The Doctor Who Club v.4

[VampirateMace]

Agree-ing to Disagree then. BTW, I never said he acturally convinced himself the Voice Interface was Amelia...

They showed that clip during the commercials on BBC America... and my Mom thought Clara was just being paranoid.

Thanks for posting links to the previews.

 

[Armando Payne]

Spoiler: Soo...

Why did Doctor Who decide to do Moonraker? (I mean with the exception of the Total Recall-style reveal the rest of the episode was practically the plot of Moonraker in Victorian England. (Moonraker is a James Bond movie in which the main villain intends to save all the attractive people, uses them as their army and intends to destroy the whole world with a deadly poison from a living thing and intends to escape with the pretty people in a rocket, and the ending also involves a laser-gun. This episode is a Doctor Who episode in which the main villain intends to save all the attractive people, uses them as their army and intends to destroy the whole world with a deadly poison from a living thing and intends to escape with the pretty people in a rocket, and the ending also involves a laser-gun. So out of all the James Bond movies to rip off, why that one?)

 

[Will-powered Spriter]

Yay, I finally got to watch an episode with the rest of my uni's society. It was great fun, everyone was making wise cracks, there was a nice discussion afterwards, then food and lastly a game of chrononauts set to the portal 2 sound track.

Oh yeah, the episode:

Spoiler: Red Scare

I enjoyed it. It was nothing special, but it worked well enough and I had fun watching. Strax, Vastra and Jenny were fun as usual, and it was great hearing everyone's reaction to Tomas Tomas. I was also impressed with how Ada took crap from no one, splatting the leech and thwacking Miss Whatserface with a stick once she revealed her true nature. Also Clara's ingenuity with a chair.

BUT FOR GOD SAKE DOCTOR, EXPLAIN CLARA DAMNIT.

 

[Becoming]

Spoiler: The Crimson Horror

I enjoyed that episode. It's been one of the better ones of this series, I reckon. So where to start...

I liked the amount of the characters we saw in that episode. There was a good amount of Vastra, Jenny, and Strax; but there was also enough of the Doctor and Clara that I wouldn't consider it a 'doctor lite' episode like we've had before (Love and Monsters, Blink). I really like Jenny now, she's a pretty cool character. I think she'd make a good companion if she was given the chance. I especially liked how she was ready to kick ***. And her sleuthing.

Well, I didn't quite understand what was going on with the crimson horror (the red faces). Mrs Gillyflower wanted to send up the poison and kill most of humanity...and what? She had created an anti-venom for her to survive...but what was up with everyone with the red faces? I might have to rewatch again to understand. But I did like how Mr Sweet was a little lizard creature thingy. He was kinda cute. I didn't see that coming. When Mrs Gillyflower said something about a symbionic relationship, I thought she was going to take off the thing on her head and turn around to show another face (like Voldemort in the Philosopher's Stone). It sucked what happened to her daughter. But it was hilarious when her daughter just attacked her.

I was really hoping that Clara would somehow find out about Victorian Clara while in Victoria. Like maybe she'd come across one of the kids that she looked after. In the end she did sort of find out about herself, and I don't really like how that happened. Theoretically pictures could have been taken of her in Hide (there was a camera there) but I don't think anyone on the submarine in Cold War would have had a camera. And I find it hard to believe that the kids Clara's looking after would have found the photos. But she did find out about Victorian her in the end (but that could be explained to her as that being a future version of herself). But whatever, hopefully this is going to work into the next episode and move things along...

So I don't quite get how Clara was preserved in that glass thingy. Why was she preserved at all? It just didn't make much sense...

My favorite moment of this episode was probably Clara with the chair. I mean that was kinda awesome.

Spoiler: next time

So it appears that the Doctor is taking Clara and the children she's looking after to the moon, and then to this amusement park...which has Cybermen. The Doctor had metal thingies on his head, so I presume they're taking information from his brain? They said he was the savior of the Cybermen so I presume that he's going to play a part in reviving them (kinda like in Victory of the Daleks where he accidentally helped to revive the Daleks). This reminds me of the little bit of the classic series I've seen, 'Tomb of the Cybermen.' Some other guy was trying to revive the Cybermen.

I don't think either of the kids is going to die, because that would be too sad. How would Clara explain that to their parents? It's not going to happen. But Clara seems different in the trailer. Really in charge. If I didn't know any better I'd say that it was another incarnation of her (but I watched the trailer like a million times and it seems to be the same Clara. Bummer). And this is the one where she attacks the Cyberman!

Spoiler: the finale

More and more information is popping up. Apparently there's going to be a prequel for the finale, on BBC's 'red button' service. I have no idea what that is, but I don't think that's going to matter, because the trailer will inevitably make its way onto Youtube. The trailer will be about the Doctor and Clara discussing how little they actually know about each other. It almost implies that they're going to find out something about each other - like the Doctor's name and the deal with Clara. So yeah, I'm excited for that!

There's also been a summary released, I don't think anyone's mentioned it: "Clara is summoned to an impossible conference call, alerting her that the deadly Whisper Men are closing in on Vastra, Jenny and Strax. Someone is kidnapping the Doctor’s friends, leading him toward the one place in all of time and space that he should never go. It’s a deadly trap that threatens to unravel his past, present and future..." I think 'the one place in all of time and space that he should never go' refers to Trenzalore. I mean, everything thus far is pointing to Trenzalore.

I've also found some stuff that's apparently from Doctor Who magazine. Spoilery stuff. Don't know how legit this is but spoilers within the spoiler because very spoilery. I'm only putting thoughts about the stuff, click the link if you wanna see any of it:

Spoiler: rumors and very spoilery stuff

So according to this it is Trenzalore. Not that I had any doubts...the Great Intelligence is back, and what concerns me is that there seems to be a lot happening in this episode. There's the Doctor, Clara, and River; there's two antagonists (Whispermen and the GI, although the former may be working for the latter); there's two big reveals (Clara and the Doctor's name). How will it fit into fifty minutes, I don't know.

Apparently post-Library River is appearing. This is the thing that makes zero sense to me, because I always presumed that it was at Trenzalore that River found out the Doctor's name. And this brings up a lot of questions. How did River survive the Library!? When did she find out the Doctor's name then!? And how will she be properly sent off if she's not truly dead!?

And we're gonna learn Clara's secret. The thing is that not everyone is going to make it out alive. Whether that means River properly dying (please no) or Clara dying (also please no), or possibly someone else dying...it can't be the Doctor though. Probably not. Because Matt Smith is set to appear in the 50th anniversary, so unless there's reason why the regeneration is halted, it's safe to say he'll stick around.

I honestly think it's going to be Clara that dies. We did see that picture of the Doctor carrying her (or if you didn't here it is). There was something similar with Amy during Asylum of the Daleks...and hey! That Clara doesn't have to be our Clara, it could be an other her! But if they were to kill her off, she'd be replaced by another version of herself...um, I don't know what I want! I just want these Claras to stop dying please! This wasn't my idea but that I like (I like to hate it): 'The fall of the eleventh' doesn't necessarily have to refer to the Doctor. What other character appearing in the finale has multiple incarnations? Clara's referred to the number 11 a bit ("eleven's the best" and "eleventh grossest thing") so is it possible that she's the eleventh incarnation of herself? Will it be her that dies!?

