That one was probably the Beta version.
Hopefully not a (Lancia) Beta Cyberman, or they won't have much to worry about, just wait for it to fall apart.
7X12 Nightmare in Silver(Grading/Discussion)(SPOILERS)
- Thread starter Samurai8472
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That one was probably the Beta version.
Hopefully not a (Lancia) Beta Cyberman, or they won't have much to worry about, just wait for it to fall apart.
Cybermen = Okay, I guess. I like the new Cybermites, and the redesigned elements looked okay. But overall, they just didn't feel menacing.
Kids = Thumbs down. The daughter was especially annoying
Clara = Meh. She really didn't do much
Emperor = Knew it from the minute we saw who it ended up being
Story = Meh. Could have been good or better, the kids really dragged it down.
Doctor = Brillant. Matt Smith's "dueling Doctors" is the only thing that keep the episode out of the shitter for me.
Kids = Thumbs down. The daughter was especially annoying
Clara = Meh. She really didn't do much
Emperor = Knew it from the minute we saw who it ended up being
Story = Meh. Could have been good or better, the kids really dragged it down.
Doctor = Brillant. Matt Smith's "dueling Doctors" is the only thing that keep the episode out of the shitter for me.
I'd rank this series so far:
1) Cold War
2) The Crimson Horror
3) The Bells of St. John
4) Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS
5) Rings of Underrated
6) Hide
7) Nightmare in Silver
Enjoyed 'em all though to some extent. Just odd that Mark Gatiss has kicked arse while Neil fucking Gaiman delivers the weakest offering.
Agreed. Though, I would put "Hide" closer to the top.
The Cybermen were as lame as ever. If even Neil Gaiman can't make them scary or interesting, perhaps it's time to finally retire them.
I am honestly surprised that some of you guys continue to even watch the show since so many of you dislike episode after episode each week.
Granted I have only been watching the show since 2005, but it has never been high art. It's always been zany, silly, filled with plot holes, aimed at children more than adults (this includes the Classic episodes I've seen), a popcorny sense of adventure only occasionally punctuated by heroic moments. Most of the time it's meant to be fun, not especially thought provoking; the rich mythology has always been portrayed as secondary to me.
From some of the sour criticisms in each of these threads it makes me think that a guy going around the universe in a police box is meant to be the second coming of Shakespeare or something. Complaining about the new Cybermen? Really? The old design from the Classic series looks like one of those "ancient astronaut" cave drawings...guys in suits falling over each other and ripping open cardboard walls. How frightening!
I'm thankful the show is even on and is produced slickly and at a high level by people who are passionate about what they do, and GOOD at what they do. I have my criticisms of Moffat just as I did of RTD, but honestly they know what they're doing. I shudder to think what the show would be like if it was turned over to a bunch of disgruntled fans.
Granted I have only been watching the show since 2005, but it has never been high art. It's always been zany, silly, filled with plot holes, aimed at children more than adults (this includes the Classic episodes I've seen), a popcorny sense of adventure only occasionally punctuated by heroic moments. Most of the time it's meant to be fun, not especially thought provoking; the rich mythology has always been portrayed as secondary to me.
From some of the sour criticisms in each of these threads it makes me think that a guy going around the universe in a police box is meant to be the second coming of Shakespeare or something. Complaining about the new Cybermen? Really? The old design from the Classic series looks like one of those "ancient astronaut" cave drawings...guys in suits falling over each other and ripping open cardboard walls. How frightening!
I'm thankful the show is even on and is produced slickly and at a high level by people who are passionate about what they do, and GOOD at what they do. I have my criticisms of Moffat just as I did of RTD, but honestly they know what they're doing. I shudder to think what the show would be like if it was turned over to a bunch of disgruntled fans.
My theory is that most of these people watch quite a lot of television, including some shows they don't really enjoy. Me, Doctor Who is the only show I currently watch, so of course the expectations are a bit different.
