Guitar Hero: Nu-Who Season 9

i dont care how crap it gets though, i fuckin love capaldi-who

I thought this wildly out of character nonsense that worked well plotwise

Anything too scrazy for young tykes in this one?

I meant to type "scary" but actually "scrazy" is maybe more what I meant

Yeah the first five minutes are if you have access to a muddy field - that was good (but unconnected to the rest of the episode (oh lord Sarff's tour de space was tedious - did they blow the entire budget on the first episode?))

presumably buying him a swegway.

that was good (but unconnected to the rest of the episode

Except for setting up the cliffhanger, the hunt you disparage, the central conflict, and the Doctor's eventual onscreen behaviour and previous absenteeism

Also plenty of shows get by okay with pre-title sequences that ARE completely disconnected from the latter elements of the show. And this was great and creepy enough to have been worthwhile even it was disconnected.

Plus while you don't at all need to know it is in several ways a callback to the opening of Genesis Of The Daleks to appreciate it or follow this ep -- would you criticise that opening for being unconnected to the rest of ep 1, or the story as a whole?

anyway HEY TRACER HAND yeah that bit will spook the shit out of tinies, and there are some scary bits later too. But watch it with 'em and they'll be fine. Nightmares are healthy.

I don't think the previous absenteeism was explained? But I may have shoved skewers in my ears after Pretty Woman, the subtitles may have glossed over that bit.

I'm not sure what you're asking me about in the third panel? If it's the opening sequence of Genesis of the Daleks, I don't really remember it or have any views on it?

I do appreciate the sampled voiceovers exculpatory reminder that anything involving Davros (Genesis aside) has always been dull overwrought shite, though.

Always great to see how many of the Doctor's pivotal moments have been recorded by CCTV.

Thing I disliked most was the temporary 'killing' of Missy (again) and Clara. What's the point?

I feel like a lot of a Moff episodes start roaringly well and then you can literally point to the second where they fall apart. With this one it was the hashtag joke. With "Listen" he at least saved the awfulness until the very last minute. Which is why he's so frustrating, because when he fucks it up, you at least know he's *capable* of doing better, unlike the other writers.

Anyway - Capaldi and Coleman still great. Missy is reaching the "too much of a good thing" point for me.

Re: coherence - why was the planet invisible, and why did the Doctor walk into an obvious traps again - guilt alone? Presumably there were micro moments of dialogue to explain that (or maybe it'll be lampshaded into next week's episode) but I missed them. (I am slightly deaf mind.)

this was alright. very slightly disappointing. didn't mind the guitar bit. kind of sick of davros.

Viewers in their millions deserted Doctor Who as it returned to BBC One for a new series, according to overnight figures.

An average 4.6m watched Peter Capaldi back for his second series playing the Time Lord, compared with 6.8m for his full debut last year.

It was roundly beaten by ITV's X Factor, which had 7.3 million viewers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34307519

Aw, dammit. NO MORE SEXY DOCTORS

bound to be if ratings dont pick up

DW audience is increasingly likely to watch the show on demand, especially since it's been in a later timeslot. As-broadcast ratings don't mean much.

headlines like that can put people off though

They can?

IS THIS THE END FOR THE DOCTOR?

X Factor's catch-up will be negligible.

headlines like that can put people off though

The show has been running for ten years. British press have been running panicked "Doctor Who ratings are falling! The show is in danger!" stories for nine years.

haha longer than that

Hey guys amazing news! Despite no promotional blitz, being up against X-Factor, having to be pushed back to start after Strictly, no debuting new Doctor, and keeping the returning villain a secret, this goofy show for kids about a space wizard was the highest rated BBC programme for the day! And the second highest in the country at all!! And was the most-tweeted thing on Twitter!!!! And is the most popular programme on iPlayer today!!!!!

I was just thinking when watching the new episode earlier that when Missy gives Carla a set of choices as to which one is a lie and includes 'I knew him when he was a little girl' and wondered if it was a reference to who Masie Williams turns out to be,but think it may have already been said that she is supposed to be a new character. Also not sure he could cross his timeline just because he'd changed gender. THough the multiple Doctors episodes may put that to question anyway.

Also wondering when the start of the show is set, if the dying Davros is centuries old?
How long the war on Skaro had been? Seems to have been ancient at that point and Davros seems to be ancient in Genesis of the daleks at least. Not sure where that's set relative to other timelines anyway.
Also has the idea that the Thrals being thought of as a peaceful race been long since turned over? I know they started back in '63 as being represented as a semi angelically beautiful bunch of peaceful proto hippies, but I think there has been a story more recently that threw that into extreme question.

also thought did Davros retro engineer anything from being given a sonic screwdriver at that point?
I take it that the Doctor being sent back at the end of the episode is a change in the timeline, so Davros and screwdriver had to work out how to get out of the handmine field originally.

Also first thought on seeing the hands with the eyes in them was a parallel to the front attachment on a Dalek. Assume that's a conscious element in the design though.
Don't think it's Genesis of the Daleks, think it's something more recent.

