S10.E02: Smile

[AmandaPanda]

Quote

The Doctor takes Bill to a city on a distant planet, apparently without colonists; ``cute'' droids hold the answer.

[John Potts]

Well, considering that was written by the guy who wrote In the Forests of the Night from a couple of seasons back, that was OK (guess he likes his literary references - Erewhon, as well as being "Nowhere" backwards, is a 19th century novel by Samuel Butler of a seeming utopia). Still packed full of people avoiding the obvious solutions (reprogram the robots!) or even looking at the obvious problems (look into WHY they are killing everyone!) - since when did the Doctor get so "sonic shy"? Also, as an aficionado of OldWho, it did bear an uncanny resemblance to The Happiness Patrol (only with fewer - possibly copyright violating - Bertie Basset clones and Thatcher parodies).

Oh, and if anyone reading this ever has to inform me that a) My parents have just been killed and b) If I look unhappy, I will be killed too... maybe open with b first? Unless you want me dead of course, in which case leave out b entirely!

Did like the logical (if wrong) deduction that the robots were intended as pioneer terraformers.

[Triskan]

Got confused by the whole "last humans", "earth evacuated" thing.

Didnt Eleven said that the human race never stoped, spread everywhere through the galaxy (during (and thanks to) the Apollo affair (6x01-02) ? Ten said something similar in Utopia if I recall correctly, so I never pictured an almost-moment-of-extinction for the human race in the Doctor Who universe...

Or maybe this refers to the last moments of earth that we saw all the way back in series 1 of Nu-Who but I wasnt under the impression that a sole ship flew away, rather a whole bunch of them, so the whole "last humans" vibe in this episode made me wince.

Or maybe, this extinction event is part of the series arc, so we'll see (but I didnt feel like it did)... 

... or maybe who cares, I'm just fixating over a useless detail, this is Doctor Who, screw timelines ! 

[John Potts]

1 minute ago, Triskan said:

Didnt Eleven said that the human race never stoped, spread everywhere through the galaxy (during (and thanks to) the Apollo affair (6x01-02) ?

I went with the assumption that this was one of the evacuation ships that left at the same time as the English "Space Whale" ship left. But that would be to assume anyone's paying attention to continuity with previous seasons!

[Llywela]

Hmm. That wasn't bad. Got a bit flabby and preachy toward the end, especially once the colonists started waking up, but other than that it was fun! Two episodes in a row I've actually enjoyed - well done, Show. You have won me back. I knew I'd enjoy Twelve more if he could only get shot of Clara!

I was feeling echoes of Ark in Space throughout - and then it turned out this was one of the colony ships sent out at the same time the cryogenic sleepers were sent to the Ark! Nifty reference there...although absolutely no attempt made to give these revived sleepers the same speech patterns and cultural attitudes as the characters in that episode, which would have been nice. I do appreciate about Ark in Space that it makes an effort to world-build, giving the future humans very distinctive attitudes and speech patterns as an indication of cultural changes over the centuries - New Who by contrast always makes the future seem pretty much the same as today.

[foreverevolving]

11 minutes ago, Llywela said:

Hmm. That wasn't bad. Got a bit flabby and preachy toward the end, especially once the colonists started waking up, but other than that it was fun! Two episodes in a row I've actually enjoyed - well done, Show. You have won me back. I knew I'd enjoy Twelve more if he could only get shot of Clara!

I was feeling echoes of Ark in Space throughout - and then it turned out this was one of the colony ships sent out at the same time the cryogenic sleepers were sent to the Ark! Nifty reference there...although absolutely no attempt made to give these revived sleepers the same speech patterns and cultural attitudes as the characters in that episode, which would have been nice. I do appreciate about Ark in Space that it makes an effort to world-build, giving the future humans very distinctive attitudes and speech patterns as an indication of cultural changes over the centuries - New Who by contrast always makes the future seem pretty much the same as today.

Speech patterns and attitudes change not only over time but by location too (slang in NYC would be different than in LA, let alone in a different english speaking country). even inside the same country. It makes sense that the people of two different spaceships, who may have came from the same time but from different places, would have some variation in speech and culture.

