I actually haven’t watched the first episode yet, but the new series of Doctor Who did start tonight. The last one with Peter Capaldi, who I think has been a really good Doctor. Also, this is the final set of episodes from Stephen Moffat
I saw the Graham Norton show with Peter Capaldi and he said he had filmed his death scene already. I guess he really will die in the final episode this year…though I thought I had heard his farewell would be Christmas this year.
Just watched it tonight. I like Bill. I like that Nardole is still hanging around. I love that they actually reference Susan, the 1st Doctor’s (and, therefore, all the Doctors’) granddaughter, whom we haven’t really seen or heard of in NuWho yet (AFAIK).
Enjoyed the idea of The Doctor being a lecturer at the university and of course now I wonder what the McGuffin is in the vault. Probably find out at the end.
I was less entranced by Bill and her introduction, the promos had her a bit too much starry-eyed wonder for my taste and the episode didn’t do much to alleviate that feeling. I didn’t see the compelling reason for The Doctor to choose her, unless showing up to to class for a year is enough. (Of course, I think he could have episodic companions for a change, think of Lynda with a “Y”, or Ida Scott, or Osgood, since Capaldi is bailing at the end of the year) However, we will see how Bill grows this year. As long as she is not Rose, Amy, or Clara, the most bestest, most brightest, most awesomenestest displays of womanhood in the universe, she will be tolerable.
Some of this is probably that I spent the last half of the episode thinking “You had a year Moffat! This is the best you could do? Stitch together a neat backstory with the plot and scrapped scenes from (spoiler protection for Mahaloth, who mentioned he hasn’t seen it yet) Season 7’s “Hide”? Seriously?!?”
Also caught the Graham Norton episode with Capalidi. I remember him saying they finished the shooting for the season (including his “death” scene) but they still have the Christmas episode to shoot.
There was the hint from Bill’s mom’s old photos that she’d had an encounter with the Doctor in the past, though–so some pre-existing relationship? Though I suppose if you’re the Doctor you could routinely do that sort of thing as a “background check” on future companions…
BTW–any thoughts about “Class”, the new teen-Who spin off?
It was implied that the Doctor went and took photos of her mom after she said she didn’t have any. It wasn’t a pre-existing relationship, but a retroactive one.
Recent companions seem to be to be the anchors for a Doctor who is a bit “off”/random and manic. Bill is a bit “off”/random and manic herself with the Doctor having evolved to being a bit less so and Nardole being a counterpoint of less high energy and greater cynicism.
She can can starry-eyed but then be surprisingly unimpressed when the Doctor is looking for the wonder and just wanting to know where the loo is.
She’s played as a very young adult.
The balance here, with Capaldi at least, is not romantic or even fatherly … she has more a grandkid feel … hence the shout out to Susan Foreman.
The tempo and style was definitely freshened up too. Class I don’t know about. It comes off to me like they have not decided what demographic to aim for, or aiming for one and missing badly. Quill is a fun character though.
Big fan of Bill so far. I saw an article online that gave quick capsule summaries of the rest of the episodes in the season and it looks like it’s going to be a good one! Apparently Kris Marshall is going to be the next Doctor, which I’m not sure about. I’ve not exactly been following the guy’s career, but I’ve only ever seen him acting like a goofball in subpar sitcoms, which doesn’t bode well.
Liked Bill, the first 45 minutes was a good blend of fun and creepy, then the wheels fell off in the last quarter when they flew off in the Tardis to try and shake off Puddleglum. I mean, I know Unity of Place has never been a defining characteristic of Doctor Who, but running off to Dalek battle was just pointlessly random. They needed to keep the creepy claustrophobia they had in the bathroom scene in her flat, which was nicely scary, and they threw it away so Bill got to have a jaunt in the Tardis. Moffatt can’t leave soon enough.
Generally, my reaction to every new companion is “meh.” Bill was more “hmm,” so I guess that’s good?
My cable went out right near the end(?). How much happened after he decided not to wipe Bill’s memory and then she ran outside and saw him with the Tardis?
:smack: :smack: :smack: I can be so dense sometimes.
BTW, I know that it is just my problem but I had a really difficult time understanding Bill’s accent, and I normally don’t have any issues with Brits (or Kiwi’s or Aussies either). Is her accent uncommon?
For me she just spoke too fast that I couldn’t hear the words clearly, so I don’t know if she had some phrases that are simply British-isms or if I just couldn’t make them out.
I got stuck on “knock-thru”, at first. I thought she was being clever in describing the interior of the tardis as a something that I didn’t quite make out.
Going back until I understood the “knock-thru”, and relating that to opening up a hidden second room made her commentary make a bit more sense.
Didn’t under Knock-thru at first either. I also didn’t understand what she was calling the Tardis at first either (a kitchen) until she gave it more context. They kept using that line in the commercial for this one and I had no idea.