All I can say is that it's good to have the old Doctor back. I was incredibly worried while watching the Christmas special.
Also:
Also:
Doctor Who Series 7-8: The Rings of Akhaten (SPOILERS)
- Thread starter TimeLord
- Start date
Once again, the Sonic Screwdriver is just one click away from being an omni-phasor.
I didn't really get anything out of this episode except a mild headache from the end of the plot.
But at least the Doctor isn't acting like a whiny *****.
I didn't really get anything out of this episode except a mild headache from the end of the plot.
But at least the Doctor isn't acting like a whiny *****.
I was actually wondering about that too now that you mention it. Since when did the Sonic Screwdriver become a Deus ex machina-o-matic? I mean, shit, from 2005-2010 (not sure about the classic series) all it could do was open locks, unlock computer systems, and maybe scan things. Now it can apparently hold up stone doors, hold back screaming aliens, and is basically a get out of shit free card.Atmos Duality said:
Y'know, I wouldn't really mind seeing the Sonic Screwdriver evolve like that (it makes sense to improve on such tech over time if possible) if they actually established it. But I suppose that would mean the Doctor couldn't pull some new, unmentioned function out of his ass when he needs to use his magic wand to save the day.canadamus_prime said:
It makes for convenient writing when they don't explain what it can do (and what it cannot).
I am not nearly enough of a Whovian to comment on the consistency from the classic series, but what I have seen suggests that it was limited primarily to opening and locking physical doors (and that not every door was vulnerable to the Sonic; he set off an alarm when in prison trying to tamper with one in Frontier in Space).
I'm a little bit on the fence with this one... I liked it, superficially. I can overlook the glaring deus-ex machina use of the screwdriver and even the human spirit bit, hell, I had no problem with the cop-out that was Power of Three. I do like Clara, again, superficially. She's a nice, fun gal and all that, but I dunno, I feel like she hasn't actually stood still long enough to develop a personality. It's a problem that Amy had too, but less so.
I do think it's time for Moffat to move on. All in all, I liked him better than RTD, but he seems to be running low on interesting stuff nowadays. Also, the whole mid-season break thing has got to stop. It's bad enough that Sherlock's been delayed, but you know, at least they had that whole hobbit excuse.
Captcha: give or take. That sounds about right yeah.
I do think it's time for Moffat to move on. All in all, I liked him better than RTD, but he seems to be running low on interesting stuff nowadays. Also, the whole mid-season break thing has got to stop. It's bad enough that Sherlock's been delayed, but you know, at least they had that whole hobbit excuse.
Captcha: give or take. That sounds about right yeah.
Not a terrible episode. Not a great one though. Far from the greatest episode of the 'initiating the new companion into space' episode, but better than the Space Whale episode. I did enjoy seeing some aliens who were just there, and not invading/central to the episode. Makes the who-niverse feel bigger.
Didn't come across like that to me. I quite liked the Doctor saying "It's a nice story". After, all that's they amount to at the end of the day. Stories from the Greek Pantheon, such as Dionysus being born from Zeus' thigh. A tall tale from Thailand tells of tale of an ocean of milk being churned by demons. A Middle-Eastern tribe said that Woman come from a man's rib. Nice stories.Evil Smurf said:
For the aliens i just figured it was canceling out their sonic based attacks with it's own vibrations and for the door he did say it was opened by some acoustic lock thing, the whole dropping thing was presumably the screwdriver trying to keep up with the changing frequencies and failing little by little.Atmos Duality said:
I dunno, I thought it was great up until the point when they went to the pyramid, it looked great - A variety of cool-looking, convincing aliens, and a sense of culture too. Something that peturbed me slightly was the fact that the Doctor and Clara were at least partially responsible for destroying a sun, yet there were no consequences. Not only are everyone on the seven planets probably going to die (I mean, I'm guessing they're at least slightly self sufficient, they seemed quite spaceship-y and there was some kind of system-wide atmosphere hence breathing in space) but they also literally killed (a) God in front of thousands of worshippers. No one else was there to hear about the whole 'space parasite' thing so it's basically like if there was actually a Second Coming and then somebody blew up Jesus.
Remember "42"? Ten and Martha? Burn with me? That was a sentient sun too so yeah... not too far off.Tom Milner said:
And I'm afraid I have to agree with many, that was a hellofalot Oswin-centered at the end. The deus-ex-machina screwdriver I don't mind that much, though I do think it ruins the elegance of the solutions if all you do is point it at stuff but the leaf thing...
... let me say it in annoying but brilliant Tennant gifs!
At first I was like
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljs8u9rmJA1qaosiv.gif
but then I was like
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljs9yp3f7o1qaosiv.gifhttp://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5yofrshd21rriqg9.gif
I'm all for thinking more deeply about a work, but anytime I have to rationalize a potential plot hole, I never walk away feeling better about it. Maybe that's just me.Spacewolf said:
It's kind of like a good mystery story vs a bad mystery.
The good mystery forces the audience to think logically but gives them sufficient evidence to solve the mystery definitively.
The bad mystery intentionally withholds information from the audience to keep them guessing because it shrouds the plot in total ambiguity.
The bad mystery can pull "Clue-style" (movie) potential multiple endings out of its ass because of that ambiguity.
(I'm pretty sure Clue was lampshading that aspect a bit. So did "Murder by Death", and that was far more blunt in its mockery of bad mystery writing, but I'm going astray...)
You've seem to have missed a few things that may clear up some the confusion.Robot Number V said:
1. It wasn't a sun and it was never referred to as the sun within that system. The Doctor explicitly states that it is a planet, and that the religion says it is the planet from which all life in the universe originates.
