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My huge Doctor Who episode marathon.


The Friendly Dalek
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The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion  - This is a fantastic 2 parter. One thing I like about the Moffat era  - you never know when he will revisit a previous story. I love the continuity. 

I agree this is how a political message should be done in Doctor Who. The writing and production are great. UNIT are well used here. The Zygons actually provide a real threat. 

It's nice to see Ingrid Oliver back. Osgood represents the fans. Gemma Redgrave is excellent. I like the little homage to The Brigadier  '5 rounds rapid'.

Brilliant cliffhanger. 

And so to the leads. Jenna Coleman is fantastic as Clara and Bonnie. For me this is one of her strongest performances. Capaldi is excellent as usual. I enjoy the comedy elements he brings to The Doctor. And that speech. You can feel the whole weight of The Time War pouring out. I know what you mean though. It's a bit unnecessary to say the speech has been done 15 times. Niggling I know but such a heartfelt speech should have the required impact first time. 

Overall 9/10

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Sleep No More- I'll say this. I appreciate the fact that they at least attempted something different. Unfortunately the execution was the worst it could possibly have been. 

The actors try their best but the dialogue they were given was atrociously bad. Mark Gatiss is an excellent writer, and he has proven he can write good Who, but this was a very poor attempt on his part. Again, I respect that he tried to do something unique but it just didn't work. Reece Shearsmith is at least memorable, but sadly the same cant be said for the rest of the cast. Capaldi and Coleman are always great, but that's pretty much a given thing at this point. 

The pacing is all over the place, and I found myself bored for a large amount of the running time. The Sandmen are really boring monsters, and their story is rubbish. The whole concept behind them is totally stupid, and it pulls me right out of this episode every time. I also think their design is bland and uninspired. 

The ending is rubbish as well. The Doctor just gets in the TARDIS and leaves, without having really done anything. The cliffhanger style ending is done in such a way which makes me question wether the events of this story even took place, which makes me question what the point of watching it even is. It is a cliffhanger which has been left unresolved ever since, and as a result the whole thing just feels pointless upon revisiting it. 

Overall- 2/10. 

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Sleep No More - I couldn't agree more with your review. This is the weakest story of the Capaldi era. That's not to say it's all bad. I always love Doctor Who to try something new. I like the 'Blair Witch Project' filming. Reece Shearsmith makes a sinister enough villain. Capaldi and Coleman do their best with the writing. But apart from that the whole episode is pretty atrocious. Which is a shame because with a better story this could have been an iconic episode. But it wasn't to be. 

Overall 3/10 for the attempt at something different. 

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Face The Raven- When viewed on it's own, this is a good episode (it is somewhat ruined by a certain episode but we'll get to that one soon enough...).

Firstly, Peter Capaldi is amazing, and Jenna Coleman gives possibly her best performance in the show here in my eyes. This episode sees the return of Rigsy from Flatline, and I still dont like him that much. He's a perfectly serviceable character but there's nothing particularly memorable about him. Maisie Williams also makes another appearance, and once again she is fine, but her performance isn't anything spectacular. That's the gist for the majority of the cats, to be honest. No one's bad, but very few of them really stand out. 

The concept of a trap street is an interesting one, and it is nice to see so many different types of aliens interacting on screen, including some classic foes. The pacing is excellent, and visually this episode is one of the best of the series. 

Clara's death scene is brilliant. I really like Clara, and I remember when I watched this for the first time I had no idea that she was coming back in Hell Bent, so I remember this episode having a big impact on me at the time. Coleman plays it perfectly. I just wish it was shot a little differently, without the over use of slow-motion and the usage of multiple angles. Seeing it take place multiple times like that reduced the overall impact that scene has in my opinion.

There's nothing really that I dislike about this one. It is well made and features a serviceable cast, and the final 15 minutes are nearly perfect. I don't think that this episode has a high rewatchability value though, as I don't tend to find myself revisiting this one often. 

Overall- 8/10.

Edited by The Friendly Dalek
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Face The Raven  - This is a really good episode. The pacing,  production and writing are all excellent. 

