7X12 Nightmare in Silver(Grading/Discussion)(SPOILERS)

Discussion in 'Doctor Who' started by Samurai8472, May 11, 2013.

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Grade "Nightmare in Silver"

Poll closed Jun 20, 2013.
  1. Excellent!

    21 vote(s)
    18.8%
  2. Great

    46 vote(s)
    41.1%
  3. Average

    36 vote(s)
    32.1%
  4. DELETE!

    6 vote(s)
    5.4%
  5. "Iron Man 3" was better"

    3 vote(s)
    2.7%
  1. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    That one was probably the Beta version.

    Hopefully not a (Lancia) Beta Cyberman, or they won't have much to worry about, just wait for it to fall apart.
     
  2. SeerSGB

    SeerSGB Admiral Admiral

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    Cybermen = Okay, I guess. I like the new Cybermites, and the redesigned elements looked okay. But overall, they just didn't feel menacing.

    Kids = Thumbs down. The daughter was especially annoying

    Clara = Meh. She really didn't do much

    Emperor = Knew it from the minute we saw who it ended up being

    Story = Meh. Could have been good or better, the kids really dragged it down.

    Doctor = Brillant. Matt Smith's "dueling Doctors" is the only thing that keep the episode out of the shitter for me.
     
  3. Procutus

    Procutus Admiral Admiral

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    I watched about 20 minutes and bailed. Definitely not the best ep in this series; in truth, I think it's been lacking ever since Amy and Rory left in Ep 5.

    I'll watch the finale, only out of morbid curiousity to see if the expectation is greater than the event.
     
  4. Kelso

    Kelso Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 3, 2001
    Location:
    On the destruct button until the last minute!
    Agreed. Though, I would put "Hide" closer to the top.

    The Cybermen were as lame as ever. If even Neil Gaiman can't make them scary or interesting, perhaps it's time to finally retire them.
     
  5. sttngfan1701d

    sttngfan1701d Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2003
    I am honestly surprised that some of you guys continue to even watch the show since so many of you dislike episode after episode each week.

    Granted I have only been watching the show since 2005, but it has never been high art. It's always been zany, silly, filled with plot holes, aimed at children more than adults (this includes the Classic episodes I've seen), a popcorny sense of adventure only occasionally punctuated by heroic moments. Most of the time it's meant to be fun, not especially thought provoking; the rich mythology has always been portrayed as secondary to me.

    From some of the sour criticisms in each of these threads it makes me think that a guy going around the universe in a police box is meant to be the second coming of Shakespeare or something. Complaining about the new Cybermen? Really? The old design from the Classic series looks like one of those "ancient astronaut" cave drawings...guys in suits falling over each other and ripping open cardboard walls. How frightening!

    I'm thankful the show is even on and is produced slickly and at a high level by people who are passionate about what they do, and GOOD at what they do. I have my criticisms of Moffat just as I did of RTD, but honestly they know what they're doing. I shudder to think what the show would be like if it was turned over to a bunch of disgruntled fans.
     
  6. The Mirrorball Man

    The Mirrorball Man Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Location:
    Switzerland
    My theory is that most of these people watch quite a lot of television, including some shows they don't really enjoy. Me, Doctor Who is the only show I currently watch, so of course the expectations are a bit different.
     
  7. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

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    Dec 7, 1999
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    Pennsylvania
    It was a good episode but it was no "Doctor's Wife", and it didn't feel terribly Neil Gaiman-y. It was nice to see a proper Cybermen episode (the Cybus ones aren't the classic guys, and they weren't very big in Closing Time or Good Man Goes to War).

    I can't believe we're up to the season finale now with almost zero lead up. This was a solid season but I expecting *some* kind of storyarc lead up before now.

    And I'm not terribly familiar with old Cybermen episodes, but having the Cyber-Controller be a snarky evil version of the Doctor and not cold and emotionless felt very... off...
     
  8. The Mirrorball Man

    The Mirrorball Man Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Switzerland
    Cyberleaders, Cybercontroller, etc. have always been very emotional.
     
  9. SeerSGB

    SeerSGB Admiral Admiral

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    RIP Leonard Nimoy
    The biggest draw of this episode is watching Matt Smith fight himself. Feels like they could have ditched the kids, the Emperor, and gave Clara a bigger part.
     
  10. tomalak301

    tomalak301 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    For the first time in 2 weeks, I actually enjoyed an episode. Yeah I was still thinking how it sucks they were dragging out this Impossible Girl storyline, but the fight of the minds between the Doctor and the Cyberman was brilliant and Matt Smith did an amazing job with all of that.

    I'm looking forward to next week but I almost expect to be disappointed. Maybe I better be careful not to hype up expectations. I did see the prequel thing before hand though, which was ok I guess.
     
  11. Mr Pointy Ears

    Mr Pointy Ears Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2008
    Location:
    Adelaide,australia
    I reckon part 2 of season 7 isn't as good as the first half from what I had read part 2 was going to be good, Clara's didn't have much to do in nightmare in silver, being amy and rory back.
     
  12. Alidar Jarok

    Alidar Jarok Everything in moderation but moderation Moderator

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2003
    Location:
    Norfolk, VA
    I think that's deliberately true.

