The official 2015 Doctor Who (with spoilers for aired episodes only) thread

Morrus · Sep 20, 2015

Spoilers for aired episode only.

I've watched yesterday's new episode twice now. Here are my initial thoughts:

- deaths just have zero impact now. The Doctor was "due to die soon" not that long ago with the whole tomb on Trenzalore arc with Matt Smith. Missy died then just came back and pretty much told us to camera that we aren't getting it explained, and that death is just for "other people". Isn't Davros dead? Clara and Missy getting exterminated... ? Just no impact. There's not one tiny part of me that felt anything there.

- on that note, WHY (this time) is the Doctor convinced he's going to die tomorrow, so that he needs to write his will? And why did he not do that last time we had the "Doctor dies soon" plot?

- Daleks can just shoot the TARDIS now? Since when? Clara's pretty much right on its indestructibility. And didn't we previously establish that an exploding TARDIS ends the universe?

- I liked the "we're looking for a tiny anachronism" joke; the tank and guitar scene was silly, but fun.

- Hand mines. Cool concept. Me likey.

- Two parters. Good. I like two-parters, even if the cliffhanger in this is impactless.

Trailer for next week:

[video=youtube;SiglsrgZxbs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiglsrgZxbs[/video]

delericho · Sep 20, 2015

Morrus said:
- deaths just have zero impact now.

Yep. There's just no way they're going to stick, so why care?

- Daleks can just shoot the TARDIS now?

The assumption there being that that is the TARDIS, of course.

Morrus · Sep 20, 2015

delericho said:
The assumption there being that that is the TARDIS, of course.

I noticed you didn't see it destroyed - the screen just went white.

MarkB · Sep 20, 2015

Morrus said:
- Daleks can just shoot the TARDIS now? Since when?

Since Journey's End. That episode established that the Daleks, in their full power as veterans of the Time War, are expert and capable TARDIS-fighters. The Doctor confirmed that, against them, the TARDIS's walls were effectively just wood, and they would have destroyed the TARDIS in that episode if not for the whole Doctor-Donna thing.

Admittedly, that was by dropping the TARDIS into an active power core, but still, the combined firepower of a roomful of Daleks, including a Special Weapons Dalek, against a TARDIS stripped of its defenses is not going to be healthy.

On that note - I liked the variety of different-era Daleks shown, and that the episode contained a couple of references to Remembrance of the Daleks, my favourite classic-era story.

Morrus · Sep 20, 2015

Hmm, yeah. That's very true.

I always figured the TARDIS' defenses should basically be that it exists a nanosecond out of step with the environment. A temporal shield, as it were -- the reason it's invulnerable is because when you attack it, it's not actually there. It can appear to be there, it can choose to let people in, but for all intents and purposes it's out of step with the actual time.

I guess the BBC just prefers "shields".

HobbitFan · Sep 20, 2015

I thought it was a pretty good episode; I pretty much agree with all of Morrus' points above...

A few of my own observations. Why does the snake henchman have eyes, nose and mouth like that if its a collection of smaller snakes twisted together? If it were that means the smaller snakes would have to have a human nose, etc, on their sides. That makes no sense. And that's not what they showed anyway when its seperated.

In the medieval scene the doctor makes a joke that he says the audience would appreciate in a couple centuries. Sorry no. Neither the middle ages, high middle ages nor renaissance are " a couple centuries" from modern times. I have a hard time an experienced, knowledagable time traveller like the doctor would make that kind of error, even as part of a joke.

And why other than Moffat wanting to is the Doctor in Medieval times? If he wanted to go someplace remote just to meditate he could have gone anywhere in space and time.

And the Skaro being invisible reveal doesn't quite make sense the way its portrayed. The Doctor and Missy clueing in on not being on station due to gravity was good but making the building masquerade as a station was not. If we, somehow could cloak the Earth I don't think we'd then try to impersonate a space sation by keeping just part of the top floors of a building visible..right? That makes no sense.

sabrinathecat · Sep 20, 2015

When did throwing a Tardis key in an active volcano destroy it?
Big Finish has Tardis Keys surviving lava streams to be recovered centuries later.
Sorry, that's a last season question, but one that bugged me, since I don't remember anyone saying it before Clara did as part of a plot device.

MarkB · Sep 20, 2015

Morrus said:
Hmm, yeah. That's very true.

I always figured the TARDIS' defenses should basically be that it exists a nanosecond out of step with the environment. A temporal shield, as it were -- the reason it's invulnerable is because when you attack it, it's not actually there. It can appear to be there, it can choose to let people in, but for all intents and purposes it's out of step with the actual time.

The TARDIS has exactly that defense mechanism - it was used in one or two classic series episodes, and also in The End of Time Part 1. But it's not an always-on thing - the Doctor has to activate it, and while it's active, the TARDIS is invisible and undetectable, and cannot be interacted with.

Another defense the TARDIS has is HADS (Hostile Action Displacement System) which can automatically dematerialise it when it's under attack, rematerialising it in a nearby safe location. It's worth noting that if the TARDIS were truly invulnerable, it wouldn't need such a system.

Assuming that the HADS is still functional, that is one way the TARDIS could survive in the current episode.

HobbitFan said:
And the Skaro being invisible reveal doesn't quite make sense the way its portrayed. The Doctor and Missy clueing in on not being on station due to gravity was good but making the building masquerade as a station was not. If we, somehow could cloak the Earth I don't think we'd then try to impersonate a space sation by keeping just part of the top floors of a building visible..right? That makes no sense.

Especially since the invisiblity field clearly doesn't mask Skaro's mass or solidity. Anyone flying a spaceship within visual range of that 'station' is going to notice that they're in a planet's gravity well, even assuming they don't crash right into it. The only purpose the disguise served was as a reveal for the audience.

Staffan · Sep 20, 2015

Morrus said:
Spoilers for aired episode only.

I've watched yesterday's new episode twice now. Here are my initial thoughts:

- deaths just have zero impact now. The Doctor was "due to die soon" not that long ago with the whole tomb on Trenzalore arc with Matt Smith. Missy died then just came back and pretty much told us to camera that we aren't getting it explained, and that death is just for "other people". Isn't Davros dead? Clara and Missy getting exterminated... ? Just no impact. There's not one tiny part of me that felt anything there.

Missy clearly didn't die in Death in Heaven. The FX was different - it was the same FX as teleporting. And she would never expose herself like that to a bunch of Daleks without a trick up her sleeve, such as the vortex manipulators she and Clara used earlier, probably augmented with a bit of visual trickery to make the Daleks think they exterminated her.

Morrus · Sep 20, 2015

MarkB;6705107 said:
Especially since the invisiblity field clearly doesn't mask Skaro's mass or solidity. Anyone flying a spaceship within visual range of that 'station' is going to notice that they're in a planet's gravity well, even assuming they don't crash right into it. The only purpose the disguise served was as a reveal for the audience.

I assume the pilot knew.