DanaK

I've actually rewatched this quite a few times since the first viewing last night and it remains incredibly moving, especially the heartwrenching scene towards the end between the brothers and the poor team being unable to intervene. I was aware of the Partition of India before now but not necessarily all the details. The Punjab apparently got the worst of the violence, displacement and near-genocide. People still haven't learned how not to get riled up to hate and murder of their neighbors who might be different from them. The Holocaust, this, Rwanda, Bosnia, etc. It goes on and on. They really did do a great job boiling this huge event down to a small number. As said above, there's the saying, paraphrased, "that one person's death is a tragedy; millions are a statistic". Showing this episode on Nov 11, Remembrance Day for World War I, had to be intentional; if not, it was a pretty moving juxtaposition Be sure to watch the end credits. The haunting Indian score in the episode temporarily replaces the Doctor Who theme or is a variation on it. And that score was great by the way. Very haunting, moving and well done The guest actors were just fantastic in this episode, especially Prem and young Umbreen. The casting folks continue to do a great job this season. Like Yaz and probably the rest of the team, I was in conflict about wanting Prem to live One big point that remains unclear is why didn't the Doctor know what happened to the aliens and their world? But at the same time, they didn't say when their home world had been destroyed, so it could have happened in the far future (or they kept it quiet). It would be interesting to see the Doctor meeting one of the alien species again, only for it to still be an assassin because it's before their world's destruction I agree there's too much reliance on the sonic instead of the Doctor's brains. I think this is a problem with any scifi series with high tech, including Star Trek. Doctor Who doesn't have a corner on it. I guess they can easily fix it with the next Doctor disdaining using it very much and preferring his/her own brainpower Why wasn't Yaz particularly interested or excited in seeing her great-grandmother? She seemed utterly focused on her grandmother

I think he said Singapore

Wow, that was friggin' great. Very emotional and sad. It turns out the real demons were the marauding humans, especially the brother. I think this was perhaps the best episode of the season so far, yes even better than "Rosa", at least on an emotional level I was caught by the misdirection with the "demon" aliens, though they should have just explained their purpose at the beginning. The fact that you felt their emotional pain was pretty good writing. That was a great, moving scene where they explained to the Doctor what they were doing I was surprised that they got so detailed with the politics of the time, though it helped to tie in with the emotional content. I wonder if Pakistani and Indian viewers felt they got the details right? It was kind of hard to watch on an emotional level given the larger partition violence and deaths that really happened. As others said, the writers boiled the Partition story down to a few characters that still allowed you to feel the horror, emotion and waste of it Did Umbreen just forget that the demons were supposedly going to return or did the gang explain they were gone? She sure didn't seem worried at the wedding about them returning. And she sure was kick-ass about the whole thing, but I guess she had to be to survive the upheaval in her life A quick or you missed it quip from the Doctor about missing out on the palm painting stuff when she was a man. Funny that the show went there

I just watched the first episode of Broadchurch and I agree that Jodie is the opposite of that here (and man did she look so mousy with that darker hair color, and much younger, even though it was filmed only 5-6 ago)

That's not much different than many American shows. It's an ongoing issue for a lot of people

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/ From DoctorWhoNews.net, Episode 7 is titled "Kerblam" “Delivery for the Doctor!” A mysterious message arrives in a package addressed to the Doctor, leading her, Graham, Yaz and Ryan to investigate the warehouse moon orbiting Kandoka, and the home of the galaxy’s largest retailer: Kerblam! Guest starring Julie Hesmondhalgh and Lee Mack. Episode 8 is titled "The Witchfinders" The Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz arrive in 17th century Lancashire and become embroiled in a witch trial, run by the local landowner. As fear stalks the land, the arrival of King James I only serves to intensify the witch hunt. But is there something even more dangerous at work? Can the Doctor and friends keep the people of Bilehurst Cragg safe from all the forces that are massing in the land? Guest starring Siobhan Finneran and Alan Cumming.

If they had universal translators in them to be able to speak to the alien racers, why was it only the Doctor could translate the scientists' writing in the floor painting? Yes, I know it's a scifi trope that some things are translated and some aren't according to the need for drama, but is there an in-show reason or just chalk it up to needs of the plot?

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)