Doctor Who: The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe

[TimeLord]

Loved the episode; thought the first 10 minutes or so were a bit all over the place but I did love the falling from a spaceship start and I loved Bill Bailey and his Space Marine armour. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jiKxlG26_8]
Didn't really get an explanation on why the trees were in human form and appeared to be the only two that existed. Unless they only existed to lure the human needed for the lifeboat. Oh well.
Kinda getting a bit sick of the whole "hold on to your feelings and everything will be fine" idea they have going (Craig, Bracewell etc Very much a Matt Smith era thing I think).

Oh. And I'm sick of the Doctor clinging to Amy. Good thing she's been confirmed to leave next year.
So what did you all think of it?

Quotes:
"I'm the Doctor, or the caretaker, or 'get off this planet'"

"There are sentences that I should just keep away from"

"Do what I do. Hold tight and pretend it's a plan"

 

[thenumberthirteen]

I thought it was a great episode. The part where the Doctor was showing off the house was brilliant. I want a tap for Lemonade!

It also looked beautiful. Doctor Who of old was famous for it's low budget (which just got lower) sets, but this series looks better than a lot of Movies. Similar in a way to the difference between "Star Trek" and "The Next Generation".

 

[tomtom94]

There were some great lines, especially the ones you quoted, but I'm sorry, I thought the main plot was oversentimental tosh. They had the opportunity to really push the boundaries but no, they pulled a Deus Ex Machina on the father.

Plus they wasted two fantastic comedians.

Reckon the slightly elongated break might be good for the series, allow them to get lots of good stories written out.

 

[Plinglebob]

Kinda getting a bit sick of the whole "hold on to your feelings and everything will be fine" idea they have going (Craig etc).

So what did you all think of it?

I really need to get my hands on whatever Moffat smokes when he write these Christmas specials as it seems like fantastic stuff.

Overall I enjoyed it, but I'm getting the feeling the writers (Moff and in RTD era) feel the Christmas Special as an excuse to do something random that would never get into an episode during a series. Also, more then just the 1st ten minuttes were all over the place as if there were two ideas that wern't enough for a full episode so were just mashed together. Bill Baileys appearence also seemed a bit tacked on as "Brit actor who's not been in Doctor Who yet to arrive, give exposition then leave".

While I may be unique on these forums for thinking this, I really like the whole "strength of emotion and feeling" kick they've been on recently. I don't care how cheesy it may be as I think they manage to pull it off better then other shows.

Edit:

There were some great lines, especially the ones you quoted, but I'm sorry, I thought the main plot was oversentimental tosh. They had the opportunity to really push the boundaries but no, they pulled a Deus Ex Machina on the father.

Its a Kids (sorry, family) show on Christmas Day. Not only that, its Doctor Who on Christmas Day. If you think they'd do something like kill the father then what the hell have you been watching the past few years?

 

[imnot]

Lemonade tap is best tap

 

[Proverbial Jon]

Overall I enjoyed this one, more than I thought I would at any rate. However...

Overall I enjoyed it, but I'm getting the feeling the writers (Moff and in RTD era) feel the Christmas Special as an excuse to do something random that would never get into an episode during a series.

Bill Baileys appearence also seemed a bit tacked on as "Brit actor who's not been in Doctor Who yet to arrive, give exposition then leave".

I agree completely. There's never really much in the way of guts with the Christmas specials, always just a lighthearted, silly story for the sake of it. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, after all Britain is nothing if not obsessed with Christmas specials and it usually means some old shows come back sometimes too. But the last few years of Doctor Who specials have been awful.

I'm really sad about Bill Bailey's limited involvement, he's one of my favourite comedians. I thought the scene outside the platform where they found Madge was genuinely hilarious and I would have liked to have seen more interaction from the three suited humans. Alas, it all felt a little rushed so they could fit in even more hokey sentimentality.

I'm sorry, I thought the main plot was oversentimental tosh. They had the opportunity to really push the boundaries but no, they pulled a Deus Ex Machina on the father.

To be honest if you actualy believed that dad was going to be allowed to die in Doctor Who on Christmas day of all times, you were probably always going to be dissapointed.

But yeah, oversentimental gush as usual. It's a given really for these Christmas specials.

 

[Spacewolf]

I can say without a doubt that was the most annoying episode i have ever watched the plot was ridiculous yet predictible and so overly senitmental i couldnt stand it

 

[Buzz Killington_v1legacy]

I am so ready to see the end of the Doctor solving things by RUNNING! AROUND! AND! SHOUTING!, as well as an end to the whole schmaltzy sentimental PARENTHOOD IS SUPER SPECIAL AND MAGIC thing they've had going for a while.