Thals have not appeared on TV since 1975, at which point they were engaged in a war set several millennia earlier than their initial 1963 appearance, where they were angelic pacifists as a consequence of the thousand-year war.

I peaked at the first thread reactions before I watched the show, and as a result was rather pleasantly surprised. A bit muddled and weirdly paced (as is most WHO tbf), but all very entertaining as sic says, perfectly coherent (some slightly muddy motives aside*).

*Though I'm predicting the Doctor knows what he's doing and it will all be revealed to be his trap for the Daleks in part 2.

IMO that type of plotting would be more appropriate for 7

I don't really have a gripe with the story beyond feeling like it didn't really belong to 12; this would have been a great late-period 10 story, especially the "companionless" stories when he was trying to find himself.

This was fun. Didn't mind the guitar. Ending twist was cool. Man, how many times has the Doctor supposed to have died by now? Not even Clara is phased by it.

This wasn't very good... The first scene with Davros was cool, and the "search for the Doctor" bith that followed was a nice bit of continuity porn, but after having seen the whole episode it felt a bit stupid to waste so much of the episode for that part, when the actual important plot developments of the episode only came during the last 10 minutes, and as a result felt totally rushed. Also, was it really necessary to end the ep on cliffhanger with all these SHOCKING DEATHS, when absolutely everyone knows they'll be reversed the very next episode? Now obviously that's the case with most cliffhangers, but in this series they're a bit more creative than THE MAIN CHARACTERS EXPLODE, OH NO!

And the Medieval Guitar Hero thing was quite silly, but not good-silly, more like the sort of corny thing you'd expect to happen in Doctor Who if it was an American mainstream series, but it felt really out of place here. Actually, the whole scene (time-traveling rock star in Medieval times) reminded me of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure... Maybe it even was an intentional nod? Regardless, they could've done without it.

A few stray questions that may or may not be answered the next episode:

* Didn't Davros die in season 4? Couldn't they have at least added a line of dialogue explaining how he survived? Well okay, Missy came back from death without an explanation too, but in her case it was already pretty obvious how she might've survived.

* In season 6 destroying the TARDIS made the whole universe implode. Here it gets destroyed too, but nothing like that happens?

* The Doctor is already responsible for countless deaths, right? So why would not saving one kid in the knowledge that he'll grow up to be Space Hitler be the one thing that makes the Doctor so ashamed he wants to die?

"in this series they're usually a bit more creative"

Radio Times saying Capaldi played the music in that scene himself XD XD XD

Good point wrt Bill & Ted, he even teaches them the word "dude".

Then again I will love Bill & Ted for the rest of time.

xpost - I was hoping! yay <3

I, too will love Bill and Ted for the rest of time.

Watched this slightly buzzed after getting home from my friend's wake and it really cheered me up. But also liked the 'Clara is capable and in control until Missy shows up/Missy is in control and capable until Skaro shows up' progression in the episode.

* Didn't Davros die in season 4? Couldn't they have at least added a line of dialogue explaining how he survived?

He died in Season 12 and Season 21 as well - not as often as the Master, but it's entirely in character for him to show up again and again as well (to ever-diminishing returns).

* In season 6 destroying the TARDIS made the whole universe implode.

I don't remember this?

Here it gets destroyed too, but nothing like that happens?

I suspect there's the faintest outlying chance that it's possible that it hasn't really been destroyed.

"Bad Wolf" featured Rose getting "disintegrated", only she was actually teleported by the Daleks elsewhere, so it's not really straining credibility to think the same thing happened with Missy, Clara and the TARDIS had the same thing happen to them.

Fake-killing major characters repeatedly is only slightly better than RTD's old 'someone will definitely diiiie!' thing and then later being all like 'ah I meant like inside, aaaahaha'.

Honestly I'm impressed Danny has stayed dead for as long as he has

^^^

Aw, dammit. NO MORE SEXY DOCTORS

Wait was Capaldi sexy this episode?

I'm wondering if the police box/chamelon circuit interface thing for a TARDIS that actually exists in a different dimension has anything to do with what was destroyed, if anything actually was. Just wondering if the only thing that has been destroyed is the interface from tis dimension to the one that the main part of the TARDIS exists in.
Trying to remember what was said when #9 was around and Rose met her dad, that wound up with an empty police box with no TARDIS inside. Had the interior ceased to be or just the interface/dimensional portal that allows one to access the interior?

Also been wondering with the interior of the TARDIS being in a different dimension to the visible exterior, is it understood that the interior moves alongside the exterior every time that moves. Or is it more static with the exterior being the only thing moving?
Or if it is the latter purely because it would be a conventional thought process that a spaceship be thought to move as one when the TARDIS is a more complex phenomenon.
Is it a pocket universe integrally tied to the exterior that is visible in this universe?
Or is it all a studio convenience for getting a British actor from point a in a story to point b?

* In season 6 destroying the TARDIS made the whole universe implode.

