The Dr Who thread

[Istar]

So I've had a chance to process Face The Raven now, and overall I think it's about a 9.

Yeah, I agree the build-up to the Big Goodbye was a bit elongated, and there were a couple of silly plot-holes in the run-up, but Clara's final few lines were right on the money. Knowing The Doctor as she does, she knew his threats to Mayor Me were far from idle - that warrior, the promise-breaker, is evidently still not far beneath the surface, and you saw it in his face when he swore to rain Hell down on Ashilda.

And her last lines, and the expression on her face at the evident pain with which she died. Yeah, JLC came close to breaking me there.

But then Capaldi did it. He looks at Ashilda, and you know that brave defiant face she's putting-on is a sham, and her guts have turned to liquid and are trying to get out really fast. And he says he's going to do his best, to try to uphold Clara's last wish, to not be The Oncoming Storm. And you see it in his eyes, the struggle, the despair, the fury. And that 1000-yard-stare, the one that Eccleston and Smith never quite mastered but which Tennant had and now Capaldi so clearly has, just blasts through her and she knows, she knows, that being immortal isn't going to be defence enough.

I've said this before - you do not want to be on a Time Lord's shit-list. Ever.

[Governmentyard]

Well, that was worth the faff. Good job team.

[gribbles]

Didn't really like last week's. And thought this one wandering to some strange places, but then Capaldi's speech pulled it all into focus. 'Twas actually really well written. I loved how this episode made The Doctor pretty much helpless all the way through - there was nothing he could really do for anyone at any time. Once he'd got the ball rolling he spent most of the episode just watching - buffeted by events out of his control and leading to the death of Clara. Even without the death of Clara (if it had been some random red-shirt) he'd have been ready to lash out at the universe to show it who's boss. Completely within character. But Clara give that yellow heat of anger and frustration a white hot focus. And Capaldi does it sooo well. Istar's summary below is bang on.

Capaldi is really rather excellent. I'm a child of the Pertwee/Baker era. Love them both - and I get each of them out of Capaldi's performance. Subtle little callbacks in the way he talks, moves - it's clever stuff. (Assuming it is deliberate - I could just be reading that into it myself!).

[Jonesey]

I sort of missed the whole emotional thing because she was wearing a tight top again.

In slow motion.

Anyway the sound is still bugging me. I've listened to adverts on Sky in digital 5.1 fer fecks sake but BBC is insisting on 2.0? No oomf no bass what the hell??

[merman]

Brilliant out of 10.

Capaldi was amazing in every scene, Coleman put in some of her best work too.

And I am so glad they did not wimp out and save her.*

Mayhem, Ashildr said she did a deal with the Shade because someone else wanted the Doctor. Drawing him there was a trap, but she did not expect Clara to put herself at risk.




* Yes, it's sci-fi. Yes, Clara is the Impossible Girl, has died before and is spread through the Doctor's lifetime. She could come back. But they played that scene in Face The Raven right.

[Darkflame]

Well done episode, my only issue being the logic behind the Ravens "rules" could have been laid out better. Seemed a little arbitrary.

[Mayhem]

Mayhem, Ashildr said she did a deal with the Shade because someone else wanted the Doctor. Drawing him there was a trap, but she did not expect Clara to put herself at risk.

Okay, so I didn't mis-hear, but anyone care to remind me who/what "The Shade" is/are?

[Rubisco]

Brilliant out of 10.

Capaldi was amazing in every scene, Coleman put in some of her best work too.

And I am so glad they did not wimp out and save her.*

Mayhem, Ashildr said she did a deal with the Shade because someone else wanted the Doctor. Drawing him there was a trap, but she did not expect Clara to put herself at risk.




* Yes, it's sci-fi. Yes, Clara is the Impossible Girl, has died before and is spread through the Doctor's lifetime. She could come back. But they played that scene in Face The Raven right.

Spoiler: show

It definitely wasn't her final appearance. Jenna has filmed stuff for the finale. That doesn't mean she's not dead though.

[Istar]

Mayhem, Ashildr said she did a deal with the Shade because someone else wanted the Doctor. Drawing him there was a trap, but she did not expect Clara to put herself at risk.

Okay, so I didn't mis-hear, but anyone care to remind me who/what "The Shade" is/are?

The Quantum Shade is the creature that manifests as Ashildr's tattoo and the raven, and is responsible for the engendering of the ChronoLock death-tattoos. It is never quite explained how Ashildr is connected to the Shade (is there a power balance, or is one beholden to the other?) nor why she and the Shade are working together to entrap The Doctor - this latter, perhaps, coming next week when we discover where the teleporter has sent The Doctor, and why.

Also, unrelated pseudo-spoiler which I encountered over the weekend in an online newspaper article somewhere...

Spoiler: show

"Ashildr / Me / [Name Embargoed]"

This intrigues me, as it implies Ashildr will, by the end of the series, be known by another name - and one which we will recognise, thus requiring journalistic embargo to prevent spoilerage.

[Dio]

Spoiler: show

Arya Stark, obviously...

[merman]

Mayhem, Ashildr said she did a deal with the Shade because someone else wanted the Doctor. Drawing him there was a trap, but she did not expect Clara to put herself at risk.

Okay, so I didn't mis-hear, but anyone care to remind me who/what "The Shade" is/are?

The Quantum Shade is the creature that manifests as Ashildr's tattoo and the raven, and is responsible for the engendering of the ChronoLock death-tattoos. It is never quite explained how Ashildr is connected to the Shade (is there a power balance, or is one beholden to the other?) nor why she and the Shade are working together to entrap The Doctor - this latter, perhaps, coming next week when we discover where the teleporter has sent The Doctor, and why.

Also, unrelated pseudo-spoiler which I encountered over the weekend in an online newspaper article somewhere...

Spoiler: show

"Ashildr / Me / [Name Embargoed]"

This intrigues me, as it implies Ashildr will, by the end of the series, be known by another name - and one which we will recognise, thus requiring journalistic embargo to prevent spoilerage.

Spoiler: show

the "hybrid" perhaps?

[anon76235]

where can i download the 12th doctor theme?

[pogo]

Here you go: just one of the many YouTube downloaders.

[Cloudane]

Death in Diagon Alley.

Well played, that was emotional and terrifying (especially for Ashildr! I'd not want to be her)

Unfortunately I seem to be stumbling across spoilers everywhere.. I learned about Clara's death ahead of time (though this made it interesting from the perspective of watching that ticking time bomb and knowing it's real, so a bit like being in their shoes) and I also stumbled across the spoiler of where he's going:

Spoiler: show

It actually seems obvious when you know. You hear the characters talking about "They" - most mysterious aliens still get given names like "The Silence" or "The Shade" but these are aliens that clearly can't be named without giving something away.

And then there's only really one time I've seen before (I've not seen all of Classic though) when the Doctor has been in this kind of situation where he's been tricked and "reeled in" so to speak on such a grand scale that makes him utterly helpless: when the Second Doctor got reeled in by the Time Lords in his final story.

But yeah anyway - off we go to Gallifrey! Time for our good Doctor to rather wish he could go back and put the War Doctor's actions back to what they were before...

[gumboot]

Here you go: just one of the many YouTube downloaders.

Clicked through to see if there was any drama about "IV" versus "IIII", but didn't see any.

Stumbled into this, which isn't as awful as you might expect (there's another version out there which is):