Spoilers The Haunting of Villa Diodati grade and discussion thread
- Thread starter The Nth Doctor
- Start date
Jodie is rocking a different shirt this episode. I'm surprised at the lack of variation this time around.
Excellent ep. Creepy atmosphere, Cyberman made effectively evil due to only partial conversion, respect for the historical aspect. And Jodie is getting very decent Doctory material.
"May I just say, you're quite lovely in a crisis."
"No, you may not."
I really enjoyed this episode as a simple ghost story, until it shifted into something more complex (not unlike Ghost Light), tying into the Lone Cyberman storyline. I liked the moral quandary The Doctor faced in whether to save Percy Shelley or prevent the future loss of life as forewarned by Captain Jack, whether letting Percy die would effect the future events of Earth and preventing the existence of Ryan and the rest of her companions. Even though she managed to save Percy with Time Lord mind games, she was still faced with the decision of letting the Lone Cyberman have the Cyberian, deciding it was better to clean up her mess later. Considering Jack's warning, I fully expect it to be very messy indeed.
While I enjoyed what followed after the shift in storyline, I do wish the episode had remained as a more intimate affair with Mary Shelley and company. At least, as noted by Graham at the end, we never got an answer about the woman and child Graham kept seeing. I just wish the episode had rather leaned into that mystery (but not necessarily answering it) and focusing on the weird shifting of space instead of tying into the season arc.
"No, you may not."
I really enjoyed this episode as a simple ghost story, until it shifted into something more complex (not unlike Ghost Light), tying into the Lone Cyberman storyline. I liked the moral quandary The Doctor faced in whether to save Percy Shelley or prevent the future loss of life as forewarned by Captain Jack, whether letting Percy die would effect the future events of Earth and preventing the existence of Ryan and the rest of her companions. Even though she managed to save Percy with Time Lord mind games, she was still faced with the decision of letting the Lone Cyberman have the Cyberian, deciding it was better to clean up her mess later. Considering Jack's warning, I fully expect it to be very messy indeed.
While I enjoyed what followed after the shift in storyline, I do wish the episode had remained as a more intimate affair with Mary Shelley and company. At least, as noted by Graham at the end, we never got an answer about the woman and child Graham kept seeing. I just wish the episode had rather leaned into that mystery (but not necessarily answering it) and focusing on the weird shifting of space instead of tying into the season arc.
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DW good tonight - lots of nice refs to other episodes, Jodie got a proper Doctor moment.... Totally unsurprising antagonist, but that was a good thing.
That "this team structure is a bit flat" speech was shocking to hear from THIS Doctor, who is usually so caring, but also the closest we've come to the "Lonely God" stuff of RTD and Grand Moff yet. The "I've lived over 2000 years, don't think you know me" line from a couple of weeks ago was close.
A lot to like here. The characterisation of the guest stars was fantastic. My favourite thing in this ep was that it ends with Clairmont disliking Byron earlier than she should and assumedly would now not have get pregnant with his child (guess it's not considered a fixed point in time...). It's a really nice touch because unless you knew the history of them you wouldn't realise it. Very subtle in a series that hasn't been that way recently. One of the things that makes me really like the episode. Another is that everyone INSTANTLY got the connection between Jack's warning and the cyberman here. And the cyberman got what it wanted because it gave them no choice, not because they were so dull witted that they only noticed it after the fact.
My fave ep in 5-6 years I think.
My fave ep in 5-6 years I think.
I don't quite know that particular history but I did think that was a curious moment so I read up on their relationship after the episode. As you said, that's a nice subtle touch on the ending.
Superb, creepy and downright brutal; The Doctor's "Team structure" speech, and the sheer cold-bloodedness of the Cyberman when Mary reached out to him and seemed to be on the verge of appealing to his humanity, how often have we seen that actually work so it was spine-chilling to see it fail, Some brutal deaths, the maid's all the more so for being off screen, and a baby in peril! Every time I thought I knew what was going on, or thought I'd spotted a plot-hole, the story veered off at a tangent.
I might be speaking too soon here, but it feels like outside of World Enough and Time/ The Doctor Falls that might be my favourite Cyberman story of the modern era.
And Graham's ghosts! aiee!
I might be speaking too soon here, but it feels like outside of World Enough and Time/ The Doctor Falls that might be my favourite Cyberman story of the modern era.
And Graham's ghosts! aiee!
I was a little underwhelmed by this story. I realise that is partly down to the fact that I find ‘haunted house’ stories to be tedious and in the past that has included The Shining, The Haunting of Hill House, and Hell House. Only when the Lone Cyberman turned up did it start getting interesting.
Anyone else think Jack's warning wasn't about this week? I mean, Jack is jaded but even he knows the Doctor wouldn't risk altering the past to save the future (Day of the Doctor not an example since it always happened that way).
God, finally! I know that Jodi Whittaker is capable of depth, but the writing has just failed to show us The Doctor as someone with hidden edges.
Until today.
She reminded me of Nine in the best possible way. Here's hoping we get more of The Doctor we remember in the next couple.
I really liked the allusion to what happened to Bill, and having that motivate why the Doctor was so unwilling to take gambles with the Cyberman even if the stakes were so high. Come to think of it, the light touch of it reminds me of how Clara was subtly referenced in Bill's first episode as the reason the Doctor decided to not wipe her memory.
We got kind of close to the traditional confrontation where the Doctor shocks a new companion by being focused on big-picture thinking when something shocking happens (like Bill being horrified that when the sea monster killed that street urchin, the Doctor was more worried about getting his screwdriver back than trying to pull back the kid), but, oddly, it was the companions arguing for focusing on saving the world and not losing the forest for the trees, and the Doctor offered an icky self-serving reason to not let Shelley give his life that boiled down to "we can't sacrifice him because he's famous, and losing him might butterfly-effect to hurt you somehow."
We got kind of close to the traditional confrontation where the Doctor shocks a new companion by being focused on big-picture thinking when something shocking happens (like Bill being horrified that when the sea monster killed that street urchin, the Doctor was more worried about getting his screwdriver back than trying to pull back the kid), but, oddly, it was the companions arguing for focusing on saving the world and not losing the forest for the trees, and the Doctor offered an icky self-serving reason to not let Shelley give his life that boiled down to "we can't sacrifice him because he's famous, and losing him might butterfly-effect to hurt you somehow."
This ep gave me kind of Sapphire and Steel feel and in some ways that's good thing. Not to impressed at the continued misinterpreting of Frankenstein though that it pushes. Like the continued reinterpretation of the cybermen the series continues to offer though, hopefully this will mean a decent payoff.
I thought it was an important lesson to impart. Some historical people do have outside affects on the future and changing the past recklessly is the fodder for many a cautionary tale where it comes to time travel.
is it common to compare Moffat to the guy who blew up a whole planet of innocent people, then was too arrogant to abandon the doomed monstrosity he created before he got blown up all around him? And then finally resurrected in the most creepy of cinematic means. I mean, I kind of think the nickname fits in some ways.
Doing a little research. The trip to the Villa Diodati was in the summer of 1816, that was the Year Without A Summer, due to Mt Tambora erupting. Also, Miss Clairemont had a child to Byron who later died aged 5. I doubt the Ms Clairemont in this story had to go through that.