And last thing: I'm certain that the finale will lead into the 50th. Moffat will be giving us a six month cliffhanger. I just know it.

Becoming/Clara Oswin Oswald/Clara Oswin/Oswin Oswald/fourth incarnation of Clara that I'm sure is appearing in the finale

 

[Poetry]

Spoiler: The Horrors... of YORKSHIRE

More terrifying and gut-wrenchingly dreadful than any Who villain.

But anyway, that was... a surprisingly good episode. For some reason I'd hesitate to call it the best of the series, but for once I didn't feel like I had been cheated of my time after it had finished, and that's always a good sign.

I really liked how a lot of the exposition was Doctor- and Clara-free. It gave the episode a really good chance to go along at its own pace and reveal itself slowly, without the frantic childish excitement which the Eleventh Doctor is so well-known for. But once he came back into the picture it was business of usual, of course.

Ada and Mrs Gillyflower were both really interesting characters, with the latter in particular serving as one of the more interesting villains we've seen on the show.There were some bits of the storyline like the actual purpose of the red liquid and Gillyflower's real motives for her actions which could have been elaborated on; both of which I can use for my advantage when I maintain the idea that this series would be a lot more enjoyable if they ditched the whole "movie blockbuster in an episode" idea and brought back two-parters. I think every episode of this series has suffered from lack of plot development and that's because the storylines themselves are simply just too big to fit into a 45-minute episode and often need to be spread across two episodes to fully develop. Just try to imagine what two-parters like Silence in the Library/The Forest of the Dead and The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords would be reduced to if they were squashed into one episode. The Crimson Horror was no exception to this rule, as there was so much potential for more story development and interesting ideas with the characters and the afore-mentioned red liquid.

But despite all that, this was still a stellar episode. My favourite part had to be the flashback/snapshot sequence where the Doctor recounts how he and Clara first arrived in Sweetville and what they did. Brisk and enjoyable. I do hope this isn't the last we've seen of Ada, as there was some actual empathy going on there while I was watching the episode (which is a very rare occurrence, especially with Who), and the sequences where she took out her anger on her mother and the red leech thing were very fun to watch.

The ending with Clara and the kids didn't excite me much, because as I've already mentioned I've lost interest in that aspect of the story arc entirely. I'll be waiting expectantly as to what explanation the writers'll cook up this time but I'm not expecting great things....

 

[elyvorg]

Wheeee.

Spoiler: The Crimson Horror

This was so, so delightfully silly and tongue-in-cheek. That guy who fainted at everything! The old-timey style of the flashback! The Doctor and Clara's Northern accents! Not to mention Strax, who is just about the best source of hilarity ever. Especially him getting overexcited because he'd eaten too many sweets; sociopathic and warlike though he may be, he's almost like a little kid sometimes. And the horse! And the street urchin who spoke like a SatNav! And and and. Oh, Strax. And even Mrs. Gillyflower was entertainingly batty about her evil plans, even though at the same time she also managed to come across as a frighteningly horrible person.

I'd assumed, because it's the usual fare for a Doctor Who episode, that Mrs. Gillyflower would have been some kind of alien - but she's completely human, and in a way that makes her even worse. As if wanting to commit genocide and repopulate the world with her "perfect race" isn't bad enough, the way she treated her own daughter is unforgivable. Poor Ada. I really felt bad for her, tragically blaming herself for everything she was put through and remaining loyal to her mother despite it all. I found it sweet how, because she was lonely, she took pity on the Doctor and helped him, even if her definition of "help" was to lock him in chains and call him a monster. I don't blame her for that, either - that's just another sign of how horribly messed-up she was. She saw a kindred spirit in the Doctor, "imperfect" like her, and kept him as a sort of conviction that, though they were both imperfect, they'd still hopefully have a place in her mother's paradise. She wouldn't have wanted to take him to a reviving chamber and set him free, because that'd make him "perfect" again, and she probably feared that then he'd just leave her behind. I like to imagine that, over the days/weeks he was imprisoned there, Ada occasionally found time to sit with him and talk to him. That way the Doctor would have come to understand what was wrong with her and ultimately not blame her for keeping him there even though he really wanted to just escape and find Clara already. He certainly seemed to understand her when he actually got a chance to talk to her later on - he was absolutely lovely to her in that scene. If only he'd been able to speak while he was poisoned, he could have told her all those things then and reassured her that he could help her, and everything would have been solved much sooner. Alas.

Imagine how terrible it must have been for the Doctor, though, stuck there for days if not weeks. He hates sitting still for long periods at the best of times, let alone when he's in pain, unable to speak, barely able to move, not knowing if he'll ever get out of here and no doubt desperately worried about Clara the entire time. It's not often we see the Doctor and companion, while going about their normal investigating-weird-things business, having everything suddenly go horribly, horribly wrong. Good thing that doesn't happen more often, because they don't always have friends nearby to bail them out. Starting the episode from the perspective of Vastra and Jenny with the lingering mystery of what on earth had happened to the Doctor and Clara was kind of a fun way to tell this story, letting us assume something really bad must have happened to them before revealing that... actually, yeah, it's pretty much as bad as anyone could've imagined. Obviously I don't want every episode to start without the Doctor in it for the first fourteen minutes, but this one time didn't hurt.

The resolution was simple, but very satisfying - yay for the Doctor, Clara and the Paternoster Gang all playing their part in saving the day! Clara's pragmatism with a chair was excellent. As was Ada's pragmatism with a stick - also yay for her finally realising what a hag her mother is and refusing to forgive her. I was still worried she might have done, so it was a real internal punch-the-air moment when she didn't. Now she can get away from all that and start a new life of her own; good for her.

So although we never exactly found out what it was, I'm sure there must have been some particular reason the Doctor wanted to take Clara to Victorian London, something to do with her other self. When Jenny and Vastra asked him about Clara here, he seemed reluctant to admit even to himself that this isn't the same Clara as the one who died at Christmas. It's slightly a shame that Vastra or Jenny never really got the chance to properly talk to him and have him explain everything he currently knew about what's going on with her (even though that's not much) so that they could discuss her mystery a bit more... but then it seems like the main reason the Doctor didn't explain anything to them is because he feels like he has no idea either, and he'll explain once he's figured it out himself. Or, alternatively, from how happy he looked at the fact that he hadn't explained Clara yet, maybe he doesn't want to try and figure her out any more in case that'll somehow result in him losing her, because right now he's just overjoyed that she's even there.

And after all that, and even though the Doctor still didn't tell her a thing himself, Clara finally has found out about one of her other lives! Honestly, despite my foolish optimism last week I was actually starting to resign myself to the fact that she'd probably not find that out until the finale, so it's great that that's not actually the case. I guess from this she'll now be able to piece together various things, such as why the Doctor seemed to want to take her to Victorian London, who that late friend of his that she reminded him of that he mentioned in Akhaten was, and why he was ever so keen to get to know her in the first place when she should have been a stranger to him. Hopefully at some point during next episode she'll find the chance to confront him about this, and interesting stuff will result? That would be good.

