Doctor Who Series 7-7: The Bells of St John (SPOILERS)

[saintdane05]

Love the new TARDIS
Love the new coat
Love the new titles
Love the new companion.

Although I am a little disappointed that they are shackling an over arcing plot in already! Especially since they still haven't resolved all the old ones yet. But the entertainment was there and Clara looks like she'll be more than a match for the Doctor!

So what were your thoughts on the new episode?

As someone who hasn't seen the Christmas Special and doesn't want to (Hate Holiday Themed Episodes, except for the Pokemon Christmas Special 2), who is Clara and where did she come from?

Remember Asylum of the Daleks?
Same girl. Literally. Only with different memories. She is basically the new companion.

<quote=From TARDIS DAta core>
Oswin possessed a flirtatious and feisty personality, and cheerfully flirted with both the Doctor and Rory. She once asked Rory to take his shirt off for no real reason showing that she considered him to be attractive and teased the Doctor about his chin, nicknaming him "Chinboy". Oswin also implied that she was bisexual, admitting to Rory that she'd once fancied a girl called Nina, although she added that she'd been going through a phase.

Following her conversion, Oswin was unable to accept the horror of what she had become, and managed to convince herself that she was still human. Oswin was extremely strong-willed, and even after her conversion, rejected mental conditioning in favour of retaining her humanity. Notably, she was the only Dalek for whom the Eleventh Doctor displayed any compassion or pity and also the only known human who was strong enough to resist Dalek mental conditioning. In addition to being very strong-willed, Oswin was also extremely intelligent, but unfortunately it was because of her intelligence that she was turned into a Dalek. She had incredible hacking skills and possessed a knowledge of Daleks and their technology that exceeded even the Doctor's, because she had been converted into a Dalek herself. Oswin was very confident, perhaps slightly overconfident, and was fully aware of her exceptional intelligence, calling herself a genius several times.

Oswin was shown to be selfless, allowing the Doctor to complete his mission of destroying the planet and insisting that he leave her behind and escape with Amy and Rory. She was also a talented actress, being able to pretend convincingly that she was at ease with her situation with cheeky and flirty remarks and was able to change the sound of her voice easily. She also used her flirting to keep Rory cheerful and seemed to provide him with some comfort since he actually asked her to keep flirting with him as reassurance. Despite her relaxed and cheerful demeanour, Oswin did show signs of worry about her situation and admitted that she was anxious to leave. She was also shown to be wary of strangers since she asked the Doctor to come and fetch her, not entirely trusting him not to leave without her; later she sacrificed herself to lower the shield so the parliament of the daleks could destroy the asylum. (TV: Asylum of the Daleks)



Also, love the new Gallifrayin letters in the TARDIS.

 

[Daveman]

Getting more and more disenfranchised with each passing season. Disturbed that Doctor Who continues to pander to my sisters exact age. As a result I've finally landed on what in particular I hate about Matt Smiths Doctor though. It's definitely the flirting. I mean there is such a thing as subtlety with these things. It's a kid's show for god's sake and there's a weird flasher-y, pervy bit about getting her in the TARDIS. What the actual fuck?

And why the fuck was the Doctor satisfied with the end of the episode? He never found out why they were doing it! Unless the 1 minute where I went for a piss involved some exposition. I couldn't give a toss about the numerology bullshit Moffat pulls, just give me some common sense. And less shitty flirting.

And Matt Smith sounds drunk when he's supposedly angry.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

Great episode but i have to point out something i found weird, in Claras book of her ages going down from 1 to 24...it skipped the age 23...is there some significance there or just an oversight on the writers part?

Clara's hand-written adventure book skips age 23. She types the password wrong because she can't type 23. Last episode saw Clara dying on the 23th of November... the day Doctor Who first aired.

Okay, wow. I'm definitely tucking that one away so that I can act like a smart arse for knowing it if it's a big part of the story later on.

 

[Robot Number V]

Honestly? I was kinda disappointed when the "monster" turned out to NOT be the same monster from the season 2 episode "The Idiot's Lantern". Seriously, their methods were almost identical.