 

[DrTobiasWho]

I got bored half way through...

The DR was funny
The space marines were funny

There was no discernable creepy scary enemy.

There was just not much of anything.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

The script was good, but nothing really happened, the whole thing felt a bit like a mashup of previous episodes too. Slight disappointment really.

 

[JoJo]

There were some great lines, especially the ones you quoted, but I'm sorry, I thought the main plot was oversentimental tosh. They had the opportunity to really push the boundaries but no, they pulled a Deus Ex Machina on the father.

I knew you've already been quoted a couple of times, but I have to add that I agree with this post. I found the episode overall a bit slow and the father surviving removed what could have been a saving grace for the episode. Also for more personal reasons I was disappointed since the episode was apparently set in Dorset (the county in which I live), however they never showed any of it other than a couple of shots looking at the house they stayed in.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Plus they wasted two fantastic comedians.

Yeah, I would have loved to have seen more of Bill Bailey and Miller (or is he Armstrong?)

I was altogether underwhelmed. Nothing really happened, the only danger was when the acid rain started falling and they couldn't leave the building, so you wondered how would they get out of it. But even then you knew they'd all pull through somehow, and sure enough "I recognise that driving" (which got a chuckle out of me).

To be honest if you actualy believed that dad was going to be allowed to die in Doctor Who on Christmas day of all times, you were probably always going to be dissapointed.

There were some great lines, especially the ones you quoted, but I'm sorry, I thought the main plot was oversentimental tosh. They had the opportunity to really push the boundaries but no, they pulled a Deus Ex Machina on the father.

Its a Kids (sorry, family) show on Christmas Day. Not only that, its Doctor Who on Christmas Day. If you think they'd do something like kill the father then what the hell have you been watching the past few years?

Well last year I can't quite remember what happened to Kathryn Jenkins, but she either got frozen forever or died singing to the fish, and the year before that Kylie Minogue sacrificed herself on the Titanic 2, and Lenny Henry and his wife died in it as well. Wow, the plots really sound pathetic when you write them out like that.

 

[Hazy992]

I haven't watched it. Should I even bother because personally I think Doctor Who has really gone downhill in recent years.

 

[weker]

I felt the had a good story, and great actors, but it really seems that the director must have been in a coma to mess up this badly with how the episode played out, and other things like the tone.

All in all an... okay episode (I adore Matt Smith eg Best new Doctor) it really needed a re shoot or something.

 

[orangeban]

It was alright. The Christmas specials are generally always a bit "eh". Though the first one with David Tennant was good.

There were some really good lines though, so this is clearly a plot issue we're dealing with here, not a writing one. Dammit Moffat, you and the other writers can clearly write, just come up with better story ideas.

 

[Catfood220]

Oh. And I'm sick of the Doctor clinging to Amy. Good thing she's been confirmed to leave next year.
So what did you all think of it?

Apparently its going to be a "heartbreaking" ending for the Ponds. So they're probably going to kill Rory again.

As far as it goes, it was one of the better Christmas specials, didn't like the first 10 minutes or so, but it got better as it went on.

Also, little trivia for you, Alexanda Armstrong filmed some of his scenes in Lincolnshire near where I live.

 

[Dirzzit]

Compared to the other ones, this one was so pointless. The last season has been quite bad, tenant and ecclestone just had better writing.

 

[Diablo2000]

I didn't liked this one, maybe has the expectation that I had after the awesome 5º season chrismas especial. I just though weird how everyone was acting, like the Madge person who found a box that lead her to a forest in the middle of the living room or how she became a transport to the same florest's soul and didn't act like that was weird. She was like "Okay, then...", unstead of "The Fuck Is That?" that any regular person would though.
I guess that and the ending were suppose to be a lighter chrismas episode unlike last season, but I though it was just bad.

But I want a Lemonade Tap too... That's sound a very awesome and useful thing to have.

 

[Lilani]

-snip-

Totally off topic, but I have a question regarding Doctor Who and given your username and avatar you seem like the individual to ask. I've gotten my hands on several iTunes gift cards this Christmas and I've decided to use them all to get into Doctor Who, starting with David Tennant (because God knows I don't have the money or the time to start from the beginning right now, so he seems like a fun place to start). What I want to know is this: Are there any episodes from Tennant on up where the Doctor ends up in America in the old west? I'm talking cowboys and such. My dad's been ceaselessly watching westerns over the break and now I find myself very curious about it.

 

[Ldude893]

My opinion here, but I really smiled at the end of the episode. Felt a tearduct aching a bit.

Great Christmas episode.