brilliant in this episode. She made a fantastic Doctor. She took control of situation to save as many as she could and she figured out how to turn her enemies power against them. Just like the Doctor would do.

And Missy seems pretty happy with how it went. It made me wonder if she was behind Gus and the 2D excursion too.

I also liked the temporary companions. In MotOE - Perkins the train mechanic who was already solving the mystery and was the a temporary companion when Clara was unavailable and even got invited to stay. And in Flatline - Clara got her own companion to help her solve the case.

I loved the designs last week - both train and mummy - and the special effects today were really cool - from the infinite bag to Flat people. And tiny TARDIS was awesome. Good thing you can buy it already.

I think I finally reached that moment when the current Doctor is The Doctor and past is past. Now only the future matters and I'm really excited to see what happens next.

Also - isn't this the best version of Don't Stop Me Now?

I had a very hard time with this episode because it was dependant on so much hand waving it was hard for me to turn my brain off - every time I was ignoring something they hit me with something even more ridiculous. I know it's just Doctor Who so I shouldn't expect any scientific accuracy but this was particularly hard episode for me. There was also a moment when I thought I missed a part of the episode - the cuts between the shuttle dropping, Doctor returning and the inside of the base were so sudden I started thinking this was first filmed as two parter and then cut in last minute. It just added to the all the horrible things about this episode - from the real consequences of something like that happening to the Moon to screw you democracy I know better even though I'm not one living it - and the knowledge that Doctor Who always ends dilemmas like this with magical happy endings (shell dissolving without trace, all the tide/orbit problems magically going away, New Moon) so the whole conflict was just to show how less evolved humans are (even though they are the ones dying). All this made the whole thing felt like cheating because you know both unique creature and Earth had to be saved at the end so even when everything that was happening would basically leave the whole planet devastated you know that the right decision must be to let the Space Dragon live.

I liked the idea of the moral dilemma but I couldn't get into the actual conflict because the stakes were so obviously rigged (from the moment Doctor snarks about the bombs you know they are the wrong choice) and so ridiculously fake (every bit of physics and biology in this is dream logic) I just felt cheated. We never see people dying all over the Earth and neither does Clara or Courtney - for them they are purely theoretical problem while Moon creature is here and now and about to be killed - but they are the ones who get decide ignoring the people who actually will suffer the consequences. And then magically this has absolutely no negative consequences (not even the flyby of Moon sized Dragon). And now they both also know to move away from the coasts before 2039.

However, I loved the idea of Doctor letting humans decide their own faith. And I was totally with Clara on her outburst at the end because he just told them the scary parts and then left. While they were being attacked by the gravity changing, unicellular, space spiders. So that conflict was actually an interesting one and a way of showing the complexity of relationship between human and a 2000 year old alien. Sometimes they may really not understand each other. Too bad it was wasted on such a horrible mess of a story.

Also Jack Whelan and Marcus should just take the fall from the roof instead of Gary. I actually prefer the Qui Reverti to them now even though I wish they all died irreversibly. The guy who Rose brought back to satisfy her selfish needs was right - some things shouldn't be done. Like almost all that Jack says or does. As Shepard says - there is no justice. The only person I actually want to succeed is that policeman - please let him just arrest everybody forever.

The only thing that made me feel better was watching Peter Capaldi being adorably embarassed by his own fandom past (and Denzel Washington being completely confused by all those weird new concepts - Doctor Who, Eurovision Song Contest, Malmo).

There was an alien and a threat of world destruction in Doctor Who tonight but the episode wasn't about that. It was an introduction episode. The episode when the Doctor and the boyfriend meet. It doesn't go well. Doctor is awful to Danny from the start. Of course you can say Doctor was always like that. Mickey got treated even worse and it's easy to forget his first interactions with Rory also weren't all that nice. But he's all approving when he thinks the boyfriend is the 11 lookalike not the soldier and the whole interaction with Danny - even before Doctor knows about his relationship with Clara - is so full of prejudice and contempt it's uncomfortable (especially with real life class and race undertones). Doctor completely ignores anything that doesn't fit his preconceptions (soldier and maths teacher, inconceivable!) and being awful to not only Danny but also Clara for questioning them. I was really enjoying Danny mocking him for it and standing up to him and not letting Clara just placate things with "he's not a soldier". I frankly wanted to slap the Doctor through most of this.

Of course there was another historical reference in this. When Danny learns about aliens and thinks Clara is an alien too and is Doctor's daughter and you remember it's the same school Susan went to and there were teachers then who also got suspicious and found the Doctor and that's how it all started. First wasn't nice to them either.

It also looks like we have final confirmation that 12 has some kind of face blindness - he cannot tell Orson and Danny look the same or that his new face looks older then Clara's (hell, half of the time Clara's face confuses him). Apparently, getting a new regeneration set comes with Scottish accent and prosopagnosia.

