Hmm good points. Well whether she was intended to be River or not, it's good in it's own way - if a bit sudden - to expand this Doctor's circle of close friends at least a little more.
I'm happy he's got more people to meet. With Amy, River, and Rory overlapping anywhere in time and space, the Doctor's universe was starting to feel pretty small.
I have loved both. Beats the crap out of most of the other rubbish on TV. Rtd was a bit spangly and camp at times and Moffat tends to be a bit smug and overly clever, but both have produced some great TV sci fi, and almost universally above average TV sci fi. IMHO of course!
They've both kept me coming back. I liked RTD's making the Doctor's relationships with his companions more emotional and intimate than the old series usually did. And while it could be over done, I have enjoyed the companions lives being filled out more with family and friends whom the Doctor interacts with. Both have made great use of that more often than not.
*raises hand* Though the main storylines of the 3 seasons of multiple enemies coming together to get rid of the Doctor became a bit tiresome...
Maybe next time they can focus on the Christmas party with the Doctor and Clara using the excuse of checking the turkey to go off and deal with the gang of usual suspects in brief end moments then coming back in with clothes and hair changed and yet another wacky story for the party?
I took that to be foreshadowing more than any indication of old age (essentially, he was saying that he was about to die and regenerate). There's nothing in the episode that states they can simply reopen the crack. Given that they didn't, my money is on the idea that they can't.
Do you seriously think Moffat would leave something like that hanging? I mean that would be like if "The Day of the Doctor" made no reference to Clara's jump into The Doctor's timeline and didn't bother to explain how Clara and The Doctor got out of there. Hopefully, Clara just gives him some tea off the bat. Super-heated infusion of free-radicals and tannins, just the thing for healing the synapses. Personally, I figure he had chats with the Time Lords over the years, filling them in on everything they missed. Especially in the years after Handles malfunctioned. I still say Tasha Lem is the love child of Jack and River. I love them both. Yes, they've both had their weaknesses and cliches, but that's part of what makes me love them so much. That being said, I do believe, overall, Moffat was a better writer, episode-wise, when he wrote while RTD was at the helm. When the next showrunner comes, I do hope Moffat, unlike RTD, writes episodes for them. I took that to be foreshadowing more than any indication of old age (essentially, he was saying that he was about to die and regenerate). Especially since McGann is narrating, which would make it all past-tense. He'd know that his seventh incarnation was nearing its end in the streets of San Francisco.
I genuinely stopped watching in S6, though of course I watched the 50th which I thought was brilliant. For me, the TotD was a microcosm of everything wrong with his era, though I do kind of like the regeneration scene isolated.
I think both had great stories and both had dud stories. The main problem with Moff's tenure, IMO, is that he can write great eps, but can't sustain it over multiple series, and as someone said before, he's a bit smug. And as I've said before, I think he's struggling with producing/writing both Who and Sherlock.
Good episode, nice send off. Not the blast I was expecting. I think I prefer the end of Time regeneration. EOT milked it way too much but Smith's change was too fast at the end. I think we all knew the silence had blown up the tardis. But how? Time is once again rewritten like everything else these days. Time machines now do their job and to hell with paradoxes etc. On top of Doctor Who, Christmas specials and the 50th anniversary. Writing Sherlock isn't a walk in a park. If it were it wouldn't be such a fantastic series.
Apparently the Doctor just didn't think of it, just like he didn't think of just trying to open that wood door in Day of the Doctor. It took Clara trying the obvious in both cases, just opening the door and talking to the crack. Mr Awe
Nah, they've done regenerations before where the Doctor starts out and isn't so helpful for one reason or another and they never work out so well . . . Castrovalva, Tennant's before he wakes up, etc. No, for a new Doctor, most viewers just want to see him spring into action so we know what to expect from the new guy. Mr Awe
I thought Spearhead from Space worked out great. I've never seen Robot, so I can't comment on that one. I haven't a clue what Troughton was like in Power of the Daleks. Might be a great episode for all I know.
Well, I just saw TTOTD. I liked it, actually more than TDOTD. It was a nice send-off for the 11th(or 12th), but wish they'd gone more into how he got the new set of regenerations. It's rather a big addition to the story, and they kind of gloss over it. Loved the comedy bits about the holographic nudity at the beginning. I'm excited to see where they go with Capaldi.