Good, almost a Gernonimo. A nice fun story, great characters, and the perfect visuals and atmosphere for the story. Very enjoyable all around. Loved the line that referred to Teegan! And the bit about not being sure why he was trying to get her back to Heathrow! Hilarious! Mr Awe
Yes, the inclusion of the Maitland kids has me a little worried. Now, if the Doctor is willing to take them, it would be cool if he'd swing by Akhaten again to pick up poor little Merry. After discovering that the whole purpose of her life was to be a human sacrifice, in the service of a false god who is now dead, you'd think the poor girl would be feeling really down and need some sort of a vacation. Plus we'd get to see more of Emilia Jones' excellent acting. As for the episode itself, I rated it "Geronimo!" I found the portrayal of the villainness, Mrs. Gillyflower, as convincing---a brilliant, but disturbed mind, following a deranged version of Christianity, and becoming a cult leader. I loved the sick and twisted touches...Mrs. Gillyflower blinding her own daughter as part of her experiments (even the cover story, with Ada's father blinding her in a drunken rage, was sick) Dumping the rejects in the canal, to be pawed over by the "Keith Morrison"-style coroner. Even the Doctor was so disgusted that he didn't care when Mrs. Gillyflower and Mr. Sweet both died. For me, some of my favourite episodes of Doctor Who (both new and classic) have been those which are disturbing or twisted enough that parents start to wonder "should my kids really be watching this?" without becoming too explicit or gory. The Crimson Horror fits this bill, for me.
I haven't read through the thread but I thought this episode was fabulous (I'm bi I can use that word, fabulous is cool) and fun. It was simple and straightforward without any lumbering fanwank to hold it back, it felt like an actual story instead of "OOH WE'RE GOING INSIDE THE TARDIS AND OOH LOOK AT ALL THESE OBSCURE REFERENCES!" Loved the Tegan reference and "Thomas Thomas." (I lol'd)
My god, this was an absolutely fantastic episode. Please please please can we have a Vastra and Jenny and Strax spinoff? Please? Thomas Thomas - HA! Ninja Jenny - more! And I do so tire of the RTD/Moffatt bickering. Love them both.
I wondered if all the emphasis on "The North" was an obscure reference to a Dead Ringers sketch 7 years ago featuring Chris Eccelston wearing his leather Doctor Who outfit spouting "No, I quit Doctor Who because my parents would never accept their Northern son from a Northern village with proper Northern blood pumping through his veins being in a show like Doctor Who. Because I am from the North. Not that I like to go on about it, but I'm part of the North. My heart is in the North, and when I bleed, I bleed Northern blood. I am the North made flesh! But, like I say, I don't like to go on about it."
Yeah, I think you've pretty much just summed it up for me there. Plus the crimson horror itself looked awful. Even Doctor Who in the 1980s would have at least thought twice before even thinking about just painting people bright red and giving it an over dramatic name.
Can't say much good about this episode... I spent the majority of the episode watching the clock so I could see the trailer for The Silver Nemesis.. I think after the last two and three quarters seasons its safe to say that while Moffat may be a good writer, he's not a very good showrunner. Still waiting to find out who took control of the Tardis at the end of S5, Moff!
Loved it (except for the little puppet master thing, which was a rubbish prop, and maybe the Tom Tom joke which was unbelievably obvious) - so many homages to both Dr Who (Talons, etc) and other stuff (Horror Express and Carry On Screaming especially). It really felt like a back-door pilot, which would be good. And Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling were fucking great! Loved the grainy early film look for the flashback!
I'm looking fwd to next week's Spoiler: preview for next week Clara Poppins and her charges explore the universe deal.
Particularly just how far they went making it look like an old film. Loved the fast moving minions when they moved in to capture the Doctor and Clara.
I thought you didn't understand the plot? Maybe if you understood it, it would have been more interesting to you.
Oh, and is it just me, or was anybody else totally convinced that Mr Sweet was gonna be the Great Intelligence again?
I'm really straining to find anything wrong with that episode... I'm also suprised (and maybe I missed it) that no one has mentioned the HUGE Monty Python callback "Trouble at mill!" comment.. I practically had a giggle fit and had to rewind just to make sure I heard it right. Tom-Tom - Sure it was filler, but it was FUNNY filler... Tegan - LOVED that... I had to watch the episode in fits and starts this weekend due to work and family stuff so I completely missed that the old lady was Diana Rigg until I finally sat at watched it straight through last night. Didn't realize that her daughter was in it as well. Top notch turns all around and I'm really looking forward to next week.. I really dig the new streamlined Cyberman look..
I liked the episode, but less than the others. The humor felt forced in most cases, and the reactions of people to Madame Vastra seemed ... odd. The British in the 19th century were a proud and self-important people; contemptuous of foreigners and indulgent with racism. Upon seeing Vastra and/or Strax, I'd expect the dominant reaction to be revulsion or insufferable pity for such tragically disfigured people. And can no one see through Vastra's veil except the camera? It's pretty obvious she's a bit inhuman even with her veil down. I didn't enjoy Strax as much as I did in "The Snowmen" -- I think because the writing wasn't quite as witty. Although he still had cute one-liners, the thing that really sold him in the Christmas episode was the memory worm sequence. Diana Rigg was just amazing, though. She's no longer the looker in tight leather, but she sure can act! She and her daughter made this episode worth watching. Smith was a joy, as usual. And horrific as The Monster. At least I found him so: to see such a loquacious character struck dumb raised goose pimples. Talk about revulsion! Must have been my English half. My only complaint was the complete turnaround after he emerged from his cloistered treatment. Fully clothed and kicking his heels, at least a little disorientation and an untied bow-tie would have been a bit more believable. I didn't like the slap after he kissed Jenny, either. Not because she wouldn't do that, but because it was the exact same reaction and camera angle used when Rory slugged him back in "The Big Bang". Like the repeated dramatic reveals of Madame Vastra's face, it just felt forced and repetitive. About that rocket: rockets designed like that didn't emerge until the 1930s. In fact, earlier work concentrated on putting the engines up top ... Robert Goddard did extensive work with such an arrangement because it was generally believed that a rocket pulled from its nose was more stable than one pushed from its tail. Of course, most fireworks rockets did have the engine at the back, so that's not really a mistake, but visually the vehicle looked too much like a design that wouldn't be seen on the planet for another fifty years. A V2 with rivets. I doubt the gang would have been so unscathed from that launch, too! I'm assuming the missile would have had a range of only a few miles before it exploded, but it looked like it was built out of iron, so it'd have to have quite a bit of thrust to move all that mass. The Doctor et al should have been burned and deafened by what they'd just experienced -- probably killed!
^ Did you think it just might be possible that Mr Sweet helped with that rocket? Although, I have to admit that whatever benefits he provided to the symbiotic relationship was left vague. Mr Awe