S13E03 "Once, Upon Time" BBC1 6.30-7.20pm 14th November
- Thread starter StCoop
- Start date
Interesting - human (looking) versions of Swarm (defo in first pic) and Azure (maybe in second pic but why would she need a gun? Also not sure the outfit matches).
The second photo isn't Azure. We've already seen what she looks like in "human form."
That's Thaddea Graham as a new character called Bel. (She's in the next two episodes as well.)
Well, that was an enforced disguise. But the question really is why does Swarm have a "human" form at all? If he reverted Azure to her natural appearance, then presumably that's what their species look like. Is he just messing around with Yaz and Vinder's heads? Or has his tinkering with the Mouri had some unforeseen complications?
Or has he been off elsewhere laying traps for the Doctor in disguise and just didn't bother changing back? We still don't know if his and Azure's kidnapping of Di occurs in their personal future or whether they've already done it before arriving on Atropos (they had time to pick up Passenger, whoever he is)...
With the continuous adding of recurring characters I start to worry that it'll be too much for the show to juggle. Unless these new people are more utilitarian in nature (like Karnavista) and won't see all that much development, I'm concerned that the "full TARDIS syndrome" of the past two seasons will see a continuing diminishment of the roles for the Doc, Yaz and I guess Dan for the remaining episodes.
Mark
Mark
Aside from Dan, I get the impression the only new character this season that's really going to get any significant presence in Vinder with the others being "utilitarian in nature" as you put it.
This ep has the advantage of fitting neatly between dinner and my online OU tutorial. The only question is whether I will be too hyper/depressed afterwards for the tutorial to be worth attending.
On the plus side, if hyper my tutor DOES have a voice that could lull Tiggers to sleep...
On the plus side, if hyper my tutor DOES have a voice that could lull Tiggers to sleep...
Great to see Jo Martin again in a cameo. Really got an Eighth Doctor vibe from her.
On a sidenote, she's been in more episodes than Paul McGann.
On a sidenote, she's been in more episodes than Paul McGann.
That was pretty awesome, though I suspect my Mum will hate it due to it being all over the place narratively - she doesn't like out of order stuff.
The story was - Doctor hides friends in their memories to prevent the timestream killing them. In the process, we learn more about them. And because the Doctor isn't immune, we learn more about her forgotten past.
Then she fixes it, but only hands the bad guys a possible win down the line.
I'm gonna surprise everyone and say that I really, really enjoyed this. Maybe I won't as time goes by, but I really liked how trippy it was. Time will tell. 
"The Weeping Angels have the TARDIS!"
Phenomenal episode! I loved seeing Yaz, Dan, Vinder, and The Doctor falling backwards into their own timestreams while The Doctor desperately tried to rescue each of them, coordinate with the Mouri to strategically place themselves so they can undone what Swarm did, and anxiously tried to learn more about who she was in the far distant past. The chaotic nature of the narrative was just the right balance of unnerving and thrilling. I especially loved how the Weeping Angel leaped out of Sonya's video game and how it reminded me of The Ring (in a good way, that film freaked me out), which foreshadowed its sneaky way of gaining access to the TARDIS's console! Yet another fantastic cliffhanger in the vein of classic Who!
Even though it wasn't necessary, I greatly appreciated how the episode took the time to establish the whys and hows of Vinder's exile. While it played out more or less as expected (celebrated hero stands up against a corrupt leader and has a chance to back down, but maintains his integrity and pays the price for it), what I didn't see coming (but should've) was how his story was directly tied into Bel's story, which had played out in parallel without any direct connection with the rest of the episode beyond showing a post-Flux universe and establish the Ravagers. I loved how the two stories clicked into place during the pre-cliffhanger denouement.
The last two episodes have visually reminded me of classic Who (Eldrad/Swarm, Fendahl/Mouri, The Shadow/The Passenger) but this time around, nothing stood out. That said, something about the elderly woman outside of time that The Doctor conversed about how the Flux was deliberately planned reminds me of something. Maybe it's just Eloise Hawking from LOST, specifically in the episode "Flashes Before Your Eyes," but I feel like there was some kind of Doctor Who connection, too. I don't know, maybe I'm just grasping at straws.