Incidentally, I'm extremely confused about the Great Intelligence. What the hell IS it, exactly? The Doctor seemed to recognize it in the Christmas Special, so I can only assume it's from Classic Who, but they didn't really give a good explanation for newcomers like me. I tried looking it up on the Doctor Who Wiki, and it told me it was a disembodied god from the time before the universe. That just confuses me more, especially since the Doctor DEFINITELY didn't mention anything like that. So can someone please give me a brief summary of what the thing is and why it's been in two consecutive episodes now?

Hell, why did the Doctor not even investigate the Great Intelligence at the end of the episode?? WHY WOULD HE NOT DO THAT??!!

 

[Launcelot111]

Love the new TARDIS
Love the new coat
Love the new titles
Love the new companion.

Although I am a little disappointed that they are shackling an over arcing plot in already! Especially since they still haven't resolved all the old ones yet. But the entertainment was there and Clara looks like she'll be more than a match for the Doctor!

So what were your thoughts on the new episode?

As someone who hasn't seen the Christmas Special and doesn't want to (Hate Holiday Themed Episodes, except for the Pokemon Christmas Special 2), who is Clara and where did she come from?

It's not even holiday themed, it's just snow themed (though I'd understand if you were biased against snow too).

Anyway, the Doctor bumps into Clara on multiple occasions throughout time and he stalks her down in present day to find out why she keeps appearing. This is her third iteration, I believe (before was the Christmas episode, where she was some Victorian governess, and the episode with the planet of crazy Daleks, where she was a survivor of some crashed spaceship or something).

OT: I thought the episode was fun. Clara is enjoyable alongside the doctor, and that carried a vaguely muddled plot, though I don't mind a little building of overarching storyline.

I also usually only watch Doctor Who as a hodge-podge of whatever reruns are showing on BBC America, so I don't have the best knowledge of Doctor Who plotlines or history, and thus I don't know if the Supreme Intelligence guy at the end is a long running, established villain or a new invention. Is he new? Is he the same as the snow globe intelligence thing from the Christmas episode? Third option?

 

[saintdane05]

Honestly? I was kinda disappointed when the "monster" turned out to NOT be the same monster from the season 2 episode "The Idiot's Lantern". Seriously, their methods were almost identical.

Incidentally, I'm extremely confused about the Great Intelligence. What the hell IS it, exactly? The Doctor seemed to recognize it in the Christmas Special, so I can only assume it's from Classic Who, but they didn't really give a good explanation for newcomers like me. I tried looking it up on the Doctor Who Wiki, and it told me it was a disembodied god from the time before the universe. That just confuses me more, especially since the Doctor DEFINITELY didn't mention anything like that. So can someone please give me a brief summary of what the thing is and why it's been in two consecutive episodes now?

Hell, why did the Doctor not even investigate the Great Intelligence at the end of the episode?? WHY WOULD HE NOT DO THAT??!!

The Great Intelligence is one of the Great Old Ones. He may or may not also be Yog-Sothoth

 

[saintdane05]

GUYS! GUYS! DAVID TENNANT IS COMING BACK!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/30/david-tennant-billie-piper-doctor-who_n_2985084.html

I AM HAVING A FANGASM!

 

[Stryc9]

Over all I was happy with this episode even though it is quite clear that I'm going to have to watch it again as I seem to have missed some things. I thought it was a nice touch to see the nod to Amy in the form of Clara reading one of her books, well played Moffat, well played. Clara is still a great character and I'm really glad they didn't turn her into a Kenny-esque character that dies every episode...so far. Sadly I think I must've missed the trailer for next week's episode, maybe I'll catch it when I watch again. For me at least things are looking after the last few episodes upon reflection were rather disappointing.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

-snip-

I meant the whole Greater Intelligence thing. Yet another arc we won't see the end of for 3 series probably

*dons tinfoil hat* Maybe they'll both be resolved together and the reason Oswin keeps appearing is because she's actually a physical avatar of the Great Intelligence's species with the unconscious task of capturing it and returning it to its own planet. This is why she maintained control when turned into a Dalek...

For the record, this is why I don't write fan fiction

I'm kind of thinking it's connected to the way she was digitized in this episode. Who's to say the other two Oswin's weren't just backup copies from what happened to her in this episode?

