S10.E10: The Eaters Of Light

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

The Doctor, Bill and Nardole are led into a battle that could cast humanity into the dark.

[AudienceofOne]

I enjoyed that. Far too rushed as usual but I enjoyed it a great deal. Could have done without Missy but that's because I loathe the character with the fire of 1000 Moffatt-traumatised suns. 

[Llywela]

I have mixed feelings about it. The historicity of it seemed a little...dodgy to me, and I found the giggliness and sitcom dialogue of the TARDIS team more than usually tonally jarring when played opposite the emotion and trauma of the local characters here, as if half the characters thought they were in a drama and the other half in a comedy, if that makes sense. Plus I really, really dislike what this season is doing with Missy, increasingly so as the story progresses. But other than that, there were some good moments here as well.

[emmelpee]

I kid you not, my friend has that design tattooed on her wrist - the wee beastie.

Given that the whole point of her getting it was because it's Pictish and of mysterious origin, I have no idea how she's going to react to the fact that she now has a Doctor Who tattoo!

[Avon.Blakes7]

Well that started out about as stupid as could be with the Doctor allowing Bill to just wander about by herself in search of Roman soldiers! Even in the heart of this "Child of Rassilon," I believe this show to have just "jumped the freakin' shark!" Absolutely STUPID! At least send Nardole with her!

Edited June 18, 2017 by Avon.Blakes7

[Lantern7]

Interesting stuff, though I'm expecting things to pick up in the final few episodes. Having no real issues with Missy, I'm good with her stuck in the end. All that's missing is the Doctor muttering, "You realize that if something does happen between us, you're basically my rebound chick after River. It would have been Bill, but even a Time Lord like me isn't that good." Plus: Missy dabbing next week!

Funny that the Romans and the Scots were right on top of each other. Also had a chuckle at the Legion considering Bill a bit odd . . . not because she likes women that way, but because she only likes women that way. Nice story from Rona Munro. And Missy didn't grow spots and a tail. Bonus!

[chitowngirl]

The date of the episode in the title is incorrect. Today is the 17th.

[KirkB]

Ten episodes in, who knows how much time has actually passed for them, and Bill only now figures out the TARDIS translates? That's usually one of the first things people notice after "it's bigger on the inside." I'm not surprised the Doctor didn't mention it, but is Bill that unobservant or is this really the first time they've been in a situation where the translation thing has come up?

Thanks largely to Matt Lucas I imagine, I've liked Nardole more than I expected, but I still don't understand why he's on the show. All he does is nag the Doctor. And he always seems surprised when the Doctor ignored him and does whatever he wants anyway. Given that he has River's book I would think he would know what a waste of time it is to try and make the Doctor do anything. 

I do know one thing. I'm going to miss Capaldi. I wasn't sure when he started, but he's grown on me.

[LiveenLetLive]

I really enjoyed this episode, for one thing I am probably the only person in the world who actually loved the movie "King Arthur" from about a decade ago, LOL--the Picts were a big part of that movie (the meme so to speak is that Arthur was a Legionnaire.) Anyhoo, I love anything to do with Roman period Britain, the historical fact is also that that Rome was racially mixed and that race was not a big deal in that period, and the attitude about sexual orientation was legitimately more relaxed then than in our own time, so all that was good. I'm still sort of wondering where they are going with this Missy-doctor dynamic, but the scenes from next week's episode seems to suggest that it is going "somewhere" (John, mothereffing, Simm!!) Some funny lines, did Nardole say that indigenous Scottish music is worse "than jazz?" bwahaha. 

[Enigma X]

The season started strong for me and has totally went down hill.  Around now, Bill is the only thing I like.

As for Missy, I hate the character as much as I hate  Moriarty on Sherlock. That is a lot.

Basically, I did not care for this episode or last week's.

Edited June 18, 2017 by Enigma X

[ganesh]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

Also had a chuckle at the Legion considering Bill a bit odd . . . not because she likes women that way, but because she only likes women that way.

This was the best part of the episode. There weren't concepts of sexuality back then. 

37 minutes ago, KirkB said:

I'm not surprised the Doctor didn't mention it, but is Bill that unobservant or is this really the first time they've been in a situation where the translation thing has come up?

I don't recall them not being in a situation around "humans" so Bill would have assumed they were speaking english. This was also the first time the Doctor said "regenerate" in front of Bill. 

I'm fine with this though. Not everything has to be A Thing. The Doctor inspired enemies to band together and be more. 

[DavidJSnyder]

"Worse than jazz."

