Spoilers Twice Upon a Time grading and discussion thread

Reduced speech, totally. But the music was actually alright.

 

My sister-in-law, apparently. Oh well, I just purchased it on Amazon Prime. It won't be the worst $3 I've ever spent in my life.

 

Well, that was $3 well spent. It was lot of fun, if just a little light on the story. I thought the sexist remarks from Bradley's Doctor were a little out of place. I know that there were a few lines back in the day that had the terrible misfortune of being written in the 60s, but this went a little overboard.

Otherwise, I loved Bradley as the First Doctor. His was a very faithful portrayal of the character that transitioned smoothly from the storyline of The Tenth Planet into Twice Upon a Time without so much as a ripple in the timestream.

Capaldi nailed his exit. A little on the wordy side, but I'm fine with that. Capaldi got off to shaky start with me, through no real fault of his own. However, as soon as he showed up with the electric guitar and became "Rock Star Doctor" in my mind, he's been one of my favorites. Farewell, good sir, you will always be The Doctor.

I loved Jodie's introduction and look forward to her further adventures. All of the Doctors have been different from the rest. One might like to play the flute recorder, while another might like to play the guitar and another might like to play cricket. One might have an astute fashion sense, while another thinks bow-ties are cool and another is fashionably color-blind. However, all of the Doctors have one thing in common-- they are... The Doctor. Jodie will be no different. Welcome to the TARDIS... Doctor*.

*Or not, given the cliffhanger.

 

The 11th doctor season 7 and Capaldi era TARDIS set taken apart

 

I wouldn't be against having two Doctors for all forthcoming Christmas specials. It;s a great gimmick. Bring out Sean Pertwee playing his dad next year!

 

Have Sean Pertwee playing the Third Doctor from his father's era, and bring in Katy Manning to be modern-day Jo Grant.

 

That won't happen since Sean Pertwee has repeatedly stated he won't play any of his father's characters.

 

Best final words of any Doctor. It brings a tear to my eye.

 

As we've seen with Bradley, there's no need for a family member to play a Doctor, even if that family member looks or sounds a lot like the original.

 

That’s more because Coleman changed her mind, and it’s easier to keep a companion and keep running than it is to cast and work in a new one, when your time and money is already thin that year for various reasons. Look at the split season at the end of Matts run, and look at all the juggling Moff is doing. He wanted to leave then, but no new showrunner in place, so he was JNTed. If he went, the show dies or goes on hiatus, so he keeps on going...even the monks two parter looks suspiciously like the cyberman story that kept gettin it’s concept art leaked, and is very probably what became last years finale. Clara’s whole character is borne out of that mess.

 

It’s a callback to the first doctors ring not fitting Troughton. Which is all part of the fact that Capaldi is technically a second ‘first’ Doctor (new regeneration cycle) and something Moff drops in a lot, if you look for it. Even this episode has both of them holding back that first regeneration of the respective cycles. Maybe it hurts more, who knows.

 

Adrian Lester works better for either Doctor or Bond.

 

Adrian Lester... hmm. interesting idea.

 

The attitude of the Doctor was in keeping with Capaldi being an echo of the first and particularly third Doctors, and his smattering of the sixth and seventh. The Doctor has always been anti-military, and with the rediscovered memories of the War Doctor, that was all very fresh...yes, it’s hypocritical, but the Doctor is self-loathing here. He knows he is both Officer and Soldier, and that’s why Danny is wrong in those scenes as much as he is right. I think its clever, even having the Brig present as a shadow in the finale. (Though I was a bit heartbroken him becoming a zombie cyberman essentially.) The Brig is the honourable soldier the Doctor loves like a brother. (Something else this episode touches on, with the Lethbridge-Stewart honourable soldier.)

 

I am one of about four people who actually liked Bonekickers.
Paterson Joseph was already in Who, and he’s past the stage where he could do the Doctor...the Marquis already was basically. Elba...was great in Ultraviolet, but he’s too imposing physically for either role, and too big a name. Colin Salmon also works, because the Doctor Moon suddenly becomes explicit in canon.

 

I thought Bonekickers was ok, but let down by a crappy title and ordinary last episode. Preferred him in Hustle.

Colin Salmon would be good. Wasn't Paterson Joseph in the s1 finale, on the spacer station? Wasn't impressed.

 

Yeah, I used to sit through Hustle with my dad, so watched a ton of it. Bonekickers last episode was a hurry up and end it job...they knew the axe was coming I think. Personally I think episode one looks oddly prescient now, and the sheer crazy of the whole series is something that only works in a country that loves Time Team...but would also work well as an anime. ‘I am your sister’ plot is basically eastenders meets Star Wars. It’s cheesy and great.

 

I'll have to respectfully disagree, but I do appreciate your thoughtful take on it. I just thought it was plain out of character. He'd become fast friends with the Brigadier and others in UNIT before so no automatic problem with military types. And, Danny wasn't a soldier when the Doctor met him but a teacher. The whole thing was absurd and really smacked of him being jealous of Danny with Clara.

 

See Remembrance of the Daleks and Battlefield for some fine anti-military Classic Who moments, go further back to Pertwee dealing with the Brig in stories like the Silurians, Which May even be where he starts to get his feeling of discomfort. Once you get to his rejection of his self as War Doctor, his stance for Capaldi makes sense...Nine was damaged, ten was guilty, eleven forgot....12 nee 14 was angry for what was done to him, and angry at Pink for assuming he was an officer (because he was likely an officer, but was also very much on the front lines in that snippet from Day of the Doctor.)
In the old days, he hated the military for what he saw them do...in the later regenerations, it was because he had been in their shoes and hated it. The turn is around seven and eight (seven used the military, disdainfully, lesser evils, eight refuses any part in the war, but can’t avoid it, not least since he’s already instrumental in starting the thing in his previous selves.) and it works pretty well.
I would recommend...fear itself, I think it’s called. Last Eighth Doctor novel. I won’t ruin it for you, but some of it touches on the same themes as the TV serials we are talking about.

 

^ But, he was warm friends with the Brigadier as well. He didn't agree with his methods all of the time but they were friends. And, that has applied to other members of UNIT. The obnoxious behavior just doesn't ring true. He doesn't like military methods, but he's not going to demean someone like that without a reason specific to that individual. Simply having served is not sufficient reason by itself. His anti-military moments are directed towards ill-conceived military plans. He doesn't go out of his way to demean ordinary soldiers unless they are directly part of the problem. Danny wasn't.