Also Clara said she loves Danny :)

And Doctor mentioned River ♥

Miss disruptive influence was kind of awesome. She didn't let the Doctor dismiss her and gets a TARDIS ride from it - too bad she doesn't have the stomach for it.

Intruders finally got to the point and now that it's in the open we get to see Rose - the Reverti who took over Amy. We get to see her goals and glimpses of her history and meet the man she truly loved. So much in fact that she risks everything - including future lives - to bring him back (it is against the rules). It looks like the Reverti empire is falling apart both from outside (people like Jack and Gary and Bill Anderson with his ghost machine learning about them) and inside (Marcus, Richard, Rose going against the rules). Also, it looks like it takes time for the Reverti soul to take over and get rid of previous owner (also see Madison) but I'm still not sure about timing - when was Rose triggered. Amy's boss and Jack and Amy's neighbours were all on it so if they did it right after they moved from LA it's been a while. And Rose was already showing up when Amy was pregnant. How long does it take to take over? Marcus is pretty much in charge already.

Now that's an episode that I loved. I loved the secondary characters, the monster and the antagonist but most of all I loved the Time Heist itself.

I generally like the time loop stories and this also had a lot of that classic space rouges, future heist qualities that I love. I saw someone compare it to Farscape's Liars, Guns and Money and it was fun in the same crazy way. There are all the different skills each of the team brings to the heist and the reasons why they decided to do it. There is a plan they cannot even remember to accomplish it. And there is a monster to chase them (and to save).

Being genre savvy meant I anticipated a lot of stuff. I was pretty sure Saibra and Psi were not dead. I liked them too much to even consider otherwise but I also know that there in this kind of adventure there wouldn't have been a point in finding their prizes otherwise. I was pretty sure that either Ms. Delphox or Karabraxos were behind the heist - whoever organised it knew the Bank too well for it not to be an inside job - but I wasn't expecting it to be the future version. And of course Doctor was the Architect. He could pop on TARDIS and place all those things just in the right place to find them when they stumbled around. He knows his own stumbling pattern. But none of this decreased my enjoyment of the episode.

This was just so much fun. And all the guest stars were awesome - I ended up wishing both Saibra and Psi could stay for one more adventure. And Keeley Hawes was pretty awesomely evil in all her incarnations.

And I loved that Clara changed her shoes.

Doctor Who - I don't know what to think about Listen. I kept switching my mind during the episode - I liked it at one moment and then didn't like it at another and then I ended at meh? I liked Clara and Danny but the Rupert thing was kind of creepy and not in the scary way (although I liked the Doctor's conversation with the night caretaker). I liked Orson but the whole great-grandparent thing just weirded me out. I loved the War Doctor connection but Clara being the cause of this whole 'fear under the bed thing' seemed way to repetitive (she's already scattered all over his timeline). And by the end I didn't even care if the monsters were real (too many of those already in Moffat's repertoire anyway). But I really love the Doctor and Clara's relationship now - especially the banter.

I was starting to get into the Intruders - especially Madison (the actress is pretty awesome) but they lost me at the end again. I'm starting to figure out that the returnees have some kind of ritual that once they pass gets them new bodies. When they wake up in them it's like a possession - the other soul is still there and can fight them (like Madison tries to fight Marcus and maybe that's why that teen killed herself in the pilot). I assume that in the house Marcus can kick Madison out/take over permanently. This is the interesting part - the rest is a mess. John Simm's character and most people around him behave in such a unnatural way that it's hard for me to feel the unnaturalness of the returnees. They just cannot reach his level of false emotion (the outburst in the car was especially bad). Also his dialogue mostly seems more like something from pulp noire detective novel (or The Tick voiceover) than actual human communication. James Frain's character is a blank hole of being vaguely menacing and shooting people. And there's a lot of whisper shouting. Still I'll keep watching for a little girl acting like an old man because it's eerie and creepy and this is what this whole show should be more like.

Z Nation felt like Syfy Original Movie or amateur webseries. I never been fan of zombies so I'm probably not the best judge of the premise but everything about it felt forced. See how our heroes meet and lose everything but find a reason to go on a roadtrip to save the world guided only by the voice coming on radiowaves. There is even the McGuffin for them to get to California. I'm not sure if I can take all the B-movie cliches that will come later.

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Thoughts, ramblings and other stuff

Entries tagged with doctor who

Recognition

The Long Goodbye

Who and Me

So that's what he does at home

Clockwork castle

I don’t like the glasses

In Moffat's Doctor Who we always keep doing it all over again

Close and distant future

Preparing to see you all again

10 years of new Doctor Who

I have a tangerine craving now

Holidays

I love mandarines

Winter is coming

No more lies

So this is were it all clicks

It's like someones half remembered dream

Declarations of love

Chinese takeout in the TARDIS

Stealing coffee