On 2014-08-30 20:08:32 +0000, Agamemnon said:
> New title sequnece... Still don't like it.
I rewatched the episode with the colour turned down to black and white
at the suggestion of a comment here (I think) and the titles are way
better. In fact it really works throughout the whole episode
>
> As for the actual episode, brilliant. Best Dalek story since Dalek.
>
> Finally we get to see a full scale space battle with stuff being blown
> up on Doctor Who and the Daleks showing their true power and actually
> doing some conquering. Also it was reminiscent of Resurrection of the
> Daleks with the Dalkes blasting their way into the ship and the
> suggestion that the Doctor could have been a copy or duplicate.
> Obviously references to the Invisible Enemy as well with the shrunk
> down Doctor and his companions being injected into the Dalek.
Agreed. I liked, too, the external reference to "a fantastic idea for a
film". I do think the Daleks are at their best when they are properly
threatening, but I also liked the way that human weapons could, on
occasion, kill them. I have felt, in recent times, that the Daleks
became too powerful, or at least too invulnerable. An indestructible
adversary is never a wise move in plot and story-telling terms.
>
> The assistant again is left to do some problem soving on their own
> unlike previous assistants in the new series who just followed the
> Doctor around and when not with him were only there for soap opera.
> Apart from this series the only instance I can remember when the
> Doctors companion is challenged is when Donna uses the stiletto heal of
> her shoe to knock out a Sontaran.
>
> Don't like all the series arc nonsense. It was bad enough with Bad Wolf
> getting repeated over and over again and then Torchwood and then the
> Silence inserts and now we have both inserts and repetition of the same
> phrase. It all looks likes it's all been stuffed in at the last moment
> just so they can claim to have a series arc and the only effect it has
> is to ruin the episode.
I think the series arc thing is related to the structure of New Who. It
is a not-entirely-happy compromise between the traditions of US science
fiction television (eg Star Trek), where each episode is a different
story, and British science fiction television where - as was the case
with Old Who - the story is told over several episodes. The trouble
with series arcs is that they are meant to give a sense of direction to
the season and build up expectations. If you do that over 12 episodes
the chances are that you will build up expectations to a point where
you cannot possibly deliver.
>
> Danny Pink is introduced for the first time and has obviously got some
> back-story to do with him being a soldier and killing a civilian or
> non-combatant. Now that is the way to do series arcs, and not that
> Paradise rubbish that's being shoe horned in and inflicted on us.
>
> Peter Capaldi is getting into the role now, but it still sounds like
> the script was written for Matt Smith, and the exaggerated Glaswegian
> when he gets all heated up is a bit over the top and doesn't suit him.
The Glaswegian is not exaggerated. That's the way Weegies talk. Trust
me on that. In fact, for many people in my part of the world this is
the first time in more than 50 years that The Doctor hasn't had an
accent
>
> There's also an attempt to point out that the Doctor became the person
> he is now after his first encounter with the Daleks on Skaro so the
> Doctor before that may have been a different person, especially with
> the first Doctors bidding his companions to kill the savage in An
> Unearthly Child. An other reference to that story is the school Clara
> teaches at and when or if Danny Pink joins the Doctor there will be two
> teachers travelling in the TARDIS once again.
>
> The Doctor still hates the Daleks as we found out in Dalek and I was
> thinking that it make have been him that was controlling the Dalek
> travel machine when it began exterminating all the other Daleks that
> entered the ship.
I think that The Doctor finds it sobering that he still hates them so
much that Rusty can't really see past that. Maybe nor can The Doctor.
Is he a good man if he has such hatred?