There are some interesting concepts  - especially  the trap street and  the chronolock. The Janus are an alien species that it would be interesting to see again. 

The support cast are fine. Jovain Wade is enjoyable enough as Rigsy. This episode shows how Clara trying to be like The Doctor is what causes her death. Every Doctor needs a companion and that is what Rigsy is to Clara. 

And so to the ending. Both Capaldi and Coleman put in a stellar performance. Capaldi shows an excellent dark side to The Doctor. I agree that Coleman is at her best here. The interaction between them never fails to move me. Clara's death is actually quite shocking. (Did you notice she stood in a Nu-Who regeneration pose)?

Very nice lead up to the finale. 

Overall 9/10

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Heaven Sent- What can I possibly say about this one that hasn't already been said? This is definitely one of my favourite stories of the Capaldi era, and one of my favourite episodes in general. 

This is quite possibly a perfect episode. It is also Peter Capaldi's finest hour as The Doctor. His performance is amazing. It was definitely a risk to make an episode which is effectively a one-man show, but Capaldi pulled it off excellently. Others who deserve equal praise include Steven Moffat and Rachael Talalay. Moffat crafted an intellectual and interestingly structed story which is definitely unique among other episodes of this era. Talalay's direction is what grounds the whole thing, and makes the crazy script work. Every aspect of this episode's production works perfectly. 

The pacing is great, and despite the somewhat surreal nature of the storytelling, it never gets confusing. The Veil has a fantastic design, and adds some suitably creepy moments to this episode. The castle setting is also hugely atmospheric. Murray Gold's score also has to get a special mention. it's a beautiful score and I've listened to some of the tracks countless times. 

One really small issue I have with this episode is one line of dialogue which The Doctor gives. He confesses that he ran away from Gallifrey because he was scared, and that the idea that he ran because he was bored has been a lie the whole time. After going through this entire show, and hearing The Doctor claim to have ran away because he was bored many, many times, suddenly seeing this changed to him running out of fear damages what I always saw as a fundamental aspect of the character. He didn't like Gallifrey and wanted to explore the universe, so he stole a TARDIS and ran away so he could experience the universe in the way that he wanted. I appreciate that this is a really silly nit pick of mine but it's something that does annoy me slightly, but no where near enough to detract from my overall love of this episode.

Overall- 10/10 

Edited by The Friendly Dalek
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Heaven Sent - Indeed. What to say that hasn't already been said. I will never criticise Doctor Who for trying something new. Sometimes it doesn't work. In this case it does. This is my all time favourite episode. For me it's as close to perfection as it's possible to be. 

The production, pacing, setting and effects are all first class. Murray Gold's music just adds to the overall experience. And Rachel Talalay demonstrates why she is one of the best directors Doctor Who has ever had. 

Moffat set himself a difficult task. There's a reason why (across TV in general) the number of single actor performances is so low. It's so hard to keep a monologue interesting. Yes. You can see a few issues with the dialogue. But nothing that spoils the overall effect. I love how the TARDIS is used as The Doctor's subconscious. Very clever. Moffat knew exactly the calibre of actor he had and was able to use that. 

And so on to Capaldi. This is the moment he became my favourite Doctor. (He's likely to remain so. I am very loyal to The Doctor. Tom Baker held the number one spot for over 35 years :laugh:).His performance is exquisite. He is able to portray every range of emotion. When actors are used to playing off one another it makes a solo performance even more difficult. Capaldi's performance is compelling. I can't praise it enough. 

I have watched this episode multiple times. Even though I know what's going to happen I still love it as much as the first.

It's just brilliant when cast and crew all bring their A game to an episode. 

Overall  - There have been many wonderful Who episodes that have deservedly had a 10. But for me this has so much more. Perhaps I should give it 11. Or should that be 12?

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Hell Bent- When I think of the worst series finales in modern Who, this is the one which springs to mind. I can't stand this episode.

I'll start with the few positives. Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman put in fantastic performances. The episode looks brilliant, the music is great, and there are a few nice references throughout the episode. That's pretty much it as far as positives are concerned. Now onto the negatives. 

