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9X01 "The Magician's Apprentice" Grading/Discussion)

Grade "The Magician's Apprentice

  • Eyebrows!

    Votes: 56 45.9%
  • Souffle

    Votes: 46 37.7%
  • Lasagna

    Votes: 13 10.7%
  • I wish the magician can make this episode disappear

    Votes: 5 4.1%
  • Exterminate!

    Votes: 2 1.6%

  • Total voters
    122
  • Poll closed .
Here's a thing: The scene with the Doctor and the High Priestess of Karn that was released a week ago seems like a scene that should've been left in the finished product.

Until it popped up out of nowhere The Doctor's Meditation was the only thing that was expected, so it probably was a cut scene that they didn't want to lose. A good way of not having it go to waste.
 
The rest was very good, but all will depend of the resolution (if Part 2 starts with a "Ah, I was actually shooting behind you!" moment I will scream).

I'm pretty sure he is going to shoot the hands and rescue Davros and being saved is what Davros has remembered. Which makes the compassion speech a bigger slap in the Doctors face.
 
I went with 4/5 (I refuse to call it Souffle :lol: ). It had problems, and the ending is so obviously fake its almost painful, but Davros was great, seeing the old Daleks was awesome (as was the clips of the old Doctors), Missy was entertaining and Clara wasn't annoying. The Doctor was easily the weakest part of the episode, fluctuating from acting really goofy (in a stupid way) to just being a bit over the top depressing. Still, the story itself was solid, and I'm excited for part 2.
 
It had problems, and the ending is so obviously fake its almost painful

It reminded me of the assimilation cliffhanger to VOY's "Unimatrix Zero", Part 1. Not so much that you're supposed to think they're actually dead, more of a 'how are they going to get out of this one?'
 
Really good episode, once the story actually started. Unfortunately it took a good half of the running time for that to happen.
 
Wow. That episode went by fast. Definitely have to watch that again tomorrow, not yet ready to form an opinion, gonna have to see the second part.

I know it's Doctor Who and continuity has always been loose, but we actually got 2 major villains back from the dead without so much as an explanation.
Missy at least was aware of that.

But with Davros it feels like there is missing a chunk of history between him and the Doctor, who was not the least bit surprised to see him, after leaving him on an exploding Crucible to die.

Anyway, the apprentice is obviously young Davros, who will actually be saved by the Doctor. I am guessing instead of killing him, he will actually try to turn him good and prevent the Daleks from existing that way?
Can you imagine a young Davros as a companion?

Begs the question of who will be the witch's familiar. Will that be Clara?

Also, will we see a new screwdriver this season? The old one looked pretty kaputt.
 
Really good episode, once the story actually started. Unfortunately it took a good half of the running time for that to happen.

Currently halfway through here. You're right, I still don't really know what's going on, but it's been interesting anyway.
 
The Doctor is serving Davros' Needs.

Therefore the Doctor is Davros' assistant.

The Doctor is going to be the one who builds the lifesupport chair for Davros.

"How scared must you be to seal your entire race into a tank."
 
I actually enjoyed it, first Moffat episode in ages.

Took a while to get going. The whole using-Missy-to-get-to-the-Doctor story was blah, as was the whole tank and guitar riff in the middle ages (seriously, how did he transport a tank back 800 years??).

I loved snake man. Very cool, though the putting the whole robe back on scene was a bit silly.

Daleks! Lots of Daleks, and they're actually exterminating people from the get go. I actually gasped when I saw the original 60s Dalek, and then smiled when I saw the other Daleks from various eras (I know they tried it in Asylum but that was such a poor episode). Not to mention the clips from previous Dalek stories.

Leaving Clara about to be killed / Tradis about to be destroyed would've been a better cliffhanger as we can accept Missy getting the chop, but now the Doctor has to go back and alter history to bring them back (the whole fixed point in time thing springs to mind).

Hopefully part two can complete the story, but it's a good start to the new season thus far.
 
Wow, this is a cool episode. Not perfect. I'd describe it as a bunch of musical notes leading up to a crescendo, but the elements never really gelled into a full plot narrative. But those notes were all really cool. This is the first episode of New Doctor Who I can recall that is clearly much better having seen past episodes (specifically Genesis of the Daleks), but I think the current incarnation has done enough building that it's OK. Still, the soldiers with advanced technology and longbows considering shooting at a biplane is straight from the concept of that episode. Looking forward to part two.

BTW, there was a line the Doctor said that involved the word "scarf" (presumably a Tom Baker reference), but I couldn't make out what it was. Any ideas?
 
I'm going to have to watch that one again. On first viewing, I didn't much like it. I figured it would suffer from "Two-Parter-itis", taking too long to build up, leaving too little time for a climax. The scene with the Doctor coming in on a tank with a guitar in the middle ages seemed to have no point whatsoever, and smacked of Moffat going "Oh, I'm so clever! Tee-hee-hee!"

And portions of the episode hearkened back to the RTD-era when the show looked kind of cheap. The Moffat-era "slickness" was missing. It just felt odd. But I'm sure others would like that it felt "retro."

I liked the beginning and end portions. The stuff in the middle was kinda...meh.

I actually expected Clara to warp out of there with the vortex manipulator. That she got "shot" by the Dalek beam was a surprise.
 
I liked it, I loved the Tom Baker clip and unlimited rice pudding line. missy was all over the place and unlike with River I actually liked her. And I loved the Dcotor's tank enterance, which is the kind of thing I would've hated in the Matt Smith era. I also liked the line about there being three Atlantises, a nice callback which would explain alot of things.
 
I don't like the way that Clara and Missy were (not) killed off in the first damn episode when we know otherwise from the trailers. If they had saved it for an episode towards the end of the season, it would (because of Jenna Coleman's leaving the show) actually fool me into thinking she's been genuinely killed off. "Death is for other people, dear" indeed.
 
Ah now that's the Master I know and love. Less crazy, more dangerous.

My only real question is, if it were so easy to go back and change or kill young Davros, why the Time Lords didn't give it a go.
 
My thoughts.

1. Clara didn't annoy me, in fact she was kind of awesome.
2. Missy still annoys me.
3. The "guitar and rant" scene made me cringe. A lot.
4. I didn't remember who Davros was until it was mentioned.
5. Ooh... Coloured Daleks. Pretty...
6. I was bored until the Skaro Reveal but then my interest was peaked.
7. I still don't like the opening titles. I doubt I ever will.

Overall I think I would rate it better than Deep Breath.
 
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