Spoilers It Takes You Away grade and discussion thread
- Thread starter The Nth Doctor
- Start date
This episode was weird, maybe in a good way. I loved Graham again this week, showing that of all the characters he's gotten the best character development this season. The scenes between him and Grace were the best parts of the episode.
This doesn't bother me at all. IDIC.
That was actually the best part of the episode for me.
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I thought it was pretty decent and more of the type of Doctor Who story I like than others this season. Speaking for myself I think it might've been even better not spelling out the exact nature of the mirror world since it made it feel like a bit of an ass-pull. Production-wise they got a lot of mileage out of a cabin in the woods and a dark cave set with a couple of props.
I liked the backward Slayer T-shirt in the mirror world. I even went back to see if say Jodie's hair was parted on the other side which it didn't look like anything like that but still a nice touch.
It feels odd to be at the season finale without some big buildup to something.
Happened to stumble on this, you might find it interesting:
(from comments here: https://io9.gizmodo.com/lets-try-and-talk-through-that-surreal-episode-of-docto-1830807437)
I liked the backward Slayer T-shirt in the mirror world. I even went back to see if say Jodie's hair was parted on the other side which it didn't look like anything like that but still a nice touch.
It feels odd to be at the season finale without some big buildup to something.
Happened to stumble on this, you might find it interesting:
(from comments here: https://io9.gizmodo.com/lets-try-and-talk-through-that-surreal-episode-of-docto-1830807437)
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How about little old Underdog?
It reminded me of the White Room from Wolf Ram Hart (on Angel).
Once again a good episode with no real villain. High concept stuff that kinda feels like it belongs in an episode of Sapphire and Steel. I'm glad to have this range of different storytelling styles across the series.
There is quite a lot to unpack in this episode from dealing with grief and past emotional damage so you can see what you have and live your life, understanding that your experience isn't the only point of view and even stuff about toxic and damaging relationships and how relationships with others change us. All in this weird little 50 minutes.
There is quite a lot to unpack in this episode from dealing with grief and past emotional damage so you can see what you have and live your life, understanding that your experience isn't the only point of view and even stuff about toxic and damaging relationships and how relationships with others change us. All in this weird little 50 minutes.
The change in music alone would be worth a three-point bump on my vote for this episode.This one's good, too:
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I found this episode completely ridiculous for the first part and was wondering what to say and how to say it...
...and then they entered the...err...mirror universe and the rest of the episode was quite brilliant.
Not that it didn't have flaws. It does seem a bit pat that the Doctor's grandma happened to know about / tell her about the Solitract however many centuries ago (and as a bedtime story to boot), but the concept of a sentient universe that was desperately lonely and desperately wanted to know about the "real" universe was interesting and well done (the frog didn't bother me in the slightest). I'm less impressed that the Solitract manipulated Erik and Graham; I'm not sure that its desperation entitled it to use people and their grief to satisfy its own ends. Having said that it was great to see Grace again, even if she wasn't real, and I really liked that Hanne immediately knew it wasn't her mother.
Walsh was fabulous, Whittaker was fabulous, the music was brilliant (I liked Gold, but Akinola's scores are really growing on me) and once again the episode looked spectacular. And the ending...good one, Ryan.
So an episode I thought was going to be dire turned out to be, on the whole, pretty damned good. I can live with that.
...and then they entered the...err...mirror universe and the rest of the episode was quite brilliant.
Not that it didn't have flaws. It does seem a bit pat that the Doctor's grandma happened to know about / tell her about the Solitract however many centuries ago (and as a bedtime story to boot), but the concept of a sentient universe that was desperately lonely and desperately wanted to know about the "real" universe was interesting and well done (the frog didn't bother me in the slightest). I'm less impressed that the Solitract manipulated Erik and Graham; I'm not sure that its desperation entitled it to use people and their grief to satisfy its own ends. Having said that it was great to see Grace again, even if she wasn't real, and I really liked that Hanne immediately knew it wasn't her mother.
Walsh was fabulous, Whittaker was fabulous, the music was brilliant (I liked Gold, but Akinola's scores are really growing on me) and once again the episode looked spectacular. And the ending...good one, Ryan.
So an episode I thought was going to be dire turned out to be, on the whole, pretty damned good. I can live with that.
On a superficial level, yeah, I can see that. I think it stood out less for me simply because I was more focused on the joy of the blind girl being played by someone who is actually blind.
Yes, great bit of casting.
Having seven grandmothers hints at a reproduction technology akin to Looms?
It's not easy being green...
It's not easy being green...
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Oof! That said - it looked damn scary from the trailers and was an early start, so could be families skipping it until safer to watch with the nippers.Overnights apparently 5.07 million!
The trouble is we keep excusing the drop off, first it was bonfire night, then Remembrance Sunday, then the earlier starts etc etc.
The numbers are still better than they were. the 9th episode of S10 got less combined than this has just with overnights, and the 9th episode of S9 got 5.6 million combined so it's going to beat that as well most likely, but the real issue is the continuing drop. Every other season has been the same, a big drop after the first couple of episodes but then the numbers stabilising. There's never been a continuing drop like this. Odd as the last few episodes have been really good (Kablam and this one probably my favourites) but I think the damage was done by Chibnall's subpar run earlier, and as I've said before, I really don't want to see Jodie take the fall for Chibnall's failings and I think the BBC need to put a rocket under Chibnall's arse (in fairness unless the issues are down to BBC interference rather than CC)
The trouble is we pay too much attention to it. If you're enjoying it just enjoy it. The first episode got another 2 million requests on iPlayer in the recently records but nothing of the rest. Does that mean they did terribly? Who knows. Worrying over numbers that may or may not mean anything is a bit of a mugs game.
Best nonhistorical of the season, even with its issues. It didn't bode well that the Doctor now has to determine where they are by chomping on the local grass and being impressively precise... thankfully the story got better but at least there's just one more week of Nondescript Who and then it's over until the Holiday Special, which will make us long for Star Wars' circa 1978.
In terms of sci-fi: Cartmel>Moffat>RTD>Chibnall and they're the weakest four in that regard IMHO, and three of the four names mentioned have put out some real amazing sci-fi episodes, at least one per season and the latter three are certainly known for drama (if not soap opera). So far, Chibnall's era hasn't had any standouts, which is genuinely surprising at this point, though "It Takes You Away" comes close as there were enough ideas and character drama that, while bordering soap opera, kept interest. Maybe the finale will be the amazing episode we're all hoping for.
Even the scene with the killer moths and "stand still" isn't as heavyhanded as the one from Cartmel's era with the cat people.
In terms of sci-fi: Cartmel>Moffat>RTD>Chibnall and they're the weakest four in that regard IMHO, and three of the four names mentioned have put out some real amazing sci-fi episodes, at least one per season and the latter three are certainly known for drama (if not soap opera). So far, Chibnall's era hasn't had any standouts, which is genuinely surprising at this point, though "It Takes You Away" comes close as there were enough ideas and character drama that, while bordering soap opera, kept interest. Maybe the finale will be the amazing episode we're all hoping for.
Even the scene with the killer moths and "stand still" isn't as heavyhanded as the one from Cartmel's era with the cat people.