8x08 Mummy on the Orient Express (Grading/Discussion) SPOILERS!

[Mr Awe]

Can't help feeling that something or someone iis being set up for a fall, though. (Could Clara's statement about being left safely back hime be prophetic in a sense?)

This part was rather obvious. Danny thinks that Clara is leaving the Doctor when really she'll just start hiding better that she's still travelling with him. Danny was already pissed of that she was lying to him, this new level of lying could end the relationship.

Mr Awe

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

But it seemed like when she left the Tardis in "Kill the Moon", she had already made the decision. She said she didn't want to see the Doctor again, so the next week she's going on one final adventure? Where did that change of heart come from?

Clara is bordering on creep character now, which suffice it to say is a lot worse than what RTD ever did with Rose.

Next week for us, weeks for Clara according to the dialogue. And Danny told her she wasn't really finished unless she was calm.

That's not to say it didn't feel like a cheat when Clara suddenly popped up in a new adventure just like that.

Yeah she was furious when she left the TARDIS, but even by the end of that same episode seemed to be a bit more undecided about the whole thing, asking Danny if she did the right thing, and looking out the window with a hint of longing.

And learning in this episode that it's almost an addiction for her by this point does a lot to explain her conflicted reactions as well.

I got that impression already in The Caretaker during the opening montage.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

The resolution was perhaps too easy. It would've been nice if it was more of a group effort. I mean, they went to the trouble of getting all the specialists together, right?

There have been a couple of times where a company that had more dollars than sense threw every single resource on a problem in the thought that one of them will know how to fix it. I recall coding a fix on site while having six people standing behind me watching because they had nothing else to do. Though I agree that doesn't exactly make for compelling viewing.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

I have one comment relating to Clara's costume in this episode...

It was a beautiful dress.

Beautifully worn.

Yes, by a beautiful girl,

but also, ya know, BEWBS!

(image removed)

BEWBS!

That is all. Oh, and I liked it.[/QUOTE]

One of my favorite pictures of Jenna. I'm thinking she had a boob job because you can see what appears to be a scar around her left armpit area. Also, there is a movie where she did a topless scene and I think it was pre-boob job.

image removed[/QUOTE]

Yes, Clara was delicious looking in this particular episode I think...lol (Not only in her 1920s outfit, but her silk pajamas!)

As for the story aspect: I thought it was pretty good. I also didn't expect Clara to come back so quickly since she was so upset with The Doctor in the previous episode. (Even the previews looked like this would be a companion-less episode).

Like many DW episodes after Eccleston, the ending became a bit hurried and muddled for me. I will have to come back and get an idea how the mummy tied in with Gus.

I found it interesting that Capaldi's Doctor comes off cold-blooded when someone is going to die or sacrificed so he can gather data to beat whatever entity there is for the week. An interesting contrast to Tennant's "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" which I did find annoying especially since he'll be cracking jokes in the next scene and running around crazily.

Some nitpicks:
*Why didn't the train captain keep on moving backward as the timer went down. He had a ways to go. (Even The Doctor would be able to talk and dodge later on!) And, don't give that the mummy could reappear; he was slow! The other victims, before the captain, either were too old to move quickly or trapped in enclosed areas.

*The black male extras were given these weird looking wigs. I know the costume designer was trying to create the 'conk' from that era that many black men were wearing. And, since it was a single episode, you probably would not be able to, or have those who want to grow their hair and have it straightened. Still, it was glaringly weird...lol

 

[Guy Gardener]

Maybe that backlog we saw a week or two back was from the last vessel to host the Foretold and the experiment therefore on he Foretold, unless Missy is directly responsible for "Gus" and every thing that happened this week?

 

[diankra]

I think that was a wig. next week she appears to be back to longer hair.

One day, large numbers of novels will explain Clara's varying hair-length. The true identity of I.M. Foreman will be very important in that explanation.

 

[Timewalker]

One reason Coleman was hired was that she could talk (accurately) faster than Matt Smith. And Peter Capaldi sometimes talks just as fast as Matt Smith.

Yeah, they can talk fast. What a shame that at least half of what they say isn't intelligible.

The ending with Clara lying to Danny will have repercussions. She needs to just be honest with him. Ah well.

Whatever repercussions there are are probably not permanent, unless she's already pregnant with Orson Pink's father.

