# Doctor Who Series 9 discussion (spoilers as it airs) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 19, 2015, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754 "2015-09-19T11:40:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/521 "2015-11-26T01:52:20Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > So, this picture is [del]probably[/del] a huge spoiler for one of the next two episodes, but it also makes me super excited: > > [Imgur: The magic of the Internet](http://i.imgur.com/VMxT74S.jpg) > > THE ROUND THINGS. I LOVE THE ROUND THINGS. > > Oh, and Clara’s there I guess. Old school. Cool. I’m still hoping they rediscover the back-up [Edwardian control room](https://41.media.tumblr.com/bfd6e81fb21aee17985d3b91cc848e5f/tumblr_nnes8ypLJ31r6tsxvo1_540.jpg) from _Masque of Mandragora_. [That was the coolest control room ever.](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cy5mnMfqnAI/UJBkW_0pf9I/AAAAAAAAAaA/j5wc1C8wgiM/s1600/2nd+TARDIS+control.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/522 "2015-11-28T22:55:14Z")
So, is there some big time difference between US and UK showings? 'Cos the UK showing was a couple of hours ago, and this thread’s practically at the bottom? Or are you all gobsmacked? Well… I saw it. I’ll just say: a single episode like this makes up for three episodes with booger-monsters, forests and egg-moons. Spoiler: His hand’s gotta hurt! ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/523 "2015-11-28T23:24:13Z")
Yes, there’s a significant time difference in the showings. the East Coast of US doesn’t get it until 9pm our time (2am next day in the UK) (can’t speak for Canada) and the West coast three hours later. No, we’re not gobsmacked other than being fans - this thread is for the whole season. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/524 "2015-11-28T23:38:34Z")
> [@Nancarrow](#): > > So, is there some big time difference between US and UK showings? 'Cos the UK showing was a couple of hours ago, and this thread’s practically at the bottom? There’s not that many UK posters, and sometimes we have other stuff to do on a Saturday evening! 😃 The UK showing finished at 9pm our time, although I watched it on iPlayer a bit later. Anyway, catching up - I loved it. Some genuinely creepy bits, beautifully shot and acted, and a great premise. I kinda got the bird thing early on because of something I read recently, but damned if I can remember what. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/525 "2015-11-29T01:25:22Z")
Watching it now. This…is odd…and kind of cool. Peter Capaldi is an amazing doctor. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/526 "2015-11-29T01:55:29Z")
Getting ready to watch now 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/527 "2015-11-29T02:41:56Z")
So…he wrote Bird…in reference to him hitting the wall at the end of each life? Huh. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/528 "2015-11-29T02:50:38Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > So…he wrote Bird…in reference to him hitting the wall at the end of each life? I thought he misspelled Hybrid, but apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/529 "2015-11-29T03:00:23Z")
I think that was one of the best episodes of Doctor Who ever! Holy crap! That was incredibly dark and disturbing! ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/530 "2015-11-29T03:03:14Z")
The bird was the one who sharpened his beak on the diamond mountain, wearing away just a shade of the mountain for all time. He put in the relentless effort to mark the passage of time, until he broke through. > **[Once every thousand years a little bird comes to this rock to sharpen its beak...](https://everything2.com/title/Once+every+thousand+years+a+little+bird+comes+to+this+rock+to+sharpen+its+beak)** > > From Hendrik Willem van Loon's History of Mankind (published 1922), a version of the full quotation: High in the North in a land called Svithjod there i... Gaiman/Pratchett: > **[A quote from Good Omens](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/62281-i-mean-d-you-know-what-eternity-is-there-s-this-big)** > > I mean, d'you know what eternity is? There's this big mountain, see, a mile high, at the end of the universe, and once every thousand years there's this ... And wow. Just…wow ---
**Author:** ![txtumbleweed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@txtumbleweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txtumbleweed)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/531 "2015-11-29T03:13:50Z")
Took me a second, then I flashed on a What-if – [Twitter](https://what-if.xkcd.com/34/) – where Randall Munroe uses the story of the persistent bird to illustrate how long it would take to read every possible Twitter message. Wow. Will be great to see the Doctor and Gallifrey interacting again. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/532 "2015-11-29T04:08:38Z")