Spoiler: Next Time!

This episode actually has Angie and Artie coming in the TARDIS with Clara! Wow. I would never have expected that development. That's going to be really interesting. For one thing, the Doctor is always adorable with kids, so I'm looking forward to that (and more of Clara's motherly side!). But more importantly, they're going to end up in so much danger, and the Doctor is going to completely blame himself for it like he always does - but so is Clara, most likely. Really, this is going to be both their faults. The Doctor should just refuse to take the kids in the TARDIS with him because it could be dangerous (I imagine he only takes them to this amusement park because he assumes it'll be safe; of course, Sexy has to land there the one time there's a Cyberman invasion, because like heck she cares about the extra two strays he's brought with him this time). But equally, Clara shouldn't give in to the kids' blackmailing so easily - I mean, if they did tell their dad she's a time traveller, he'd probably just assume it was a silly prank and not believe them.

Also, perhaps Angie and Artie being here will lead to them getting a chance to explain why the mnemonic for their family's wi-fi password happens to be what it is? I've often wondered about that, why this seemingly completely ordinary family happens to know those words.

Meanwhile, fun stuff with Cybermen - I'm expecting good things from Neil Gaiman here. That circuit on the Doctor's face especially intrigues me. What's it there for? How did it get there? It presumably has to do with the final line in the trailer saying the Doctor is the saviour of the Cybermen. That's... pretty interesting. They can't be planning to upgrade the Doctor into their new Cyber-Leader, can they? I thought the Doctor wasn't compatible with Cybermen - he wasn't in Closing Time, at least. Also, the guy who says that line looks like he has a similar case of circuits-on-the-face, except his is further progressed, making his head already look half-Cyberman. Is this some kind of body-horror-filled slow-conversion process that the Cybermen have come up with, which'll work on even the Doctor? Who knows.

Becoming, again I'd like to say some stuff in reply to some things you said, if that's all right. In particular I thought I'd try and explain the villain's plan to you, seeing as you seemed a bit confused about that, although if you want to figure that out yourself upon rewatching the episode then I guess you should skip past the first paragraph of this.

Spoiler: The villain's plan, and other replies to Becoming

Mrs. Gillyflower wanted to repopulate the world with "perfect" people while murdering everyone else with a rain of concentrated venom from the skies. So she "preserved" her chosen people by dipping them in venom dilute enough that it... put them in a frozen kind of suspended animation, I guess? and then she kept them in glass cases in houses in the meantime because she's just that sick and creepy. The crimson bodies were the "rejects", people who didn't survive the process, because being covered in even diluted venom has got to be a pretty hit-and-miss procedure. The Doctor's body also reacted badly to the venom, making him technically one of the rejects even though he managed to survive because Time Lord biology.

I wouldn't consider it a 'doctor lite' episode like we've had before (Love and Monsters, Blink).

Absolutely not. Steven Moffat appears to be making it a point not to ever have Doctor-lite episodes. He doesn't like them; he thinks it short-changes the viewers, since we all come into an episode expecting to see plenty of the Doctor and it's disappointing if we don't. (I agree with him. :3)

When Mrs Gillyflower said something about a symbionic relationship, I thought she was going to take off the thing on her head and turn around to show another face (like Voldemort in the Philosopher's Stone).

Bahaha. I thought exactly the same thing!

Theoretically pictures could have been taken of her in Hide (there was a camera there) but I don't think anyone on the submarine in Cold War would have had a camera.

No-one would have had a camera on the submarine, no - but remember, the Doctor and Clara had to get a lift from the Russians to the South Pole. They probably had a bunch of adventures along the way, and it's not impossible that someone would have found a camera somewhere and taken a picture to remember their time together.

(I bet Clara had singsongs with Professor Grisenko. It would have been adorable.)

But Clara seems different in the trailer. Really in charge. If I didn't know any better I'd say that it was another incarnation of her (but I watched the trailer like a million times and it seems to be the same Clara. Bummer).

I imagine she seems different because she feels responsible for the kids' safety, so she essentially goes into badass protective mode. It should be fun to see a new side to her! I really, really doubt it could be a different version of Clara, because it makes no sense for another version to be around those kids, especially given the ending of this episode.

(But yes, after what Jenna said last week, I've also started being on hypersensitive alert for other versions of Clara. I thought the ones in the photos might have been different Claras until I realised people from Hide and Cold War were there.)

Ooh, a prequel for the finale? Count me in as excited for that, then; I always love prequels with the Doctor (and sometimes companion(s)) in, and this one sounds especially interesting! And don't worry - the red button service is just a thing for British viewers to be able to watch the prequel on telly if they're not the kind of people who'd look for it on the Internet; it's been done before for other prequels. It'll still be available online, I'm sure.

-elyvorg/Amelia

 

[The Joker.]

Spoiler: STUFF

I think I'm going to seem like the odd one out here, while I enjoyed journey to the centre of the TARDIS, which I gather most people didn't, (I know the whole reset button solution was great but even though the characters didn't develop in the eyes of each other, we got a chance to see how they would develop and their attitudes), I didn't really like this episode. I understand that this episode was more centred about Jenny, Vastra and Straax but I found the episode to be quite slow moving and the plot to be very predictable from "Judgement day will rain down upon us", also I'm not keen on the whole 'bring the kids along' idea of next weeks episode, I like the concept of the amusement park on the moon (Little bit of Futurama influence there maybe) and the cybermen, I just find when they have kids there, they're always a liability and come up with a mushy solution.

I probably sound like a very grumpy person who doesn't like DW, it's just this episode didn't do it for me, and there are ideas in the next which I might not take to either.

The Joker./Dream Lord

 

[fitzy909]

Spoiler: The Crimson Horror

Great episode! it was the funniest one i'd seen in ages! i was hoping strax would appear again and he did! Those three got some great character development in this episode. we got more of an insight into what they do and what they are like. I also loved the bit with the kid Thomas Thomas or 'Tomtom' for short. brilliant. i was a little worried that clara and the doctor were not going to appear until right at the end, but my fears were ungrounded. it was a very creative episode inded and the story was very interesting.

i have a couple of criticisms though. first being when did they pose for those photos? i don't remember them at all. Also, how did they get a picture from a secret military russian sub? it was just thrown in there. if it had shown them throughout the episode finding the pics then it would be okay, but they didn't. also, the 'you better take us or we'll tell dad our nannies a time traveller.' thing is a bit far fetched. if they told their dad he would just say that they were making it up, so why the fuss? other than that part i thought it was a great episode.

Spoiler: Nightmare in Silver

Oh boy...oh boy...oh boy! this is it.I have been waiting for the return of the Cybermen and here it is! awesome scary setting, cool new design...what more could i ask for? not sure what role the kids will play. i'm not so sure having them tag along is going to make it that great, but... i can't complain until i have seen the episode. soooo exciting!