I don't remember this?

Sorry, I mean season 5, not season 6. The whole thing with the stars disappearing and the universe imploding until only Earth is left in the season finale is explained to have happened because the Silence blew up the TARDIS.

Wait was Capaldi sexy this episode?

No, I'm comparing his numbers to Tennant/Smith and hoping he doesn't get replaced with Robert Pattinson or some other nonsense

i'm hoping for harry styles myself

bring back Colin Baker

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T0MwZn9QgiM/VAMSDcTXJsI/AAAAAAAAETI/LL4CQegOF74/s1600/seventies_porn_colin.jpg

The whole thing with the stars disappearing and the universe imploding until only Earth is left in the season finale is explained to have happened because the Silence blew up the TARDIS.

Take your pick: they blew up the inside of the TARDIS near a known point of time flux, with the doors hacked open, releasing ~time energy~ into that focal point; it was actually their attempt to stop the Doctor reaching Trenzalore by blowing up the TARDIS that generated the entire paradox that created the cracks in the universe, which are what actually 'imploded' everything; it's not really blown up and we'll find out next week.

THere is an episode in the Christopher Ecclestone series where he takes Rose back in time to her parents wedding day. Because the timeline gets changed the forces controlling the Universe release a number of dark, winged creatures that are supposed to clean up time paradoxes.
The TARDIS also winds up as an empty Police box either with the contents destroyed or the interface between them and the dimensional portal that is the TARDIS door being disconnected. I can't remember which. But think either way that there being a physical remnant being left is weird physics.
I still don't really understand the interdimensional connectivity of what is externally visible in the universe the outside is seen in and the dimension that the inside is in.
Would think that if things were being worked out now there would be no need for the interior to actually need to physically move with the outside since it is in another dimension anyway, so could remain statically placed in whatever dimension that was with the outside being projected in whatever location it needed to be. But assume that since it is conventional for a vehicle to move as one, it has always been assumed that the interior of the Tardis is moving with its external portal. Which seems to be more rooted in convention than necessity as far as I can see.
Or is the interior a pocket universe physically dependent on the exterior so needing to move around with it?
Rather than the exterior being a somehow solidified projection from the interior?

I'm wondering if the thing that the Daleks exterminated in the Magician's Apprentice was no more than the visible exterior of something that was actually elsewhere. Which would also tally with the idea that the TARDIS could only be destroyed from inside since it's outside is merely a projection. It has been described as nearly indestructible before hasn't it? Certainly if one is trying to do so from outside.

Or, right, the TARDIS being just a telephone box is an excellent scare which Billie Piper played well off, and that's as far as thought there went (quite rightly).

That episode has the box left as an empty wooden shell with no internal TARDIS. Eccleston goes to unlock the TARDIS, does so and finds the interior missing but a wooden looking structure remaining. I'll have to rewatch it but haven't had time to yet.
Just thinking that if the exterior of the TARDIS is something that is projected from the interior, it should vanish if the inside disappears.
But wondering what of the TARDIS is in the location of the adventure. The Chameleon circuit projects a disguise onto a something which I don't think has ever been shown as a default factory setting version. Or is it all a projection from the dimension that the interior is in?

Obviously in 1963 when the show started there was a need for a location to say the doctor lived in, also a way that he got around from adventure to adventure. So the production team came up with a prop that they worked out could combine both purposes. That prop in turn became iconic and a trademark image of the show. It only appears to be later that the idea of its interior and how it traveled through space was worked out. So subsequently I wonder to what degree that would have been changed if the logistics were worked out in tandem from scratch instead of being details that accumulated to an existing image/prop?
Also not fully conversant with what is understood of the way things supposedly work in a supposed real world setting. Can see stepping into the TARDIS is stepping across a dimensional portal but as to how that works, if the TARDIS Interior is a dimension of its own or what. Just been half thinking that if it is a different dimension then a dimension is a continuous expanse that it would be moving around inside of.

Is it a police box that the first Doctor is seen nicking when Clara interrupts him?

If it is it's a stupid mistake on the part of the production team who made that episode. It should only look like hat when it gets to earth of a certain era.
The master has a similar vehicle that has gone through a number of different looks. & Colin Baker fixed the chameleon circuit and transformed the TARDIS Into a keyboard instrument and something else.
I don't think there is any kind of fixed dimensions range for the size of the interface. It doesn't need to be this size by this size, it is obviously more convenient if the size of opening is convenient for the size of the occupant to fit through.
People have been wondering how they fit a tank through the doors for one to appear in that medieval scene. I've been wondering if there is a need for the TARDIS's chameleon circuit disguised depiction to actually be of a size to contain the size of portal needed or if it just needs to be a placeholder so that the Timelord knows where his portal is located. It is going to be easier for a tv production team on a fixed budget to depict that process as a hole/doorway/whatever that an actor can enter than to rig up a way of depicting a portal in open space, at least it would be until the technology available to them caught up with their imaginations.

everybody should ignore "attack of the cybermen"