DanaK

I don’t think that’s really true

There’s a New Year’s Day special. Chibnal decided they had run out of Christmas ideas

I have to say, I’m not that into high concept far out stories like this one because they just tend to confuse me, but I can accept this one because the rest of the season has been far more grounded The reviews are pretty mixed on this one. It’s obvious it’s a polarizing episode given how far out it is

I really liked the music used when they all were running to get back through the portal I really liked that Jodie committed to the scenes in spite of the WTF nature of it all, especially when talking to the frog. She was really good when she was convincing it to let her go i have really enjoyed this season so far. Even some of the more middle of the road episodes were fun to watch. I’ve really enjoyed Jodie as the Doctor.

The two bits about the sheep were pretty funny

I think everyone was swapped I like that the Doctor embraced the absurdity of the frog given how absurd it really was A reviewer made an interesting observation that the alt Universe only presented as female and the Doctor readily offered to stay with it This was so weird for me that this might have to go on its own list separate from my favorites for the season

Here’s the Doctor’s speech to the alt-Universe offering to stay, thanks to a review: “Congratulations, Erik wants you. Just one thing: this world is falling apart. I reckon you can only keep one of us. You sure he’s your best option? ‘Cause the Solitract doesn’t want a husband. You want a whole universe. Someone who’s seen it all, and that’s me. I’ve lived longer, seen more, loved more, and lost more. I can share it all with you, anything you want to know about what you never had. ‘Cause he’s an idiot with a daughter who needs him. So, let him go, and I will give you everything.” That was kind of amazing speech I’m still not sure how I feel about this, especially the bonkers third act.

That was kind of bonkers, especially the talking frog entity. Pre-show teasers said this was going to be very different and it certainly was. I had just expected it to be a lot about grief or something based on speculation but I guess it was more about a consciousness being lonely and putting lives at risk. It wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be based on the pre show hype, but I enjoyed it overall, but it wasn’t quite the show I was expecting The Doctor offered to stay with the thing to keep it company which was quite a sacrifice. I guess she was amazed by it and understood its loneliness

Something like "it's a flat team structure", similar to what Graham said to King James during their initial meeting

First image from the BBC from the New Year's special http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2018/11/first-new-years-day-image-271118223008.html

It also seems like a Gallifreyan had to go to school to learn how to be a Time Lord, learning things like regeneration. Do we know if offspring of Time Lords, like the Doctor's granddaughter Susan, had the same powers and abilities like The Doctor does? In regards to the episode, I wonder if the Doctor was just pretending she couldn't get out of the rope tie when she was tied up before the trial in order to get through to King James, or was she really unable to get free? It was obvious that she figured she could wiggle free of the dunking trap because of her ability to hold her breath and get out of chains thanks to Houdini I somewhat had to feel sorry for Becka with what she was going through. She was terrified and had no understanding what was happening to her. Unfortunately, she went with the superstitions of her time and lashed out in a way she understood and killed 36 women. I think the actress really sold her distress there after the dunking when the "mud-people" were approaching and she told her story.

That for me was probably the strongest scene in the episode. Even though the Doctor is an alien, her contention that, essentially, all beings want security and love rang felt pretty real

I wouldn't mind seeing Cumming make a return. You really had to feel sorry for the King given all the tragedy in his life. He just took things too far given his sorrow and fear I'll admit the resolution was a bit quick. The accused women who were killed weren't returned alive were they? That was a bit confusing during the battle. I'm pretty sure the grandmother remained dead According to at least one review, the weather was pretty miserable during filming. Poor Jodie obviously was wet much of the episode so that's taking one for the team

That was a highly entertaining episode, with good bits of comedy and drama. The guest stars, especially Cumming, did a really nice job Poor Doctor can't always bull her way through situations now that she's a woman and the writing did a nice job of the historical problems that a woman would face True, but maybe she thought she could just force her way into authority as she typically does and didn't think it would affect her like normal humans. Maybe as her former Doctors, they just didn't think about it until it was happening to her

I finally finished with Capaldi's seasons and he definitely got somewhat more likeable, particularly once he got together with Bill. There was so much angst and toxicity in the end with Clara that a soft reset in Capaldi's 3rd season with Bill made a huge difference. There was a lot to like about many of the episodes, especially in the 3rd season

It sounds like Doctor Who is perhaps the hardest TV job a British actor can do (for British roles). How long does it take to shoot most regular shows of 6-10 episodes? Maybe 4-5 months?

This is the second time the psychic paper has been used this season as far as I can tell, but they never explain it. They seem to want the audience to figure out from the context of the episode that it's some kind of special id or something

Beside what call me said, here are the final viewing numbers of the first few episodes for the BBC, per Doctor Who News: The Woman Who Fell to Earth: 10.9 million viewers; most watched program of the week The Ghost Monument: 9 million viewers; 4th most watched program of the week Rosa: 8.37 million viewers; 4th most watched program of the week Arachnids in the UK: 8.22 million viewers; 4th most watched program of the week The Tsuranga Conundrum: 7.76 million viewers; 6th most watched program of the week Demons of the Punjab: 7.48 million viewers; 8th most watched program of the week It seems to be doing relatively well in total viewership and against other programming and the previous article suggested it's doing fine against previous seasons (though I don't know if ratings are declining a lot year to year as they are in the US)

