it was probably written in that order. 3 episodes where the stenza would have been mentioned, all others didn't. Grace was a important part of it, and how graham and Ryan deal with it. Yazz didn't had a purpose except providing the second neural-thing, like all that stuff in the other episodes didn#t happen. all other episodes have been different. yepp, seems you got it.
One nitpick with a point you made. Tim Shaw didn't just threaten Earth because it was Earth, he did it because that's where the Doctor and company had beaten him and caused his initial downfall. It was deliberately picked by him as an act of revenge against them.
Ksvlala he said “there will be a new target” which could mean he didn’t have one in mind or that they changed it, that’s the thing about English a lot of it is ambiguous.
@@elliottwatt5297 Yes, it is ambiguous and you gotta love the English language for it. I wonder if it was a case that he was picking other targets until the gang turned up? He was there a long while after all. When they did he simply swapped targets as Earth became relevant to him because of their presence.
@Elliott Watt but he said all this, all he was doing was because he wanted revenge? So he did have a target = the Doctor, don't you think? A bit confusing.
Ksvlala as said above I think he was practising in the hope that he’d run into the Doctor again, so the 5 other planets he’d taken had been in the 3,407 year gap, I don’t think at the time we see him he had a particular target in mind, but as soon as the Doctor and the gang show up Earth becomes the obvious target. He created the weapon, or had it created, for this purpose, but was waiting for the Doctor to watch Earth be destroyed in typical dumb villain logic style.
Stenza is okay by me too, it's simple and easy but I do think Chibnall's other names can be try too hard to sound alien and they're coming off as bad names. Graham and The Doctor have been the high points of all the characters for me. Ryan is decent too but I still wonder why Yaz is there. Both this episode and last it was well into the show before she said anything worthy (or indeed at all last week). That's not considering the earlier episodes either. I feel sorry for Mandip Gill.
lwaves 100% agree, only names I can remember were Stenza and Pting but that’s because Pting was mentioned in the video. I’ve also noticed Ryan’s dyspraxia(I think that’s what he has) has disappeared. Yaz has one good episode unfortunately and with 4 people in the Tardis, one of which being a new doctor, someone was bound to get drowned out
This may be just me, but I found the finale to be rather flat and uneventful. For something called 'The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos', there was little battle and mostly consisted of people standing around and talking exposition. For all the build-up of Tzim-Sha being a powerful threat that was worshiped as a god, he was easily taken out with one shot to the foot. It felt like a mid-season episode rather than a full-on finale. In fact, it made both 'The Wedding of River Song' and 'Hell Bent' look a bit better for me, because as much as I disagreed enormously with the choices made in those two finales, at least they took risks, taken chances and had raised stakes. This finale had none of that, and personally for me, I'd rather have something take a risk and fail rather than have something that was safe, generic, bland, forgettable or uninteresting. At least the failure will leave a memorable impact and get a reaction out of me.
He was weak if you watch or listen you will see but everything else I agree with but hopefully next season Chris will listen to everyone and make a great season
Agree. It made no sense that a warrior race predator like Tim Shaw could be beaten by a single shot in the foot by Graham. This is a warrior in full body armour. Dr is also inconsistent (she said Graham could not travel with her if he killed Tim Shaw) because the Dr has travelled with killers before - like Capt Jack and River Song (she carried and used a gun).
I hear it frequently said that character is one of Chibnall's strengths but I think if that was the case why isn't the dialogue more naturalistic. I find often the dialogue is plot led rather than character led, so character's will say things that you'd think they have no motivation to say, but the writer has motivation to have them say because it moves the plot along. To me that was seem a hallmark of a writer that doesn't put much thought into characterisation.
the two Guys were really good, perfect played out, the right amount of humor in it..., the doctor part was a mess. they report via Com (provided by the doctor because we gonna need them) that there are more Hostages to safe than 2. 2 douzends is more like it. they gonna need help. "Sry, i'm busy" WTF? even if this doctor has it's own kind of doing things, in character woudl have been smthg loke "sry, bit busy, proper busy, like stop the planet from blowing up any minute busy. can you hold one for a minute?" for me it looks like the writer didn't know the development,the figures took during the series when he wrote this. lazy, and the SciFi part was terrible technobabble, just without the doctor effect,all the others had while technobabbeling. there is room for improvement.
mark postgate.. spot on. that is exactly right all the dialogue is plot lead not emotion or character lead. no good dialogue between the companions and dr the entire series. no chatter between them, no joking, no arguments or flare ups.
