# 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:** 36
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/701 "2015-12-07T23:41:39Z")
There may not have been a throne, but after 4.5 billion years of wall punching the Doctor’s confession dial castle had a _hell_ of a big pile of skulls to sit on… ---
**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:** [December 7, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/702 "2015-12-07T23:45:19Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Can’t google the exact quote, but it said nothing about the Hybrid destroying Gallifrey, just that it would sacrifice a billion hearts and stand in the ruins of Gallifrey. The Doctor easily used up a billion hearts - two at a time - in the previous episode, sort of. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/703 "2015-12-08T01:21:40Z")
Thanks for the ending, anyrose! ---
**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:** [December 8, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/704 "2015-12-08T02:06:28Z")
"All Matrix prophecies concur that this creature will one day stand in the ruins of Gallifrey. It will unravel the Web of Time and destroy a billion billion hearts to heal its own. " Yes, whether the Hybrid was Me or the Doctor or Clara plus one or both of em they stood in the ruins (at the end of time) and the Doctor fer sure (his own) and probably Me too (over billions of years) sacrificed a billion (?billion billion? dang, maybe not either … but that’s what the transcript says, did the General stutter?) hearts. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/705 "2015-12-08T02:06:55Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > OK, since my evolution theory didn’t work, I’m going with a new one. Since Me didn’t cop to anything Gallifrey-destroying, and Twelve shrugged when asked if he could be half human, I’m thinking they’re leaving the Hybrid thing open to be resolved at a later time. > > Maybe Missy’s deal with the Daleks at the end of _The Witch’s Familiar_ was to make a baby with them. The Time Lords fought in the Time Wars, so they’re a “warrior race.” There’s your Hybrid. The point of who the Hybrid was, though, was _deliberately_ left unresolved. The Time Lords assumed the prophecy of the Hybrid sacrificing a billion hearts and sitting in the ruins of Gallifrey meant it would be some sort of Anti-Christ {whom they told themselves would be half-Time Lord, half-Dalek} who would bring about their Armageddon unless it was identified and stopped. All the prophecy really amounted to, though, was an observation that a couple of people with complex backgrounds would be sitting there chatting in the rubble at the end of time. In the end the Time Lords brought about the prophecy themselves through their scheme to trap and question the Doctor through Ashildr, which accidentally caused Clara’s death and sparked the Doctor’s fury and subsequent attempt to resurrect her. As he pointed out, they should have just asked him. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/706 "2015-12-08T08:38:09Z")
> [@anyrose](#): > > Before Twelve shot the General, he asked what regeneration he was on. Personally, I loved the regenerated General’s reaction upon realizing she was female again “ah, back to normal” > [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Yeah, and the Doctor called it the equivalent of giving him the flu. Nevertheless, the Doctor himself seems to be quite reluctant to undergo regeneration (as is understandable; you don’t just get a new look, but also new personality traits, and so on—‘I don’t want to go!’). Plus, it easily cuts the normal lifespan of a Time Lord a few hundred years short if they’re forced to undergo early regeneration. So it doesn’t seem quite so inocuous to me. But maybe I just have a hard time getting over the previously ‘no guns, not ever’-Doctor to him just picking up one and shooting somebody without batting an eye. I realize it’s supposed to feel grating, signalling the Doctor going too far, but even so, it just doesn’t fit the character to me. Not that anybody needs to let my own hangups influence their perception, mind. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/707 "2015-12-08T08:47:57Z")
The whole “death is man flu” thing was not intended to say that regeneration is, actually “man flu” but rather the Doctor minimizing what he had just did. It’s like a mugger saying his victim didn’t need the money he had anyway. It baffles me that people don’t get that. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2015, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/708 "2015-12-08T08:52:20Z")
