Decent episode, a bit flat and the silliness was rather RTD-like now that I think back on it. Hopefully next week's episode is better.
7x06 The Bells of St John - review/ discussion
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The only thing I didn't understand about the "Doctor who?" line is why The Doctor got so giddy about it. He's been told that it's "the question that must never be answered" because "silence will fall" so why is he so excited that it's being asked? You'd think he'd want to prevent people from saying that.
Stupid would be failing a modest goal, or setting the goal disproportionally low in the first place. A proper, unexpected moment of character exploration, and a repeated motif for foreshadowing, advertisement, and evoking feeling of affection in one, wouldn't be setting the goal too low for a couple of lines would it?
If you mean it's stupid because it's not particularly smart, wouldn't that mean, your face is stupid? Not stupid! It works great so what, exactly, would be stupid about it?
I don't like dismissing powerful communication as stupid. At best you'll miss something good and at worst you won't notice that something bad's happening.
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Let's Kill Hitler was annoying simply because the title was obviously chosen as a perfect attention grabbing WTF. Especially since it was revealed at the end of A Good Man Goes to War where we just had the three year mystery of River's identity answered and then we're told join the Doctor again in Let's Kill Hitler. Plus all the promotional material was playing up everything related to Hitler and Nazi Germany. In the end, Hitler has only one scene and the fact they were in Nazi Germany isn't relevant to the episode at all.
The Bells of St John on the other hand didn't have that kind of build up and it was obvious from all the plot descriptions that the episode had nothing to do with bells or a church or anything. The deal there was how to you give an episode with that plot that title and the way it was handled I thought was rather clever.
The Doctor's Daughter is less a lie and more the truth from a certain point of view.
It's to underline they're all war criminals. To make a point about punishment for the sake of petty personal gain.
Plus of course she was played by a Doctor's Daughter
Right, seen this again and have come to the conclusion that I think it sits between Great and Outstanding, probably nearer great. There's a lot to enjoy in it but it is a bit all over the place (and not in a good way like some of Moffat's episodes) and it all felt a little too familiar. Like I said before there are snippets of Partners in Crime, the Idiot Lantern and the Library 2 parter, but on second viewing the swivelly heads reminded me too much of the Beast Below and even the evil office workers seemed to evoke The Long Game.
None of this means I didn't enjoy it, because I did, especially the Doctor sending his double into battle, it just means I didn't love it. But you know, enjoyable is just fine
Using my best Tennant impression.
WELLLLLLL, a female soldier born from a DNA sample could qualify as the doctor's daughter.
Well that was an okay episode? Neither special nor awful. The recurring moment of wifi'd people crying out "I don't know where I am" was kinda creepy, it's the sort of moment I wonder came out of a writer's nightmare.
I'm struggling to be interested in Clara but she wasn't actively annoying this time.
I'm struggling to be interested in Clara but she wasn't actively annoying this time.
Regarding the title, while I agree it isn't all that important in the context of the episode, it's better from the context of the season. After all, I'm willing to bet most people who are even aware of the episode are people who have been eagerly anticipating the return and know it's title ahead of time. They're probably wondering what the Bells of St. John are referring to. Then, right at the beginning, they hear "the bells of St. John are ringing," which increases anticipation. When they see the TARDIS phone ring and the Doctor says "that's odd" right as they see St. John on the TARDIS, it reveals what it is. But, at that point, the mystery is supplanted by a different mystery.
It's a tease where they pull the rug from under you, yes, but it leads nicely to the other important things.
It's a tease where they pull the rug from under you, yes, but it leads nicely to the other important things.
Eh, I don't really care about episode titles as long as they aren't the word "the" followed by just one word like "The Package" .
The Bells of St. John...
I didn't know there was controversy with the title til reading this thread. I mean, is a title all that integral to the story? I liked "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" for a title.
fmeh! Okay, Clara is a beautiful woman apparently living different lives in Time. There are at least three "Clara's" we know about; three beautiful "Bells" out there. Our hero the Doctor travels in a police call box which has that St. John's thingy on the outside; you could apply St. John to the Doctor as a sort of alias, hence, the Bells of St. John could be a proper title indicative of what is in store for us this season...
(crickets)
As far as the Doctor Who bit goes, I think the Doctor may still feeling loopy about his name being erased from Dalek history.
I didn't know there was controversy with the title til reading this thread. I mean, is a title all that integral to the story? I liked "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" for a title.
fmeh! Okay, Clara is a beautiful woman apparently living different lives in Time. There are at least three "Clara's" we know about; three beautiful "Bells" out there. Our hero the Doctor travels in a police call box which has that St. John's thingy on the outside; you could apply St. John to the Doctor as a sort of alias, hence, the Bells of St. John could be a proper title indicative of what is in store for us this season...
(crickets)
As far as the Doctor Who bit goes, I think the Doctor may still feeling loopy about his name being erased from Dalek history.
^Woo!
Titles are cool.
Titles are cool.
Nicely done, and many people think the Doctor is a Saint and he does use the name John Smith frequently.
It's not a question of whether you'd watch it or not. I just like titles to be a little more relevant to the story.
I mean, The Doctor could have been anywhere when he received Clara's phone call. What is the importance of St. John?
St. John isn't a place. it's the name written on the sticker on the front of the TARDIS.
Well, balls.
I dunno, I feel like the title may eventually come to mean something. If the "bells" are the TARDIS's phone ringing, then somebody/something had to make that happen. It wasn't just a random shop girl that gave Clara the phone number; something set this all in motion.
I dunno, I feel like the title may eventually come to mean something. If the "bells" are the TARDIS's phone ringing, then somebody/something had to make that happen. It wasn't just a random shop girl that gave Clara the phone number; something set this all in motion.
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