Mrs. G was referred to as a brilliant chemist (there's your rocket propellent) and engineer (there's your big Steampunky explodey rocket). Mr. Sweet's imperative was to distribute his venom as widely as possible. Mrs. G provided the means.
I really enjoyed the episode as a whole and only have two nitpicks. One is the fainting guy who was unfunny all three times and the second was the Doctor doing funny voices. I felt it was unnecessary and pulled me out of the tale. Strax was again a provider of great laughs.
Of course I did, but as you note, his contribution was undefined. And, given the history noted by Madam Vastra, I think JoeZhang is right to question what rocketry experience he'd bring to the relationship. It's a question someone should have been asking.
Yeah because classic Star Trek was the bastion of real science Really, thats all you can think of, not a medical treatment that causes the Enterprise crew to devolve, or the Genesis Device, or the problems with cloaking tech, or warp drive, or transporters, or psychic power granting negative energy galactic barriers. Spoiler: Would you rather they have Carol Marcus invent the genesis device to do it, besides genetically engineered blood can destroy forehead ridges that are the result of hopw a skull developed as in it desolves fraking bone and makes space vikings into space Soviets, healing is the least weird thing it does.
Ok so wait, was Mr Sweet an intelligent being working with Gillyflower? Or just some animal pumping out toxin? I didn't follow exactly how their symbiosis worked. I like seeing the Victorian Trio, Strax always gets a laugh out of me. Although they'd need more development to ever take centre stage. I missed the tom-tom joke but it doesn't bother me. The "guy keeps fainting" one was lame, tho.
Apparently I missed the part where they explained that Mrs G was a chemist and engineer! I just assumed that Mr Sweet was supplying some information, but perhaps not. However, if his kind has been around since the Silurians, and they developed rockets, the information could well have been passed down. "His" capabilities and contributions were left vague. However, for any implausability of such a rocket at that time, I'd put down to Mr. S! It's a viable explanation for the early rocketry. ETA: I see that Aldijor beat me to it about the Silurian's, but that was my though during the show. Mr Awe
I'll need to double-check the episode before I accept Mrs. Gillyflower's credentials in chemistry and engineering, however I just remembered that she was recruiting "the brightest" for her little society. Perhaps she had her own Peenemünde going on there.
^^ It's possible, but I still think a bit implausible. For me at least, it's easier to explain away that Mr Sweet provided some additional guidance and information. Mr Awe
The rocket wash should have toasted them alive. The 'guest' stars are nice once in a while but no thanks on them getting a spin-off. Good stories are hard enough to come by for the Doctor alone. Almost a 'Geronimo' but not quite, voted Good.
It's in the scene where the Doctor and Clara are outside the gates of Sweetville. I believe they were talking to Mr. Fainty. Either way, he was giving them a briefing regarding Sweetville and Mrs. Gillyflower. That's when he stated her chemist and engineering background. Her recruitment of the "best and brightest" was more about creating her bonkers vision of paradise.
I don't understand why we keep coming back to the lesbian/lizzard/egghead trio. They're not that interesting. Gatiss stays way off the mark for me with this entry. I would've liked Cold War better if not for the cheesy alien armor. I seriously thought that was a Classic Who costume and when he sent the distress call the ones showing up would be cooler.
"Mrs. Winnifred Gillyflower ... an astonishing woman. Prize-winning chemist and mechanical engineer." So she's good with pulleys, gears, pistons, hinges ... heck, I'd even give her steam locomotives. But one old woman, doing all of that? No, only if she got lots of help from the leech and her Peenemünde team.
Well I only just got to see it and everything's been said. I loved it, the acting was top notch, the final scene between the Doctor and Ada was great. Yes the rocket exhaust should have killed them, the fainting man was a bit tedious but this was my favourite of this half of the season. I will reserve judgment on next weeks but the trailer didn't impress me. The people in bell jars were great, the whole atmosphere was well done. Definite Sherlock vibe to this episode. It felt more adult to me this week just from the performance of the cast. I'd happily watch a Paternoster spin off. Did people really find this story too complicated to follow? The story was pretty straightforward and any argument that things need to be dumbed down or made simpler is questionable. Anything that tries to reach above the common denominator is to be applauded, not that this episode did as I say it wasn't very original but I enjoyed the implementation.
I have no problem with imagining Mr Sweet providing some technical knowledge (A bit like a Whoniverse Trill). Would have been nice if they'd developed it a bit though. Otoh, it was rather neat that the human was actually evil rather than the usual "You used me!" "Yes I did, and you fell for it. Stupid human." trope.
'You know what these are? The wrong hands!' Diana Rigg's delivery of that was fantastic. If they did make a Paternoster Gang one off or series, she'd be a great villain for it.
Yeah I have to say it didn't impress me greatly either, but I figure it is just a trailer, still looking forward to it, Gaiman + Cyberman should = greatness...but I am reserving judgement
Doctor Who is a show where people build time machines in basements (i.e., City of Death). A rocket in the 1890s is more plausible than that by many orders of magnitude.