Spoilers The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos grade and discussion thread

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This is it. The final episode of Jodie Whittaker's first season! Here's hoping the season goes out on a bang.

 

I like that cavalier posing on Graham.

 

Its almost over. The first Doctor Who season/series without a single good episode (and this won't be an exception, another 45 minutes of The Doctor doing nothing except making shit speeches and actively doing nothing helpful because god forbid The Doctor actually do something, while her moronic companions bumble around being both useless and annoying).

Now hopefully just 2-3 more years until Chibnail gets bored of basically sabotaging (intentional or not) Doctor Who and then we'll get a chance of seeing a good episode again (I don't even need a whole season, just one episode that isn't either boring, offensive/insensitive, pointless or fucked up).

 

"I'm leaning on a time machine. No big deal."

 

OR: it’s been a great season, viewership is up, and great characters with a return to a more classic era of stories.

I’m sure you don’t want to be on a board that just agrees with everything.

 

I don't want to agree with @kirk55555. I like Jodie as the Doctor, I like the companions, but the stories have been "meh" for the most part. Like, the same story, just in different locations. Good moments in each one for sure.

I think I too need 1 or 2 good ripping adventures with a serious bad guy or a classic monster. It is Doctor Who after all, an entire season can't mirror only the classic formula.

Hoping the finale gives us the action the season has been missing.

 

That’s cool.

 

I've enjoyed the series so far. I like how it has been different from the previous one. I have no problem if next year some classic monsters are introduced bit by bit, but I think this year has been a good reset.

 

This has been my favorite season and favorite Doctor. I look forward to more adventures with her in the future. Even the stories have been a nice change of pace. The planet isn’t under attack once a week, it’s generally more lower stakes and it was great to see the Doctor’s compassion treat them all equally. Some were much higher like Rosa or the invasions they foiled, but mostly it been focused on just helping people. Most of the threats can be boiled to lack of empathy and misunderstanding, which is sadly the biggest actual treat to many in society.

I find it amusing that the chief complainers are the same people who complain about everything they see, negativity is all they have in life and they seem to actively seek it out to give themselves something to do. It’s almost ironic how so many of their attitudes were similar to the villains this season, maybe they didn’t like seeing a mirror held up to them.

 

Good episode. Nice to see Tim Shaw come back, bringing a nice conclusion to what was started in episode 1. Bradley Walsh has been a highlight throughout.

 

Very enjoyable episode and a solid conclusion for the season. I liked how the episode brought closure for not just for the Tim Shaw storyline (which most people figured would return) but more importantly brought closure for both Graham and Ryan and their grief over Grace's death. I'm not surprised Graham fully intended to kill Tim Shaw and that both The Doctor and Ryan were adamantly against it and I'm greatly relieved that he couldn't go through it, becoming as The Doctor wisely said, one of the strongest people she has known.

The rest of the episode wasn't much but it's always good to see Phyllis Logan and Mark Addy pop up (Addy even had Robert Baratheon moment). I also liked how the episode borrowed a fascinating idea from The Pirate Planet (one of my favorite serials) and made its own.

While the overall story wasn't much, I do appreciate the finale wasn't overly bombastic like most of Davies' and Moffat's finales. It's nice to have a quieter finale for once.

 

I don't think (outside of Big Finish and the novels) we've had a companion willing to take revenge on an enemy since Nyssa/Tegan and the Master, so this was a refreshing if ultimately predictable turn of events. If Graham really HAD killed Tim and Ryan had covered for him, it might be more interesting but a bad moral for kids... Big Finish can get away with that sort of thing.

Still, Doctor-y speeches and saving the day! I did have a moment's panic at the start with the two powerful entities that we were redoing Blake's 7's "Duel" but as it happened no.

Edit: I like that Jodie's Doctor is willing to admit she was just winging it on previous moments of awesome... towing Earth back home as 10... he was as cocky as hell about it but underneath the Doctor is as unsure as anyone and just hoping they can get by. But then those moments where s/he DID succeed give her confidence for the next act of awesome. And this was pretty amazing - the TARDIS can dematerialize FIVE planets and rematerialize them back where instructed (by handy Ux chap).

You go (ol') girl!

 

It was also nice to get the references to Season 1 and 4. Was Boshane also mentioned at one point or did I mishear?

 

Not a bad episode. I finally recognised something that’s been grating subconsciously though. Jodie’s eyes don’t dart around when she’s thinking, up left for recall, up right for thinking and so forth. Could put that down to not being human, but the other doctors did it.

It’s unnatural.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/entries/89823d93-ca6c-486b-9c82-2a71cd1560bb

 

Boring. I got my girlfriend into Doctor Who years ago, then I sorta left it. She got me back into it. Now, we're both very much done.

 

I enjoyed it. It, in some ways felt like a big nod to the RTD era, missing planets, the reference to towing the Earth across the universe, etc.

I also wondered if Tim Shaw was left in stasis in hopes that Chibnall has created a future classic villain who can come back again and again.

 

I thought the same thing. I actually enjoyed his bluster this time around, so I could see him working as a recurring villain with an axe to grind against The Doctor and her companions. The teeth trophies in his face are still unnerving, however.

 

So it was The Pirate Planet with all the dialogue talent removied. *that'* a season finale?

 

I thought this series has been (Northern accents aside) brilliant throughout