I thought it was very good. Without going into spoilers, since I know a number of people won't be able to watch it right away, it felt to me closer to The Three Doctors rather than The Five Doctors in terms of approach. Yes, there was some anniversary spectacle in there, but at the end, there was a story to be dealt with, and one with actual consequences for the future of the character. It revisits the past, but shifts the status quo. In spite of its flaws, that was what the tenth anniversary did, while the twentieth was a lot more of just celebrating the show itself. Both approaches can work, but I can see why Moffat handled it the way he did.
BlahBlah blha... not reading because I can't watch the show yet. Haven't seen any previews either so I am going in totally blind. But I thought I'd leave this here. Little celebration video of sorts I made. (very short)
I thought they did a good job of balancing the different Doctors. Unlike some of the other episode when more than one Doctor shares the screen. Each Doctor felt important and they all got a chance to shine.
It's so nice to finally be able to talk about this! A month of biting my tongue is over! I am not a secret keeper by nature.
Truth be told, I didn't love it. We'll not completely true, I loved the first 45 minutes and the last 45 not so much. I thought the companions got a bit of a short shrift, the resolution to the B-story was anticlimactic, and what started as a sweeping epic devolved to a three room play. And I was surprisingly underwhelmed by the lack of chemistry between 10 and 11, though war doctor was fun and funny in ways I wasn't expecting. I am interested by the new status quo, or at least the possibilities it opens up. And the Easter egg hunt was enjoyable, especially on a second and third viewing!
It's so nice to finally be able to talk about this! A month of biting my tongue is over! I am not a secret keeper by nature.
Truth be told, I didn't love it. We'll not completely true, I loved the first 45 minutes and the last 45 not so much. I thought the companions got a bit of a short shrift, the resolution to the B-story was anticlimactic, and what started as a sweeping epic devolved to a three room play. And I was surprisingly underwhelmed by the lack of chemistry between 10 and 11, though war doctor was fun and funny in ways I wasn't expecting. I am interested by the new status quo, or at least the possibilities it opens up. And the Easter egg hunt was enjoyable, especially on a second and third viewing!
???
Did we see the same show?
The B-story had a very specific purpose, which it served brilliantly and the devolution of the sweeping epic was kinda the whole frikkin' point. Sweeping epics are BAD. Far too many people die in sweeping epics.
Both epic and B-story were there to drive The Doctor's internal story. The anniversary especially, but the modern series overall as well, are about The Doctor's journey, not whatever crisis any given week's story brings.
I thought this was an incredible and very satisfying culmination of seven years' worth of story.*
It's so nice to finally be able to talk about this! A month of biting my tongue is over! I am not a secret keeper by nature.
Truth be told, I didn't love it. We'll not completely true, I loved the first 45 minutes and the last 45 not so much. I thought the companions got a bit of a short shrift, the resolution to the B-story was anticlimactic, and what started as a sweeping epic devolved to a three room play. And I was surprisingly underwhelmed by the lack of chemistry between 10 and 11, though war doctor was fun and funny in ways I wasn't expecting. I am interested by the new status quo, or at least the possibilities it opens up. And the Easter egg hunt was enjoyable, especially on a second and third viewing!
???
Did we see the same show?
The B-story had a very specific purpose, which it served brilliantly and the devolution of the sweeping epic was kinda the whole frikkin' point. Sweeping epics are BAD. Far too many people die in sweeping epics.
Both epic and B-story were there to drive The Doctor's internal story. The anniversary especially, but the modern series overall as well, are about The Doctor's journey, not whatever crisis any given week's story brings.
I thought this was an incredible and very satisfying culmination of seven years' worth of story.*
*Or seven months' worth of story in my case.
I agree with everything you said, minus adjectives. I think the B-story served its purpose, but it was also the least engaging part of the story. And most of my disappointment stems from that area of the episode. I liked the special, I just wasn't blown away and I really wanted to be.