    Anyway, I enjoyed it as an above average episode. The kids were fine, but not great. It's inevitable because they're essentially Clara's family so it's fine to do. Most of the complaints I had were answered in this thread (why wait to blow up the planet - to save the kids).

    The Emperor was a cool character and I liked the Doctor's split personality for the most part. The Cybermen waking up almost seemed to evoke Tomb of the Cybermen (they're essentially an extinct civilization until they wake up and kill you). I hope we do not get these super-advanced Cybermen again, though, next time they appear.
     
  13. O'Dib

    O'Dib Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    May 14, 2005
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    Mr. Brody's still
    1.Journey to the center (ha) of time and space in relative dimensions. I just wrote that wrong. The abbreviation would be pronounced as Taser'd. Which is how I've been feeling about most of this half-season. Numb.
    2. Hide
    3. Rings of Ankh-Morepork
    4. Bells of St. John
    5. Nightmare in Silver
    6. Cold War
    7. Crimson Horror
     
  14. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2001
    Location:
    Behind Enemy Lines
    I gave it a great, but really it was somewhere between average and great, and I’m just feeling charitable today I guess. Just goes to show that a great writer doesn’t always write great. For all the stuff I read beforehand from Gaiman saying he wanted to make the Cybermen scary again, and going on about how much creepier they were when they were quiet, yet essentially we just got a lot of stomping around again.

    That said I do prefer the new design, the face is especially creepy, it’s just a shame Gaiman’s felt the need to Borg them up so much. Warwick Davies was great. Tamsin whatsherface was pointless, the kids were annoying and, as people have said, could have been any two kids, they didn’t need to be Clara’s charges. The punishment squad could have been a lot better too and I still can’t quite decide if Smith was great or terrible in this…possibly he was both and neither.

    After annoying me last week it was the turn of cool Clara this week (I really do wonder if there’s a Prestige kinda thing going on here!) which means she’ll no doubt annoy me next week.

    Perfectly serviceable Who episode, and may well be the best Cyberman episode of the new series…but that isn’t saying much, and given the author…

    As for 7B so far, I’d rank them thusly, though really only 1,2 and 7 are fixed. The others might float around a bit depending on my mood. Gatiss owns this half series though!

    1. The Crimson Horror
    2. Cold War
    3. The Bells of St John
    4. Nightmare in Silver
    5. Hide
    6. Journey to the Centre of the Tardis
    7. Rings of utter bollocks.
     
  15. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 1999
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    1. Rings of Ahkaten
    2. Nightmare Silver
    3. Bells St John
    4. Journey TARDIS
    5. Cold War
    6. Crimson Horror
    7. Hide

    Not a single stinker in the bunch, I think. "Hide" was a little mundane but not terrible.
     
  16. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2001
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    Especially in the Peter Davison era when they had attitude. "Excellent!"
     
  17. Romulan_spy

    Romulan_spy Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Terre Haute, IN. USA
    I really liked the battle between the Doctor and the Cyberplanner instead the Doctor's head. I also really liked the new Cybermen because they were more menacing. No longer, slow, clunky and loud, these Cybermen can sneak up behind you without you knowing it, can adapt instantaneously to your defenses, use their own body parts to ambush you etc. They seemed a lot more clever! I agree the kids were annoying! If I have one gripe about Matt Smith is that he sometimes acts way too childish. He's a 900+ year old Time Lord but acts like a 5 year old with ADD! There were a lot of similarities between the Emperor and the Doctor. Both had to make terrible decisions that wiped out entire civilizations in the fight against a greater evil. This could have been explored more.
     
  18. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Jun 9, 2001
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    I liked it better on second (fully conscious) viewing going from my initial wretched to watchable. Seemed very by-the-numbers, though. Too bad they couldn't have done more with the abandoned theme park setting (budget??). There were some nice ideas here which made the viewing better, the execution of said being a bit haphazard though.

    I think speeding up the Cybermen is a bit like fast zombies and being slower and more methodical (though not necesarily more stompy) is more creepy. And the gold, while it has a history, is sillier than ever.

    I surprisingly found the most natural performance to be from Warwick Davis which I did not expect. It's kind of annoying how Teflon everyone is to what's going on around them. I didn't have a problem with the kids' acting so much as having them go "Thank you, it was very interesting" after being nearly killed. "See you next Wednesday!" On the other hand, I had a hard time buying the setup last episode for them being there.
     
  19. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2001
    Location:
    Behind Enemy Lines
    I'd agree, Warwick Davis was great, I'd like to see The Emperor return some day. As someone up thread (Think it might have been Lonemagpie) said, it did feel a bit Warhammerish.

    I do wonder if Gaiman's ideas were more expansive than the budget.

    The fast Cyberman was interesting (bet a Raston Warrior is still faster) but giving a race a special power then effectively ignoring it thereafter is something of a cheat.
     
  20. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Jun 9, 2001
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    Mr. Adventure
    I don't necessarily think Gaiman is necessarily some uber-writer who can do no wrong but I wonder if some of his ideas were let down by the production itself. Was the comical castle meant to be more of a park attraction? Were the kids forced upon him and so on.