Doctor Who Series 7.12 - Nightmare in Silver

[ninjaRiv]

It would have been better without the girl. She was terrible... I've never wanted to hit someone with a baseball bat that much before...

But besides that, the episode would have been average but since it was Neil gaiman, it was pretty terrible considering his abilities. It should have been so much better, like The Doctor's Wife.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

Did anyone notice the warhammer40k vibe from the show i was expecting orks to suddenly crash in

Totally agree. I bet Gaiman is a 40K fan.

OT:
Loved it. Best episode of this season so far. It was the first one that I didn't feel needed to be 2 parts.

The Cybermen were actually intimidating, the mind/chess battle with Mr. Clever was fantastic and I was thankfully correct on the children being kidnapped almost immediately.

I wish Gaiman would take over the show. I think Moffat has lost his mind...

 

[Dr. Doomsduck]

The episode felt unhinged, too many useless characters, too many unused plottwists, it was all over the place. I mean, what was the point of those kids? aside from raising the stakes because 'ooohh kids in danger' now we HAVE to care. I had hoped that maybe we'd get to see more development in Clara based on her interactions with them, but not even that (and can we get that girl an award for worst Nanny in the universe? You left them ALONE on an ALIEN PLANET they didn't WANT to stay in the first place.)

I reckon it could've done with a 2 parter, maybe with part of it being the Doctor losing control.

Basically, this. Or at least shave off a few characters, like the kids, there was no point in that guy in the top-hat.

Spoiler

Near the beginning of the episode, Warwick's character (the emperor) hinted at the episode going down a darker, much more serious and, frankly, more interesting path. It was the point at which he was talking about the obliteration of an entire populated galaxy to stop the cybermen. The way it was done suggested the episode could delve into the ramifications of such an act a la the finale of Ender's Game. But then: Nope, back to the irritating goddamn children, and we never again hear of the unimaginable genocide.

Spoiler

See, now that part was intriquing, I would've loved more about that, but it just got lost between the slew of characters.

Did anyone notice the warhammer40k vibe from the show i was expecting orks to suddenly crash in, i liked the show but i don't like the inclusion of those kids as you know for a fact that they are put in false danger only to come out as unscathed. Even in si-fi bullets,lasers and other weapons still kill whoever they target.

Last week it was Bioshock, this week it's Warhammer...I swear someone in there is targeting the geek-audiences.

 

[Thaluikhain]

The writing was really bad, par for the course with Moffat's Doctor Who (side note: why the hell is this, he wrote one of the best Tennent episodes, and Sherlock is beautifully written?)

When Moffatt was writing for Tennant, he had RTD as script editor Now when Moffatt writes, he's script editor as well. It seems you should really keep those two jobs seperate.

 

[Albino Boo]

Last week it was Bioshock, this week it's Warhammer...I swear someone in there is targeting the geek-audiences.

Last week had nothing to do with Bioshock. The name of the town was Sweetville which is a reference to Bournville http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bournville , which one amoung number of model villages built in the 19th century http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_village . It was based on real British history of 19th century. Many of the model villages were built by factory owners from non-conformist denominations and the residents and workforce had to adhere to the religious ideals of the owners. This is a contemporary photograph of the salvation army

Look familiar at all?

 

[Dr. Doomsduck]

Last week it was Bioshock, this week it's Warhammer...I swear someone in there is targeting the geek-audiences.

Last week had nothing to do with Bioshock. The name of the town was Sweetville which is a reference to Bournville http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bournville , which one amoung number of model villages built in the 19th century http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_village . It was based on real British history of 19th century. Many of the model villages were built by factory owners from non-conformist denominations and the residents and workforce had to adhere to the religious ideals of the owners. This is a contemporary photograph of the salvation army

Look familiar at all?

Heheh, that's cool, I didn't know that and seeing it, really makes sense that they based it off that. But it was really more that particular steampunk-creepy-style added to the victorian crazy that made it a bit Bioshock.