 

[The Power of 'two]

Why do you like Doctor Who?
Time travel. The ability to go back in time and change the way things happened. The things that just don't add up, like the fact that you never know ANYTHING about what will happen in the future, except for the 6th season, and River, all of the information about the Doctor only goes up to where he currently is in his life, which just doesn't make since, how have the Cybermen, the Daleks and other species only known whats happened in the Doctor's life previous to the current episode. The mystery, you're shown something as crazy as the Doctor dying, truly DYING, and then at the end of the season

Spoiler: for anyone who hasn't finished the 6th Series

you find out it was just a shape shifting robot!

Who's your favorite Doctor?
Matt Smith, all my favorite quotes come from his period, and he seems even crazier than the rest of the doctor's lives, since he talks to 'sexy'.
Desired character title?
Strax on one hand... Stormageddon Dark Lord of All on the other....
Strax... Stormy.... Strax....... Stormy...
I am Stormaggeddon, Dark Lord of ALL.

Spoiler: *wink*Spoilers: The Crimson Horror

The story was definitely weird for this episode, even for Doctor Who, but the thing that really got me exited was the ending. Clara has found out about herself.

Spoiler: Fun facts about River

Almost everything about her is paradoxical, her catchphrase "*wink* spoilers" is a paradox, river gave it to the doctor the first time he met her, and vice-versa, her name is a paradox, Melody Pond was named after Mels, Amy's childhood friend, who was revealed to be River's previous incarnation, the name River Song is a paradox too, the first time the Doctor met River she gave him the name River as hers, then when Mels regenerated into her the Doctor called her River Song, and she kept it.

Goodbye "peasants"
~Stormy.

 

[Spacial]

Why do you like Doctor Who?
First, it's just so incredibly different from other TV shows. There's the Sci-fi drama element, which makes it exiting and worth watching, and also the complexity of the Doctor, who has developed so much over the 50 years that the show has been airing for. You understand why he feels a certain way, but there's always part of him that's a mystery. Also, quotes. Doctor Who is crammed full of awesome quotes.

Who's your favourite Doctor?
Definitely Matt Smith, the 11th. Mainly because I started watching Doctor Who when he had just replaced David Tennant, so I've watched pretty much all of his episodes, (I have watched some of the 10th Doctor's as well, but I prefer the 11th) and I like the way he portrays himself as a madman in a box. Which he is, but he's so much more than that.

Desired character title?
The TARDIS. I think she probably counts as a character

 

[elyvorg]

EVs and IVsaurs: Hello, and welcome! The mystery is definitely one of the fun aspects of this show. I guess you're enjoying the Clara storyline right now, then?

Also, while I'm not going to dispute that the Eleventh is potentially the Doctor's craziest incarnation yet, I think him talking to Sexy is less down to that and more down to the fact that he actually met her in The Doctor's Wife and came to appreciate just how alive she is, more than any of his previous incarnations could. Why wouldn't he treat her like a person and talk to her all the more after that? :3

It is fun how River is named after herself, twice. Doctor Who is full of all sorts of stable time loops like that, especially in Steven Moffat's run.

Ponymon: Hello and welcome to you as well! I'm particularly happy to see that you find the complexity of the Doctor to be one of the best things about the show; I completely know what you mean about understanding him really well on the one hand, but on the other hand finding him such a mystery at the same time. It really serves to make him one of the most compelling main characters out there. Since he seems to interest you this much, I can't help but hope that some of your future posts in this club might include your thoughts on his complexities and trying to figure him out some more? ...Of course, I'm not forcing you to do anything, but if you ever do get the urge to get all overanalytical about the Doctor in here, please, feel as free as you like.

(basically I am inordinately fond of writing lengthy rambles about the Doctor, and to think that I might potentially have found someone else to share rambles about the Doctor with makes me very happy. But if this is not who you actually are, then never mind; ignore me.)

And of course the TARDIS counts as a character! She arguably has more impact on the plot than anyone else, given it's really her decision where and when the Doctor ends up each time, after all.


So. I am incredibly excited for Nightmare in Silver tomorrow. My reasons largely boil down to the things I have gathered about what might be going on with the Doctor in this episode, based off a rather interesting interview with Neil Gaiman about the story, and some images.

This may be a tiny bit more spoilery than some people might like, albeit in a sort of vague way. It's spoilery in that it's SOMETHING DEFINITELY EXCITING, but vague in that I'm not sure exactly what that something actually is. If that makes any sense at all.

Spoiler: Something definitely exciting

That interview with Neil says some rather intriguing stuff about what the Doctor's going to be doing this episode. He talks about things called Cybermites and the Cybermen's ability to convert people, and then mentions that this time things are going to get very personal for the Doctor. That makes my speculation that the circuit on the Doctor's face is part of some kind of slow-conversion process seem even more likely to be pretty much on the money, which is exciting in itself. But that can't be all there is to it - Neil also talks about how he had trouble thinking of anything interesting for the Doctor to do in this episode, until he suddenly came up with a crazy idea, something he would never have entrusted to any actor other than Matt Smith. Well. Whatever that is, it can only be amazing. That's exactly the kind of incredibly promising but still far too vague to be spoilery information that I just love hearing in my episode preview material. =D

However, much as that interview alone is entirely vague on what's going on with the Doctor, those images I linked to make it slightly less so. I'm referring, of course, to the ones that show two of the Doctor, facing each other. Those of you from the old club may remember my excitement about The Almost People for this reason, but as much as I am at least equally excited for this, I imagine it will be quite different to that. I don't think there are physically two of the Doctor here. Judging by the background to those shots, all unreal-looking and with what appear to be Gallifreyan symbols floating around, the best thing I can assume is that this confrontation is essentially taking place within the Doctor's mind. And just so that I didn't have to wonder too much and feel like I was being all wishful-thinking about what this might imply, a different site which had the same images actually captioned one of these ones with something about the Doctor "facing his dark side". So apparently this here is the Doctor, inside his own mind, having a chat with his darker nature. That is going to be so good. I could start speculating further from here about how this situation could possibly have arisen or what's going to come from it, but it'd all be aimless and baseless and probably massively wrong. I just know that however this works out, I am going to love it.

(Remember the Dream Lord in Amy's Choice? I really liked Amy's Choice.)

Plus there's preview clips, which aren't connected to the exciting something but do have a couple of mildly interesting things in them. I'm looking forward to this episodes for more reasons than just the one, after all.

Also very exciting about tomorrow is the prequel for the finale which will be available (yes, it'll be online too) immediately after the episode. It's called She Said, He Said, it's apparently one of the longest prequels yet, and it's going to explore how little the Doctor and Clara know about each other. That sounds like it'll be very interesting and the kind of thing I've been eagerly waiting to see brought up for most of this half-series, really. So that's something else I'm looking very much forward to.

I've been enjoying this half-series so much, and it just keeps continuing. =D

~less than 24 hours!~

-elyvorg/Amelia

 

[Becoming]

@elyvorg: I think I understand Mrs Gillyflower's scheme better now. Thanks for explaining!