It was a good episode but it was no "Doctor's Wife", and it didn't feel terribly Neil Gaiman-y. It was nice to see a proper Cybermen episode (the Cybus ones aren't the classic guys, and they weren't very big in Closing Time or Good Man Goes to War).
I can't believe we're up to the season finale now with almost zero lead up. This was a solid season but I expecting *some* kind of storyarc lead up before now.
And I'm not terribly familiar with old Cybermen episodes, but having the Cyber-Controller be a snarky evil version of the Doctor and not cold and emotionless felt very... off...
I can't believe we're up to the season finale now with almost zero lead up. This was a solid season but I expecting *some* kind of storyarc lead up before now.
And I'm not terribly familiar with old Cybermen episodes, but having the Cyber-Controller be a snarky evil version of the Doctor and not cold and emotionless felt very... off...
Cyberleaders, Cybercontroller, etc. have always been very emotional.
For the first time in 2 weeks, I actually enjoyed an episode. Yeah I was still thinking how it sucks they were dragging out this Impossible Girl storyline, but the fight of the minds between the Doctor and the Cyberman was brilliant and Matt Smith did an amazing job with all of that.
I'm looking forward to next week but I almost expect to be disappointed. Maybe I better be careful not to hype up expectations. I did see the prequel thing before hand though, which was ok I guess.
I'm looking forward to next week but I almost expect to be disappointed. Maybe I better be careful not to hype up expectations. I did see the prequel thing before hand though, which was ok I guess.
I reckon part 2 of season 7 isn't as good as the first half from what I had read part 2 was going to be good, Clara's didn't have much to do in nightmare in silver, being amy and rory back.
I think that's deliberately true.
Anyway, I enjoyed it as an above average episode. The kids were fine, but not great. It's inevitable because they're essentially Clara's family so it's fine to do. Most of the complaints I had were answered in this thread (why wait to blow up the planet - to save the kids).
The Emperor was a cool character and I liked the Doctor's split personality for the most part. The Cybermen waking up almost seemed to evoke Tomb of the Cybermen (they're essentially an extinct civilization until they wake up and kill you). I hope we do not get these super-advanced Cybermen again, though, next time they appear.
1.Journey to the center (ha) of time and space in relative dimensions. I just wrote that wrong. The abbreviation would be pronounced as Taser'd. Which is how I've been feeling about most of this half-season. Numb.
2. Hide
3. Rings of Ankh-Morepork
4. Bells of St. John
5. Nightmare in Silver
6. Cold War
7. Crimson Horror
I gave it a great, but really it was somewhere between average and great, and I’m just feeling charitable today I guess. Just goes to show that a great writer doesn’t always write great. For all the stuff I read beforehand from Gaiman saying he wanted to make the Cybermen scary again, and going on about how much creepier they were when they were quiet, yet essentially we just got a lot of stomping around again.
That said I do prefer the new design, the face is especially creepy, it’s just a shame Gaiman’s felt the need to Borg them up so much. Warwick Davies was great. Tamsin whatsherface was pointless, the kids were annoying and, as people have said, could have been any two kids, they didn’t need to be Clara’s charges. The punishment squad could have been a lot better too and I still can’t quite decide if Smith was great or terrible in this…possibly he was both and neither.
After annoying me last week it was the turn of cool Clara this week (I really do wonder if there’s a Prestige kinda thing going on here!) which means she’ll no doubt annoy me next week.
Perfectly serviceable Who episode, and may well be the best Cyberman episode of the new series…but that isn’t saying much, and given the author…
As for 7B so far, I’d rank them thusly, though really only 1,2 and 7 are fixed. The others might float around a bit depending on my mood. Gatiss owns this half series though!
