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

Eleventh Hour was splendid

Indeed it was, but not Empty Child or Blink splendid IMO.

best "new Doctor" episode ever - it had a different job to do than a Blink or Empty Child

I think the Moffat scripts from RTD's era are more well thought of because their quality stood out in relief to some of the crap episodes that surrounded them, and that's not the case now because episodes are more consistently decent. If that makes sense.

Also he could concentrate on one story a year.

Moffatt's also changed the format to have more through-season continuity (Bad Wolf nonsense aside), which makes single episodes less able to stand completely out

There have been reports of budget cuts being behind the BBC’s decision not to air a full season of Doctor Who during 2012—

Absolute nonsense. First of all, we are airing in 2012. The only thing that’s happening is that we’re moving a bit later...There’s lots of reasons for that that will become clear quite soon...It is certainly not a reduced episode count. Do you think the BBC would really let that happen? With an average audience of 10 million?…Doctor Who’s international profile is huge. It’s never been more successful. You’re not going to reduce a show like this. The opposite is going to happen, in fact.

Daily Beast interview with Moffatt

Wow, the interviewer must be a dullard that takes tigerbeatdown seriously.

Well, that sucked.

explains why it took a whole hour for this thread to reappear

shut up, hitler.

i enjoyed it (as per) - loved the fan continuity baiting - not so sure what it means in the arc of things.

the numskulls robot reminded me of when i watched the sontaran experiment as a teeny. there's a sequence where the sontaran was watching the humans on a monitor via a camera that's in a pendant round one fella's neck. the way the pendant lay on his chest i thought the sontaran was inside the man.

heartbroken about the missed opportunity for some sort of who/'allo 'allo crossover episode :(

Aside from being reminiscent of Meet Dave, this was really quite good!

I enjoyed it, but I did watch it with someone who hasn't seen much of the Matt Smith series and he was very confused indeed.

What happened to Hitler in the end?

He's still in the closet. OH NOES GAY AGENDAR

I like you, Doctor Who episode "Let's Kill Hitler".

Aside from being reminiscent of Meet Dave, this was really quite good!

Yes, wtf was up with that. I never thought I would have to be reminded of Meet Dave ever again in my life, and yet here we are.

says a lot more about your previous life choices than this episode tbh

liked it a lot, though I wondered if the slightly odd feeling of adding a new best pal to amy/rory's past was deliberate--like, was this an actual new timeline being formed (and as reiterated by one little person, "time can be rewritten").

Torn between being really impressed and sort of bored by the whole fanwankery. Also, good move making it about Hitler for a whole 17 seconds, that didn't waste a massive opportunity or anything.

I think I'm just fatigued by what apparently is a 50th anniversary story arc going on WAAAAAAAAAY too long.

Didn't need half an hour of panto Hitler after panto Nixon and panto Churchill.

Moffatt's said that next year will be back to more self-contained eps, so I think you're ia-ing that one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=f9yKkwx1j1Y

Excellent choice of some shots there - Ian dancing from The Chase, Zoe on the exploded TARDIS from The Mind Robber, the cleaner from The Green Death, Tom's alium blow-job from Creature From The Pit, the poorest quality Sea Devil from Warriors Of The Deep, A Fix With The Sontarans...

Really don't agree with those who see Hitler being in it for a few minutes being a wasted opportunity. The Doctor can't stop Hitler or WWII so there's not much scope for a story there. We don't need a portentous episode about the horrors of Nazi Germany. Indeed, that could end up being in bad taste. Much better to have Rory punch Hitler out and River take the piss out of the Wehrmacht with her gay gypsy bar mitzvah gag. Mel Brooks would surely approve.
The episode was tremendously good fun and dealt with all the continuity stuff with wit and panache.

OTM. I thought using Hitler as an excuse for 5mins of throwaway comedy was great, and probably the only thing they could have done with him. You can't really get away with replacing Hitler with an alien or making him an accomplice.

Was about to shout 'fuck off' at the TV when River unleashed the Tardis energy on the dead Doctor, until I remembered that was still regeneration energy, so they just about got away with that one. Loved the robotic jellyfish antibody enforcers.

Those justice enforcers will be back though. They take war criminals at the end of their timeline, maybe the Doctor can cheat death by, erm, committing an atrocity and being grabbed at the last minute. Okay maybe not.

Nobody seems to have mentioned the Star Trek nod with the justice enforcers? Not just in the costumes, but the way it took the piss out of the Federation's sense of moral superiority.

the Doctor = Hitler, no? They hinted as much the quick flash to Gallifrey at the beginning and the unnecessary guilt trip bit in the Tardis.

*as much with

They're certainly building up the Doctor's god complex. Perhaps after Good Man he's been brought down to size a bit. Certainly seemed a bit more self-aware and regretful in this ep.

Enjoyed it a lot! Lots of funny lines, River's crack about wearing jodphurs etc. Bit silly but overall fun & interesting way to mess with the timeline, River, whatnot. Agree that I dont really know what it changes though

Is the fact that left to their own devices, Time Lords can age (cf. L'il Mels growing up into Big Mels), a new revelation?

Think that was just a 'change of persona' regeneration - not her getting older as such.

Not sure abut the episode. No, that's not right - the episode was fine, but continual relentless pace + massive revelations of this series I'm finding a bit wearing.

Also was the 'You still care' moment supposed to be the revelation that, even if momentarily, undid all her psychopathic programming. Good job Religious Order of Silence.

Insert question mark at end of the first sentence.

Think that was just a 'change of persona' regeneration - not her getting older as such.

I'm presuming that as Amy and Rory grew up, so did Amy's BFF Mels? No regeneration required?

PS I kept expecting that fish sticks and custard would be the antidote to River's lipstick poison.

No, Leee's point about aging is a good one - Little Mels is a toddler in 1969, takes 25 years (maybe 1994 when she meets Amelia?) to age 5 years or so, then ages at the same rate for the next 15? No mean feat.

At the same rate as Amy & Rory, I mean.

Ah yes, sorry, misunderstood the first time round.

I enjoyed it. Tiny people living inside a shape-shifting robot is a brilliantly barmy idea and they pulled it off well.

Moffatt's said that next year will be back to more self-contained eps

However, I am pleased about this. I'm all for threads running through a series, but Dr. Who's a show which you should be able to watch any story of out of context and be able to follow it. At the moment it must be as baffling to newbies as the last few Harry Potter books.

Just occurred to me: the tiny people thinking River was a bigger criminal than Hitler kind of implies that Moffatt thinks the Doctor is more important than six million human beings.

Though he does regularly save the universe, so maybe he is.

In more recent occurrences, Mel's aging could be driven by her human DNA, so the writers have an out there.

re: the harry potter thing every time i give this show a go it always seems more about itself than actual adventures in, y'know, all of time, space and several other entire universes

Yeah, my complaint exactly. Those kind of shenanigans are fine for a season, but they need to stop at some point so as not to completely alienate new viewers. It's not The Wire, it's a family adventure show.

And sure Moffatt's ambition is one of the things that makes him an appealing writer, but he needs to reign it in a bit.

Little Mels is a toddler in 1969, takes 25 years (maybe 1994 when she meets Amelia?) to age 5 years or so, then ages at the same rate for the next 15? No mean feat.

We don't know that the 1969 regeneration was into Mels, though, do we? She could have died/regenerated several times between 1969 and 1994

She said the last time it happened she turned into a toddler in New York.

Or was it Washington?