DanaK

A question on the Doctor's powers. I have read that the Doctor has occasionally communicated with some animals via telepathy in previous seasons. In this episode she shouted at the PTing to leave and in previous episodes she would talk to an animal in a gentle way to sooth it (I'm thinking the spiders in the spider episode for sure). Does this suggest she's actually communicating with the animals/creatures or just being gentle and empathetic with them like most humans do?

British phrase question: The Doctor said this episode (and at least once more in a previous episode) "Get a shift on" (to the PTing). Does that essentially mean to hurry up or get a move on?

I love how brave the Doctor is. She approached the PTing to examine it with her sonic, not knowing what it was but realizing it was dangerous, only to have it eat the device (but luckily, spit it back out) when it could have also taken her hand. The humor in that scene was priceless (especially the Doctor's reaction after the PTing ate the sonic), as was the scene at the end trying to get the PTing to eat the bomb, with the Doctor sure about her solution, but not quite that sure I also love that she's constantly standing up to the danger whatever it is, telling others to get behind her to protect them. And that the writers don't write her as weaker now that she's a woman

I thought it was interesting that this episode showed that the Doctor can be rather pushy and rude (and not just in this episode) at times, but comes around to be more gentle (but still in charge). Astos really had to talk her down from her self-centered behavior when she wanted to turn the ship around to get back to the Tardis. Just goes to show that a powerful being who likes helping others can sometimes forget how to behave properly

There were suggested bits in the episode that indicated some dark times for the century they were in (67th?). Has this century been explored before in the show? The guy playing Astos was great and I wish he hadn't been offed so quickly. The show has had some pretty good guest stars this season.

While the Doctor was taking her nap and getting glowy with the regeneration process, she exhaled this glowy energy thing. I saw the same thing happen in Matt Smith's first full episode. What is it? Just part of the regeneration process or does it have significance?

I have read that it takes 9+ months to shoot this show. Does that mean the cast shooting or post-production as well? If it's shooting, why does it take so long to shoot 10ish episodes?

I don't know, I think all the running around, including being in a race on a desert planet, is a lot of adventure, so it seems like a good mix of action and drama

Really enjoyed this episode and I thought the guest stars worked very well. Even though I'm a new viewer, the reunion with the Tardis was emotional and worked very well.

As an American first-timer to this show, this was a pretty enjoyable episode. I'm sure it's hard for a 55+ show to keep things fresh and non-redundant, but it was fun for me. The Doctor purposely continually pissing off the Tim Shaw alien was pretty funny and the humor was enjoyable all around

I don't understand why, when the Doctor came across the initial junkyard bomb, didn't tell everyone to run immediately. They all just stood there like dolts. Sure, there didn't end up being enough time, but the fear of death should get everyone running pretty quickly

I'm an American who never watched this show before but was generally aware of it through the decades. So out of curiosity, I tuned into the premiere and liked it immediately and especially the Doctor and have decided to watch the season. I have since read up on the details of the show and so have a general idea of what's going on and I have now seen Day of the Doctor (the War Doctor special) and part of Matt Smith's introductory episode. In general, the most exposure I've had now is watching Jodie's episodes and I think she's doing great. I love the show's and this Doctor's humor. Once she got past the obligatory "who the heck am I" stuff, the Doctor just comes off as a lot of fun, warm, very knowledgeable, etc. A lot of the angst and negativity about having a female Doctor reminds me too much of the angst about Star Trek casting a female Captain for the first time as the series lead, or a black Captain for the first time. But, it sounds as though most have accepted Jodi and many of those who were reluctant came around. My feeling about the fact that there have only been male Doctors before so there can't be a female is that the real world politics/society made it so, and if the show had only started in current times, there would have naturally been more female Doctors. So it's best to just get on with it.

I'm an American who is watching the show for the first time and first season ever. I'm really enjoying the season as a whole and I love the Doctor's humor and the show's humor in general. The Doctor is a bit manic, but smart and kind and rather loopy as well and I think Jodie is rocking it. That said, I mostly enjoyed the episode. There were some slow spots, but most of it worked for me, especially the characters. I look sideways at plush toy alien threats, but it still worked in general. I've been trying to read up on the past history of the show so maybe I missed some parts that would explain the following questions: Why was the Doctor going on and on about the antimatter power device? Some basic techno-babble about the power supply was enough for the plot but then she went on and on about it like it was deadly important to her and she almost seemed rapturous about the whole thing especially with the camera doing a close up on her as she was doing so, but it had nothing to do with the plot. So what was the deal? I'm probably wrong, but I thought the Doctor didn't believe in messing with time and people's timelines? But there she was in the far future happily telling people they were time travelers and interacting with people who ended up getting killed and possibly because of her decisions (like in the male medic's case)