Sea Devils And Die: GeroniMoffat's Doctor Who In The 2010s

Liked some things about it, disliked others. As some have said it had more in the way of actual ideas than most monster of the week episodes, even if a couple of them smelled a bit recycled. All perfectly watchable, and actually quite a nice let up after the brain-frying opening story. Bonneville was miscast though, I think. Good actor, not really at all convincing as a ruthless pirate.

something reflective being the conduit

Except that a) the first time she appears, it's from non-still, and therefore non-"perfectly"-reflective water; and b) the Doctor reacts to the reflection revelation by creating HUNDREDS MORE reflective surfaces than already existed. Smart work, there.

As much as I don't really want to defend this episode, I'm assuming that the smashed mirrors/windows were supposed to be too small for her to fit through. Although that crown wasn't exactly huge, either.

As much as I don't really want to defend this episode

I'm sorry for your loss :(

Is the astronaut in the first episode a version of The Watcher? Harbinger of regeneration etc.

this looks like The Bed Sitting Room

This looks like NOOOOOOo

Neverwhere

I actually quite liked this.

A bit hectic, but good.

Disappointed they didn't use a 'classic' series console room.

I liked it a lot - took a wee while to get going, but then (once Karen-off-of-Corrie was revealed as Tardis) it was proper good fun and tension and madness and jokes. Plus I get to chalk up another Rory death. Poor chap.

Also hokey River reference for What Can It All Mean arc stuff.

I totally loved this.

yeah was inventive and good, didn't do all the old new who stuff, but still fitted in with Moffat's 'what can we do with the possibilities' thinking.

i give this show a chance every year, it's still bollocks

tbf this wasn't as bad as the daleks in ww2 thing tho, that was beyond terrible

I really enjoyed this episode. It was written by Neil Gaimen so didn't expect anything other than awesome.

I didn't expect anything other than tedious goff wankery, yet was entertained.
"did you wish really hard" line was funny.

Fantastic! Personified tardis was a really lovely concept, and the execution all felt very fifth-doctorish. Favourite episode of the year so far.

this was totally great, LOVED ten minutes of running back and forth down the same tiny bit of corridor in the middle of the episode! :D :D

Disappointed they didn't use a 'classic' series console room.

budget innit. considering they had to move the entire episode from last year cos they'd run out of CGI budget, and use the fckn Ood because the CGI cost meant they couldn't build a new monster face, and that there was a whole new cobbled-together TARDIS console in this, building an exact replica of any of the old ones for 4 mins of screen time would have presumably been a cost too far

I totally loved this! And it was totally Gaimany, too, esp. her password.
Loved that delight was image of Amy getting married! <3

Did she take Rory's last name when she got married? Does Rory even have a last name?

he is now Rory Pond per the Doctor in previous eps

xpost to me:
also the super-white lighting wouldn't have matched up with the mood of the rest of the ep, it would have satisified nerds but not had the delight of recognition for the show's much much larger modern audience, etc etc

anyway I think Gaiman and the designers gave a very generous and effectionate nod to old TARDIS interiors with the roundels on the aforementioned corridor and the flats Smith was dragging around the asteroid

Yes the corridors, kept expecting them to find Adric's stupid tunic back there or something.

Does Rory even have a last name?

"Ro!ry! WILL!iams!"

Oh! Oh this!

This was beautiful, like a Girl In The Fireplace but the girl is the TARDIS and he already knows her and...yeah, this is exactly what I wanted Neil to deliver but not at all what I expected and I'm so happy.

Also yes to it feeling so Fifth doctory, with the circley walls and hexagonal corridors and outside in a quarry at nighttime and actually really quite scary in place and not feeling exactly like it is a children's show but thinking THIS is like what I watched as a kid...

And the TARDIS actress was just right.

*dancing*

> here was a whole new cobbled-together TARDIS console in this

blue peter design competition winner according to confidential. and i think they mentioned that the two back walls were taken from / inspired by a previous control room.

they showed the alt control room in The Hand Of Fear on bbc4 last week. and it was a tiny wooden thing.

Loved it loved it loved it

Tom's "secondary control room" was my absolute fave as a kid

Four winners in a row. What. The. Fuck.

'er indoors hated it.

Guess I'm a lone hater then. Really don't like "magic Tardis" bullshit at all, it's consistently been my least favourite thing about nu-Who as it's a total get-out-of-jail-free card. Pacing was kind of off as well -
Amy and Rory lost in the Tardis corridor could've been supremely creepy had it just slowed down a bit but it felt like Gaiman was trying to cram as many things into his one Doctor Who episode as possible. The manic pacing made it feel like that really shonky Rusty era episode where The Master reappears.