[DavidJSnyder]

30 minutes ago, ganesh said:

I don't recall them not being in a situation around "humans" so Bill would have assumed they were speaking english. This was also the first time the Doctor said "regenerate" in front of Bill. 

Bill did better than Sarah Jane in the classic series who started in Season 11 and then questioned why she could understand Latin in Masque of Mandragora in Season 14.

But the Doctor tells Bill that Time Lords only sleep after they regenerate or have a big lunch in "Knock Knock", and then ask if the regeneration was too in front of her when he fakes one in The Lie of the Land. So I'd expect her to have a clue about that by now.

[Avon.Blakes7]

5 minutes ago, DavidJSnyder said:

Bill did better than Sarah Jane in the classic series who started in Season 11 and then questioned why she could understand Latin in "Masque of Mandragora" in Season 14.

But the Doctor tells Bill that Time Lords only sleep after they regenerate or have a big lunch in "Knock Knock", and then ask if the regeneration was too in front of her when he fakes one in "The Lie of the Land." So I'd expect her to have a clue about that by now.

I don't expect Bill to have a clue about anything the way she blunders into situations! Her faith in the Doctor the nauseating norm! 

[Lantern7]

1 hour ago, Avon.Blakes7 said:

I don't expect Bill to have a clue about anything the way she blunders into situations! Her faith in the Doctor the nauseating norm! 

In Bill's defense, she's been through a lot. I mean, after those stupid monks alone, she might have forgotten noticing that everybody around her speaks the Queen's English.

[Avon.Blakes7]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

In Bill's defense, she's been through a lot. I mean, after those stupid monks alone, she might have forgotten noticing that everybody around her speaks the Queen's English.

In which she was totally responsible, subjugating the entire planet because she wanted to save the Doctor! She's clueless, gullible, and about as frustrating as any of the Nu-Who, loser companions who can't really help the Doctor! They usually initiate the drama really just pushing the story through their own incompetence! 

Edited June 18, 2017 by Avon.Blakes7

[Llywela]

I think I've put my finger on why Bill's attitude toward the Romans bothered me so much in this episode - I mean, aside from the tonal inappropriateness of it. It was the deja vu that did it. We've already seen Amy squeeing over Romans, and Clara being giddy about meeting her 'historical idol' - seeing those two attitudes melded into one here came across as Generic Moffat Companion rather than Bill. Who has shown no especial interest in history up till now - and then suddenly she's an expert on the Romans? And the entitled, self-centred, ignorant attitude that has the companion crowing with glee over a private joke in the face of an actual living person they should be trying to help, that's something I had hoped the show had left behind when Clara left. Although I can't blame Moffat alone for that one, Ten and Rose had a similar attitude and it enraged me then, as well. It's the same attitude that annoyed me last week with the 'field trip' to NASA. I mean, accidentally blundering into mission control and having to talk their way out of it would be one thing - but to deliberately choose to invade a high security location, deliberately disrupting an entire roomful of people in the middle of an operation? The arrogant entitlement of it is breathtaking, treating the lives and careers of other people as a plaything for their own entertainment. And here that same attitude was again. Wanting to visit and see the past, sure, that's fine - but they were treating it as some kind of live action documentary, cracking jokes and patting themselves on the back while the people round them were in pain. That just isn't Doctor Who, for me. That's not what the show should be, and not the attitude it should be espousing.

And don't get me started on Missy. I really don't think this is a storyline Moffat would have attempted if he hadn't already made the Master into a woman - I just honestly can't see him playing out this 'oh I'm so remorseful, watch me weep over my past misdeeds' thing with a male Master. Are we supposed to buy into it? Because that's absurd. Or are we supposed to believe that the Doctor is genuinely buying into it? Which is even more absurd. The Doctor knows the Master better than anyone, he's too clever to fall for such a ruse! I mean, the Master feels remorse for past misdeeds after being faced with execution and a few years locked up? Please. The Master has been imprisoned before. The Master has even been executed before. There's just no way. And the Doctor knows that. We'll have to see how the storyline eventually plays out, but for now I'm calling foul - and that then spoils my enjoyment of the episodes it weaves through.

[Beatriceblake]

10 hours ago, AudienceofOne said:

I enjoyed that. Far too rushed as usual but I enjoyed it a great deal. Could have done without Missy but that's because I loathe the character with the fire of 1000 Moffatt-traumatised suns. 

I haven't minded some of the episodes with Missy but this whole plot where the Doctor is trying to reform her still feels like bad fanfic to me at the moment.  Hopefully the last two parter will change that or at least be amusing.

