Doctor Who 8x01

[such_heights]

My show came back! \o/ The blanketfort of squee is once again open for business

WELL THAT WAS A DELIGHT.

Lovely, light Amy reference! None of the 'Rose would know' heavy handedness, just a moment of 'dammit it's useful when they're tall'. <333

Clara! Darling Clara who got a load of good stuff in this episode. I think a particular highlight for me was her confrontation with chief creepy robot dude, and her understanding of threat and negotiation that she's had to learn from teaching. :D I really love how smart and self assured she is, it's a delight.

JENNY AND VASTRA OMG. I just. They're so lovely. Adorable domestic bickery marrieds, who love the Doctor but don't need him, just happily do their steampunk Holmesian crime solving and are there to help him when he needs it. I want to keep them forever.

And Capaldi! Wonderful as expected, great sparring dynamic with Clara, and I'm really excited to see what the shape of this season's going to be, because it really could be anything! Anything involving creepy twirling Michelle Gomez is going to be pretty awesome though.

And oh, the bit with Eleventy. Totally gorgeous. *sniff*

Comments

[littlered2]

I liked the Amy reference! (It made me think of how the Daleks were apparently redesigned, because what was appropriately tall and intimidating enough for Billie Piper as Rose wasn't really tall enough for Karen Gillan as Amy. And now they've gone and cast a short actor again, so the Daleks are All Wrong. Let's hope they've still got some old ones knocking about in a storeroom somewhere.)

I have been feeling a little out of love with Doctor Who recently, which makes me sad (I still don't feel like I have a decent sense of who Clara is as a person, and the episodes have felt weirdly paced and disjointed), but I hope this series turns things around again. Getting excited about Doctor Who is one of the chief joys of life.

[out_there]

I have to say that I've lost a bit of the Doctor Who love too. But I'm hoping that a new doctor will bring back my excitement for it.

[nostalgia]

Secret: I think Clara works better with Capaldi, based on this one episode. I still ship me some Eleven/Clara, but I think she gets more interesting when they are bitching at each other a wee bit.

[snorkackcatcher]

I had no idea Matt Smith was going to appear in this. Terrific surprise.

Fun to see them lampshading the fact that the Doctor looks like someone he's met before. :) And by the sound of it, it will have some specific point to it further down the line.

In fact, from the ending it looks like there will be an overall arc, even if it's a secondary one. A version of Library!River?

Not sure why Clara was so bent out of shape about the Doctor changing? She's seen all his previous faces. And it looks like Victorian London is not the one we know -- first giant Cybermen and now a T Rex stomping around it. Wonder if that will develop into a plot point? It was vaguely alluded to IIRC when Amy couldn't remember the Daleks.

So the Doctor's Scottish, but still not ginger. Poor chap, he did so want to be ginger.

[lyricwrites.livejournal.com]

She may have seen his previous faces (although exactly what "she" means, in this context, is all kinds of wibbly) but I think she sort of romanticized Eleven. I mean, when she's trying to talk to the Doctor about Gallifrey, in "Day of the Doctor," one of the first things she says is, "I never imagined you doing it." As in, she knew intellectually that it had happened, but on an emotional level, it tore her up to think of Eleven, specifically, in that position.

I don't know, I think that there may be a pretty strong disconnect between what Clara knows intellectually—the Doctor changes, it's a natural part of his life cycle, it's still him—and her emotional reaction to it. And besides, Trenzalore would have put her through the emotional wringer—imagine getting back to your goofy young-looking friend only to find out that, in only a few hours from your perspective, his hands are so weak and arthritic with age that he needs your help with a Christmas cracker. For a brief moment, it looks like he's back to normal and everything is going to be like it was, but he tells you, no, the inevitable is still going to happen, and the only consolation he can offer is that it's all right so long as he remembers who he was. Then he sneezes, turns into a slightly alarming eyebrows-man, and promptly forgets things like (a) how to fly the TARDIS, and (b) your name.

If it were me, I'd be feeling pretty emotionally bruised by that point. And, to be quite honest, I sort of like that Clara's emotions don't really match up to what she knows to be true, because isn't life like that sometimes? It's a nice, juicy character point. It's realistic, but slightly uncomfortable. And as a fic writer, there's a large part of me which feels that "slightly uncomfortable," is synonymous with "story material."

[kaydeefalls]

I really like Capaldi. He's kind of an asshole, but in a way I find strangely endearing rather than annoying. Like a grumpy uncle. He's Scottish, he gets to complain about things!

And I did quite like Clara's faceoff with the robots, though I wish we'd gotten real glimpses of her as a teacher last series rather than just cramming in An Important Flashback right before it happened. But maybe this means she'll get more character continuity this series!

[juniperphoenix]

*incoherent happy noises*

[ashpags]

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I adored it! (And I watched it with a couple of Negative Nellies and all I could think about was getting home to your Blanketfort!) DELIGHTFUL BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE! <3

[silverhare]

I enjoyed it so much! :D Peter Capaldi is magnificent.

[elisi]

What you said. :)

[lefaym]

I totally loved it, for all the reasons you mention, BUT ESPECIALLY VASTRA AND JENNY OMG CAN'T THEY JUST HAVE THEIR OWN SHOW ALREADY!!! :D

[kass]

Capaldi is going to be glorious. I am filled with glee.

And yes, I loved the way the episode showed us what Clara's learned from teaching, and the way she stands up to the creepy robot / cyborg. And the way she says that the Doctor has her back, because of course he does.

The bit with Eleventy -- I CAN'T EVEN. My heart can't take it. Oh, Eleventy. ♥ ♥ ♥ And I loved the moment after the phone call, where the Doctor thinks it hasn't worked and she can't see him for who he is, and then of course she does see him and gives him that great big hug and he's all stiff and flailing because he isn't sure this incarnation is the hugging sort. Ahahaha Doctor. ♥