Doctor Who [12]

Well I suppose thats an improvement! I really liked the dynamic between them, reminded me of Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, something like that- very fast paced snappy dialogue playing off one anothers characters- and Capladi is as good a reactionary comedian as the rest of his acting tools. And his turn 'doing it right' as a companion entering the TARDIS for the first time was brilliant, had me cracking up.
I thought the sentiment, being confined to the last third was just enough,

Spoiler:

and suited the mood of a feel good xmas romp special with a touch of sadness.

Also thought Murray Gold was spot on with the soundtrack again- he has had a good year with series 9

I am definitely warming to Capaldi's Doctor. I like him. The last three episodes seem to have crystalised how he should be as the Doctor, as if he is finally found how he should play him. and he is comfortable in the role. it feels more natural than the manic stuff in the beginning. I like the quieter more rueful, melancholic, funnier Doctor.

I don't think its a matter of being more comfortable- I thought he was good from the word go- but I said back in series 8 i thought they had a different game-plan with this Doctor- rather than presenting him as the finished article by the end of the opening début episode they were developing him longer term, giving him a journey of discovery to go on.
This is why I hope Capladi stays more than the usual three years, I feel they have only now got to the spot in his development where he is ready to as it were be set free as something like the finished article. Ready for a new companion and to move on as the Doctor.
From reincorporating the War Doctor and all those memories, and the siege of Trenzalore and all it entailed, and River and her part in his life to the present day I think the development of the Doctor's character has been the most its been given in NuWho, and arguably the longest most sustained period of development since 6 (and far more successfully done).

After watching this episode I got to thinking, there are things in your memory that are the backbone of who you are, I.E. the house I grew up in, the friends I had, the sweets I ate but of all the progs on TV, Dr Who stands out the most. I remember no end of kids programmes & being sent to bed before 7PM. I remember throwing a tantrum one Christmas & being put out on the stairs as punishment, & I still remember Dr Who. Will it ever end ? I mean, will there come a day when its announced that he really is gonna pass away ? His end will come ? How many more years or even century's can Dr Who be a warming nostalgic childhood reminder ?

I agree about liking Capaldi a lot more in this series three-part finale. Heaven Sent stands out, of course, in cementing my like for him.

Well next time the show-peoples want to run out two years of Who before they get around to making episodes like "Heaven Sent", please, just drop the other shoe already!

Pettytyrant101 wrote:I don't think its a matter of being more comfortable- I thought he was good from the word go- but I said back in series 8 i thought they had a different game-plan with this Doctor- rather than presenting him as the finished article by the end of the opening début episode they were developing him longer term, giving him a journey of discovery to go on.

No they just didn't have a coherent plan for his character. it was all over the place, every episode veered wildly and you just couldn't get a grip on who he was as a person. saying he wasn't the finished article is a cop out, I think they experimented with difference versions of his character trying to find the right mix, is it going to be the Malcolm Tucker Doctor?, is it going to be the Dark Dour Doctor? it was a mess. Now though he is most definitely a person in his own right, he feels right and it suits him lots. these last three episodes turned the corner, his acting was miles better and it felt natural. Before he was brittle, manic and unlikeable now he is toned down and more natural, it just fits, I really hope this is the definitive version, this version I can learn to love.

Dont agree with that at all- I spotted the long term plan if you recall by the end of Deep Breath- his first epioosde- and they have stuck to it- first series was the am i good man arc, self doubt, self questioning, this series has been Clara knocking the rougher edges off him, the flash cards ect, learning to be less brittle and harsh and dismissive of others.
Into that they have wound the Clara tale which since 12 has been one of becomng more and more like the Doctor- the entire Flatline arc as it were which has ran for 2 series now.
That doesnt seem accidental to me.

I don't agree. It was way too hit and miss to be deliberate. he changed from episode to episode, he just didn't gel well into the role like the past Doctors did, because the writers were trying to make him something he isn't, I hated the 'am I a good man' and the silly self doubt rubbish as it was totally false, but he has finally become the Doctor and that's all I am interested in.

Maybe I'll tune in for the following episodes then. Or not. Moffat&crew has managed to erase any good feelings I had for this show. I thought that when the Ponds were gone things might finally look up, but no. I watched the first episode and felt quite content with leaving things as they were there. The hand mines made my skin crawl, good job on those. Awesome, creepy and low tech. This show now only wakes up for Christmas specials and anniversaries and that is just insulting. It only shows that they know how to make a good episode, they simply choose not to.

Oh darn it, I was only allowed to post here if I was being positive. Well, thinking of the RTD-days makes me smile. The good bits makes me happy and the bad parts makes me chuckle and roll my eyes. That's entertainment.

well now that Clara has gone and Capaldi has finally begun to inhabit the role with considerable charm and warmth, I think its just possible that Moffat might fail to screw things up in season 10. If he gets all excited by Sherlock and puts all his energies there he might give his minions in Who a chance to shine, if he keeps his finger out of the pie and just lets Capaldi do his stuff without all the jiggery-pokery, it might just work. I personally think that Capaldi had been too micro-managed and it was cramping his style, he almost seemed like a parody at one point, but these last 3 episodes have really shown me his potential to be a loveable Doctor, I mean who wants a mean-spirited harsh Doctor anyway? not me, I really disliked it when he insulted Clara about her physical appearance, I think they were struggling to get away from the overly bouncy boyish Smith years so they tried to make Capaldi a toned down Malcolm Tucker, which that's ok for adults, but too much dead-fish eye stuff (which he does very well) is not nice for kiddies to watch as the Doctor in my opinion should be more like a loveable rogue uncle who happens to be an alien. its ok for adult fans to be all dark and gothic, but kids need to see the Light side and the joy. I believe that Capaldi, in his current and hopefully definitive mode, is a good balance of both darkish melancholic and joyful Doctor.