Anyway the main reason I came on here was to complain about them messing around with the episode order (again) in a way that doesn't do the series any favours. Episode 10 feels a bit late for Bill to be realising how everyone speaks English across time and space and also the plot of this was too similar to "The Empress of Mars". It wouldn't have mattered so much if it took the theme and added to it in some way but it didn't. Apparently this episode was meant to come slightly earlier in the season.

Edited June 18, 2017 by Beatriceblake

[John Potts]

7 hours ago, Avon.Blakes7 said:

Well that started out about as stupid as could be with the Doctor allowing Bill to just wander about by herself in search of Roman soldiers

It was a very "Classic" storyline, where the Doctor would go, "Wait here while find out what's going on!" - only for the Companion to wonder off into the plot. You'd think the Doctor would wise up after the fiftieth or so time!

But that said, I liked it. The Romans do get rather TOO good a press for a race of people who (by modern standards) were unapologetically elitist conquerors (they had a minimum kill count to earn a triumph, FFS!), and while they might have been more relaxed about male homosexuality, that was only so long as you were a "top" - being a "bottom" was decidedly unmanly. But having the monster be something the Celts unleashed to deal with the Romans only for the solution to be to get them all to work together to defeat it (not entirely sure how that was supposed to work, but whatever) felt suitably Whovian.

Did like that the Doctor still doesn't trust Missy (rightly, I'm sure), though I'm impressed at her long game of playing nice up to now.

4 hours ago, DavidJSnyder said:

"Worse than jazz."

Couldn't help thinking of David (T Cole) when I heard that!

[Primetimer]

The Doctor and companions solve a historical mystery while treading familiar ground.

View the full article

[benteen]

Good episode, which got better towards the end.  I liked Bill in this again.  I hope the Doctor isn't being stupid on Missy.

[tveyeonyou]

Am I the only one who was hoping somehow Rory would show up? Just me then?

Carry on.

[KirkB]

1 hour ago, tveyeonyou said:

Am I the only one who was hoping somehow Rory would show up? Just me then?

Carry on.

Not just you. I actually kind of half-expected the Doctor to ask Bill or Nardole if they had run across a Roman named Rory, but then I figured he was standing around wherever the Pandorica was at that point.

[mammaM]

Am I the only one who was hoping somehow Rory would show up? Just me then?

Carry on.

No you're not. The first thing I thought was "invasion of the hot Italians". I was hoping we'd see Rory too.

[Beatriceblake]

2 hours ago, tveyeonyou said:

Am I the only one who was hoping somehow Rory would show up? Just me then?

Carry on.

Definitely not just you. And frankly the episode could have used the extra interest ;-)

[jcin617]

Same here!  I half-expected Rory to show up, or at least a name-drop of him by the Doctor.

[Avon.Blakes7]

4 minutes ago, Beatriceblake said:

Definitely not just you. And frankly the episode could have used the extra interest ;-)

It also would have been very cheesy if Rory showed! Supposedly The Doctor is unable to see either Amy or Rory ever again due to circumstances from "Angel's Take Manhattan!" 

[marceline]

16 hours ago, Llywela said:

I think I've put my finger on why Bill's attitude toward the Romans bothered me so much in this episode - I mean, aside from the tonal inappropriateness of it. It was the deja vu that did it. We've already seen Amy squeeing over Romans, and Clara being giddy about meeting her 'historical idol' - seeing those two attitudes melded into one here came across as Generic Moffat Companion rather than Bill. Who has shown no especial interest in history up till now - and then suddenly she's an expert on the Romans? And the entitled, self-centred, ignorant attitude that has the companion crowing with glee over a private joke in the face of an actual living person they should be trying to help, that's something I had hoped the show had left behind when Clara left. Although I can't blame Moffat alone for that one, Ten and Rose had a similar attitude and it enraged me then, as well. It's the same attitude that annoyed me last week with the 'field trip' to NASA. I mean, accidentally blundering into mission control and having to talk their way out of it would be one thing - but to deliberately choose to invade a high security location, deliberately disrupting an entire roomful of people in the middle of an operation? The arrogant entitlement of it is breathtaking, treating the lives and careers of other people as a plaything for their own entertainment. And here that same attitude was again. Wanting to visit and see the past, sure, that's fine - but they were treating it as some kind of live action documentary, cracking jokes and patting themselves on the back while the people round them were in pain. That just isn't Doctor Who, for me. That's not what the show should be, and not the attitude it should be espousing.