 

[Remus]

The part at the end where the boss gets reverted to a 5 year old - I can't help thinking that this is what happens when a little girl trusts a crazy smart person who's not the Doctor. She had the Intelligence talking to her for all that time. So the Intelligence became a reverse analogue to the Doctor. That'd be about like having a lifelong link to the Master, not all that great for your well being or anyone around you.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Incidentally, I'm extremely confused about the Great Intelligence. What the hell IS it, exactly? The Doctor seemed to recognize it in the Christmas Special, so I can only assume it's from Classic Who, but they didn't really give a good explanation for newcomers like me. I tried looking it up on the Doctor Who Wiki, and it told me it was a disembodied god from the time before the universe. That just confuses me more, especially since the Doctor DEFINITELY didn't mention anything like that. So can someone please give me a brief summary of what the thing is and why it's been in two consecutive episodes now?

In Patrick Troughton era Doctor Who, it was a disembodied thing that possessed people in Tibet to act as it's hands, and built robots (disguised as Yetis) because they were better...well, robots, but more like empty shells waiting for possession.

A bloke took a deactivated one back to London, and played around with some other technology, which woke up and drove out the Londoners...also the first time the Doctor met the Brigadier.

So, they decided for "continuity" purposes to take an old monster back, and muck it up as badly as possible, cause fans like that.

...

As for nothing in the story making sense, fan's don't like that.

...

The anti-gravity bike bit could have been better. Given that he can make things bigger on the insider than the outside, they could have had, like, a sun powering the thing. Also, should have been chased by police. And the Doctor should have been played by Milla Jovovich. Yeah, not as good as nobody's favourite movie, Ultraviolet.

In general, "meh". Nothing much happened, except arc plotting, and the Dr not bothering to save untold hordes of people stuck in the datacloud.

 

[thiosk]

I loved the episode too.

But rumor has it smith is heading out.
We shall see

 

[Beffudled Sheep_v1legacy]

snip

I haven't seen it yet ( had work) so I can't comment on the new episode yet. However Your avatar made my heart skip and my man bits shrivel. When I came into the thread the angel was facing away, face buried in hands.
Then I scrolled down and it was looking at me, arms outstretched. Maybe its the lack of sleep but it terrified me. I was honestly going to throw my laptop at the wall for a second until I remembered that the Weeping Angels aren't real.

Bravo sir, you have terrified me significantly

 

[Mr F.]

Love the new TARDIS
Love the new coat
Love the new titles
Love the new companion.

Although I am a little disappointed that they are shackling an over arcing plot in already! Especially since they still haven't resolved all the old ones yet. But the entertainment was there and Clara looks like she'll be more than a match for the Doctor!

So what were your thoughts on the new episode?

Just finished it and my thoughts were, In rough order...
1. Time Vortex is worse. Old one was better.
2. Hmm. new TARDIS. I prefer the old one.
3. Wait, thats whatshername from the planet of the mental Daleks! AWESOMESAUCE.
4. Oh, he looks different. Does he? Cannot really tell.

The episode wasn't too amazing either. I mean, it was interesting. Ish...

I dunno. This series has not been too brilliant (I mean, this is part two of the 7th series) Some brilliant episodes, yeah. Some rather sub par ones though.

Then again, maybe I am spoilt cause I recently watched one through 5 (Or was it 6?) on Lovefilm. So I just had my Tennant fix.

 

[CrazyBlaze]

Things I really want to know:

Why the client was doing all the above.

Why he made sure the modded versions of people had high level expertise in computer science.

Why he only downloaded people who'd connected computers to a weird-lettered computer network.

Why two of the people downloaded were "integrated" in such a way that they couldn't be uploaded to wet, squishy hardware without doing the same to a load of other people.

Why such a mysterious villain is introduced when we've already got a mysterious, and apparently non-connected, supporting character for us to find out all about.

1. To become integrated with every machine and human on the planet in order to obtain a physical form.

2. Well the modded versions were working with some pretty high tech stuff so it makes sense that they would need to have a high level of intelligence about it.

