Doctor Who - Season 8

[Colin YNWA]

Well okay I'll go with my bit of wild speculation, which is almost certainly wrong, but that's never stopped me before. I go with Heaven being a part of The Doctors sub-conscious, a place that fosters his guilt and self recrimination. I'll co-opt CFM's theory, cos I like it and its better than mine, that the Master is in there in the form of Missy collecting all the victims of the Doctor's time and allowing them to get their revenge by tormenting the Doctor. Hence its heaven to them.

[Goaty]

[CrazyFoxMachine]

Two nice thoughts there -

[spoiler]I do think it's most likely physical rather than purely imagined though as Missy is pictured filming stuff with Capaldi later in the series (unless that's set in his own mind?) hmmm [/spoiler]

[von Boom]

After avoiding all DW references I finally got to see Deep Breath. Overall it was a fairly enjoyable episode. I was a bit worried in the beginning with Capaldi being all manic and such, but that was just the post regeneration nonsense. He got much better towards the end. I think Capaldi may become the best Doctor of the modern shows. Oh and Clara was there.

Using[spoiler] Matt Smith [/spoiler] at the end was pointless I thought. Clara either accepts the new Doctor or she can sod off. As was mentioned earlier in the thread. Strax should be the Doctor's companion for the glory of the Sontaran Empire.

I look forward to the next episode.

[von Boom]

I was just coming back to put the spoiler tag in. Thanks Richard.

Also, I though the opening music was really great. Modern with a nod to the past.

[TordelBack]

Also, I though the opening music was really great. Modern with a nod to the past.

Yeah, I thought the music was really good, and I liked the more complex title sequence too.

[Leigh S]

Watched it... I thought it was OK - Capaldi was good, but the meta was so meta it was arguing with its own meta almost as if in meta comment on this very thread - and I say that as someone who actually lives his life as a meta rather than real life, so I should know!

The "please love him even though he is different" is a perfectly good point to mine in the subtext, but it really did feel like a glowing 50 foot banner saying "don't stop watching because he is old"... which wouldn't have been so bad if the actual story had sold her disaffection and concerns through the story rather than the speeches - so you had the Vastra interrogation making the point, with Clara seemingly coming round - then you had the MAtt Smith call making the same point - I'd have rather have been hand held through it more from Clara's POV without comment until she had to make a choice about whether she was accepting this new chap. 

The story itself again had a nice counterpoint to the Doctor's regeneration with the robots having "regenerated" themselves over and over again, but on one viewing it felt a bit confused and if it has taken them millions of years to get to the point they are at, it was odd they seemed to abandon it so easily when they seemed to have the upper hand - I'll watch again without the kids, but since its all ages, I should really be able to follow it with the kids distractiing me occasionally.

[IndigoPrime]

I didn't read it as the robots having abandoned anything. The node was the controller, and once he was taken care of, the rest powered down, using that well-known sci-fi trope. Also, I'm assuming The Doctor gave him a flying lesson.

[TordelBack]

The story itself again had a nice counterpoint to the Doctor's regeneration with the robots having "regenerated" themselves over and over again...

I thought this bit was very interesting.  The Doctor gives the baddy the 'favourite old broom' speech, concluding that a broom whose elements have been replaced over and over isn't the same broom (a point of view to be sure), while later on he explicitly insists that after all his changes he somehow is the same man.  Is this some essential self-deception on his part?

[IndigoPrime]

I always imagine The Doctor like someone who's survived a brain injury. They are technically the same being, but the brain itself has been reconfigured. They may retain memories, but that doesn't mean they act in the same way nor have the same preferences. The result is a discussion about the sense of self—what are you? Are you how you are now? How you were then? The sum of memories and experiences? How other people saw or see you? All of those things, somehow?

[Richmond Clements]

I really enjoyed it, but I think that [spoiler]ancient buried spaceship [/spoiler] stories should be banned from all fiction. I'm sick of them!

[IndigoPrime]

Heh. Next week, will The Doctor be in a VR prison?

[JamesC]

I always imagine The Doctor like someone who's survived a brain injury. They are technically the same being, but the brain itself has been reconfigured. They may retain memories, but that doesn't mean they act in the same way nor have the same preferences. The result is a discussion about the sense of self—what are you? Are you how you are now? How you were then? The sum of memories and experiences? How other people saw or see you? All of those things, somehow?

I think this is a good way of looking at it. He certainly seems to remember everything from each of his lifetimes and his personality may change on the surface but his essential motivations appear to stay the same. He always remains a basically good (although this seems like it's about to be questioned) travelling meddler. Likewise, the Master changes personality but remains a baddie.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

No, I think next week he visits a paradise planet which turns out to be a front for a sinister secret

[Grugz]

Some people seem to be much more vocal about the silly over the top relationship between Jenny and Vastra than any of the other silly over the top relationships in Nu-Who. Some people are so bad at hiding their bigotry.

whos being reptilist?