As a celebration of the Doctor's 50 years and an exploration of the character in the modern era it was almost perfect. (Only an appearance by Eccelston would have made it better in that regard). As a standalone story that I would return to when "doctor who" is 54 or 71 or 115 years old, outside of the context of it being an Anniversary Special, it was better than ok but far from the best the show has ever been.
The group I watched with include six teenagers. The new generation of geeks this show has spawned is inspiring.
I don’t know if inspiring is quite the right word, but I know what you mean. My teenage son wears a bow tie and jacket to school every day because of this show. He's going to see in Monday night at the theater as well. And my eight-year-old was bouncing up and down waiting for the show to start.
I understand where playdohsrepublic is coming from. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and therer were moments that I loved as a long-time Doctor Who fan. But on a second viewing, I found myself tuning out during much of the B-story. It serves a purpose, but it takes up an awful lot of screen time for what is essentially the type of plot that Moffat could probably churn out any old time. And maybe that was intentional, since it wasn't supposed to overshadow why we're really watching, but like I said, it's a good chunk of the show. I feel as if years from now, when I'm re-watching these, I'm going to find myself wondering why we're spending so much time with Zygons.
I really enjoyed it. As a celebratory event it served as fan service and actually addressed the survivor's guilt I thought was a clear theme over the past few years. The light humor was clever and it felt like an event. And while I also think the Zygon plot was forced it did parallel well with the main theme. I think the cameo at the end was the best we could ask for without pushing the CG too far. He nailed it and I thought he picked up where he left off as far as character portrayal. I thought it was great.
What I thought was interesting was How they took a throw away line from David Tennant's last episode The End of Time and turned it into the Zygon plot.
I thought the story itself was brilliant. I really liked so much about it. I do agree that an appearance by Eccelston would have been awesome. It would have been cool to have seen Doctors 9, 10 and 11 interacting with each other would have been fantastically awesome but I doubt you'll ever see Eccelston do anything that has anything to do with Doctor Who ever again. I loved the scene at the end as well. So awesome.
Here's something that I'm a bit confused about though. So I get how we got the John Hurt War Doctor. I get who he turns into. So does that mean that Doctor's 9, 10 and 11 are in fact 10, 11 and 12? That's the only part I didn't quite comprehend. Other than that, I loved this story. I especially loved the opening theme they used. Very nicely done.
(Only an appearance by Eccelston would have made it better in that regard).
100% Agree with that. I really thought we were gonna get to see him for a moment.
The only place I missed Eccelston was when War Dr. was describing his "offspring" as, "the one who regrets. And, the one who forgets." If Eccelston was around that line could have been expanded to include him, "the broken, the regretful, and the forgetful."
I have to say that I'm perplexed by Ecc. His more then willing to play characters like Destro and Malekith, but couldn't reprise the Dr.?
I like that and I agree that they would have explained the three of them that way. "The Broken, The Regretful and The Forgetful". That would have been cool. Eccelston from what I understand didn't like the way the higher ups treated people and became quite sour on the Doctor Who franchise. Also, from what I understand, he doesn't like to revisit roles it's only what I heard and I could be wrong in that.
Eccleston not playing nice does not bother me. Nobody is bigger than the role and nowhere is that more obvious than in Doctor Who. Would it have been great? I think 4 on camera at one time would have pushed it a bit into clutter. I will not nitpick this. As a fan who suffered through 11pm Doctor Who on channel 12 thirty years ago, this type of world wide acclaim is more than I could hope for.
I think 4 Doctors would have been cool. Having the 3 modern Doctors with the War Doctor would have been cool. It's not like they haven't done that with the 5 Doctors and that was pretty cool. However, I also agree that Eccelston not playing nice doesn't necessarily bother me either.
Here's something that I'm a bit confused about though. So I get how we got the John Hurt War Doctor. I get who he turns into. So does that mean that Doctor's 9, 10 and 11 are in fact 10, 11 and 12? That's the only part I didn't quite comprehend. Other than that, I loved this story. I especially loved the opening theme they used. Very nicely done.