Tomorrow is going to be a really great day, I reckon. Nightmare in Silver, the finale trailer (honestly, what I'm most excited for), and the prequel. Plus Pokemon Smash and a possible Corocoro leak. It's going to be a bit sad though that we'll have to wait six months for the next episode - the 50th - but hopefully it'll be worth the wait. However, a rumor concerning the 50th that I really hope isn't true:

Spoiler: John Hurt's role BIG SPOILER IF IT'S TRUE

Apparently, John Hurt is playing the Ninth Doctor. He is a forgotten regeneration, the memory of him erased due to his involvement in the Time War. That makes Eccleston the Tenth, Tennant the Eleventh, and the current Doctor the Twelfth. While the idea that the Doctor has forgotten memories of the Time War is interesting - as is the exploration of the fabled Time War - I really don't like how this screws with the continuity. I can only hope this incarnation is an alternate one due to events of the finale. Something game changing is happening in the finale, and it's going to affect how things will be in the 50th...I can only hope it's temporary; that after everything done and dusted this Doctor never existed and Nine is Nine and Ten is Ten and Eleven is Eleven. Especially considering all the mentions of Eleven that are pretty recent and play a big part in the finale. "The Fall of the Eleventh" is the one that comes to mind, but also other things. "The Eleventh Hour," "Eleven's the best," "Eleventh's grossest thing," the Doctor's door number in The God Complex being 11...

I'll just be really annoyed if this is something that sticks. Plus the great thing about the Doctor is that you get to grow attached to the incarnations and look back at their eras and they're all distinct...I don't like the idea of there being a hidden Doctor ~like that~. It feels a bit cheap...

Becoming/Clara Oswin Oswald/Clara Oswald/Oswin Oswald/future incarnations that I'm pretty sure we'll see in the finale

 

[The Power of 'two]

elyvorg:
How could I not enjoy the Clara storyline!? She died in the Dalek asylum, then in Victorian London, and now she's a 21st century girl who finally learned about her umm... tenses.... Future? Life.

And what I had meant with the craziness related to talking to 'sexy' was that he seems crazy because of it.

And anybody who didn't know about all the bootstrap paradoxes should just watch "The Big Bang" and "The Pandorica Opens"

Goodbye "peasants"
-Stormy

 

[Aegon]

Soooooooooooooooorry. I've been bombarded with homework over the past week, leading to very little free time.

I loved The Crimson Horror. Seeing the Paternoster Gang in action without the Doctor's guidance was very fun, proving that a spin-off with them could work. I found Strax to be very amusing, far more than in his previous appearances. Hah, Thomas Thomas! I really liked Neve McIntosh's performance as Vastra. It's noticeably human, but the reptilian aspects are very much present. She strikes an exceptional balance. And Jenny was just kick-***. (Though the Doctor kissing her seemed unnecessary.)

Mrs Gillyflower was a splendid villain. She was incredibly zany, but yet so cruel ("In the wrong hands, that venom could wipe out all life on this planet." "You know what these are? The wrong hands!" That exchange sums her up succinctly). Ada was developed particularly well. Her attachment to her monster (what a great reveal) was heartwarming, in a slightly warped way. I was shocked by her attack on Mr Sweet on my first viewing, but I found it fitting the second time around. The Doctor's reaction to Gillyflower's fall doesn't sit well with me, however. It was obviously intended for comical effect, but ehhhh...

It's definitely one of my favourite episodes of the series (possibly taking the top spot). The atmosphere was excellent, the set design was particularly commendable and the Doctor and Clara's relationship is becoming more and more exciting and warm.

Spoiler: Nightmare in Silver

The episode mostly triumphed, but I was expecting more. It wasn't extremely nightmarish, was it? There were some scary moments (the detached head was brilliant) and it improved the Cybermen massively (the slow-motion scene in which the Cyberman ran was perfect). But I was left wanting more. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I felt similarly after The Crimson Horror, but here, I felt like there was so much more to show us. I'm glad we got to see Clara in action against the masses of Cybermen (that was executed extremely well), but with so many, I desired more chaos! Beaming up to the spaceship (perhaps it's time to stop using the Temple of Peace as a filming location for a while) and defeating the Cybermen remotely with a bomb wasn't the best solution. It lacked emotion (that's... ironic).

Nevertheless, I enjoyed Nightmare. Clara was superb and the Doctor's battle against the Cyber Planner was interesting. It could have been taken to a darker level, though. The references to his past incarnations (Allons-y!) were fun.

No, it wasn't as amazing as The Doctor's Wife. Yet I certainly don't think it was poor or utterly disappointing. I'm looking forward to watching it again.

I am so excited for next week I actually nearly screamed earlier.

Spoiler: The Name of the Doctor!

This looks set to be big. Trenzalore! The Doctor's greatest secret! Clara's mystery revealed! The Great Intelligence! The Paternoster Gang! Post-Library River! New enemies!

The prequel is very tantalising. The Doctor acknowledges that she's too perfect! Excellent. Is Clara in love with the Doctor? I'm going to give it another watch.

As for the BBC One trailer - wow. Is that Bessie?! Is Clara dressed as Ace and Sarah Jane?! (And possibly another companion. Red hairband, anyone?) This week will be torturous (and not just due to the wait for The Name of the Doctor. Though mainly that. Almost entirely that).

I plan to post more about NiS and TNotD in the near future. Emphasis on "plan".

Oh, and regarding those potential spoilers for the fiftieth anniversary special; I unfortunately stumbled across them. I wouldn't mind it if it came to fruition, and I can see it happening. It'd be interesting, to the say the least. In response to Becoming:

[SPOIL]The thing about the incarnation-specific plot points and such is that the Doctor would have forgotten about this past regeneration. Taking The God Complex's door, for example; that stemmed from within his mind, so if he believes himself to be the Eleventh Doctor (as he does), then the door and room would reflect that.[/SPOIL]
-The Eleventh/Rory Williams

 

[Becoming]

Spoiler: Nightmare in Silver

It was really cool to see Clara take charge in this episode. With the Doctor busy, and the kids in a walking coma, she really got to show her stuff. She was awesome with the gun, and I've been looking forward to that scene where she attacks the Cyberman with the mace (I think it was a mace) for a while. That gun reminds me of Rose's gun from series four. And one of the weapons I have in TF2. The idea to electrify the lake was pretty smart, but unfortunately the Cyberman upgraded for that. And did anyone notice that one of the Cybermen was going at super-speed? It must have been the only one able to do so because otherwise they would have defeated the Doctor and Clara like *that*.

I thought it was a bit weird how the episode started out. They were just there. I was expecting them to be on the moon but obviously they weren't. I guess with this idea that each episode is a movie in itself, there isn't much time for mucking about - they've got to get right into the action. I was expecting the chess playing Cyberman to come alive, but I honestly thought it would after the first reveal. The Doctor's all like "get down!" and they all get down. I'm curious as to what the Cybermen would have done if they had one. Their plan was to revive themselves using the brains of the children - and then the Doctor - but then what? Get on a spaceship and take over the cosmos? I don't remember there being any escape ship...

