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

Surely the reason the Doctor left them behind is because he knows something very very bad is about to happen to him and doesn't want Amy and Rory anywhere near it?

Anyway the actual meat of the story was curiously uninvolving and I'm kind of missing straight-up evil aliens that want to kill people rather than poor lost scared animals in space or whatever. I strangely enjoyed the introspective bit though because I like stories that revolve around the Doctor being a selfish arse.

Next week's is the start of a two-parter right? I sort of feel the rest of the series, while good, hasn't really matched up the opening story and I'm stoked to find out what happens.

Surely the reason the Doctor left them behind is because he knows something very very bad is about to happen to him and doesn't want Amy and Rory anywhere near it?

Yes, which is why I keep bringing up how he basically chucked Sarah Jane out on the door; it was for a similar reason. It does make a certain amount of narrative sense that the Doctor would at least try to leave his companions in a place where they could live this time around, particularly after re-encountering SJ in his previous incarnation and having her tear him a new one over her abandonment.

next week is the one before the finale, so it might cue that up - esp with all the links to the silence we saw in the last ep with Corden's character in it

afaik the last two are stand-alone episodes.

I would love to see them do a full-on "Dalek Masterplan" type extended story as long as they had enough action/plot to sustain it (we do not need "Miracle Day Pt 2")

We did not need Miracle Day Pt 1!

true, although my wife is now in love with Beloved Immortal Mekhi

Oh btw, my favourite miracle day theory was the the blessing's hole was caused by adric's cyber freighter going right through the earth, and that it wanted to make everyone in the world happy and have them love it back because it was the remains of adric's soul.

!

that... is fucking brilliant and hilarious

everybody get out your yellow tunics

Oh btw, my favourite miracle day theory was the the blessing's hole was caused by adric's cyber freighter going right through the earth, and that it wanted to make everyone in the world happy and have them love it back because it was the remains of adric's soul.

Okay, that theory almost makes the series worth it.

"... What is that?"
"It looks like... a gold-edged blue star..."

I am touching my badge for Mathematical Excellence in tribue.

i hope you're not within 500 yards of a school

You don't know how big my badge is.

This thread has taken a dark turn.

YOU LIKE IT THAT WAY.

(Personal xpost, gentle Friday-related bump)

Roger roger.

Next week's is the start of a two-parter right?

Self-contained, with gentle touches of continuity.

Well, that was shit.

Some cheesy moments - Amy the model etc - but a fun romp with some nice touches of humour. Nice light interlude before the whizz bang super scary finale.

It was *full* of cheese and mawk. And mostly boring. I really hope the finale lives up to its potential, because this section of the series has been incredibly patchy.

I did watch it with a 6 - nearly 7 - year old, which makes it all the more fun. He was very excited by the trailer for next week: "DINOSAURS in Doctor Who?! A PTERODACTYL!!!!!"

I'm a season behind in my viewing, but I've checked the thread every Saturday just to enjoy the traditional Declaration of the Episode Being Shit. <3 you guys

Amy was advertising petrichor perfume... so... crimson (bow tie?), eleven (11th Doctor?) petrichor (smell of dust after rain), delight (?)

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!

I wonder if this will be the magic riddle than undoes the Doctor's death... that would be a bit crap though, more Magic: The Gathering than Doctor Who.

shit and mawkish are kind of built-in w/cybermen >:(

shit bcz THE CYBERMEN HAVE BEEN SHIT SINCE PERTWEE = fact
mawkish BCZ cms are anti-emotion = it is anti-them -- wish they would unleash eg ENVY or PRIDE or ok not lust kiddies watching but GLUTTONY! use corden the way he's built, have him eat till he busts out of the cybershell

the minor characters were all pretty good; i didn't hate this, but it wasn't very involving ftb CYBERMEN, they are still actually worse than the fkn daleks

The cybermat was proper nasty. I prefer the way Moffat has used the Cybermen to RTD's armies. The one armed cyberman in the previous series was properly scary, but I don't think he's actually much a fan of them, seeing as they're basically cannon fodder in A Good Man and are all knackered and ineffectual here. They're such a familiar and uninteresting enemy that using them sparingly like this is much more effective.
I thought Matt Smith as toy department employee was lovely. Nice K9 reference too, with the robot dog not being much fun.

nurse gladys was in old who (as a fantastically camp pirate queen). what other minor roles in nu who have been actors who've previously appeared? crib bins any more?

