Doctor Who - Spoilers!

[Kamandi]

The quality of the CG effects have taken a hit by the loss of DW's long time visual effects supplier The Mill.

Oh god those kids sucked.

When the Doctor fights 1000 cybermen and wins it makes them look like a joke. The story had more tension when there were only 5 or 6.

The new CM suits are snazzy.

Never use those kids again!

 

[JonWes]

Oh, the whinging of fan-boys

It was fun, leave it at that. Matt Smith was hilarious, the girl annoying.

Yes, the break down of things people did and did not like is "whinging." I think we should all just post one-sentence reviews. That really contributes to a discussion and isn't boring at all.

"I liked it! Fun! OMG! Neato episode!"

 

[FrodoEyes]

Yes, because that's exactly what i said isn't it.

 

[drdandalek]

That was a good episode. About what I expected from Gaiman. Goody story with great scifi elements and just a little odd. I think it's good to have the kids in the show as the show is thought of as a "kid's show" in the UK anyway. Just giving kids somebody to identify and empathize with. Overall, I like the look of the Cybermen though. They changed throughout each of the classic appearances doing upgrades to themselves so this just reiterated the point of why their looks change. Good solid acting performance for all. Matt was a little over the top but hey, if you had someone else arguing with you in your head, you appear manic as well. Lol. Overall, I give it an A for a great entertaining episode.

 

[kl241]

• I feel like the series is looking a bit cheap. This is something I give Doctor Who a great deal of leeway on, but there's something about either the set design, the way it's lit or.... something... that just gives the series a slightly tacky feel that I am a bit surprised by.

People are complaining about this now? The entire classic series was made on the cheap and nobody complained back then. Sheesh.

 

[pixletwin]

Wow.. Gaiman story was the next to lowest point of 7.5 for me

 

[JonWes]

People are complaining about this now? The entire classic series was made on the cheap and nobody complained back then. Sheesh.

It's not "people" - just me.m

Sorry if I didn't make my point obvious, but I'm comparing the series since it came back to some of the episodes as of late. I've been a Doctor Who fan most of my life. As I said, I give the show a lot of leeway. But lately I've found the look of the show to be a bit hit and miss. Some episodes look great, but some just feel a bit more scattered design-wise and cheap. You can make something with not a ton of money (even when it came back, Doctor Who has been made on a budget) and still make it feel cohesive and of a certain quality. For various reasons, this episode felt a bit cheap to me.

I think the biggest thing was that I didn't quite "buy" the location because the shots we got of the theme park in the SFX shots (which I thought were pretty nicely done) didn't seem that well integrated with the environments people were actually in. There wasn't this through-line of style that made me really believe in the location. I haven't experienced that much with Who. Look at how the Library was handled in Silence of the Library. Or the junkyards of "House" in the Doctor's Wife. It's not all about money. It's about stylistic and artistic choices.

I wouldn't call it a huge knock on the episode, it just kept me from being as pulled in as I'd like to be. The IDEA of the location of this episode is so great. I'm just not sure it was executed as well as it might have been.

 

[N2k-swb]

It was an okay episode, not close to Gaiman's success with 'TDW'.

As most have said, the children were horrible, not just acted but written, the girl more so than the boy.

I still don't really care for Clara, she doesn't feel like an assistant but some one whose just 'there' because the Doctor needs a companion in the show. Amy was much more involved in the early stages in comparison.

I really like the new Cybermen look, some of the new ability's were a good attempt to make them threatening but i don't think it worked as well as the Ice Warriors did, possibly because the small 'punishment army' were utterly pointless and no real threat to the Cybermen, had it of been a real army force getting destroyed that would of been much better.

 

[pixletwin]

My kids are starting to lose interest in watching Doctor Who.

I don't like many of the writers Moffat has brought on Doctor Who and I don't like that every story is a one parter; 45 minutes to invest in and care about some situation, develop a story, and get out...It just doesn't work. It's not working. I should be far more excited for the finale than I am.

Makes me sad.

 

[kl241]

This is why the 4-part serials of the classic series worked so well. The cliffhanger format kept you in suspense wanting to know what happens next. Once they started messing with the format during Colin Baker's tenure changing to 2 45 minute stories they weren't as good and the new show works best when they have the 2-parters.

 

[JonWes]

My kids are starting to lose interest in watching Doctor Who.

I don't like many of the writers Moffat has brought on Doctor Who and I don't like that every story is a one parter; 45 minutes to invest in and care about some situation, develop a story, and get out...It just doesn't work. It's not working. I should be far more excited for the finale than I am.

Makes me sad.

I agree about the "no two parters" business. I think this episode could have easily been a 2-parter with some more time to get to know people, mine the interesting location some more, and more Cyberman time where they were built up more as a credible threat.

 

[pixletwin]

The episodes are, more and more, starting to feel like "skits" than stories to me.

 

[Victοr]

I for one have enjoyed the season thus far but it seems kinda,....empty. The latest episode was good, but not great. The kids were awfull and the story was kinda rushed. The cyberman just popped up and then there were more of them. Kinda like a child's cartoon: I'm the bad guy and i will defeat you! (10 minutes later) Haha! I have an army" 5 minutes later the bad guy is defeated, the end! I think it would have been better as a two parter.
Also,the fact that the name of the Doctor will be "revealed" in this season is kinda hard to swallow. Clara, while enjoyable has been his companion for only half a season. To share such an important moment with such a fresh character is not the best idea imo.

 

[FrodoEyes]

I admit i'm not enjoying Who as much as i did in the Russell T Davies days - back then i can remember every season finale as it had a big villain, and the episodes were more fun and memorable. I especially loved the 3-parter with The Master at the end of series 3.
Ironically i loved alot of Moffats work in the Davies days, especially the Weeping Angels.

 

[pixletwin]

I for one have enjoyed the season thus far but it seems kinda,....empty.

That is one thing too. Series 1 to 4 had stories that I don't mind revisiting and watching over again. But I have no desire to rewatch any of these Moffat run stories.

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

Not to pile on, but I haven't loved the Moffat era either. I've likened it before to the McCoy era. It has it's moments and has very grandiose notions, but overall is largely forgettable if not occasionally cringe inducing.

 

[Victοr]

I really like Matt as the Doctor but the Moffat era is kinda mediocre. Davies's finales were 2 or 3 part stories with high stakes and they did make you feel like the end of something. Moffat's finales are good but they don't make you want to watch them again.

 

[kl241]

I admit i'm not enjoying Who as much as i did in the Russell T Davies days - back then i can remember every season finale as it had a big villain, and the episodes were more fun and memorable. I especially loved the 3-parter with The Master at the end of series 3.
Ironically i loved alot of Moffats work in the Davies days, especially the Weeping Angels.

RTD didn't get Who. He destroyed The Master and the Cybermen.

 

[pixletwin]

I have a hard time reconciling the fact that the excellent show runner of Sherlock is the same guy who runs Doctor Who. There just seems to be more care and heart put into Sherlock.

 

[Victοr]

RTD didn't get Who. He destroyed The Master and the Cybermen.

I wouldn't say that he destroyed them but they were different from the source material. Sure i preffered Delgado but Simm made the Master this crazy lunatic guy with the crazy schemes which was enjoyable. Kinda liek a Timelord Joker. The Cybusmen were kinda hard to get used to at first but they've grown on me.