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Dr. Gene Dango MD posted:The Three Doctors is the best multi doctor serial the show has ever put out in my opinion. In my opinion The Curse of Peladon is the best Peladon story the show has ever put out
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Nov 4, 2015 00:18
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Terror of the Vervoids is the best Pip and Jane story the show has ever put out in my opinion
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Nov 4, 2015 00:19
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 Short Synopsis: The 6th Doctor and Evelyn go looking for a beagle and find a lizard. Long Synopsis: The Doctor decides to give Evelyn a treat by taking her to meet Charles Darwin during his visit to the Galapagos Islands. Darwin's burgeoning Theory on Natural Selection runs into a speed-bump when they meet a small group of Silurians determined to wipe out most of humanity and turn the survivors into a source of food. Darwin's faith in both religion and science are tested, while the Doctor does his best to shake the rock-solid beliefs of the Silurian leader. What's Good:
What's Not:
Final Thoughts: Bloodtide takes an interesting premise and achieves very little with it. It attempts to up the stakes time and again as the story progresses from "simple" picking off of individual humans, to an attack on the Beagle, to the threatened destruction of the entire human race. But there is never any real sense of danger, no concept that poo poo has gotten real, and the characters move far too smoothly through events with rarely a backwards glance. The supporting characters are paper-thin, with a couple of them having distractingly bad accents, and the playing around in the established history of the real world leads to some head scratching moments like the agonizing death of a character who I know lived another 20 years! Darwin's struggle to reconcile his faith with science is a nice running element of the story, but Darwin himself shifts between fascinating and irritating as the story struggles to figure out if it wants to be about his astonishing discoveries or embrace its sci-fi story fully. The Silurians are a let-down, either painted as overly dominant/powerful or complete morons - a scene where Evelyn finds herself trapped by one and the way she talks her way out of it doesn't so much make her look smart as the Silurian look like a moron. Evelyn herself feels wasted in the story, her major role seems to be as a sounding board for Darwin, and she doesn't get to do much else. I'm still not sure exactly what the title has to do with anything that actually happens in the story, so in the end all I can say is that this Silurian story lives up to the standard of every Silurian story there has ever been - a disappointment that doesn't live up to the high standards set by their original, self-titled story from back in the Pertwee era.
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Nov 4, 2015 00:45
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. There are two supporting characters in this story who are meant to represent the downtrodden, victimized "lower" class inhabiting the Galapagos Islands. They are meant to be sympathetic characters, firsthand victims of the horrors that the Silurians unleash to make you want to see the villainous Silurian leader face their comeuppance. Unfortunately they also have terrible, terrible accents, the lady in particular. Reduced to near hysterics constantly, both are forever wailing in thick accents that don't seem to be based on any actual place or ethnicity. "OOOOOOOH NOOOOOOOO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, OOOOOH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" is a frequently repeated piece of dialogue in a warbling, high pitched voice that just pierced through my eardrums. It wrecks any sense of sympathy or concern I had for the characters, in fact at one point a heroic but tragic sacrifice is made and all I could think was,"Oh thank God they're dead and I never need to hear them speak again." They're also completely disposable, once removed from the story the other characters basically seem to forget they were ever there at all.
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MrL_JaKiri posted:Terror of the Vervoids is the best Pip and Jane story the show has ever put out in my opinion I AM ABSOLUTELY APPALLED, ANGRY, AND FURIOUS. That short synopsis.  I want to like this story, I really do. But the portrayal of Darwin just kills it for me. Science vs. faith is a wonderful topic (I'm of the "science + faith" mindset) but when Darwin is going on about it ALL. THE. BLOODY. TIME. It ruins the discussion. Miles Richardson was superb as Darwin, but the script's dialogue didn't match up to the quality of his performance. Props for Evelyn's quick thinking at being "controlled' by the Silurians. And for somehow actually making the least scary thing in Doctor Who history somewhat threatening. Still, holding out hope for a good Silurian story someday...
