Doctor Who (2016) - Meet Bill

joanne said:
And Ep #3... Is it new or rehashed? Did it keep us engaged, amused or fidgeting with the popcorn?
Did we get the Peter Andre dig?

I really loved it. Very evocative of the Second Doctor's era (the "base under siege" story) with a balance of tension and humor. The monsters were genuinely unsettling (the scene with the wrench - GAHHHHH) and it was fantastic to have a deaf authority figure. I really appreciated how the Doctor focused on her when she was speaking and not looking at her interpreter. Mrs. 37 is an ASL interpreter, so it was particularly interesting for her to see BSL in action.

I need to check it out again, but I think the soundtrack was doing some cool stuff with electronics (reminded me of 1980s Doctor Who).

Capaldi definitely hit his groove as the Doctor. The index cards were a fun touch - it's interesting to think that social graces can "reset" for the Doctor (thinking back to Matt Smith's hilarious cheek kiss greetings). Not sure about the sonic shades, but hey it's a chance of pace.

I'm an episode behind, but I'm really enjoying the format change this season - always loved the two-part stories.

I think it's been a really strong season so far. Last season I thought Capaldi was a great doctor trapped in some pretty uninspired stories. While I agree he seems to really be digging into the role this season, I think the writing has shaped up, too.

glad it's not just me, then. Thought it was a bit funny (and very true of real life) when he said 'I read Sign' then was hopelessly lost and further Signed back plain gibberish - also taught us the TARDIS works on sounds not total communication.

They've changed the opening credits again, haven't they, and sound track?

I so wanted my friend Sam to see this pair of eps, I miss her so much. I don't Sign much any more and I have no one to celebrate Loud Shirt Day with. BTW, you're observing World Thrombosis Day, did you know? And Thursday is White Cane Day.

Interesting... I am also liking this season more, so perhaps it was the writing all along. I actually quite like the Rocker Doctor... The electric guitar, the sonic sunglasses... All vvery cool

I hope he's enjoying using his guitar skills

I thought it was actually Capaldi playing... Is it??

Yep! A former punk band member. Not sure how much he still plays (I'll have to do some sniffing around) but he certainly gets into it.

Oh, I don't think he's really playing the full theme though

joanne said:
Yep! A former punk band member. Not sure how much he still plays (I'll have to do some sniffing around) but he certainly gets into it.

Yep. Used to be in a band called the Dreamboys with Craig Ferguson.

But that was high school wasn't it?

No matter... He seems to still know how to play.

joanne said:
But that was high school wasn't it?

I think Craig was 18 and Peter was 23.

Just been listening to 'Bela Lugosi's Birthday', what fun!

http://nerdist.com/someone-dug-up-audio-of-peter-capaldi-and-craig-furgesons-punk-band-the-dreamboys/

I'm lost. Why are there two Osgoods? What did I miss?

PeggyC said:
I'm lost. Why are there two Osgoods? What did I miss?

In the 50th Anniversary Special, one of the Zygons -who are shape shifters- changed into a duplicate Osgood. At some point after the 3 Doctors thwarted the doomsday scenario in that episode, the two Osgoods made the video we saw in the opening of this latest episode. (We didn't see them make the video; this was new information.) Since then, there have been two Osgoods, one human and one Zygon, but they would not reveal which was which. Then we saw Missy kill one of them, and because at that time we didn't know there were two Osgoods, we thought Osgood was dead. In this new episode, the Doctor figured out in his conversation with the remaining Osgood the she, the remaining one, is really the original,human Osgood.

No wonder I'm so confused. I thought I must have missed an episode! I didn't like this one much, sad to say. And the season was so promising up till now.

Haven't watched that Ep yet, but found myself wondering if the now-immortal Viking Maisie Williams was an early ancestor of Clara's. I'm glad they didn't do something cheesy and obvious by 'revealing' the long-lost line of connection.

I've been wondering how long they will keep resurrecting that plot line. I was amused to see them bring up the "face" of the man from Pompeii that the Doctor and Donna Noble saved back when, also played by Capaldi. "Who frowned me this face?" indeed.

Yeah. (Frowny emoticon) not sure if it's lazy writing or meant to be tying loose ends into the warp and weft.

David Tennant and Catherine Tate have reprised their roles for a series of radio plays coming out next year. Here's a preview - this sounds like fun car listening:

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-11-18/keep-calm--but-weve-got-the-exclusive-first-clip-of-david-tennant-and-catherine-tates-return-to-doctor-who

Speaking of lazy writing and other problems, I have quit watching again. The last couple of episodes lost my interest entirely. Wish the show didn't strike me as so uneven these days. I was loving the start of the season, then hit a wall.

It's stopped being appointment television for me as well - I stopped partway through "The Woman Who Lived". I'll catch up pretty soon as there are some interesting episodes I do want to watch - one with just Peter Capaldi by himself (!), a found footage episode (the first episode with no title sequence), and the extended finale episode. We know Jenna Coleman is leaving and it sounds like Clara is getting a pretty major exit.

It's a shame, because I really like Capaldi in the role and think he deserves better.

I liked the Woman Who Lived shows, although I preferred the first one a little. I also like Capaldi in the role, but I wonder if Clara leaving could maybe be a good thing? Not that I don't like Jenna Coleman, but I suspect another companion might shake up the mix and change things enough for me to like it again. At least, I hope so.

trouble is, like with Star Trek for example or Red Dwarf, if you write for too many generations or with too many in-jokes, you just lose focus. The subtle message might be !after so many lives and so much time, you just lose focus', but personally I feel it's writing to flog merchandise.

I haven't watched the latest one (broadcast last night, over here), but yeah last week's was awful. I'm sure it sounded better at the script conference. They like the monsters-you-can't-see thing. Execution was lamentable; only potential saving grace was a possible reference to Weeping Angels at the end.

I haven't watched the latest either. I've kind of lost the faith. I used to look forward to it and got excited when I saw a new episode in my queue. Now, I wince slightly and watch something else.

Me too. This is a great writeup that sums up my (our?) feelings:

http://whatculture.com/tv/7-reasons-youre-getting-tired-of-steven-moffats-doctor-who.php

That makes some sense. Some of it I had noticed, some I had not. Interesting that I agree about which episodes were the best ever, and why. I hope Moffat reads the writing (or the crack) on the wall and corrects some of it. It's becoming tiresome, which is very sad.

Is the young woman who plays Arya Stark in Game of Thrones going to be the Doctor's next companion??? She keeps turning up, and I'm wondering whether they are getting ready to kill off Arya on GofT. That would annoy me very much. Although, at the same time, I'm glad Clara is finally going to be retired as a Doctor WHO character.

Actually, a lot of people are also saying its Gattis' writing. (Apologies, I can never get his name right)  he likes to do stuff in his writing and acting that is also predictable, and also (supposedly) different to the other two, except really none of them are that different from each other because of what they're working with. 

A lot of why I hated last week was because I couldn't see anything (I hate dark sets) and what I could see was clunky, old and made no sense. Rule 1: don't treat your audience as if they're idiots. 

I watched the last two back-to-back. Not as awful as that baaaaad one that was a nothing. But this week's, I'm not sure what it means. Anyone else seen it yet? Do we take it at face-value? 

I'm so confused. 

I'm not I everything all coded and multilevelled. Can't it just be simple and clear for once?