 

[Quaxar]

Heads up everyone, BBC America has screwed up and sent out pre-orders for the second part of this season already, which includes next week's finale episode. So be extra-careful with spoilers this week!

http://untempered-schism-insta.tumblr.com/post/50255139345/so-did-anyone-else-get-their-pre-order-early (spoiler-free, only pictures proving the claim and a little comment about the Clara myth)

 

[JDLY]

Although the whole thing with the processing power being used to slow the cybermen down worked quite well for me, and it least felt reasonably plausable to me, it used all the processing power it had on this one problem which would realistcly not leave power to do anything else. At least he didn't just wave his magic wand and they all died, as seems to be the general solution these days. At least it wasn't the power of love, and they actually had to do things and carry out some sort of plan.

Excepting that they only needed the processing power to brute force 3 moves a head in chess, and they took it from the cybermen actually doing something. But yeah, better than power of love stuff, but that's faint praise.

But he wasn't actually brute forcing 3 moves in chess. That's just what the Doctor wanted him to think. It was all a bit of a ruse. He said the Time Lords invented chess, hinting that he knew something that the cyber planner didn't, and that he could win. In truth he couldn't, because he had no secret chess move, but he convinced the cyber planner that he did. So the cyber planner used all that processing power looking for something that didn't exist, like looking for a shadow in the dark. That's why it used so much processing power that it slowed the other cybermen down.

However, that doesn't overlook the fact that the cyber planner shouldn't have cared in the first place. Even if the Doctor won with some "hidden" move, he still would have just killed everyone. Also doesn't overlook the fact that the Doctor couldn't used one of the hand-zapper things to kill it while he still had the foil on his face.

Why did they say that technically the bomb would make the planet implode, when at the end of the episode it clearly makes it explode?

An implosion can actually set off a minor explosion. An implosion creates a void which matter quickly attempts to fill, given a large enough force, the matter could collapse to a density more than normal, which would then cause an explosion. Supernovas behave this way, the outward force of fusion runs out and the inward force of gravity causes the start to first implode. Then, due to the creation of a black hole and the reaction of lots of matter falling into it all at once, there is an explosion. I'm not quite sure how it fully works.

Personally I think the end result in the episode seemed like an implosion. An explosion would've scattered the pieces of planet far and wide, while an implosion would have crushed the planet, whose pieces would then float apart, leaving what we saw at the end.

EDIT: Went back and re-watched the ending. While the debris left behind looks like that from an implosion, the actual event itself does look like a regular explosion.

 

[Thaluikhain]

But he wasn't actually brute forcing 3 moves in chess. That's just what the Doctor wanted him to think. It was all a bit of a ruse. He said the Time Lords invented chess, hinting that he knew something that the cyber planner didn't, and that he could win. In truth he couldn't, because he had no secret chess move, but he convinced the cyber planner that he did. So the cyber planner used all that processing power looking for something that didn't exist, like looking for a shadow in the dark. That's why it used so much processing power that it slowed the other cybermen down.

However, that doesn't overlook the fact that the cyber planner shouldn't have cared in the first place. Even if the Doctor won with some "hidden" move, he still would have just killed everyone. Also doesn't overlook the fact that the Doctor couldn't used one of the hand-zapper things to kill it while he still had the foil on his face.

That would make sense, but wasn't the impression I got from the story.

An implosion can actually set off a minor explosion. An implosion creates a void which matter quickly attempts to fill, given a large enough force, the matter could collapse to a density more than normal, which would then cause an explosion. Supernovas behave this way, the outward force of fusion runs out and the inward force of gravity causes the start to first implode. Then, due to the creation of a black hole and the reaction of lots of matter falling into it all at once, there is an explosion. I'm not quite sure how it fully works.

Personally I think the end result in the episode seemed like an implosion. An explosion would've scattered the pieces of planet far and wide, while an implosion would have crushed the planet, whose pieces would then float apart, leaving what we saw at the end.

Personally, I wonder how they can see the destroyed galaxy, umpteen millions light years away. Was the war a long, long time ago[footnote]I could but I won't[/footnote]? Why can't you see behind it, unless the galaxy was destroyed in a way that makes it dark and opaque.

