Doctor Who Social Club
A community for discussing all things Doctor Who.
Rules
1 Be constructive
All posts/comments must be thoughtful and balanced.
2 Be welcoming
It is important that everyone from newbies to longtime fans feel welcome, no matter their gender, sexual orientation, religion or race.
3 Be truthful
All posts/comments must be factually accurate and verifiable. We are not a place for gossip, rumors, or manipulative or misleading content.
4 Be nice
If a polite way cannot be found to phrase what it is you want to say, don't say anything at all. Insulting or disparaging remarks about any human being are expressly not allowed.
5 Spoilers
Utilize the spoiler system for any and all spoilers relating to the most recently-aired episode. Spoiler protection will not be granted to information that is out in the mainstream media.
6 Keep on-topic
All submissions must be directly about the DW franchise (the shows, movies, books, etc.). Off-topic discussions are welcome at c/Quarks.
7 Meta
Questions and concerns about moderator actions should be brought forward via DM.
Upcoming Episodes
| Date | Episode | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 12-07 | TWB 1x01 | "Homo Aqua" |
| 12-07 | TWB 1x02 | "Plastic Apocalypse" |
| 12-14 | TWB 1x03 | "The Deep" |
| 12-14 | TWB 1x04 | "The Witch of the Waterfall" |
| 12-21 | TWB 1x05 | "The End of the War" |
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I enjoyed this second episode, not as much as the first. The A plot opens with the captain taking the bolt gun and reacts that it only has one bullet - putting a suicide gun in doctor who is a dark choice, I like it. There's a lot of scuttling about ducts, maybe too much. But the tension and sacrifice from Jefferson helped humanise his otherwise aggressive character. The "nice view" jokes in the ducts were unnecessary. Ditto the scooby do esque reveal that the beast was still among them.
Throughout the B plot we get a discussions about belief systems, and this is the highlight of the episode for me. I enjoyed these and the doctor living out a death wish by cutting his rope in the pit. The big let down for me was seeing the actual beast at the end - like any good lovecraftian outsider monster, the mind can conjure a scarier monster, and once you present it, it was a bit of a let down. Doctor says the beast can't speak, as it's intelligence has moved somewhere else, yet as it is animated it still seems to have intelligence. The grin and laugh particularly doesn't work for me, Toby was already laughing in it's stead. Animators and live action not quite meshing well.
By the end I am confused about the scale of the planet's size, how the tardis got into the pit when the door was sealed, and why "strategy 9" exists and they didn't use it earlier. The ood plotlines went nowhere, highlighting this was maybe not the best story in which to bring up the whole slave race plotline, though the now-released ood huddling in fear at the end was a nice addition. The resolution is decent, and I enjoyed Rose and Doctor reuniting, the discussions and emotions they had have moved them forward a bit now.
Yeah, it really seems like they wanted the Beast to have a creepy army, and have minimal thought to the greater implications of this "basic slave race" - something they work to remedy in the future, but it's a very...Ood choice.