Doctor Who 50th Special Thoughts
Dec. 28th, 2013 10:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaThe Day of the Doctor
Wow. I'm not even entirely sure how I feel about it though in general my feelings are positive. There was a lot about it that I loved. It's just that so much happened and I'm still processing. I don't even know where to start. No, wait, I know.
Goddamn it Moffat! You've gone too far this time. You can't just mess with the Doctor's this way! I actually went through the entire special thinking the John Hurt Doctor was actually an older Eight - all the way until we got to the last shot of the episode and Eight and Hurt were standing side-by-side. That means that Nine is actually Ten, Ten is Eleven and Eleven is Twelve! Does he realise how confusing and messed up everything is now?! How are we supposed to label them now?
What I Liked/Loved
• All the Doctors saving Gallifrey was amazing. ♥ Possibly one of my favourite scenes ever on Doctor Who. The fact that it was all 13 of them! Awesome. I watched this scene several times already and it makes me smile every time.
• Gallifrey and the Time Lords are still alive and will undoubtedly one day be back. I love that twist to the story. This is going to change so much for the Doctor because for the past three regenerations he's had that weight on him and now it's gone. It's really too bad that Eleven's time is almost done because I'd love to see how he'd play it.
• Ten and Eleven's interactions were delightful. The sonic screwdriver competition, lol. Their love for each others glasses. Their shared grin when they told Clara they were talking to "myself" when she asked. Eleven poking at Ten and War - "I demand to be incarcerated in the Tower immediately with my co-conspirators Sandshoes and Granddad." Ten poking back about Eleven's chin. Their shared love of 'the round things' in the TARDIS. Them completely in sync in the Black Archive.
• Ten and Eleven's interactions with War Doctor were great as well. I loved their reactions when he mistook them for the Doctor's companions. I loved him wondering if he was having a midlife crisis.
War Doctor's disgust at how Ten and Eleven use their scredrivers was great. "Why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? They're scientific instruments, not water pistols." LOL.
• Ten! I love Ten and I've missed him. The scene with the rabbit was adorable. Ten in a fez! "I have no idea where he picks that stuff up." Hee. I loved his "Don't you listen to them" and pat to her centre column after Eleven called it her grunge phase. Ten high-fiving the TARDIS.
• Eleven and Ten getting ready to press the button with War Doctor was a great moment. It reminded me of Donna destroying Vesuvius so the Doctor wouldn't have to bear the weight alone.
• The War Doctor's TARDIS was lovely. I loved it. The round things were great.
• Clara was lovely. The moments I loved best came towards the end: Her telling War Doctor that his eyes are so much younger after pleading for him not to do it. Clara's big teary eyes when the Doctors were going to press the button and her convincing him that he could be the Doctor. Her last moment with the Doctor when she gently kisses his cheek and tells him that she always knows (when he needs a moment alone.)
• The Doctors forcing Kate/the humans and the Zygons to try out diplomacy.
• I loved UNIT basically kidnapping the TARDIS and the Doctor. She didn't know the Doctor was in it, and apologised, but why were they taking the Doctor's TARDIS anyway? To make him come to them? Does she have reason to believe he wouldn't come if asked?
• Eleven and his inability to walk by a fez.
• None of the Doctor's having bothered to check that the door was locked.
• All the little call backs to previous Who were wonderful and I know I probably didn't even get most of them. What I did get delighted me - the first opening, the Foreman sign, Osgood's Four-like scarf, Jack's vortex manipulator, River's red shoes and all the photos of the various Companions on the boards.
• Tom Baker as the Curator! It took me a moment to recognise him. Now who exactly is the Curator? A future Doctor? Are all the hints in their conversation just in jokes about Tom Baker or do they have actual meaning? (The Curator is a rather Time Lordy name.)
• I love that Elizabeth fooled everybody and kept it together enough to save the day.
• I really liked Kate's assistant Osgood. Okay, she probably should have gotten her colleague out of hearing range before explaining that she knew what was going on. That was dumb. On the other hand, she got away from the Zygon who cornered her and was adorably fangirly with the Doctor and sweetly shared her inhaler with her Zygon duplicate.