 

[JDLY]

Snip

That would make sense, but wasn't the impression I got from the story.

He kept talking about the three moves, then after the cybermen were all slowed down he asked "Three moves, do you wanna know what they are?" Then said them aloud as he did them. Move one, turn on sonic screwdriver; move two, activate pulser; move three, amplify pulser.

Another snip

Personally, I wonder how they can see the destroyed galaxy, umpteen millions light years away. Was the war a long, long time ago[footnote]I could but I won't[/footnote]? Why can't you see behind it, unless the galaxy was destroyed in a way that makes it dark and opaque.

As for that, I don't know. I don't recall if they mentioned how long ago the war was, though you're right, it would have had to have been quite some time for them to see it at that distance. As for seeing behind it, I guess given enough debris and dust and it would block visible light. Though we're not really told how it was destroyed other than "giant-ass explosion", so I can't comment on the amount of debris that would've been left.

EDIT: I had some quoting issues, so I fixed them.

 

[Albino Boo]

Heheh, that's cool, I didn't know that and seeing it, really makes sense that they based it off that. But it was really more that particular steampunk-creepy-style added to the victorian crazy that made it a bit Bioshock.

This is picture of the writer of the Crimson Horror, Mark Gatiss, in his 2008 adaptation of H G Well's the First Men on the Moon

Gatiss at one point in time actually built a Victorian laboratory in his home. Last weeks show really didn't have anything to do with bioshock or even steampunk. It was more in the line of H G Well's work, Edwardian/Victorian era sci fi with social commentary slipped in on the sly.

 

[Not Matt]

Spoiler: just a few incoherent sentences that i had to get out of my system

What's with all the River hate? sure she is rather frustrating but so was K9 and people seem to like him
oh Warwick Davis. yay.

oh cool. the silences in tophats.

Richard E Grant is coming back?!?! praise the (time)lord!

didn't matt smith sign up for for season 8 as well. atleast we know for sure it's not his very last episode because he will be in the 50th episode.

hope they do the sopranos thing and cut to black the moment clara says: "i know your name doctor. it's ......*end credits*"

if his name isn't Hartnell, i'm gonna be pissed

the cybermen get's a floatig around in space cliffhanger?

i am most interested in what happens to clara after this. i have picked up the theory of....

Spoiler: theory may include spoilers...maybe

Clara is Jenny. from the doctor who episode with the fish people that made sure would have the same nightmare for the next 4 weeks.
first of all. look at the chair clara or oswin or what ever sits in when she is a dalek. and then google image the ship that jenny used.
they have been hinting at stuff from the earlier years of who. such as the doctor traveling with his granddaughter. so maybe the doctor traveling with his daughter might become a thing. they did the "unvailing with david and making it happen with matt" thing with river song so why not use the doctor's daughter.
they have very simular personalities and both jenny and clara came back after having been declared dead by the doctor himself.
[small]and they are both adorable [/small]

also. i hope Clara continues on with who ever is next in line for the role of the doctor. she has probably become my favorite companion (pre and post the non existing 90s) by simply being as mad as the doctor and her chemistry with Matt makes it down right amazing to watch these two bounce off of each other. i could happily watch and episode where Matt and Jenna is sitting in the TARDIS gossiping.

EDIT: i juust realized. this means river meets clara. all we need now is donna and 10 to show up and we'll have a good o'll wisecrack showdown

 

[Froggy Slayer]

It should have been a two-parter. The story needed more space to expand. We didn't really need that episode about singing, did we?

 

[sanquin]

The recent episodes are a bit lacking in my opinion. It's like they wanted to recreate an epic overarching plot just like with River Song, but forgot they had only one season to do it instead of two. And thus they try to find excuses to cram in a ton of exposition into each episode, while the story of the individual episodes is added as an afterthought. This episode felt no different.

 

[the darknees abyss]

The Cybermen look worse i prefer the old ones and o for god sake river songs back i like her in the first couple episodes but will she go away.