DanaK

I really enjoyed this. It was fun and funny and not a straight up clip show. Plus, I was getting tired of Kara (and the writers) obsessing over her ruined friendship with Lena, so I’m glad she finally got a backbone and decided to stop worrying about it

Sacha Dhawan talks to TV Guide about the Master in Series 12 and about the finale https://www.tvguide.com/news/doctor-whos-sacha-dhawan-teases-a-different-side-to-the-master-in-the-season-12-finale/?TheTime=2020-02-24T22%3A08%3A34&ftag=COS-05-10aaa3b&UniqueID=32E1FBF0-5752-11EA-993B-32D896E8478F&PostType=image&ServiceType=twitter Sacha talks to Entertainment Weekly about doing the show and an “incredibly emotional” finale https://ew.com/tv/2020/02/24/doctor-who-the-master-sacha-dhawan-season-finale/

New trailer More pictures https://m.facebook.com/127031120644257/posts/4064620220218641/?d=n

I don't think the planet they were on was meant to be Earth, it was some planet in the far future. And it wasn't the last 7 humans of the entire race. They were the last humans, as far as they knew, in that part of that galaxy. There were others before who had supposedly made it to the barrier and went through. As to the point about the Doctor not stopping the Cyber War, I think she was fully aware they were winning at that point in the far future (she even said it to the companions when they first show up). It's possible she couldn't win against them in the past; I guess we don't know the details. It's also possible that the history was changed. I don't know what the show has said before about the Great Cyberwar, if it said anything, so it's possible I'm missing details

Well, as the Doctor basically said, he's not like a typical Cyberman. He wasn't fully converted and he hates his humanity but that seems to fuel him further. He's a nut who's on a "religious" or maybe messianic campaign. You could say he's trying to remake the Cybermen in his own image or bending them to his will and his particular mission. I think something was said, maybe by Chibnall, that these Cybermen, or maybe just this guy, just want to wipe out the humans for good after so much fighting Not fully knowing the lore of the Cybermen, why are they always going after just humans? Have they ever tried to convert other races? Ashad seemed to suggest when he was talking to the Doctor that he intends to start converting other races (or wipe them out, it wasn't clear) as part of his crusade for the Cybermen to rule over all

Ratings catch-up: Overnights: 3.86 million viewers, rank: 7th for the night 7-Day: 5.073 million viewers, rank: 31st for the week

The 28-day figures are in: 6.114 million viewers

I loved the cold open. It was very chilling with Ashad's narration. And to repeat, the guy is a total nut! @Linderhill I'm actually ok with the Master showing up as much as they do, especially if a different actor from the last time is playing them as it makes for a different vibe and performance I'm totally looking forward to next week, but sad it will be the end of the season

The Brendan stuff, though confusing, was pretty intriguing. I have no idea what that particular plot all means at the moment; hopefully it will become clear next week

**Program Note: This is 65 minutes long. It starts at 6:50pm on BBC1 and at 8pm on BBCAmerica (and goes 90 minutes with commercials) Full synopsis: In the epic and emotional series finale, the Cybermen are on the march. As the last remaining humans are ruthlessly hunted down, Graham, Ryan and Yaz face a terrifying fight to survive. Civilisations fall. Others rise anew. Lies are exposed, truths are revealed, battles are fought, and for the Doctor — trapped and alone — nothing will ever be the same again. Guest cast: Ravio - Julie Graham Fakout - Barack Stemis Written by Chris Chibnall Directed by Jamie Magnus Stone Next-time trailer from BBC Trailer from BBC America

I really liked it. It was tense and exciting and lots to worry about. It had a pretty epic feel and yet was a view of a small number of humans fighting for their lives against the Cybermen. I fully expected the Master to return in the last minute or so, but not quite like that and not with a view of Gallifrey. Heck of a cliffhanger. Obviously Part 1 of 2, so it's unfinished, but it's a heck of a start That Ashad/Cyberleader sure is a zealot nut, isn't he? I loved seeing Graham and Yaz working together and figuring things out and pushing the others not to give up. Yes, Graham has certainly come a long way. They sure were able to shine away from the Doctor. I'm not sure Ryan had as much of a chance to shine with the Doctor leading things but it was good to see them pair up. I thought Jodie did really well here, especially zig zagging with the Doctor's emotions between bravery and despair I'm not sure I really understand what the thing with Brendan was all about

But they were influenced by people greatly influenced by him, including the non-violent movement. On the latter, Shelley influenced Tolstoy, who influenced Ghandi, who influenced King

It appears I was mistaken about this. It seems it was the actor playing the Cyberman who used his own voice (with some vocal effects added in)

Fortunately, that hasn’t happened to me to that extant, though some episodes have had brief audio dropouts. I had one brief one in this episode, when Mary confronted the Cyberman, but the closed caption still caught the dialog.