Here's hoping.

Cheer to that, Blue and Figgy! New year, new opportunities!

he changed from episode to episode- Figg

No he grew, he developed according to the experiences- he goes from the man in Into the Dalek (only his second episode) who has this exchange

Doctor- She's my.., not companion, some other word.

Clara- I'm his Carer.

Doctor- Yeah, she cares so I don't have to.

To the Doctor we have now, and it didn't happen in an episode, it happened across two series as he was influenced and effected by events and Clara's presence. That's clearly character development not chopping and changing with no direction.

"This show now only wakes up for Christmas specials and anniversaries and that is just insulting."

I couldn't agree there Amarie- in the last two series I would say Listen, Mummy on the Orient Express, Flatline, The Witch's Familiar, The Zygon Inversion and Heaven Sent are all equal to or better than the best Who episodes over the entire 51 years. And none of them are xmas specials or anniversary specials.

Only Flatline is equal to the best Who episodes over the entire 50 years. The Witches familiar and The Zygon Inversion were utter crap.

Bollocks- Heaven Sent is superb in every way and has rightly won across the board critical acclaim, and I fully expect awards to follow for that one too. The Zygon Inversion is good solid story telling, modern politics within a Who narrative, and the two leads are again brilliant in it- some of Capaldi finest work as the Doctor is in that episode and Heaven Sent. And Jenna is brilliant playing the two parts, you forget its the same actress the way she portrays them, despite looking almost exactly the same and wearing the same clothes.

Witches Familiar is a worthy sequel to Genesis of the Daleks, and again its has two amazing performances from Capladi and Bleach as Doctor and Davros. And if you dont enjoy Missy your a sourpuss. She is fun and dangerous, sometime friend sometime foe and just a smart as the Doctor - just what the Master should be.

I don't enjoy Missy because she isn't The Master not ever will be. She is just a one note fruit-bat. and I repeat The Zygon Inversion was mediocre at best.

I know there's a lot of hubbub about how the Doctor's speech at the end of the "Zygon Inversion" was his defining moment and whatever, but first of all:

His best moment is actually, I think, at the end of "Mummy on the Orient Express" when he and Clara are on the beach or during "Heaven Sent",

and the "Zygon Invasion/Inversion" taken on the whole is FUBAR in terms of keeping track of who is doing what and why. It was far too busy and also dumb, personally speaking.

I wouldn't call it a defining moment- in accordance with ow this Doctor has been presented and built up across the series so far I would say he has a series of defining moments, including the ones you mention, which define different aspects of him- I would say one of his first defining moments was in Deep Breath, when he offers the Half-face Man the drink with the words, "I have a terrible feeling I might have to kill you. I thought you might like a drink first. I know I would."
But it is the first of many such moments as the character is built up and defines himself.
The speech at the end of Zygon Inversion is excellent, no doubt about that,its top notch writing and acting, but for me its not al thats great about that scene, there is Bonnie too who is excellent, and its the best I think we have seen from Jenna Redgrave. Also the entire set up with the two Osgood boxes and how it unfolds is brilliantly staged.

I never had nay problem following the plot however or who was doing what. So that was not an issue for me.

I know a lot of people complain that the contemporary politics was too on the nose and spelled out, but I think they forget both that a large part of the core audience is between 8 and 14 or that it is no more or less blatant than the Nazi stuff in Genesis of the Daleks, and its a recognised classic.

Mrs Figg wrote:I don't enjoy Missy because she isn't The Master not ever will be. She is just a one note fruit-bat. and I repeat The Zygon Inversion was mediocre at best.

Missy is i.m.o the best Master since Delgrado, cold calculating and clearly completely insane, she's a perfect foil to Capaldi's Doctor.

If Missy is a one note fruit bat how the hell do you justify Simm's camp as butlins raving loony of a Master? Even Simm himself isn't overly fond of the way the character was written

http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who/23153/updated-doctor-who-john-simm-on-the-master

And yes the Zygon eps were...OK, Capaldi was excellent, and I appreciated the added depth they gave to Osgood, but the actual episodes felt overstuffed and awkwardly paced, even with the very in you face poltical metaphors, it just felt like another generic Alien Invasion story. Nice to see the Zygons again though.

Osgood is awfully preachy though. A complete lack of flaws does not a compelling character make.

Simm was the best Master I have seen yet. He was a raving loony but in a good way. ie. scary. Missy is just a parody master.

How is Simm the best Master though? I find him entertaining mostly, but surely one of the older Masters was better. Not that any of them seem to ever show during number 4s run!
Well, except for that one weird episode inside the Doctor's head... Wasn't that the Master?

He is the only Master I find genuinely creepy and scary. the others seem a bit pantomime villain in comparison.

the others seem a bit pantomime villain in comparison.- Figg

Are you being serious?!

yeah he is absolutely brilliant at being bat-shit crazy scary.