Doctor Who Series 7.10: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

[Canadamus Prime]

I defiantly enjoyed this episode esp. since it wasn't all touchy feely like the last 2. Although I'm rather unclear on a number of things. Like how could the TARDIS be leaking fuel when I thought it ran on energy from... uh... well I remember it refuelling on that rift in Cardiff.
In any case it felt like a return to form. Yeah you could probably nitpick the hell of it, but overall it felt like an actuall Doctor Who episode as opposed to an episode of Sailor Moon or whatever.

 

[Robot Number V]

Much better than previously...excepting the ending. Everything magically unhappened...no, that's not an ending.

Well...Yeah, it is. When you're watching a show about time travel, anyway. And it wasn't magic. Because of damage to the TARDIS, cracks in space and time were opening. The Doctor happened to pick-pocket the mag-grabber-whatever-doohickey's remote control of off one of the salvagers at the beginning of the episode. And the end of the episode, he etched the words "Big Friendly Button" onto it, and threw it back through a hole in time, back to the moment when the Mag-Grabber-Whatever-Doohickey was damaging the TARDIS in the first place. The "Big Friendly Button" thing wasn't just a silly joke, it was so that the Past Doctor, who wouldn't know exactly what was happening to the TARDIS, would still understand what to do with the remote control when he got it. He presses the button, the device turns off, and all the events of the episode are nipped in the bud.

For Doctor Who, it was actually all pretty logical.

 

[Robot Number V]

I loved almost all of this episode, apart from the unfortunately slightly accidentally racist bit...

Wait, WHAT? Uh....What exactly are you referring to?

 

[Thaluikhain]

I don't know, it wasn't really much menioned why those creatures were hostile. The way I take it those were supposed to be their future after they've been burned out by exposure to the Eye of Harmony, including the Doctor, who must have been the first creature to go over the rail.
How they then all return from apparent death as hostile burn victims isn't exactly much explained. Not that shadows of past companions would be much more logical, just a nice touch.

Well, he said something about cells being burnt, I guessed they didn't die, just got mutated (which would kill them, but wev), then fell back in time. Of course the other Clara and the Doctor from different time couldn't see them.

Yeah, would've been nice to see old companions, or the old TARDIS, or even old monsters that had gotten lost inside. Not sure how the Doctor knew what those monsters were, but I did miss the very start.

I am not so sure, did they? It seems aliases are rather common in Time Lord society. Surely some might still know their names from childhood, I'm not assuming a little kid already called himself "the Master", but I can't imagine it would be common knowledge.
But surely the History of the Time War must have been written by a Time Lord, who else would know the Doctor's real name?

Yeah, don't see how anyone over the Time Lords could write it, but don't see how they could either.

Aliases only seem to be common against renegade Time Lords (The Master, The Doctor, The Rani, maybe even The Meddling Monk, but he stopped being in the series long before the Time Lord stuff came up), the normal ones all seem to have names (Borusa, Goth, Flavia etc).

So it was the movie, not Boom Town, that first mentioned the Eye of Harmony in the TARDIS (and I checked, nobody in Boom Town ever mentions anything about any Eye, only refuelling time energy). I haven't seen the movie, is there any mention whether the Time War is still going or already ended?

In the movie, the Time War hadn't happened. The beginning starts off with the Master being executed by the Daleks for crimes against them, who then give his ashes to the Doctor to take them back to Gallifrey for burial.

And the Eye of Harmony is in the Doctor's Tardis, and the Doctor is half human.

This is an improvement over the movie they wanted to make.

 

[BrotherRool]

I loved almost all of this episode, apart from the unfortunately slightly accidentally racist bit...

Wait, WHAT? Uh....What exactly are you referring to?

Three mechanics of rough and dubious backgrounds who spend their lives preying on ships that come past them also happens to be the first completely black cast of this season (remembering that the twist is unknown whilst watching most of the episode).

I did say slightly and accidentally and by that I did mean 'slight' and 'accident', I'm not implying that they had a KKK member casting, just that they happened to have negative roles and those roles slightly resemble negative conceptions some racist people have.

 

[Quaxar]

I am not so sure, did they? It seems aliases are rather common in Time Lord society. Surely some might still know their names from childhood, I'm not assuming a little kid already called himself "the Master", but I can't imagine it would be common knowledge.
But surely the History of the Time War must have been written by a Time Lord, who else would know the Doctor's real name?

Yeah, don't see how anyone over the Time Lords could write it, but don't see how they could either.