The Moment
• Bad Wolf/Moment -- so I'm a bit confused about whether she was Bad Wolf or Moment. At first, based on what she said I got the disappointing impression that it was the latter. However, based on her actions and how the Doctor saving Gallifrey appears to have been her end goal, along with her behaviour with/towards him, I definitely think it was Bad Wolf not just Moment using her as a visual. I find myself thinking that Bad Wolf is Moment. Or maybe I just really want Moment to be Bad Wolf.
Since the end of series one I have wanted so much for Bad Wolf to come up again and be dealt with. The end of Turn Left got my hopes up but then it didn't go anywhere. Rose looked into the Time Vortex! She and TARDIS basically joined together - she had knowledge of the whole of time and space, overwhelming power and a joint deep love for the Doctor. She tells the Doctor - "I can see everything. All that is, all that was, all that ever could be." and all she did was send out some Bad Wolf graffiti and killed off some Daleks? (Ok, and immortalise Jack.) That never worked for me.
So Bad Wolf going back to ancient Gallifrey and becoming The Moment (by becoming the sentience of it) knowing the Time Lords would store her away until the time the Doctor would need to use her to destroy everyone. All so that she could give him the chance to save his people. That works for me so much. I love it.
Moffat loves his timey-wimey stuff and overwriting reality (a bit too much) so it makes complete sense that in the original time line the Doctor did detroy Gallifrey. Then Bad Wolf happened and of course the TARDIS isn't going to let that stand so she makes it so that the Doctor saves Gallifrey instead. Perfect.
• I love how hard she was working behind the scenes to undue the Doctor's greatest regret. She was basically doing everything she could to lead them to the right decision.
• I loved her mocking the Doctor and his seriousness and how at times she was almost goofy.
• I loved her "Clever boys" line and smile.
• I was disappointed that Bad Wolf never did get to interact with Ten or Eleven. We get a little moment where War Doctor mentions Bad Wolf and there's a small reaction shot - mostly from Ten - which was nice. I guess there really wasn't a place for anything more.
Things I Had Issues With
• The whole John Hurt/War Doctor as the Doctor's big secret, as the thing he never thought about, didn't entirely work. In fact it was one of the things that worked least. I mean the Doctor has talked about how he destroyed his own people along with the Daleks a number of times. In all three regenerations since. It's not a secret! Everyone knows! So basically the only secret here is that the Doctor has disavowed a whole regeneration? While claiming his actions for their own... ??? This would have had an amazing amount of weight and worked perfectly if we hadn't known that the Doctor had been the one to kill everyone, if he hadn't talked about it before, if it was actually a secret he refused to acknowledge.
• Nine really, really should have been in here. Thematically he just should have. Alas, I understand real life gets in the way but seriously Eccleston why wouldn't you do it?! I read that Moffat wrote multiple scripts with Nine in them to varying lengths depending on Eccleston coming back and it would be great if one day we could see those. I want to know what it would have been with Nine there like he should have been.
• So... we're just going to ignore how season 7 ended? With the Doctor and Clara in the Doctor's time-stream? I put off most of my irritation at the end of that episode because I figured the special was going to be picking up right after and actually dealing with it all. Instead - zip.
We're just going to ignore the fact that Clara went into his time-stream and wasn't immediately destroyed like The Great Intelligence, and that even though she split into many different lives throughout the Doctor's timeline her original version somehow stuck around/survived and the Doctor entered his time-stream which is really, really bad - except, I guess not? Because nothing freaking happened! I am super annoyed about this.
• I wasn't fond at all of Clara shutting the TARDIS door with a snap of her fingers. That just rubbed me completely wrong.
• 'Once'? I feel like the Doctor has had to make that choice - killing a large group to save a larger group - more than just once. All I can think of at the moment is the Donna christmas special but there have to be others. More than just the time war.
• You know this isn't something I've really thought about but now I have all these questions about the Time War. Like, wouldn't the Gallifreyian's have evacuated? Were all of the Dalek's involved in the attack?
• I wasn't completely sold on Elizabeth's portrayal unfortunately. Also I didn't like that she had no real response to Ten basically insulting her to her face. It was played as humour but it didn't work for me.
• Why were there statues under fabric in the hallway of the area where they keep all the most secret artifacts? They pretty much looked like normal statues so what was so special about them? Why were they covered? And finally UNIT didn't look that thoroughly if they didn't even look under them!
• Meh at the Doctor's disgust/making fun of the other one for kissing a Zygon. A human doing it, sure, but this is the Doctor who a) is an alien and b) loves all sorts of weird/dangerous creatures.
