Doctor Who!

[GDB]

Having only seen 2005+ stuff, the closest comparison I can make for him is "Lonely Tennant". He has that similar look in his eyes. Eccleston's Doctor was a jerk, but I can't really call him dark. Tennant without a companion, however...

[MrTerrorist]

Yes! New season and new Doctor.
Great introduction with Calpadi's Doctor.

[Ithekro]

I agree on the mix of the Bakers for the 12th Doctor. The Doctor's ego is showing again while also being very alien. The Doctor seems full of himself and oppose to being wrong. We will see if he starts to take credit for things his companion suggests like the 4th Doctor, or gets increadibly insufferably about his talents like the 6th Doctor. But I could see hints of past Doctors in the performance. Mostly the older Doctors from 3 - 7, but every once in a while there was a hint of 10 and 11. The hints seem to be that the Doctor, under his ego, is scared about this new regeneration and really wants Clara to stay with him.

But then I haven't watched as much of the 5th through 7th Doctors yet. I still have much of the 1st Doctor, 1 season or two of the 3rd Doctor, and the last season of the 4th Doctor to go through. I have seen all of the 2nd Doctor, who I enjoyed.

I am trying to wrap my head around Missy. My brain's first thought is River, and I think that's a conditioned responce.

[Solace]

Originally Posted by White Manju Bun

Agreed, one thing I loved about the 50th was how 10 and 11 seemed to copy each other. Several times they use the same hand to pull their Sonic, same foot to start walking. Though they had different faces/outfits it was almost as they still were the same person. I liked that since it seemed to fit the both of them. 12 will be different and I'm very excited about that.

I actually had composed a longer post touching on how Tenant defined the "modern Doctor" and how Smith refined it, but decided against it since I couldn't make the words do things that sounded interesting. So I'm glad someone else mentioned it.

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

The episode itself was mediocre (Paternoster is really getting on my nerves now, though not so much Strax) and Missy sets off a lot of alarm bells.

I like the ensemble of Paternoster, but they're too much of a plot device, so they don't really grow much from episode to episode. Well, except that Strax was a complete jackass this episode. It overwhelmed his usual goofy "I'm indebted to you people but I don't have to like it" schtick.

Missy just scares me. I'm sure it's connected to River in some way.

Originally Posted by GDB

Having only seen 2005+ stuff, the closest comparison I can make for him is "Lonely Tennant". He has that similar look in his eyes. Eccleston's Doctor was a jerk, but I can't really call him dark. Tennant without a companion, however...

Eccleston is a jerk. He wasn't acting.

He's not a bad actor or anything, but he's very particular, and that meant there was a lot of friction with what he wanted to do as an actor versus what his bosses wanted him from him.

That's the official story, anyway. The truth is probably more that he didn't see Doctor Who as a role he wanted to be attached to as a long term thing, something Tennant and Smith have no problem with, and the rest is just a face saving match between him and the producers.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Solace

Eccleston is a jerk. He wasn't acting.

He's not a bad actor or anything, but he's very particular, and that meant there was a lot of friction with what he wanted to do as an actor versus what his bosses wanted him from him.

That's the official story, anyway. The truth is probably more that he didn't see Doctor Who as a role he wanted to be attached to as a long term thing, something Tennant and Smith have no problem with, and the rest is just a face saving match between him and the producers.

I have to admit: I was laughing quite a bit (along with the whole room actually) at all the "ear" jokes Strax did at the beginning.

[White Manju Bun]

I dont think Missy is River, we know she cant regenerate anymore. I think the "boyfriend" line was thrown in to get people asking questions. I want to know who the lady in the shop who gave Clara the TARDIS number and more then likely put the ad in the paper. My gut reaction back when Clara was introduced was that it was River but Clara didnt recognize River in Name of the Doctor.

Funny watching Deep Breath again and how 12 acts after he regenerates is very 11ish, the waving of the hands and going out the window but then he seems to start to calm down. Almost like he just had to get the last bit of 11 out of him.

Also watched Girl in the Fireplace again and it makes so much better sense now (not that it didn't before) but with the possibility of the same robots/cyborgs and that both ships in the both epis where made of human remains, very interesting. And yes I squeed with GitFp was referenced since it's still my fave epi ever.

Also fun fact, the actor playing the bum who 12 talks to is the husband of the late Elisabeth Sladen.

I gotta get used to writing 12

[GDB]

We still don't know who Tasha Lem is, either. Everything about her screamed River, including being able to pilot the TARDIS, but that would imply it was post-River... River. Especially with how she and the Doctor acted like old lovers. Yet that'd mean he'd have had to somehow either save River, or know she was saved, between the end of Series 7 (since he said goodbye to her ghost) and the Time of the Doctor.

The robots are weird, too. The Doctor called them ancient, yet their ship is from the 51st century. It'd be weird if they were the exact same robots since it'd mean they somehow stumbled across the sister ship of their original ship. And somehow turned back on 120+ years later after deactivating and breaking already.

[Ithekro]

Missy is suppose to be the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere, or something like that. What does that mean? I don't know.

River was saved into the Computer in the Library in the 51st century. We also know that she tends to know stuff about the Doctor that he doesn't know. She was very worried about 11 dying and near the end seemed to worry about his regeneration. Does that mean she knew he didn't have any left, or had she met a later Doctor that worried her? She also seemed to know Clara was alive in the Doctor's timestream, but really didn't want him jumping in there.

