Doctor Who Series 7

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

And it's now official.  The new Doctor is some dude named Peter Capaldi that has been on some British stuff that I haven't seen but is not a super well known actor.  Also, he's a bit older, and I for one am glad to be back to an older Doctor.  Now we just wait until Christmas.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/08/04/doctor-who-new-doctor-peter-capaldi/

[B A D]

Its an older Doctor, finally. Itll certianly change tne dynamic of the show. CAPALDIS got some acting  chops.

[detourne_me]

watch The Thick of It if you want to see great political humour.

[Tomato]

So, I watched Doctor Who a few hours ago. It was pretty much perfect. Great Humor, great drama, amazing cameos, and a perfect rendition of everything Doctor Who stands for.

To anyone worried about being behind a season or so before watching this... as I told a friend, the only thing you really need to know is that Clara knows all the Doctors. Everything else beyond the first season of 11/12's run is irrelevant to this story aside from a few comments about the series 7 finale.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Except, of course, for the very existence of one character being a massive season 7 spoiler by itself.

EDIT:  Finally saw it.  Enjoyed it, but am a bit concerned about the Armed with Canon and massive retconing going on here.

Spoiler

Since it mostly ignores the End of Time with it's power mad insanely Time Lord Council and all the evils that would be unleashed on the universe should Gallifrey survive.  It's basically Moffat undoing much of what Davies established in his tenure.  While the story is excellent, creators fighting each other by altering the canon to contradict each each ("Armed with Canon") is not in general a good thing.  In this case, I actually do prefer Moffat's version, since it seems more right for the doctor than Davies, but it could be troubling if it starts a trend among Dr. Who creators.

[Talavar]

That was a delight!  And they managed to sneak in another surprise appearance too.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

My minor concerns about potential continuity wars aside, it was a great anniversary episode with lots of nods toward the past history of the show and a great surprise appearance.

Spoiler

The First Doctor opening/imitation of the beginning of The Unearthly Child was great.  Also love that Clara is now teaching at Ian and Barbara's school and that Ian is apparently still there.
Well, know we know the full story behind his marriage to Queen Elizabeth.
I can't decide if I'm more disappointed the Piper was't playing Rose or pleasantly surprised at just what her role was.
Speaking of her role, an intelligent weapon of mass destruction with a conscience and time manipulation who actively works to talk people out of using it?  Brilliant!
The interaction between the three main Doctors was classic.  Loved that part of it.
The Zygons return!  True it's just one big plot by the Moment to manipulate the Doctor into not using her, but still.
The big moment with all 13 Doctors at once was both brilliantly executed and wholely unexpected.  The early guest appearance of the 12th Doctor have never been done before, but was pulled off very well here.
Loved the design of the Dalek war machines seen here.
Tom Baker's guest appearance was great!  Didn't expect that, but really enjoyed it.
Well, we know what the next season, or perhaps just the Christmas episode, but hopefully the next season, are going to be about.

[Tomato]

My minor concerns about potential continuity wars aside, it was a great anniversary episode with lots of nods toward the past history of the show and a great surprise appearance.

Spoiler

The First Doctor opening/imitation of the beginning of The Unearthly Child was great.  Also love that Clara is now teaching at Ian and Barbara's school and that Ian is apparently still there.
Well, know we know the full story behind his marriage to Queen Elizabeth.
I can't decide if I'm more disappointed the Piper was't playing Rose or pleasantly surprised at just what her role was.
Speaking of her role, an intelligent weapon of mass destruction with a conscience and time manipulation who actively works to talk people out of using it?  Brilliant!
The interaction between the three main Doctors was classic.  Loved that part of it.
The Zygons return!  True it's just one big plot by the Moment to manipulate the Doctor into not using her, but still.
The big moment with all 13 Doctors at once was both brilliantly executed and wholely unexpected.  The early guest appearance of the 12th Doctor have never been done before, but was pulled off very well here.
Loved the design of the Dalek war machines seen here.
Tom Baker's guest appearance was great!  Didn't expect that, but really enjoyed it.
Well, we know what the next season, or perhaps just the Christmas episode, but hopefully the next season, are going to be about.