The return of Gallifrey was a massively wasted opportunity. The Doctor spent so long trying to get over his shame about destroying Gallifrey, and spent a long time trying to get back to it after discovering it wasn't destroyed after all in Day Of The Doctor. You'd think that all this character development would lead to his return to Gallifrey being a massive event. Instead, The Doctor mopes around for a bit, and then leaves a third of the way through the episode. At that point it all goes massively down hill. If I wrote this episode, I would have set the whole thing on Gallifrey, and made The Doctor cause a revolution on Gallifrey (which he sort of does by standing up to Rassilon) and then see how he'd try to change things there. Rassilon would have been the key villain of the piece. I feel that something like that would have made a much better use of the Gallifrey setting than this episode does. 

The return of Gallifrey should have been a huge deal, and I believe that the return of Rassilon should have been equally huge. This was his first appearance since The End Of Time (and only his third appearance in the show overall). Rassilon is a massively important figure in the Whoniverse, and he should have been used in a way which lives up to his status. Instead we get a Rassilon who has no demanding presence and is easily defeated 10 minutes after being re-introduced, and is then forgotten about for the rest of the episode. This was a major let down for me. Donald Sumpter does a decent job in the part, but he is wasted with a dreadful script which doesn't live up to the status of his character. 

Clare Higgins does a good job as Ohila, but once again her character is reduced to just spouting exposition, rather than being an interesting character in her own right. Ken Bones is one of the most wasted figures in modern Who in my opinion. I loved him as The General in Day Of The Doctor, and I was excited to hopefully see him get an expanded role here. Instead, he has a couple of brief scenes and is then shot down by The Doctor (more on that later) and regenerates. Also, that regenration seems to only exist to prove that Time Lords can not only change gender when they regenerate (as previously proven by Missy), but they can also change race. I wouldn't have a problem with that if it wasn't for the awful piece of dialogue which the character gives after they regenerate. The ego line is incredibly cringy. If you've seen the episode you know which one I'm referring to. 

Peter Capaldi's performance is brilliant, but The Doctor is completely wrong in this episode. I get what Moffat was going for, the idea that The Doctor becomes "Hell Bent" on saving Clara so he will break his moral code in order to achieve that goal. I get that, but I hate it. This isn't The Doctor I know and like. I'm not one of the ones who disregard this episode from canon because of it, I know this episode happened and I accept that, but it doesn't mean I like it. The Doctor acts so out of character here for so long that it doesn't work. Firstly, his treatment of The General is awful. This man stood by The Doctor's side as he faced down Rassilon, and The Doctor shoots the man who helped him, no hesitation, and then says something to the effect of "He'll be fine, death is Time Lord for man flu." This is an egregious break of character, and I don't belive that The Doctor would ever do this, no matter how desperate he got.

However, what's even worse is his motivation for doing all this. He does it all to save Clara from death. The worst part is that he actually succeeds. Not only does he succeed, she gets to live a very long and happy life after this episode ends. Now this makes me question "Why didn't The Doctor try somwthing like this for Katarina, or Adric, or anyone else who was close to him who died?" The answer is, as the 5th Doctor explained perfectly after Adric's death, that it doesn't work that way. That death is set in stone in time, and no matter how much he wants to, he can't do a thing about it, no matter how special someone is. The fact that he lets someone like Adric go so quickly, but goes to these lengths to save Clara, seems like extreme favouritism to me. It was firmly established that once a character dies, they are dead. Full stop. This episode now states that it is difficult to do, but not impossible to save someone from death in thus universe. Whenever someone important dies now, people will question why The Doctor can't just do this again for them. It greatly reduces the stakes if we know that death isn't a permanent thing any more. The only way I think this character arc for The Doctor could have been handled well was if this led to the rise of The Valeyard. That could have been a very interesting twist, which explains why The Doctor acts how he does, but I guess The Valeyard is never going to be referenced at this point. 

