OH MY GOD HE'S OOGLY: nu-Who season 8

Excelsior!

why so little reaction from the astronauts when they discover the doctor et al on their ship??

That's pretty standard in general, and particularly so in this case I thought - We have a really shit decision to make, you look like someone who might make it for us!

Really fun and quite scary. Only two real duds this season for me so far (Robin Hood and the abort-o-moon), which may be the best hit rate on a series of Nu-Who yet, come to think of it.

On the other hand, there's yet to be straight-up classic.

This was tremendously fun

For those keeping count, the Bechdel test was passed easily - and they even referred to it, though not by name: "Come on, we're going to spend all night in this carriage together, don't tell me all we can talk about is some man"

Thought the monster was very Eddie-like

P.S. "Are you my mummy?"

i think it's the space they give Capaldi and Clara has forced the action bits to be handled substantially differently, compressing them or formalising them in a way different to the constant running of previous series

this is OTM

Yeah, the pacing and editing has been much calmer and more sober, a real change for the better.

but this was still very good, effective, well-constructed television (tho having bits of Clara and Maisie stuck in a room was a bit laborious).

I kind of expected that this episode was going to have two narrative strands: the Doctorb doing one thing with all the scientists and experts, and then Maisie and Clara dodging in and out of tight spots. I was convinced that when Maisie was revealed as the next target and they were still trapped in that baggage compartment, that they'd be able to lure the mummy into the techno-sarcophagus and save the day, ta.

P.S. "Are you my mummy?"

The Doctor did mention wearing a gas mask!

Also the continued theme about soldiers and the Doctor pretending (or not pretending!) to be one.

This was a good episode, but I was a bit disappointed when, at the end, they showed the Doctor had saved the train's chief engineer (and presumably everyone else). It would've been better if they'd left it truly ambiguous whether he actually saved the folks on the train, or whether it was just a story he made up to make Clara feel better, as he himself suggested.

Also, if the whole "Clara being disappointed with the Doctor" plot was really resolved this easily, then it felt like they were trying to milk some extra drama out of nothing, so I'm hoping this theme will come back at some point. If/when Clara leaves, it'd be cool if she just decides she can't be arsed to travel with the Doctor anymore, that'd be a welcome change to all the sobby companion departures we've had previously.

Perkins was FANTASTIC, damn you for suggesting he should have died

is there any who community suggestion that skinner was in the running for the doctor at some point? turning the role down and saying, "it can change a man" was delivered in quite a knowing way, more than just a reference to the earlier accusations of arrogance and lack of mourning.

no

I assumed Perkins' "it can change a man" line was just a on what can happen to companions, since he refused to become one. Possibly also foreshadowing some future development with Clara?

"was just a comment on"

Though it was a bit weird, since Perkins didn't really interact with Clara, and therefore couldn't have made any deep analysis on the role of the companion... I guess he was just perceptive.

Perkins was FANTASTIC, damn you for suggesting he should have died

I didn't suggest that, the episode itself did... I just felt it could've maintained the ambiguity instead of showing he was definitely alive.

yep, I was overreading xpost. I just briefly envisaged an alternate universe where F Skinner was chosen instead of Capaldi, which didn't seem totally implausible as I watched the last episode. it seemed like he might have been *considered*.

not the worst of men, I suppose, but I find him quite tiring.

capaldi still superb tho, now my favourite doctor easily, overcoming the prejudice of childhood sentiment towards Tom Baker.

I don't mind Frank Skinner as a presenter/comedian, but I thought he was quite pants in this. No way would they let him be the Doctor.

Feel someone should mention how amazing Clara looked this episode.

i guess no one wanted to be That Guy but yes, i was wondering why she changed back into her Vargas girl outfit just minutes after having changed into vintage silk PJs and then i was like "oh, there is a pretty good non-diegetic reason for this"

is one way to put it

as in "a non-digetic reason for the dads"

I liked the pajamas. Wish the Doctor had also been wearing them while they solved the mystery.

What was he talking about, alone in his bed? 99%? 75%?

The percentage he was certain that nothing weird was going on.

Really enjoyed this episode -- I like Capaldi best when he hits the sweet spot between heroism and bastardliness (but staying closer to bastardliness).

And the offhandedness of the last scene was great - the almost anticlimactic "Oh yeah, and then we saved everyone" against that weird coloured sky.

Feel someone should mention how amazing Clara looked this episode

I could mention it, if you want.

does anyone else find the dialog mixed too low compared to the F/X and music? I always have to turn my TV way up to hear what everyone is saying, then I get deafened by the music.

Have you tried messing with the audio settings on your TV? Somehow I set mine so dialogue is fore-grounded.

There should definitely be a 'turn off Murray Gold' option on the red button.

And replace him with random snippets of Fourth Doctor incidental music.

yeah, I assume the problem is related to the show being broadcast in 5.1 and me having stereo, so the dialog on the center channel is lost/minimized. good idea suzy!

I rewound the part at the beginning where they're stepping into the train about 4 times cause I couldn't hear what they were saying. /old?

Gold completely smothered the first exchange with gran and daughter

ie he was mixed way too high and the jaunty music was completely inappropriate

i said to mr veg that the first 15 minutes made me feel like a deaf old lady EHHH STOP MUMBLING SPEAK UP NOW

Suzy's advise is very good for people who have only stereo speakers or just the TV set. Like most modern tv shows, Dr. Who has surround sound, and when that is played through a stereo system, the dialogue tends to get buried beneath the music and sound effects, because in a surround speaker set it would have a speaker of its own.

It's possible your TV set has the default sound setting as surround, but in that case you should be able to switch it to stereo, that should make the dialogue more audible. Some sets also have function called "clear speech" or something like that allows you to boost the sound frequencies alloted to human speech, using that should help too.

We've had surround speakers for a while, and I have no problem hearing the Dr. Who dialogue now, since the middle speaker is dedicated to it... But I had the same problems as you before, when I only had stereo speakers, surround sound just doesn't sit well with them.

Thanks! That explains a lot.

i enjoyed this but have v little to say other than I liked Dr & Clara on that alien beach after the climax, I think because it reminded me of Local Hero.

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltw1xfSHIe1r2za3do2_500.gif

needs updating.

adorable though

<3

i have to say, upon reflection, the body count last week was pretty impressive

coincidence that it's the first episode at the new, later, 8:30pm time slot? (i.e. after little kids' bed times?)

the caretaker was 8.30 too wunnit?

ahh you are correct

That was good

Bristol sidings

Episode was good-not-great (female Doctor trial run) till the climax, then seeing the restored TARDIS and the Doctor going all HAM was awesome, the first time for me where Capaldi brings something that Matt wouldn't have.

Absolutely loved this ep (tremendously memorable villains, bizarre and unprecedented way of isolating the Doctor so of limited help, great showcase of Clara managing to save the day) but can someone explain that last exchange for me? 'Goodness had nothing to do with it' went completely over my head

Because inherent "good" has nothing to do with Doctoring as he sees it. The ability to see opportunity, the space between good & evil, to restore balance sans emotion...that's Doctoring, and that's what Clara did. DUN DUN DUN