Doctor Who (Spoiler/Episode discussion)

I don't think we should rule out a Clarke re-appearance in some form or other. She was good - I'm not getting this notion it was the SDC show but she was very good; I thought everyone was. I especially liked Amit Shah's brief appearance.

Re Murray Gold - oh my word, what a blessed relief he has finally gone. I've generally liked the rebooted show but the one constant irritant has been the appalling choir-saturated music. With this new episode the change in music policy was immediately apparent, it opened up so much space with the music being a lot more unobtrusive and better-suited to the visuals, and adding to the overall very different feel of the show. Previously it felt more like the images were serving Gold's overbearing "LOOK AT ME!" scores. I hope this now means an end to the cloying nonsense of the 'character theme'. Oh look, Martha's a bit sad - quick slap the drippy Martha's Theme all over it. There's Jack - in with the Torchwood blip-blip-blips. It was like the incidental-music equivalent of when you see pigeons pecking buttons in lab tests.

The end theme tune was a return towards the original more ghostly lead line after years of it being all high and thin and shrill. The drum track was a bit bolted-on though. Did we see graphics akin to the original swirly diamond-shape stuff as well?

I really liked JW, though I hope they have her calm down a bit from now. Her entry and her first line - "What?" - were great. But yes the manic "who am I?" thing wasn't new. The regeneration speech was a lovely bit of writing and performance. I feel a bit sorry for Capaldi, everyone here seems very down on him. I liked him a lot - I tend to like him in anything - and enjoyed the grumpier no-hugs take on the character, but he wasn't well-served by the show. He joined at a time when storyline quality was in decline, companions were annoying and the show generally needed a major kick up the rear, which it now seems to have got. I'm really looking forward to subsequent episodes and some interesting guests, and of course how she tracks down the Tardis and what the new interior will be like.

JW's performance was the main reason for my absolute favourite moment of the episode, which was a laugh-out-loud moment for me. With so much that was good in general, it somehow feels wrong it's this bit but I can't help it, even re-watching it I still laughed and enjoyed it even more:

"You can tell your children you had the honour of meeting Tzim-Sha!"
"Tim Shaw?"
"...Tzim-Sha."
"Tim Shaw?"

Very excited for this week's episode after one of the strongest episodes in New Who's history last week. Rewatching episode 1 on iPlayer now so I can go straight from the end of the episode into the start of episode 2. Anyone else think "the ghost monument" is going to be the TARDIS?

Bravissimo!

I do wish they would put more effort into creating some real jeopardy. It was so clear that none of the characters was under any serious threat of harm that it eliminates any tension that might have built up.

I am not demanding deaths in every episode. But the lack of consequence does mean that we don't have worry about 'main' characters.

Last week does not count as anyone who had followed the run up to the new season knew that there were 3 new companions and Sharon only had a small role - so her exit was clearly signposted.

Better plotting would create better suspense - which makes for better drama.

Otherwise it ends up being very formulaic.

So far, I am not loving the writing of the new regime. Other things are good. But the plotting is poor.

Agreed. I understand having a few formulaic episodes as we get to know the new assistants etc but it was dull.

I like Jodie's take on The Doctor, but am finding the writing a little pedestrian. It feels like a children's version so far. Granted, the last few series had become a little hard to follow, but this back-to-basics approach has gone a little too far, for me.

Just caught up with episodes 2 and 3. Overall I thought episode 2 like other posts really didn’t do that much for me I’m afraid. After the excellent opening episode, I thought this really was a step back in the quality of the writing and with the quality of the cast in that episode, I thought the writing didn’t match that. It didn’t help that I couldn’t see where, like others have stated where the danger for the characters came from.

I’m still impressed with JW as the Dr though and it’s definitely nice to see the companions in this series have some development. The age range of the characters has definitely paid off as you get a wider range of experiences and knowledge that they can bring to the different episodes.

While the episode wasn’t that great, I have to say having the episode filmed in South Africa is certainly a step up from the famous Dr Who quarry setting used in many a episode of the classic series. It certainly made for a fantastic setting. Oh how times (and show budgets) have changed!

While episode 2 was a bit of a duff one, episode 3 was for me a fantastic episode, both in the writing and the acting. The historical stories, both in the classic and new series have been some of the best ones I’ve enjoyed. Overall I thought that the retelling of the Rosa Parks story was an inspired choice and allowed us to get a glimpse of what it must have been like to live in that era. I thought that the Krasko character was underused and not really well written. but Vinette Robinson as Rosa was great and visually was pretty close to the real Rosa.

Having now seen the opening titles and the newly designed Tardis, they both get the thumbs up from me. 

Definitely agree it wasn’t your normal Dr Who episode. I’d be keen to ask the show runner why the episode was included. Though I did read an interview somewhere where he said that there would be some episodes that would resonate with a particular companion. Also in another interview I’ve found, Chris Chibnall said that he wanted to return to the educational focus that Dr Who had when it first started. So maybe this was one of these episodes.

I’m happy that they told the Rosa Parks story with respect and dignity to those people involved in that era, but didn’t shy away from showing how people acted or where treated back then. If nothing else, hopefully it will keep this part of history alive by telling a very important story to people who may not be aware of who Rosa Parks was or her role in the US civil rights movement.

Su Pollard as the Dr? Now that would definitely be an interesting one. Though after a while, a tad annoying I think. Definitely agree with you Ryan that I think there is plenty more to come from JW. I just hope the scripts allow her to do it.

With Yaz, I’m with you 100%. Out if the three companions, I think hers is the one with the least development. Hopefully in the coming weeks there will be an opportunity for the character to shine. Bradley Walsh really has surprised me. I’ll admit I was a little unsure whether he would work as a companion, but from episode 1 he really has impressed me. It’s nice to have an older head if you like as a companion as it givs a better balance within the TARDIS team rather than having a more youthful approach which has been in the case over the last couple of years.

I don't dispute that, but my problem is in the execution of it - the alien threat was pretty much non-existent and so underdeveloped. It could have been so much more.

I agree that random racist alien was a paper thin villain and his motivations were two dimensional at best. I really think if you were in an outer space prison for mass genocide, your first priority on release wouldn't be going to Earth, 1955 to change a couple of duty rotas.

I saw someone suggest on Twitter was that it would have made a better story had the Tardis crash landed and created a massive hole in the road or something, and then the Tardis team could have had to fix their own mistakes to make sure the bus could still run and Rosa could still get on it at her regular stop. I kinda wish they'd done that.

I did not like the Rosa episode. Thank goodness there was a white woman who saved a pivotal moment in Black American history ?