I enjoyed this one a lot more than I did last week's. Don't really have a problem with any of the lore stuff or such. I'm a very big NPH fan so just watching him was great. I do wish he actually got a singing part, not just lip-synch though!

Also:

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Loved the jabs at the "happy" endings.

 

Mixed feelings about this, although overall positive - I thought the first two thirds, up till *that* scene, were pretty strong, and Gatwa is immediately likeable in the role; I'm more confident about him going forward than I was Smith for his first scene, and Smith ended up being my favourite Doctor. However...

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The bi-generation gives me pause. The cynic in me can't help but feel it's an avenue to ease Tennant back in whenever they want, and even if they don't do that, just as a concept they're making a rod for their own backs, because now fandom has a canon piece of lore to hold up when they cry about their favourite Doctor having to regenerate - or even just the comic book issue of "Why does 15 have to handle this alien invasion by himself when 14 is just chilling with Donna?". It could really have done with a more concrete explanation in the episode, I think, to avoid this, something along the lines of it only being possible due to the shenanigans going on (which I think is more or less canon? 14 theorises that the Toymaker only shows up due to him invoking superstition and myth at the edge of the universe, and bi-generation is explicitly called a myth, so you can roll it into that...but that's just an interpretation).

Having 14 settle down to live out the rest of his days with Donna and the extended family is...fine, I guess. I've said before that I'm not overly fussed about the desire to resolve Ten and Donna's story, so I was a bit lukewarm on it, but now that it's played out I'm happier that there seems to have been an actual creative decision behind it rather than it just being a bit of a ratings ploy (although don't get me wrong, that's definitely at least half the reason): a bit of a soft reboot allowing 15/Gatwa to get going without the lingering angst and issues that have accumulated since 2005 isn't a bad thing, and using the 60th to put those storylines to bed isn't the worst way to celebrate, even if it's not necessarily how I would have chosen to do it.

Much as I ended up not caring for her era overall, I can't help but feel like Whittaker got a bit of a raw deal; I think people would look back on her run more positively if the 60th specials had featured her, allowing her to actually evolve to deal with her emotions in a way she never got to during her time on the show. Granted, I have no idea whether she *wanted* to stick around longer than she did, but if I were in her shoes, I think I'd have stuck around another year to get the 60th under my belt as well. Who knows though.

 

Well, those were the first three Doctor Who Episodes I've watched since mid Capaldi (except for me rewatching Tennant's run and the start of Smith's about 3 years ago).

The whole way through I was feeling a bit sad. It was really nice to see Tennant back, as he is by far my fav. But the quality of the episodes wasn't on par with some of his previous best. But that was on the writing, not him. They were all pretty standard Who, I enjoyed aspects of all of them, but overall liked #2 and 3 best.

I had been expecting to come on here afterwards and say it was a somewhat lukewarm sendoff, and I wasn't sure of the point. But then there was *that* scene, and *that* ending. So... yeah, interesting. Not quite sure what I think yet. I do expect a spinoff at some point, which I'll probably watch.

But... Tennant's 10 was really quite something. The way it ended "I don't want to die" was so well done. I don't know how they can match or top that with bringing him back, and they certainly didn't here, but if they can't match it, then I can't help but think it'll cheapen 10.

Gotta say, I really liked the vibe of Gatwa though. I wasn't sure what to expect there, haven't seen any of Whittaker, but I was genuinely surprised by how charismatic I found him. I might actually check it out. I like how they're trying to give him a free start, without all the baggage of the last 18 years.

 

First things first, I really like the new Doctor. He really reminds me of both 9rh and 10th

He has the intensity of the 9th doctor, where he sometimes just doesn't give a fuck about your feelings and he's more interested in what's going on.
But then he reminds me of 10's effervescent spirit. In a way I can see why he came directly from 10.

My only problem with him was than. He didn't seem curious, or willing to talk to the antagonists.

I might have missed something but we never got an explanation as to why Ruby was targeted by the goblins.

Also, I thought this was the Doctor with no baggage, but there are moments where he clearly still carries some baggage.

At first, I was really annoyed with Ruby's relentless banter, but they established they did that for the in-universe show, she was much better in their "normal: life

I also love that the Doctor only fully surely up in her life once she proves how brave and selfless she is. I can't wait to watch more of this duo. I love Ruby's unapologetic positivism. 15 Years ago when " Dark Lord Potter" would have appealed to me, I would have absolutely hated her. But now, I love watching a positive character whose not trying to shove their optimism up your ass, She just takes this as they come and goes with it.

Ruby has a chance to supplant Rose, Donna and Ammy as the best modern doctor who companions, depending on how the series writers approach her.


BUT BUT..I LOVE THE NEW DOCTOR. He embodies the Doctor in a way, sorry peter, matt smith could. I hate to say it but capaldi and jodie just didn;t feel like this.
I got my sisters into Dr.Who due to eleventh hour.

I feel I can get someone into doctor who from this episode

 

The plot of the Christmas special was bit meh, but I really liked Ncuti. He's got lots of personality and energy and a great big infectious smile that reminds me a lot of Tom Baker. The leather coat is amazing too.