Yeah. Prior to Season 11 I kept hearing about what a good dramatic showrunner Chibnall was. One thing I expected him to *nail* was character (including naturalistic dialogue). But all the characters feel weirdly shallow and so much of the dialogue feels forced.
You're not wrong about names. It was my primary distraction for this episode, I was constantly thinking about the names of everything and how clumsy they felt. Language has a rhythm and an organic evolution, and madey-uppy words need to match that to work effectively. Russell T Davies was great at making up things like Raxacoricofallapatorius and the Shadow Proclamation. Chibnall needs to take a lesson from RTD.
@@ishaandw Exactly. It seems like these deliberately difficult to remember or pronounce names have been chosen to sound extra-alien, which is fine if so, but still annoying if it's all glottal stops and and starts.
I thought they were going to explore faith being manipulated and abused by an outside power a bit more than they did. That could have been really interesting.
I really wish they do that more thoroughly. As someone with a strong faith, the way the topic was treated was frankly halfassed, and a disservice to people who has a faith they ascribe to.
It's strange that three thousand years have passed and it's the same two worshippers! It would have been more interesting if there was a civilization of worshippers descended from them. This would raise the level of consequences of the Doctor's actions in sending Tim there (accidentally).
I HAD MY I LOVE THIS DOCTOR MOMENT. It's when Tim Shaw says "I am unstoppable"and the Doctor has this look in her eyes and she says "No one is unstoppable" and I fell in love with Jodie's doctor on the spot.
i thought the twelth doctor was the grumpy space grandad and matt smith was the kindly space grandad. also i never took the toothfairy seriously because no one else in the show took him seriously, he's a better one off villain than a finale villain.
IMO, Matt Smith was the immature and childish Doctor (as befits the Doctor who met and hung out with young Amelia Pond while he was still in the process of regenerating).
As usual, I agree with what you say, but I think you're missing something. Despite my resolution to stop watching, I actually watched this story, and it starts off quite well, as though it could have been, say, a Russell T. Davies story. What ruins it is that every opponent looks strong before demonstrating extreme weakness. I agree with you, it's ridiculous that the Ux turn against their god after a few words from the Doctor; people with faith aren't that easily convinced. The robotic soldiers topple like skittles. The Stenza warrior, would-be leader of a warrior race, abandons all resistance after being shot in the foot, and allows himself to be manhandled into confinement by a couple of puny humans. He's supposed to be so cold that he can kill with a touch. The Doctor is supposed to win conflicts through cleverness; but Chibnall can't do cleverness. He needs weak opponents because he can't think his way around genuinely strong ones. The production quality is great. The acting is good or at least OK. But the stories are inadequate. Young children might find them convincing, but I don't. This show needs a new showrunner, and the sooner the better.
It felt like this was made up as they went along, and again, Bradley Walsh stole the show, along with Tosin Cole, I'd watch a spinoff of those two solving crimes in space! Better than previous efforts but lots of "just becauses" in this.
Typical Chibnall yawn fest. Not terrible (None of this series has been terrible). But not remotely good. The sort of episode that might make for passable mid season filler in the rest of new who. If he sticks around Chibnall needs to accept that he's just not up to being a show runner in the mould of Moffat or RTD. He should approach it more like a traditional bbc producer role and get better writers to provide the stories. Get a good script editor in to hang it all together. And for god's sake help Jodie find her character because she clearly has no idea what she's supposed to be playing.
The elements are good but they often lack the right flow and tension for an adventures series. Kerblam was a good flow, as was the finale and parts of the episodes. It isnt bad but often the flow is off. Its still very enjoyable i still would watch it again but chibnall can do better.
