Dr Who :Listen

[Albino Boo]

OK from the trailers I thought Moffat had raided the vaults and stolen a Sapphire and Steel story from the late 70s. Boy was I wrong, I'm going to nail my colours to the mast and say this week was tour de force of an episode. Something with a bit of meat for the leads to get their teeth into and show what they can do. Enough hiding behind the sofa moments for the younger viewers and enough clever dialogue and implication for the older amongst the audience. Smart shifting of expectations about what the story was about and a neat reveal at the end. Bravo



OK now for the obligatory argument.

I think (insert your favored writer here) is better (insert your unfavored writer here) and they should stop. Grrr grrr tribalism, my favorite is better than your favorite, tribalism, grr, tribalism.

Please feel free to copy and paste and instert the relevant names

 

[Gizmo1990]

I think that the general story was good. I am however sick and tired of stories centered on the companions. I don't give a crap about Clara and her love life. I want to see the 2000 year old time traveling alien super genius do crazy stuff.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I really enjoyed this episode, a good stand alone, something Moffat is actually good at.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

I liked it. I paid attention and listened (pun intended) so I got what was going on and I think it's actually a really clever story about what happens if the Doctor's fear gets to him. There's already people complaining about the ambiguity of the episode which I guess should be expected.

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

Yes I have opinions on it.

Spoiler

I really enjoyed most of the episode but I didn't like the part on Gallifray. The idea and execution of the monster (if there even was one) was pretty darn creepy. I loved leaving it ambiguous as to what the Doctor saw and if there even was anything. Then, they went to Gallifrey. I didn't think you could even go to Gallifray anymore, it was annoying as all hell and damn it killing all the Time Lords and Daleks wasn't the wrong thing to do. It was a horrible thing to do, lots of innocent people died (or didn't because he didn't actually do it) but when the other option is have everyone in the universe die it wasn't the wrong thing to do. Now obviously saving it was better, no argument there, but I agreed that the War Doctor was the Doctor on the day it wasn't possible to get it right.

 

[Crazy Zaul]

I'm confused at myself. It was good, but it all amounted to absolutely nothing in the end so it was actually a big disappointment, but somehow it was actually still good.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

I'm confused at myself. It was good, but it all amounted to absolutely nothing in the end so it was actually a big disappointment, but somehow it was actually still good.

That's the whole point, it was nothing. There were no monsters and the explanations the doctor gave before writing them off are true.

 

[marscentral]

This does feel like the first episode this series where I can say it was good without feeling the need to add a "but".

 

[Zontar]

This does feel like the first episode this series where I can say it was good without feeling the need to add a "but".

That's pretty much how I felt about it.

Honestly, Moffat's work in general has, lately, been unimpressive, especially for (or maybe as a result of being) a man in his position. I mean what type of man allows CBS to create a better Holmes television series then BBC? Though that's a discussion for another thread.

 

[Rylot]

I liked certain parts of the episode, and other parts just made me scratch my head.

Spoiler: I wanted to like it, but it just fell apart for me

I really liked when it turned out to be a scared Timelord. An eons old being accidentally terrorizing populations through out the ages is a fantastic note to end the episode on and I would have loved it. Having it be the Doctor doesn't make sense. I wanted to go with it and Coleman sold the ever loving shit out of that scene but I just can't suspend my disbelief that much. So he terrorizes humanity for a few hundred generations until the heat death of the universe but doesn't remember it? I just can't do it.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I liked certain parts of the episode, and other parts just made me scratch my head.

Spoiler: I wanted to like it, but it just fell apart for me

I really liked when it turned out to be a scared Timelord. An eons old being accidentally terrorizing populations through out the ages is a fantastic note to end the episode on and I would have loved it. Having it be the Doctor doesn't make sense. I wanted to go with it and Coleman sold the ever loving shit out of that scene but I just can't suspend my disbelief that much. So he terrorizes humanity for a few hundred generations until the heat death of the universe but doesn't remember it? I just can't do it.

He doesn't really get it either. Clara never told him where she went. So he had the nagging thought in his mind the whole time, and he was looking for the answer, only for it to be nothing. He isn't willingly terrorizing people, but trying to answer the question that nagged him his whole life. And inadvertently causing the same fear in everyone else.

 

[Tanis]

Holy.Fuck.Ing.Wow.
Dat Ending.

So...that was The Doctor as a child?
And that was the barn where The Moment was going to be unleashed?

I have to admit, I enjoyed this episode.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Should this have Dr Who in the title? It's "The Adventures of Clara, featuring some annoying old guy that's there also". Which is an odd move.

Also, have to mention "He was the last man on Earth, there was a lock/knock on the door"

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Trippy episode, bit weird how by the end we pretty much end up where we started with nothing but vaugeness. Clara might have dismissed it as being the Doctor just getting himself worked up over nothing but I think there really was more to this and we will come back to it.

Also

Spoiler

Holy shit Clara just broke the time lock to Gallifrey, the last time we heard of something doing that was that Dalek who saved Davros and it went mad. This is interesting indeed! The return of Gallifrey is coming soon man I know it is! Ohhh that has me excited!

 

[Kingjackl]

I liked this one. At first I thought it was just going to be another attempt to make the 'Blink' lightning strike twice, but they did something pretty interesting with it, something I never would have expected from a non-finale episode. It actually got pretty spooky as well.

Even though Clara was the MVP of this episode, I'm really growing to like Peter Capaldi. It's too soon to call, but Doctor Dickhead may end up being my favourite Doctor.

 

[Maze1125]

I liked certain parts of the episode, and other parts just made me scratch my head.

Spoiler: I wanted to like it, but it just fell apart for me

I really liked when it turned out to be a scared Timelord. An eons old being accidentally terrorizing populations through out the ages is a fantastic note to end the episode on and I would have loved it. Having it be the Doctor doesn't make sense. I wanted to go with it and Coleman sold the ever loving shit out of that scene but I just can't suspend my disbelief that much. So he terrorizes humanity for a few hundred generations until the heat death of the universe but doesn't remember it? I just can't do it.

That wasn't the ending I saw.
The ending I saw said that the thing that scared the Doctor as a child was Clara, not some weird monster. That there was no monster at all, just the individual's fear. Every single instance of the monster in the episode also had a possible mundane explanation along with it. There was no monster at all.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

I liked certain parts of the episode, and other parts just made me scratch my head.

Spoiler: I wanted to like it, but it just fell apart for me

I really liked when it turned out to be a scared Timelord. An eons old being accidentally terrorizing populations through out the ages is a fantastic note to end the episode on and I would have loved it. Having it be the Doctor doesn't make sense. I wanted to go with it and Coleman sold the ever loving shit out of that scene but I just can't suspend my disbelief that much. So he terrorizes humanity for a few hundred generations until the heat death of the universe but doesn't remember it? I just can't do it.

That wasn't the ending I saw.
The ending I saw said that the thing that scared the Doctor as a child was Clara, not some weird monster. That there was no monster at all, just the individual's fear. Every single instance of the monster in the episode also had a possible mundane explanation along with it. There was no monster at all.

What about the thing under the sheets? A child would have revealed itself.

 

[Thaluikhain]

What about the thing under the sheets? A child would have revealed itself.

Eh, just a random alien then.

Alternatively, it was Wally...he's always there even if you can't find him.

 

[mrverbal]

I liked certain parts of the episode, and other parts just made me scratch my head.

Spoiler: I wanted to like it, but it just fell apart for me

I really liked when it turned out to be a scared Timelord. An eons old being accidentally terrorizing populations through out the ages is a fantastic note to end the episode on and I would have loved it. Having it be the Doctor doesn't make sense. I wanted to go with it and Coleman sold the ever loving shit out of that scene but I just can't suspend my disbelief that much. So he terrorizes humanity for a few hundred generations until the heat death of the universe but doesn't remember it? I just can't do it.

Huh?

Spoiler

Um, the doctor didn't spend hundreds of generations scaring people. It was all in people's imagination. There was nothing there at the end of the universe.

Of course, I seem to be the only one thus far who thought this episode was pretty pedestrian.

For starters, we already know what a species that is perfect at hiding is like; you just spent three seasons on it, moffat, it's the silence.

I'm also beyond caring about clara and her insipid mary-sueness. As someone said above, I want to watch "Doctor Who" not "Clara pink-oswald saves the day with some old scot"

It was better than 2 and 3 (I didn't mind 1 of the season) but get your game on, Moffat, or pushoff.

 

[Maze1125]

I liked certain parts of the episode, and other parts just made me scratch my head.

Spoiler: I wanted to like it, but it just fell apart for me

I really liked when it turned out to be a scared Timelord. An eons old being accidentally terrorizing populations through out the ages is a fantastic note to end the episode on and I would have loved it. Having it be the Doctor doesn't make sense. I wanted to go with it and Coleman sold the ever loving shit out of that scene but I just can't suspend my disbelief that much. So he terrorizes humanity for a few hundred generations until the heat death of the universe but doesn't remember it? I just can't do it.

That wasn't the ending I saw.
The ending I saw said that the thing that scared the Doctor as a child was Clara, not some weird monster. That there was no monster at all, just the individual's fear. Every single instance of the monster in the episode also had a possible mundane explanation along with it. There was no monster at all.

What about the thing under the sheets? A child would have revealed itself.

That's presumptuous.
A far better question is: "What about the thing under the sheets? A species evolved to be perfect at hiding would never ever ever make themselves so absolutely obvious."