DanaK

Guest actor Charlotte Ritchie did a really nice job as Lin. The guy playing Mitch was more sidelined but he was still helpful

I believe it was to match the opening narration. For me it worked Did it seem like the Doctor had never been in Graham and Ryan’s apartment before, given she had to ask where the kitchen was when they first arrived with the Tardis? I’m still tickled at Polly the security helpline operator. The actress used the perfect inflection for at least the stereotype of an irritatingly unhelpful helpline operator

You can’t really compare a New Year special to a Christmas special that easily. Plus it needs to be seen as relative to the rest of the programming for the night, which was lowered ratings all around. It was the 4th most watched program of the night and I believe the 2nd most watched BBC program of the night, which sounds pretty good to me

Another good bit, before the last bit Doctor, to Dalek: No matter how many times you try, no matter how long you wait... I will always be in your way, backed up by the best of humanity.

Funny bit near the end Doctor, to the team: I’m fast enough, right? I’m fast enough for this plan? Ryan: Uh,probably Yaz: Maybe Graham: Possibly Doctor: Well, that one needs work A lot of funny dialogue in the special

I think the other 2 pieces rejoined with the Sheffield one after it was bathed in the ultraviolet light. Look carefully and you will see the other two transported away At the very least, it was a Brexit joke and a pretty funny one to this American

Besides the junkyard confrontation, I also enjoyed the Doctor/Dalek virtual confrontation on the Tardis and the end one at GCHQ and then on the Tardis

That was very entertaining, with the right amount of drama, thrills, humor, heart and explosions. I thought Jodie did a great job leading as the Doctor and the rest did well also. I really liked the Doctor’s faceoff with the Dalek in the junkyard The look was different than the usual episode As an American, the UNIT shutdown bit had me in stitches, especially given we are in a Government shutdown right now due to a funding dispute.

I have another 3 1/2ish hours before I can watch it, but I decided to read the commentary and spoilers beforehand because I didn’t want to wait 6 hours. I can’t wait to see it

Golly, it seems the 13th Doctor isn’t the first one to garner disagreement among the fan base lol

The BBC head programming guy said the show will return with Series 12 in “early 2020”. There also seem to be hints there will be a New Year’s special in 2020 before the actual season begins

I’m looking forward to it. It looks like it will be entertaining

Given IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes are known for having trolls spiking things and given the over the top hate from some quarters on social media against Jodie and the show, including the #NotMyDoctor nonsense, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the RT user scores were being driven by trolls

A radio promo for the New Year special that someone captured I guess or the BBC put up. There appears to be a lot more dialogue than the TV promo

I’ve seen some comments elsewhere that think it is some fans ganging up and review bombing

New very short trailer released of the New Year special. The end is a spoiler: http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2018/12/new-trailer-released-beware-spoliers.html

One of the things I found I didn’t like about 12 was how he seemed to be 15 steps ahead of everyone in a way that was pretty off-putting. I’m not sure I can explain it well, but It wasn’t about being smarter, it was how he seemed to revel in manipulating people like chess pieces for the lulz or something. The Zygon rebels two parter was one example, where he works to convince both sides to keep the peace (and Capaldi was fantastic with the anti-war speech), but then reveals he’s tried the scenario 15 times already. There are times where he reveals he had already worked out the problem and wasn’t in real danger but pretended to be. He manipulated Bill Potts to try to kill him in the last Monks episode and pretended to die and regenerate, but he was just testing her. The more times he did things like this, the more annoying it got

That's usually with cable and streaming shows. I watch a lot of procedurals, plus given I'm older, I think I predate the more serialized approach lol

Looking at it as an American viewer who watches a lot of broadcast TV and not that much cable, I don't necessarily need a season-long arc or theme. But I think one theme this season is the characters getting to know themselves and each other and developing as a team ETA: And there were two small season arcs this season. In the first one, we got various tidbits about the Stenza hurting people and then a revisit with Tim Shaw. The second was Graham and Ryan mourning Grace and growing closer

In regards to Yaz's development, I think she's had plenty to do, but she hasn't had the same flashy and emotional arc that Graham and Ryan have had. Hers is more understated I think, in that she wanted more to do than she got as a young police officer and now she's mentoring with a 2000 year old alien that she looks up to and likely idolizes and takes initiative to talk to people or investigate things on their adventures. She's also a sounding board for the Doctor, which sometimes can be a thankless task

There was at least one VIP/press screening of the New Year’s special today or yesterday, so spoilers are starting to come out. The last video from the above Instagram has Chibnall talking about a Dalek in the special

We saw her delight at being included in Umbreen’s women-only pre-wedding party in Demons of the Punjab and her annoyance at being dismissed by King James in Witchfinders. In Rosa, after being addressed as Madam, she commented to herself that she was still getting used to that. It’s not a big deal for Time Lords so she would likely adjust quickly. It is how others treat her that has been and will be the bigger thing It was a stasis chamber, so he likely would be in suspended animation

I enjoyed this episode, but one problem that stands out on rewatch is that in spite of the planet having a toxic atmosphere and toxic water, the Tardis crew don’t show any physical signs of distress because of it in terms of being sweaty, thirsty, hot, bedraggled, etc (the two racers apparently had medicine they took)

https://www.cbr.com/doctor-who-season-series-11-review-whittaker/ Interesting article stating 7 great things and 8 disappointing things about series 11 I’m going to be a bit controversial and say as a new viewer, most of the 8 disappointing things listed don’t really bother me, for at least this season

Is the New Year's special supposed to be longer than the usual episode length? It's set for an hour timeslot for BBC's transmission, but it appears BBC America is setting it for a 90 minute timeslot, similar to the Season 11 premiere, which suggests it will be longer than usual (with a bunch of added commercials of course)