No i think moffts 6th and 7th was worser. That was hard getting into, this season is better in my opinion. The stories and larger plots were much more mindboggling and they promised a payoff but never delivered. And matt smiths doctor, not the actor was just weird.
@@jonsnor4313 For a start no such word as 'worser' and series 6 and 7 piss all over series 11 nothing about this series made me want to watch the next one,since the reboot in 2005 there has always been a story arch,Bad Wolf,the master,Daleks,River song and the silence now I know these haven't always paid off but better to the anticipation then have none at all, long gone have the days of seasons of stand alone episodes,GOT,Breaking Bad,and even going back a bit Buffy,Lost,24 and Alias prove the point, you need a series Big Bad,no not Tim Shaw!
I'm curious, why do you think it's terrible as a finale? It completes the character arcs and culminates the series with a compelling villain and major threat.
@@toasterhead79 To me it felt more like a second part of a 2 part story (with The Woman Who Fell To Earth being part 1). The threat felt like something The Doctor would come across half way through the season, not a finale. I think last week's episode completed character arcs much better (especially Graham and Ryan). Also, a lot of the ideas were just rehashed from previous stories ... nothing original. For example, captured planets by a mad dictator (series 4) etc. Just didn't feel epic enough in my opinion, but I might be in the minority.
@David Hanmer Welcome to the minority club! Yeah, I totally agree with your opinion of the finale. Plus as a writer, I think that Chibnall (or Chin Ball, as I've grown to call him after watching this episode) made Graham insanely out of character until the very last minute. Graham does not kill. He is way too nice for that. I also felt like he was a total jerk towards Ryan for a good portion of the episode, and we literally just had a very good bonding moment between the two last week. Also, one more thing, Chin Ball: I don't know what your definition of a standalone episode is, but if you bring back a villain from the first episode without giving a detailed explanation of who he is, then this does not count as a standalone episode. And for God's sake, stop using overused sci-fi tropes in all of your episodes! Did you really have to make Tim Shaw try to destroy the earth?!
And another thing, they mentioned the Ghost Monument for a second with no explanation. If someone watched this finale without having watched that episode, they would probably be extremely confused. Therefore, another reason why this cannot be classified as a standalone episode. Okay, I'm done with my rant for now. Feel free to add on to anything I missed, fellow Whovians!
I dont think the threatening of the earth was bad its cliche at this point but in episode 1 i think the doctor mentioned shes the protector of earth and tim shaw wants to get back at the doctor and her companions for what they did. out of all the earth ending threats i feel this was a better one rather than oh no a giant space spider
It makes sense for a character who is a sore looser to concentrate on revenge against the doctor and some humans in a very unfair way. It had a good set up in episode 1. Not empathizing it too why he does is actually taking the viewers seriously. And didnt ruin a great moment with tension. If they can keep this sort of writing of action season 12 will be great.
It could be a good mid-series episode but for the finale... meh. Well, considering it was one of the best episodes they could come up with, no wonder they saved it for the end. But it just shows how utterly underwhelming the whole season was.
There were quite a few things in this episode that felt like a setup for something that never paid off. They made a big thing out of the "com dots" and making sure they stay in contact... then no one ever talked to anyone except the person they were with. The only purpose for them seemed to be so the Doctor could use them to communicate with Tim Shaw at one point.
I really don't get your praise of the cinematography this series. Personally I found it really annoying how many close ups they kept using, particularly in the TARDIS where it just went between two medium close ups as they talked to each other. I want to see the scale and scope of the set. It's the end of the series and I still don't have a great feel for the space inside the TARDIS. This stands in stark contrast to series 5 where all the shots inside Smith's TARDIS showed how big it was and all the things inside it. This new one just hasn't been shown off much at all.