I hate Clara's ending with a passion. I like Clara, and I defend her character, but this episode completely ruins her arc. Throughout series 8 and 9, she become more confident and cocky, seeking adventure and danger with no consideration for her safety, essentially becoming more and more like The Doctor. This of course led to her death in Face The Raven. I believe that that was the perfect ending to her arc, as her over-confidence ultimately led to her demise, as she believed she could save the day, just like The Doctor, and that time she failed and it killed her, and The Doctor had to face the consequences of that in Heaven Sent. That was a perfect conclusion to their relationship, and it made narrative sense for both of the characters to end their relationship like that. Then this episode comes along and completely ruins Face The Raven by negating Clara's death. Face The Raven loses all of it's impact because this episode undoes the core emotional point which makes that episode work as well as it does. Not only does Clara get to cheat death, but she also gets to go off on her own adventure with Ashildr, and they even have their own TARDIS (the classic TARDIS set does look gorgeous though).  Personally I think this negates the point of Clara's arc. I viewed her arc as her becoming over-confident and dying because of her arrogance, as previously mentioned. Rather than face serious consequences because of this, she instead gets to go and do even more of the thing which I viewed as her initial undoing, thus making the idea that her arrogance gets the better of her pointless, because she won't have changed at all by going off by Ashildr. It didn't kill her like it initially did, and instead her character goes off to do more of the thing which got her killed in the first place. If she died in Face The Raven and stayed dead it would have been the perfect ending for her character, but Moffat had to create an over-convoluted story in order to save her from death.

Speaking of Ashildr, what was the point of her? She appeared in two episode this series, and neither of them were very good, and then disappears until this finale, in which she has a minor supporting role. Maisie Williams is ok, but once again the scripts let her down (a common trend in this episode). The Hybrid arc was also completely pointless, and the resolution is incredibly unsatisfying and boring. 

Honestly, I could moan about this episode for hours. Those are the main issues but I could go on if I wanted to, but in order to keep this post from getting even more needlessly long, I'll end it there. I think you can get a good understanding of how I feel about this episode from that.

Overall- 1/10. 

Overall rating for series 9- 7/10

This series started strongly, and contains some of the best Doctor Who episodes ever, but it is dragged down by some awful episodes, including a terrible finale, and a completely pointless story arc, and it is easily the weakest of the modern series arcs which we have received yet in my opinion.  

I just remembered something which is somewhat relevant to this. I regard Big Finish as canon, and The Night Of The Doctor confirms my belief. That short is canon to the show as it is 8's proper regeneration, and as he refers to his Big Finish companions (even mentioning them by name in that short) it means that they are canon to the series (at least it does in my eyes). Bearing this in mind, early on in 8's Big Finish tenure, he saved someone called Charlotte from what was supposed to be her natural death. She then travelled with The Doctor as a companion. However, as she was supposed to die, her continued existence led to major issues, as it violated the established Laws Of Time. This even led to catastrophic effects such as the de-stabilisation of the web of time, among other things. It's a really interesting story, and if you want to get into Big Finish the 8 and Charlotte stories are a great point to start. Having listened to this story, and believing that it is canon to the lore of the show (Charlotte is one of the companions who 8 names in Night Of The Doctor), it annoys me when I remember that the saving of one companion from their death led to such major issues, yet Clara walks away from the events of Hell Bent absolutely fine. 

Edited by The Friendly Dalek
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Hell Bent - Your review made very interesting reading. I completely understand why you and many others have major issues with this episode. It is definitely a massive step down from the sublime Heaven Sent. However I am in the minority in that I actually quite like it and will attempt to explain why. It does have some frustratingly unresolved parts to it though.

Firstly the absolute positives. Capaldi (especially) and Coleman give excellent performances. The production and music are fantastic. Talalay does another great job as director. I like the mix between the diner scenes and the Gallifrey scenes.

