I was just counting up how many Books and Audios this episode manages to render impossible. So long Yog-Sothoth, we barely know ya.
Oh, wait, there *is* what might be an Ice Warrior arm in the trailer- but it's a totally differen't shot from the one I originally thought, grabbing a sailor by the throat, not the creature immediately before the Cyberman-grabbing-Clara shot.
Actually it also fucks up The Abominable Snowmen, in which Padmasambhava had been possessed by the Intelligence for 300 years before 1930-ish (impossible if it only became what it is in 1892)... And gets the Web Of Fear's year wrong. So, it's a show about time travel, everything changes all the time.
Crushingly disappointed that Clara is Spoiler another modern day companion after getting all excited about the prospect of one from a Victorian era. Otherwise it was good frothy fun. 6/10
I love Moffat. Those titles and the new theme, love the new theme, Gold has finally taken all that techno shit away from it, so we can actually here the vintage sounding theme that Moffat has probably wanted since taking over. so old school yet so new. Even had the 'random space/sci fi' effects accross the screen. And finally, we have the current Doctors face appear in the credits, subtle and not as obvious as previous titles but, Moffat put Smiths face in the credits. Squeeeeeeee. Fair enough, the ep was a kind of standard Xmas yarn but I liked it. Loved how she got the Doctors attention with the Pond double reference, as if this version of Oswin is somehow connected with the other version(s) of Oswin. Also, it's a pond in a garden. I got excited when she mentioned soufflés, damn Moffat, pulling the wool over our eyes in the CIN intro. Then Oswin remembered The Doctor from her other reality, love the twisty stuff. And the new interior, I was curious as to how it would look once in a moving frame, doesn't disapoint. It's a little smaller than the previous two but it is a nice looking console room. Shame though to me it looks too American space opera bridge, Elevens first console room was uniquely eccentric. Still like it though, the fact we can now see the console through the doors is a bonus. I also love the fact that it wasn't explained how it was so different, could've been destroyed and regenerated again, or The Doctor, as Moffat has kind of explained, is almost growing up so naturally, as he matures, so do his clothes, attitudes, values and living space. I like it though. "Smaller on the outside."
You must have avoided most spoilers. That was one of the things that was known. The opening titles....the music is reminiscent of the Tom Baker era and the effects are kinda cheesy looking, at least on youtube.
Best to avoid the major plot twists really. I found out Donna had her memory erased at the end of Series 4 before Partners in Crime had even aired. It's nice to be surprised again. Even if I don't like the surprises .
Episode was okay. Human emotion saves the day yet again. . . Yawn. Love Smith as always, love Coleman. Liked seeing The Doctor working as part of a team with Vastra and all them but Jenny still feels like an accessory to Vastra rather than a character in her own right. New titles are frustrating. I understand what they were going for, and like certain aspects of it, but it is messy and overdone. Doesn't look like space or the time vortex or anything as much as a bunch of computer effects getting thrown at the screen. Just lazy use of layer after layer of images and animations. The face is a subtle enough that I can appreciate it in spite of the mess surrounding it. New theme is fine, just fine, but it feels a bit timid in spite of the big bombastic bits and because it moves through each section so quickly it never really develops fully to deliver a payoff. New TARDIS interior is likewise frustrating and judging by the photography they're well aware of the problem. It just isn't particularly interesting. Shapes are simplistic, there is little texture, detailing is repetitive and yet inconsistently applied, and they covered it up badly with dim and flashy lighting. We lose the size and the multiple levels in exchange for being able to look through the doors? Not much of a trade-off. If it is in fact a compromise because of the budget then hopefully they'll refit it before the next series. If it was intentional out of nostalgia then I'll just have to add it to my list of reasons why Moffat was better off as a contributing writer.
Oh, that pissed me off to no end. I found the first half of this episode so enjoyable and then the overblown soap opera finale and Clara revelation kinda turned me off severely. Still, I wasn't bored and it's far, far, faaaarrrrr from the dumbest Christmas special.
I probably shouldn't be reading this until after 10:00, but what the hell. So Colelman's character is really Oswin? Bizarre, but no more so than other stuff I've seen from Moffat over the last two years.
They seem to be incarnations of the same person scattered through time, Wouldn't be Moffat Who without a mystery or twist behind every single thing.
I won't spoil as it'd ruin the episode, so you can be disappointed or delighted at your own pace . Gonna watch this again tomorrow and see if I like it more now I know the ending beforehand. I really liked pretty much everything until the insane OTT melodrama towards the end. Oh, actually I was turned off by mopey, retired Doctor. We went through this character arc at least twice in the RTD era. And it was naff then . Ala Scarothi in City of Death.
I liked that he seemed to be intentionally trying to be mopey and grumpy rather than actually being so. All it took was an adorable smart-mouthed barmaid walking into his life to reveal how much of an empty construct his 'retirement' was.