This is exactly what bothered me most about this episode. I'm never sure whether we're supposed to be worried about these characters or just experience it like it's some comic book show. I hated the way Bill just went traipsing off in one direction with The Doctor and Nardole headed in another without so much as even a "Let's meet back here in an hour." That just makes no sense. It almost annoyed me to see the Roman soldiers be so nice and caring to Bill when she seemed to think of them as dolls to play with.

Edited June 18, 2017 by marceline

[Llywela]

1 hour ago, marceline said:

This is exactly what bothered me most about this episode. I'm never sure whether we're supposed to be worried about these characters or just experience it like it's some comic book show. I hated the way Bill just went traipsing off in one direction with The Doctor and Nardole headed in another without so much as even a "Let's meet back here in an hour." That just makes no sense. It almost annoyed me to see the Roman soldiers be so nice to nice and caring to Bill when she seemed to think of them as dolls to play with.

Comic book is exactly the right word. The TARDIS team were behaving as if they were in a cartoon, a particularly sitcom cartoon, even while holding a conversation with people who were very obviously in a serious drama. I found that really jarring and off-putting. If you are going to be excited about exploring history, at least have the dignity and grace to treat the people you meet with some respect.

Also, shouldn't some lip service have been given to Nardole's decision to start jaunting around time and space with the Doctor, after spending half the season disapproving of exactly that?

[HauntedBathroom]

Loved this episode. It was fun to see Bill befuddled by being considerd sweetly old fashioned for being sure she only liked girls. And it was very Doctorish to escape the Celts with a secret weapon of - popcorn! So yes, it was very enjoyable. And I'm really looking forward to the return of Mondasian Cybermen. I'm hoping they'll still be asking people what their jobs are when they take them away for conversion.

[Beatriceblake]

3 hours ago, Avon.Blakes7 said:

It also would have been very cheesy if Rory showed! Supposedly The Doctor is unable to see either Amy or Rory ever again due to circumstances from "Angel's Take Manhattan!" 

The writers can handwave anything and it certainly wouldn't be any cheesier than Clara's ending, the power of love ending from the other week or [many, many more examples] ;-)

[AudienceofOne]

15 hours ago, Llywela said:

And don't get me started on Missy. I really don't think this is a storyline Moffat would have attempted if he hadn't already made the Master into a woman - I just honestly can't see him playing out this 'oh I'm so remorseful, watch me weep over my past misdeeds' thing with a male Master. Are we supposed to buy into it? Because that's absurd. Or are we supposed to believe that the Doctor is genuinely buying into it? Which is even more absurd. The Doctor knows the Master better than anyone, he's too clever to fall for such a ruse! I mean, the Master feels remorse for past misdeeds after being faced with execution and a few years locked up? Please. The Master has been imprisoned before. The Master has even been executed before. There's just no way. And the Doctor knows that. We'll have to see how the storyline eventually plays out, but for now I'm calling foul - and that then spoils my enjoyment of the episodes it weaves through.

 

I don't want to harp too much on Moffatt's attitude toward women because I've made this point repeatedly and don't want to be too one note. But you already know I agree with you and it's why I thoroughly loathe the character. Just the basic idea that she had to change her fucking name because her gender changed made me livid. She's not a new person. Her gender does not matter. I try to avoid the M word but between this and the disgusting fustercluck that was his Sherlock are put together you can only come to one conclusion. I can only imagine how awful a female Doctor would be with this writing team and hope it never happens.

[jcin617]

Wasn't the incessant drumming in the Master's head the reason he went mad (or at least part of the reason)?  With the source of that identified and rectified (I assume?) after Gallifrey was lost/restored - wouldn't it be possible he could regain some semblance of sanity?

Edited June 19, 2017 by jcin617

[AudienceofOne]

While sane he was a genocidal dictator so I'm not sure that matters

[Avon.Blakes7]

1 minute ago, AudienceofOne said:

While sane he was a genocidal dictator so I'm not sure that matters

Missy's without conscience; which makes it hard to believe her being touched by music! Those crocodile tears wouldn't move me either! Like The Rani, The Master has been merciless in getting what he/she wanted! No matter how many people, planets, or stars had to be sacrificed, nothing was going to stand in his/her way to achieve that GOAL! 

[AudienceofOne]

4 minutes ago, Avon.Blakes7 said:

Missy's without conscience; which makes it hard to believe her being touched by music! Those crocodile tears wouldn't move me either! Like The Rani, The Master has been merciless in getting what he/she wanted! No matter how many people, planets, or stars had to be sacrificed, nothing was going to stand in his/her way to achieve that GOAL! 

