Dr. Who

  • Want to keep track of this thread?
    Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
    Create account
Daaaamn. That's how you do an episode with point.

They also did well by bothering to point out the massive progress made compared to how things were and really, barely pulled punches with a chunk of language which did surprise me.

Crosswell was an interesting bad guy in that he realized tiny changes make the world of difference rather than The Masters goofy conquer all schemes. I actually hope we see him again as a sort of anti-jack looking for moments to knock history than muderous schemes.
 
Probably my favourite episode so far. Take note Steven Moffat - that's how you do an episode set during times when racism was still a huge problem. Not by sweeping it under the rug and pretending it never happened (*cough* "Thin Ice" *cough*) but by taking the bull by horns and confronting it head on.

Also, amazingly, this episode was actually less preachy than some of the latter day Capaldi shit. Although I think using that song at the end was a bit overkill.

I look forward to the thinkpieces in the Guardian about how the Doctor was whitesplaining throughout the episode.
 
Moffat didn't write Thin Ice if I remember correctly.
 
Last edited:
SnowBall said:
Moffat didn't write Thin Ice if I remember correctly.
Click to expand...
He didn't, but it happened under his watch (showrunners write the final draft of all other writers' scripts unless said writer is particularly experienced/good) and he gave an interview afterwards saying he was "bending history in a useful and progressive way".
 
Ah I see. Didn't series 3 have a similar plot to Thin Ice but with Martha and slavery?
 
TheImportantFart said:
He didn't, but it happened under his watch (showrunners write the final draft of all other writers' scripts unless said writer is particularly experienced/good) and he gave an interview afterwards saying he was "bending history in a useful and progressive way".
Click to expand...
Yes, but did you know that Bill was a lesbian? Because Bill was a lesbian.
 
SnowBall said:
Ah I see. Didn't series 3 have a similar plot to Thin Ice but with Martha and slavery?
Click to expand...
Not that I remember. She made a few noises about slavery/racism being a thing whenever they travelled back in time, similar to how Bill did in "Thin Ice", but they didn't then have loads of black people walking around in top hats and tails like it was nothing.
 
Figures this episode was written by a blackman.
2.png
 
I was actually surprised. To me this show seems to be heading back to its roots as in First Doctor shit. No fixed points in time, just hard to shift major events, going through little actions to change history, educational in nature and surprisingly accurate representation of the event. I've seen a lot of people forget that she wasn't sitting in a "white" area to begin with. It reminded in a way of say The Reign of Terror mixed with the Time Meddler, minus the Doctor's ability to actually blend in to his environment. Another small complaint I have is that Yaz still has little character, and it seems there's going to be a love plot between her and Ryan. At least that would give her development I guess. I was also reminded of Quantum Leap in the 'small actions' theme as well as putting in the effort to build the time period and place in time amazingly well.

Over all: not preachy; fun; effort was made to build the era; Yaz needs work. 8.3/10
 
That was my least favorite episode of the series so far.

To be fair, it was a lot less overtly terrible than I thought it was going to be, and it was a *tad* less preachy than later Mofat episodes, but I still found it to be preachy AF.

I'm definitely getting more 10 with tits vibes from 13, (and not in a good way). The annoying name dropping thing that the Doctor has always done has been cranked up to 11 now, and frankly it's even more obnoxious when 13 does it than it was when the actual 11 did it. No, you aren't Banksy Doctor. Go home, you're drunk.

I think I actively dislike Yaz now, because she is totally one of those people who claims she's being held back at her job because of her race, when she was already shown in the first episode to be objectively terrible at her job.

I am still mostly meh about Ryan, but I genuinely got some cheap :feels: in that scene where he met MLK and Parks. I can see myself growing to like him.

Graham is still fine, but I am SO glad they killed off his wife. I can tell that I would have really hated her if she was in this episode. Really lady, the *first* thing you did when you found out that Graham was a bus driver was tell him he better not be as bad as some totally random and forgotten asshole from a completely different country than you live in, who nobody but you (even in that actual country) remembers, and who died forever ago? Piss off.

The villain dude kind of sucked. Also his plan was retarded. Why didn't he just shoot Rosa with his non-lethal "send you to the future" gun? It would have had the exact same effect he was looking for, with zero chance of failure.