Smith absolutely brilliant in this one though - Tennant would have over-emoted at the "OMG there are still Timelords alive oh shit there aren't" part, Smith's supremely geeky Doctor works because he's all "avoid the difficult emotional issue quick hide by playing with wires" instead.

i thought there were really good bits in it, loads of dead funny throwaway stuff - 'did you wish really hard', 'another ood i couldn't save' matt smith's facial expressions, etc - but the whole thing felt kind of awkward and patchy? a bit too much neverwhere, a bit too much consumptive-victorian-madwoman, a bit too much sci-fi-horror-film.

it felt like a problem with direction as much as a problem with the script, though, loads of stuff fell flat but felt like it could have been ~magical~

Really don't like "magic Tardis" bullshit at all, it's consistently been my least favourite thing about nu-Who as it's a total get-out-of-jail-free card.

I agree with this wholeheartedly.

I was genuinely creeped out by the stuff in the corridors, though. It tapped it very nicely to childhood fears of getting cut off from everyone else and getting left behind in strange places.

Tapped IN very nicely, obv.

Loved this. Am guessing he was writing with Helena Bonham-Carter in mind for the Tardis.

That would have been awesome. Good call.

also, you hear her say "I love you" just as she's disintegrating. All is lost in a welter of sop and slush with that Gaiman.

I really enjoyed this episode. It was written by Neil Gaiman so didn't expect anything other than, as zappi sez, self-satisfied tedious goff wankery. Personified Tardis is great despite the awkward execution -- NG's hallmark.

once Karen-off-of-Corrie was revealed as Tardis

There wasn't really a reveal to the audience, though? I mean, we saw Uncle and Auntie talking about swapping souls, and then the Tardis loses power, and then we see Timelord/Tardis dust surrounding the human vessel.

Yeah it's weird, on scone viewing that seemed really obvious (you even hear the tardis sound as it takes her over) but somehow it just passed me by completely the first tme round.

So, when Rose Tyler soaked up the heart of the tardis or whatever it was, in the last ninth doctor episode...how was that different to what happened here?

Scone? Damn you autocorrect. Second.

how was that different to what happened here?

Spacey wacey.

I am turning into Matthew out of Sunday Heroes I think - "No, not aaah".

Anyway, I scone viewed it as well and while I didn't enjoy it as much it was still pretty good. As I hinted up there without being spoilery, this was all revealed on Blue Peter on Thursday - the console was a competition winner from back in the Rusty era, and they showed the toy that's going on sale. Someone on OG speculated exactly the Junkyard TARDIS from one of the first promo shots of this episode, which does show that guesses are sometimes pretty damn spoilery too.

Rose's "soul" was still in there, I guess, whereas Idris was just an empty vessel. Also Rose harnessed the powers of the time vortex which is maybe different from the powers of the Tardis, the living thing itself.

I enjoyed this episode a lot - though it does quash my theory that River was a personification of the Tardis.

Have barely read or seen any Gaiman, but I thought this was pretty good and did enjoy what I guess were some of the more Gaiman-like aspects - the junkyard planet and the castaways, Uncle in particular (credit to the actor there too of course). Tardis personification also grebt, much better than whatever happened to Rose, which I can barely remember anyway, also A+ Rory and Amy lost in corridors headfuck. Can't really think of anything I didn't like about it in fact. Definitely digging the new scariness in this season.

how was that different to what happened here?

Spacey wacey.

Continuity-wuity more like.

agree with most of Matt's criticism (esp. the pace + too many big ideas in too small a space OMG LIKE AN ACTUAL TARDIS) but was watching it at 4am quite drunk so must rewatch - thought it was pretty cool anyway despite the "wife" thing being inevitably ultra lame bait.

Idris/actress was excellent, also made the Bonham-Carter connection (via some other actually tenuous Gaiman/Burton comparisons). didn't see the point of the Ood (nor the old control room scene really...tho made me wonder the old control rooms would look on digital film as opposed to the video of the past) and also agree that the TARDIS corridors were strangely grim (but necessarily so in this case i guess). great dialogue throughout tho.

Ood qua Ood: Gaiman wrote a new alium but they'd run out of money to make new pointy ears.

wild ood entry

Michael Sheen was the voice of House?

How long is it going to take for the Doctor to twig that you can tell if it's a good Ood or an evil Ood by looking at the colour of its eyes?