I assumed that the threat of blowing up the planet was never going to be gone through with, that they'd have to find another way to solve their problem. There was always mention of the bomb, and they made it seem like everyone would die if it was used, so I was a bit surprised that they used it in the end. And then everyone escaped! Things would have gone a lot easier if Porridge had just activated the bomb forty minutes ago, nobody would have had to die. Did anyone else pick up on him being the emperor before the reveal at the end? During his conversation with the Captain (where she took him away from Clara, right before she was shot) I'm pretty sure I picked up on something that suggested he was the emperor. I don't quite remember what, however.

I was really really hoping that Clara would ask the Doctor about her being impossible at the end of the episode. She wanted to know and she never really came back to that. Of course, we're supposedly going to find out next week...and the hints of a romance between the Doctor and Clara! I might talk about this in the spoiler for next week, because reasons...

It was neat to see what was going on in the Doctor's head. I never really bought the idea that the chess match was going to decide anything - if the Doctor lost he would have lost, and if he won the Cyber-whatever (what might one call it?) wouldn't have kept its part of the deal. Speaking of chess, did anyone think that the Doctor sacrificing his "queen" to save the kids was a reference to Clara? As in, he was going to put her in danger to save the kids? That's what I thought, anyway, but it turns out that wasn't the case. Anyway, it was cool to see references to some of the old Doctors. We saw all the faces of them and we also had "allons-y." These throwbacks are always cool, especially with the 50th around the corner!

Spoiler: next time

I think I know who Clara is now. I've read some vaguely similar rumors/theories/spoilers, and they seem to be what's going on in the trailer, but I've got my interpretation of everything - and my final Clara theory - in the spoiler below. Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled, obviously.

Spoiler: the identity of Clara (Oswin) Oswald

I think "I was born to save the Doctor" is a pretty big giveaway. We also hear River telling Clara, "Whatever you're about to do, don't." Finally, we see Clara is some kind of orange energy vortex. I think current Clara is the original Clara. She's a perfectly ordinary girl. There's nothing impossible about her in terms of her existence. It's the other incarnations that are special. What Clara is about to do in the trailer is sacrifice herself and spread herself through time and space - as Clara Oswin Oswald, as Oswin Oswald, and as whoever else - to points where the Doctor needs saving. She saves him at the Asylum, she saves him in Victoria London. The Doctor said something about crossing his own timeline, and I think that's what Clara's doing. She's placing herself in the Doctor's timeline (both past and future) to save him when he needs saving. She's destined to die every time, unfortunately. The other incarnations all take on aspects of Clara - Oswin has computer skills, both Oswin and Victorian Clara are nannies, and, of course, they all look the same. Present Clara may or may not die in doing this - it would explain the Doctor carrying her body - and if she didn't survive, I'd expect her to be replaced by another incarnation. "Run you clever boy, and remember," is still something I'm trying to figure out, however. I think it might be something Clara ends up saying so the Doctor will recognize her, but it won't have much meaning aside from that. I'm betting "run you clever boy, and remember" is going to be the last thing Clara says before she dies.

I sort of don't like my own theory. I don't want Clara to die. And I'm not so sure about present Clara being the original. Could she possibly be a paradox? Like she's the one to sacrifice herself but is also a paradox in that she exists in the first place to sacrifice herself?

Finally, if this is the case I hope we see more of Clara's incarnations. Obviously an incarnation if going to appear in the 50th; I'd like it to be the current Clara, but it could possibly be an incarnation created to help the Doctor with whatever he's going to face in the 50th. I am hoping that we'll see more incarnation in series 8, but I would like there to be an actual companion Clara. I don't want a Clara-of-the-week for each new episode, you know?

Again, I've been reading rumors, and here's one about River (in the spoiler below). It's concerning where she's at in her timeline...

Spoiler: where River's at

This River we're going to see is post-Library. I don't think she's going to appear in person somehow. We only saw her in the TARDIS and the way she speaks ("He can't go there. You know he can't," and "Whatever you're about to do, don't.") is really passive. The River I know would get right in there and stop the Doctor herself. The only explanation for why River wouldn't save the Doctor is that she can't - because she's already died, the events of the Library have already happened for her. She still exists in some form - she's conscious in the Library in a way - and she's talking to Clara through the TARDIS because that's the only way she can help. We also see River's gravestone, so I'm thinking this might be her final goodbye...I don't want that!/spoiler]

Now it's the Great Intelligence that I know nothing about. Obviously it's there but what does it want? It seems to be in cahoots with the Whispermen...but why does it want to know the Doctor's name? I really wasn't expecting the GI to ask the question, I always assumed that it would be River (because she needs to find out the Doctor's name) or Clara (because she's the current companion). I'm also wondering where the Silence fit into all of this. They played a big part last two seasons in attempting to stop the question being answered...and they've existed on earth for a while. I'm really not sure why they didn't target the GI to stop it from answering the question in the first place. I'm also thinking the consequences of the question being answered are really really bad. The Silence could be religious fanatics but let's be real - the consequences must be worse than the TARDIS exploding and destroying the universe, because that's the extent they went to to stop the Doctor. It must be bad...

So the Whispermen, they seem scary...

That's all I really have to say. I'm excited for the finale and I'm really curious as to how it's going to end! I really hope we're not going to be a six-month cliffhanger.

Only a week to go!

Becoming/Clara Oswin Oswald/Clara Oswin/Oswin Oswald (I feel so much better about this title now that I'm sure I know who Clara is!)

 

[C.y.a.n]

Why do you like Doctor Who?
It is a show that can take on any genre throw at and it is still original. It is a complete mystery who is he is and it is just the best show on tv. It has so many great mysteries in the show eg. River, Clara. It is sci-fi but does so many more genres and is extremely interesting. I love the dark moments the most as it takes such a serious side to the time travel adventures and how it affects people. It is clear the doctor is hiding something and the waiting for that secret is great. Also it portrays a life of normal people doing impossible thing that I'll never have an opportunity to do, so kinda of fills that gap. It also is completely original and doesn't rip off any ideas. It was 50 years worth of episodes to watch so never really run out of episodes to watch

Who's your favourite Doctor?
11th, Matt Smith is great at doing every weird, mad, happy, sad, dark moment of the doctor. I thought David Tennant was great as 10th doctor but he couldn't pull of the mad man in the box as well as Matt Smith. He also was the current doctor when I started watching Doctor Who.

Desired character title?
All, the great ones are gone so maybe I'll be a The Great intelligence

Is that ok?

 

[elyvorg]

C.y.a.n: EDIT: Thanks for editing your form; that's enough words now. Welcome! I hope you enjoy participating in the discussion here.

Spoiler: Nightmare in Silver

Mmm, I have to admit not as much was done with the kids as I'd hoped. It was sort of cute how they basically treated a trip through time and space exactly like an ordinary day out with Clara and her "boyfriend", complete with "Thanks for having me" at the end. I kinda liked Artie, though Angie was a bit whiny, and while I thought she might mature a little over the course of the episode, she didn't, really. Still, it was fun to have them there, if mostly to see more of the part of the Doctor's god complex where he considers the safety of everyone on his TARDIS to be entirely his responsibility, irrespective of the fact that it was Clara who brought them on board. Clara obviously wanted to go and save them herself once Angie got grabbed, but the Doctor made it clear that he would do it and she shouldn't have to worry about it.