I read it as a bit of a swipe against the Tennant era I DON’T WANT TO GO wangst, too. I think a lot of viewers rolled their eyes a bit at that. Dude, you’re coming back five minutes later; you’re just getting a different accent and a new suit is all. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/709 "2015-12-08T10:17:49Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > There may not have been a throne, but after 4.5 billion years of wall punching the Doctor’s confession dial castle had a _hell_ of a big pile of skulls to sit on… Skulls For The Skull [Time] Lord! ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/710 "2015-12-08T13:02:49Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Thanks for the ending, anyrose! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/711 "2015-12-08T13:26:13Z")
I loved this little bit of throwaway dialogue from the beginning: \*\*CLARA: I believe you. You been travelling? DOCTOR: Yeah, from time to time. \*\* Heh. That’s clever, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/712 "2015-12-08T15:03:33Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I loved this little bit of throwaway dialogue from the beginning: > > \*\*CLARA: I believe you. You been travelling? > DOCTOR: Yeah, from time to time. \*\* > > Heh. That’s clever, that is. I also liked it when they told him to put down any weapons he might be carrying, and he very deliberately set down his spoon. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/713 "2015-12-08T15:03:40Z")
So basically, the Doctor spent one third of the entire existence of the universe punching through a wall out of spite. I can’t say I’m all that happy. I’m just a simple man, with simple tastes. I prefer my Doctor a flawed galactic hero than a grumpy old arsehole. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/714 "2015-12-08T15:11:52Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > So basically, the Doctor spent one third of the entire existence of the universe punching through a wall out of spite. > > I can’t say I’m all that happy. I’m just a simple man, with simple tastes. I prefer my Doctor a flawed galactic hero than a grumpy old arsehole. Why can’t he be both? He goes too far sometimes, but at least he figures it out and owns up to it. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/715 "2015-12-08T17:07:47Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I also liked it when they told him to put down any weapons he might be carrying, and he very deliberately set down his spoon. Rewatched “Heaven Sent” yesterday - he’s eating soup in that one too, and drops his spoon dramatically. Also - I noticed when he was falling from the window toward the sea, they put in that “crashing airplane” sound. I don’t think there was any dramatic significance; it was probably entirely to add excitement and/or comedy to the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/716 "2015-12-08T19:24:01Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Nevertheless, the Doctor himself seems to be quite reluctant to undergo regeneration (as is understandable; you don’t just get a new look, but also new personality traits, and so on—‘I don’t want to go!’). Plus, it easily cuts the normal lifespan of a Time Lord a few hundred years short if they’re forced to undergo early regeneration. So it doesn’t seem quite so inocuous to me. But maybe I just have a hard time getting over the previously ‘no guns, not ever’-Doctor to him just picking up one and shooting somebody without batting an eye. I realize it’s supposed to feel grating, signalling the Doctor going too far, but even so, it just doesn’t fit the character to me. … Remember, this development came from the same showrunner who had Sherlock Holmes commit a “preemptive” murder. (In the 2014 “His Last Vow” episode of “Sherlock.” Some of us found that, too, to be a violation of an iconic character. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/717 "2015-12-08T20:26:12Z")
Was it just me, or were Me and Clara flirting like crazy in that last scene? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/718 "2015-12-08T20:28:30Z")
Well, when you have been wanting to shag a Doctor over all time and space and nothing happens…well any old pretty young “nurse” will do in a pinch… ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/719 "2015-12-08T20:40:15Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > But maybe I just have a hard time getting over the previously ‘no guns, not ever’-Doctor to him just picking up one and shooting somebody without batting an eye. I realize it’s supposed to feel grating, signalling the Doctor going too far, but even so, it just doesn’t fit the character to me. Not that anybody needs to let my own hangups influence their perception, mind. I believe it’s become mandatory to link to [this video, NSFW due to profanity in music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzmnPs64K74) whenever anyone talks about how the Doctor “never uses guns.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754/720 "2015-12-08T21:34:55Z")
I just realized, usually a Time Lord is all wonky for a while after a regeneration, but the General just got up and resumed where he/she had left off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754.md?page=35) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-9-discussion-spoilers-as-it-airs/731754.md?page=37)