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

[Cergorach]

You barely notice you're watching one person talk to himself.

I notice and I think that is what I dislike.

The guy is astonishing. He's the strongest actor ever to play The Doctor, and occasionally they let him loose. And when they do, oh man....

I agree, an absolutely great actor! Maybe the problem is that it's looking more like the "Peter Capaldi Show" and less like "Doctor Who" from the previous nine years...

It's interesting. At the DWE at the Excel this year they said how the demographic was shifting. This year it's drifting upwards in age - a few kids checking out, but more adults signing in. It's a daring experiment, to be sure, but they lost a big adult contingent during the Smith era and gained a lot of kids.

I don't know what they changed, but change something they did, I'm less then pleased. And I'm not exactly young anymore either (about two years your then you are).

 

[Morrus]

Capaldi was superb this past week. A Master class in acting. And it was a great episode.
Unfortunately, I haven't liked alot of the other shows this season as much. Sleep No More for example, was horrible.

Yeah, Sleep No More was pretty much universally disliked. It got a really low BBC AI score. Once a year we get a Mark Gatiss written episode and it's always poor, and he still gets to write one a year. I don't get it. It's because he writes Sherlock with Moffat, I think.

And the hybrid arc hasn't been terribly well handled in terms of being an interesting mystery. Mentioning a hybrid every other episode or so during a season isn't an arc.

Arc? It's not an arc. It's the plot of the last episode, but not the series; they dropped occasional mentions of it into others. Nobody said it was an arc, or that it was supposed to be. Just a few teaser phrases, that's all.

The arc this year was Clara. She was trying to be The Doctor. She was acting like him, taking charge of things. And it killed her. This year's arc was a character study of a companion.

I feel kinda bad for Capaldi because I think seasons 8-9 have let him down in terms of consistant writing quality.

I feel great for him! This year, with the Dalek two-parter, the Zygon eps, this one-hander, and (looking likely) next week, he's had a record number of standout episodes. This year has been utterly superb, IMO. Missy knocked it out of the ballpark. That long Davros conversation was TV gold. They Zygon episodes were superb, especially the second one. Face the Raven was great, and Clara's departure *so* well acted. Just look at what those two convey in their faces in that ten minute sequence once they realise Clara has to die. This week Capaldi carried an episode on his own. Masie Williams in three episodes so far has put in world class performances.

Holy crap, has this been an actor's year! Utterly, utterly superb. Shame about Sleep No More; it let the side down. IMO Mark Gatiss always does. And the two underwater eps were quite mediocre.

 

[Morrus]

I don't know what they changed, but change something they did, I'm less then pleased. And I'm not exactly young anymore either (about two years your then you are).

I don't know what to tell you. I think it's the best DW has been in years. You don't.

I win, I guess! Because it's like I like it right now.

 

[Umbran]

I win, I guess! Because it's like I like it right now.

I think the casting choice has allowed them to step away from the nigh-constant semi-romance that the Doctor has had with companions and others for the entirety of the new series, and I think that's freed them up in several ways.

 

[HobbitFan]

I assumed that the hybrid stuff was the intended arc mostly because that's the way fans online say at Gallifrey Base were talking about it.

I agree with you on the intended arc for Clara. That's the way I was thinking about what they did with her too. I just wish some of it could been more subtle. I would have been happier with more show and less tell in terms of characterization.

Basically I was thinking there was a story thread i.e. the hybrid and then a character arc for Clara this season. Both going on across the season.
Maybe I read too much into things with the hybrid mentions.

 

[HobbitFan]

I think the casting choice has allowed them to step away from the nigh-constant semi-romance that the Doctor has had with companions and others for the entirety of the new series, and I think that's freed them up in several ways.

Good point Umbran. I was thinking similarly...

 

[Morrus]

I assumed that the hybrid stuff was the intended arc mostly because that's the way fans online say at Gallifrey Base were talking about it.

Again, I don't know how to reply to that. Whatever folks on another forum may or may not be saying, the Hybrid is clearly not an arc by any definition of an arc (thigh if the Hybrid is indeed "Me" rather than "me", it's been a major character in 3 episodes, with next week making 4). This year's arc is very much the companion story. It's been a year of superb character stuff. If people have missed that, they have my sympathies. They've let some truly exceptional performances slip them by. This was an actors' year.

The Hybrid is just the (presumed) plot of next week's episode, with a half-dozen foreshadowing words thrown in over the preceding 12 episodes. Doctor Who tends to drop in little foreshadow mentions, but those don't constitute an arc. They're just hints. The modern series is an episodic show, by and large, though it has done arcs occasionally.

 

[Morrus]

Interesting theory. How much does he actually remember each time?

The Doctor: That's when I remember! Always then. Always... then. Always exactly then! I can't keep doing this, Clara! I can't! Why is it always me? Why is it never anybody else's turn?! ( Chalk taps ) The Doctor: Can't I just lose? Just this once?! Easy. It would be easy. It would be so easy. Just tell them. Just tell them, whoever wants to know, all about the Hybrid. ( Footsteps thud and flies buzz )

The Doctor: Can't I just lose? Just this once?! Easy. It would be easy. It would be so easy. Just tell them. Just tell them, whoever wants to know, all about the Hybrid. ( Footsteps thud and flies buzz ) The Doctor: I can't keep doing this. I can't... I can't always do this! It's not fair! Clara, it's just not fair! Why can't I just lose?! But I can remember, Clara. You don't understand, I can remember it all. Every time. And you'll still be gone. Whatever I do... you still won't be there.

 

[Ryujin]

I think the casting choice has allowed them to step away from the nigh-constant semi-romance that the Doctor has had with companions and others for the entirety of the new series, and I think that's freed them up in several ways.

I think that it let them go back to "The Doctor as mentor", rather than unrequited love interest, as he was in the past. This season The Doctor has gone back to being the inscrutable, with The Companion being our proxy, and we found out what happens when "we" try to be The Doctor.

And yes, I think that Capaldi did an excellent job in his virtual one-man-show.

 

[Zelofcad]

Reading this thread (hi everyone, by the way - first post here on ENWorld!) I thought reasonable that the Hybrid could be Ashildr, judging by the words the Doctor said at the end of Heaven Sent.
But re-watching the first two episodes of this season I noticed something I had forgotten. Davros asks the Doctor "Why did you leave Gallifrey?". And the Doctor answers "It's a boring place, Gallifrey. I was going out of my mind". And then Davros: "You weren't bored. No one runs the way you have run for so small a reason".
Now we know for certain that the Doctor was lying, and that he started running because he was afraid.
So maybe the reason for his running was that he knew he was the Hybrid, and that scared him. And "The Hybrid is me" was just Moffat's way to make us jump to the wrong conclusion.
That's why I'm starting to reconsider the idea that the Hybrid is Ashildr... Now I wouldn't go as far as telling that the most probable explanation at this point is that the Doctor is half human (as per the 1996 movie), but maybe we are going to discover something new about the Doctor's origins.
Just wanted to share these thoughts