Edited April 22, 2017 by foreverevolving

[Llywela]

3 minutes ago, foreverevolving said:

Speech patterns and attitudes change not only over time but by location too (slang in NYC would be different than in LA, let alone in a different english speaking country). even inside the same country. It makes sense that the people of two different spaceships, who may have came from the same time but from different places, would have some variation in speech and culture.

So how come they all sounded exactly as if they'd been dragged in from the street outside the studio? If speech patterns and attitudes change, the people of the future would sound and act different than the people of today - which was the concept they went for in Ark in Space, which this episode was inspired by. Which was my point. ;-) Yes, there would be variations within the cultures of that future Earth - but the people from that same time zone would sound more like each other than the people of today. I don't want to get into a big debate about it, though, it was just a minor quibble that struck me, that the episode borrowed so much, conceptually, from that past story, but not that particular worldbuilding detail - which won't mean anything to you if you haven't seen Ark in Space to know what I'm talking about.

[Beatriceblake]

This wasn't too bad but I'm not a huge fan of plots where the audience knows more than the characters. It seemed to take an age for the Doctor and Bill to work out that the robots killed people who weren't happy and that the robots killed the first people on the colony. Then it didn't really progress much beyond that. Bill and 12's dynamic is fun though and I'll take back everything I've ever said about Moff if "he runs like a penguin with its arse on fire" somehow turns out to be the big important arc words for the season ;-)

Edited April 22, 2017 by Beatriceblake

[alrightokay]

I continue to love the Twelve/Bill relationship; the Doctor just seems more relaxed and playful with her.  And the locations they used for this episode were just gorgeous (not just the architectural marvels but the vast yellow fields, as well).  The emoji-robots idea was intriguing at first; I actually think it's believable that emojis would become a sort of "universal language" in the future, since the symbols cross a lot of human cultural boundaries (except for the British pound symbol, I guess).  And I liked all of the deductions Twelve and Bill were making as they were exploring the setting, from figuring out that the food portions were being assigned "by heart," to puzzling over the dead woman in the storage area.  Everything up through the discovery that the people literally died of grief was really strong.  I loved how active Bill was in figuring things out and calling the Doctor's attention to important details.  But the ending of the episode was rushed and unconvincing. I found it weird that Twelve and Bill wouldn't warn the newly awake humans about all of the surrounding microbots and how futile it would be to try to fight them.  I also wondered why they forgot about the boy and let him wander off like that.  But all in all, I enjoyed "Smile" and found it much more involving than this writer's last story from S8.  I'm also excited for next week; I find the historical eps lots of fun!

Edited April 23, 2017 by alrightokay

[Lantern7]

I like Bill. Really, I do. But is she going to constantly ask questions? If people started a drinking game based on that, fatalities would run into the tens of thousands, minimum.

What was the name of the robots? I might get a sketch on those guys. Nice concept, cute waddling. Better execution (no pun intended) than the Smilers.

Kida wish the Doctor wore buttons. He could sport the "heavy thinking" emoji. Kinda looks like him, too.

Anybody get a Red Dwarf vibe from the first bit? "They're all dead, Dave . . ."

[QuantumMechanic]

I overall liked it (nothing special, but not bad).  So nice to see Twelve without the ball-and-chain of Clara.  Why couldn't we have had more of this?

Oh, you'd think Moffat could have told the writer "You know, we've already done a story with nano-things that strip your bones clean".  And "For the love of god, if you still have to do it, note that they were called the Vashta Nerada, so don't use a name that sounds anything like that."

Edited April 23, 2017 by QuantumMechanic

[truther]

I wonder whether I would have liked it more had been from one of the early NuWho seasons.  As it was, it seemed very recycled.

Still, it was pretty good.  Nice banter, no Clara, pretty scenery . . . good stuff.  But I agree with the other complaints.  The ending felt forced and silly, as if they'd come up with a great concept but never quite gotten around to figuring out what to do with it.  And yeah, "Vardy" or whatever name they used was just too similar.  And I kept expecting one of the emojibots to hold out its black hand and explain that it was offering a kindness.  

[benteen]

I really enjoyed that one.  Two in a row!  Very impressive considering the last effort by the writer.  In the Forest of the Night was a great idea horrendously realized and executed.

