Doctor Who 2005-2017 : The RTD & Moffat Years

[Mr Trumpet]

Would have loved to have seen more of Faye Marsay in the show, she's fanciable AF

[Jerzy Bondov]

Great actor. Would make a good Doctor I think.

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

As it turned out, I quite liked Clara's arc. But I'd much rather have (somehow) had two seasons of Bill instead.

yes this! i'm really vibing with clara on my rewatch to my great surprise. bill is best though

[pigamus]

Would have loved to have seen more of Faye Marsay in the show, she's fanciable AF

Blimey, I've no memory of her at all, how odd

[JamesTC]

The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar features such incredibly exciting events. The return of Davros. The return of Skaro. The return of classic style Daleks. The return of The Master. The Doctor riding a tank with a guitar. I was so nonplussed and even a little bored. All this sort of wackiness and out there ideas now just seems like Moffat by the numbers.

Nice to see Skaro during the war albeit briefly and very little of it. I always had trouble visualising Skaro during the very good I, Davros audios. The Master and Clara going on an adventure to find out where they actually are was nice. I perked up with clips from better stories appeared. As was the return of the classic style Daleks. Much as the bronze Daleks are a lovely design, the classic coloured Daleks really show up many of the later variations. A cliffhanger teasing The Doctor killing baby Hitler seems a bit rum.

Part 2 doesn't start much better on the rum stakes. The Doctor steals a wheelchair off a man with no legs. Would you steal Hitler's wheelchair? It almost feels perverse learning how The Master escapes all the time. Clarek was silly but fun. I don't want to know why The Doctor left Gallifrey other than he was a bit bored and wanted adventure with his granddaughter. Davros and The Doctor having a jolly old laugh was not expected. It was so clear Davros had some ulterior motive. I was initially working on the idea that Davros needed to survive until sunrise for something to happen but I was close enough. The twist that The Doctor knew all along as well and was playing along was a surprise.

Overall it wasn't a particularly good start to the new series.

[Thomas]

The twist that The Doctor knew all along as well and was playing along was a surprise.

The only reason I thought this twist was a shame is that Capaldi is such a good actor; his conversation with Davros, taken as sincere, was wonderfully performed. Alas, the Doctor was only acting too.

[Poison To The Mind]

Would you steal Hitler's wheelchair?

[purlieu]

The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar features such incredibly exciting events. The return of Davros. The return of Skaro. The return of classic style Daleks. The return of The Master. The Doctor riding a tank with a guitar. I was so nonplussed and even a little bored. All this sort of wackiness and out there ideas now just seems like Moffat by the numbers.

Yeah, my recollection was loads of moments that made me go 'wow' but I actually felt worn out by the time it ended. It runs close to New Adventures style fanwank, which is something series 9 suffers with a bit. Which is the one that has a fleeting glimpse of every Doctor in a flashback story about an indeterminate Doctor? And isn't there a framed photo of Susan in one episode or something?

[Malcy]

And isn't there a framed photo of Susan in one episode or something?

Not sure about S9 but he has a photo of her on his desk in his office in S10.

[purlieu]

Ah. Maybe there's a picture of the Hartnell Doctor somewhere then? There's also another UNIT dating gag in the Zygon episodes.

[JamesTC]

Under the Lake/Before the Flood is an interesting take on the two parter structure. We are presented with essentially elements of a part two before we reach the first part with Before the Flood which then gives us the eventual resolution. Not quite up to the standard of Flip-Flop in terms of innovation, but still a nice change of pace.

The structure means that Under the Lake feels a bit lacking as it is all setting up some mysteries. The cliffhanger is great. Though I guessed straight away that The Doctor would intentionally allow himself to be ghostified in some way to resolve the problem. Okay, I was slightly wrong as it turned out to be a hologram but I was nearly right.

The Doctor breaking the fourth wall to talk to the audience about the bootstrap paradox was a bit too on the nose. If the plot can't stand on it's own that you feel it needs this sort of introduction, it is a fault of the scripting process. But even so, it doesn't feel necessary based on what happens. Is it just a lack of confidence in the audience? It is all explained at the end. They explain it twice, one at the beginning and once at the end.

I liked the contrast of the two different times and locations of the second part. The resolution was fine. It mostly all hanged together and was an improvement on the last two two-parters.

By the way, the sonic sunglasses are rubbish. And I don't like The Doctor playing the guitar. Like an old man's idea of what cool is.

[purlieu]

The Doctor breaking the fourth wall to talk to the audience about the bootstrap paradox was a bit too on the nose. If the plot can't stand on it's own that you feel it needs this sort of introduction, it is a fault of the scripting process.

