This is the type of Doctor Who episode I love: a gripping mystery with engaging characters that leaves you wanting more. From the atmospheric setting with unclassical ghosts to a puzzle that's just complicated enough that you can begin to figure out what's going on as it happens. This was easily the best episode we've had since "The God Complex," which was coincidentally written by the same writer, Toby Whithouse. I can't wait for next week.
Very big fan of this episode, it's a shame the viewings are down as Doctor Who's finally fully recovered from the Matt Smith era.
That definitely looks like 1701B on the door. Also, we have another Trek-ish shuttlecraft - this time resembling the Class 2 from Voyager. (Although,unlike the Class 2, there actually seems to be a physical mockup of this one rather than just a CG model, which may well be a first for revived Doctor Who!)
Still a few hours to go for me but I will say that this is the first time that I'm actually excited to watch a new episode since Peter Capaldi became the Doctor.
Ha! I didn't catch that. Good eyes. I hope so. Barring a handful of exceptions over the years, the best episodes have been the two-parters. Which reminds me, another thing that I really loved about this episode is how it opened. The way The Doctor and Clara arrived at the base under siege, chitchatting as they leave the TARDIS and realizing something is afoot felt like a classic episode of Doctor Who.
Re the shuttle - I was thinking, McKay crashed a puddlejumper! And I'm looking forward to our new companions, Bennett and O'Donnell - albeit temporary ones presumably.
Provisionally excellent, as long as the whole 'Clara being even more annoying than Series 2 Rose' stuff ends up going somewhere. The painting of the Vikings and the sea-monster was interesting as that's to do with the next two-parter. Now, can we all please just club together to hire a hitman so they can give Toby Whithouse the job he should have had years ago.
Ah, the base under siege, the classic Doctor Who setup. Pretty good, I like the atmosphere though we've had a few too many stories with shadow/possessed types. The Doctor's treatment of petty Pritchard also hearkened back to the classic series. I'm just glad the Doctor wasn't moping on and on about whether he was a good man and his place in the universe. A couple of odd niggles: I thought the day/night cycle was effective because it reflected actual day/night conditions on the surface, I was surprised that artificial cycles affected the ghosts. I mean, why every turn off the artificial day? Secondly, it's always weird when the Doctor uses the time capabilities of the TARDIS mid-adventure to escape. I'm thinking if the series continues like this I might just wait the first week and watch both parts at once.
The Doctor spots this; it isn't the artificial day-night cycle that matters as such, it's what else gets turned off during the 'night'; something in the equipment that's turned off (to reduce noise and save energy) inhibits the 'ghosts'. (if you're asking why they didn't simply shut off the night full-stop, I'll guess a software limitation that means it has to do the flip once a day. Well, twice, but YSWIM).
This was superb. Toby Whitehouse might be the best writer the show has at the moment. Can't wait for the conclusion next week!
I thought it was pretty meh and boring. But if The Witch's Familiar is any indication then I'd say part 2 is bound to be great. I did enjoy this. Doctor: "It's okay. I understand. You're an idiot." And when Clara gave him the cue card to read off of in order to seem more personal and caring. His delivery of that dialogue
This was a pretty good episode. It has a nice classic Who feel with the Doctor stumbling into a group who were living their lives when suddenly they get swept into this situation, and with this being two parts is pretty much equal to a classic era four part story. The base's gang are pretty interesting characters. My favourite was actually the douchebag corporate guy and was surprised he was the second one to go. I would have figured they'd keep him around so the Doctor could get some great one-liners in insulting him. It is disappointing that we're in the second story of the season and we already have the Doctor facing his impending death again. They keep this up it's going to get real old. Actually, it's already real old. Although, I suspect that this is going to end with the revelation the "ghosts" aren't really dead and we'll get an Everyone Lives! ending. Nitpick side, why doesn't the base have an escape craft? In most emergencies, you're not going to have the luxury of calling a sub and waiting for it to come and retrieve everyone. And on a final note, UNIT appears to still be around over 100 years from now. They're apparently still hiding the existence of alien life, and knowledge of the Doctor is well known, although the guy who accompanies the Doctor at the end, despite having heard of the Doctor before doesn't seem to know he travels through time.
I enjoyed this episode. I liked the premise and the setting a lot. It was definitely a nice callback to the old base under siege stories of the Second Doctor era. It was also a reminder that the Doctor always seems to run into trouble when a mining company is involved. The ghosts were creepy and interesting. Looking forward to Episode 2. I didn't get the purpose of that bizarre Doctor and Clara scene in the TARDIS. It just reaffirmed the anti-chemistry that 12 and Clara had. Also, I still want to smash the sonic sunglasses with a hammer.
While the season's first "Part 1" was rather lame, this one was great. Held my interest, genuinely good teaser for next week, a nice bit of foreshadowing with the Doctor talking to Clara about "going native," ...the apology cards "Clara, why don't I have a radio on the TARDIS?" "You took it apart to make a clockwork squirrel." The same sort of storyline in structure as "Last Christmas" really, but it was very well done. Looking forward to next week. That's how you do a 2-parter!