Spoiler

I actually have a theory that the machine actually was Rose, or at least an echo of her from when she was the big bad wolf. Remember, Rose at that time was able to raise Jack to life for all eternity.

[Talavar]

Though this is hardly the first time Doctor Who continuity has been "corrected" by later masters.  The 8th Doctor's claim of being half-human was pretty thoroughly discredited by the Russell T. Davies administration, for instance.

Did anyone else catch the Five(ish) Doctors reboot video on the web?  Pretty funny stuff there.

[Tomato]

Spoiler

Honestly, this doesn't bother me NEARLY as much as the reboot of the Daleks last season, especially there was at least an attempt to explain the council situation (there's a throwaway line by the officers about the Council being in session and "their plans have already failed," implying the council stuff happened between the Doctor's capture of the moment and his intended destruction of gallifrey). It sets up the next chapter of the Doctor's story, gives us the option of seeing more than just the Master running around, and after 8 years dealing with doctor in constant pain, I'm ok with changing up the dynamic.

[Talavar]

Spoiler

Honestly, this doesn't bother me NEARLY as much as the reboot of the Daleks last season, especially there was at least an attempt to explain the council situation (there's a throwaway line by the officers about the Council being in session and "their plans have already failed," implying the council stuff happened between the Doctor's capture of the moment and his intended destruction of gallifrey). It sets up the next chapter of the Doctor's story, gives us the option of seeing more than just the Master running around, and after 8 years dealing with doctor in constant pain, I'm ok with changing up the dynamic.

Weren't the...

Spoiler

daleks rebooted in season 5

[Tomato]

Spoiler

I'm referring to the mind wipe "the Daleks no longer know who the Doctor is" thing from this last season.

[deano_ue]

umm the whole evil timelords from the end of time still happened, the military leaders say in the day of the doctor they have lost contact with the high council eg dalton and his crew have went into the stasis they appeared from in they're own ep

as for the whole universe ending warnings, according to the universe galifrey is still gone no one knew what the doctor did so as far as the rest of the universe is concerned the doctor still killed them all

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Yes, there is a nod to the council.  The problem here is all the nightmarish other things the Doctor said would come with Galifray.  This can still be worked around.

None of that matters much, because I honestly don't care if things are retconned or not.  Dr. Who has never been a strong canon based show and the retcon things more often than they breathe.  My concerns are not about retcons but about canon wars.  I just don't want one to actually start and am mildly concerned that this ep nudges thing in that direction.  I doesn't go so far as to start one and it's likely to never be a concern the more I think of it. 

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

New Christmas special out.  Haven't actually watched it yet, but I've read summaries and it seems to wrap up the Matt Smith era nicely and answer all the lingering big questions.

Spoiler

Why did the Silence destroy the TARDIS and how is there a weary, neverending war against him?  Because he ends up fighting them and many other enemies on Trenzadore for centuries.  It's no wonder they'd try to win the war that way.

What's the Battle of Trenzadore about?  A crack leading to the saved Gallifrey is there and every enemy of the show is there to fight the Time Lords and threatening the inhabitants of that planet in the process.

How does he get around the 12 regeneration limit?  Simple.  Since the Time Lords are still around, they just give him a new set, as they've already done in the past with the Master.

[captainawesome]

Saw the Christmas special earlier today and it was awesome .

Spoiler

I loved that they had the seal of Rassilon from the five doctors make a cameo. Also, I really liked how they upheld the classic who 12 regeneration limit while allowing the show to continue. It was interesting to see how happy Smith was with the new regen cycle, doing a regeneration dance while blasting daleks (especially after Tennant's "not wanting to go" regeneration).

Spoiler

[Talavar]

Really, very satisfying.  A very strong Christmas special and a strong final episode for Matt Smith.  I'm going to miss his Doctor.

[Tomato]

I loved it. In some respects, I thought the Christmas special was better than the 50th... the 50th had some really great moments and some nods to the classic series, but the B-plot drags and gets resolved a bit too easily. Time of the Doctor serves one purpose: It takes all those dangling plotlines from the Matt Smith era (even ones you thought were completely forgotten) and ties them into a nice, neat bow before his departure.