How lame is tooth guy who appeared in front of Graham unarmed? What was his plan to stop the Doctor without any weapons at all? Just talk everyone to death? And a couple of Earthlings invade his sanctuary and defeat him when whole armies couldn't before?! The robot army was worse than useless, a true technologically advanced robot army would have a device on each of them which would prevent them from shooting each other. Your prey ducks so you shoot each other?! That is SO cartoonishly lame. I would make the argument that the planet, having scrambled the brains of all the other attacking armies, made Tooth Guy and his drones not be able to cope with the Doctors Companions whose brains weren't scrambled. He expected them to be easy prey. But of course, this reasoning was never mentioned in this episode due to the continued poor writing. When the Doctor faces off with the Daleks in January there had better be at least SOME sense of doom defeat and despair and not this ridiculous Scooby-Doo garbage.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure the Doctor left Gallifrey because he (it) was bored and wanted to see the universe, i.e. explore All doctors are the Exploration Doctor, its a key aspect of the character not just a particular Doctor.
Yah, but at least in the new series, the other doctors seemed to be way more involved with personal tragedies and 'end of the universe drama' to really express the simple joy in exploration that I felt from 13th doctor.
@@radmoonable Yeah because she hasn't lost anyone or had to make a earth changing decision. Every Doctor at the beginning has a glint in their eye when they think they will show a companion the wonders of the universe.
@@trevorfeelgood not really, David Tenant's doctor had a God complex from pretty much the first few minutes he was awake, Matt Smith was trying to decider one mystery or other since his first episode.
I can't wait for your next videos. I've been hopping on youtube after each episode since the last Xmas special just to see what you have to say about it all afterwards. During this particular finale, I found myself feeling like the whole season had been okay, but in a lot of ways felt more like a spinoff than the Doctor Who I had been waiting for. I know you have your issues with Russell, but I really miss his era.
My doctor moment for 13 was when she told Graham he was the strongest person shes ever met, Graham's arc over this episode really hit me for some reason and him saying he was too weak, and the doctor saying he was so strong brought me to tears.
i didnt like the preaching of pacifism so hard tbh the whole series. I think Graham should have killed him and I think that sometimes killing is justified and the Doctor has to get over it. Like if she doesnt want to fine, but she needs to stop stopping others. My favorite moment was him telling off the doctor when he originally told her he was gonna kill Tim Shaw. I wish he went thru with it.
I feel a lot more could have been done with this one as a two perter. For example the idea of the Doctor's decision and stance on not killing Tim Shaw could be viewed as a mistake considering he did indeed come back and was able to cause more destruction than ever. It didn't need to debunk her stance outright but could have at lest challenged it. I like the direction of Tim Shaw at lot, an extraordinary stroke of good luck driving an already bad person dangerously delusional.
About the Ux recognizing Tim Shaw as a god, reminded me of the Mayans or Aztecs when the spanish conquerors arrived in America and they believed these men were gods based on ancient mythology, surely was part of their faith, but coming back to the Ux their faith was already shaken at the point the Doctor arrived
I got a real Douglas Adams vibe again. The planets compressed in stasis - The Pirate Planet, which you mentioned (Tom Baker era when Adams was script editor and a creative influence). And the idea of a species that existed on faith - Electric Monk; a character from one of Adams's Dirk Gently novels that would believe completely in anything, but what it believed in would constantly change.
I will say, it seemed that their faith was waning before the Doctor's explanation. They seemed uncertain, so it wasn't a heel face turn on their faith.
The biggest problem with the series as a whole was exposition. There was way too much of it. So many episodes were guilty of telling the audience something instead of showing. I liked this ep generally more than most of them this season
This exactly! The moment in 'It Takes you Away' where the Doctor flat out explains the 'solitract' energy is the major weakness of that episode for me. It completely ruins the mystique. I can't help but imagine if the characters were to discover strange things about the physics of the universe for the Doctor to actually deduce these things herself: it's a different universe, it's 'incompatible' with ours (how, in what way?), and it's CONSCIOUS. It would have made for a more unnerving and compelling episode on top of the uncanniness of dead people being alive.
@@toasterhead79 yes! i was thinking of that exact moment when i wrote this comment. it's so much cooler when they subtly introduce things and you work it out along with the doctor and the companions as opposed to the doctor saying "oh i remember this from a story i was told as a kid!"