I'm a tad concerned that his Doctor comes off as a little too charming and smooth though. The Doctor is always, first and foremost, a massive dork. Really hope RTD gives him the chance to be silly in the main season.


No opinion on Ruby really. More interesting than any of the Chibbs companions so that's a plus, but not particularly memorable in the way that Donna and Amy were. She's basically S1 Rose without the chav and sass.

 

There was some fun stuff in the commentary, notably one of the scenes that was cut (for budget reasons) was Ruby actually fending off the Goblin King in the apartment (by playing scratch offs until she won one). I think that would have fleshed out her character a bit more.

Hopefully the upcoming season shows off more!

 

New trailer drop. May 11th double-episode premiere.



Definitely looking forward to the music episode more than space episode.

 

Is it worth coming back to check it out? I fell off Who halfway through Smith's run (last thing I remember was closing the loop with River Song), Smith and his episodes had gone a bit too goofy/silly/etc for my tastes and didn't have the... threat? seriousness? menace, I guess is the word, that Tenant and Eccleston could bring out with the Doctor, and I bounced off Capaldi's run for whatever reason (don't remember exactly what did it, just that I watched I think the second or third episode in his run and turned it off 10 minutes in and never came back).

I've heard the show's made a big turn around in recent times though, and the trailer's got me curious enough to at least start looking into it.

 

It hasnt been consistently great since Smith was at the helm. The Capaldi era has about a dozen or so AMAZING episodes, and many more good episodes than stinkers on average.

The Whittaker era has maybe 3 great episodes, and the rest are mid to abysmally awful.

The 3 RTD2 specials with Tennant were all a return to good high quality Doctor Who, but I'm not certain anyone is going to be looking back on them as storytelling powerhouses.

The Christmas Special with Gatwa had solid performances, but the plot was rather unimpressive.

Ask us again at the end of Gatwa's 1st run, but I think the RTD2 era is probably a good spot to pick it up again.

 

The Disney+ run is basically a fresh start reboot, just like Rose and The Eleventh Hour was. I'd recommend waiting for the season opener (May 11th) and seeing if they catch you.

Capaldi had the "thing" of him intentionally playing the Doctor as unlikable early on, to show a character change over the course of the season, and in interviews he admits he may have taken it a bit far. That said, he does get a lot better and there are some amazing episodes in the run. His run is worth binging straight.

Whittaker was a good actress let down by the writing of the series. There's a lot of *watchable* episodes in her run, but also a lot of very awkward and bad ones. Asking someone for a list of 'must see' episodes of the run would probably be the way to go. Also, go in blind to "Prisoner of the Judoon". A lot of Whittaker's era are good on first watch but don't necessarily hold up long term.

Teennant (Fourteen+Tennant obv) is basically a victory lap of RTD1, wrapping up Donna's story. They're fun, watch them if you want.

Chrismas special is basically episode 0 of the season. I'd not watch it standalone.

 

Two new episodes today. They'll probably be divisive to older fans, but I enjoyed them and I'm hoping this revival gets DW a much higher profile.

I really wish TDC was a full on musical episode. I liked it, and gave it a 9/10, but it could've been so much more!

This revival feels like a remix of RTD's earlier seasons, with some new twists and ideas. Kinda feels like "what if new who continued on directly from the previous series".

 

I'm enjoying Gatwa. A lot. He's got great "this is very exciting" delivery and he can passably do the sudden gravitas thing that Smith was SO good at.

Space Babies felt like a lighthearted excuse to rehash all the Doctor Who lore very quickly. It wasn't bad in any way, and there were some funny bits, but it was super low stakes. The companion mystery they're trying to set up here also doesn't really interest me. Like... unless Ruby is a regeneration of Susan/Romana, I just... genuinely don't care.

Devil's Chord was wacky fun. The terrible music # at the end could have not existed though.

 

Space Babies was a perfectly fine episode that I will almost certainly never watch again.

Devil's Chord ran the full scale. When it was good, it was great, but there were moment which really didn't work. Maestro lifted proceedings every time they were in screen though.

 

I enjoyed the musical ish episode. A bit cheesy at points but I was here for it. Could've done without the space babies though. Very uncanny valley.

 

Boom was bloody good. One of the best episodes in several years.

 

73 yards is the best of the new series so far. The mystery itself didn't make much sense upon resolution, but it's the first ep of the series that feels properly suspenseful.

More episodes like this please.

 

I liked it. The mystery is meant to be ambiguous, and there's a lot intentionally unanswered, but the actual plot does make sense.

Spoiler

Basically, stepping on the circle creates an aborted timeline where Ruby travels back and prevents the circle from being stepped on.

 

Spoiler

It went a little too far with the ambiguity though. Midnight is a great example of how to do science-mystery perfectly. Have an unexplained phenomenon, have the characters involved postulate on what's happening, and resolve the mystery without an answer.

This ep didn't really do the second step. Like... there was no in-episode theorization being put out on why Old Ruby had weird banshee powers, or why she maintained 73 yards distance, or why she was making creepy hand gestures, or why she was always out of focus. The explanation was just "because fairy magic."

 

Sounds like Doctor Who has always been fantasy then.