I continue to like the Doctor and Bill relationship, which is a breath of fresh air after Clara.  Interesting to see the Doctor so off his game and he nearly screwed up royally.  The emoji-bots were memorable.  The Doctor sent one of them to their death.

Interesting too how the second story for a new companion seems to be set in the distant future.  Also noticeable is the lack of a real guest cast for the second straight week.

I liked the end setting up the next adventure.  Definitely a throwback to Classic Doctor Who (particularly the First Doctor era).

[Jamie Satyr]

5 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I like Bill. Really, I do. But is she going to constantly ask questions? If people started a drinking game based on that, fatalities would run into the tens of thousands, minimum.

What was the name of the robots? I might get a sketch on those guys. Nice concept, cute waddling. Better execution (no pun intended) than the Smilers.

Kida wish the Doctor wore buttons. He could sport the "heavy thinking" emoji. Kinda looks like him, too.

Anybody get a Red Dwarf vibe from the first bit? "They're all dead, Dave . . ."

It's like Bill's 4; the stupid questions just keep on coming! I normally watch again, but her voice has finally chewed through what little tolerance I had from last week! Taking the pictures really showed how juvenile! "I have to save it all because my head is so empty and it can't retain anything!" What a goof! ;0(

[Hiveminder]

4 hours ago, Jamie Satyr said:

It's like Bill's 4; the stupid questions just keep on coming! I normally watch again, but her voice has finally chewed through what little tolerance I had from last week! Taking the pictures really showed how juvenile! "I have to save it all because my head is so empty and it can't retain anything!" What a goof! ;0(

Some people just like to take pictures. 

[festivus]

I loved that Bill just sat down and ate that blue cube. I like all her questions, I think that's why the doctor was drawn to her in the first place, she wants to learn. (Well at least until it's revealed that she's Susan's grandaughter or something) I am curious to why the doctor isn't supposed to travel and what he's guarding. You've got me Moff. Well done. :)

[Primetimer]

Will Bill's sophomore episode leave her ;^D or 8^( ?

View the full article

[Eolivet]

17 hours ago, John Potts said:

Also, as an aficionado of OldWho, it did bear an uncanny resemblance to The Happiness Patrol

As a nuWho fan, it reminded me a lot of The Empty Child (tiny robots find a vulnerable human and screw up the entire race out of the goodness of their hearts). Given that Moffat wrote The Empty Child, you think he would've caught that.

But I continue to adore Bill and the "evil emojis" was a cool concept. If it had just been the emoji-face robots and not the tiny robots, it might've felt less derivative to me. And if they just want to use Nardole to put the kettle on, that's fine with me. Bill doesn't need a supporting cast -- she's great with the Doctor on her own.

[smorbie]

  18 hours ago, Triskan said:

Didnt Eleven said that the human race never stoped, spread everywhere through the galaxy (during (and thanks to) the Apollo affair (6x01-02) ?

I went with the assumption that this was one of the evacuation ships that left at the same time as the English "Space Whale" ship left. But that would be to assume anyone's paying attention to continuity with previous seasons!

I thought of the space whale, too, one of my favorites btw. Also, 10 talked about how solar flares forced the evacuation of Earth and the eventual revival efforts which resulted in New New York. It handily explained why there are so many humans on other planets throughout the universe.

I like that the call backs that help to continue the canon.

And, I loved this episode. It was FUN! That's something that has been lacking for awhile on this show. I loved the emjoi robots a lot, and wish we could see more of them.

1 hour ago, Eolivet said:

As a nuWho fan, it reminded me a lot of The Empty Child (tiny robots find a vulnerable human and screw up the entire race out of the goodness of their hearts). Given that Moffat wrote The Empty Child, you think he would've caught that.

But I continue to adore Bill and the "evil emojis" was a cool concept. If it had just been the emoji-face robots and not the tiny robots, it might've felt less derivative to me. And if they just want to use Nardole to put the kettle on, that's fine with me. Bill doesn't need a supporting cast -- she's great with the Doctor on her own.

I really like Bill a lot.  But, I'm put off by the fact that her departure was announced before the premiere of the show.  I keep reminding myself not to get attached; she won't be here long.  And that's such a shame.  Think of the last few years if there had been a Bill instead of a Clara.

