Knock Knock (Grade & Discussion Thread)

[kirk55555]

"This is the bit of my life that you're not in"

Wow, what an irritating line. It does pretty much sum up one of the big problems Moffat has had since Series 7B. I'm kind of cooling to Bill as a character. Being an ass to The Doctor in two episodes in a row, and being completely in the wrong both times, is not good. Sometimes The Doctor deserves a good rebuke, but that situation hasn't come up yet with Bill (not that Clara cared about that either, she was constantly a jerk and constantly wrong).

To be fair, when Bill isn't being an idiot she works really well with The Doctor (unlike Clara). She should challenge the Doctor if he deserves it, but now its like she just suddenly acts like a jerk every so often for no real reason. I like her fairly well, but I hope the remaining episodes smooth over the bumps in the friendship between her and The Doctor.

As for the episode, if Doctor Who could take a break from Horror stories, and maybe try some normal sci fi, I'd be ecstatic. This was an ok episode, but not much more then that. I mean, I'd rather have "ok" then what most of Series 8 gave us, but half way through the season we've had two very good episodes and then two kind of bland "ok" episodes. The haunted house stuff was done decently, but its nothing we haven't seen before. the twist/reveal was a bit lame, but not bad or anything. Hopefully the show will pick up a bit next week.

 

[Mr Awe]

Meh, not my cup of tea. It didn't really make much sense at all. The atmosphere was nice. Definitely Scooby Doo. But, no real pay off. Don't like the part time companion bit either.

 

[tomalak301]

This episode was lame. How many times have they done a ghost/horror story like this anyway. I guess they have to do one a season. I'd much rather see a Dalek story than this, and I do think they've overused the Daleks. Still, I miss the Doctor Who that was flying in the tardis through time and space. I liked last weeks episode for that very thing, but I don't like the whole Doctor is trapped on earth thing. I hope they reveal the vault storyline soon or else I'm going to have the same reaction to this season like I am with a season of another current TV series that hid a mystery for far too long.

As for Bill's "This is a part of my life you're not a part of", please writers don't make her like Clara. Hopefully next week is better (Even though since they're showing previews of next week during a show I don't watch, I have no idea what next week's is about).

 

[CommodoreKong]

Another solid 4 out of 5 quality episode this season. I love the Haunted House theme/vibe the episode had going for it.
I've been really happy with this season. There hasn't been any episode that's really knocked it out of the park yet but they've all been a lot of fun.

 

[matthunter]

Ooh... Interesting point on DenOfGeek... At the start of the ep, the Doctor casually mentions that regeneration causes hunger. At the end, he's bought a massive takeaway, and it's not for Nardole.

Is he already regenerating? Or is the Vault occupant the Simm Master still wracked with hunger due to his failed regen in The End Of Time?

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

Eugene Victor Tooms... just saying...

 

[Lakenheath 72]

From what I have read, this show started strong with viewers and, over the last month, has been losing viewers. I do not see this episode reversing the trend. It was garbage. "Blink", from many years ago, was horror at its best in Doctor Who. This, this episode is a rehashing of tired horror cliches - a group of young adults get into a situation where they get whacked off one by one. When I watched the David Tennant episodes, I was emotinally invested in the characters. I cried at the end of several episodes. I did not cry at the end of this episode, I did not feel sentiment at the end. I was cringing.

This is a horrible thing to bring up. I know about a doctor who treated a woman in the 1930s. He became infatuated with her. After she died, he stole her body from her crypt and brought her to his home. He kept her there for many years, until the woman's family intervened. During those years, he became focused on preserving her. She became his life. I was thinking about this as the episode ended.

http://www.weirdworm.com/carl-tanzler-romancing-the-dead/

So, the mother died. Where was the rest of the family? How did the Landlord maintain his ownership rights to the property? How dependent was the boy on his mother? Why did he lie to his mother, saying that she was his daughter? These questions came to my mind as the episode ended.

The young adults were uninteresting. And, when did Billy become a student? She was not a student at the beginning of this series. And, she admitted not knowing the other people, so how did she get to know them in the first place?

This series is looking more like one or two of the earlier series, with the last few minutes being devoted to the Great Mystery, which will be revealed somewhere near the end of the series. When that mystery is revealed, it will be another, "Whatever".