But she's a girl now. 

And that's the last time I'm playing this tune, I swear.

[HouseofBeck]

21 hours ago, DavidJSnyder said:

Bill did better than Sarah Jane in the classic series who started in Season 11 and then questioned why she could understand Latin in Masque of Mandragora in Season 14.

I was totally thinking of that! And that's how he knew she was under an Influence because she questioned it. Oy. (Though I still loved that ep.)

[tennisgurl]

I have super mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, I enjoyed the episode and its basic plot (the lost Roman Legion was slaughtered by some kind of ancient light eating monster thing unleased by an angry ancient Scot) is very classic Who. I liked the guest characters, and the main cast had nice interactions with them, and I thought the ending, where the remaining Romans as well as the Pictish girl volunteered to fight the monster forever, with the music still playing thousands of years later, was really touching. On the other hand, as other people said, there was a weird kind of mood whiplash with how The Doctor, Bill, and Nardole were interacting with the ancient people they were talking with. They all seemed to be acting all wacky and silly, like this was all a big romp, while the Picts and the Romans were all clearly going through an awful situation and had already gone through some SERIOUS shit, and it made it seem like the gang were making light of this whole tragedy that has befallen these people. This is something that has happens before on Who, but this is the episode it actually bugged me. This isn't like the holodeck from Star Trek, where the characters can run around playing groupie with history in what is basically a futuristic video game, this is actual history, these are actual people, and seeing the main characters act like they were here on vacation while these people are talking about their slaughtered friends and family and their own inevitable doom just doesn't make them look very good. I did like seeing The Doctor try to take the responsibility for fighting the light creature, even though Bill had it right that he had bigger responsibilities than this.

I liked Missy alright at first, but I'm not so sure about her redemption, and the sympathy The Doctor has for her now. The Doctor and The Master have always had a complicated relationship, but The Doctor would never trust The Master just because of some crocodile tears and shallow promises of being better. I don't want to be the Viewer Who Cried Double Standard, but, as others have said (again), I find it unlikely we would be getting this storyline is Missy wasn't a woman. Her gender shouldn't change her nature as The Master, but it apparently has, and that's just crap.

I like that the Roman legionaries we saw were racially diverse, as the Roman Empire really was a pretty diverse place, and its only been recently that TV and movies have started reflecting that, even if its not as much has I would like, as well as touching on the Roman view of sexuality. Granted, it was quite simplified, but I did enjoy seeing that thrown in there, and Bills reaction was pretty great. Roman views on race and sexuality are really interesting, so I was really excited to see a bit of them here.

[Llywela]

4 hours ago, jcin617 said:

Wasn't the incessant drumming in the Master's head the reason he went mad (or at least part of the reason)?  With the source of that identified and rectified (I assume?) after Gallifrey was lost/restored - wouldn't it be possible he could regain some semblance of sanity?

The drumming was very much a New-era only idea, as is the character's insanity. The Classic Master did not have incessant drums in their heads and were perfectly sane, while carrying out some of the worst of their depredations. They simply wanted to destroy and to rule, and cared less than nothing for the lives of others.

[jcin617]

True, I was just curious if the whole drum thing was their attempt to retroactively explain his behavior through his life.

[Llywela]

21 minutes ago, jcin617 said:

True, I was just curious if the whole drum thing was their attempt to retroactively explain his behavior through his life.

I think the drumming was explained as having been retroactively inserted somehow, so that the earlier Masters did not experience it, but the current Master remembered always having experienced it, or something timey-wimey like that. But it can't explain his behaviour through his life because his earlier self did not behave like a madman driven insane by a noise in his head. He was in fact very cool and suave and collected when we first met him, a man who sought power and was willing to slaughter on a mass scale to achieve it, but was emphatically not stark raving mad. He was chillingly sane, in fact. He then became increasingly unstable as he went along, sure, what with his last body being burned to a crisp and having to steal the bodies of others in order to survive, but retconning him as always having had the drums in his head could never be convincing, because the first 30-odd years of the character's existence simply don't support the theory. He was neither written nor portrayed in that way.

Edited June 19, 2017 by Llywela

[MrSaxon]

Found the majority of this episode to be largely forgettable, but enjoyed the ending. It's interesting to see that, having asked "Am I good man?" with The Doctor, the show now seems to be asking "Am I good woman?"..... which I'm betting will ultimately be revealed as "Nope". I love Missy and am very much looking forward to next week after seeing the trailer! 