This was my favourite episode in the series but that doesn't say much. As a standalone this is a 7/10 for me but as a FINALE it's a 6/10. If I had to rank the episodes from worst to best for me it would be this: 10) The Tsnagura Conundrum (2/10) 9) The Ghost Monument (2/10) 8) Arachnids in the UK (3/10) 7) Keblam! (3/10) 6) Demons of the Punjab (3/10) 5) The Witchfinders (4/10) 4) It Takes You Away (4/10) 3) Rosa (6/10) 2) The Woman Who Fell to Earth (6/10) 1) The Battle of Ranskoor Available Kolos (6.5/10) Definitely my least favourite New Who series. Even worse than series 7 for me because I managed to pull a lot more from that which I genuinely loved and enjoyed.
If I had to categorize this Doctor, I'd call her "The Kind Doctor". She is the embodiment of Capldi's last lines - to just be kind. But with Chibnall's planned 5 year arc, that might change.
I was just thinking something similar. I've seen a few people complaining that Thirteen isn't as confident and commanding as her last few incarnations and honestly I think that's intentional. I think they're deliberately going for an incarnation that *isn't* so eager to just take over and steamroll people. The switch from "companions" to "friends" or "fam" also seem to signal a Doctor who cares a lot more about what other people think than Eleven or Twelve ever did.
I think the point of easily shaken faith could have been dealt with, as you said, in a two parter, because you saw a brief glimpse of indecision when Delph questions Andinio when she goes to him to tell him they need to grab another planet (Earth) and he basically say, 'No, this isn't right' and she just proclaims that they have to do what the Creator wills. Clearly at least Delph has been thinking about things in the 3407 years since Tzim-Sha appeared to them. But we don't get to see anything of that development, we just get to see a tipping point (the doctor) and none of the 'getting to that place where faith could break'. It was done in such a throwaway fashion, you really don't get any sort of character development for these two at all. Then again, we really don't get any sort of development regarding the Ux at all. Like, for example...what were they doing on their planet before Tzim-Sha appeared in the first place? What is it that they believe about their creator that makes it impossible that it would know the Doctor? It's like the put up a house and forgot the foundation.
@@TheSmart-CasualGamer I guess that makes sense but the forgetting part was not as stressef as the guy from the children's home from day of the Moon who lost years of his silence Here it was just I forgot, Oh now Ive got this plot device I can remember now
@@TheSmart-CasualGamer But ... if you send a distress call it tends to keep going until it is answered, you turn it off or the power runs out. So unless Paltraki forgot he sent it, saw it working, turned it off, then sent it again that doesn't fly.
I thought it was great. Pros and cons: Cons: - I was expecting some kind of trippy things to happen with the planet messing with their heads. I agree with you that it was a missed opportunity towards the overall plot. It could have been removed and it wouldn't have made a difference. The only argument for it I guess would be that it ups the stakes by adding a layer of unpredictability to it. The only thing that happened was them going "ohh the planet is giving me a headache" basically. I mean, that did give it a bit more tension but not much. - I kind of wish they would have telegraphed Graham's anger throughout the series. I know we got his grief (which, coming from experience can manifest itself as anger) but he never felt like a vengeful person until this episode. - Didn't the Daleks steal planets before? I kind of wished it would have been foreshadowed maybe at the end of the last episode, not through a trailer. Maybe having hints at it during the season would be too mystery box-like but something that huge might need more build. - Yeah, their faith was shaken a bit too quickly. I thought the lady was going to turn on the Doctor and get herself accidentally killed or something. - Speaking of mystery boxes... what happened to the The Timeless Child? - Yeah, the guest actor needed more to do. He was good though. Pros: - Jodie was so fun to watch throughout. I love seeing the Doctor gradually figure out things. - I totally figured out they were going to use the TARDIS to solve it. That's a pro because it was an excited "I called it!" not something I found predictably boring or anything. - I love the concept of a highly intelligent race with telepathic abilities whose Achille's heel is their religious devotion. I know it's not really that original but damn it's a cool idea. - Graham and Ryan had great moments in this episode. - Tim Shaw is still cool as hell. I am glad we saw more of him. - Yaz is finally starting to click with me. I still think she needs more to do but she's starting to almost become The Doctor's sidekick of sorts. Graham and Ryan have their familial connection while Yaz is almost doing the Clara thing.... although spun more positively this time. - The direction is beautiful. This whole season has been shot well. The special effects have generally looked good, except that one scene in Kerblam.