Aliases only seem to be common against renegade Time Lords (The Master, The Doctor, The Rani, maybe even The Meddling Monk, but he stopped being in the series long before the Time Lord stuff came up), the normal ones all seem to have names (Borusa, Goth, Flavia etc).
I just had an epiphany.
The TARDIS translation circuit does not translate any Gallifreyan, we see that on countless occasions throughout the series, and even multiple times during the Moffat era already. So either the book was not written by a Time Lord, then how did the author know the most guarded secret in the universe, or it was written by one but in another language, which just seems weird.
Or third possibility, and considering how multiple seasons have dropped little hints during episodes leading to a big revealing in the finale... Clara is a Time Lady.

It could totally make sense, every incarnation of her could be some sort of humanized projection of one Time Lady trapped in another dimension/exploding TARDIS/outer universe/plot device, not remembering anything and assumingly living the normal live she's born into but having some subconscious Time Lady memories like being able to understand Gallifreyan. I mean it's not the worst theory, we had half a season of Flesh Amy and nobody noticed either.

So it was the movie, not Boom Town, that first mentioned the Eye of Harmony in the TARDIS (and I checked, nobody in Boom Town ever mentions anything about any Eye, only refuelling time energy). I haven't seen the movie, is there any mention whether the Time War is still going or already ended?

In the movie, the Time War hadn't happened. The beginning starts off with the Master being executed by the Daleks for crimes against them, who then give his ashes to the Doctor to take them back to Gallifrey for burial.

And the Eye of Harmony is in the Doctor's Tardis, and the Doctor is half human.

This is an improvement over the movie they wanted to make.

I see. Well, I'll probably watch it some day but it's not top of my list.
So maybe Rassilon used the Hand of Omega to grant the Doctor his own Eye of Harmony. He did save Gallifrey, the Time Lords and the universe on several occasions already, perchance it was a reward.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I just had an epiphany.
The TARDIS translation circuit does not translate any Gallifreyan, we see that on countless occasions throughout the series, and even multiple times during the Moffat era already. So either the book was not written by a Time Lord, then how did the author know the most guarded secret in the universe, or it was written by one but in another language, which just seems weird.
Or third possibility, and considering how multiple seasons have dropped little hints during episodes leading to a big revealing in the finale... Clara is a Time Lady.

It could totally make sense, every incarnation of her could be some sort of humanized projection of one Time Lady trapped in another dimension/exploding TARDIS/outer universe/plot device, not remembering anything and assumingly living the normal live she's born into but having some subconscious Time Lady memories like being able to understand Gallifreyan. I mean it's not the worst theory, we had half a season of Flesh Amy and nobody noticed either.

That doesn't make sense. OTOH, it makes less not-sense that lots of other things that have happened before. And the TARDIS used to translate at least some Gallifrey languages, or everyone on Gallifrey speaks the same languages as the Doctor's companions who go there.

I see. Well, I'll probably watch it some day but it's not top of my list.
So maybe Rassilon used the Hand of Omega to grant the Doctor his own Eye of Harmony. He did save Gallifrey, the Time Lords and the universe on several occasions already, perchance it was a reward.

It caused epic nerd-rage.

Anyway, Rassilon not being long dead is a massive ret-con anyway, dunno why they did that, the only mention of him before that was of "That guy that died ages ago".

 

[Quaxar]

I just had an epiphany.
The TARDIS translation circuit does not translate any Gallifreyan, we see that on countless occasions throughout the series, and even multiple times during the Moffat era already. So either the book was not written by a Time Lord, then how did the author know the most guarded secret in the universe, or it was written by one but in another language, which just seems weird.
Or third possibility, and considering how multiple seasons have dropped little hints during episodes leading to a big revealing in the finale... Clara is a Time Lady.

It could totally make sense, every incarnation of her could be some sort of humanized projection of one Time Lady trapped in another dimension/exploding TARDIS/outer universe/plot device, not remembering anything and assumingly living the normal live she's born into but having some subconscious Time Lady memories like being able to understand Gallifreyan. I mean it's not the worst theory, we had half a season of Flesh Amy and nobody noticed either.

That doesn't make sense. OTOH, it makes less not-sense that lots of other things that have happened before. And the TARDIS used to translate at least some Gallifrey languages, or everyone on Gallifrey speaks the same languages as the Doctor's companions who go there.