Moving on:-

The return of Gallifrey -disappointing for many. Personally I was never expecting it to be a big thing which is why this works for me. Gallifrey may be The Doctor's home planet but has never been a particularly major part of Doctor Who on TV (if this makes sense). The Doctor succeeds in doing what he needed to do - rid Gallifrey of Rassilon who he blames for the Time War. He really has no other reason to stay other than to save Clara. There was a clever use of the barn again. Donald Sumpter is a great actor let down by weak writing for his role. And following on from Timothy Dalton this does make Sumpter's Rassilon come across as a bit of a wuss.

For me the return of Gallifrey is unresolved - although I wasn't expecting it to be a big deal it probably would have helped if the fact that Gallifrey had been saved/found had been mentioned in later episodes and not just forgotten again.

Undoing Clara's death - I can understand what Moffat was trying to achieve. The Doctor "Hell Bent" on getting his friend back. But why does The Doctor behave so out of character here? He has lost companions under many different circumstances before. But normally he has other people to help him move on. On this occasion he has had 4.5 billion years of grieving alone in the confession dial. When taken into context with the events of Heaven Sent it makes sense that The Doctor acts the way he does. He is no longer The Doctor. Other characters provide the sanity. Ohila (a great turn by Claire Higgins) is the voice of reason. Clara ensures, especially after the events on Gallifrey, that her friend is able to move on and 'Be A Doctor'. Me (Maisie Williams) is living proof to The Doctor how creating an immortal can cause events to happen and alter history. (Still don't get why The Doctor did this in The Girl Who Died). To quote Me - Clara's death was sad and it was beautiful. It takes the realisation of what he has created to show The Doctor he is wrong.

Undoing Clara's death unresolved - I don't mind Clara being brought back for this episode. However, it would have worked better if after she had checked on The Doctor she had accepted her fate and returned straight to Gallifrey to be placed back on the trap street at the moment of her death rather than having untold new adventures. For me this is where Moffat undid the beauty and sadness of Clara's death, not the whole episode itself.

That regeneration - A sex change regeneration just for the sake of it. And don't get me started on the cringeworthy comments following. I would have thought Time Lords are above petty sexism!

The Hybrid - One of the weakest series arcs. It didn't completely work but I found the resolution ok. The prophecy stated the hybrid was 'me' destined to stand in the ruins of Gallifrey. Whether you consider the hybrid to be Me (created by The Doctor) or the friendship (created by The Master) between The Doctor and Clara they were all stood in the ruins of Gallifrey. Maybe there was too much emphasis on the hybrid possibly being a weapon.

The Ending - The perfect ending to this episode would have been when The Doctor enters his TARDIS, sees the message from Clara and becomes The Doctor again. As the TARDIS takes off and Clara's picture disintegrates this could have symbolised that she is dead and that her actions had consequences. Forget the bit with the two TARDISes passing.

P.S - I have never believed that The Doctor has forgotten Clara. To do so would be party to the stupid idea that The Doctor is part human. To me that has never been canon and is best left in the past.

 

Overall 7/10.

 

You have given enough clues for me to know that this episode would be one we disagree on. However I think we can agree that it evokes enough feeling to write a lengthy post!

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Two thirds of the way through The Capaldi era. Series 9 is one of my favourites though it does have a weak series arc. Series 9 is probably one I re-watch the most. It has many fantastic episodes and the duds are kept to a minimum. Although I love Capaldi's Doctor in Series 8 I understand why they have made his interpretation a bit more "user friendly". For me his character arc goes from strength to strength.

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That was interesting to read as well. :D It's always fun to see how one episode can be viewed so differently by different people, and this is easily one of the most divisive episodes of the show from what I've seen online. I have my views on this episode, and although we may disagree, it was nice to read the thoughts of a person who does like this episode. The beauty of it is that your points are perfectly valid, and your explanations make sense, I may not view it the same way but it's good to see the viewpoints of others who do like it.

Series 10 is up next, the second to last one before I've watched and written about every last television story (although at this rate series 12 may be here before I'm done :lol:). 

Edited by The Friendly Dalek
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1 hour ago, The Friendly Dalek said:

 

Series 10 is up next, the second to last one before I've watched and written about every last television story (although at this rate series 12 may be here before I'm done :lol:). 

