The Name of the Doctor (Seth's Take)

It goes without saying that I loved it.

Oh dear! I must stop spring break at once!

There was never going to be any doubt. It had footage from previous Doctors. It had Richard E. Grant as the Great Intelligence taking, for the first time, full advantage of his lack of physical form. It had great gags, high tension, a chilling atmosphere, and tangible stakes. And it featured a big reveal that actually made sense--in your face, Davies! (And John Nathan-Turner, I guess.)

 In hindsight, I can't help but wonder if maybe it was just the heat of the moment, and my opinion will deteriorate upon rewatching. Even now I'm having trouble recalling bits I actually liked, my brain overloading with nitpicks and irritations. I mean, Trenzalore, the giant TARDIS and the decaying console room were striking as hell, but those are setpieces. And the Great Intelligence didn't actually do anything that didn't get immediately reversed, so so much for his air of menace. (Though really, he's lucky he ever had one. His primary weapons are giant teddy bears and snowmen, for zark's sake.)

More after the cut! Didn't want to spoil anything.

Bad Wolf vs. the Impossible Girl

I've been getting an earful recently the arc this series and how it's meant there's no overarching story even though, y'know, there totally is, and it's the Doctor and the mystery of Clara.

And it keeps getting put up against Series 1 and "Bad Wolf" for some reason, even though that really wasn't much of a story arc. People happened to be using the words, it got pointed out to us in the penultimate episode, and then in the last episode we found out why and we pretended it made sense. Even when there were two-parters they really didn't elaborate or expand on the season plot.

And so it was with Series 2 and Series 3 and Series 4. "Torchwood Torchwood Torchwood OH HEY TORCHWOOD IS A GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION." "Saxon Saxon Saxon OH HEY SAXON IS THE MASTER AND ALSO MP." "Planets bees planets bees planets bees OH HEY THE PLANETS WERE SWIPED BY DALEKS AND THE BEES WERE A BEACON." No substance. Just repetition followed by elaboration.

It's very much the same thing here. Each episode the Doctor will allude to Clara's impossibility, and the rest of the episode will be wholly unrelated to that. I mean, it's slightly better here, because there's emotional stakes--at least, there are in "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" and "Nightmare in Silver", with the Doctor's secretive nature being brought to the forefront and Clara's mounting frustration with it, coupled with the Doctor's increasing fear that Clara is a deception of some sort.


I think the real problem here is that Moffat kind of raised our expectations with Series 5--which is probably the best continuous string of episodes any season of Who has ever managed. It, unlike other series of new Who, actually had progression in its arc. It wasn't just "crack crack crack OH HEY THE TARDIS BLEW UP AND TOOK REALITY WITH IT", we found out things in stages. It was gradually revealed to us that the cracks could alternatively serve as portals or memory saps, we found out midway through the series that the TARDIS had something to do with it all, and Rory's arrival and subsequent disappearance put things in flux and gave us serious, tangible emotional stakes.

Series 6 worked similarly, although it rushed things in places and cut a few corners. Rather than have important arc things happen in different one-offs, it made the conscious decision to put aside entire episodes for the arc.  It didn't quite work, but I admire the fact that they tried and the plot itself was actually pretty good. The action rise and fell and we found out things about River gradually rather than all at once in the finale.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Impossible Girl was compared favorably to Bad Wolf, but it's not, which is odd because they're neigh-identical in execution. This whole half-series has been a return to the Davies-era of arc plotting if I ever saw one.  Simply repeat the basic premise until the finale comes and the basic premise is explained in full.

So tell me, people--what's your beef? What makes Series 1 superior besides a mounting feeling of nostalgia (in which case, Season 9 clearly has the best story arc)? Answer in the comments section! I'm genuinely curious!

"Nightmare in Silver" 7x12

Original Air Date: 11 May 2013

I must say, I do like the new design of the Cybermen.

For me, at least, this weekend's episode didn't quite live up to expectations, like the rest of the 7.2 series. I don't know exactly what it is about it, but the closest thing I can get to is that they lack the continuity of overarching plots like we've now had since the very first time we heard the words "bad wolf" back in "Rose" in 2005 (The Nestene Consciousness said it). I mean, next week we are going to Trenzalore, and we can assume that Silence Will Fall, and that has been a plot point since 2010 ("The Eleventh Hour", said by Prisoner Zero), and there hasn't been a real mention of the Silence or anything since the Ponds, may they rest in peace.