I dispute that something can make less sense than Flesh Amy. But yeah, I kind of made that theory up on the spot, didn't expect it to be the next Bad Wolf.
Still, point remains that the TARDIS does not translate Gallifreyan texts. So either we assume it's not Gallifreyan, the sustained damage has somehow lead to an accidental translation, Clara is a Time Lady or the TARDIS purposefully wanted Clara to read it. Last one courtesy of reddit, I wouldn't even have thought of that.

Furthermore, another interesting point from tumblr: The events from Angels take Manhattan became a fixed point because of Amy's book. What if this book, the complete history of the Time War including the Doctor, mentioned by his real name, ending it... is the cause and seal for the Time Lock?
I think that's actually my favourite fan theory so far, it has a certain beauty to it.

 

[saintdane05]

It was nice to see a bit more of inside the TARDIS, although i was expecting some more references to the past. I dislike how Moffat keeps on not aknowledging that the show existed before he took over.

As the TARDIS leaks the past, several voices can be heard. They are, in respective order:

The voice of Susan Foreman says, "I made up the name 'TARDIS' from the initials: Time and Relative Dimension In Space." (An Unearthly Child)

The Third Doctor saying, "The TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental" and his companion, Jo, asking "What does that mean?"

The Eleventh Doctor saying, "You sexy thing!" then Idris (the TARDIS in human form) replying, "See, you do call me that! Is it my name?" followed by the Doctor's exclamation of "You bet it's your name!" (The Doctor's Wife)

The Fourth Doctor saying, "That's trans-dimensional engineering. A key Time Lord discovery." (The Robots of Death)

The Ninth Doctor saying, "The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me they've tried." (Rose)

Martha Jones saying, "It's just a box with that room crammed in!". (Smith and Jones)

Amy Pond saying, "We're in space!". (The Beast Below)

Ian Chesterton asking, "It can move anywhere in time and space?" ( An Unearthly Child)

The Fifth Doctor asking, "You've changed the desktop theme, haven't you?" (Time Crash)

 

[Thaluikhain]

It was nice to see a bit more of inside the TARDIS, although i was expecting some more references to the past. I dislike how Moffat keeps on not aknowledging that the show existed before he took over.

As the TARDIS leaks the past, several voices can be heard. They are, in respective order:

What? I missed all of those.

 

[Ldude893]

I loved this episode. It's nice to see more of the TARDIS interior, and it was genuinely scary at times; especially considering that it takes place in the very 'home' of the Doctor.

Or third possibility, and considering how multiple seasons have dropped little hints during episodes leading to a big revealing in the finale... Clara is a Time Lady.

I'll one-up that: Clara is a reincarnation of Susan Foreman

 

[BrotherRool]

Viewership numbers are dropping every episode at the moment 5 million less views for this one than the christmas episode, there's always a bit of a drop off towards the middle of the series, but this was way more than usual (incidentally, the least viewed episode for series 3 was Blink. People have the worst luck)


I think this might be the lowest dip since the series rebooted. I hadn't thought things were so bad (EDIT: It's not Voyage of the Damned had an exceptionally high number of views (13 million) and Silence in the Library (go figure again) had a very low number (6.3 million))

I dispute that something can make less sense than Flesh Amy. But yeah, I kind of made that theory up on the spot, didn't expect it to be the next Bad Wolf.
Still, point remains that the TARDIS does not translate Gallifreyan texts. So either we assume it's not Gallifreyan, the sustained damage has somehow lead to an accidental translation, Clara is a Time Lady or the TARDIS purposefully wanted Clara to read it. Last one courtesy of reddit, I wouldn't even have thought of that.

Furthermore, another interesting point from tumblr: The events from Angels take Manhattan became a fixed point because of Amy's book. What if this book, the complete history of the Time War including the Doctor, mentioned by his real name, ending it... is the cause and seal for the Time Lock?
I think that's actually my favourite fan theory so far, it has a certain beauty to it.

That's a cool fan theory. I'm hoping that we get some more information about the Time Lock and that would be an excellent one

 

[Quaxar]

Or third possibility, and considering how multiple seasons have dropped little hints during episodes leading to a big revealing in the finale... Clara is a Time Lady.

I'll one-up that: Clara is a reincarnation of Susan Foreman

I tried to stay away from that but nooo, you had to do it, didn't you?