You'll just have to add series 12 in as well. :lol:

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The Husbands Of River Song- The Christmas specials during the Capaldi era are brilliant. From a production standpoint, this episode looks gorgeous, and it is well written. The production looks very Christmassy, which is exactly what you want from an episode like this. 

Peter Capaldi is amazing, as is Alex Kingston. As you may recall, I'm not a fan of River Song's last few appearances before this point, but Moffat found a way to include her which fits organically into her character arc, and she is no where near as irritating as she has been. Capaldi and Kingston have great chemistry, which is why I think it is a shame that this was the first (and probably only) time we'll ever see them together (unless Big Finish manage to Capaldi to do some stories in the future). I love how River doesn't recognise this incarnation of The Doctor, which makes a nice change from her always knowing more than The Doctor did in the Smith era. This is the introductory episode of Nardole, and although he isn't very well developed in this episode, this does work as a good introduction, and Matt Lucas is great. 

If this really is the last time we will see River in the tv series, I'd be ok with that. This is where her story is supposed to end, with the sequences at Darillium being there last encounter before River dies in The Library. As a finale for her character, it is beautiful. The scenes on Darillium are wonderfully poignant and emotional, and both actors play it wonderfully. 

I only have two issues with this one. Firstly, as it is a Christmas episode, the tone is very light, and there are many comedic aspects. Unfortunately, I don't think all of the comedy works, and since it relies so heavily on that, it does drag it down as the thing it relies on so heavily isn't perfect. The other issue is the villain, Hydroflax. This is also another pitfall of Chrsitmas episodes. They tend to be very fast paced, and this is no exception. As a result, I think that we were given a very bland villain, who is only there to add some conflict into the mix. The episode obviously spends more time focusing on the relationship between The Doctor and River, and when that is the focus it works excellently, but the villain element just doesn't work for me.

Overall- 7/10. 

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The Husbands of River Song - This is one of my favourite Christmas specials. After the angst and darkness of the last three episodes of series 9 the tone of this episode is perfect. The writing and production are great. And there is a nice Christmas feel to this episode.

Capaldi is excellent as usual. I love that he gets the chance to do the comedic side of The Doctor. Capaldi and Kingston work brilliantly together. For me they managed more on screen chemistry in one hour than River Song managed with either the 10th or 11th Doctor. It would be great if Capaldi and Kingston did Big Finish focusing on their 24 years together.

This is Kingston's finest hour in her role. Moffat has managed to bring River's story to it's perfect conclusion. I hope we don't see the character on TV again as this would spoil her ending. I recently re-watched Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. It made me appreciate this episode even more to see how Moffat managed to tie the three together.

Matt Lucas is fun as Nardole. Doesn't have a big role but a good introduction. I presume at this point he was not intended to become a permanent companion. Maybe they wouldn't have gone for anything as extreme as a beheading :lol:.

The rest of the support cast are good enough. They don't take away the focus from the two leads. Hydroflax is a weak villain. And Greg Davies' performance is far too over the top!

Overall 9/10

Edited by Peter Capaldi Fan
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The Return of Doctor Mysterio- Two Christmas specials in a row, how fun. It's still too early in the year to be watching these. :lol:

I remember when plot details started to emerge for this episode, and I thought it sounded completely silly. This is a prime example of why one should not pass judgement on something before seeing it. I was sceptical of the episode, and I ended up loving it. This is high on the list of my favourite Who Christmas episodes. 

This episode is simply fun, and I have a blast every time I watch it. Visually, this episode is gorgeous, baring some dodgy CGI regarding The Ghost and the villains. The pacing is excellent, and the dialogue is great.

Capaldi once again puts in a fantastic performance, and Matt Lucas gets to shine here. Charity Wakefield is wonderful. I always think that Justin Chatwin is unfairly hated. The War Of The Worlds is one of my favourite films (I know it's heavily flawed but I adore it), and I think that Chatwin was great in that, so it's nice to see him in Doctor Who. He admittedly gave a really poor performance in Dragon Ball: Evolution (but then again, didn't everyone who was involved with that ;)), and I often see that he gets judged purely based on that film, which is why I recall there being some backlash to his casting here. In this episode he proves that, when given a good script, he is a good actor. I wouldn't mind if his character appears again in the show (although I know that's never going to happen). The dynamic between Chatwin and Wakefield is wonderful. 