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Nov 4, 2015 00:49
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CobiWann posted:Still, holding out hope for a good Silurian story someday... I know it gets said a lot (and I said as much in my write-up) but I'd probably be happy with something that was even half as good as The Silurians, because that was just exceptionally good. The ending with the Brigadier taking matters into his own hands and the Doctor's utter revulsion is such a great moment.
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Nov 4, 2015 02:39
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Dr. Gene Dango MD posted:The Three Doctors is the best multi doctor serial the show has ever put out in my opinion. The Two Doctors heard you and Colin is PISSED. Anyone reading the IDW comics? If so, the first issue of the Eighth Doctor mini drops tomorrow and it's just lovely.
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Nov 4, 2015 04:28
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On the "they need to keep Clara around to refresh the image" front, Osgood said that Zygons no longer need to do that, so she could be either Human Osgood or Zygon Osgood. So they went ahead and kept Clara alive for ~reasons~, and given the writer I don't expect them to be good reasons.
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Nov 4, 2015 06:26
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NowonSA posted:On the "they need to keep Clara around to refresh the image" front, Osgood said that Zygons no longer need to do that, so she could be either Human Osgood or Zygon Osgood. So they went ahead and kept Clara alive for ~reasons~, and given the writer I don't expect them to be good reasons. That's only for the appearance. They still need them cocooned to keep tapping their minds for memories and knowledge.
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Nov 4, 2015 06:29
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Oh god I forgot they had an episode that pretty much says Clara created the Doctor. That's really painful in trying to make her special.
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Nov 4, 2015 07:11
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Every companion is made "special". Or nearly every.
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Nov 4, 2015 07:14
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DoctorWhat posted:Every companion is made "special". Or nearly every. Yea, but that's a little different than having a hidden power or something else. Clara is shown to explicitly give the young Doctor advice that sets him on the path to become who he was to become. The earlier stuff with her in in earlier episodes was explained by insane bravery by leaping into the Doctor's time stream was fine. Plus we got to see 80s versions of Clara.
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Nov 4, 2015 07:17
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Who cares? Like, the whole idea that whole creative thoughtlines are "off limits" out of some deference to 52-year-old television just doesn't sit with me the way it used to.
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Nov 4, 2015 07:48
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twistedmentat posted:Yea, but that's a little different than having a hidden power or something else. Clara is shown to explicitly give the young Doctor advice that sets him on the path to become who he was to become. The earlier stuff with her in in earlier episodes was explained by insane bravery by leaping into the Doctor's time stream was fine. Plus we got to see 80s versions of Clara. We don't know how much of that was original flavor plot or just an open-time-loop's worth of repairing the damage done by the Great Intelligence. The Doctor probably didn't need Clara's help until Bad Guy Time Shenanigans happened and Clara had to become super-special timepal. Or so I choose to believe. Clara's been great, but occasionally Moffat's cute script tricks need a bit of headiting.
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Nov 4, 2015 08:50
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Neddy Seagoon posted:That's only for the appearance. They still need them cocooned to keep tapping their minds for memories and knowledge. Eh, I thought they made a big deal about Zygons being able to do that remotely and whatnot. Like copying the drone pilot's family or the soldiers' loved ones, at best they're pulling that off right before they exit the church. And Osgood's point is specifically about how a Zygon can keep copying someone after the original has died, since she's saying that's what she could be doing if she's a Zygon. I dunno, I guess I just want to make sure everyone knows that amongst all the other crappy writing, you have Schrodinger's Zygon cloning abilities where they simultaneously need a human subject and are able to copy from your mind through a drone video feed.
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Nov 4, 2015 08:55
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NowonSA posted:Eh, I thought they made a big deal about Zygons being able to do that remotely and whatnot. Like copying the drone pilot's family or the soldiers' loved ones, at best they're pulling that off right before they exit the church. And Osgood's point is specifically about how a Zygon can keep copying someone after the original has died, since she's saying that's what she could be doing if she's a Zygon. They can pull an appearance telepathically, but they need the original on-hand for specific knowledge. Best argument is they're not pulling the whole mind, they're just taking a quick glance to mimick the personality and then querying for specific details as-needed.