I actually have no problem with the way they handled Graham in this. He and everyone else thought he'd more or less come to terms with it and had his emotional reactions under control. But that went out the window as soon as Tim Shaw reentered the picture. That seems very human to me.
It was ok, which is how I feel about series 11 itself in general. Tim Shaw comes off as a fire sale Predator but the actor does a good job with it for all that. Graham was excellent yet again. I also agree on the names but the Ux is the worst of the bunch!
It's interesting that you had your Doctor revelation moment in the finale and I had mine in the opener :) you're spot on about the "Enjoyment in exploration". I got that from her in episode 1 where she said "I'm just a traveller". Something about that line stuck out to me for some reason. Where previous Doctors have been all about the action and adventure, I could tell her Doctor was going to be more tranquil. I love how passionate you are in your videos by the way :)
I disagree on the faith thing. I would say that faith is usually a set of one or more basic "beliefs" that may not be logic-based (which doesn't mean they are illogical or baseless), and then the world you find yourself in is interpreted in the light of those beliefs. But the tool you use for this interpretation is still logic - only with different fundamental assumptions about certain things. Therefore I think that it is not surprising at all that you can convince "religious" people with logic - even convince them of something that has to do with their faith. What the Doctor convinced the Ux of was not that their belief in the "Creator" was wrong (because that was a deeper belief not based on logic), but that Tim Shaw was not, in fact, the Creator they believed in. I still think it strange that the Doctor convinces them with a few words, but not for the reason you mentioned, but rather because I'm surprised they hadn't figured it out earlier (or at least Andinio hadn't - although she seemed to have felt that something was off as well). If you believe that a God exists (and I do believe that), then it will (or at least should) take more than a surprising entrance like Tim Shaw's to convince you that you've come face to face with this God, just as, if you believe in the existence of aliens, that (ideally) doesn't mean you believe every weird person who claims to have seen or encountered aliens. Of course, some people will always be more credulous than others, but I do not think that has much to do with whether they believe in a "religion" or in more "normal" things.
I think being the 'Joy of Exploration' doctor could be a breath of fresh air for the series, but I still feel Whittaker needs moments of intensity to balance the optimism. I was hoping to see her get threateningly protective of her companions at some point this series, as she nearly did in the first episode, but I'm still waiting for a moment like that
I always thought Eccelston was the joy of exploration Doctor, lol. That huge grin and wide spread arms he always had when stepping from the TARDIS with Rose kinda cemented that with me. As for the Doctor being protective of her companions? All I have seen her do in this series is send them off into potentially dangerous situations alone
I actually really liked the neural stabilizers, they had a lot of potential uses that make the episode feel suspenseful. At first I thought the planet was going to maybe mess with Grahams mind and make him more likely to attack Tim Shaw, or that it would be damaged somehow. How they ended up being used felt fresh and cleverly utilized.
I know, right? What was with the end where he got his crew back and they were all "Soooo, we'll just all run away and you can deal with it now, 'k bai!"? Umm, you're welcome?
I really wish there was some dialogue between the the Ux and the Doctor, both being ancient species with powers dealing with the fabric of spacetime. It just would have been fun to see the Ux perhaps realize that the Doctor is a Timelord and see how they might have deep philosophical mind-bendy conversations and relating to each other and dive into space lore.
I really like how the Ux don’t just abandon their faith at the end of the episode, they retain a version of it. I’d still like to know how Tim Shaw conned them, and a villain who’s taken seriously by the doctor.