Regardless, Clara got to be awesome this episode, taking charge and being as badass as she was. She's definitely grown a lot since her earlier adventures. In Cold War, seeing death freaked her out enough that she all but stopped functioning for a while. Here, even when Alice was shot dead in front of her, she was clearly shocked, but she pulled herself together quickly and kept going. And I like that it was the Doctor who made her the new captain of the soldiers because he knew she'd do a good job. What with how incredibly overprotective he tends to be of her, it's actually quite a big deal that he trusted her to protect herself when he wasn't going to be able to. (You could tell that was what he was thinking, given that his most prominent instruction to her was simply to stay alive.)

But it was the Doctor's battle inside his own mind that really made the episode for me. This wasn't quite what I'd been expecting, but I don't mind at all because it was still completely delightful to watch, thanks to both the writing and the acting. The obvious way to write a situation like this would have been to have the Doctor facing off against a robotic, monotone, very typically Cyberman-like version of himself - but that would have been much less fun. Instead, the Cyberplanner - or Mister Clever, as he called himself - made use of the brain he'd found himself in and basically took on the Doctor's personality for himself. He had all of the Doctor's charisma and flair, but he was also a sociopath who utterly lacked emotions. The result was kind of chilling, seeing somebody who looks and sounds so much like the Doctor but just completely isn't. Yet it was also incredibly entertaining to watch. Mister Clever was having so much fun with his new brain! And the constant switching between the two personalities was amazingly done; it was completely clear who was in control each time except when it was meant to be ambiguous. That must have taken a lot of doing, but it was pulled off excellently.

And the Doctor deserves massive, massive props for managing to epically outwit the Cyberplanner while only having access to slightly less than half of his own brain. It was never really about the chess game; the Doctor just proposed that as a way to keep Mister Clever preoccupied on one thing. He knew he couldn't win it from the start, since Mister Clever had access to an equal fraction of his brain plus all the Cybermen's processing units. However, Mister Clever's problem was that, despite the name he'd given himself, he really wasn't actually that clever. Intelligent, yes, and more so than the Doctor at this point, but he didn't do anything clever with all that brainpower. He still essentially thought like a Cyberman - heck, he didn't even know what a rhetorical question was, let alone see through the Doctor's really rather obvious bluff - and just straightforwardly took the Doctor at his word that the chess game would decide everything. Meanwhile, the Doctor was thinking outside the box the whole time to find some other way to get the Cyberplanner out of his head. As much as I got the impression the Cyberplanner wanted to take over a child's mind, and then the Doctor's, in order to get itself more creativity so that it could become even better, it seems that Cybermen will forever be uncreative and logical, whoever's brain they're in. Or maybe it was just that, while they were initially fighting over who got which parts of his brain, the Doctor made sure to hold onto all the creative parts because he knew they'd be what would win him this fight. Either way, it was a delight to watch the Doctor win this in such clever style, despite being on the back foot the whole time. It's not every day we get to see him prevent an army of Cybermen from killing his companion by getting them all to stop and think about chess.

I agree that it was a bit of a simple ultimate solution to just have Porridge accept being the Emperor in order to blow the place up and defeat the Cybermen, when that's something that could have happened from the start. But it didn't make the Doctor's battle against the Cyberplanner unnecessary, since he was still fighting for both the kids and himself - they'd never have been beamed up onto the ship if they still had Cyberthings in their brain.

I also like how getting such a direct look into the Doctor's mind also allowed us a really direct look at the Doctor's thoughts on Clara. The fact that images of her - both Victorian and modern versions - were dominating the background of his mind until he blocked them off just goes to show how much he is constantly, obsessively thinking about her. Thanks to Mister Clever, Clara has now also been outright told that she's impossible, so again, that's something that must come to a head sometime soon. I guess Clara didn't get around to asking him about it at the end of this episode because, like she talks about in the prequel, she's just kind of got used to there being so many unanswered questions about the Doctor.

Prequel!

Spoiler: She Said, He Said

This is... a pretty unusual prequel, firstly in that it seems to take place after the episode that it's a prequel to, thereby teasing us for the episode by hinting at what happened during it. Secondly, it's unusual in that it clearly isn't actually something that canonically took place. It's just a sort of... abstract way to show us Clara and the Doctor's thoughts on each other. It's an interesting way to do things; I certainly don't dislike it.

I wonder about that place they're both wandering through in this. Although this isn't really happening, I still can't help but assume this setting is a place from the finale, somewhere that will have more significance to us once we've seen the episode. If so, I'm especially curious about all the objects from their past adventures that seem to have made their way here, including Victorian Clara's dress and the Doctor's painting of her which should still be in a monastery in Cumbria. Are they just part of the abstract representation, or will they actually all be gathered together in this location in the episode itself?

Clara! I find it adorable to learn that she's completely aware of how much the Doctor needs her. It's also interesting to realise that she spends a lot of her time with him consciously reminding herself not to fall in love with him. And the way she talks about getting used to the mystery of him seems almost analogous to the way we viewers see the Doctor; we've got so used to watching him on all his adventures and understand him well enough in that context that it's easy to forget that we don't know anything about where he came from or why he is this way either. I still don't feel like I'm that desperate to find out these things about him - obviously I'm still excited that we'll get to do so, but I would honestly have been fine never knowing. Also note that while Clara says she now knows where he came from and all that, she doesn't say that she now knows his name. So hopefully his name really won't be revealed to the audience.

The Doctor! The first half of his part was basically one big, adorable confirmation of everything I always knew he felt about Clara. It's lovely to get this opportunity to see the Doctor being so open and honest about the way he feels, because, let's face it, that isn't something he'd ever do, you know, canonically. (I'd also like to point out that, despite a few hints of romantic feelings last episode, here when the Doctor is being completely honest about exactly what she means to him, there is not one mention of romance. So any romantic frission there may be on the surface is entirely superficial.) The one part of this that worries me is him saying she's "too perfect"; I know he thought this about her earlier on in this half-series, which is why he was slightly suspicious of her back then, but I'd thought that had gone away after Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. Or maybe the "too perfect" is there because he's saying this having now learned the truth about her, and she indeed doesn't turn out to be as perfect as he'd hoped she was. Certainly, as he talks about having found out the truth at Trenzalore, he doesn't seem at all happy about whatever it was he learned. That worries me a bit. I'd always sort of assumed/thought/hoped that when the Doctor finds out the truth about Clara, it's going to be something that's good for him. I mean, we already know that Clara will be in series 8, so he's not going to lose her. But judging by this, it isn't going to be quite such a simple happy ending.