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Nov 4, 2015 09:04
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Osgood's line about "the only reason to keep the original alive is to interrogate them for personal details" literally cuts straight to the UNIT team investigating the underground Zygon lair, so yeah, that's what's going on.
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Nov 4, 2015 09:18
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Jerusalem posted:I know it gets said a lot (and I said as much in my write-up) but I'd probably be happy with something that was even half as good as The Silurians, because that was just exceptionally good. The ending with the Brigadier taking matters into his own hands and the Doctor's utter revulsion is such a great moment. Can I recommend Blood Heat then? I guess it depends on how much you like classic Jim Mortimore, but I adore the guy's work, give-or-take Eternity Weeps.
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Nov 4, 2015 11:13
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DoctorWhat posted:Who cares? Like, the whole idea that whole creative thoughtlines are "off limits" out of some deference to 52-year-old television just doesn't sit with me the way it used to. Clara is moving away from an audience analogue. Possibly already has moved away. She's now an international super spy who saved the Doctor in every story ever and is just cute as a button oh yes! This is on top of having wildly inconsistent characterisation which means that all you can really come back to with her as a character are those big, stupid moments. For those of us who like low key stories it's bad in and of itself, and for those of us who like stories in general it's bad because (as we saw in the last episode) you need to have her act really stupidly in order to get bits of the plot rolling.
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Nov 4, 2015 11:38
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A time travel show that has been around this many years has done awfully well in keeping things untangled.
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Nov 4, 2015 11:39
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Open Source Idiom posted:Can I recommend Blood Heat then? I guess it depends on how much you like classic Jim Mortimore, but I adore the guy's work, give-or-take Eternity Weeps. I was never really able to get into the novels and the synopsis (perhaps unfairly) makes it sound like it is guilty of some of the more irritating aspects I've heard about. I'm also really not at all a fan of the concept of their being parallel/alternate universe versions of the Doctor (or any Time Lord, really) - but as a basic "what if...?" premise it's at least an interesting starting point - the Silurians woke up and succeeded in retaking control of the planet instead of being blown up by the Brigadier.
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Nov 4, 2015 11:44
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Lampsacus posted:A time travel show that has been around this many years has done awfully well in keeping things untangled. Very few of the stories are actually about time travel though, and continuity hasn't really been a thing. It's only started to get tangled recently when both of those things have changed.
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Nov 4, 2015 11:56
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Lampsacus posted:A time travel show that has been around this many years has done awfully well in keeping things untangled. It does so mostly by utilizing as much of time and space as possible, and not really giving a gently caress.
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Nov 4, 2015 12:18
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Jerusalem posted:I was never really able to get into the novels and the synopsis (perhaps unfairly) makes it sound like it is guilty of some of the more irritating aspects I've heard about. I'm also really not at all a fan of the concept of their being parallel/alternate universe versions of the Doctor (or any Time Lord, really) - but as a basic "what if...?" premise it's at least an interesting starting point - the Silurians woke up and succeeded in retaking control of the planet instead of being blown up by the Brigadier. Oh, it's not an alternate version of the Doctor. It's out seventh in an alternate timeline, though he is on an alternate Earth and encounters different versions of the typical UNIT crew. It's certainly worth a read, IMO.
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Nov 4, 2015 12:22
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Cleretic posted:It does so mostly by utilizing as much of time and space as possible, and not really giving a gently caress. The latter yes, but not so much the former. As much of time and space as possible as long as it's 20th-21st century Earth.
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Nov 4, 2015 12:25
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My friend keeps recommending that I read the Ten/Martha novel Sting of the Zygons and depending on how this week’s episode goes I might take her up on it.
