New Dr Who Series 8 Directed by Ben Wheatley

Bad news everyone...Moffat will return as show runner for season 9.

 

I think it's great news, I enjoy his tenure more than the prior show-runner.

 

I'm hoping that Clara's departure help things. I can't say that I prefer any of the nu-Who show runners over any other, but I can certainly divide it up by the companions that I liked.

 

How can her leaving help? Without her, this season would have been even more unwatchable that it was. The only way I can see Clara's departure possibly helping is if it forces the writers to come up with a new companion dynamic/back-story. But there is no guarantee that the change will bring us better quality as we still have Moffat running things, writing scripts and influencing other writers.

 

Why in the world would that help? It's the writing that is the problem not the character or actress.

 

I'm just not a big fan of Clara. The last companion I really liked was Donna. It would be interesting if they get an older companion next time

 

Don't forget about the Christmas Special Episode tonight at 9:00 PM EST.

Santa to the rescue???

 

I think he's one of the better writers the show has had - reminds me of David Whitaker.

 

Q: What do you get when you take Santa Claus, the movie Alien and the movie Inception and then throw them in a pot and stir?

A: The 2014 Doctor Who Christmas Special


LOL

 

A great seasonal episode. The petulant banter between the Doctor and Father Christmas made me snigger. Overall, well written, Clara as beautiful as she's ever been, great performance by Nick Frost and a decent goodbye to Danny Pink. None of that flying-shark nonsense this year. Flying reindeer makes perfect sense......
(And a nice tie-in with another Hoffman post: Shona's silly dancing to Slade's 'Merry Christmas Everybody' clearly being the highlight of the show. I'd love to see her again - but we probably never will)

 

I liked this Christmas episode. A great script by Steven Moffatt and the Doctor was less grumpy than usual.

 

Also Clara will obviously be in Season 9 after speculation that she would leave this year. I wonder if she'll make to the end of next season.

 

Nice nods to Alien and Inception!

 

Great episode, with a terrifying alien and a healthy dose of Christmas whimsy. When you start out dancing to Slade, how can it go wrong? That may have been the first time I actually liked Danny, especially his retort to the Doctor about saving the world: "I died saving Clara... the rest of you just got lucky."

 

Don't forget Starro.

 

A good episode, easily in the top three of this series.

I'm disappointed Clara will be sticking around. Perhaps she'll improve with the departure of Danny Pink.

 

Shona would make a good companion.

 

I'm ecstatic that Jenna signed on for another season, I was kind of shocked at all the nerd-rage that accompanied her resigning, I think she's great.

 

And also Alan Moore's 'The Man Who Has Everything' , where Superman is trapped in a dream world caused by the creature burrowing into his chest.

 

Moffat is a terrific writer. When Davies had him writing episodes Moffat seemed more focused on making a good episode and frequently nailed it. Now every episode he writes has to fit inside a bigger story of his own construction, which has him leaving loose strands everywhere that don't always seem to connect. As showrunner, I think he needs to narrow the focus by doing more standalone episodes (whether written by him or others) that aren't necessarily intended to add to the Who legend. Back to basics, as the saying goes.

 

Early on I was about to write the Christmas episode off as total fluff and nonsense. I started counting off the blatant plagiarizing from other works: Guardians of the Galaxy (dance bit), Alien (face huggers, dripping blood goop), Little Shop Of Horrors (sleeper faces), Inception (dream within a dream), Lego movie (toy robots) and any number of Trek or Twilight Zone episodes to do with the nature of reality.

However, after a while, the plot became a lot more palatable. It even managed to explain away the above plagiarizing by incorporating peoples' experiences (including movie pop culture) into the fake reality. Well done. And I absolutely loved the bit where the Doctor is made aware of a horror movie called Alien and he responds - no wonder your world keeps getting attacked.

There were also some clever bits of dialog and a few sentimental moments which raised this episode to above average. So, the Christmas episode was saved and best news of all is that Clara will be sticking around. Yay!

 

Early on I was about to write the Christmas episode off as total fluff and nonsense. I started counting off the blatant plagiarizing from other works: Guardians of the Galaxy (dance bit), Alien (face huggers, dripping blood goop), Little Shop Of Horrors (sleeper faces), Inception (dream within a dream), Lego movie (toy robots) and any number of Trek or Twilight Zone episodes to do with the nature of reality.

However, after a while, the plot became a lot more palatable. It even managed to explain away the above plagiarizing by incorporating peoples' experiences (including movie pop culture) into the fake reality. Well done. And I absolutely loved the bit where the Doctor is made aware of a horror movie called Alien and he responds - no wonder your world keeps getting attacked.

There were also some clever bits of dialog and a few sentimental moments which raised this episode to above average. So, the Christmas episode was saved and best news of all is that Clara will be sticking around. Yay!

 

This doctor really seems to "get" the role and is quickly becoming my favorite of the reboot