I'm a new American viewer and started with the new season of the 13th Doctor, so I've been catching up with previous seasons' episodes when I can. I've seen the first few episodes of Capaldi's first season and my first impression is, boy is he cranky and cantankerous. So I don't especially like him yet particularly after first seeing the warmth and kindness of 13, but at the same time, I love the humor, especially when the Doctor gets into a cranky argument with someone else. I do find it strange how Clara pops in and out on the adventures and otherwise tends to her regular job as a teacher since I thought most companions are regularly on adventures with the Doctor Something else I noticed, especially after watching 13, is that he doesn't always seem particularly interested in other people's safety. He seems more interested in what alien baddie is lurking about. At the same time, I thought #10 (Tennant) wasn't always so keen on helping other people at the risk of his own. He majorly hesitated to help Donna's granddad(??) at the risk of his own life in Tennant's last episode I'm still early in his first season, so we'll see how things go

It sounds more like what if and conjecture for now and still very much in the rumor stages. But the show has done split seasons before so hopefully things will get worked out. I hope Jodie watches out for the bigger picture and doesn't just follow Chibnall if he leaves out of blind loyalty. This is a role of a lifetime for a British actor and especially with playing the first female Doctor As an American, I still don't understand why it takes so long to make a season of this show. Even the various Star Trek shows managed to make 22-24 episodes in a season and they too were scifi with a lot of effects.

I enjoyed this episode much better after several more viewings. Some further thoughts: There were a lot of nice world building touches throughout the script so that you had a pretty decent idea what the societal problems were. It was never made explicit when this takes place, but based on background announcements it's a human colony (possibly people from Earth) and with Twirrly being 200 years out of date, at least 200 years in the future. Besides the cuteness of the Doctor being disappointed that she couldn't ride a conveyor belt, notice that she wore a worker vest without taking off her coat. She loves that thing I'm still bothered by the episode basically glossing over the fact that the system killed Kira. Sure, the system was fighting back against Charlie killing workers, but it basically committed murder too and no one called it on it Even after what Charlie did, the Doctor (and Graham) still tried to give him a chance to live Notice the difference between the Doctor's very happy attitude toward Kerblam at the beginning of the episode and her very weary recitation of the company slogan (after several seconds of heavy breathing) after they had transported out of the exploding area Did you notice at the end that while the place will be shut down for a month, the workers were getting only 2 weeks of paid leave?

Interesting that there are a lot of very positive reviews online. I guess some liked it a lot more than I thought

I think the episode was, at least partly, less of a direct knock against Amazon (maybe in a humorous way though) and more what would happen if you let technology take over all the jobs then shoehorn a quota of people in there without giving them really fulfilling work. It radicalized Charlie. I guess in the end, Charlie got what he wanted, with the upper manager lady promising to make the company filled mostly with people employees. But that's not the best solution given it's a high-tech universe. You need to find something to fulfill people, but it may not necessarily be trying to hold back robots taking the jobs Also, good stuff by Team Tardis, with everybody able to get something to do

I liked it for the most part. It was somewhat slow in the first half, but it picked up in the second half and the last 10 minutes or so was pretty tense. Fascinating that it was the system asking for help and once again, a human being evil (though I figured it would be the upper management guy and not the maintenance man Charlie). In fact, that was interesting that the computer system reached out to the Doctor to help it take down the bad guy. But it was terrible that it killed Kira to try to get through to Charlie so I can't say it was a completely altruistic system Poor Charlie. Just a mixed up young man who understood the problem of people needing to work but decided killing people to blame the technology was a good idea, and he got killed in the end by his own deadly idea The robots were creepy, though Twirrly was cute I'm aware the fez hat was Matt Smith's Doctor's thing, so that was a cute callback @LiveenLetLive said That might be because she has two hearts and the Twirrly got confused @Ceindreadh asked why the Doctor set off the explosives. Maybe she could only change the destination, not the action, at least with the time they had

As a new viewer, I'm starting to watch past seasons, though just certain picks for now. I caught Waters of Mars, Fires of Pompeii, and The Doctor's Wife the last couple of days. Though they all had their issues, especially with overacting, I thought they, the first two especially, were ultimately really terrific, profound and emotional episodes that showed a lot about how the Doctor is. The Waters of Mars especially had a terrific interaction between The Doctor and another character, this time Commander Duncan of the Mars mission. Duncan was a balls-to-the-walls character who went toe to toe with the Doctor and she ultimately understood the effect of being saved when she wasn't supposed to be and sacrificed herself to keep history on track. I thought David Tennant went overboard at times during the episode with his acting, but where it counts, he was just superb with showing the Doctor wrestling with his power vs not being able to change certain points in time. And this time, he chose to do something and it backfired on him. It was also interesting with the way they showed references to the crew's biographies (and them changing), indicating how the Doctor knows what happens and what can't change (or what he thinks can't change). Fires of Pompeii was similar in wanting to save the residents of Pompei, with Donna pleading with the Doctor to stop the eruption and save the residents, but he knew he couldn't because it was a fixed point in time. This was another episode where there was overacting, especially from Tennant, but there were profound and emotional moments as well. Donna's pleading finally got the Doctor to save just one family and he did. What was interesting was that though the Doctor couldn't stop the eruption or save the majority of the people, he was able to save one family without consequence. This was similar to the Mars episode where two other crew members were saved and were able to go on with their lives, but Duncan had to die. It was interesting that even though the audience is told numerous times in numerous episodes that set points in time can't be changed, that they have to happen, in at least some cases where people die, some people from an event can be saved without any apparent consequence. I don't know if the show explores that more in the future, but it's interesting. At the same time, who would you save? Saving one or two people while many others die in an event is certainly not something I'd want to live with. Another one that I caught was The Doctor's Wife. It was a strange, weird episode with the usual overacting in places along with the usual craziness, but the Tardis's consciousness being put into a woman and being able to talk to the Doctor was the highlight of the episode. Though I'm a newcomer to the show, it held a certain emotional value for the Doctor to finally speak with the Tardis in a normal manner, along with understanding how the Tardis sees events and time, Matt Smith and the guest actress speaking for the Tardis did a really nice job with their interaction, especially the final one