Doctor Who Thread

I do love a good cliffhanger, but I don't think the big, long serials of old would do very well today. It's a shame, as it allowed for richer stories. The two "one plot" seasons of Torchwood were bangers.

Too right - the four/five/six part serial style of Who cannot return, where you could tell a maximum of three complete stories per series. I'm fine with that; TV has moved on since (although the Torchwood examples you rightly cite were awesome). Just one or two more cliffhangers? Please? Everyone loves a cliffhanger.

There was an interview a couple of years back with one of the writers lamenting the lack of cliffhangers. His answer was to have multiple examples in the episode; the commission is in danger, we cut to the doctor. The doctor says he has an idea, we cut to the economy and so on. In a lot of episodes, you can see them getting to do this.

of course, when they take cliffhangers too far you get this...

Not sure if that's a joke inferring that we are cliffhanging waiting to see the video you were "meant" to post, or if that's a genuinely not working link.

Also cliffhangers in the show aren't really cliffhangers, there's no real waiting or excitement because it'll be solved in less than 5 mins.

Proof, were it needed, the the current crop of writers don't understand pacing!

And I think this is what Drunka was going for. (Desktop/mobile link clash?)

I wish I was clever enough to make a gag like that.

Yeh, that's what I meant to post. And to what Andy said, the cliffhangers can be a bit crap but this one was quite good. It didn't have a simple little threat which can be sorted, the cliffhanger was just the plot itself.

Santa Claus?  Forget the Cybermen: the day when Doctor Who starts using the American name for Father Christmas is the first sign of the apocalypse.

Yup, this one worked.  I like the fact that they didn't pull a deus ex machina (insert Cybermen joke here) to bring Danny "properly" back to life, which the bracelet would otherwise have been.  And I'm very interested to see what's gone down in Gallifrey, which I'm sure they'll leave until the back end of next year's series, the teases.

Also, no way that's a killing device.  Maybe it's a teleport, like the one they used in the heist episode?

Finally, I'll actually be sad to see Jenna go as the assistant.  She seemed to get better throughout the series, unlike most assistants who stayed the same and I got tired of them.  Maybe that says good things about the timing of her departure.

The finale didn't quite gel for me. It was good but not great - too much of the Doctor faffing about. Maybe it's just because I was really ill... though the goodbyes (?) of Clara and Danny were well-handled (more so than Rory's, at least).

It was decent enough and seems to leave open for missy to come back, but we saw a episode where we seen a future Pink but Danny's dead. So is Clara pregnant maybe and is Jenna definitely going.

How would Missy come back? There would be a regeneration happening from the deletion, Dunno and Yes she's leaving

They'll find an excuse to bring Missy/ The Master back eventually.
I think it was implied that the Doctor and Father Christmas are going to bring Danny back somehow?
I always liked Clara, but I won't be sad to see her replaced by someone less miserable. 

Overall, a fun episode with a rushed ending. And the BBC should know it can't match Iron Man 3's budget.

This finale rated M for Meh.
I liked the redesign of the cybermen but it sucks that they didn't really do anything aside from blow themselves up (I was really looking forward to a bloody rampage of some kind). Danny's little speech was a bit pointless considering that cybermen haven't got emotions but I guess he just got carried away in the moment or something.
I rather enjoyed laughing at those "guards" standing behind Missy who didn't react at all while she escaped and took the plane down (Is that really how you treat such a dangerous villain? 'Twas a bit daft, really).
On the plus side I guess they handled Danny's death pretty well and the goodbye between Clara and the Doctor was suitably short and to the point.
I'm also looking forward to the episode in which we find out that Gallifrey is still in one piece but by the time the Doctor reached the co-ordinates it had orbited to the other side of whatever star it orbits in such a way as to be invisible from the aforementioned position.
Oh and Father Christmas was a plus too. He's a pretty chill guy*.

TL;DR: Too many words, not enough deleting. I say Father Christmas now because I wasn't aware Santa was an Americanism.



*It's because he lives in the North Pole and the North Pole is cold

Because I thought like balla that it looked a lot like the teleport from previous episodes also we never found out who Gus was.

Oh goodness, the guards.  That was grade A stupidity. HIGHLY TRAINED ARMY MEN fail to notice that the one person they're guarding has slipped her handcuffs.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Missy is coming back next season according the the actress who played her.

I know this sounds insane but can't we have an original villain for once? (Giving old baddies a sex change doesn't count)

Not insane. I'd like to see some new major enemies too. Maybe more evil Time Lords, now that re-Gallifrey is a thing.

The Missyster (that's never going to catch on, Zero) can surely bring back other Time Lords, if necessary. As for original baddies, I'd love to see more, too! The more the show can surprise its audience, the better.

Duck o'Death wrote:

I know this sounds insane but can't we have an original villain for once? (Giving old baddies a sex change doesn't count)

HEAR HEAR! The best New Who's have been out of nowhere. I'm even sick of Daleks. I never thought that would happen.

Looks like Clara is staying for at least for one episode next year.

All 12, apparently!

I don't know what the general consensus is but that was absolutely fantastic. Perfect Christmas Who.

Absolutely hated it!

I'm not sure what to think about it. I liked the headcrabs, but it lacked the punch of the other "dream episode", with the village of possessed old people and the cold star. I was quite looking forward to a new companion too: Clara's wearing her welcome thin.

Did like the Danny Pink episode, though.

To me I found the episode a bit meh, like it wasn't terrible but yet wasn't great either