[Chaos Theory]

I like Bill and all her silly and yet kinda obvious questions.  I didn't think I would like her but I like the dynamic between Bill and the Doctor.

[Mabinogia]

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed two Who eps in a row! I love Bill and Twelve. What a great pairing. She's the polar opposite of Clara in that she is bringing out the Doctors love of travel and adventure. He just seemed so happy running and exploring and being questioned. I think she gives him new energy which is so fun to see. He just seemed so much older and more weary around Clara.

As for the similarity between these nanobots and the Vashta Nerada, I don't mind. I just see them as distant cousins in a sense. I don't think there are very many absolutely unique life forms in the universe so they are going to run into similar types. It also helps explain how the Doctor figured them out, he's seen similar life forms before.

I loved the concept of the story, our human desire to always be happy leads to our death because it is not normal, not human to always be happy. Shit happens and it's okay and healthy to grieve. I'm not so sure how happy the ending was though, since I seriously doubt even a small number of humans aren't going to manage to fuck things up and get themselves killed, and that kid is not going to be happy when he hears his mom is dead. I'm right in assuming he wasn't able to undo the deaths, right? So they will all figure out that the set up crew are all dead, right? I feel like the Doctor should have explained a bit more before leaving. Maybe he did, and they just didn't show it to us.

Can't wait for next week. I didn't see the preview, because they can't make me watch Class no matter how hard they try, but I liked the look of the place they landed at the end of this ep. I hope that's where we're going next.

I love being excited about this show again.

[Chyromaniac]

Visually, this episode reminded me of the movie Tomorrowland.  This was a lot more fun though.

[smorbie]

2 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I like Bill and all her silly and yet kinda obvious questions.  I didn't think I would like her but I like the dynamic between Bill and the Doctor.

I do, too.  She's like a breath of fresh air blowing through his life.

[smorbie]

1 hour ago, Mabinogia said:

 

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed two Who eps in a row! I love Bill and Twelve. What a great pairing. She's the polar opposite of Clara in that she is bringing out the Doctors love of travel and adventure. He just seemed so happy running and exploring and being questioned. I think she gives him new energy which is so fun to see. He just seemed so much older and more weary around Clara.

 

Also, remember, he's been hanging around the university guarding that vault for 70 years or so.  He's ready to get in his TARDIS and galavant around the universe again.  So, I'm sure he's excited!

He reminds me of the way grandparents act when their grandchildren visit.  They brighten up and years fall away.  That's the way he acts around Bill.  Maybe that's why Susan's picture is on his desk, to remind us he is a grandfather.

[theredhead77]

Add me to the list of those who can't recall when they enjoyed two episodes in a row. What a treat Bill is and for the first time, I'm really enjoying Capaldi as the Doctor. 

21 hours ago, John Potts said:

Oh, and if anyone reading this ever has to inform me that a) My parents have just been killed and b) If I look unhappy, I will be killed too... maybe open with b first? Unless you want me dead of course, in which case leave out b entirely!

I didn't understand why it was never verbalized, just say what is going on instead of "Smile! look happy!"

[smorbie]

58 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

Add me to the list of those who can't recall when they enjoyed two episodes in a row. What a treat Bill is and for the first time, I'm really enjoying Capaldi as the Doctor. 

I didn't understand why it was never verbalized, just say what is going on instead of "Smile! look happy!"

Reading your post made me realize we were actually watching the precipitating event.  Mom died.  Mom was that woman Bill found.  And the lady telling her sister about it was informing her of what was going on with the robots (cutibots) killing everyone.  That's why she had to tell her to smile.

2 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

Can't wait for next week. I didn't see the preview, because they can't make me watch Class no matter how hard they try

Me, either.

[Terrafamilia]

Does anyone know where the location shots of the future building were filmed? I somehow got the sense that not all of it was CGI, but what do I know. 

The Doctor should have at least fiddled with the emotibadges so they would be stuck on the smiles but then there goes the tension.

[Mabinogia]

5 minutes ago, Terrafamilia said:

The Doctor should have at least fiddled with the emotibadges so they would be stuck on the smiles but then there goes the tension.

