It's funny I can rail against these historical settings and moralising political messaging that this series is self-importantly boring me to tears with but I like tradition. I like the tradition of a villain or an arc whereby we are set up with an antagonist like Missy or The Master. Every great Doctor Who has identity. The Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels etc. What does this series have? Insipid 'nothing' baddies who go out with a whimper and a Doctor who barely knows how to handle them.
Spoilers The Witchfinders grade and discussion thread
- Thread starter The Nth Doctor
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I was torn between giving it a 7 or 8, but went with 8. This episode had a weird mix of history, scariness, and humor. It didn't all work. Well, not the humor always. I did like the banter between the characters. The mud creatures were just sort of there to be dealt with eventually. The aliens, how they got there, being mud under a mountain with a tree. Lots of talking to explain what was going on. This felt like a classic series episode to me with the large amount of talking. I even noticed that the aliens groaning sounded straight out of the classic show.
It's was an OK episode. Enjoyable but not fantastic.
It's was an OK episode. Enjoyable but not fantastic.
7.225 for Kerblam! Is the consolidated not the overnights. It got about 5.93m IIRC.
6.5 I went with 6. Allan Cumming is always entertaining and there were bits I liked.
It felt to me like a school visit to a living history museum. I wasn't keen on any of the interior shots, I don't if it was the lighting. I didn't like the torches they had at the end and I didn't like the resolution.
Stoppering the genies back in the bottle didn't seem a long term solution. I can't ecactly put my finger on why this one didn't grab me but it's the first one I picked up my tablet to mucj about with whilst i was watching.
It felt to me like a school visit to a living history museum. I wasn't keen on any of the interior shots, I don't if it was the lighting. I didn't like the torches they had at the end and I didn't like the resolution.
Stoppering the genies back in the bottle didn't seem a long term solution. I can't ecactly put my finger on why this one didn't grab me but it's the first one I picked up my tablet to mucj about with whilst i was watching.
I find myself comparing it to last years little Roman Britain jaunt by Rona Munro, and based on the little I saw of this episode....I prefer that one.
The Doctor said the only reason Becka was able to damage the prison with the axe is because it had degraded over a huge span of time. If she repaired it anywhere near good as new, it will easily last until humanity is developed enough to deal with the Morax.
It did bug me how much this felt like the "opposite side" of that Roman Britain episode.
At this rate every cairn, barrow, and dungeon in Britain will be overflowing with aliens or bits of their spacecraft (when not parked in a higher dimension adjacent to stone circles.)
Maybe we can get a new fictional series of Time Team out of it, bring back the Bonekickers cast and have someone mistake a piece of ossified horse manure for a zygon manicure set from the eighth century.
I was going off the smaller of the two figures noted for the episode in Bob the Skutter's post a couple of pages back:-
If that's in error, I apologise, and feel free to ignore my ramblings. :-)
A solid 'meh.'
I found Allan Cumming's James VI/I to be distractingly hammy and the last-minute shift to alien apocalypse was jarring and too-easily resolved. On the plus side, the TARDIS team continues to charm and The Doctor was delightful. As ever, if these characters were transplanted into a series of stories with a bit more oomph, this would be top-notch stuff but it feels very much like Chibnall and Co have decided to lean more on the kid-friendly stuff and not worry about plot holes or details that would be lost on the 10-year-old crowd.
I found Allan Cumming's James VI/I to be distractingly hammy and the last-minute shift to alien apocalypse was jarring and too-easily resolved. On the plus side, the TARDIS team continues to charm and The Doctor was delightful. As ever, if these characters were transplanted into a series of stories with a bit more oomph, this would be top-notch stuff but it feels very much like Chibnall and Co have decided to lean more on the kid-friendly stuff and not worry about plot holes or details that would be lost on the 10-year-old crowd.
"Satans greatest enemy"
Hmm. Little known fact about James is that he both commissioned the King James Bible, but also wrote the most complete book of Demonology of the time. Obsessed as he was with the occult as well as Christian theory.
Apart from that, I've been to Pendle with friends and love the time period/region so it was a fun episode, if mostly fluff.
Hmm. Little known fact about James is that he both commissioned the King James Bible, but also wrote the most complete book of Demonology of the time. Obsessed as he was with the occult as well as Christian theory.
Apart from that, I've been to Pendle with friends and love the time period/region so it was a fun episode, if mostly fluff.
If I'm not mistaken, doesn't Becka have a copy of "Daemonologie" on her nightstand when they go to her bedroom?
I think so, or as good a recreation they could make. There are definitely references to his knowledge and practise of these things but glossed over and hammed up. I know they have to cram a lot into less than an hour.
To put it in perspective, while Strictly did better, it was more than Dynasties, and three million more than Little Drummer Girl.
It was a bit confusing, I spotted it only because I watch the overnights in each thread and knew Kerblam! didn't get 7.225m. We've been in the 5.6-5.9m overnight range for the last three eps.
Thanks for the clarification. The show seems to have found a fairly steady level, then. :-)
Hey, Brits, whom do I have to write to about getting Cummings' King James onto series 4 of Upstart Crow? That needs to happen or my life will feel incomplete. Many reasons, one of which being that it would weld Blackadder and Doctor Who together officially. In what universe can that be a bad thing?
I loved this episode, as I've been enjoying this whole season so far!
I found a big theme for me here was how people often are very aggressive because of our own insecurities and fears, like how you see Becka being such a fierce witchhunter because she was afraid of what happened to her, and her fear of her own possession. She felt she could exorcise her demons by finding them in others, and you see that happening so much in real life. And James, with his own fears about his knowledge and understanding, tries to portray himself as such a holy warrior, and I love how the Doctor realizes this and she almost gets through to him. You could tell he was really having doubts about ordering her to be put under water, but he gave in to his ego, even at the end when he killed Becka.
Graham looked adorable in that hat! Ryan and Yas continue to be perfect for me
I really enjoy how much confidence the Doctor has in her companions, how she'll send them out on tasks, and while she obviously is protective of her charges in a way, she has complete faith in each of their abilities and you can tell she trusts them deeply.
I didn't even realize that was Alan Cumming playing King James, though he seemed familiar, and I obviously saw his name in the credits! This is one I definitely think I'll rewatch again, especially just to see his performance
I also found it very refreshing to see an episode dealing with sexism and its effects.
I found a big theme for me here was how people often are very aggressive because of our own insecurities and fears, like how you see Becka being such a fierce witchhunter because she was afraid of what happened to her, and her fear of her own possession. She felt she could exorcise her demons by finding them in others, and you see that happening so much in real life. And James, with his own fears about his knowledge and understanding, tries to portray himself as such a holy warrior, and I love how the Doctor realizes this and she almost gets through to him. You could tell he was really having doubts about ordering her to be put under water, but he gave in to his ego, even at the end when he killed Becka.
Graham looked adorable in that hat! Ryan and Yas continue to be perfect for me
I really enjoy how much confidence the Doctor has in her companions, how she'll send them out on tasks, and while she obviously is protective of her charges in a way, she has complete faith in each of their abilities and you can tell she trusts them deeply.I didn't even realize that was Alan Cumming playing King James, though he seemed familiar, and I obviously saw his name in the credits! This is one I definitely think I'll rewatch again, especially just to see his performance
I also found it very refreshing to see an episode dealing with sexism and its effects.