"Nightmare in Silver", written by Minneapolis' own Neil Gaiman  reminded me of "Rings of Akhaten": the writing is okay, my problem lies with a Moffat decision: to not have any two-parters. I think that both of those episodes could easily have been two-parters. There was so much more to explore. The end of "Nightmare in Silver" was also a bit lacking. It was so simple, to just teleport out. I'm not entirely sure why they didn't do that earlier.

Matt Smith was very, very good. Usually, I am not too happy with him and find him not believeable, but he really played the Jeckyl/Hyde thing quite well. His eyes changed when he was being controlled by the cybernetic part of him, and it wasn't as transparent as I anticipated it being. So, kudos to you, Matt, if for some reason you are reading this. And if you are, I'd really like to know.

Clara held her own nicely, and Jenna-Louise Coleman also had a fine performance. For the most part, it was the first time that Clara was left to her own devices to get stuff done, and she filled the spot nicely.

Speaking of filling spots, I'm not going to ignore the little quasi-flirting that the Doctor did with Clara. We are left to assume that the Doctor (a plus to the possibility of learning the man's name next week? We can write it instead of "Doctor" and spice things up a bit) hasn't seen Rose in over 200 years and lets hope for his sake that he's moving on. Yes, he may be married, but some fans point out that Clara may be River Song after the Library. (The CAL kid looks like Clara more than a bit, and maybe she gave her likeness to River because the Doctor saved her or something like that....and we've heard that "The Name of the Doctor" does feature Dr. Song post-Library). Who knows! Yes, some lucky Americans who got the Blu-Ray leak, they know.
That's all I have to say on the ep for now. Comment your thoughts!

Also, please leave some comments as to what you'd like to see from the blog. Thanks :)

"The Name of the Doctor" Prequel

Enjoy!

"The Crimson Horror" 7x11

Original Air Date: 4 May 2013

It might interest you to know that this was the 100th episode in the revival. It wasn't a significantly great episode, and it wasn't like "oooh, 100th ep!" or anything.

The callbacks to prior Doctorial shenanigans was fun. The refrences were almost exclusively to Tegan Jovanka, who was a companion of the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison). She's the "gobby Australian" the Doctor speaks of to Clara, harking back to Four to Doomsday to Time-Flight, over the course of which they are trying to get to Heathrow Airport. "Brave heart, Tegan" was something that the Doctor would say to her, and he says it to Clara in this episode. It'd be interesting to know why Tegan is on his mind.
I didn't see any real things of note as per the overarching plot of "Silence will Fall", which really should be coming up--"Nightmare in Silver" is next week, then "The Name of the Doctor", the 2012-3 season finale is the week after! (Does that mean two weeks until Trenzalore?)
I understand that it's helpful to have stand-alone eps to bring new viewers, but they are going to be quite confused come 18 May.
As for the episode on its own, I was happy to see Vastra, Strax, and Jenny back. I specifically loved the bit were the boy name Thomas Thomas (Tom Tom) gave Strax directions. The trio's dynamic is very fun, and I think their presence and persistence to find the Doctor have something to do with things that may (or may not) have happened post-Ponds, as well as what Clara is
As Seth pointed out to me, there was a bit of a role reversal at the end of the ep. He words it best:

"An Unearthly Child" had two authority figures investigating out of concern for a child, and getting inadvertently and unwillingly getting swept along in the TARDIS.
The end of tonight's episode has two children investigating out of concern for an authority figure, and begging to be let on board.

I'm not so sure if it means anything, and I don't know if the kids were investigating in concern; I interpreted it as they stumbled upon the photos. Who knows. But I think they're going to die in the next ep--they're cute and we know there will be cybermen.

What did you think of "The Crimson Horror?" Comment!

Moffat on "The Name of the Doctor"

Steven Moffat on Doctor Who series 7 finale:

Q: What can you tell us about the finale? 

SM: It’s full of surprises and questions that have never been answered in the history of Who, including the Doctors greatest secret. We’re not pretending, we’re not kidding, it’s actually going to happen. The episode is called "The Name of the Doctor" and involves our hero in a conflict that is very, very personal to him. Usually he’s saving other people, but this time he might be the one who needs to be saved. We’ll also find out what makes his new companion so impossible and there’s a surprise that no one has got right so far, and one that will change the Who forever!
course of

To the dismay of many fans, its seems we may actually learn the name of the Doctor. I think the biggest problem I have with this is that there isn't a name that could do it justice. Part of his anonymity is what I really like about the show. In a way, it gives us the message that he can really be anyone, and that you don't have to be an alien to be able to save the world. Thoughts?