And we would have been deprived of the Doctors extremely awkward and kind of creepy smile. That smile had be dying. I also loved some of the Doctors emojis. I want to make emotibadges for work. One tear, approach at your own risk, two tears, you'd be better off not coming near my cubicle. Death face and I will bite your head off. It could be very handy.

[penguinnj]

2 episodes in and I am all in team 12/Bill! I am enjoying the light feel of these episodes- although I'm not sure I'll rewatch a few years from now at the same rate I watch Capaldi's "angsty" episodes. The bots were cute even though they were a little too Girl Who Waited.
Off to rewatch Happiness Patrol.

[festivus]

14 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

And we would have been deprived of the Doctors extremely awkward and kind of creepy smile. That smile had be dying.

I know! It was so funny and creepy, I was dying. I am really loving Bill right now and even if Moffatt does one of his twists on her I won't even care. It's so nice to have a companion that acts like one and not one who was trying to be more like the doctor than The Doctor is. No wonder 12 was so damn grumpy all the time. 

[ratgirlagogo]

2 hours ago, festivus said:

I am really loving Bill right now and even if Moffatt does one of his twists on her I won't even care. It's so nice to have a companion that acts like one and not one who was trying to be more like the doctor than The Doctor is. No wonder 12 was so damn grumpy all the time. 

Yes, this show is making me happy again.  I love Bill and I love Twelve and I love them together.

I also loved the whole premise of the robots judging the needs  of people they were supposed to be caring for in just the same way people take care of Sims or Tamagotchis or the customers in games like Diner Dash - by reading emojis.    That was great.  That final scene, though, with Twelve resetting the Vardies and hoping that all these crazy kids from the two opposing cultures would now be able to work it all out - that was straight out of the Original Recipe Star Trek playbook.  Not to say that I didn't enjoy it, because I did.

Edited April 23, 2017 by ratgirlagogo

[smorbie]

2 hours ago, festivus said:

I know! It was so funny and creepy, I was dying. I am really loving Bill right now and even if Moffatt does one of his twists on her I won't even care. It's so nice to have a companion that acts like one and not one who was trying to be more like the doctor than The Doctor is. No wonder 12 was so damn grumpy all the time. 

That smile was hilarious!  And it was quite creepy.  But the whole episode was funny and light, like whipped cream.  It was a delight.

I'm glad Capaldi is getting some material before he leaves.  I'm sorry he and Smith were saddled and dragged down during their time as Doctor.

14 hours ago, Jamie Satyr said:

It's like Bill's 4; the stupid questions just keep on coming! I normally watch again, but her voice has finally chewed through what little tolerance I had from last week! Taking the pictures really showed how juvenile! "I have to save it all because my head is so empty and it can't retain anything!" What a goof! ;0(

Oh, I'm sorry.  I'm having so much fun now; I hate that you aren't.

[MissLucas]

3 hours ago, Terrafamilia said:

Does anyone know where the location shots of the future building were filmed? I somehow got the sense that not all of it was CGI, but what do I know.

Here you go.

[Terrafamilia]

Thanks.

[cynic]

6 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

Add me to the list of those who can't recall when they enjoyed two episodes in a row. What a treat Bill is and for the first time, I'm really enjoying Capaldi as the Doctor. 

...

Me too! I knew I hated Clara, but I also thought that I didn't like 12/Capaldi and that maybe I was just tired of the show after loving nuWho for six and a half seasons. I didn't even watch the last season, but I happened to catch last night's repeat and new episode. I was super surprised to find myself enjoying it quite a lot. Turns out, I just really really loathed Clara and that colored everything else. If these epis are indicative of the rest of the season, I'm in. 

[smorbie]

I hated her, too. She drug the whole show down and almost killed the Doctor.  Can you believe it?  He survives all these years and is almost killed by her.

[Mabinogia]

11 minutes ago, smorbie said:

He survives all these years and is almost killed by her.

Well, if I had to travel the universe with her I would have driven the TARDIS straight into the sun in the hopes of ending it all, so yeah, I can believe she nearly killed him. haha

Bill really is a breath of fresh air, as someone upstream said, after the stifling, soul sucking Clara.