It's one of the few finales that is a single part-er. Which is interesting. Perhaps if this had been a two-part story we might have had part-one exploring a plant messing with their heads and the Doctor figuring out that they needed the mental balancers. An ending revealing the return of Tim Shaw would have made for a good cliffhanger, too. Also, given that Moffat's last series had the 'every episode is stand alone' thing, I'm wondering if this is a decree from on high in the BBC. Because, this series has had a lot of interesting concepts that they didn't get to explore because they didn't have multiple parts.
Hey, I can rank them! 1. Kerblam! 2. It takes you away. 3. Daemons of the Punjab. 4. The Tsuranga Conundrum. 5. Rosa. 6. The Ghost Monument. 7. The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos. 8. The Witchfinders. 9. The Woman who fell to Earth. 10. Arachnids in the UK. I liked all of these barring Witchfinders and the two below.
I feel like if they had just shown Yaz’s family as the world was about to be stolen it would remind us of the personal stakes for the characters when the earth is threatened, not just ‘it’s the earth so we gotta save it’
Didn’t care for it myself. Although, the fact that (as so many have taken to mention) this one didn’t really “feel like a finale” is the finale clue that they really are going whole hog in making this like the Classic Era again. Which honestly I’m kinda down for. I can get used to the finales feeing like kinda just another episode, even if this one didn’t work for me.
Personally I kind of wish they hadn't gone for the classic "end of season major threat" thing. It's not a two-parter like finales usually have going for them. If they weren't going to take the necessary time to do a story of that scale properly, it might've been better to just throw a really good standalone episode at us instead.
irrevenant3 to be fair it’s not like “really good standalone episode” and “major threat” are remotely incompatible. Something like Fires of Pompeii comes to mind. That said, Chibnall seems to be more at home in episodes with smaller stakes. Whenever he writes threats that are immediately global, in either this or Torchwood, he falters in the resolution.
This series has been pretty good. Not the best not the worst. It doesn't have the lows of some of the previous series but it doesn't have the highs of some of the previous series.
@John Sturchio honestly I thought most of the series was pretty good and more memorable stories than Capaldi ever got sadly. Besides episodes 4 and 5, haha.
For me, as a whole, it's been above average. Some good and great episode and some very average episodes but I can't say any were bad. Overall, I've enjoyed this series more than the last one on first viewing. Speaking of highs and lows, I thought of this before this series started. Think of soundwaves or tones. RTD is a smooth, steady, undulating tone that gradually moves up and down. Moffat is a jagged tone of straight lines going from the very top to the very bottom. I predicted to myself that Chibnall would be more of a steady tone, closer to the middle in all areas, with smaller fluctuations. I may have been right.
I can't think of worse New Who. At least I liked the Doctor and the companions ( yes even Clara, she's effin beautiful). Here I started with a tiny crush on Jodie based on Black Mirror and Broadchurch but now dread when she's about to speak.
I personally felt that this was an okay but underwhelming and uneventful series finale. The visuals look nice. There was nice moments between Ryan and Graham which I liked. Tim Shaw was still lame but he was a lot more tolerable in this episode. But it did not feel like a finale and the lack of any memorable moments such as a main character die or cliffhanger makes it feel forgettable.
I made this comment on Gallifrey Base as well, but for me this series has reminded me a lot of the classic series. The final was the same, not a great 'everything at stake' ending that we've been use to but just a standard story to finish the season . Even the Doctor's speech at the end reminds me of the Doctor's speech at the end of The Reign of Terror which was the final of season one. Her speech did feel like the 'Doctor' moment for me too. The jot Doctor, I like that. As you mentioned Capaldi, for me I struggled with his character until I compared him to Dr House, then I got him.
I had my 'Doctor' moment in this episode as well but for me it was right at the beginning when Graeme asks if they have to answer the distress calls ... her reply was pure Doctor for me.
Oooh, your point about it being a two parter! That's exactly it for me. I think I just found myself kinda bored near the end because too much was going on and I couldn't follow it all. And we definitely needed more set up as well. Also I really didn't like the colors in this one. I kept checking the light balance on my laptop to see if the laptop was dimming it. Aside from that, I think it was pretty good. I'm happy with what we got. Still kinda wish for less companions next season though. It definitely didn't need to be this orange and gloomy and dim. I don't mind the Aliens names myself, except like this one. The rest are fine.
