I enjoyed this episode significantly more than anything from last season. The spy riffs mostly landed (those musical cues though!), the episode had room to breathe as it was a two-parter, and definitely sets up a great plot.

Spoiler

I read @Shinysavage 's spoiler before watching but still didn't realize who it was. The tissue compression device is back!

 

Just watched the episode, it was ok, it felt like a typical Doctor Who episode, which is a step up from the last season at least.

BUT I still have a lot of problems with how the Doctor is portrayed.

First of all, The Doctor seems really passive and somehow is usually taking orders from someone else.
I honestly can't imagine any of the past Doctors just getting into a mysterious organization's car without any sort of plan, just because they threatened them. Also she had absolutely no plan once shit hit the fan.

At one Point, the Doctor literally leaves innocent people to die, because Goddamn Graham told her to Run. What in the Hell??? Since when did other people, especially companions, tell the Doctor to run away from danger, especially when people's lives are on the line.

It seemed completely out of character.

Also there is a scene where she confronts someone, I expected her to have plan, BUT nope, its just her asking questions without getting any answers, and with no actual plan to get those answers. Heck, she doesn't even ask the questions in a clever way that will make her adversary reveal information, its just the dumbest scene.

Seriously, what kind of portrayal of the Doctor is this?

The car chase was unnecessary and highly stupid too.

Also, why can people just transport the Tardis anywhere they want? Doesn't it have some kind of security protocol that would prevent such a thing from happening?

The Doctor also seemed pretty unfazed that one of her companions, that she fuking refers to as "fam", nearly died because she sent them off on a mission that they were ill equipped to succeed in. The only reason they survive is because plot armor demanded it.

Spoiler

Although I suspect that the Yaz that came back is not the real one, and that's what the Master meant by saying Everything was a lie

The last reveal was interesting though. It actually made me feel like this Era of Doctor Who was connected to the modern Era and wasn't a complete reboot.

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The Bomb actually exploding was a very nice touch

 

Fun but flawed I think, still don't find Jodie's Doctor compelling or engaging but she's a fine actor.

Spoiler

Anybody else think the new master kind of reminds them of a sinister 11th Doctor? The frenetic energy, the way he postures and twirls. The cadence of his speech as well. It's like if you gave the 11th some evil meth

 

Spoiler

It was the little twirl he did that reminded me of Smith the most. I have to imagine the actor/whoever was involved, put that in as an homage.

 

I liked this episode and the foreshadowing that it laid out regarding the Doctor’s identity. Graham’s interest in her background and her rebuffs is an interesting point. And now after that twist she’ll have to open herself up more to the companions and hopefully it will make her regeneration a bit more complex/multifaceted.

Spoiler

Dhawan as the Master was something I didn’t see coming because I thought the Master was dead with Missy. Just read somewhere hat he could be a regeneration between Simm and Gomez or even a regeneration before Gomez and we’re getting the Master out of order, which would be cool, but I’m not sure is right. Didn’t Missy say she woke up in her Tardis after being killed? I agree with the others that Dhawan played the Master akin to 11 and Simm with the manic energy, destructiveness, gestures.[/spoilers]

Edit p.s.
Did anyone else think the ghostly apparitions looked like the Cybermen accidentally brought from the parallel universe by Torchwood during Tennant’s run?

Spoiler

when the one that was caught in Australia said “we take this form to mock you,” it seems like they may probably aren’t cybermen since they can shape shift though...

 

Part 2, and a very solid conclusion. Dhawan continues to kill it, but actually all the cast had decent moments tonight...well, maybe not Lenny Henry, saddled with an ultimately quite bland plot thread, but he was good with what he had. Nice to see Whittaker given something to sink her teeth into as well, finally.

Spoiler

Got to say, I'm not that enthused about another ancient Galifreyan secret, after the mess that was the Hybrid plot, but we'll see how it goes.

 

Not as good as the setup but I still enjoyed this. I really can't remember *anything* of series 11 but this is shaping up to be a lot better. Let's see if the next episode continues this or goes back to form.

 

Eh Whittaker had exactly the same set up and lines as tennant from the sound of drums explaining who the doctor is but it fell flat for me. 1. Cos its pretty much an exact retread. 2. Whereas tennant was wistful and longing, whittaker just seemed kind of...reluctant? and bland? idk just super unconvincing.

Spoiler

Silly master, falling for the ol' voluntary reveal your own plans and get it recorded that you're betraying your allies trick. I would like to see just how the master dismantled the entirety of gallifrey though, could be neat.

 

Two big problems with the episode tonight, for me: first, I'd seen a fair amount of publicity declaring the monsters and episode as a whole to be terrifying, which...not so much. Effective, gruesome, with a not exactly original but still well-played twist, yes. But not scary. Second, it was really heavy handed. Really, really heavy handed.

Other than that though, another decent episode.

 

That was incredibly heavy-handed. Seems like a very forgettable episode to me.

 

Average episode this time.

I am still bothered by the fact that This Doctor barely ever makes an effort to save people. Like a lot of people died this episode and she barely seems bothered.

To this day I still remember the Ninth Doctor triumphantly declaring how, " Just this once, everybody Lives".

Since then, the Doctor has always made an effort to save innocent people

However, this Doctor barely blinks when people are dying and sacrificing themselves.

It just feels off to me.

Also, how did the teleporter transport them through time??