Also, tumblr is already getting pretty crazy.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/ef3c8bc4738fb849625a4c50a8612f65/tumblr_mlxzzeJABD1qikjlio1_500.png

 

[Edith The Hutt]

I see. Well, I'll probably watch it some day but it's not top of my list.
So maybe Rassilon used the Hand of Omega to grant the Doctor his own Eye of Harmony. He did save Gallifrey, the Time Lords and the universe on several occasions already, perchance it was a reward.

Or possibly the Time Lords re-engineered the configuration of the Eye such that it would continue to exist in each individual TARDIS should the Gallifrey version become compromised.

This would ensure that so long as there was one TARDIS and one Time Lord who escaped any catastrophic disaster which compromised the Gallifrey Eye they could go back in time and prevent it from happening. Seems like the kind of thing you might do when you're in a time war.

 

[Ldude893]

Or third possibility, and considering how multiple seasons have dropped little hints during episodes leading to a big revealing in the finale... Clara is a Time Lady.

I'll one-up that: Clara is a reincarnation of Susan Foreman

I tried to stay away from that but nooo, you had to do it, didn't you?

The 50th anniversary of the show coming up, the Doctor mentioning his granddaughter in the second episode after the Christmas special, the voice of Susan in the TARDIS and the shot of the cradle in this episode.
Of course, I could be completely wrong, but it seems like it's all pointing at something.

 

[saintdane05]

What? I missed all of those.

It was very difficult to hear.

 

[Quaxar]

Or third possibility, and considering how multiple seasons have dropped little hints during episodes leading to a big revealing in the finale... Clara is a Time Lady.

I'll one-up that: Clara is a reincarnation of Susan Foreman

I tried to stay away from that but nooo, you had to do it, didn't you?

The 50th anniversary of the show coming up, the Doctor mentioning his granddaughter in the second episode after the Christmas special, the voice of Susan in the TARDIS and the shot of the cradle in this episode.
Of course, I could be completely wrong, but it seems like it's all pointing at something.

I know. It would be... how do I say it best? Ah yes.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9sz55foCB1rzjjfeo1_250.gif

I still hope she's actually Romana.

Also, <url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/Matt-and-Jenna-on-the-Truth-about-Clara-the-Finale-and-More>new BBC blog post concerning the next episodes and the finale. Some very promising titbits. Obvious small spoilers ahead.

 

[Berithil]

Also, <url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/Matt-and-Jenna-on-the-Truth-about-Clara-the-Finale-and-More>new BBC blog post concerning the next episodes and the finale. Some very promising titbits. Obvious small spoilers ahead.

Spoiler

"Clara hasn't just met the Doctor three times before..."

That's a hint if I've ever seen one...

Anyways, OT. I really liked this episode. I can't think of anything to complain about. We did see a lot more of the TARDIS than we have in the past series (with the possible exception of "The Doctor's Wife"), so I'm not sure why people are complaining about not seeing enough of it.

What? I missed all of those.

It was very difficult to hear.

I caught several voices that sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite tell what they were saying. I did, however, catch Christopher Eccleston's voice.

 

[Stryc9]

This episode was far better than the last one. I really wish that we got to see more of the interior of the TARDIS than we actually do. In some of the earlier episodes they used to go into other rooms fairly often and there has always been the thing about how it just kind of grows whatever rooms it needs when it needs them.

The explanation of the Eye of Harmony was a little off to me. The way it was explained in this episode, at least the way I heard it, made it sound like every TARDIS had a collapsing star on board which presents it's own set of problems if a TARDIS is destroyed.

While I was just waiting for those burn victim monsters to be scanned as past companions which would have been really creepy, once you see the one with it's hand over it's face like how The Doctor was just before it kind of makes sense. They were playing on the stuff in "The Angels Take Manhattan" where all the stuff in the book has to happen because it's written down and is now part of events. Here you had the past, present and possible futures all happening at the same time. In fact this is the first time since the series has come back that emotions don't win the day and instead cause problems as the one brother tries to save the other one and seals their fate as burn victim monsters. Hooray emotions, apparently not enough polygons.

 

[Eliwood10]

I enjoyed the episode up until the ending. There's no ending I hate more than one that essentially erases any character and/or plot development that happens in the episode. It's just a big cop-out.

This episode actually reminded me quite a bit of Homestuck with it's stable time loops and doomed timelines altering other timelines.

It was nice to see a bit more of inside the TARDIS, although i was expecting some more references to the past. I dislike how Moffat keeps on not aknowledging that the show existed before he took over.

Did you miss the scene with Clara in that one room filled with old companions' things? Also, this (half) season has been littered with references to Classic Who. Almost one per episode, in fact.