[darkestboy]

It won't surpass Survival for me and the light creature was poorly realized/defeated but I actually enjoyed the episode.

Loved Bill with the gay and bisexual Roman soldiers, Lucius and Vitus and I loved her stopping the Doctor from doing something stupid too.

Nardole had some great lines and the Doctor worked well with the Picts.

Nicely shot scenes at night and some gorgeous music to boot.

The Missy scenes ended the episode on a great note and I can't wait for the finale now, 7/10

[Mabinogia]

6 minutes ago, darkestboy said:

I loved her stopping the Doctor from doing something stupid too.

I loved that bit. The Doctor can get carried away with his "job" of protecting the Earth. I like that Bill reminded him that protecting it from this one threat is good and all but who's going to protect it from the next threat if the Doctor is gone. It's very similar to what she was saying when she consented to the Monks.

I kind of hope they are going somewhere with the whole "you're our only hope Doctor Wan Kanobi", because it has amazing potential as a long term story, but I'm not optimistic since long term storytelling is certainly not Moffatt's strong suit and his reign (of terror) is almost over.

[Suzysite]

I did not enjoy this one in the least.  It was like they had 3 incomplete story ideas and decided to throw them all together...Romans vs Picts vs light monsters.  Just NO.  And I didn't like the Doctor volunteering to spend a near eternity guarding the portal.   How stupid.  

Nardole is the only redeeming thing about this season for me.   And even he has his iffy moments.

[KirkB]

20 minutes ago, Suzysite said:

I did not enjoy this one in the least.  It was like they had 3 incomplete story ideas and decided to throw them all together...Romans vs Picts vs light monsters.  Just NO.  And I didn't like the Doctor volunteering to spend a near eternity guarding the portal.   How stupid. 

While I don't agree with not enjoying it in the least, I think you may be on to something with the bolded part. I wouldn't be surprised if someone came up with the individual ideas but realized none of them were really enough to be an episode on their own, so they just decided to combine them in spite of the fact they didn't have a cohesive story.  Honestly though, the disappearance of the ninth legion having a creepy alien cause could have made for a really interesting horror episode. Or if need be a kind of silly one would work if the explanation turned out to be "the Doctor got them onboard the TARDIS and took them to Ceti Alpha Nine" or something.

[ganesh]

9 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

The Doctor and The Master have always had a complicated relationship, but The Doctor would never trust The Master just because of some crocodile tears and shallow promises of being better.

The Doctor must know this, and the Doctor lies. I think he's playing a longer game. 

[truther]

Agree with the sentiments some others have expressed.  

It's a pleasant enough show, and certainly better this season with Bill as the companion, but it's missing something.  This episode was okay, with flaws, and I don't need to ever watch it again.  

Personally I just want Missy to go away. 

[LiveenLetLive]

28 minutes ago, truther said:

Agree with the sentiments some others have expressed.  

It's a pleasant enough show, and certainly better this season with Bill as the companion, but it's missing something.  This episode was okay, with flaws, and I don't need to ever watch it again.  

Personally I just want Missy to go away. 

Honestly I think that what is missing is a dynamic Doctor--in the nuWho universe the Doctors have been extremely dynamic IMO and Capaldi is professorial (as was Hartnell and others I understand, but still.) I am ready for the next Doctor and hope that the casting goes in a different direction. 

[Bruinsfan]

23 hours ago, Avon.Blakes7 said:

It also would have been very cheesy if Rory showed! Supposedly The Doctor is unable to see either Amy or Rory ever again due to circumstances from "Angel's Take Manhattan!" 

The Doctor has crossed his own timeline before, and it's seemed as if the consequences of doing so are somewhat lessened by being in different regenerations (the War Doctor's observation that three of him in one place for an extended time could cause paradoxes, as opposed to Nine and Rose immediately causing calamity by interacting with their past selves).

 

I think the situation with the Mistress is somewhat unique in that she's spent at least several decades only interacting with a former friend that she doesn't regard as canon fodder, rather than running amok among "lesser" beings whose lives she doesn't value. At least one of their talks had the feel of a therapy session, and if the Doctor has been conducting those for a whole human lifetime with the goal of awakening her conscience it's possible he might be getting some traction at this point. Of course it's also possible that upon being given some freedom she might backslide, which could be what's going on with John Simm's teased appearance (if it's not a case of actually crossing her timeline and meeting that earlier version of the Master).