Wow. I'm not even entirely sure how I feel about it though in general my feelings are positive. There was a lot about it that I loved. It's just that so much happened and I'm still processing. I don't even know where to start. No, wait, I know.
Goddamn it Moffat! You've gone too far this time. You can't just mess with the Doctor's this way! I actually went through the entire special thinking the John Hurt Doctor was actually an older Eight - all the way until we got to the last shot of the episode and Eight and Hurt were standing side-by-side. That means that Nine is actually Ten, Ten is Eleven and Eleven is Twelve! Does he realise how confusing and messed up everything is now?! How are we supposed to label them now?
What I Liked/Loved
• All the Doctors saving Gallifrey was amazing. ♥ Possibly one of my favourite scenes ever on Doctor Who. The fact that it was all 13 of them! Awesome. I watched this scene several times already and it makes me smile every time.
• Gallifrey and the Time Lords are still alive and will undoubtedly one day be back. I love that twist to the story. This is going to change so much for the Doctor because for the past three regenerations he's had that weight on him and now it's gone. It's really too bad that Eleven's time is almost done because I'd love to see how he'd play it.
• Ten and Eleven's interactions were delightful. The sonic screwdriver competition, lol. Their love for each others glasses. Their shared grin when they told Clara they were talking to "myself" when she asked. Eleven poking at Ten and War - "I demand to be incarcerated in the Tower immediately with my co-conspirators Sandshoes and Granddad." Ten poking back about Eleven's chin. Their shared love of 'the round things' in the TARDIS. Them completely in sync in the Black Archive.
• Ten and Eleven's interactions with War Doctor were great as well. I loved their reactions when he mistook them for the Doctor's companions. I loved him wondering if he was having a midlife crisis.
War Doctor's disgust at how Ten and Eleven use their scredrivers was great. "Why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? They're scientific instruments, not water pistols." LOL.
• Ten! I love Ten and I've missed him. The scene with the rabbit was adorable. Ten in a fez! "I have no idea where he picks that stuff up." Hee. I loved his "Don't you listen to them" and pat to her centre column after Eleven called it her grunge phase. Ten high-fiving the TARDIS.
• Eleven and Ten getting ready to press the button with War Doctor was a great moment. It reminded me of Donna destroying Vesuvius so the Doctor wouldn't have to bear the weight alone.
• The War Doctor's TARDIS was lovely. I loved it. The round things were great.
• Clara was lovely. The moments I loved best came towards the end: Her telling War Doctor that his eyes are so much younger after pleading for him not to do it. Clara's big teary eyes when the Doctors were going to press the button and her convincing him that he could be the Doctor. Her last moment with the Doctor when she gently kisses his cheek and tells him that she always knows (when he needs a moment alone.)
• The Doctors forcing Kate/the humans and the Zygons to try out diplomacy.
• I loved UNIT basically kidnapping the TARDIS and the Doctor. She didn't know the Doctor was in it, and apologised, but why were they taking the Doctor's TARDIS anyway? To make him come to them? Does she have reason to believe he wouldn't come if asked?
• Eleven and his inability to walk by a fez.
• None of the Doctor's having bothered to check that the door was locked.
• All the little call backs to previous Who were wonderful and I know I probably didn't even get most of them. What I did get delighted me - the first opening, the Foreman sign, Osgood's Four-like scarf, Jack's vortex manipulator, River's red shoes and all the photos of the various Companions on the boards.
• Tom Baker as the Curator! It took me a moment to recognise him. Now who exactly is the Curator? A future Doctor? Are all the hints in their conversation just in jokes about Tom Baker or do they have actual meaning? (The Curator is a rather Time Lordy name.)
• I love that Elizabeth fooled everybody and kept it together enough to save the day.
• I really liked Kate's assistant Osgood. Okay, she probably should have gotten her colleague out of hearing range before explaining that she knew what was going on. That was dumb. On the other hand, she got away from the Zygon who cornered her and was adorably fangirly with the Doctor and sweetly shared her inhaler with her Zygon duplicate.
The Moment
• Bad Wolf/Moment -- so I'm a bit confused about whether she was Bad Wolf or Moment. At first, based on what she said I got the disappointing impression that it was the latter. However, based on her actions and how the Doctor saving Gallifrey appears to have been her end goal, along with her behaviour with/towards him, I definitely think it was Bad Wolf not just Moment using her as a visual. I find myself thinking that Bad Wolf is Moment. Or maybe I just really want Moment to be Bad Wolf.
