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

[TimeLord]

Finally, a great episode solved with science and Timey Wimey stuff and not emotions and feelings.
I'm interested to see if Clara will find the library again and discover the Doctor's name or what she is now to the Doctor now that he honestly knows she doesn't know what is special about her.
Loved the inclusion of the Eye of Harmony. Even though it does kind of invalidate the Doctor's previous reasons for having to stop and refuel when the EoH itself is on the TARDIS.

What were your thoughts?

Also, next week, more STRAX!

 

[FinalDream]

Loved the inclusion of the Eye of Harmony. Even though it does kind of invalidate the Doctor's previous reasons for having to stop and refuel when the EoH itself is on the TARDIS.

I loved the return of the Eye of Harmony, although it left me a bit confused as the older series implied that the Tardis' Eye is not the real one. But a remote link to the actual Eye that allows it's energy to be transferred to the Tardis' heart (if I remember all the details correctly!).

Edit: Also, interestingly, there is a fourth Doctor episode (The Deadly Assassin) where the master tries to open the Eye on Gallifrey, in an attempt to refresh his regeneration limit.

 

[TimeLord]

Loved the inclusion of the Eye of Harmony. Even though it does kind of invalidate the Doctor's previous reasons for having to stop and refuel when the EoH itself is on the TARDIS.

I loved the return of the Eye of Harmony, although it left me a bit confused as the older series implied that the Tardis' Eye is not the real one. But a remote link to the actual Eye that allows it's energy to be transferred to the Tardis' heart (if I remember all the details correctly!).

Edit: Also, interestingly, there is a fourth Doctor episode (The Deadly Assassin) where the master tries to open the Eye on Gallifrey, in an attempt to refresh his regeneration limit.

Exactly. Which is why, with Gallifrey destroyed, the TARDIS needs to stop and refuel like in 'Boom Town' and 'Utopia'. It does kind of throw a spanner in the continuity a bit.

 

[Albino Boo]

Better paced episode this week. The story didn't feel too busy but it was fast enough to glide over plotholes. A teaser about the Doctors name and a nice bit development on the who is Clara arc. This weeks story could have also been a clue, the first time Clara (as the Dalek) met the Dr she said to him "remember me" and in this weeks show the Dr says to guy the from the salvage ship remember you found a scrap of human decency. The salvage guy remembers that after the reset. It could be clue or it just could be a red herring.

 

[Dryk]

Exactly. Which is why, with Gallifrey destroyed, the TARDIS needs to stop and refuel like in 'Boom Town' and 'Utopia'. It does kind of throw a spanner in the continuity a bit.

It also has a primary fuel cell in this episode. But it's an infinitely large ship that exists in its own dimension and can rearrange itself at a whim. So who am I to say what rules it should be following. It's possible that it maintains some link to the Eye even though it no longer exists that it needs for some purpose that isn't fuel.

 

[Gennaroc]

For the eye of Harmony thing, I'd assume the Eye powers the existence of the Tardis, its beating heart, whereas the fuel for flight requires the need for rift energy and the like... Otherwise good episode, just wish it was given more weight. This is the first time we've seen the insides of the Tardis outside of Ten's wardrobe and some corridors, yet the story as a whole was kind of randomly meaningless. Would have loved 'The Doctors Wife's story spliced into the locations of this episode.

 

[AlbertoDeSanta]

Really liked that episode (Just aired here in Australia). It felt like a good episode, however, I'd have liked to see *MORE* of the TARDIS, since it was advertised as 'More Tardis then ever before', yet it only glanced over a few rooms and showed us capabilities it already had (Ability to Alter itself). Overall, a good episode, but it should have been a two parter.

 

[Thaluikhain]

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

Oh, didn't need that Doctor's name stuff, and I liked how they made a fuss about not stopping in the engine room, then run 6 paces in and stop.

 

[Tom_green_day]

There was no emotions which was good, but Matt Smith stills annoys me. It'd be nice to have a plot that isn't solved by 'applied phlebotinum' (addording to TV tropes) or one where it feels something more is at stake than that annoying companion. Also that episode was just burning for a reference to previous companions- if the husks had been scanned and it turned out to be Rose Tyler or someone like that, it would have been amazing. But still, less offensive than lots of the predecessors this series.