However, the Ravagers do remind me of the Big Finish villains the Ravenous and I kind of wish they were the one and the same here.
Oh, and how could I forget?! The return of The Fugitive Doctor! Hope we get more of her in each of the remaining episodes.
Phenomenal episode! I loved seeing Yaz, Dan, Vinder, and The Doctor falling backwards into their own timestreams while The Doctor desperately tried to rescue each of them, coordinate with the Mouri to strategically place themselves so they can undone what Swarm did, and anxiously tried to learn more about who she was in the far distant past. The chaotic nature of the narrative was just the right balance of unnerving and thrilling. I especially loved how the Weeping Angel leaped out of Sonya's video game and how it reminded me of The Ring (in a good way, that film freaked me out), which foreshadowed its sneaky way of gaining access to the TARDIS's console! Yet another fantastic cliffhanger in the vein of classic Who!
Even though it wasn't necessary, I greatly appreciated how the episode took the time to establish the whys and hows of Vinder's exile. While it played out more or less as expected (celebrated hero stands up against a corrupt leader and has a chance to back down, but maintains his integrity and pays the price for it), what I didn't see coming (but should've) was how his story was directly tied into Bel's story, which had played out in parallel without any direct connection with the rest of the episode beyond showing a post-Flux universe and establish the Ravagers. I loved how the two stories clicked into place during the pre-cliffhanger denouement.
The last two episodes have visually reminded me of classic Who (Eldrad/Swarm, Fendahl/Mouri, The Shadow/The Passenger) but this time around, nothing stood out. That said, something about the elderly woman outside of time that The Doctor conversed about how the Flux was deliberately planned reminds me of something. Maybe it's just Eloise Hawking from LOST, specifically in the episode "Flashes Before Your Eyes," but I feel like there was some kind of Doctor Who connection, too. I don't know, maybe I'm just grasping at straws.
However, the Ravagers do remind me of the Big Finish villains the Ravenous and I kind of wish they were the one and the same here.
Oh, and how could I forget?! The return of The Fugitive Doctor! Hope we get more of her in each of the remaining episodes.
Well, that was interesting DW. Unsurprising guest appearance, more Timeless Child follow-up, but I was more surprised that, wait, the Flux is actually over and done with already? Also amused by some little easter eggs- the faint Cyberman reawakening sound from The Invasion when Bel was interrogating the dying Cybe, and then there was another 70s or 80s episode sound effect that I couldn't quite place when Bel replays Vinder's message. I doubt they're as signifcant as Barbara Flynn's mystery character (what? female Omega? Something like that, I expect.) but I'm chuffed to have noticed...
Really a breath-gathering episode setting up the arc for the last two episodes, I think, with next week looking to be a solid mostly-standalone like last week.
My score probably isn't representative as I was trying to take into account the numbers and descriptions being opposites this week...
Really a breath-gathering episode setting up the arc for the last two episodes, I think, with next week looking to be a solid mostly-standalone like last week.
My score probably isn't representative as I was trying to take into account the numbers and descriptions being opposites this week...
I agree with your Mum.
I don't. This ep confirms my appraisal of the Fugitive Doctor - a warrior. Issuing threats of death or permanent imprisonment. Every inch a soldier.
People seemed to see that as better. It isn't.
People are already wondering if the "I wonder if you'll look different" line means Bel and Vinder are early Timeys and therefore the unborn baby she has will be the Doctor- that'd be bloody awful mystery-trashing cheap crap. So naturally it's probably true...
I might see Chibbers doing this if it didn't also imply Cybermen and Daleks predate the Doctor. Unless the whole "time is breaking" thing affects that.
I'd be more concerned this is setting up "our universe dies, another begins" and the Doctor is cast from ours to theirs as the Timeless Child, setting up a new blank slate universe for RTD to play in.
The novels retconned various entities like the Nestenes, the Great Intelligence, etcetera as Time Lords of a previous universe who escaped into ours in the moment between their Big Crunch/our Big Bang and thus gained godlike powers. Chibbers might choose to go the same route.
*hug*
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