2. The Doctor also implicitly states that the song doesn't actually do anything. Hence why the girl was not at fault for getting the song "wrong". It just so happened to be the time in that beings life cycle to feed.
3. The leaf thing can be interpreted several ways. The most straightforward way is that the leaf had the psychic imprint from her and her father about both the memories of Clara's mother, but also the possible life her mother could have lead. Clara and her father obsessed over the leaf and that possible life in their grief, and thus there was an infinite amount of "stories" stored in it. Memories don't have a psychic imprint, and the creature never tried to absorb an object with that type of psychic imprint before.
It's funny but the sonic screwdriver started with the second Doctor, who pulled it out to demonstrate that he had access toAtmos Duality said:
alien/future tech. It did exactly two things. It took screws out. It put screws in. That's it.
When I first became a Dr. Who fan in 1980 or so, episodes were harder to get than now (keep in mind that I'm referring to the situation here in America) but there were a *lot* of books available. In many of the books, the writers explained that in "using the Sonic Screwdriver to open locks" what the Doctor was actually doing was taking part of the lock casing apart--by removing bolts or screws--to manipulate the internal lock mechanism.
canadamus_prime said:
Its an old problem. The sonic screw driver got more and more powerful throughout the 70s until they wrote it out sometime in the 5th Doctor's run. Its not the only thing they had the problem with, k9 a robot dog, got all Deus ex machina until they wrote it out in the early 80s.
Meh. It felt rushed and the ending was a complete cop out as per usual ¬_¬
''This alien star monster is going to kill us all!''
''Don't worry I'll give it all of the feels!''
''This alien star monster is going to kill us all!''
''Don't worry I'll give it all of the feels!''
I thought that was weird too. Sure they're fine with it now but I doubt they'll be too happy when they all freeze to death.Phasmal said:
OK, that makes a bit more sense. I still think the leaf bit is iffy at best, and I'm still pretty confused about the role of the Cube Monster. I gather that the cube was put there to keep it from sending some kind of signal to the parasite to wake it up but...Why? How? What IS the monster? How does it wake up the parasite? WHY does it wake up the parasite? Sorry, but this episode still had some pretty obvious holes in the story.Navvan said:
I loved the visuals and the music and the tone... the plot not so much. I think what didn't work was the threat of the Old God was never really established. We never knew what he could do exactly and to what extent. It caused problems because it left me thinking if the God consumes the memories of a race to stay asleep, surely it would crunch the Doctors memories? And I assumed the Doctor would/did lose all his memories which confused me. The resolution would have been nice (can't finish eating a what if, but we didn't know enough of the rules of the Old God for it to make sense)
I love the idea of a currency that's actually worth something though. That was a nice detail
I definitely wouldn't mind a change of face from Matt Smith now, I don't think he's been a bad doctor, but I think he's a Doctor who hasn't shown any place where he can go. He was the lighter silly version to contrast with the serious business Doctors before but it felt like David Tennant had an arc to follow and character to evolve, but Smith is stuck as the relief. (I mean he's flirting with another girl and we were getting 'crush' signals even though he's meant to be married. Thats warning signs of struggling to know what to do right there)
But going right now wouldn't be right, it should be built up properly and in its right place. Not rushed
I love the idea of a currency that's actually worth something though. That was a nice detail
EDIT: Completely forgot to add the actual, you know, words that I was quoting you to add =DNooNameLeft said:
I definitely wouldn't mind a change of face from Matt Smith now, I don't think he's been a bad doctor, but I think he's a Doctor who hasn't shown any place where he can go. He was the lighter silly version to contrast with the serious business Doctors before but it felt like David Tennant had an arc to follow and character to evolve, but Smith is stuck as the relief. (I mean he's flirting with another girl and we were getting 'crush' signals even though he's meant to be married. Thats warning signs of struggling to know what to do right there)
But going right now wouldn't be right, it should be built up properly and in its right place. Not rushed
my theory about the leaf is that it was just cause it was something with Clara's memories, her being a space time anomaly, the strange nature of the memories is what destroys the thing, the doctor even for living hundreds of years is still a natural phenomenon, clara on the other hand not so much. shame the show didn't go with this angle, would have made more sense(as much as any of it made sense) and tied in with the overarching plot.
Did anyone notice at the end when, when she got the ring back. Isn't this essentially 'Hey, you just saved an entire solar system, the lives of billions of people and defeated an eldar god. As a reward here's the deposit on your space moped back'. Maybe not the best reward...
As you can probably guess, not a fan of this episode. The defeated said eldar god by basically yelling at it for five minutes, throwing a leaf at it and bam! BIg bad defeated. Too much deus ex machina for me.
As you can probably guess, not a fan of this episode. The defeated said eldar god by basically yelling at it for five minutes, throwing a leaf at it and bam! BIg bad defeated. Too much deus ex machina for me.
If this were a different take on The Satan Pit I'd be ok with it. But they destroyed a star! A whole star, no light, no gravitational pull, nothing. Any 8 yr old can tell you that without the sun we would not exist. In that regard this does not even pass for children's entertainment. If the show ended with the parasite going dormant it might at least make sense, bad guy beaten, multiple planets still operating as planets do without becoming drifting cryogenic freezers for billions of aliens.
My verdict:
My verdict:
The Visitation. The writer didn't do it on purpose, though, thought the Doctor had loads of spares like in Matt Smith's first story. The effect of taking the screwdriver away was the Doctor spent an episode locked up somewhere over and over. This happened before when he'd lost the screwdriver, or come to un-sonicable doors. They brought it back to put an end to this, but introduced deadlocks to bring it back.albino boo said:
K9 spent much of his time in bits even before they got rid of him.