Thirteenth Doctor - First Season - Thoughts? (SPOILERS WELCOME)

[Janx]

We watched in the BBC America thing last night. Don't recall seeing any theme music, like they skipped or cut it for their special stuff.

I hate to sound all picky, but I had time to process.

The hunter is a Tooth Fairy, we just got the legend wrong.

The women in my viewing party came to the conclusion that the new Sonic, looks...stimulating.

Why was there a tangle-monster at the crane? They'd zapped and drained the first one. Then it (or another) shows up and Grace gets killed while zapping it, and it's wasn't clear what danger it actually presented.

If the Doctor removed the collar bone bombs, then why did Grace think hers was going to go off a screen cut later?

What happened to Karl after the Doctor said "You had no right to do that."

What kind of warrior race sends out hunters to hunt the lamest prey? What kind of test is that?

We actually enjoyed the episode, but parts seemed choppy or poorly explained (like the 2nd tentacle ball, and bombs).

 

[HawaiiSteveO]

Little exposition happy during exchanges with bad guy, otherwise thought it was great . JW is fantastic and I can’t wait to see what’s up this time around.

 

[Umbran]

Was that really the first time we've seen a sonic screwdriver built from scratch?

Yes. In fact, when we see the War Doctor, it is very specifically a plot point that through all the other regenerations and changes, the sonic screwdriver is the *same* item, same internal hardware and software in a new casing.

It is likely a highly symbolic point. We have new people producing, new people writing, new people directing a new Doctor with new Companions. Also note that at least for the first season, we are told we won't be seeing any of the monsters or nemeses of the past.

 

[Istbor]

Awww. But I am jonesing for some EXTERMINATE! Battle cries. Say it isn't so Umbran!

 

[Eltab]

My wife watched and was happy that they decided not to step on any of the cultural landmines "because this Doctor is a woman!". Let her be the Doctor and it will go fine.

Finding her new wardrobe was a highlight of veiled references to previous Doctors' attire.

(Neither of us have seen Predator, so we didn't recognize that plotline reference.)

We can finally understand what the Doctor is saying! Capaldi tended to mumble or "think out loud to himself" and the sound crew never did adjust for that.

 

[Janx]

Awww. But I am jonesing for some EXTERMINATE! Battle cries. Say it isn't so Umbran!

if this was a Moffat operation, you could at least rest easy, knowing that anything Moffat says about the show will be contradicted later.

 

[Ryujin]

I very much liked the general tone and feel. Bodes well for what's to come, I think.

 

[Jester David]

First episodes are tricky. I'd rate Whittaker's high.

The introduction of Eccleston and Tennant were all about Rose with the Doctor just being in the background.
Capaldi was running around dealing with more bodypart-stealing clockwork robots. Which worked thematically, as it was all about if you replace all your bodyparts a dozen times are you still the same person?
Smith's is the high water mark, as he has to save the world while relying just on himself with no TARDIS or screwdriver or resources. And the transition image of all the Doctors was neat.

This episode did an excellent job of introducing four new characters and the Doctor without focusing solely on one character. We learned rapid fire what Ryan and Yas and Graham's stories are while also having the Doctor at the front and giving a speech about changing while being true to yourself. It handled a lot very elegantly.


I like how they jumped right in and let the show build without a title sequence. But I wished they'd have ended with the title sequence.
Especially in place of the boring and masturbatory long, long list of upcoming guest stars. Yaaaaawn. I have never cared about guest stars. This isn’t The Simpsons; they don’t need to trick people into watching with the promise of some celeb or name. That was lame.


Given she wasn't a "companion", I saw the death of Nan coming, and was preemptively sad. Especially as it didn’t seem to have any impact on the story. She just rushes in to help and dies, but her victory seems unnecessary.

I quite like how the group gets pulled together at the end. It sets up the fun story of trying to get them home, which is a regular theme of classic Doctor Who that we haven’t seen recently. Very Ian and Barbara, Tegan, or even arguably Peri or Ace. Which is fun and adds a neat dynamic to the stories, which is a nice change from the presentation of travelling with the Doctor as this addictive lifestyle we've seen in the last few incarnations.
(I've always seen travelling in the TARDIS as being like backpacking across Europe. It's fun and thrilling, but eventually you just want to return home and settle down.)

I also like how the TARDIS didn’t just magic back at the end, and had to be hunted for. (But I'm jonesing to see interior. I hope we retain a more mechanical inside and don't get a return to the junkyard design.) I wonder how long they can keep the Doctor away from their TARDIS.

The alien was unremarkable. Gross, but not very memorable. And the hook of the super cold alien that can kill with a touch wasn’t played up nearly enough. That could have been much more interesting, with frost forming where he walked (especially when he entered a puddle). Most of the time they were just generic black armour dude running around in an underlit area.


And, as I have said elsewhere, I wish the Doctor had a collared shirt. The current look is too casual and too much like a costume. The Doctor works best when they look more anachronistic and less wearing a funny suit to be weird. They looked so much better in Doctor Twelves' rags than the T-shirt and ridiculously short pants.

 

[Jester David]

Awww. But I am jonesing for some EXTERMINATE! Battle cries. Say it isn't so Umbran!

I'm okay with all new monsters for a bit. I don't think they need to jump into having Cybermen and Daleks right away. That can come later.
The Third Doctor went two years with all new monsters.

 

[MarkB]

I downloaded the episode on iPlayer. When it opened with the fake Youtube blog, I spent the first ten seconds trying to work out how to re-maximise the window.