True. While some fans will always argue over the numbering on internet message boards, for everyone else Capaldi is the Twelfth Doctor with plenty of regenerations left to come.
The Time Of The Doctor (Grading/Discussion)(SPOILERS!)
- Thread starter Samurai8472
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How is that a problem? There is something much better: the Time Lords don't reopen the crack after he has killed the Daleks. We see that they don't. If they could do it, they probably would. Not everything has to be said out loud.
And I'll be very surprised if it does. After all, back after A Good Man Goes to War aired lots of people seemed convinced that we were in for a future episode where the Doctor goes to that forest planet the soldier girl was from. But than never happened.
I'm of the opinion Capaldi's first episode will be about the Doctor going through his post-regenerative shakedown while on an adventure with Vastra, Jenny and Strax.
If I were writing the first episode, it wouldn't have anything to do with "The Time of the Doctor". It would be a standalone story set on present day Earth, where Clara has to defeat aliens while dragging along a less-than-helpful post-generation Doctor.
That's a good idea. Maybe the Doctor could sleep through 2/3rds of the episode to get better... oh wait!
Isn't that "Christmas Invasion"?
Yeah, but that was narrated by the 8th doctor who was probably referring to his death by surgery.
Also I can't really think of a reason why an already dying 7th Doctor would head to Skaro just to get the Master's charred corpse when he could wait to regenerate first then do it.
I really liked The Time of the Doctor much better on second viewing without the constant and way too commercial interruptions from BBCA. There is a good combination of humor and fun with some really touching and poignant moments. I did think the holographic clothes joke at Clara's family dinner fell flat. But I loved the moment where Clara hugs her grandma and starts to cry, the scene where the Doctor and Clara watch the sunrise and the scene where Clara meets the old Doctor at the end. The last 10 minutes from Clara's plea to the Time Lords through the Crack to the end is perfect and beautiful and 11's farewell speech moved me to tears.
A few questions/observations I had:
1) How did the Doctor not know it was Trenzalore? Doesn't the Tardis have excellent stellar cartography? In the past, he's been able to look at the monitor and know where and when he has landed yet here he seems clueless that the planet is Trenzalore until Tasha Lem tells him.
2) Shouldn't the Doctor have known that if he dies of old age then the Daleks still win so try to come up with a better endgame? Sure it is nice that he spends his all life defending the town but if the Daleks ultimately win because he dies of old age then what was the point?
A few questions/observations I had:
1) How did the Doctor not know it was Trenzalore? Doesn't the Tardis have excellent stellar cartography? In the past, he's been able to look at the monitor and know where and when he has landed yet here he seems clueless that the planet is Trenzalore until Tasha Lem tells him.
2) Shouldn't the Doctor have known that if he dies of old age then the Daleks still win so try to come up with a better endgame? Sure it is nice that he spends his all life defending the town but if the Daleks ultimately win because he dies of old age then what was the point?
All the lives save until then, keep in mind we are talking about at least a dozen generation of Christmas town folks here.
That's a good idea. Maybe the Doctor could sleep through 2/3rds of the episode to get better... oh wait!
Heh.
Yeah, or it could be a different story. Anyway, my point is that I wouldn't waste what is a perfect opportunity to make a new introduction episode for new viewers.
That's a good idea. Maybe the Doctor could sleep through 2/3rds of the episode to get better... oh wait!
He could try and strangle Clara or jump rope with her and tie her upside down in a closet.
He asked what planet they were at and it said Gallifrey. The crack was obscuring the data.
Overall I thought it was fantastic. It was somewhat rushed/overstuffed - like we could have spent a whole series, or at least a half-series here dealing with the various things that transpired Angels somehow getting here first (why?), the Church's machinations and the revelation of the Crack, the Wooden Cyberman, the Siege of Trenzalore, the Dalek betrayal and slaughter of the Papal Mainframe, the reveal of Madame Kovarian's breakaway sect being responsible for so much through Smith's run, and especially the unexpected but awesome Doctor + Silence taking on the Daleks.
Still - I loved every blistering second of what we got. And everything from Clara coming back for one last time through the end was beautiful. The regeneration scene and Amy's surprise cameo especially was much more of a tearjerker than I'd ever have guessed. "Good night Raggedy Man."
I don't think Tasha Lem was meant to be River, and honestly I'm okay with that. There was similarity but I think when the Doctor said "fight the psychopath inside you" he was talking about the Dalek, not an internal River-ness.
Still - I loved every blistering second of what we got. And everything from Clara coming back for one last time through the end was beautiful. The regeneration scene and Amy's surprise cameo especially was much more of a tearjerker than I'd ever have guessed. "Good night Raggedy Man."
I don't think Tasha Lem was meant to be River, and honestly I'm okay with that. There was similarity but I think when the Doctor said "fight the psychopath inside you" he was talking about the Dalek, not an internal River-ness.
Yeah, but he also said, she has been fighting the psychopath inside her all her life, so she can do it again now against the Dalek. That screams River to me, plus minor stuff like her being against aging, able to fly the TARDIS and a seemingly rich history with the Doctor.
I'm forced to agree. I was getting River vibes from her throughout the whole episode, especially during the psychopath line.
Maybe River's consciousness in the Library somehow becomes the Papal Mainframe or something...somewhere down the road.
Although this does become contradicted by Tesha's surprise at his "new" body.
I researched her name for hidden clues, but apparently there is no connection to River except Lem is Mel(ody) backwards.
And Tasha is short for Natasha of course which is derived from Natalie or Natalia which roughly translates to "born on christmas". Which has double and triple meaning in that context where she is a character debuting in the christmas special and Trenzalore and the town Christmas could possibly be her actual birthplace?
maybe I am overthinking this.
And Tasha is short for Natasha of course which is derived from Natalie or Natalia which roughly translates to "born on christmas". Which has double and triple meaning in that context where she is a character debuting in the christmas special and Trenzalore and the town Christmas could possibly be her actual birthplace?
maybe I am overthinking this.
It's just odd for Moffat to include a brand new character like this, one that the Doctor has apparently known for a very long time and has so many similar traits to River Song without it having some kind of deeper meaning. I mean, Moffat loves River Song. He sticks her everywhere he can.
I'm suspecting it was written as a post-Library virtual River, and Alex Kingston wasn't available for filming...
I´m not sure what to make of Tasha at all. But for the episode itself...it could have been longer. Felt a bit rushed to me and I think there were a few missed opportunities. I got a more detailed blog entry here: http://modulohost.de/freddysblog/?p=11
Oh and I really wished to see more of the new Doctor. Do you think there will be any mini episodes or video blogs while we wait till August?
Oh and I really wished to see more of the new Doctor. Do you think there will be any mini episodes or video blogs while we wait till August?
