Doctor Who s8e10 - "In the Forest of the Night" [spoilers]

Morrus

Well, that was fun

Staff member

• Oct 25, 2014

• #1

Good, solid episode. I liked the concept and the performances. There was nothing to do in this episode, so the focus was on characterisation.

Main issue was where all the buildings vanished to? They were in Trafalgar Square - they should have been surrounded by buildings, vehicles, all sorts of things. Instead, it was just Nelson's Column. That's a densely built up area, even if it gets overgrown!

Next week's episode looks amazing. I can't wait!

 

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Crothian

First Post

• Oct 26, 2014

• #2

I was not expecting Doctor Who to tell is where Groot comes from but this is obviously his people.

 

delericho

Legend

• Oct 26, 2014

• #3

Sadly, I wasn't a fan of this episode. Like "Kill the Moon", the laughable 'science' just killed it for me.

I also wasn't a fan of the Doctor's "there's nothing I can do" bit - the TARDIS has a contained black hole at its centre; don't tell me there isn't something it can do with gravity to redirect the solar flare. And even if there isn't, it could always just tow the Earth out of the way, much like it did at the end of "Journey's End".

 

R

Richards

Legend

• Oct 26, 2014

• #4

Agreed - I thought this was another crap plotline. Magically growing trees that pop up overnight? Stupid. And they're immune to being burned because they don't produce oxygen when you try to burn them? Stupid. But they protect the Earth from a solar flare because of all of the extra oxygen they produce, that gets burned off in the atmosphere? Stupid. And then, when the solar flare is over with and the Earth has been saved, the magic trees just disappear into nothingness? Stupid. And this happened before during the Tunguska incident, but we just all conveniently forgot about it? Stupid.

I think Capaldi's doing a good job as the Doctor, but he seems to have been saddled with an inordinate number of poorly-thought-out story lines.

Next weeks' episode looks intriguing, though. I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Johnathan

 

HobbitFan

Explorer

• Oct 27, 2014

• #5

I thought it was an incredibly lame episode, for the same reasons Richards lists above.

You'd think they would have tried to get some good teleplays together for Capaldi's intro year.

 

Bedrockgames

Legend

• Oct 27, 2014

• #6

I think the episodes have been very strong overall this season (much better than the last two in my opinion) but this episode didn't quite do it for me. I think the Sherwood episode fell into a similar category in terms of tone and feel as well. This wasn't a horrible episode, it just felt very targeted toward children (which I think it fair given the show seems more for kids than adults). This also comes on the heels of the two best episodes in years (whoever wrote the Orient Express and Flatline episode definitely needs to be brought back for next season). That said, the trailer really has me intrigued for next week. Looks very dark indeed (which makes one last light romp through the forest for the kids that much more forgivable, perhaps even necessary).

 

Ryujin

Legend

• Oct 27, 2014

• #7

I seem to be mostly liking the characterizations and disliking the stories this series.

 

T

tomBitonti

Adventurer

• Oct 27, 2014

• #8

Ryujin said:

I seem to be mostly liking the characterizations and disliking the stories this series.

Click to expand...

Same here. The "science" was so terribly laughable that I hesitate to even mention it.

But, the character development was good. Interesting that Mr. Pink is the responsible one (looking after the children) while Clara is a bit more reckless. That inverted from the stereotype. Or is that a US thing?

Thx!

TomB

 

Nellisir

Hero

• Oct 27, 2014

• #9

I didn't mind this episode. I basically threw any expectation of actual "science" out the window, though to be honest it does bug me that I have to do that SO MUCH for this show. Is it really so impossible to think up stories that don't require magic science?

Anyways, characterizations were nice. The bit with Mr Pink refusing to get in the TARDIS because he'd rather see what's around him than go jaunting off to see other stuff was pretty gold.

I've been wondering about the budget for Who. By US standards, it has a very short season and seems to be fairly popular and ought to make a fair amount in licensing or somesuch, which you think would make for a decent budget, but it seems like it's still on a shoestring. The effects have advanced since the 70's and 80's, but so have every else's, so it's not really a great gain.

 

Morrus

Well, that was fun

Staff member

• Oct 27, 2014

• #10

The BBC has been under a lot of pressure to cut budgets the last few years. This year, in particular, I'm noticing the reduced SFX budget. A couple of years ago the budget was much higher, and it showed.