Doctor Who Series 8

[Midnite]

New Doctor, New Monsters and Old Enemies...Trailer

[JeyNyce]

It's been a while since I watched Doctor Who.  Thank goodness for Netflix!

[captainawesome]

Awesome trailer  , can't wait for the new series.

[Talavar]

New series of Doctor Who isn't so far off!  I hope I like the 12th Doctor as much as the last 2.

[Podmark]

I watched through the previous 7 series earlier this year. It was something I'd wanted to do for a long time and now I'm finally caught up! Really enjoyed it. Bring on Series 8!

[Talavar]

So, series 8 is here!  An interesting episode...

Spoiler

we get some traditional (at this point) new regeneration shenanigans, but I like what we see so far of Capaldi/12.  He's got a different delivery, and a real edge to him.  The plot is nothing too original, but the character work shines, and Clara gets a bit more depth - which she's been needing.

[Podmark]

I liked it...

Spoiler

Good episode for Clara, and it was nice to see Madame Vastra and her team again. I found the enemy robots a little underwhelming and I didn't catch what they were related to while watching the episode, had to look it up afterwards. Would have preferred a bit more clarity there.

Still getting a bead on Capaldi. He spent too much of the episode disoriented from the regeneration so I'm still not quite sure who the 12th really is. Seems enjoyable at the very least.

The highlight for me was Matt Smith's appearance. And I liked the various continuity nods.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Twas okay and I always enjoy Jenny, Vastra, and Strax. I also like how once again, they pick up on plot threads from early, ones which I hadn't noticed or forgot about.

Spoiler

I had completely forgotten about the woman who gave Clara the TARDIS's number and I never much paid attention to the hanging TARDIS phone.
Now I am curious about the Doctor's "girlfriend."  Did River somehow regeneration after the Library?  Could the Rani have escaped from Galifrey?  Is this someone completely new?  I am curious to know.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Just watched Episode 2.  The show continues to focus heavily on Clara.  She's definitely become her own character now while the Doctor goes more into the background because a mysterious presence, which is good.

The episode itself was a quite good one again.  Dalek episodes are getting a bit old, but this one is no doubt one of the better ones.  It is, however, a bit too similar in some ways to Season 1's "Dalek."

[Talavar]

A good Dalek episode (with the qualifier that most have usually been sub-par on the revived show).  They were legitimately threatening, which is nice to see. 

[MJB]

Anyone else watch the latest episode? I'm LOVING Capaldi's Doctor. Was a fun episode from beginning to end.

[Talavar]

I enjoyed it quite a bit as well.  Capaldi is great, and a great change of pace as the Doctor. 

[Silver Shocker]

I'm thoroughly enjoying Capaldi as the Doctor, and I find Clara/Jenna Louise Coleman quite charming. I echo the comments above on the Dalek episode entirely, I quite enjoyed it, and I loved that "She cares so I don't have to" bit, it's my favorite Capaldi line. That being said I was kinda meh on the third episode.

Spoiler

While the Robin Hood setting was fairly well realized, I found the whole proceedings a little too boilerplate, though I imagine it being an enormous throwback was meant to be a big part of the charm. I liked it a lot more when the robots started showing up about 20 minutes in or so. I also found the rather brief reference to "The Promised Land" a bit of a letdown after the previous two episodes' use of that subplot.

I also found they made the Doctor a bit ineffectual for the sake of the plot and a buddy-buddy team up. I refuse to believe that in all the years that the Doctor has been alive, he's never trained himself to break out of shackles Batman-style.

So yeah, not a bad episode, and certainly fun, but I wasn't digging it as much as the other people here.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

This week was the best one yet, even if I'm not entirely sure what the ending is (and to be fair, that's probably a good thing in this case)

It really does look like they are preparing Clara to leave though.  It's been rumored to be the case, but even if there were no rumors, I would seriously suspect so.

Clara continues to get more focus, and they pretty well establish the Doctor's more fatherly relationship with him.  I look forward to seeing what the rest of the season has in store.

[Podmark]

I liked the episode, might have been my favorite thus far, but it really felt like it was holding back.
There was a nice creepy vibe, and some interesting stuff with Danny Pink.

Spoiler

I was disappointed we didn't get much of an answer on things we don't see, and they just wouldn't say the obvious conclusion to Clara's connection with Danny.

[Talavar]

Two more Doctor Who episodes have aired since we last discussed the new series, Time Heist and The Caretaker.  Both have been strong episodes, and I'm continuing to really like the 12th Doctor. 

Spoiler

This week I really liked the interaction between Danny Pink and the Doctor.  The Doctor has been really critical of Danny so far this season, and it's nice to see him give as good as he got.

[Podmark]

Caretaker was a lot of fun.

Spoiler

Now that Danny has met the Doctor I wonder if he'll be doing some travelling with them?

[Talavar]

No one's been posting in the ol' Doctor Who thread in a while, and we're very nearly to the end of the season.  I'm not going to go through every episode since the last discussion; I think it's been one of the strongest runs of episodes of New Who, with only Forest of the Night being a weak entry.  The most recent episode had quite the little twist regarding Missy however...

Spoiler

Missy is short for The Mistress - after all, she can't very well call herself the Master; she's old fashioned! *jawdrop*

[Podmark]

Yeah I'm enjoying this season. The episode about the flat beings was particularly interesting.

Spoiler

Last episode with great, I actually had suspicions that Missy was the Master but the reveal was very satisfying. Very excited to see the conclusion. Also I wonder if Danny is really dead?

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

I was rather dissappointed.  I don't know how to explain it exactly, but it just didn't seem like a very satisfactory conclusion at all and depends too much on characters doing some very stupid things, like they tried to forces a certain conclusion.  Really unhappy with how it turned out.  I didn't like Missy as a character though.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Finally saw the Christmas special.  Really fantastic.  Best Dr. Who all year long.  Part creepy, part dramatic, part heartwarming, all awesome.  Also, Moffat really does like to mess with us doesn't he?

Spoiler

Makes it look like Clara's off the show until the very last second. Very sneaky. Once again a major Dr. Who rumor is shown to be sort of true only not at all the way we thought it would be.

[Talavar]

Finally saw the Christmas special.  Really fantastic.  Best Dr. Who all year long.  Part creepy, part dramatic, part heartwarming, all awesome.  Also, Moffat really does like to mess with us doesn't he?

Spoiler

Makes it look like Clara's off the show until the very last second. Very sneaky. Once again a major Dr. Who rumor is shown to be sort of true only not at all the way we thought it would be.

I meant to comment on it, and it really was great.  Easily one of the best Doctor Who Xmas specials, and on top of all that you mentioned, part hilarious. 

Spoiler

The Doctor calling out that Santa giving the technobabble was across the line; everything about Santa explaining how he does what he does.