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Nov 4, 2015 12:45
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MrL_JaKiri posted:Clara is moving away from an audience analogue. Possibly already has moved away. She's now an international super spy who saved the Doctor in every story ever and is just cute as a button oh yes! This is on top of having wildly inconsistent characterisation which means that all you can really come back to with her as a character are those big, stupid moments. I hope that the next Doctor's companion is going to be a man. Make all other characters women, but the show desperately needs a break from female companions. Maybe some bonny young Scottish lad from the 18th century, I don't know.
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Nov 4, 2015 12:50
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MrL_JaKiri posted:Clara is moving away from an audience analogue. Possibly already has moved away. She's now an international super spy who saved the Doctor in every story ever and is just cute as a button oh yes! This is on top of having wildly inconsistent characterisation which means that all you can really come back to with her as a character are those big, stupid moments. It's a rather big visual clue in that she's basically wearing the Doctor's outfit in this story. Simple white shirt done all the way up to the collar, black coat and trousers.  
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Nov 4, 2015 13:08
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While I may be optimistic, I do think they might be trying an Icarus-like story arc with Clara. The Doctor on multiple occasions has made known his concern at Clara becoming very comfortable with her time-trotting lifestyle, and it's probably going to be her downfall.
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Nov 4, 2015 13:27
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Interestingly the Big Finish UNIT Extinction boxset comes out on Monday. I'd hazard a guess they were waiting for this story to get out of the way before the release..?
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Nov 4, 2015 13:30
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HD DAD posted:While I may be optimistic, I do think they might be trying an Icarus-like story arc with Clara. The Doctor on multiple occasions has made known his concern at Clara becoming very comfortable with her time-trotting lifestyle, and it's probably going to be her downfall. Yeah, it's clear that they're going for something like that. She is the only companion who constantly bluffs, lies, and tries to trick the Doctor. Her characterisation for series 8 and 9 has been really stellar, and it's all leading up to one hell of a send-off. Maybe she'll finally try to replace him completely.
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Nov 4, 2015 13:41
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And More posted:Yeah, it's clear that they're going for something like that. She is the only companion who constantly bluffs, lies, and tries to trick the Doctor. Her characterisation for series 8 and 9 has been really stellar, and it's all leading up to one hell of a send-off. Maybe she'll finally try to replace him completely. That would be a very ballsy move from a narrative standpoint. Clara goes full “dark side.” “I’m why you still exist. I’ve kept you alive. Hell, I’ve BEEN you. And what has it gotten me? Maybe someone else should be the Doctor. Permanently.” I hope it doesn’t happen – I’ve enjoyed Clara/Twelve and Coleman/Capaldi immensely – but it’s a neat concept to spitball about.
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Nov 4, 2015 13:45
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And More posted:Her characterisation for series 8 and 9 has been really stellar It's been all over the loving place
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Nov 4, 2015 14:01
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It really hasn't.
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Nov 4, 2015 14:03
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Well everything about the Ashildr arc seems to indicate the Doctor is about to get a big comeuppance based on his actions, so I can see where Clara going gonzo could be a big part of that.
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Nov 4, 2015 14:03
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maybe she'll turn into a human/timelord... HYBRID!
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Nov 4, 2015 14:23
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Attitude Indicator posted:maybe she'll turn into a human/timelord... HYBRID! 
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Nov 4, 2015 14:27
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God this hybrid poo poo is so loving forced. e: Capaldi might as well have looked directly into the camera when he said it last week.
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Nov 4, 2015 14:29
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The finale should have nothing whatsoever to do with hybrids. Just to gently caress with people. Also because there's no real interesting direction they could take the concept with an interesting 'season finale' payoff. I'm all for approaching hybrids as a concept by itself, but it just isn't 'season finale' material.
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Nov 4, 2015 14:35
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"We've got Bessie in the garage. Osgood upgraded her to use less fuel." "You mean... like a hybrid?" (shamelessly stolen from tumblr)
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Nov 4, 2015 14:35
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I really hope nothing comes of the hybrid stuff, because then it goes from being annoying to hilarious.
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Nov 4, 2015 14:36
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