I am confused and feel stupid. (Not for the for the first nor I am sure for the last time. I am a married man after all.) Who created his interrogation Hell with its portal to Gallifrey and put him in it and why? Can’t be Gallifreyans as they are all locked away in the pocket universe. Missy? Makes no sense. Does it? Clearly I am missing something obvious. Help! ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/533 "2015-11-29T04:52:30Z")
I was really prepared to not like this episode, because I knew it was a “gimmick”…just the Doctor for almost the entire thing, with no one else. And as I’ve said, I don’t like this Doctor. But I liked it. Looking forward to next week, now. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus\_alba](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quercus_alba/32/4061_2.png) [@Quercus\_alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus_alba)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/534 "2015-11-29T05:01:40Z")
The Doctor does ‘Groundhog Day’. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/535 "2015-11-29T05:12:15Z")
Very well thought out. For a minute I was going to bitch about why someone as smart as the doctor would punch the wall when other thing like brass cuff buttons were there. Then I realized he had to use his hands. Anything but his body would have quickly(in the scope of the episode) worn down to nothing, changed the circumstances of his realization, and jeopardized his plan. But his body came back whole each time, so wearing it down by skin was the the best option. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/536 "2015-11-29T05:18:23Z")
> [@Quercus\_alba](#): > > The Doctor does ‘Groundhog Day’. I just said that to **Suburban Plankton**! I am glad Gallifrey is back. I was bored for most of this episode, especially after I figured out the Groundhog Day effect. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/537 "2015-11-29T06:05:20Z")
Holy fuck, that was best episode since _Blink_! I’m eagerly looking forward to where they’re going with this. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/538 "2015-11-29T07:19:35Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I am confused and feel stupid. (Not for the for the first nor I am sure for the last time. I am a married man after all.) > > Who created his interrogation Hell with its portal to Gallifrey and put him in it and why? Can’t be Gallifreyans as they are all locked away in the pocket universe. Missy? Makes no sense. Does it? Clearly I am missing something obvious. Help! I’m right there with you. Also, I’m wondering… Didn’t the whole interrogation hell close up and be revealed to be inside of his last will and testament disk? ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/539 "2015-11-29T08:48:36Z")
That was amazing and harrowing. I actually froze when I realised the significance of Bird, and just what the Doctor’s plan was. And then the dawning realisation of just whose all the skulls were. His hands, too, when we saw them all bent and crooked: there’ll be a few sleepless children tonight. And I love the reveal of where the castle was contained; it was so unexpected but so satisfying. Astoundingly good work from Moffat; certainly his best since _Blink_. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/540 "2015-11-29T08:59:09Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > The bird was the one who sharpened his beak on the diamond mountain, wearing away just a shade of the mountain for all time. He put in the relentless effort to mark the passage of time, until he broke through. > > [Once every thousand years a little bird comes to this rock to sharpen its beak - Everything2.com](http://everything2.com/title/Once+every+thousand+years+a+little+bird+comes+to+this+rock+to+sharpen+its+beak) > > Gaiman/Pratchett: > [Quote by Neil Gaiman: “I mean, d'you know what eternity is? There's th...”](http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/62281-i-mean-d-you-know-what-eternity-is-there-s-this-big) > > And wow. Just…wow From the Doctor’s referral to his prison as Hell - Heaven for bad people, heh - I suspect there may also have been a call-out to James Joyce’s narration of the priest’s description of Hell - during Confession, no less - in _Portait of the Artist as a Young Man_: > [@](#): > > Now imagine a mountain of that sand, a million miles high, reaching from the earth to the farthest heavens, and a million miles broad, extending to remotest space, and a million miles in thickness; and imagine such an enormous mass of countless particles of sand multiplied as often as there are leaves in the forest, drops of water in the mighty ocean, feathers on birds, scales on fish, hairs on animals, atoms in the vast expanse of the air: and imagine that at the end of every million years a little bird came to that mountain and carried away in its beak a tiny grain of that sand. How many millions upon millions of centuries would pass before that bird had carried away even a square foot of that mountain, how many eons upon eons of ages before it had carried away all? [{Link}](http://www.online-literature.com/james_joyce/portrait_artist_young_man/3/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754.md?page=28)