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

Tom's "secondary control room" was my absolute fave as a kid

Four winners in a row. What. The. Fuck.

'er indoors hated it.

Guess I'm a lone hater then. Really don't like "magic Tardis" bullshit at all, it's consistently been my least favourite thing about nu-Who as it's a total get-out-of-jail-free card. Pacing was kind of off as well -
Amy and Rory lost in the Tardis corridor could've been supremely creepy had it just slowed down a bit but it felt like Gaiman was trying to cram as many things into his one Doctor Who episode as possible. The manic pacing made it feel like that really shonky Rusty era episode where The Master reappears.

Smith absolutely brilliant in this one though - Tennant would have over-emoted at the "OMG there are still Timelords alive oh shit there aren't" part, Smith's supremely geeky Doctor works because he's all "avoid the difficult emotional issue quick hide by playing with wires" instead.

i thought there were really good bits in it, loads of dead funny throwaway stuff - 'did you wish really hard', 'another ood i couldn't save' matt smith's facial expressions, etc - but the whole thing felt kind of awkward and patchy? a bit too much neverwhere, a bit too much consumptive-victorian-madwoman, a bit too much sci-fi-horror-film.

it felt like a problem with direction as much as a problem with the script, though, loads of stuff fell flat but felt like it could have been ~magical~

Really don't like "magic Tardis" bullshit at all, it's consistently been my least favourite thing about nu-Who as it's a total get-out-of-jail-free card.

I agree with this wholeheartedly.

I was genuinely creeped out by the stuff in the corridors, though. It tapped it very nicely to childhood fears of getting cut off from everyone else and getting left behind in strange places.

Tapped IN very nicely, obv.

Loved this. Am guessing he was writing with Helena Bonham-Carter in mind for the Tardis.

That would have been awesome. Good call.

also, you hear her say "I love you" just as she's disintegrating. All is lost in a welter of sop and slush with that Gaiman.

I really enjoyed this episode. It was written by Neil Gaiman so didn't expect anything other than, as zappi sez, self-satisfied tedious goff wankery. Personified Tardis is great despite the awkward execution -- NG's hallmark.

once Karen-off-of-Corrie was revealed as Tardis

There wasn't really a reveal to the audience, though? I mean, we saw Uncle and Auntie talking about swapping souls, and then the Tardis loses power, and then we see Timelord/Tardis dust surrounding the human vessel.

Yeah it's weird, on scone viewing that seemed really obvious (you even hear the tardis sound as it takes her over) but somehow it just passed me by completely the first tme round.

So, when Rose Tyler soaked up the heart of the tardis or whatever it was, in the last ninth doctor episode...how was that different to what happened here?

Scone? Damn you autocorrect. Second.

how was that different to what happened here?

Spacey wacey.

I am turning into Matthew out of Sunday Heroes I think - "No, not aaah".

Anyway, I scone viewed it as well and while I didn't enjoy it as much it was still pretty good. As I hinted up there without being spoilery, this was all revealed on Blue Peter on Thursday - the console was a competition winner from back in the Rusty era, and they showed the toy that's going on sale. Someone on OG speculated exactly the Junkyard TARDIS from one of the first promo shots of this episode, which does show that guesses are sometimes pretty damn spoilery too.

Rose's "soul" was still in there, I guess, whereas Idris was just an empty vessel. Also Rose harnessed the powers of the time vortex which is maybe different from the powers of the Tardis, the living thing itself.

I enjoyed this episode a lot - though it does quash my theory that River was a personification of the Tardis.

Have barely read or seen any Gaiman, but I thought this was pretty good and did enjoy what I guess were some of the more Gaiman-like aspects - the junkyard planet and the castaways, Uncle in particular (credit to the actor there too of course). Tardis personification also grebt, much better than whatever happened to Rose, which I can barely remember anyway, also A+ Rory and Amy lost in corridors headfuck. Can't really think of anything I didn't like about it in fact. Definitely digging the new scariness in this season.

how was that different to what happened here?

Spacey wacey.

Continuity-wuity more like.

agree with most of Matt's criticism (esp. the pace + too many big ideas in too small a space OMG LIKE AN ACTUAL TARDIS) but was watching it at 4am quite drunk so must rewatch - thought it was pretty cool anyway despite the "wife" thing being inevitably ultra lame bait.