 

[Lilani]

I did love this episode, from beginning to end. I loved seeing more of the TARDIS, I loved the subplot with the salvage guys, and I approved of the ending as well. I feel like too often the show beats the "time can be rewritten" drum without actually rewriting time, at least in a way that affects what the audience sees. And it makes me excited to see them addressing the Name of the Doctor storyline again. I've enjoyed it so far, but it's gone on long enough. Time to put this mystery to bed.

 

[Master Kuja]

Episode was good, payoff was fairly shit.
I liked seeing more of the Tardis, was definitely a good episode in that respect since I myself wasn't really aware of the greater capabilities of the Tardis, frankly it was pretty fascinating, but the whole "let's just make everything that happened not happen" ending was complete bullshit.

I dunno, I guess I just expected something more for an ending after the episode itself was so good, aside from that one snippet of Gregor saying he still had some human decency left, the ending basically made the entire episode, regardless of how good it was, an adventure into total, utter pointlessness.
Stuff like that really leaves a sour taste in my mouth, regardless of character development etc.

 

[BrotherRool]

I loved almost all of this episode, apart from the unfortunately slightly accidentally racist bit, that Clara didn't seem to remember much when other people clearly had and that it made the Doctor's name thing implicit. And that whole idea is stupid and needs to be dropped.

But the monsters were good, I liked the Android reveal, the bit with Clara was nice and there was a sense that the Doctor doesn't fully understand how the TARDIS works, which is also good.

 

[Evil Smurf]

It was the best episode yet of this season. It kept ms guessing, interested and it felt likea Dr. Who episode and not fan fiction.

 

[Busard]

It was okay. Certainly better than the previous ones, although there's still too much stuff during these eps that seem to be thrown in at the last minute just for plot convenience and "INSERT DRAMA HERE".

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.

 

[Quaxar]

Also that episode was just burning for a reference to previous companions- if the husks had been scanned and it turned out to be Rose Tyler or someone like that, it would have been amazing. But still, less offensive than lots of the predecessors this series.

Yes! I was practically all the way to the end operating under the assumption that they were shadows of the past, especially near the end when the recent timelines leaked. Could have been older, more distorted personal time lines, you even could have linked a creature back all the way to Susan Foreman and have a great emotional realization by the Doctor. A shame it turned out to be rather unexplained "future stuff".

Still, fantastic episode and definitely my favourite in this season. Though I don't really see how the Doctor could have kept his name secret from his companions if the book where it's mentioned has its own altar right in the library. Also, where does the book come from? Did he make it himself or is it a Gallifreyan publication? Because if he didn't self-publish then surely other Time Lords must have it too and subsequently know his name.

Loved the inclusion of the Eye of Harmony. Even though it does kind of invalidate the Doctor's previous reasons for having to stop and refuel when the EoH itself is on the TARDIS.

I loved the return of the Eye of Harmony, although it left me a bit confused as the older series implied that the Tardis' Eye is not the real one. But a remote link to the actual Eye that allows it's energy to be transferred to the Tardis' heart (if I remember all the details correctly!).

Edit: Also, interestingly, there is a fourth Doctor episode (The Deadly Assassin) where the master tries to open the Eye on Gallifrey, in an attempt to refresh his regeneration limit.

Exactly. Which is why, with Gallifrey destroyed, the TARDIS needs to stop and refuel like in 'Boom Town' and 'Utopia'. It does kind of throw a spanner in the continuity a bit.

Is the refuelling really explicitly only since Gallifrey is gone? Because I could imagine that while the Eye of Harmony powers all Time Lord technology the "fuel cells" hold the time energy needed for time travel, which presumably would refill swiftly with a visit to Gallifrey and its direct access to the Time Vortex while the Cardiff rift only leaks small amounts of time energy at a time, thus elongating the process of refuelling.
It's probably a big stretch though...

 

[Thaluikhain]

It was the best episode yet of this season. It kept ms guessing, interested and it felt likea Dr. Who episode and not fan fiction.

Ouch!

But yeah, it did, it felt like an actual story by actual writers...excepting the ending.

 

[Arcadian Legend]

I loved this episode, best one so far this season to be honest. There isn't a whole lot I can fault it for, unlike some of the earlier episodes this season which were, not so good.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Yes! I was practically all the way to the end operating under the assumption that they were shadows of the past, especially near the end when the recent timelines leaked. Could have been older, more distorted personal time lines, you even could have linked a creature back all the way to Susan Foreman and have a great emotional realization by the Doctor. A shame it turned out to be rather unexplained "future stuff".