Nurse Gladys goes further back - she sings the song that runs through The Gunfighters.

It's fine the Doctor being in Colchester the day before he dies. We know he has unusual travel arrangements.
But Amy and Rory?
a) He was only just gathering the envelopes for the invitations the next day (ie the day he dies). How the FUCK do Amy and Rory make it to the middle of nowhere in Utah by scheduled airline THAT SAME DAY?
b) If he bought them a house in London, why the FUCK were they shopping in Colchester?

He went back in time to tidy the house, I'm sure he could do the same with Amy and Rory. And also sort them a cracking deal with Trailfinders.

What's confusing me is the timeline now. So if we're back to the day BEFORE the Doctor dies, then is this a different Doctor? Have all the events of the season not happened yet? Or are there two timestreams going on? Are the Silence messing with stuff behind their backs?

the silence are messing with stuff behind OUR backs

So, he goes back in time to send them an invitation? And then he forward again to Amy and Rory, fresh from their schopping trip in Colchester, and tells them he needs to take them back in time so they can get to Utah in time to fulfill his invitation? But then his wistful look when he saw them in the department store suggested he wasn't going to be involving himself, otherwise he'd have run over and said: "All packed for Utah?" or something.

I know it's only a TV show, but this is getting silly. And if they hadn't felt the need to shoehorn in a glimpse of Amy and Rory to remind we stupid viewers that their work here on this planet is not yet done, this ludicrousness wouldn't even have arisen.

aaaaaaaagh

Where did it say it was Colchester? "The Lodger" was set there, but this ep fairly early on made it clear that they had moved, with, I thought, an implication that it was maybe London.

(I'll add that I may have missed something there so could be wrong - I watched it post-pub and therefore enjoyed it much more than everyone else seemed to! Paper-thin plot, rubbish resolution, but it made me do a LOL several times and Smith/Corden do genuinely have great chemistry.)

I really, really want a new Doctor.

Nah, Matt's fine. Even at his worst he's light years beyond Tennant.

WAHT

WRONG

I must warn you I can and will leap through your computer screen

Haha!

Amy & Rory in Closing Time are a few years later than the end of The God Complex. In The God Complex they are a few months older than in The Impossible Astronaut.

The Doctor has a blue box that can travel in time - I agree it is unfair of the show to have sprung this twist on you so late in the picture.

Also, Matt Smith is one of the three best Doctors ever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solway_Firth_Spaceman

Agreed. Smith is fantastic.
Ok, so that clears up the timeline.
The prequel is really creepy and fun. Suggests that the Silence aren't aliens at all? Plus THAT text on the pyramid adds a further element to their play on the whole Roswell mythology.
More Mortiis lookalike Viking guy and chess... I'm starting to think those rumours have something to them. Would make sense too. I won't spoiler it though. Go and google it if you want to know more.

Ooh, that Solway Firth thing is interesting. Adds to the season's play on alien hoaxes/sightings. In fact it's all humans - perhaps working for some ancient evil force - engineering it all.

Awww, I thought that one was quite sweet really. I actually quite liked how the Doctor undercut the mawkishness with science and then decided he couldn't be arsed.

I think Smith is very good indeed, he can do both comedy and gravitas better than Tennant, and I like how this Doctor's basic selfishness and, ahem, lack of emotional intelligence contrast with Tennant's more touchy-feely Doctor.

The Amy & Rory cameo was rub though.

There are at least 4-6 Doctors I'd rank above Tennant.