7X11 The Crimson Horror(Grading/Discussion)(SPOILERS

[Aldo]

I enjoyed this episode a lot. And unlike other Doctor-lite episodes, this one was actually heavy on the Doctor, which in a way was disappointing, cause I would have liked to see a fully realized story with Jenny and Vastra as the leads. I saw part of a great idea in here with Jenny being the action heroin while Vastra is the brains, with Strax as the comic relief, if indeed they are eying this trio for a spin-off, I know I'd definitely watch it.

As for the inclusion of the kids (and their subsequent use in next weeks episode), I have no issue with it at all. I've always felt the tone of Doctor Who was one for all ages, and to include children in the cast (or at least one episode) makes sense.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Only complaint is that near the end, the villain-ess suddenly knew to call him "The Doctor", though he was never ever introduced to her as such. She just "knew" his name/title out of nowhere. But other than that... Wonderful.

When they first met after his de-shellacking he said "I'm the Doctor and you're nuts, and I'm going to stop you."

Also, in recounting to Jenny how this had started, the Doctor had introduced himself and Clara to Mrs Gillyflower as Doctor and Mrs Smith.

 

[chardman]

So he did introduce himself as Doctor (Don't know how I spaced that). As such, my one and only complaint vanishes. 'Course, I'd already voted Geronimo to start with.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

A polite kid named Thomas Thomas giving precise directions for Strax to drive to his destination...









...







... REALLY?


That was a bit random, wasn't it?

other than that, I'd say good zany unpredictable Doctor Who fun.

I enjoyed the trio and would like to see more of them. if not a spin-off show, maybe a couple of TV movie specials?

I wonder if they could have written Clyde and Rani into the story instead of the two generic kids Clara is taking care of in her spare time?

 

[Cutter John]

I enjoyed the trio and would like to see more of them. if not a spin-off show, maybe a couple of TV movie specials?

Indeed. And I'd say give Mark Gatiss a shot as head writer/showrunner. He seems to have a knack for doing Victorian era stories, and we know he has experience telling detective adventures.

 

[DimesDan]

Wait, you didn't like Rise of the Cybermen? There is something wrong with you. It's one of Tennant's best episodes of all time.

Tennant's best episodes are ones like Blink, Gridlock, Silence in the Library, Midnight or Waters of Mars. Ones that like.. actually try? Thankfully the writer of the abhorrent Rise of the Cybermen redeemed himself with my favourite New Who episode to date, The Girl Who Waited.

I loved Journeys End. It was a piece of art.

...

You have the worst Doctor Who taste of all-time. You seem to hold intelligent writing in contempt and genuinely seem to desire the series to be as stupid and simplistic as possible. I'm glad you're not getting your way.

YUCK YUCK YUCK! As I remember, I didn't like Blink much, I hate Doctor less episodes, Gridlock was average if that, SITL was quite good, Midnight was suprisingly good, but average, and waters of mars was a gooden. The girl who waited? THE GIRL WHO WAITED????? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU????????/ That's in y top ten worst episodes of all time. Awfull soppy episode. Obe of the episodes which made me hate the Ponds even more.

No sorry, but you have one of the worst dr. who taste ever. Alot of people agree with me and think RTD is such a good writer and complicated stuff issn't the right way to go. You know one day whether it be many years or not, I will be getting my way again, so yeah.......

Tell me are you American by any chance? It seems that the Yankees have different taste to the Brits (I'm British BTW).

I know Dalekjim gets some stick for his passionate views of Trek, but I'm going to have to agree with him that the Girl that Waited was utterbrilliance, as for the other episodes on his list, they were all very good, Blink was one of the best episodes made under RTD and Dalekjim's nationality shouldn't matter one tiny bit.

As for your complaints about the episode being complicated? Are you actually being serious? It was pretty straight forward to be honest, so straight forward only Richard Hammond could cock it up if he were driving along it. If you're actually serious and going to vote an episode down because you don't understand it, I'm afraid that's your shortcoming and more a reflection on yourself, not the episiodes. It's like getting in a huff because of asking a question, being told the correct thing, but not want you to hear.

As for the episode, I liked it, I thought it was a jolly good romp in a few parts, the flashback scene was fun, almost a bit sherlocky in the music and editing, the Yorkshire accent on the two of them was hysterical.

Towards the end, it did feel a bit odd though but I'll just put that down to the change in tone, the somewhat out of place jokes while still in Yorkshire and then the set up for next weeks assimilated where it looks like The Doctor gets (partly) assimilated!

 

[StCoop]

And down the ratings go for yet another week. And with the final figures not making up the shortfall anymore it looks like this series will end up with the second lowest average since it came back. Not a great way to head into the 50th Anniversary.

 

[DalekJim]

Not surprised the morons are tuning out. I reckon they'll come crawling back for David Tennant and Billie Piper in the 50th though. Where hopefully it's less complicated because thinking is wrong.

Just watched The Crimson Horror again, I love it even more. I like how it teased a typical New Who sentimental ending then that blind woman just beats Mr. Sweet to death .

 

[Venardhi]

I do have one complaint, but perhaps I just missed some exposition somewhere:

Was Mr. Sweet immortal? Was he psychic? Was he able to control her? If not why would she keep him attached to herself and not some other host? Where did she get him anyways? Are there more of his species?

 

[Mitty]

Loved it, easily my fave ep of the second half of the season. I ROFL'd at the Tom Tom joke, and was genuinely shocked when the Doctor turned out to be "red". Strax and co are just a delight, though having him running around with his laser rifle was a bit Deus Ex Machina, though I can forgive it just once, but it would become annoying in a series.