Chibnall interview with BBC America about the finale and the season as a whole http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2020/02/interview-doctor-who-showrunner-chris-chibnall-gives-sneak-peek-at-massively-game-changing-season-finale

It seems once the Doctor opened up a bit to her companions about who and what she is, she seems to be more comfortable openly showing her powers, at least with things like the telepathy. She also referred to herself as a Time Lord twice in this episode. She was really hiding herself from her companions last season

Right, forgot that one. So 4, so far.

New trailer Sneak peek from Entertainment Weekly https://ew.com/tv/2020/02/20/doctor-who-finale-jodie-whittaker/?utm_campaign=entertainmentweekly_ew&utm_term=B5CD03E6-541B-11EA-B9FE-1EC64744363C&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link&__twitter_impression=true&__twitter_impression=true

From the Guardian, why Doctor Who is the show fans love to hate https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/feb/19/the-diehards-of-doom-why-doctor-who-is-the-show-fans-love-to-hate Interesting article. I recommend reading it. In my view as a fairly new viewer, there are 2 main problems Who has in appealing to a wide variety of people: Reason 1, it's a different show nearly every episode. If someone doesn't like historicals, then they will dislike the historical episodes. If they don't like this or that type of episode, then those episodes won't appeal to them. Unless someone has a wide range to their viewing tastes, like I do, then not every episode will appeal to them. Reason 2, the show reboots every few seasons, with a new lead, and likely one or more new companions. If someone doesn't like the actor playing the Doctor or the actors playing the companions, then they will have a harder time liking the season. And not just the actor changes, the Doctor's personality changes as well and it could be mean to nice or vice versa, or somewhere in between. A viewer could have a harder time latching onto a Doctor if the personality grates on them. That's the main reason I didn't like Capaldi's 12th Doctor for most of his run, even though I did like quite a few episodes (and I didn't watch his ear until Fall of 2018, a few years after the fact). So trying to appeal to a wide range of fans when each season has such a wide variety of episodes (except maybe when there's an arc of episodes going on) and the main lead changes every few years is a needle Who has to carefully thread on a regular basis. I can understand why at least some segment of the fandom is unhappy on a regular basis, perhaps moreso then many other shows. At the same time, they aren't the only show or movie series that has to struggle with vocal fandoms. At the very least, the Star Wars film series and the Star Trek TV and film series have had to struggle with this and Game of Thrones clearly had some unhappy fans, especially in its last season

This is at least the 3rd episode this season that we’ve seen 13 use her telepathic ability (Spyfall Part 2 and Orphan 55 are the other ones I can remember). Am I right in thinking we didn’t see her use the ability at all in Series 11? How 13 was a desired receptacle for the Cyberium will hopefully be a plot point in the finale. I wonder why it exited her so easily though. Maybe because she’s a Time Lord? Even though this was a start off for the finale, it still felt like a complete story I have to confess, I didn’t actually like the look of the Doctor’s waistcoat (or vest to Americans). She just looked awkwardly half-dressed with just her undershirt underneath. I think it would have looked better if she was fully dressed in period clothing

Note that it only has 10th and 13th Doctor clothes available

https://ew.com/tv/2020/02/19/doctor-who-finale-preview-chris-chibnall/ Chibnall talks to Entertainment Weekly about the 2 Part finale and teases Episode 10 will leave "people feeling wrung out and possibly a little bit open-mouthed" Chibnall: "I’m going to do classic British understatement here: [The Timeless Children] a relatively seismic episode for the Doctor, and for the show. You will get some answers, but you will also be left with a whole load of new questions in true Doctor Who style.” Given we don't really know much about Episode 10, I'm guessing the Cybermen War will be resolved early or midway in E10, possibly with the Master's help and maybe help from RuthDoc, and the last half or the last few minutes will be spent on issues with the Timeless Child, the Master, and Ruth, but won't be resolved this season https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000g09m The BBC has released the synopsis for the finale of Series 12, Episode 10 "The Timeless Children": "In the epic and emotional series finale, the Cybermen are on the march. As the last remaining humans are ruthlessly hunted down, Graham, Ryan and Yaz face a terrifying fight to survive. Civilisations fall. Others rise anew. Lies are exposed, truths are revealed, battles are fought, and for the Doctor — trapped and alone — nothing will ever be the same again." Note that the link has the episode at 65 minutes in length, starting at 6:50 on the BBC (will be the usual 8pm ET on BBCAmerica). I do find it strange that it starts at 6:50 instead of 6:55.

https://m.facebook.com/DoctorWho/posts/4039822986031698?refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fgallifreybase.com%2F More promo pics from the Doctor Who Facebook page ETA: a few more pics from Cultbox https://cultbox.co.uk/news/doctor-who-ascension-of-the-cybermen-new-images-released

Apparently Nick Briggs voiced the Cyberman Is this really the first time we see someone hitting on 13? Surely the Doctor should have at least tried to kill the Cyberman at some point

Chibnall says no more this season so I don't think so, but it's hard to say with absolute certainty given the surprises this season