Since the end of series one I have wanted so much for Bad Wolf to come up again and be dealt with. The end of Turn Left got my hopes up but then it didn't go anywhere. Rose looked into the Time Vortex! She and TARDIS basically joined together - she had knowledge of the whole of time and space, overwhelming power and a joint deep love for the Doctor. She tells the Doctor - "I can see everything. All that is, all that was, all that ever could be." and all she did was send out some Bad Wolf graffiti and killed off some Daleks? (Ok, and immortalise Jack.) That never worked for me.
So Bad Wolf going back to ancient Gallifrey and becoming The Moment (by becoming the sentience of it) knowing the Time Lords would store her away until the time the Doctor would need to use her to destroy everyone. All so that she could give him the chance to save his people. That works for me so much. I love it.
Moffat loves his timey-wimey stuff and overwriting reality (a bit too much) so it makes complete sense that in the original time line the Doctor did detroy Gallifrey. Then Bad Wolf happened and of course the TARDIS isn't going to let that stand so she makes it so that the Doctor saves Gallifrey instead. Perfect.
• I love how hard she was working behind the scenes to undue the Doctor's greatest regret. She was basically doing everything she could to lead them to the right decision.
• I loved her mocking the Doctor and his seriousness and how at times she was almost goofy.
• I loved her "Clever boys" line and smile.
• I was disappointed that Bad Wolf never did get to interact with Ten or Eleven. We get a little moment where War Doctor mentions Bad Wolf and there's a small reaction shot - mostly from Ten - which was nice. I guess there really wasn't a place for anything more.
Things I Had Issues With
• The whole John Hurt/War Doctor as the Doctor's big secret, as the thing he never thought about, didn't entirely work. In fact it was one of the things that worked least. I mean the Doctor has talked about how he destroyed his own people along with the Daleks a number of times. In all three regenerations since. It's not a secret! Everyone knows! So basically the only secret here is that the Doctor has disavowed a whole regeneration? While claiming his actions for their own... ??? This would have had an amazing amount of weight and worked perfectly if we hadn't known that the Doctor had been the one to kill everyone, if he hadn't talked about it before, if it was actually a secret he refused to acknowledge.
• Nine really, really should have been in here. Thematically he just should have. Alas, I understand real life gets in the way but seriously Eccleston why wouldn't you do it?! I read that Moffat wrote multiple scripts with Nine in them to varying lengths depending on Eccleston coming back and it would be great if one day we could see those. I want to know what it would have been with Nine there like he should have been.
• So... we're just going to ignore how season 7 ended? With the Doctor and Clara in the Doctor's time-stream? I put off most of my irritation at the end of that episode because I figured the special was going to be picking up right after and actually dealing with it all. Instead - zip.
We're just going to ignore the fact that Clara went into his time-stream and wasn't immediately destroyed like The Great Intelligence, and that even though she split into many different lives throughout the Doctor's timeline her original version somehow stuck around/survived and the Doctor entered his time-stream which is really, really bad - except, I guess not? Because nothing freaking happened! I am super annoyed about this.
• I wasn't fond at all of Clara shutting the TARDIS door with a snap of her fingers. That just rubbed me completely wrong.
• 'Once'? I feel like the Doctor has had to make that choice - killing a large group to save a larger group - more than just once. All I can think of at the moment is the Donna christmas special but there have to be others. More than just the time war.
• You know this isn't something I've really thought about but now I have all these questions about the Time War. Like, wouldn't the Gallifreyian's have evacuated? Were all of the Dalek's involved in the attack?
• I wasn't completely sold on Elizabeth's portrayal unfortunately. Also I didn't like that she had no real response to Ten basically insulting her to her face. It was played as humour but it didn't work for me.
• Why were there statues under fabric in the hallway of the area where they keep all the most secret artifacts? They pretty much looked like normal statues so what was so special about them? Why were they covered? And finally UNIT didn't look that thoroughly if they didn't even look under them!
• Meh at the Doctor's disgust/making fun of the other one for kissing a Zygon. A human doing it, sure, but this is the Doctor who a) is an alien and b) loves all sorts of weird/dangerous creatures.