The end scene was annoying. The whole Doctor dropping her off thing just doesn't work fro me, I mean, seriously, if it was you, would you seriously want to go back to your old life? I'd be the hell out of there.

 

[RTOlson]

How did the gang get from London to Yorkshire so fast anyway?

By 1893, rail service between London and York had been in place for decades (including The Flying Scotsman). Based on a timetable for the "Down Special Service," a train could have gotten them there in about 3.5 hours. Of course, I understand that York is merely a city in county Yorkshire.

Regarding the episode, I generally liked the story (setting aside the fact that everyone in the tower would have been incinerated by the rocket blast). I surprised to discover that Gillyflower was Diana Rigg, but she and her daughter gave solid performances.

There was definitely an eugenics vibe to Mrs. Gillyflower's pitch. It was a little creepy that she led the crowd in her sermon in the singing of "Jerusalem" (or rather "And did those feet in ancient time"). I wonder what Britons think about that. I may be imprecise, but it seems almost like breaking out into the British equivalent of "God Bless America."

However — singing this may have been an anachronism. According to Wikipœdia and other sources, the music was composed in 1916 — 23 years after this episode's setting in 1893 Yorkshire.

When I saw that the kids would be on the next journey, I joked that it might be the second coming of "The Sarah Jane Adventures." I don't have anything against children and it could be a fun episode next week.

I also wonder if there's going to be "Greatest Show In the Galaxy" vibe at the galaxy's greatest amusement park. It probably won't — I had hoped that Sweetville might include a reference to "The Happiness Patrol," but I was generally disappointed on that count.

Where did she get him anyways? Are there more of his species?

I don't think it was made clear how the leech had survived millions of years. However, Mrs. Gillyflower had said that this specific creature had fed on the pollution created by man (presumably as part of England's Industrial Revolution) and discharged into the rivers (where she found him, apparently).

 

[Venardhi]

The end scene was annoying. The whole Doctor dropping her off thing just doesn't work fro me, I mean, seriously, if it was you, would you seriously want to go back to your old life? I'd be the hell out of there.

Wanting a bit of normalcy once in a while isn't unexpected. Go home, see your friends, sleep in your familiar bed, grab some food at your favorite restaurant, then have the Doctor pick you up in the morning for more adventuring.

 

[Australis]

I liked it a lot. Still not an excellent, but so far I'm preferring this part of the season.

Seeing Diana Rigg and Rebecca Stirling acting their chops off against one another was one of the best parts for me. I've loved those two in anything I've seen them in, to see them together... marvellous.

Liked the old school horror feel. Liked our Victorian gang. Mr Sweet was an odd choice for a villain, and where did he get the technology smarts to build a steampunk V2 (a phrase I never thought I'd use)?

Really not sure about the kids ("we'll tell Dad"? Really? That works?), but hey it's Gaiman.

 

[Saul]

No, this wasn't good.

 

[Starkers]

Oh that was all kinds of wonderful! Oh Mr Gatiss who knew after so many sub par episodes you'd write two great ones in the space of a few weeks!

Doctor Who meets Carry on Screaming indeed...I wonder if Gatiss had to resist the urge to have Diana Rigg scream "Frying tonight!" Loved the Victorian setting, loved seeing Strax and co, loved the Tom Tom joke, loved Jenny's outfit (but then I just love Jenny jennyerally , loved Smith's Yorkshire accent and Frankenstein impression, loved Diana Rigg chewing the scenery, loved the Tegan call outs, Brave Heart Clara indeed, loved Strax getting to kick butt (he may be an idiot but he's still a Sontaran damn it!) loved the faux-scratching film during the flashback and I thought Rachel Stirling was absolutely fantastic. In an episode that steered close to outright comedy at times her performance was exceptionally touching.

I can't believe how much Gatiss crammed into this.

The only downside was that this was one of those episodes where I didn't like Clara...I really am starting to think there's a Prestige thing going on, because one week she's adorable, the next she's annoying and I can't figure out why. At times she's just too darn smug.

The other slight downside to this episode is that it does show the limitations of the notion of a Vastra/Jenny/Strax show, because you really only have one of the three who can really travel openly (although people just assume Strax is some foreigner obviously )

I'd still love to see a spin off show though, I just don't think it could sustain 13 episode runs...

 

[Australis]

Maybe a one-off season of 6 eps would be good though.

 

[Starkers]

Yeah!

 

[Neroon]

Seeing Diana Rigg and Rebecca Stirling acting their chops off against one another was one of the best parts for me. I've loved those two in anything I've seen them in, to see them together... marvellous.

I'm glad someone else mentioned this, because it seemed to me a wonderful bit of casting - to have mother and daughter play ... mother and daughter!

No, this wasn't good.

As has been said to others, please take the time to explain why you feel this way. As you've seen, a simple all-too-brief comment like this can cause more grief than we need.

 

[Eliczo]

I liked it, felt that it wasnt too complicated. Good acting in all involved, liked Madam Vestra and her gang's involvemen, but as for the end while having clara appear in old photos is a good idea, I found kids a bit annoying, will have to see how the next episode plays.

 

[SeerSGB]

Fun little episode. Not perfect, but it hit all the right notes. The Doctor and Clara--what little they were together--clicked pretty good. I was half expecting Vastra to smack the Doctor for kissing Jenny.

G1 Galvatron toy on the kitchen counter, in 2013? E-bay that sucker.