God, I hope the next showrunner is more clever and innovative with Doctor Who, or this show will go into another hiatus.

 

[TommyR01D]

Ooh... Interesting point on DenOfGeek... At the start of the ep, the Doctor casually mentions that regeneration causes hunger. At the end, he's bought a massive takeaway, and it's not for Nardole.

Is he already regenerating? Or is the Vault occupant the Simm Master still wracked with hunger due to his failed regen in The End Of Time?

Oh no, we're not doing trick shots with regeneration again are we?!

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^ The 13th Doctor is in the vault.

 

[CommodoreKong]

From what I have read, this show started strong with viewers and, over the last month, has been losing viewers. I do not see this episode reversing the trend..

The overnight ratings were up this week on last week. Thin Ice got 3.76 million viewers overnight and this episode got 4.32 million.
Apparently it was a holiday weekend last weekend in the UK which caused the lower overnight ratings.

 

[DarthPipes]

Really good episode and I haven't been disappointed with the show this entire season.

 

[StCoop]

Has anyone else noticed the Doctor's magical new ability to change his hair based on whether Nardole is in there or not? Almost as if they shot all of Matt Lucas scenes for the first four episodes at the same time...

 

[The Wormhole]

Ooh... Interesting point on DenOfGeek... At the start of the ep, the Doctor casually mentions that regeneration causes hunger.

I thought all he did was respond to Bill's question about when does he sleep by saying only after he's regenerated or had too much to eat? There's no real connection between the two based on that.

 

[Hennessy Badger]

This had "budget episode" written all over it. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Knowing that Capaldi only has this last batch of episodes to shine, it felt like a waste. Yet more forgettable filler for a show that can't seem to come up with new ideas -- or at least new ways of showcasing old ideas.

 

[DS9Continuing]

Sorry, that was rubbish. There was no story, just some creepy corridors and then we meet the mother and everything's fixed in two minutes. The entire thing was utterly pointless. The season doesn't seem to be progressing in any way - we've had the same tease about the 'arc' for four episodes in a row now.

The ending for me confirms "The Master" is indeed the one in the vault, the joyful piano to the kids demise in the story was all I needed to know. I really wish The Master would knock 4 times on the Vault door for old time's sake

And yes, no real question of who's in The Vault now. Just as well they're not dragging it out for the whole series.

I agree that that seems like the obvious answer, which is exactly what makes me think that's not what it is. Moffat deliberately let the Simm Master be seen in the trailer, then he set up this obvious question of "who's in the box?" He knows perfectly well we would put two and two together and assume that the Master is in the Vault, which makes me think that's too obvious, and he's actually playing a deeper game than that. Because if not, then he's basically given the entire mystery away in the trailer and rendered the entire season spoiled, and why would he do that?

Moffat is clever enough to deliberately misdirect us like that. He's done it repeatedly before - let out set photos that show Cybermen so that we wouldn't be thinking about Missy being a female Master. Letting everyone know Missy wasn't dead so that we'd be wondering about that and not be expecting oops! there's Davros. Encourage 'spoilers' that the Clara in the diner was a timeline splinter so that the twist that it's the Doctor who can't remember her would be a surprise.

I can only hope that this is another double bluff here because if it is the Master in that box, even despite all the clues that are rightly being pointed out, then it's just too obvious and we've already figured it all out by episode four.

.

 

[Photoman15]

We're supposed to find out in episode six who's in the vault. It could be Missy. It's obviously not someone the Doctor is afraid of.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Yeah, I'm not completely convinced it's The Master either simply because it seems so obvious.

 

[Professor Zoom]

I'm not sure there is any truth to the idea the Moffat plays a "deep game".

When has that been true? Or is it something he believes about himself?

 

[JRoss]

Is anyone else finding the enunciation poor this season? I don't have a problem with more natural accents, but boy does it sound like Pearl Mackie is mumbling most of her lines.

Yeah, I can't understand most of what she says. Have trouble with some of Capaldi, too.

 

[JRoss]

Yeah, I'm not completely convinced it's The Master either simply because it seems so obvious.

Famous last words. Remember who River turned out to be? The Question? The Doctor's "death"? Those all seemed too obvious, too.