The comedy all works here, and the superhero satire is hilarious, although it does become a bit over the top with the references at points. The relationship between Grant and Lucy is a direct copy of the Clark and Lois relationship, but Moffat was able to make it funny without feeling like a shameless rip-off. This episode is also surprisingly emotional, especially towards the end. 

The main problem I have with this is, would you believe, the weak villains. I still don't know why they brought back the Harmony Shoal from the previous episode. They weren't really interesting before, and this episode doesn't do much to flesh them out either. The resolution is also weak regarding the villain aspect.

Overall- 8/10.   

Edited by The Friendly Dalek
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The Return of Doctor Mysterio  - I felt exactly the same way when this episode was announced. It's going to be juvenile rubbish. It wasn't (guess that's why neither you or I work for the Doctor Who team :laugh:).

This is a fun episode from the start. The comedy and pacing work really well. Except for a few dodgy moments the CGI is good. 

Capaldi and Lucas work really well together. For me Matt Lucas is a  "Catherine Tate" revelation. By that I mean I thought he would be too over the top but ends up being one of my favourite companions of the modern era. It's great to see a male Doctor have a male companion in their own right (not just a plus one to a female companion).

Chatwin and Wakefield are both wonderful in this. Moffat writes the parts well and manages to get away with this being a Superman rip off. The young Grants are likeable enough. 

There are a couple of scare moments but the villains are the weakest link. If properly developed they would actually be very good.

One of my favourite Christmas specials. 

Overall 8/10

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Finally started series 10, just one more to go after this. Nearly there. :lol:

The Pilot- Series 10 gets off to a good start. Firstly, I love the ides of The Doctor becoming a university lecturer. It just feels right that he would end up doing something like this after being on earth for a long time without being employed by UNIT like he was back in the '70s. Capaldi plays it brilliantly, and Lucas absolutely excels as Nardole. Their interactions throughout this series are always a joy to watch. A similar joy to watch us Pearl Mackie. After multiple series with Clara, the important "impossible girl" and so on, it's nice to return to having a more laid-back companion. Her chemistry with Capaldi hits right from the start, and they're great together. 

The University setting makes for a nice change, and the introduction to Bill's character is simple yet still interesting. Heather is also a nice addition for this episode, and the chemistry between Pearl and Stephanie is nice to watch. The main plot of this one is the idea that Heather gets turned into a sentient puddle which needs a pilot and chases Bill. That sounds ridiculous, and it is, but somehow Moffat found a way to make that entertaining. The effects on water-Heather aren't great though in my opinion. The chase between multiple locations is fun to watch. 

The Dalek sequence feels like flat out fan service to me, as does the appearance of Movellans. I feel like a whole episode could have been dedicated to that, rather than a quick throw away sequence which is played for laughs. This is why the Daleks are viewed as jokes, but that's a discussion for another day. The resolution to the story is also a rather weak one.

This episode essentially serves as an introduction to the new TARDIS team. The Doctor himself seems more laid-back, Nardole gets more of a presence, and this is the introduction of a new companion. This is all great, and the dialogue between them all is fantastic, but this episode stumbles when it comes to the villain aspect. It's not bad by any means, but it's not entirely interesting either. This episode is fun, and is a good one to watch if you want to pass some time.

Overall- 7/10. 

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The Pilot  - When viewed as an introduction to a new companion this is a great episode. The weakest link is the villain. 

The plot is simplistic but fun. Capaldi gets the chance to further his portrayal of The Doctor. The character development works well. I enjoy having him in a teacher/mentor role. 

Matt Lucas is great as Nardole. He has an excellent chemistry with Capaldi. 

Pearl Mackie has improved from the little teaser introduction sketch. After Clara (who I loved) it's nice that Bill is a completely different character. For me she is very much the viewer's companion. 