3. Selection. To avoid covering an area with multiple spoonheads because that would be a waste.

4. Bad planning? Lack of the high end equipment to do otherwise? Not planning on returning the people? I'm not sure.

5. They introduced the big bad back in the Christmas episode so it looks like its going to be around for a bit.


Now on a personal note, I liked the episode. Its not the best episode ever but it was pretty good and it was fun. I really enjoy the chemistry between the Doctor and Clara. They pop very nicely. Almost reminds me what would have been if Donna had stuck around after becoming super smart. Their flirting was over the top but it makes sense Clara would call it a snog box. I mean those boxes don't look common these days. I like the idea of an overarching villain so I hope there is more of him. I do think though that it should have been that villain introduced in the Power of Three, I want to see more of them just because they caught my attention. In fact I half expected it to be. Also anyone catch the name of the author of the book? Love Easter eggs like that. Also the fact that Clara said the eleventh chapter was better than the Tenth was a nice touch, something I know people will disagree with. Though saying it will make you cry your eyes out is right. I've had more feels with Eleven than with Ten. And the little girl saying Nina, which is pretty close to Nine though I may be seeing, or hearing in this case something that isn't there.

On another note, the news that Tennant is returning for the 50th special is exciting. Also I hope the next doctor is older and more mature than Smith when Smith steps down. I enjoy Smith's take but I want something different. The show almost feels like its aiming more and more for the people who love stories and thats something that I never enjoyed in Doctor Who.

 

[Buzz Killington_v1legacy]

It was all right, but I for one am tired of Steven Moffat's Manic Pixie Dream Girl fetish. He's stomping my face into a curb while yelling "YOU WILL FIND THIS CHARACTER INTERESTING! AND QUIRKY! AND BRILLIANT! AND YOU! WILL! LOVE! HER!". The only difference is that this time the curb is labeled "Oswin" instead of "River Song".

 

[Coppernerves]

Things I really want to know:

Why the client was doing all the above.

*snop*

Why such a mysterious villain is introduced when we've already got a mysterious, and apparently non-connected, supporting character for us to find out all about.

1. To become integrated with every machine and human on the planet in order to obtain a physical form.

*snop*

5. They introduced the big bad back in the Christmas episode so it looks like its going to be around for a bit.

*snop*
I like the idea of an overarching villain so I hope there is more of him.
*snop*

Wait, the villain in this episode was the same guy behind the killer snowmen and monster ice nanny?

That's kind of annoying, it's less confusing when each villain (or villainous race) keeps to one aesthetic.
I mean seriously, first he's all ice and steampunk, now he's all corporate cybernetics, what's up with that?
And what's next, renaissance clockwork bloody surgery? (Yes I know they already did that, and it was awesome.)

 

[Albino Boo]

I also usually only watch Doctor Who as a hodge-podge of whatever reruns are showing on BBC America, so I don't have the best knowledge of Doctor Who plotlines or history, and thus I don't know if the Supreme Intelligence guy at the end is a long running, established villain or a new invention. Is he new? Is he the same as the snow globe intelligence thing from the Christmas episode? Third option?

The Great Intelligence appeared first in a 2nd doctor story in the mid 60s and the reappeared in recent christmas special. In the 60s show he he wanted to drain the Dr's mind and was using mind draining robot yetis in the London underground. There is no great lore surrounding the Great Intelligence and what it is, has never been explained outside of ideas from fandom.


Personally, I think the original Great Intelligence (I feel that it should be in bold Great Intelligence, yes much better) was an amalgamation of earlier 50s Britsh sc-fi, in particular the works of Nigel Kneale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Kneale . Kneale wrote Quatermass in the pit, in which Dr Quatermass solved the problem of bad things happening underground in London and The Abominable Snowman in which Dr Rollason defeated the aforementioned snowman.

 

[Albino Boo]

Wait, the villain in this episode was the same guy behind the killer snowmen and monster ice nanny?

That's kind of annoying, it's less confusing when each villain (or villainous race) keeps to one aesthetic.
I mean seriously, first he's all ice and steampunk, now he's all corporate cybernetics, what's up with that?
And what's next, renaissance clockwork bloody surgery? (Yes I know they already did that, and it was awesome.)

Ok the Great Intelligence in the Victorian era appeared steampunky and the Great Intelligence in 2013 appeared all corporate, maybay its appearing in appropriate attire for the period.

Please excuse my use of the Great Intelligence in bold but I can't stop myself. I clicked on this funny looking wifi earlier and I don't know where I am.