Doctor Who TV Show • Page 42

man that was... a way to defeat the villain. I thought s3 with The Master was the laziest you could get but this might actually take the cake

Russell T Davies - great writer, bad at finales, folks

 

What’s a season that’s ever truly nailed the finale? S4 and S10 are the only ones i can think of

 

Moffat nailed them more often than not imo. Big Bang is a fantastic finale

 

Yeah, this was a stinker for me. Not sure how I feel about Ruby’s story leading to this.

Guesses on who the neighbor lady will be? Susan? Missy? Someone else?

 

I quite liked the finale. Ruby's story was nice and Ncuti Gatwa was incredible the whole season. Can't wait for December.

 

love how the literal god of death, who can turn the entirety of life in the universe to dust with a thought, can't make a plastic strap break or get out of a bike lock. just riveting stuff

 

Well. You see, they introduced a magic bungee cord this episode.

 

I loved the finale. Really enjoyed Sutekh and the explanation for him and Susan Twist. The Memory TARDIS was great and thought Ncuti killed it in the moment realizing he was the cause by bringing Sutekh to all these worlds. The Ruby’s mother reveal also really worked for me and reminded me a lot of Rey in Last Jedi (pre Rise of Skywalker) and thought it was a very touching premise that she was important because she was important to Ruby. The strength of that memory/want plus Ruby’s connection to the Time Window being source of the “magical” things we’ve seen this year was a satisfying explanation to me.

 

Season was an 8/10 overall. Space Babies was like a 5/10 and the finale was a solid 6/10 for me, everything else an 8/10 or higher. Glad this show is good again.

 

I will say as much as I borderline hated this finale Mel tearing up over her bow/Sixie's coat gutpunched me in the feelings so well. RTD can still sell these little moments effortlessly even if he has no capacity at all to end a big story, and the fact that it's Classic's most reviled Doctor and companion getting that moment is really sweet. anyway,

Space Babies - 2/10
Devil's Chord - 8/10
Boom - 7/10
73 Yards - 10/10
Dot and Bubble - 1/10
Rogue - 7/10
Legend of Ruby Sunday - 8/10
Empire of Death - 3/10

truly wild spread of quality for me lmao

 

The Christmas special is pretty fun.

 

I keep forgetting to start watching Ncuti. I swear I'm not racist

 

Ncuti is great but it was one of the weaker seasons of the show overall imo. pretty limp introduction to his Doctor too, I still have no idea what 15's personality is supposed to be

haven't had a chance to see the Christmas special yet but I really think next season needs to be a heater

 

It's good but not as good as Boom. Joy and the Time Hotel both felt underutilised considering how key they were to the story, especially since it's a special so they can't say they didn't have time.

That said, I always appreciate writers who have the guts to make unsubtle political jabs while they're still relevant. Same reason I will stick up for Revolution of the Daleks. It's a fine line to walk but I think Moffat managed it very well here.

The overnight figures ain't great, hoping they were hit by it being earlier in the day and can be bumped up once iPlayer is factored in.

 

Feels like it’s supposed to be a vague mix of the four doctors that came before him. Idk, incredible actor doing the best with the characterization they’re giving him. Some good episodes in the first season, but also a lot of stuff that felt rushed due to the short season.

 

yeah both 13 and 15 really suffer from just being a vague idea of a happy go lucky Doctor without really digging into what that really means in any substantial way. 13 didn't really come alive for me until her speech about Shelley in Villa Diodati (more than halfway through her run lmao), I hope Ncuti gets some better material earlier than that

on a positive note I'm just wrapping up reading the 50th VNA before the year ends, I've really enjoyed getting into the extended universe stuff. some absolute trash in there but also some of the best material in the Doctor Who canon... so about the same hit rate as most seasons of the show lol

 

Saw a theory that the episode was one large bootstraps paradox. Evil corporation creates star to inspire/start Christianity, Christianity evolves into largest purchaser of weapons, massive weapons purchases create evil mega corporation. Really adds a darkness to the episode.

 

I finally managed to sit down and watch the Christmas special and thought it was okay. kind of a mix of good, just okay and baffling. it's hard to shake the feeling that RTD and Moff have used all of their great ideas already; even running on fumes it's still better than Chibnall, but this whole era just feels kinda empty

like, The Doctor crying over the Silurian guy and yelling at his future self are both powerful moments on paper, and I can see them being devastating in execution but they just don't work here. partly because they come out of nowhere in the flow of this episode and partly because we still have no idea who 15 really is lmao. he's been the happy go lucky Doctor all season and now Moffat goes all in on the self-loathing like he's writing for Matt Smith again. idk, really feels like this season was so patched together and short that there was no real opportunity to ever get attached to this character

on the plus side I loved that yearlong waiting sequence a lot, a much stronger take on 11 staying with Amy and Rory for a year. really beautiful and touching stuff, and it sold 15's friendship with Anita better than 9 episodes with Ruby did lol (not to mention Joy in this episode named after her feeling pretty undeveloped). seems like there's a lesson there about how slowing down the hectic pace of this era would do wonders for the characterisation but I'm not confident there. also I loved "pardon my French but what the French" lmao

 

I really enjoyed the Christmas episode and I do enjoy this version of the Doctor. I agree and can see some of the complaints / critiques above, but overall, I've found the last series to be such an improvement on the Chibnall era that I'm happy to move past it!

 

I've been rewatching the phenomenal BBC show Life on Mars and Chibnall wrote arguably the best episode, it's such a corker. just makes it even more baffling to me how bad his era of DW was

 

Still feel bad for Jodie. She deserved better.