[raven]

I really liked these two episodes and I really like Bill.   She's someone who wants to learn; all of the questions make sense and I think Pearl Mackie hits the right balance of being inquisitive but not annoying; to me anyway. 

I haven't watched Who in years - stopped with the beginning of Eleven and Amy Pond; I could never warm to either of them, though I liked Eleven's fondness for a fez.   Couldn't stand the little I saw of River Song so I'm glad I missed all of those episodes and I hope the desk picture is all I see of her.  From what everyone has said of Clara, sounds like I wouldn't like her either, ha.  Ten and Donna are my favorite pairing.

So I don't know a lot about Capaldi as the Doctor but I like what I've seen so far - slightly manic but a bit quiet I guess.  Plus he has great hair.

The ending was kind of rushed but I thought the emoji robots were cute and I loved the emojis themselves (especially thinking/confused and the lightbulb).  The visuals of where they were attempting to colonize were gorgeous.  The bones and skulls looked hilariously phony.

Looking forward to more.  I suppose there'll be Daleks at some point?  Their voices are so annoying :)

[theredhead77]

2 hours ago, cynic said:

Me too! I knew I hated Clara, but I also thought that I didn't like 12/Capaldi and that maybe I was just tired of the show after loving nuWho for six and a half seasons. 

That was my issue but I powered through. My other Whovian friends said I had issues with an 'old' Doctor (TENnant) is my Doctor but I found the past few seasons just dreadful.

1 hour ago, raven said:

I really liked these two episodes and I really like Bill.   She's someone who wants to learn; all of the questions make sense and I think Pearl Mackie hits the right balance of being inquisitive but not annoying; to me anyway. 

Yes! I feel I can introduce new fans to *this* season!

[Skyfall]

12 hours ago, smorbie said:

I thought of the space whale, too, one of my favorites btw. Also, 10 talked about how solar flares forced the evacuation of Earth and the eventual revival efforts which resulted in New New York. It handily explained why there are so many humans on other planets throughout the universe.

I like that the call backs that help to continue the canon.

And, I loved this episode. It was FUN! That's something that has been lacking for awhile on this show. I loved the emjoi robots a lot, and wish we could see more of them.

I really like Bill a lot.  But, I'm put off by the fact that her departure was announced before the premiere of the show.  I keep reminding myself not to get attached; she won't be here long.  And that's such a shame.  Think of the last few years if there had been a Bill instead of a Clara.

Nothing has been confirmed yet regarding Bill

[Bruinsfan]

Bill seems to be hitting it off with the audience, if posts here are anything to judge by. They should probably keep her on for at least one season to ease the transition to a new Doctor.

[Hiveminder]

If they do keep Bill on next year, or even just for a few episodes after the Doctor regenerates, I hope she thinks it's awesome that he can regenerate into a completely new body and slightly different personality instead of being all 'wah wah. His face is different. He's not my Doctor. Blah blah." 

[Llywela]

2 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

Bill seems to be hitting it off with the audience, if posts here are anything to judge by. They should probably keep her on for at least one season to ease the transition to a new Doctor.

I really wish they would. I've been longing to see a character make the transition from one head writer to another since Davies was replaced by Moffat - I longed to see both Smith and Capaldi's Doctors as written by a different showrunner. If I can't have that, please please can I keep Bill, Show gods!

[FiveByFive]

4 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

Bill seems to be hitting it off with the audience, if posts here are anything to judge by. They should probably keep her on for at least one season to ease the transition to a new Doctor.

Exactly. I completely and totally adore Bill. I love her questions right down to, why not just move the chair? She simply just makes "sense." She's so eager to learn new things. There's no indication that she's the "most special companion ever!" She's just a girl, that makes chips who truly enjoys hanging with the Doctor. I also like that how he defers to her as if he's "teaching" her. He's leading her on to making her own decisions. Maybe her journey will be as simple as her realizing that she should go university officially. 

It's just a beautiful dynamic and so far I love her more than Amy and Clara. (Both of whom I hated or was annoyed by at this point already.)

18 hours ago, smorbie said:

I really like Bill a lot.  But, I'm put off by the fact that her departure was announced before the premiere of the show.  I keep reminding myself not to get attached; she won't be here long.  And that's such a shame.  Think of the last few years if there had been a Bill instead of a Clara.