Still! This has made me even more excited for The Name of the Doctor. It's also made me excited for the general continuation of the Doctor and Clara travelling together on into series 8. Their relationship so far has been fun enough, but as pointed out here, they have so many secrets. Next series, that'll all be gone; they'll both know each other as well as anyone could and trust each other more than ever, and it'll be absolutely adorable, I'm sure.

Another trailer for the finale, which has some interesting things not seen in the Next Time trailer!

Spoiler: Next Time!

So many things to mention!

The Whispermen - well, I assume it's them - are apparently kidnapping Vastra, Jenny and Strax in order to force the Doctor to come to Trenzalore. That right there strikes me as a very dangerous idea; hasn't anyone ever told them that you don't try to get to the Doctor through the people he loves? But it'll obviously get him there all the same, because he's not going to abandon his friends when they need him. Plus, from some of the trailer clips it looks like Vastra and Strax have been turned against each other? D:

The Great Intelligence! Well, huh. It never really was properly defeated in The Bells of Saint John, was it? I wonder if this means it is somehow connected to Clara after all, despite what I'd insisted earlier. I always assumed it wasn't because it didn't seem to realise she was important, but perhaps, if it was somehow in on this big universal plan that's going on with Clara Oswald, it was only pretending to not know anything about her, and was secretly... monitoring her, or something?

Multiple Claras! Are they really dressed as some of the Doctor's old companions? That's kind of insane, but should be very interesting if it is the case. As for Clara being born to save the Doctor - well, that's good, isn't it? The Doctor shouldn't have been looking so bothered by what he'd learnt in She Said, He Said if the truth was that she exists to save his life in an epic way, surely? She can't even be dead as a result of it, because she's in series 8. Unless that's a different version of Clara, and the modern version we have right now does die. Or maybe the Doctor looks upset about this simply because, though she doesn't die, whatever she does to save his life really screws her up in a way no human should have to deal with, just like Amy was screwed up with multiple sets of memories and Rory was screwed up by spending two thousand years as a Roman. I guess it's possible the Doctor might at least be led to believe she's dead at some point during all this; he's almost crying in one of the trailer clips, and Clara's (apparent) death is one of the only things I can see causing that.

The TARDIS looks all odd in some of these; there's vegetation growing all over her, and her central console seems to be missing. Probably a result of the Doctor crossing his own timeline in a big way? And also possibly how Clara is able to do whatever epic things it seems like she's going to do here. Heh; the TARDIS and Clara might have to put aside their differences in order to jointly save the Doctor's life, again.

River! I'm kind of wondering about why there's a gravestone for her, given that she wasn't exactly buried after what happened at the Library. I guess Trenzalore - which I'm assuming is the graveyardy place - just likes being creepy like that, or something. But, people think this is going to be a post-Library River? Hmm. Well, as much as I guess that might not be impossible, we do also need to have a pre-Library River in this episode at some point, because she needs to find out his name before she goes to the Library. And all this Library-related talk is giving me the impression that this'll probably be the last time we ever see River. :<

Also, Becoming, I like your theory on Clara. It's along the lines of what I'd been thinking, too.

Spoiler: Regarding that rumour about the 50th, with Nightmare spoilers

I think we can be pretty certain that the Doctor is definitely on his eleventh body right now. Just this episode we had it confirmed by someone who had access to enough of the Doctor's mind to know for sure, but who wasn't the Doctor and so had no reason to lie about it, that he has indeed had exactly ten changes of personality so far. Thanks for that, Mister Clever!

Aaaaaa next week is still a week away D:

-elyvorg/Amelia

 

[Will-powered Spriter]

Sorry I'm late!

Spoiler: Gold and Silver

That was cool. A nice exciting episode that let Clara actually do something for a change. Unfortunately all of my thoughts about the episode are somewhat overshadowed by the fact the Cybermen were using software upgrades to patch hardware problems. And as a Computer Scientise that makes me sad.

Also, one thing: The cyber-planner was putting on silly voices for the majority of the episode. Some of them were evidently Nine and Ten, but who was the most common one? I know the episodes have been working through the doctors for references, so I'd guess it's Seven? I haven't seen much of his episodes but it sounds a bit like him. That or the cybermen have decided that camp is the most perfect form of human acting.

Next time should be good. There wasn't a society watch organised this week (couldn't have gone anyway) but there will be one for the finale! Exciting!!

 

[C.y.a.n]

Ok first post.
Will be in spoilers as it is about the finale

[spoil]
Doctor: I feel his name will not be revealed but why it is dangerous will. I personally i don't want it to be said as it is called Doctor Who so it would be stupid to reveal.

Clara: From watching the trailers, I pieced this together. Clara is a paradox. She, the modern one created herself and the others. The weird lightning thing is a rift to all points she is needed to save the doctor or just help, or the base code of the universe, I back this with the fact she says she is born to save the doctor in the trailer. She doesn't relise and that it will be so painful to split herself across time, even after River warning her "whatever you are going to do, don't". I'm sorry to say but I also think she will die in the process because in the series trailer it shows the same image after river says it, and Clara says "Run you Clever Boy" and after maybe "and remember". She says this before she dies in AOTD and the Snowmen. This gives him and gang to run whle she deals with the Great Intelligence. But it could be Big Bang Three, and clara instead, gets stuck and tells the Doctor to remember her to bring her back. But the only thing I can't fit in is Moffat's statement "they haven't just meet three times". This has its cons as it isn't perfectly clear but haven't seen it yet so.

If Moffat kills off this Clara version, I will personally rise an army, and kill him with my bare hands. We already lost the ponds and two Claras isn't that enough! All this despite, the fact he has made the show so interesting, intense and most rememberable

Great Intelligence and the Whispermen: these are connected I believe because they resemble Walter Simeon incarnation of the GI but only clothes. These might be attempts at taking physical form by the GI maybe.

The Vastra Strax showdown: "The man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name". River says this in GMGTW and it might mean his real name and not the Doctor. He says it(hopefully muted) and everyone turns against each other.

River: So happy she is back, really surprised it is post-library and will be interesting to see how she is there. Maybe the Doctor uploaded her into the Tardis for safety so they could still be together.


Please if you are going to answer to this do not mention anything outside the trailers as Spoilers!!!!!
[/spoil]

Thank you!

 

[VampirateMace]

Spoiler: Crimson Horror

Well, that really wasn’t what I was expecting. Good though, not going to go so far as to say great. I always like seeing Strax, and when Jenny and Clara kick butt. “I’ve got a chair.”

Tomas Tomas sounded so much like a GPS, that at first I though he might be Voice Interface. But no, he is a GPS gag. How interesting would that have been, though? To have Sexy taking a more active role in their adventures?

The kid’s threat was kind of lame, what sane adult is going to believe their nanny is a time traveler?

Spoiler: Nightmare Silver

Okay, that was interesting… Feel bad for Porridge... Didn’t realize Angie was going to be so whiny, it was like one of those lame teen drama movies the Disney Channel pumps, ‘Oh, no one understands me. Life is so unfair. I hate you all. Blah, blah, blah…’

Figured nothing would happen to the kids. It’d kind of put a damper on the whole ‘I’m traveling through time and space with an alien doctor’ thing.