Here's something that I'm a bit confused about though. So I get how we got the John Hurt War Doctor. I get who he turns into. So does that mean that Doctor's 9, 10 and 11 are in fact 10, 11 and 12? That's the only part I didn't quite comprehend. Other than that, I loved this story. I especially loved the opening theme they used. Very nicely done.
Here's something that I'm a bit confused about though. So I get how we got the John Hurt War Doctor. I get who he turns into. So does that mean that Doctor's 9, 10 and 11 are in fact 10, 11 and 12? That's the only part I didn't quite comprehend. Other than that, I loved this story. I especially loved the opening theme they used. Very nicely done.
Here's something that I'm a bit confused about though. So I get how we got the John Hurt War Doctor. I get who he turns into. So does that mean that Doctor's 9, 10 and 11 are in fact 10, 11 and 12? That's the only part I didn't quite comprehend. Other than that, I loved this story. I especially loved the opening theme they used. Very nicely done.
@-) Um. Wow. Not sure how I feel about that. Interesting.
Spoilers... > > >
The cameos pretty much answer the regeneration question. We all know Capaldi is next, and it's strongly implied that cameo at the end is an even later regeneration revisiting the body and personality of the Fourth, which also implies that the idea that he could regenerate into the same exact doctor twice in a row willfully is valid. The regeneration mythology has always been flexible anyway. I mean, Romana, enough said.
On a side note, what's wrong with the UK... Strictly Come Dancing beats the special in the ratings?
Comments
Truth be told, I didn't love it. We'll not completely true, I loved the first 45 minutes and the last 45 not so much. I thought the companions got a bit of a short shrift, the resolution to the B-story was anticlimactic, and what started as a sweeping epic devolved to a three room play. And I was surprisingly underwhelmed by the lack of chemistry between 10 and 11, though war doctor was fun and funny in ways I wasn't expecting. I am interested by the new status quo, or at least the possibilities it opens up. And the Easter egg hunt was enjoyable, especially on a second and third viewing!
Did we see the same show?
The B-story had a very specific purpose, which it served brilliantly and the devolution of the sweeping epic was kinda the whole frikkin' point. Sweeping epics are BAD. Far too many people die in sweeping epics.
Both epic and B-story were there to drive The Doctor's internal story. The anniversary especially, but the modern series overall as well, are about The Doctor's journey, not whatever crisis any given week's story brings.
I thought this was an incredible and very satisfying culmination of seven years' worth of story.*
*Or seven months' worth of story in my case.
The next official picture from the BBC might contain a spoiler:
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:D
As a celebration of the Doctor's 50 years and an exploration of the character in the modern era it was almost perfect. (Only an appearance by Eccelston would have made it better in that regard). As a standalone story that I would return to when "doctor who" is 54 or 71 or 115 years old, outside of the context of it being an Anniversary Special, it was better than ok but far from the best the show has ever been.
Here's something that I'm a bit confused about though. So I get how we got the John Hurt War Doctor. I get who he turns into. So does that mean that Doctor's 9, 10 and 11 are in fact 10, 11 and 12? That's the only part I didn't quite comprehend. Other than that, I loved this story. I especially loved the opening theme they used. Very nicely done.
I have to say that I'm perplexed by Ecc. His more then willing to play characters like Destro and Malekith, but couldn't reprise the Dr.?
odd.
And this set up the appropriateness of a more grown-up Doctor.
>
>
>
The cameos pretty much answer the regeneration question. We all know Capaldi is next, and it's strongly implied that cameo at the end is an even later regeneration revisiting the body and personality of the Fourth, which also implies that the idea that he could regenerate into the same exact doctor twice in a row willfully is valid. The regeneration mythology has always been flexible anyway. I mean, Romana, enough said.
On a side note, what's wrong with the UK... Strictly Come Dancing beats the special in the ratings?