Tasha Lem is an unknown. She was with the Doctor while he was a Trensalor in some capacity. For all those 900 years it seems. Could she have been River, or Missy? Maybe. Could River have had adventures involving the Doctor prior to turning into Mels > River Song while 11 was with the Ponds? Could River have gotten more regenerations from Gallirey at somepoint in the show's future, and then had several faces before revisiting an old face (River's face) prior to her "death"?

Would Moffet make a new character that screams "River Song" without using River Song?

Could Missy be the Master?

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Missy, IMO, is going to be associated with the Valeyard. I believe the director said that he personally won't use the Master again for the rest of the time he directs the show. The Valeyard was recently named, as such he is not being ignored and has a very good chance of being brought up in some way.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

River was saved into the Computer in the Library in the 51st century. We also know that she tends to know stuff about the Doctor that he doesn't know. She was very worried about 11 dying and near the end seemed to worry about his regeneration. Does that mean she knew he didn't have any left, or had she met a later Doctor that worried her? She also seemed to know Clara was alive in the Doctor's timestream, but really didn't want him jumping in there.

She was, supposedly, only outside the computer because she was telepathically linked to Clara. Since River was still there, Clara wasn't dead. Jumping into your own time stream is supposed to basically be a super paradox, which is why she didn't want him doing it.

Could River have had adventures involving the Doctor prior to turning into Mels > River Song while 11 was with the Ponds?

Possible, but she wouldn't have this lovey relationship with the Doctor before being River like Tasha Lem had.

Could River have gotten more regenerations from Gallirey at somepoint in the show's future, and then had several faces before revisiting an old face (River's face) prior to her "death"?

That's possible, but I'd assume unlikely due to Gallifrey being time locked.

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Missy, IMO, is going to be associated with the Valeyard. I believe the director said that he personally won't use the Master again for the rest of the time he directs the show. The Valeyard was recently named, as such he is not being ignored and has a very good chance of being brought up in some way.

Moffat could also be lying, since the "Master" would become the "Mistress" upon turning into a woman, and thus "Missy". I still don't think it's the Master, but I wouldn't 100% trust Moffat.

[White Manju Bun]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Could Missy be the Master?

Holy....

In one epi River says something like "I know all your faces" so it's possible but considering 10 had no idea who she was I cant think anyone aside from 11 knew her (maybe 12 does but thatd be kinda weird at this point).

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Missy, IMO, is going to be associated with the Valeyard.

Oh good point, Id forgotten about this.

[GDB]

Yeah, she knew all the Doctor's faces but he didn't interact with her other than as Matt Smith. He was "her Doctor", he was the one she went on all the dates with, he was the one to give her a Sonic Screwdriver, he's the one who said goodbye, etc. As of now there's no plans to bring her back due to the chemistry she had with Matt Smith.

[Guardian Enzo]

Gods, if we never see River again it will be far too soon for me.

[GDB]

I liked River. She, along with Amy and Rory, made for my favorite seasons. That said, I do still agree that I don't want to see her again. She works with Matt Smith's Doctor. I don't want to see her with other Doctors.

[White Manju Bun]

12 is wearing a wedding band. I want to know why.

Into The Dalek was pretty good. Im not quite sure why everyone was so suprised the Dalek went back to "normal" behavior after 12 fixed the issue. I did like how it decided to be "good" again after seeing his soul This is now the second time The Doctor has been told he'd be a good Dalek.

Not sure what to make of Danny but not liking the push of romance with him and Clara.

GDB: that is my thought on River exactly. I think he exit in Name of the Doctor was perfect.

[GDB]

From my understanding, it's because Capaldi refuses to take off his actual wedding ring (out of fear of losing it), so they made a special band to slip over it.

Is it only the second time he's been told he'd make a good Dalek? I know there was the time Eccleston was told, but I thought Tennant was told that as well once or twice?

I like Danny, but the romance did seem weird. Like... all this time Clara hasn't shown much interest in other guys, and she basically just forced this guy to go on a date with her by hinting/asking three times in the span of like 7 minutes (their time)? And they had just met!

Also, the Daleks always throw me off in regards to whether they know who the Doctor is or not. After "Oswin" wiped him from their databanks, it's always hard to tell when in the timeline he is (pre or post wipe).

[Solace]

That was....dark. And intense. So far, this is excellent....but I do miss some of the whimsy and sense of adventure.

[White Manju Bun]

Hmm interesting about the wedding band, I didnt know what.

Forgot that 10 also was told that, I was thinking the moment with 9.

I believe they still dont know since 12 was surprised when Rusty called him that. But considering none of the others saw him, who knows for sure.

[GDB]

I initially just thought he was surprised since he was in a new body that hadn't encountered the Daleks before. They seemed to know who he was on Trenzalore, after all.

[Ithekro]

They "downloaded" Tasha Lem's memories of the Doctor on Trenzalore. At the start, they don't know who he was. And even after a few hundred years, they didn't know much more than he was defending Trenzalore until they took the Church. Then they "remembered" their enemy, the Doctor.

EDIT:

As for the episode: It seems more like the Dalek stories of old. Like the Daleks of the First Doctor's era. Actual threats to civilizations rather than a race bend on destroying the entire universe, or singular groups of Daleks trying to survive which has been most of the 2005 and onwards Dalek stories. This is the regular Daleks invade place to kill humans story, and its been a while since we've really had one of those. There was no subplot to blow up the universe, or crash all of time and space. It was just simple Daleks are going to kill people.