Bill and Heather have a great chemistry together. 

Even after one episode the dynamic between Capaldi,  Mackie and Lucas is enjoyable. They grow to be my favourite TARDIS team.

Overall 8/10

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20 hours ago, The Friendly Dalek said:

The Dalek sequence feels like flat out fan service to me, as does the appearance of Movellans

Re: the Daleks, I believe I remember hearing there's a contract in place where they have to appear in each series. No idea how true it is though or if it's just hearsay.

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4 hours ago, wjbleming said:

Re: the Daleks, I believe I remember hearing there's a contract in place where they have to appear in each series. No idea how true it is though or if it's just hearsay.

Yeah I've heard the same but I don't think that that has ever been officially confirmed, so although it does seem likely because they have appeared in every modern series I personally won't believe it until it is confirmed by an official source. 

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Smile- Similarly to Doctor Mysterio, this episode sounds completely stupid in concept, yet the execution manages to make it work. 

This one is fun. Capaldi and Mackie are fantastic, and the dialogue is great. It's also surprisingly funny at points. Visually, this episode is great, and the music is good.

The emojibots are stupid, but just the right amount of silly to be entertaining for the most part. I find it's more about how the characters react to them that makes them funny, rather than what they do by themselves. They aren't visually appealing either, and I think they look almost cheap. The pacing is excellent for the first two thirds, but I think it falls apart during the final segment. The human characters are not interesting in the slightest, so when the story begins to focus on them I tend to find myself checking out of the episode. It's not awful, but I find it rather bland. The episode is saved by the first two-thirds. 

The lack of a threat does this one no favours either. The Vardy are supposed to be the villains, but they do not feel as threatening as they should, so when they start to become more outwardly villainous towards the end it just seems silly to me. The idea of the Vardy killing the humans because they perceived grief as a disease is an interesting one, but these ideas clash so much with the comedic tone that the heavier stuff never feels as dramatic as it should. 

This episode is a decent one which I can watch at any time, but I tend not to because there are so many better episodes. It's well paced for the most part and has some good laughs, and is carried by the performances from the two leads, but once the story expands and more characters are introduced the pacing suffers. It's not awful but there's not enough to it to make we want to revisit it. The bland side characters and weak villains also don't help.

Overall- 6/10. 

Edited by The Friendly Dalek
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Smile  - This works as an introduction to time travel for new companion Bill. 

It's a fun episode to watch. Production is great. On the whole the humour works well but sometimes doesn't quite fit with the more serious aspects. 

The concept of treating sadness as a malfunction is an interesting one. 

Capaldi and Mackie are really developing their relationship and are both excellent. 

My main criticisms would be the villain are weak and the support cast are all forgettable. Not sure why they used well known names when unknowns would be just as effective. 

The ending is another that is all too convenient however at least the writing makes fun of that. Nice lead into the following episode. 

Overall 6/10

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Thin Ice- This is a slight improvement over the previous two episodes, which is to be expected considering it was written by Sarah Dollard (who also wrote the excellent Face The Raven). 

Capaldi and Mackie are a joy to watch, and there's some nice character exploration for these two. The scene in which Bill questions The Doctor over how many people he's killed is fantastic, and it's nice to see how The Doctor defends Bill from the racism of people at the time. This episode and the Human Nature two parter explore that idea in satisfying ways. The supporting cast are all good, barring some scenes with the children (but that is to expected with child actors so I won't judge them too harshly). 

The period setting is great, and the set and costume design works very well. The dialogue is sharp, although I do think there's some pacing issues around the middle. The visuals and direction are great, as is the score. My main issues with the episode are the aforementioned pacing problems, and the idea that there is a giant alien fish in the Thames just doesn't sit well with me. I don't know why, but I've always thought that there was something silly about that idea, and as a result I can't really take it or the villain seriously. 

Overall- 8/10

Series 10 is always a nice one to revisit because I have a great time whenever I watch it. This is an example of a really enjoyable episode. It is is brought down by a few small flaws, but is overall a really fun and well put together episode. 

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