As someone else said, nothing has been confirmed yet. I get that they would want a fresh slate for the new creative team. I do really think it will be up to them to decide what they want to do with her. Hopefully they will love her as much as the audience seems to and keep her around for the transition. It always annoyed me that "Martha Jones" got one season and Catherine Tate didn't want to do another since they were my favorite companions. Amy and Clara just never seemed to go soon enough. Bill, I really like and I would love to see more of. 

[smorbie]

Martha just didn't click with the audience and it wasn't her fault.  It was Rose's.  People just couldn't take any more romantic angst at that point.  The show needed a lighter dynamic between 10 and his companion.  Martha wasn't it.  But Donna was, and I adored her.  My understanding is that she came on with the understanding that she would only do a year as she had a lot of other projects in the works.

I did get the feeling that Bill's departure is a done deal since I read she would be departing with Capaldi and Moffat at the end of the season.  The new show runner wants a brand new companion for the new doctor, like they did with 11 and Amy.

[darkestboy]

This won't go down as a classic and it may end up being the weakest episode of this series but saying that, it was admittedly a step from Boyce's previous effort.

The Emojibots/Vardies could've been executed badly but they actually worked in both looking harmless and being completely sinister.

Using humans as fertilizer was a creepy image along with the bots unable to comprehend grief too.

I didn't mind Nardole essentially sitting this one out as it gave us more of a chance to explore the Twelve/Bill dynamic. Capaldi and Mackie work so well together and I loved the way Bill was learning more about the way the Doctor thinks and acts to situations too.

The guest cast however were wasted and that was a shame, 7/10

[jcin617]

19 hours ago, smorbie said:

Also, remember, he's been hanging around the university guarding that vault for 70 years or so.  He's ready to get in his TARDIS and galavant around the universe again.  So, I'm sure he's excited!

Speaking of which, he must really be keeping his head down if he's been there for 70 years; other iterations of the Doctor have come and gone from Earth hundreds (thousands!) of times over, including Three who lived on Earth during those years too.   

8 hours ago, Hiveminder said:

If they do keep Bill on next year, or even just for a few episodes after the Doctor regenerates, I hope she thinks it's awesome that he can regenerate into a completely new body and slightly different personality instead of being all 'wah wah. His face is different. He's not my Doctor. Blah blah." 

You know, I don't recall companions getting so worked up about regenerations in the past, until Rose did.   They were confused, for sure, but they just accepted it was something that happened and went with it - even though it was usually pretty chaotic (Four-to-Five's for instance).

For this episode, the fact the robots had become self-aware seemed like it was an unnecessary additional plot point.   The fact they were confused and trying to fulfil their directive of "keep everyone happy" would have been enough for the story.   I guess it was added to prevent the humans from just destroying them in the end, but I think forgiving something that was not self-aware, but just trying to help as best it understood was a good lesson to learn too.

[AngelKitty]

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she is bringing out the Doctors love of travel and adventure. He just seemed so happy running and exploring and being questioned

Yes, it was good to see the Doctor with a lighter heart (hearts?). I wasn't sure about Bill because of the accent, but I can understand most of what she says.

[Mabinogia]

9 hours ago, Hiveminder said:

If they do keep Bill on next year, or even just for a few episodes after the Doctor regenerates, I hope she thinks it's awesome that he can regenerate into a completely new body and slightly different personality instead of being all 'wah wah. His face is different. He's not my Doctor. Blah blah."

I would love to see Bill deal with a regeneration. Oh the questions she'd have! I adore her curiosity. She's the first companion since Donna that I really relate to. Like Donna I am kind of snarky and a bit lost in my own life and like Bill I am curious and practical.

Like Ten and Donna, Twelve and Bill will be my favorite pairing and also a one and done. Why won't you let me be happy show, why?

[cardigirl]

I agree with all the Bill love, I'm enjoying her character and her relationship with the Doctor so far.  But this episode was kind of meh for me.  I wanna know more about why Nardol is acting like the Doctor's conscience and what's in the basement and why, after all these years, we're being reminded about the Doctor's granddaughter.  And I thought the tiny robots were too reminiscent of the Library's Vashta Nerada.   

Clearly I have issues with patience.