"Hide" and "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS"

Hide

"Hide" was a bit boring. It may be because I have ADHD (legitimately), or that it just wasn't amazing. It definitely had some high stakes, I'll give it that, and some very interesting dropped hints as to the social plot in the scene where Clara and Emma Grayling (the psychic) have a drink together. Wiskey is the eleventh most disgusting thing ever invented! (I wouldn't know). I was a bit confused--was Hilda supposed to be in love with that monster that looked like Voldemort mated with a Racnoss? I found that Neil Cross' writing was much better than it was in his last episode, which was "Rings of Akhatan". The refrence to Metebelis III was nice ("The Green Death", "Planet of the Spiders") Some people thought that the genre crossover into horror was a bit far-flung and strange, but I think we can all agree that David Tennant pulled off the orange space suit much better than Matt Smith.

Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

I was seriously enthralled by "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS". As well as being absolutely horrifying at some parts, it was extremely high-stakes, threatening to kill Clara again. I have a friend who will be very disappointed that it doesn't feature the wardrobe room. I thought we would see more of the TARDIS, as I'm sure most people did, but it did feature parts of it that I hadn't even thought of, like the library. By far, I think this episode was the best in the season thus far, rivalling "The Angels take Manhattan". The plot was clear and easy to follow, although complex; it was explained well. It featured many emotions and evoked many emotions. Each of the actors were showcased very well. Don't you wish more things had a big friendly button?

The Title of the Last Episode of Season 7

So, what do we think? 

Are they really gonna do it? Because if they do it at all, THAT needs to be saved for the 50th, if you ask me. Discuss in the comments!

"Rings of Akhaten" and "Cold War"

I have to say, the second part of this season is not living up to my expectations. I really am quite disappointed  They remind me of the classic episodes in that they have a good plot, but lack the character development and complex emotion that I really love--and fully expect--from the show.
Moffat designed these episodes to be stand-alone, and I do get that having less of an over-arching plot helps new watchers ease in to how complex Doctor Who can be. While I'm sure that the 50th will be full of "never apply logic to Who" moments, I really miss the clever callbacks to previous episodes.

Here's what I've thought of the past two episodes:

Rings of Akhaten

I was certainly skeptic of the episode being billed as having the most aliens we've ever seen, but I was proven wrong. The one thing I have to ask: what was with that one who barked? is the translation matrix on the fritz?

The episode definitely filled my desire for those moments when we remind ourselves that the Doctor is going to be okay because we know that there's another episode on next week, a desire which was still left longing after "The Bells of Saint John".

The story and symbolism of the leaf was beautiful  I think that's almost a fact rather than an opinion  I wonder if Akhaten really sucked anything out of the Doctor-perhaps his memories of Rose? Why not go for the best (and worst) first?

I thought Emillia Jones was magnificent as Merry Gejelh. I hope that maybe we will see her again at some point. I always like seeing plots revolve around a child. It adds a new layer to the emotion behind things. 

Cold War

Talk about a stand-alone episode! It may have been a returning monster, but everything got explained perfectly. 

I'm a bit suspicious of the Ice Warrior out of it's armour. Was I the only one who thought it sounded like a Silent? I liked it a lot from an artistic perspective.

It seems that the translation matrix is still broken-even though it translated the spoken Russian, I saw some Cyrillic writing! 

I don't really have anything overwhelmingly bad to say about it, but there also wasn't anything very good, either. 

Aside from the wet Matt Smith. And even that-Matt, please stop trying to fix your hair: it is very distracting!

Doctor Who Streaming

With the close of TardisBlue.net, which I relied on for new episodes of Doctor Who, many of us have been left out in the cold for the new episode  I did some snooping around, and I've got help for ya! BBC1 is always streaming live here. The new episode, "Cold War" will be on at 1pm EST (were I am).
Allons-y!

Clara Oswin Oswald: A Window Across All

I know the edges on this aren't the best. If you can do better then I'd be glad to see it.

LOOK AT THAT. JUST LOOK AT IT.

I'm sure it means something, but what? I have no idea.

Comment! 

Please be mindful of our spoilers policy.

New Episode Reaction: The Bells of Saint John SPOILERS

I may be in the US, but I watched the premier with the UK.
And I have to say, I thought it would be a lot better.
The episode gets 2 1/2 stars.
That is not to say that it was bad and you are all not in for a treat, but for a premier episode, it was very lacking. Spoilers below.

The Bells of Saint John: A Prequel

Well aren't we a bunch of lucky ducks!
Today, the BBC released The Bells of Saint John: A Prequel on their YouTube.

The Doctor takes a break from saving worlds to swing on a swing and has one of the most endearing moments I've seen Eleven have. Even while overwhelmingly simple at first glance, the minisode only increases the mysetery of Clara.

And here's what we can expect to see in the full episode:

And it's gonna be