I thought it was a great finale. Not quite as good as Stolen Earth/Journey's End, but still very good.
It could have been that the regeneration was triggered by that influx of energy rather than it actually doing fatal damage. 9 was simply content enough with his fate not to fight it, or whatever energy stayed inside him needed to be channeled into something and regeneration was the best option. It has been a few years since I watched the episode though.
"Dalek" is possibly the only truly great Dalek episode that the new series has ever done. "Bad Wolf"/"The Parting of the Ways" is pretty epic the way it jacks up the stakes & the tension. "Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday" is when things start to feel a little formulaic but at least it gives us that long-awaited Daleks/Cybermen showdown. "Daleks in Manhattan"/"Evolution of the Daleks." When I recently rewatched it, it wasn't as bad as I remembered. Still, I'd gladly sacrifice it to oblivion if it meant I could have some missing Troughton episodes back. "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End." Awful story. Awful use of the Daleks. Way too over the top. Totally negates the impact of Rose's departure in "Doomsday." The only saving grace of this story is the massive 3-way crossover with The Sarah Jane Adventures & Torchwood. "Victory of the Daleks." Might have worked if the New Paradigm Dalek designs weren't so awful. "The Pandorica Opens"/"The Big Bang." I'm not sure I consider it a Dalek story but it is my favorite season finale that the new series ever did. Anything with Smith/Amy/Rory/River together is golden! "Asylum of the Daleks" wasn't nearly as scary as it should have been, considering that title. "Day of the Doctor" doesn't count. It's more of a Zygon story. The Daleks only appear briefly in flashbacks. "Time of the Doctor" also doesn't count. It's in the same category as "The Pandorica Opens." It's not about the Daleks. They're just there because everyone is there. "Into the Dalek" had some great dark moments. The Daleks did kill people, which helps. Although, my single least favorite moment in all of Season 8 was in this episode. I didn't like it when the Doctor didn't take Journey Blue with them. When the Doctor said, "I just wish you hadn't been a soldier," I was screaming at the TV, "She wants to go with you because she doesn't want to be a soldier any more!" (I kept hoping that we would then get a callback to Clara's line earlier in the episode and that she would say to the Doctor, "Change your mind.") For me, the thing about Capaldi is, he can do whatever the f--- he wants and I'm generally fine with it. His sheer force of will makes sure that I'm fine with it!
Yea, regarding Journey Blu, once he "for real" took off without her, I figured we'd get Danny sacrificing himself later in the season or just being a Hero who saved the day, showing The Doctor Soldiers aren't all bad, and he'd swing back by at Season end, or maybe at Christmas, and pick Journey up.
Maybe he'll come back for her. Or maybe he already did. Be kind of funny if she had been one of his companions, say during the Time War. Either for Eight or the War Doctor. She's good against a Dalek.
I, for one, really liked Victory of the Daleks. Thought it was a fun premise, and it had interisting points both about the scientist and the Doctor's priorities. It's not one of my favourite episode overall, but one of the Dalek ones I like best.
In a new video on the BBC's website, Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin address whether or not Missy could ever be a companion. My immediate reaction is, I admit, cynical as I feel like they're laying the groundwork (or planting the bug in fandom's mind) for doing something very much like that, especially when Moffat speaks somewhat positively of the Doctor and Missy's relationship. In Moffat's defense, though, there are times when the Master has been more of a counterpoint and rival to the Doctor than an absolute antagonist; I'm thinking of during the third Doctor's and fifth Doctor's eras, and certainly the Master's role in "Trial of a Time Lord."
Given that she lives in New York probably not but she's clearly going to be as major a part of Capaldi's run as Kingston was for Smith.
The Master always use to pop up here and there after the Fourth Doctor's run. He was a lot more frequent in the Third Doctor's run, were he was basically the villain for about a whole season. Though once his plans fall through and whatever other creatures he allied with turn on him, the Master and Doctor work quite well as a team. The Master is the Doctor's best enemy, by how the Doctor puts it.
Moffat and Minchin talk about Maisie Williams, and say absolutely nothing about her Doctor Who character.
I'm thinking the kiss the master placed on Twelve will have repercussions Something to do with DNA transfer perhaps and the part of the Master recedes in the doctor I just hope Moffat stops with this "One major and mysterious woman" for each of his doctors River for 11 Missy for 12
Well, Minchin did say "Stephen had this character". That doesn't mean it's a new character, but now I wonder.
"Just when you thought you knew the answers... I change the questions." - Rowdy Roddy Piper (RIP) Maisie Williams is NOT playing a returning character, says Steven Moffat
I like being right, sometimes. Of course, now we're just opening the floodgates for "but Moffat lies" or similar lines.
It's my opinion that not only has the Master always been a companion of the Doctor, but he was the first companion. http://www.tor.com/2014/11/12/thoughts-on-doctor-who-female-master/ .
Moffat has to be lying. How would the Doctor know who she is ("You!") if he didn't know who she is (having been associated previously). We know the first rule, The Doctor/Moffat lies.
She appears in the two parter "The Girl Who Died"/"The Woman Who Lived". that scene could be from the second part.
You mean like how Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax were introduced to the audience? None of them were established previously to the viewers but they knew the Doctor; Vastra apparently knowing him quite well too.
As has been speculated, that scene is likely taken out of context, and the Doctor's reaction is related to an earlier scene. And while Moffat does lie, his lying is another thing about him fandom exaggerates, if he's saying Maisie Williams is a new character, she likely is. Slight nitpick, but A Good Man Goes to War is the first time Jenny met the Doctor. She didn't even recognize the TARDIS in that episode.