I much preferred the first half of this series to this second half. The second half just doesn’t seem to hang together coherently and this week’s episode, well, I just thought it was a mess, rather desperate and lacking in ideas.
OB
I presumed it was his name.
The Space Anglicans are the ones holding her prisoner, right? And they’re allies of the Silence, so it’s likely that they’re keeping her in order to try to stop her from helping the Doctor.
Something which the Doctor and River encountered in between The God Complex and Closing Time, presumably. My guess is it’s some sort of fish. Named Jim.
There’s nothing wrong with fezzes. Fezzes are cool.
Because it’s “already happened”, and he already remembers showing up just after the others saw his future self die. He needs for it to happen in order for causality to be maintained.
Closing Time felt a lot like Night Terrors in that the MOTW takes a back seat to what’s going on with the Doctor, and the climactic battle ends up being rushed and resolved too quickly because so much of the episode is spent on other things. That said, the comic elements and throwaway references were great (I particularly liked “Petrichor”, the robot dog joke, and “Bitey”). Frankly sometimes I wish they didn’t have to have a Random Alien Menace Encounter just so we could get the character and plot arc development at a less rushed pace.
Some things are too hard to do on a phone, so no quoting…
The reason The Doctor shows up just after his death, rather than before was to allow himself to cheat.
If he were there he would be a participant. Once that happens, anything done to change it involves messing with his own timeline.
-Joe
I’m sorry, what? Is this a US-only thing?
Regarding the episode, I thought it was generally ‘ok’ but not much beyond that. It felt rushed due to the need to get it over and do the bit at the end and, like someone else, I worry about the voyager/Borg-style wussification of the Cybermen.
Overall though, I am firmly in the camp that believes this has been the worst series of nuWho. By a long, long way. The second half has improved over the woeful first half though, mainly due to finally getting some decent standalone episodes. I do not want Dr Who to turn into Lost or any other show known for getting to bogged down in it’s own mythos and ongoing story.
I agree that’s what the eyepatch has to be all about: if there was an image of a Silent constantly hovering in front of your eye, it would totally negate their ability to edit your memory.
It would also explain why River gets an eyepatch as well: I don’t believe she and Madame Kovarian are the same person for an instant.
Unfortunately, I’m worried that the finale is going to be a hell of a mess: there’s just so much to cram into the hour.
Yes, it’s US only. There’s no Amy voiceover on this side of the sea. Doctor Who is so ingrained here we don’t need it!
North American only, AFAIK - it originated with BBC America, but Space channel in Canada is also running them.
Just before the proper credits sequence in the Time Vortex, there’s a montage of moments from season 5 and early season 6 I think, with Karen Gillian reading something like the following:
“When I was little, I had an imaginary friend. After I grew up, he came back. He’s called the Doctor, and he has a box that’s bigger on the outside, and can travel anywhere in time and space. I ran away with him - and we’ve been running ever since!”
Cheers for the explanation, guys.
I imagine that the answer to all these questions won’t be addressed next week. Frankly they’re not terribly important in resolving the storyline.
Man, they’ve really nerfed the Tardis, haven’t they?
Where did “Jim the fish” get mentioned? Only fish I can think of is the one in The God Complex…
-Joe
Only in passing, when the Doctor and River are trying to align themselves with their diaries. It’s an encounter they shared in River’s past and the Doctor’s future.
I always picture him as a gangster with slightly bulging eyes and a damp handshake.
I see him more as a Mack Salmon type.
Speculation for the eye-patches:
Basically a picture of one of the greys…the amnesia doesn’t seem to kick in until you look away, so if you can’t look away…
And honestly, what kind of plan is “let’s kill the time-traveler so he can’t interfere with our plans in the future” anyway? Seriously…maybe he already did!
Maybe it’s to stop him from interfering with their plans in the past. Look at it this way–most of us aren’t aware of it, but the Doctor is changing history all the time. And every time he does so, previous timelines get wiped out just like old Amy in “The Girl Who Waited.” So logically, everyone at any point in history who is more or less happy with their life should want the Doctor dead before he does go back and kills Hitler, in which case none of us will have been born (or will have been wiped out at a young age, for those of us alive prior to Hitler’s death.)
I mean, sure, if the Doctor isn’t around to stop a Cyberman invasion tomorrow, there’s a good chance I’ll die (and as you point out, maybe he already stopped it!), but if he goes back and stops a Cyberman invasion in 1890 that led to the only timeline in which my parents met and had kids, there’s an absolute certainty I’ll die. (Ok, be erased from history, but no one thought that was better than death when it happened to Rory, least of all the Doctor!)
I’ve always hated the Amy Pond voice-over. To me, it takes the emphasis off the Doctor and makes it The Amy Pond Adventures.
StG
You can see it here. It’s annoying not because it’s expository. I can live with that, not entirely unlike Quantum Leap or Babylon 5 or countless other shows. My problem is that gives the impression that it’s the Amy Pond Show when in the Whoverse, companions come and go.
I only saw the first episode of this series on BBCA, and thought that was just part of the series premier. Lately, I’ve been buying the episodes on Amazon, and they lack that bit. I’m glad, because it is annoying.
BBCA has made a major push to promote DW in the States, with the intro voice-over added to clue newbies as to what is going on. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but in an episode that didn’t have Amy at all (other than the one shot), it doesn’t make any sense. I bet they’ll keep it for the last episode and drop it for the next season.
Smapti - Those weren’t my questions. I was answering questions standingwave posted in post #435
Meh, you’re just as likely to stop him from creating your past timeline in his future. Assuming you’re capable of succeeding.