1. The Crimson Horror
2. Cold War
3. The Bells of St John
4. Nightmare in Silver
5. Hide
6. Journey to the Centre of the Tardis
7. Rings of utter bollocks.
That said I do prefer the new design, the face is especially creepy, it’s just a shame Gaiman’s felt the need to Borg them up so much. Warwick Davies was great. Tamsin whatsherface was pointless, the kids were annoying and, as people have said, could have been any two kids, they didn’t need to be Clara’s charges. The punishment squad could have been a lot better too and I still can’t quite decide if Smith was great or terrible in this…possibly he was both and neither.
After annoying me last week it was the turn of cool Clara this week (I really do wonder if there’s a Prestige kinda thing going on here!) which means she’ll no doubt annoy me next week.
Perfectly serviceable Who episode, and may well be the best Cyberman episode of the new series…but that isn’t saying much, and given the author…
As for 7B so far, I’d rank them thusly, though really only 1,2 and 7 are fixed. The others might float around a bit depending on my mood. Gatiss owns this half series though!
1. The Crimson Horror
2. Cold War
3. The Bells of St John
4. Nightmare in Silver
5. Hide
6. Journey to the Centre of the Tardis
7. Rings of utter bollocks.
Especially in the Peter Davison era when they had attitude. "Excellent!"
I really liked the battle between the Doctor and the Cyberplanner instead the Doctor's head. I also really liked the new Cybermen because they were more menacing. No longer, slow, clunky and loud, these Cybermen can sneak up behind you without you knowing it, can adapt instantaneously to your defenses, use their own body parts to ambush you etc. They seemed a lot more clever! I agree the kids were annoying! If I have one gripe about Matt Smith is that he sometimes acts way too childish. He's a 900+ year old Time Lord but acts like a 5 year old with ADD! There were a lot of similarities between the Emperor and the Doctor. Both had to make terrible decisions that wiped out entire civilizations in the fight against a greater evil. This could have been explored more.
I liked it better on second (fully conscious) viewing going from my initial wretched to watchable. Seemed very by-the-numbers, though. Too bad they couldn't have done more with the abandoned theme park setting (budget??). There were some nice ideas here which made the viewing better, the execution of said being a bit haphazard though.
I think speeding up the Cybermen is a bit like fast zombies and being slower and more methodical (though not necesarily more stompy) is more creepy. And the gold, while it has a history, is sillier than ever.
I surprisingly found the most natural performance to be from Warwick Davis which I did not expect. It's kind of annoying how Teflon everyone is to what's going on around them. I didn't have a problem with the kids' acting so much as having them go "Thank you, it was very interesting" after being nearly killed. "See you next Wednesday!" On the other hand, I had a hard time buying the setup last episode for them being there.
I think speeding up the Cybermen is a bit like fast zombies and being slower and more methodical (though not necesarily more stompy) is more creepy. And the gold, while it has a history, is sillier than ever.
I surprisingly found the most natural performance to be from Warwick Davis which I did not expect. It's kind of annoying how Teflon everyone is to what's going on around them. I didn't have a problem with the kids' acting so much as having them go "Thank you, it was very interesting" after being nearly killed. "See you next Wednesday!" On the other hand, I had a hard time buying the setup last episode for them being there.
I'd agree, Warwick Davis was great, I'd like to see The Emperor return some day. As someone up thread (Think it might have been Lonemagpie) said, it did feel a bit Warhammerish.
I do wonder if Gaiman's ideas were more expansive than the budget.
The fast Cyberman was interesting (bet a Raston Warrior is still faster) but giving a race a special power then effectively ignoring it thereafter is something of a cheat.
I do wonder if Gaiman's ideas were more expansive than the budget.
The fast Cyberman was interesting (bet a Raston Warrior is still faster) but giving a race a special power then effectively ignoring it thereafter is something of a cheat.
I don't necessarily think Gaiman is necessarily some uber-writer who can do no wrong but I wonder if some of his ideas were let down by the production itself. Was the comical castle meant to be more of a park attraction? Were the kids forced upon him and so on.