Hey? I thought it was explained pretty well, it was them zapped by the Eye and sent back in time.

Still, fantastic episode and definitely my favourite in this season. Though I don't really see how the Doctor could have kept his name secret from his companions if the book where it's mentioned has its own altar right in the library. Also, where does the book come from? Did he make it himself or is it a Gallifreyan publication? Because if he didn't self-publish then surely other Time Lords must have it too and subsequently know his name.

Surely the others did know his name? In any case, they couldn't have written the history of the time war, because they got wiped out in it. Unless it was an earlier volume in a serial that wasn't finished.

I loved the return of the Eye of Harmony, although it left me a bit confused as the older series implied that the Tardis' Eye is not the real one. But a remote link to the actual Eye that allows it's energy to be transferred to the Tardis' heart (if I remember all the details correctly!).

Edit: Also, interestingly, there is a fourth Doctor episode (The Deadly Assassin) where the master tries to open the Eye on Gallifrey, in an attempt to refresh his regeneration limit.

The original series had The Eye of Harmony as a singular, one off thing, and on Gallifrey, and everyone had forgotten what it was. The tardis didn't get one until the movie, which retconned it.

 

[SciMal]

Hmm. I thought it was a fairly mixed episode, but the strengths of it were very good.

I loved Clara wandering through the Tardis, and absolutely loved the library scene. I'm wondering if partaking of the Encyclopedia Gallifrey drops will show up later, and if they'll tease any more Time War info.

The monsters were shit. They weren't scary to begin with, the costumes were made in 10 minutes, and the big reveal was weak while not making much sense. Why would a melted/scorched version of themselves try to kill them?

The salvage team was pretty weak, too. Not too bad at the beginning, but they didn't get any stronger as the episode passed. They were nothing but a transparent plot device and bad attempt to connect disparate bits of stuff into each other - robots can feel, just like the TARDIS! Oops, they touched - and look at time reasserting itself!

I liked how they finally confronted Clara's main point for being there and things actually seemed to move forward.

And unlike the majority here, it seems, I really fucking love the ending. The Doctor is a goddamn Time Lord - going back in time (or through a tear) to make sure people don't die and shit doesn't go down is the exact sort of thing you'd do as a person who can travel through time. That The Doctor didn't even quibble about crossing his own time stream to save everybody made me actually believe he was a powerful being called a Time Lord that actually had some level of mastery over spacetime. He wasn't bitching about fixed points or entering a lengthy debate about spoilers, he just up and went "Well obviously solving everything by giving myself the answer is the right thing to do, because it SOLVES EVERYTHING." Then BAM, he did it.

It was one of the few times throughout all of the reboot's episodes that I've gone, "Fucking *finally* it feels like time travel is something The Doctor knows how to use to his advantage." Instead of, you know, being an emotionally crippled know-it-all with a hyperactive personality at the mercy of the TARDIS and her whims.

So, definitely points for making The Doctor feel like a powerful being, and points for flirting with Oswin/Clara stuff.

If only the monsters were better...

 

[Quaxar]

Yes! I was practically all the way to the end operating under the assumption that they were shadows of the past, especially near the end when the recent timelines leaked. Could have been older, more distorted personal time lines, you even could have linked a creature back all the way to Susan Foreman and have a great emotional realization by the Doctor. A shame it turned out to be rather unexplained "future stuff".

Hey? I thought it was explained pretty well, it was them zapped by the Eye and sent back in time.

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.

Still, fantastic episode and definitely my favourite in this season. Though I don't really see how the Doctor could have kept his name secret from his companions if the book where it's mentioned has its own altar right in the library. Also, where does the book come from? Did he make it himself or is it a Gallifreyan publication? Because if he didn't self-publish then surely other Time Lords must have it too and subsequently know his name.

Surely the others did know his name? In any case, they couldn't have written the history of the time war, because they got wiped out in it. Unless it was an earlier volume in a serial that wasn't finished.

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?

The original series had The Eye of Harmony as a singular, one off thing, and on Gallifrey, and everyone had forgotten what it was. The tardis didn't get one until the movie, which retconned it.

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?