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Post by jjpor on Dec 25, 2013 19:24:52 GMT
And now, the end is near, so Eleven faces the final curtain... But the moment, I suspect, has been prepared for... Here is your discussion thread for the impending (literally minutes away here in Blighty) Doctor Who Christmas special "The Time of the Doctor". Usual drill applies; please keep all discussions of this story in here and out of the cbox, and use whatever means seems right to you to conceal and mark up any spoilers you may, no, will be posting.
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Post by starpanda on Dec 28, 2013 6:30:24 GMT
Yaaaaaayyyy!!!! ;D That was a lot of fun. And surprisingly good. I mean it was a bit disjointed in places, some plot holes, but whatever. It actually resolved the whole regeneration dispute (at least for me) which was good enough to make this episode a keeper. Also, miracle of miracles, I actually loved Clara in this episode. In case you didn't know, Clara just hasn't been doing it for me this past season. I just felt that she was being shoved down my throat as this uberspecial snowflake etc. In this episode I felt I finally got to see Clara as Clara, as a person. And that person was funny, witty, and I laughed and cried with her. Regeneration! I have this weird feeling that Capaldi is going to be my new favorite Doctor. I love how severe he looks. I can't wait to see him when he gets angry. Also the new theme song playing in the background at the end was lovely. It gave me a sort of Alice in Wonderland vibe. (Also Scottish accent!) Anyway, the point is... How the hell are we supposed to wait another nine months? EDIT: After rewatching I have a bit more to say on the regeneration. Namely that I think it was very well done. The music was beautiful and not overblown *cough*valedecem*cough*. Some call Amy's cameo fanservice, but I thought it was a graceful nod to Eleven's "definitive" companion. Eleven's speech was wonderful and poignant and had an undercurrent of happiness and optimism i.e. regeneration isn't death. It's renewal and life. It made for a perfect transition that didn't alienate anyone against the next Doctor. *cough*cough* I've seen a lot of people complain about how quick the actual change was. (I'm assuming these people have never seen Three to Four, let alone Six to Seven.) I thought it was quite a good choice. It put the audience, just for a second, in Clara's shoes - surprised, and a bit shocked. I guess that's my take. What does everyone else think?
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Post by jjpor on Jan 2, 2014 19:11:13 GMT
I enjoyed it a great deal. It would seem to have been one that has divided fandom to some extent, with people either really liking it or quite the opposite, but when was there ever a major Who story that didn't have that effect on fandom? I think that anybody complaining that the actual regeneration seemed rushed and undersold compared to The End of Time is merely highlighting just what an overblown, overhyped, overlong, self-regarding (and as starpanda rightly points out, rather mean-spirited in that it seemed almost to be trying to make the transition harder for the new lead actor and production regime rather than easier) load of old cobblers The End of Time was, but as TEoT is one of my very least favourite Who stories of all time I may be biased on that count... But no, it was just right imho - combining something of the spirit of the old series regenerations with just enough of the emotive bells and whistles that we are told the new series audience demands. Just right. And the bit with Amy was just lovely, I thought, hapless sap that I am. As for the rest of it, I thought the story was at the same time very grandscale and ambitious and yet at the same time rather small and self-contained - a good trick if you can pull it off. Yes, there were some pretty whopping plot holes in the attempts to tie up the whole continuity of the Eleven era and the Silence and so on in an hour's television, but the pace of the thing and the panache with which it hit its major beats prevented me from thinking any of them through at the time, which is again a good trick if you can pull it off and tends to work rather more easily on me than on some other viewers. ;D Great performance from Matt Smith - staying true to Eleven as we have come to know and love him, but packing something of an emotional wallop as well, especially towards the end, even through all that "old man" makeup. Speaking of emotional wallops, though, the bit that really made me "get something in me eye" was poor old "Handles"! - again a testament to the way Smith sold the lines. "Real Clara" was also well-provided for here, easily as good as she's been in everything save perhaps The Day of the Doctor. As "Future Clara" and "Victorian Clara" demonstrated, Jenna Coleman can do the business with the right material, so I hope she keeps getting it. My one concern: is that "it" for the resurrected Gallifrey and its Time Lords? I hope not, because I found the ending of the 50th anniversary special genuinely hopeful and uplifting mainly for that promised perhaps-story arc (and Big Tommy B coming out of nowhere, of course!), so I hope we get back to that at some point during Twelve's tenure. Speaking of which... I thought the boy Capaldi showed a lot of promise indeed in that few seconds he got (oh, and in the previous 30 years or so of his not-undistinguished acting career as well, a bit) - I like the bug-eyes and the accent and the air of general bewilderment. Now I want to see him bring the steel that I know is in there as well - nine months can't go quickly enough as far as I'm concerned.
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