 

Well that was a shit episode. So goddamn preachy and the final monologue in which the Doctor was pretty much ranting into the camera was bleh.

Also, it just completely spits in the face of how Doctor Who time travel works. One possible future my ass. In DW different timelines are completely different universes that the doctor can't travel between but now ooo we can change the future because humans are powerful ooo.

Chibnall is off his rocker for greenlighting this pile of horseshit.

 

i figured that because the Doctor and co. were in the Tardis, they weren't necessarily in the present so the transport was only through space. and at the beginning of episode we see the Doctor mopping after some strange creature, so they may already be in the future. Plus, the coupons maybe from a future time anyway. This wasn’t explained in-episode though, so timey-wimey.

yes, I think the parallel with earth and climate change was clear already when the Doctor explained what an orphan planet was, but doubling down on the fact that it was earth wasn’t super original. But it’s still a cool idea if not super original.

Some of the solutions to the problem in the episode were also not very deft such as the virus magically creating the fuel they need from x3 to x4. And the multiple individual sacrifices (eg Kane, Bella, old lady) made the losses not as powerful.

 

I'm not going to lie, I hated this most recent episode, and for reasons that sort of apply to Jodie and Chibnall's entire run so far. This iteration of the Doctor is just so... explanatory? She almost always has a big dialogue chunk that pounds the central conflict of the episode into the audience's head. Previous NuWho Doctors really only ever half-explained a thing, and it was usually done with a truckload of whimsy and silly pseudoscience (e.g. "cup o soups" and "timey wimey wibbly wobbly").

To be honest, I really liked the idea of Ms. Frizzle in Space. Unfortunately, the portrayal isn't up to snuff. There is none of the joy or sense of fun you'd expect from such a character's "teaching" moments.

The ranty monologue at the end of this episode just ruined the impact of the message. The whole thing would have been better served if the mystery had been kept alive and the Earth reveal had come 'Girl in the Fireplace' style, as the final scene. Maybe some sand blowing away and revealing an iconic Earth landmark.

 

Jodi Whittaker is actually pretty weird as a person.(I am basing this opinion on some interviews she's done, especially the Graham show, where she was just weird/eccentric).
So it really bums me out that her portrayal of the Doctor is just..dry. Sure she has some eccentric lines but the way they are portrayed seem forced and not part of the character.
Also the entire Earth thing was just...meh. Other than the big speech at the end it added nothing to the story whatsoever.

I am still bothered by the fact that they setup the sympathetic old couple, only to have them just..die. Like seriously, why did an old person die, to save the goddamn Doctor's life. Its completely antithetical to who the Doctor is. She was more concerned with saving her life and her companions.

Man, I realize that Moffat and Davis were huge fans, that's why they could capture the Doctor so well. But damn, why is to so hard for Chibnail and company.

 

Well. Some very interesting developments tonight (in contrast to last week, which I struggled to recall even the basics of earlier). Depending on how they're developed, they might be terrible, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

Spoiler

Jack Harkness?! Wasn't expecting him to show up at all. Good to see him back, although he did feel a bit one note tonight.
Ruth being another Doctor...if she turns out to be a past version, that will be bad, not least because that's literally what they did with John Hurt; it's not the kind of twist that will work twice. Future version would be better, although a bold choice if Jodie is planning to stick around for a while, as I think she's confirmed recently. I'm assuming that she's going to be the Doctor from a parallel dimension, which I'm totally on board with.

 

That was nonsense, but I loved it.

Spoiler

As a meta-point, they did add an 'introducing X as the Doctor' in the credits. I suspect parallel universe shenanigans too.

Why didn't the time lord chick regenerate? It could have been explained, but it seems a bit cheap.

 

Spoiler

Didn't she get vaporized? I'd imagine it's hard to regenerate from that. Also - and I might be wrong, as it's getting a bit deeper than my knowledge goes - but didn't the Doctor say she was Galifreyan, not Time-Lord? I thought that all Time-Lords were Galifreyan, but not all Galifreyans were Time-Lords, and only Time-Lords could regenerate. That might be nonsense though.

 

Re: Shinysavage

Spoiler

Probably something like that, yes.

Re: Leaks

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With this episode it looks like the story leaks were spot on. Overall I don't mind if that's the case -- as it is obvious there's a lot of room to execute even within those bounds.

 

Please direct me to the aforementioned leaks. I would greatly appreciate it.

As for the episode: I am beginning to warm up to this new Doctor Who era, mainly because its now dealing with actual Doctor Who lore and not whatever was happening last season.

I know I keep complaining about this a lot, BUT the death toll in this new season has been pretty high right? Also seems the showrunner/writers have something against old people cause they've been dying alot.

I don't mind deaths happening in the show. It raises the stakes and sense of tension. However, in this case it doesn't work because neither the Doctor or her companions seem to care about all the people dying. They just either ignore it or take it in stride, mainly because they rarely ever in mortal danger.

Damn, I don't know, the contrast between this crew and how little they seem to care and Donna begging and pleading with the Doctor to break his rule and save just one person in Pompey is incredibly huge.


Also was it just me or was Doctor Ruth channeling River song.

Lastly, I don't know why it isn't markedly obvious to everyone that she's a Doctor from another dimension/universe. I mean, other universes have already been established this season. So why are people coming up with silly theories like she's a secret regeneration like the War Doctor. That would just be silly.