Speaking of Rosa Parks, that accent Vinette Robinson was putting on was fucking awful. (As it usually is when Brits try to play yanks) I get that the majority of BBC actors have to be Brits for whatever reason, but the least they could have done is cast someone who's *spoken* to an American before.
Also, was Rosa Parks really married to a white dude?
 
Last edited:
I quite liked the episode, but is Rosa Parks even that well known in the UK? Someone Graham's age would have picked up most of the story by osmosis, especially as he's a bus driver, but the two "kids"?
 
Fuck r/The_Donald is having a fucking meltdown over racism being bad in the Rosa Parks episode.
 
Puddleduck said:
I quite liked the episode, but is Rosa Parks even that well known in the UK? Someone Graham's age would have picked up most of the story by osmosis, especially as he's a bus driver, but the two "kids"?
Click to expand...

Yup. I learnt about the us civil rights movement in school. A lot of the civil Rights issue is viewed through the prism of the US movement

Mostly because the UK's civil rights movement involved parliament just going "stop that" and slapping some shit into law to make being a complete cunt to brown people illegal.
 
Last edited:
It was alright, I was expecting much worse. Usually in Who once things start going right they stay that way, but this was more cat and mouse.

I liked the villain.
 
Sorry for double posting, but this episode was kinda bad.

The Doctor is getting much worse with the anti-gun stuff, even when the solution used is way less humane than guns.

At least a poorly disguised Trump analogue gets to shoot something to death and say a cool line.
 
I actually kinda liked that episode, the end was pretty weak (the plan and exit) but apart from that it held atmosphere in the beginning, I was actually a but spooked, and the CGI was surprisingly decent for what little budget the show supposedly has. The one spider being alive was a bit obvious, though I was wondering 'why aren't they dead' through most of the episode so I got closure on suffocation at the very end. I don't see why the Doctor didn't like the 'mercy killing'. I mean the man was a dick but she needed to be put out of her misery. Yaz still has no character to speak of, but I am really liking Ryan. His use of Big Shaq was cringy but maybe a bit amusing. Also, lol at whoever thought starving spiders is the humane death. Literally more suffering than being shot.

Solid 3/5. The gun ranting made no sense, somehow more agenda based then Rosa Parks
 
Sable said:
Sorry for double posting, but this episode was kinda bad.

The Doctor is getting much worse with the anti-gun stuff, even when the solution used is way less humane than guns.

At least a poorly disguised Trump analogue gets to shoot something to death and say a cool line.
Click to expand...

This, so much. This episode sucked. The anti-gun thing was bashed over our heads and the douchey hotel owner was a Captain Planet villain mixed with Trump. Me and my family were collectively facepalming. And yes, apparently stuffing mutant baby spiders in a room to let them die from oxygen and food deprivation is a more humane solution to shooting them. Also Kevin was dumb and will not be missed.

The only good parts in this episode were Stepdad and Ghost Grace's moments which were genuinely poignant. I didn't really pay attention to Yaz's family situation.

Also, my first reaction to seeing the giant baby spider: Awww! I want to put one in a harness and take it for walkies.
 
Yeah... the weakest episode so far. Some nice character moments, but not much else. It was basically Doctor Who does Eight-Legged Freaks. Although I did like how they addressed the scientific issue with having giant spiders. Also, seeing the spiders scuttling along to rap music made me chuckle.

I actually liked that they lampshaded the Trump thing by making you think the villain is a Trump stand-in, but then revealing that Trump's still a thing in this universe and this guy's planning to run against him and actually hates his guts . I don't really have a problem with taking the piss out of politicians considering they literally turned Obama into the Master back in 2009, although the Trump line in "World Enough and Time" made me roll my eyes because it was so forced.

Trouble was, the villain was just a stupid cartoon character - no-one is that much of a relentless douchebag. I also can't help but feel that every time Doctor Who has giant spiders now is a missed opportunity to bring back the Eight Legs from "Planet of the Spiders". But considering what happened last time that happened ("The Eight Truths"/"World Wide Web") maybe that's for the best.

Hopefully next week is better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom