Those were jelly babies in the Doctor’s cigarette case, weren’t they? I liked the call back, regardless.
They were! And there was an even more subtle callback (I didn’t even notice it the first time, but when it was pointed out to me I rewatched and noticed it right away): Listen closely during the scene when he’s talking to himself in his bunk. His second voice is a pretty good Tom Baker imitation. 
I missed the Bechdel test reference. Anybody care to clue me in?
I was also wondering “if all the real people are scientists, what sort of scientists were the old lady and the blonde woman?”, but it seems that Glee answered that one for me.
Yet an expert was harvested before it went after the blonde.
Again, this ep was fun, lots of nice shout-outs, many that went past me, but by the standard that y’all judged last week, it sucked. Very little holds up or makes sense to any critical thinking. It is only fun because you willingly turn off your critical analysis brain and let yourself enjoy the ride. (You could fill a page with the logical inconsistencies …)
In any case, I am sure that GUS will be back, whether or not there is a Missy connection. And I still wonder if Frank Skinner’s character will be back as actually being a bad guy … the engineer, that good of one, has no clue that the train is actually a projection over a lab space? Really?
The whole bit with Clara being pissed off at the Doctor, is that meant to explain her early departure (as I thought I read the actress wanted out of the role)?
-
Around 18:05:
MAISIE & CLARA are trapped in the baggage car.
Maisie: This Doctor, he’s your what, exactly?
Clara: He’s not my anything.
Maisie: You mean you’re just friends.
Clara: Of course we’re just friends. Well, not even friends. Not any more.
Maisie: Well, that clearly isn’t true.
Clara: It’s true. It is. It’s very true.
Maisie: You do seem to be here together.
[Reference to the Bechdel test] Clara: Seriously? We’re stuck in this carriage, probably all night, and all we can talk about is some man?
Maisie: “Some man”? Not that kind of… -
I think Mrs. and Miss Pitt were simply collateral damage. Either that or, Mrs. Pitt was somebody and Miss Pitt was along as her companion (dog’s-body, Step-n-fetchet, factotum).
(Emphasis is mine) Nah. That’s a long-standing rumor.
- They jettisoned/vented gas in order to simulate the smoke from a coal-fired engine. See this: Skywatcher Spots Astronaut Pee in Space | Space
- Do you have a Netflix account? If so, have you seen all the programs in the documentaries category with titles such as, “Rebuilding Pharaoh’s Chariot”, “Rebuilding Pharaoh’s Nile Ship”, “Rebuilding King Arthur’s Trebuchet”, “Rebuilding the Trojan Horse”? And, have you ever Googled, “replica of the Titanic”?
Concocting a space fantasy about a FTL train and ignoring basic known physical properties is, impo, qualitatively different than ignoring the physical properties of something as well-understood as the moon.
For example, the moon weighs 1,470,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds. Adding 1.3 billion tons to this weight brings the total up to 1,470,000,002,600,000,000,000 pounds. However, we’re told the increase is so massive it’s changing tides, but simple math shows that 1.3 billion tons added to the moon is pretty negligible.
[QUOTE=JohnT]
Concocting a space fantasy about a FTL train {snip}
[/QUOTE]
Was the train in this episdoe supposed to be FTL? I missed where they said that. 
It had to be, else no one would be able to make it from one station to another. Also, when they are traveling past the black hole they are going at such a clip that you can see it move relative the train.
Ergo, FTL. Magical FTL, but still FTL.
So, are there any theories so far as regards the reason for all the callbacks to past episodes? The most obvious one this time of course being Titanic in space/Orient Express in space, but there also was a hint of Midnight. To some extent, it seems to me that maybe the requirement to re-imagine settings of past episodes puts too many constraints on the writing, so I hope there will be a good payoff at least…
Marketing technique (to sell DVD box sets of past seasons)?
I understood that the train was real, but some of the guests were holograms.
They said it runs on hyperspace rails, or something. Not necessarily FTL, but taking the short cut.
Because this time, they were just set dressing. They weren’t crucial to the story. After all, the episode didn’t *have *to be set on a space train - with a few cosmetic differences, it could have been set on a spaceship, or an isolated hotel, or an *actual *train, without changing anything vital. You can’t say that about the previous episode.
To be honest, I did think the whole space train thing was a bit self-indulgent, but then it wouldn’t be Moffat if it weren’t.
The interior of the train was hologram or at least disappeared when the Doctor called GUS out to reveal the lab space the interior actually was.
Well actually I can. The vital parts of last week were the character arcs,the rest was window dressing. OTOH the silly denoument of this week that an ancient soldier machine happened to look like a mummy and the Doctor could solve the riddle in 66 seconds that it was called by a flag is not crucial to the story? Meanwhile the Doctor knowingly brings Clara into a very dangerous situation under a false pretense of a benign last hurrah and Clara’s response is to change her mind about quitting him because she suddenly is addicted to the thrill? That disconnect is not vital? To me the illogic of the plot lines and the playing fast and loose with scientific reality is par for the course; I willingly suspend disbelief for tons. The camoflage happens to be a mummy? What ev. Gifted engineer Perkins has no clue what the ship actually is? Fine. No reason for Miss Pitts to be there outlasting an expert? 'Kay. FTL? Sure. Some crew are holgrams and include the Captain’s “best man” but some crew are real for no apparent reason? Just don’t think about it. I am happy to dismiss most (including stupid science) with “Look monster run!” and “Timey-whimey.” But the character interactions have to make sense.
Hence this ep is, despite some very good features, an overall meh. IMHO.
All Doctor Who fans either give up or stop being fans.
We must remember that he just went through his destruction of Gallifrey again. That sort of thing would change a man, and frequently does.
An excellent episode. Makes up for that stinker we had last week.
Anyone notice he was dressed like the first Doctor? Waistcoat and huge bow tie.
Best comment ever!
Two thoughts: First, this doctor is more actually the unvarnished ‘Doctor’ because the sleek complete construct personas of previous doctors is not a priority to him. This also means he has previous doctor ‘leakage’ which I enjoy tremendously.
Second, as a previous poster also mentioned (I swear I saw it and can not find it to credit said poster) the theme of the season is soldier: who they are, what they are required to do, how they react, etc.
Just thoughts, not facts.
Like I said before, he’s been reminding me of the first doctor a little.
This season is doing an excellent job of deconstructing the Doctor. The question, though, is whether I *want *my Doctor deconstructed.