Doctor Who - Series Ten (10)

Yes indeed - I was totally crushing on her at the time. She was delightful.

 

Capaldi and the woman who plays Bill have a great chemistry. The writers are able to introduce some adult concepts and get away with it because of the chemistry. Today's borrowed a bit from Angel but was still the best thing I saw all week.

 

Meh. Last week's containment lab episode was dreadful. This week's ep was better, but still meh. I do however agree about Bill & Doc chemistry.

 

I haven't watched this week yet. But I thought last week was awful. I hate hate hate the President of Earth thing, and I'm sorry they brought it back.

 

I'm fully caught up now... six episodes in one day! Kreegah! Nice to see the Ice Warriors again, not sure about Alpha Centauri though but it made me laff as it were. If the Cybermen inspired the Borg I wonder if the Ice Warriors could have been an influence on the Klingons? How they became not just villains in the two Peladon stories anyway.

 

Another horrible episode. The plot and the dialog was at the level of a kids cartoon with a pantomimey villain. And if you're going to suggest that Mars was previously livable before the atmosphere 'evaporated', at least make it a realistic ~3.7 billion or so years ago, not bloody 5,000 years ago (and not that it ever had an oxygen atmosphere)!

 

It was another one of those 'what would look interesting visually' but was not well thought through type of episodes. I guess having the giant olive in a shower curtain at the end was appropriate enough, but at least they didn't mention Martian canals (or Venusian kung-fu)! Wasn't this written by a Sylvester McCoy era writer? There were always embarrassing and ropey things in Doctor Who, just hopefully few and far between. It's probably lucky we only have The Gunfighters and not the Christmas address to the camera in front of Z Cars stand-ins from the William Hartnell years.

 

This was written by Mark Gatiss. There is a later episode this series that has been written by Rona Munro who wrote the final story of the Sylvester McCoy era, Survival, back in 1989.

 

I've come to wince every time I learn of Gatiss writing another Doctor Who. I loved The League of Gentlemen, but all of his episodes other than his first for The Unquiet Dead way back in Series One have been weak, and last Series' "Sleep No More" was hands down the worst Doctor Who episode ever. Frankly, I'm a little annoyed that Moffat gave him another shot after that one, but Empress of Mars turned out to be one of his better works (relatively speaking).

 

That could be interesting to compare to Survival. I see Gatiss wrote those P.R.O.B.E. semi spin-off shows with McCoy, Baker, Davison and Pertwee involved, plus I may have read a New Adventure book by him before I stopped following that which had the McCoy Doctor's further adventures, so maybe that's why I associated him with Sylvester so strongly.

 

I see he wrote the one with the vintage televisions and the climb up the old 'Ally-Pally' tower. I thought that was fun, being interested in '50s telly and knowing how people were rushing to get a set for the coronation. Too bad the Doctor didn't think to leave behind a few video recorders for future Who fans to record Marco Polo etc. with!

 

I enjoyed it. Ice Warriors (whats not to like?) and that very subtle Tardis take off sound(as Nardole became just a passenger) where they used the higher strings of the piano...haven't hear that in years! Classic old school Dr. Who.

 

I think Missy could be the new doctor ! or John Simm's Master !

 

Please, No!

 

I like the Ice Warriors, so I'm a little forgiving, and I did find this more entertaining than the 3 story arc with the monks.

 

...and the lameness continues!

 

Yep. I thought this past episode was the lamest of all.

The best part was the very end with the brief exchange with the Doctor and Missy.

I wonder what Missy has up her sleeve?

I bet either she will be the direct cause or indirect cause of the Doctor's next regeneration.

 

I haven't watched this week's yet, but I agree that the season seems to be fizzling a bit after such a strong beginning.

I will say this is the first season I have liked Missy, though. She's been terrific, at least up through the Mars ep. Again, don't know this week's yet.

 

These episodes have to be weak so the next doctor will be a welcomed relief and not lose in the comparison march that follows.

 

Indeed a few weak episodes so far...forgettable plots and not very suspenseful or thrilling....

 

If you look back at every series since its revival, the weakest episodes usually seem to be the stories right before the finale, for example:

Series 1: ep 11, Boom Town
Series 2: ep 10, Love and Monsters, ep 11, Fear Her
Series 3: Got the bad ones out of the way early actually. If it wasn't for the regeneration of the Master at the end of ep.11, "Utopia" it would have been the perfect example of a filler episode.
Series 4: Ep 10, Midnight, Ep 11, Turn Left. Lots of love for Midnight but not by me. Turn Left was just a lame Donna centric episode. Overall I didn't care for this series.
Series 5: My vote for worst of the season was ep 2, The Beast Below but I'm sure others would vote for Ep. 11: The Lodger, which I enjoyed
Series 6: Ep. 11: Closing Time
Series 7: Ep 12: Nightmare in Silver
Series 8: Ep 7, Kill The Moon, Ep 10, In The Forest of the Night
Series 9: Ep 9, Sleep No More

 

Well, if the next doctor/scripts are better, it would be down to the new showrunner (and hopefully new writers).

 

Early Cynermen...and no comments in this thread. . What's wrong with you guys?

 

Waiting for part 2 of this episode of course!
And indeed; the final two episodes might become the best of this patchy series.....

 

Thought there would be more of a reaction to..The Master returning plus the old style Cyberdudes.
I agree, could be a little bit special.