Her lying to Danny makes me think I'm watching General TARDIS instead of Doctor Who. This show does not need to be a soap opera.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Her lying to Danny makes me think I'm watching General TARDIS instead of Doctor Who. This show does not need to be a soap opera.

Agreed! And it's not. What makes you think it is?

 

[Venardhi]

One reason Coleman was hired was that she could talk (accurately) faster than Matt Smith. And Peter Capaldi sometimes talks just as fast as Matt Smith.

Yeah, they can talk fast. What a shame that at least half of what they say isn't intelligible.

I've never had any problem with this and it always surprises me to hear that others do. I usually watch the show alone and often with headphones, so that might be a factor.

 

[Count Zero]

I'm not a native speaker and I usually understand most of it, though I did struggle with Capaldi's accent a bit during the first couple of episodes. For some reason the background music is unduly loud on the set-up I'm watching on. (I hope this is not how it sounds for all of you because that would be a major screw-up.) So sometimes, I have a hard time understanding the dialogue because of that but not because they're talking fast.

 

[Venardhi]

The music and sound effects can be a problem, sometimes to an extent that I can't believe made it through the earliest mixes.

 

[SeerSGB]

Pleasantly surprised with the episode. Story was solid, the "monster" had a bit of its own sadness. The Doctor felt so much like that classic era Doctor's. And the Doctor's costume channeled so much Hartnell this episode; of the variants Capaldi's had over the season, this was one of the best looks for him.

 

[davejames]

Personally I was glad to see a return of his white shirt again from all the early promo pics. I thought it was his best look so far, but we've hardly even seen it this season.

 

[Timewalker]

Her lying to Danny makes me think I'm watching General TARDIS instead of Doctor Who. This show does not need to be a soap opera.

Agreed! And it's not. What makes you think it is?

All the deception and lying. If I wanted to watch a show about a woman lying to her boyfriend, I'd watch General Hospital. There are at least four such storylines going on on that show right now.

One reason Coleman was hired was that she could talk (accurately) faster than Matt Smith. And Peter Capaldi sometimes talks just as fast as Matt Smith.

Yeah, they can talk fast. What a shame that at least half of what they say isn't intelligible.

I've never had any problem with this and it always surprises me to hear that others do. I usually watch the show alone and often with headphones, so that might be a factor.

A lot of people have complained about how fast they talk.

I'm not a native speaker and I usually understand most of it, though I did struggle with Capaldi's accent a bit during the first couple of episodes. For some reason the background music is unduly loud on the set-up I'm watching on. (I hope this is not how it sounds for all of you because that would be a major screw-up.) So sometimes, I have a hard time understanding the dialogue because of that but not because they're talking fast.

The music did drown some dialogue in this episode.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

All the deception and lying. If I wanted to watch a show about a woman lying to her boyfriend, I'd watch General Hospital.

Not only is Doctor Who not "about" a woman lying to her boyfriend, "deception and lying" is quite obviously not a staple of any genre in particular. Respectfully, I think you're clutching at straws here.

 

[Timewalker]

All the deception and lying. If I wanted to watch a show about a woman lying to her boyfriend, I'd watch General Hospital.

Not only is Doctor Who not "about" a woman lying to her boyfriend, "deception and lying" is quite obviously not a staple of any genre in particular. Respectfully, I think you're clutching at straws here.

In general, it's not soapish. But this Doctor/Clara/Danny stuff is ridiculous.

I've been watching Doctor Who since the early '80s. It didn't get basically unwatchable until Matt Smith took over, and now we have two actors who talk too fast and the stories keep veering off into soap opera land.

 

[M.A.C.O.]

I really enjoyed this episode. I didn't figure out the mystery or the twist until the Doctor explained it at the end. 12 is a boss.

 

[intrinsical]

*shrugs* I found the Ten-Rose-Mickey era had way more soap opera elements than the current Twelve-Clara-Pink situation.

 

[USS KG5]

I have one comment relating to Clara's costume in this episode...

BEWBS!

That is all. Oh, and I liked it.

One of my favorite pictures of Jenna. I'm thinking she had a boob job because you can see what appears to be a scar around her left armpit area. Also, there is a movie where she did a topless scene and I think it was pre-boob job.

image removed

What always gets me apart from the smoking body is that she is really very pretty.

I have to admit I enjoyed watching her real life boyfriend die horribly on screen!

 

[Guy Gardener]

Rule One: The Doctor lies.

Clara is becoming the Doctor.