|
Post by Nyder on Dec 26, 2016 8:44:50 GMT
What did you think?
|
|
|
Post by CountClockwise on Dec 26, 2016 9:46:08 GMT
As I was watching it and immediately afterwards I was admittedly somewhat lukewarm on this episode. At first this was back to Russell's weaker episodes where there are episodes clearly better than it but it was at least competent and serviceable. At least it can't get worse than Hell Bent, Sleep No More, Kill the Moon or the one I despise above all, In the Forest of the Night.
Now that my opinion's had some time to settle I'm starting to warm to it a bit more. I can still see some Moffat tropes but they didn't really bother me too much but I think after 7 years it's getting old. I can't believe I'm saying this but I love Nardole in this. We have a male companion from the future which while I know Bill will be the main one next series Nardole will still be a companion for at least a few episodes which I'm pleased with.
I don't know if this episode is loved or despised by the fandom at large but I thought it was ok, perhaps even good but not great.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
|
|
|
Post by Escher on Dec 26, 2016 13:16:02 GMT
I enjoyed it and it ticked the Christmas Special box adequately. Earth has it's own Super-Hero and within the logic of the story and the Whoniverse, I found it plausible. The Doctor appears to be settling into his incarnation a bit better and I found him warmer and more approachable than previously.
|
|
|
Post by Stormcrow on Dec 26, 2016 13:16:18 GMT
Hooray for Mr. Huffle! Best character in the episode, hands down.
Soooooo much better without Little Miss You-Know-Who acting all Little Miss In Charge.
The Doctor's part was excellent. It was a little cliché-whimsical-Moffat at first, but it eventually turned into an actual part with actual motivation. Except the nonsense about hurting for River Song. I'M SO SORRY YOU KILLED OFF YOUR SOCK-PUPPET, MOFFAT! #sorrynotsorry
The superhero with the baby monitor was very funny.
Nardole was very good. I was afraid he'd be played as the bumbling sidekick. Matt Lucas's acting was excellent. The chemistry between him and Capaldi worked well. His main purpose was to be there for the Doctor to explain things, but he was very good for that purpose.
Too bad about the clichéd zipper-head aliens.
|
|
stahlman
3rd Incarnation
Doctor, stop wasting my time, will you?
Posts: 222
Favourite Doctors: second,third,fourth
|
Post by stahlman on Dec 26, 2016 20:27:53 GMT
Unzipping one's head should be kept to a minimum and a good place to start with Superheroes in Dr Who is not having any at all. It was great to have Matt Lucas back but the story was unmemorable and insufficiently Christmassy.
|
|
|
Post by olegrand on Dec 26, 2016 20:38:51 GMT
I found it utterly uninspired and completely predictable.
The superhero angle was straightforward to the point of blandness, without any of the inventive twists DW usually manages to put on the various genres it tackles (such as murder mysteries etc.). The alien invasion didn't really convey any real feeling of menace... and the River Song coda was just too much.
Peter Capaldi was excellent - but the whole thing felt as if the Doctor was more supporting cast than main character, without having the particular charm of true Doctor-lite episodes.
On the whole, a very forgettable and disappointing "special"...
|
|
Catsmate
13th Incarnation
No longer living in a bad adaption of "A Journal of the Plague Year".
Posts: 3,730
Favourite Doctors: Thirteen, Six, Five, Two, Eight, Twelve, Nine, One, Eleven..
Traits: Eccentric, Insatiable Curiousity.
|
Post by Catsmate on Dec 26, 2016 21:10:49 GMT
I liked it. Reasonable plot, good characterisation and some excellent dialogue. However as with Class the incidental music was overly loud and intrusive.
|
|
|
Post by cigarman on Dec 27, 2016 1:44:09 GMT
I really enjoyed the episode.
Anyone up to the challenge of doing a write up of Grant/Ghost for DWRPG?
|
|
|
Post by Stormcrow on Dec 27, 2016 2:20:07 GMT
Basically just give the player a truckfull of story points.
|
|
misterharry
Dominus Tempus
Dalek Caan's Lovechild
Posts: 3,236
Favourite Doctors: Second, Third, Fourth, Eleventh, Thirteenth
Traits: Empathic, Face in the Crowd, Insatiable Curiosity, Stubborn, Phobia (Heights), Unadventurous
|
Post by misterharry on Dec 27, 2016 7:27:33 GMT
I really enjoyed the episode. Anyone up to the challenge of doing a write up of Grant/Ghost for DWRPG? I don't think it would be too difficult. He'd need traits like Flight, Immunity, Fast, Alien Senses, Code of Conduct, Dark Secret and probably Environmental, and a superhuman score in Strength (at least 20, maybe more).
|
|
jay042
3rd Incarnation
Working on some art.
Posts: 264
|
Post by jay042 on Dec 28, 2016 3:29:01 GMT
I actually liked Lucy. She kind of hearkened back to Sarah Jane Smith, though the superhero cliches were overdone.
|
|
|
Post by Stormcrow on Dec 28, 2016 5:19:18 GMT
Whenever Moffat tries to be Christmassy it's really forced. Being a Christmas special mostly just means it gets released on Christmas. It doesn't have to be all about Christmas.
|
|
generalrose
2nd Incarnation
Posts: 196
Favourite Doctors: Eight, Twelve, Ten
|
Post by generalrose on Dec 28, 2016 19:48:36 GMT
It certainly wasn't the worst episode of Doctor Who I've seen and I definitely have a lot of good things to say about it (Nardole, Repairing NY's timey wimey TATM plot device, the banter).
As for the bad - It reminded me that Dragon Ball Evolution exists, it took all the cliches of the genre and then failed to be a proper satire of them, extended River coda, earth again, and the lack of a real christmas spirit.
|
|
|
Post by senko on Jan 3, 2017 1:53:40 GMT
It had its good and bad points for me. On the down side Doctor Who is set in the "real" world and so usually it obey's real world rules with the exceptions being super scienced away here Grant just catch's a descending spaceship that will explode on impact with the ground but not his hand because? On the upside Capaldi seems to be getting a little less grating as the Doctor (see my comments elsewhere that so far his seasons have all been unplesant people snapping at each other to the point where I wondered why he didn't just leave them behind, I would have) and I loved the moment when Lucy tell's Grant she prefers him in his superhero costume and puts glasses on his face. There were actually quite a few fun moments its just that it didn't really seem a doctor who episode unfortunately and now we wait till April (probably) for the new series.
|
|
|
Post by jeffrywith1e on Jan 8, 2017 16:49:29 GMT
I was disappointed he didn't speak with the baby, find out it's real name.
|
|
|
Post by Stormcrow on Jan 8, 2017 18:07:48 GMT
I was disappointed he didn't speak with the baby, find out it's real name. I really hate the baby-speaking nonsense.
|
|