Yeah, it's pretty shit. I suppose it's there for kids for whom the main plot might be slightly too complex. But I'm not a fan of it.

By the way, the sonic sunglasses are rubbish. And I don't like The Doctor playing the guitar. Like an old man's idea of what cool is.

I think that's kind of the point, but I also agree it's shit. Capaldi's three series each have a very different portrayal, and the "look I'm trying to be cool" version is by far the worst.

[JamesTC]

The Girl Who Died is a story which seems tonally off. A wacky comedy just doesn't seem right for the story they are telling. Unfortunately they now seem to be pushing Capaldi as far away from the serious side as possible. Then you have the sudden serious turn which felt odd just seconds after Benny Hill was playing.

Why exactly couldn't The Doctor save the girl at first? There was no fixed point in time stopping him or any of that nonsense. He could have just saved her straight away without the big realisation about why he chose his face. In that sense, the big realisation felt hollow even when taking into account the immortal thing. It was alien technology from the time, so it still should have no influence on the timeline, as it was nothing that would have been introduced through time travel.

The Doctor and the gang fighting off the soldiers with the fake dragon was good. A nice way for The Doctor to win a battle largely through non-violence.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

And I don't like The Doctor playing the guitar. Like an old man's idea of what cool is.

Plus it was basically just an excuse for Capaldi to show us that he can play guitar. All rather embarrassing and self-indulgent really.

[jamiefairlie]

Plus it was basically just an excuse for Capaldi to show us that he can play guitar. All rather embarrassing and self-indulgent really.

Rather Tony Blairesque

[canted_angle_again]

So much cynicism here!  Are we becoming too old and jaded for Doctor Who?

[Blofelds Cat]

Didnt bother me tbh...follows the tradition of Hartnell playing the lyre..Troughton recorder, Bakers picollo (the Pesatons) and McCoy spoon playing...wasnt there plans originally for Pertwee to play guitar and speak in parables?

[Replies From View]

Smith played the footballs

[pigamus]

Rather Tony Blairesque

Oh God, I wish you hadn't said that, now I won't be able to unsee it

[jamiefairlie]

So much cynicism here!  Are we becoming too old and jaded for Doctor Who?

No but we are old enough to remember when it wasn't complete and utter CBBC shite.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Smith played the footballs

Albeit briefly in just one episode, they didn't try to make Smith's footballing prowess part of his Doctor's character.

[Jerzy Bondov]

They should have done a scene where he's floating in space with a silly helmet on and he has to kick a football so he can float back to safety

[pigamus]

Albeit briefly in just one episode, they didn't try to make Smith's footballing prowess part of his Doctor's character.

The Doctor playing football is the ultimate betrayal though

[Jerzy Bondov]

Didnt bother me tbh...follows the tradition of Hartnell playing the lyre..Troughton recorder, Bakers picollo (the Pesatons) and McCoy spoon playing...wasnt there plans originally for Pertwee to play guitar and speak in parables?

Also they managed to work in Pertwee's love of cars, and Colin Baker's penchant for shouting

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

and Colin Baker's penchant for shouting

And his expanding girth. I wonder how he felt about that becoming part of his dynamic with Mel? "Haha! Look, kids, isn't this Doctor a big old fatty?!" Not very nice that.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Didnt bother me tbh...follows the tradition of Hartnell playing the lyre..Troughton recorder, Bakers picollo (the Pesatons) and McCoy spoon playing...wasnt there plans originally for Pertwee to play guitar and speak in parables?

Hartnell couldn't really play the lyre, though. Same goes for Baker and the piccolo. Could Troughton actually play the recorder? He only ever seemed to toot a few notes on it. McCoy, granted, can play the spoons, hence why they threw that in.

Anyway, I don't have some fundamental problem with actors sometimes using their real life skills in the roles they play, that would be daft, it's just that, as mentioned previously, Capaldi wearing shades and playing electric guitar was a bit naff.

[Mister Six]

I love the fourth-wall-breaking bit with the guitar and you can't stop me.

[Blofelds Cat]

If they really did want to maintain the Doctors eccentricity they should have had him play a Peruvian nose flute...or considering Moffat had raided every single plot point and line from his Comic Relief sketch and used them all in the actual programme he could have had Capaldi become a flatulist and met Le Petomane as that seasons historical figure...still would have been miles better than what Chibster has served up..

[canted_angle_again]

No but we are old enough to remember when it wasn't complete and utter CBBC shite.

I really don't think ANY of the Capaldi era could be described as anything like CBBC, it's closer to the Hinchcliffe era than anything else.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I really don't think ANY of the Capaldi era could be described as anything like CBBC, it's closer to the Hinchcliffe era than anything else.

I'm pretty sure Jamie was referring to the Chibnall era.