Idris/actress was excellent, also made the Bonham-Carter connection (via some other actually tenuous Gaiman/Burton comparisons). didn't see the point of the Ood (nor the old control room scene really...tho made me wonder the old control rooms would look on digital film as opposed to the video of the past) and also agree that the TARDIS corridors were strangely grim (but necessarily so in this case i guess). great dialogue throughout tho.

Ood qua Ood: Gaiman wrote a new alium but they'd run out of money to make new pointy ears.

wild ood entry

Michael Sheen was the voice of House?

How long is it going to take for the Doctor to twig that you can tell if it's a good Ood or an evil Ood by looking at the colour of its eyes?

This one still had good green eyes though

Also Amy really shines with Rory, huh?

I thought the good ones had blue eyes?

I don't see any Amy/Rory chemistry. Don't see what Rory has to offer at all tbh. Sorry, Rory.

he waits, that's what he does.

I thought it was green vs red

more "importantly", why they all wear the same worker outfit from The Impossible Planet?

oh duh, Ood had green eyes because House was green

also: uh

http://www.examiner.com/doctor-who-in-national/doctor-who-recap-review-the-doctor-s-wife-review

That poor girl. Her parents named her Acquanetta.

She could have changed it

Don't see what Rory has to offer at all tbh. Sorry, Rory.

I agree, I don't get Rory at all. The character's likeable in a "that bloke seems quite nice" sort of way but he's not at all interesting or charismatic. He gets plot functions and dies six times a week but otherwise he's just a third wheel.

Rory is utterly pointless. New assistant please.

What's especially annoying is that Darvill is at least three times as likeable in interviews, which makes me think the character is probably not a good fit for him.

Your spot on there. He seems an affable chap. What purpose does the Rory character have?

Eliminates the RTD-style Doctor/companion love interest thing.

Arthur Darvill's the RADA grad in the room and is doing Mephistopheles in Doctor Faustus later in the year. I don't think this sub-Lyndhurst dweeb we're currently seeing is where the character of Rory will end up (he did the whole 'going mental' thing v. v. well).

agh, what I'm trying to say is Moffffffffffffffeeettttttttttttttttttttttttt wants to indicate pretty strongly that his show will not create any sort of emo love affair b/n the Doctor and Amy and that Rory is the clearest manifestation of that xp

lol at "sub-Lyndhurst"

I for one do not approve of an emo love affair b/n the Doctor and anybody. It is a shame that Rory couldn't have had more depth.
I doubt he'll develop into a raging crazy all powerful Rory-Tron 3000. He'll probably just wimper in the corner like he normally does. Or die.

Rory's been ok in Moffat's own eps where he tends to get both funnier lines and more to do. Plus the constant dying is starting to get funny now.

And the bit where aged Rory is all "You always leave me!" was pretty sad and alarming

Just realised that Suranne Jones, who played the TARDIS Idris, was also the actress in 'Single Father' with Tennant last year, in which she was also rather excellent

I wonder if Moffatt ever saw the thing Lawrence Miles did in the books with the humanoid TARDISes

Now I'm wondering if Gaiman saw the thing Lawrence Miles did in the BBC books with the humanoid TARDISes

oh hai it's me, the one who said last year was worse than syphilis. I just watched the Vincent van Gogh episode and bawled for 10 mins straight.

:D

I think maybe Moffatt's a fan of the Doctor-Sarah Jane-Harry season but Rory's there to fill the walk-around-looking-bewildered role. For one thing, given that Amy knows the Doctor is going to die there needs to be a co-conspirator onboard to stop her just blurting it out. I get the feeling he's being lined up for something later in the series.

Constantly dying is starting to bring the lolz though.

The bloke who does the Guardian Who-blog suspects Rory is being lined up for something too. And even if he isn't, surely fathering the time-babby is enough? Being a kids show, you couldn't have Amy getting preggers from a one night stand with some random soldier/timelord/alien, lest the Daily Mail blow a gasket. I think the dynamic between the three is getting more interesting, what with the big secret, their own marriage (loved the bunk bed gag) and their Tardis corridor drama.

yes yes its Threadless but this is pretty cute

http://media.threadless.com//imgs/products/2899/636x460design_01.jpg