I can unreservedly say I loved this ep. Thought it was a good finale, loved Jodie, loved the Graham/Ryan stuff. Liked that they dealt with the unresolved Tim Shaw stuff. It worked for me. Sad we’re at a point in our fandom where “I’m liking the show” feels like kind of a controversial opinion 😕
The Alien names remind me of when I'm playing D&D and I'm trying to come up with character names on the fly, so I just say whatever gibberish that pops into my head
When the planets were being put back to their rightful locations and Yaz went and put her face in the way of the energy beam from the TARDIS, I was screaming in my head “Yaz move your head you’re gonna get teleported into the vacuum of space!”
If you can't pronounce this episode's name, I'd like to see you try Raxacoricofallipatorius😂. While not a fan of Chibnall's episodes, this one was better than I expected. Maybe because the Doctor's line at the end "Travel hopefully" is sticking with me. It was a beautiful moment and so well delivered by Whittaker. While I didn't love this season this was a pretty good ending for me. On a side note, I for one I'm looking forward to a whole week of Doctor Who videos from you!
I was surprised the Doctor didn't start telling the woman who her God was the second she asked how they knew each other. Instead Doc dodged the questions until standing in front of Tim Shaw. Just felt weird.
Three piping hot takes, fresh from the oven 🥧🥧🥧 1 - Yaz did absolutely nothing this episode, and honestly had like one episode the entire series where she felt like she really mattered in any meaningful sense. Even that didn’t really require her to be a companion - they could have just run into her while back on earth, and brought her along for that one episode. I think they should have used someone interesting enough to carry their own weight without needing a ton of lines or plot focus - i.e. a historical figure like James I or an alien à la Nardole - if they were really set on 3 companions. (I know I’m rambling at this point, I just reeeeally want to see more of King James, and I feel like his wanting to understand the universe fits way better with the show than any motivation they’ve given Yaz so far) 2 (shorter, I promise) - Chris Chibnall is the worst showrunner of new who. To be fair, that’s not saying much, since I really liked the others, but aside from a couple of really bad episodes (okay, two: Hell Bent and that Absorbaloff nonsense), I feel like the worst episodes from before are at least nearly as good as the best episodes that Chibnall did by himself. This might even be my least favorite series, purely because of the writing, even though I love so much else about it, especially the new Doctor and Graham/Ryan. 3 - With one or two exceptions, all of the episodes this series needed to be two-parters. It always felt like they rushed the ending, and there’s generally been at least one thing that they brought up and didn’t address or resolve. This time it was the “Easily Shaken Faith” and skipping over why the Ux believed Tzim Sha so easily; in the Witchfinders, it was introducing and defeating a whole species of evil aliens in the span of like five minutes; in Arachnids, they totally glossed over having any consequences for that business guy, which makes their whole Environmental/Economic exploitation angle fall flat, etc. The only exceptions that come to mind are Demons of the Punjab, and maybe Kerblam - and even then, I feel like Kerblam didn’t have much consequence overall. Even something small, like how they mentioned the “end of space capitalism” in Oxygen, would’ve made it feel like it mattered more. With the others, even if it wasn’t a full on two-parter, even taking like five more minutes would make the episode tons better imho (though I get that that’s impossible, what with timeslots and all). And with every episode so insistent on being a standalone one-parter, it feels like nothing they do really matters in terms of the overall story. I kinda feel like that was the utility of the “mystery boxes” in previous series; even though they can get a bit trite, they tie the episodes together and make it feel like each one advances the plot towards something important. This series, even when they were building up the Stenza as a threat, it never really felt like we were getting anywhere since the next episode would do a total 180 and ignore everything that just happened. Maybe it’d be different if the three Stenza episodes were closer together, but as-is it felt more like a random callback to something unrelated than an actual overarching plot-line. Unrelated, and I know they just used them in The Doctor Falls, but it would’ve been really cool to at least mention the Cybermen in Kerblam!, even if they wanted the Kerblam Man to be its own thing. I appreciate that they’re trying to do all new stuff, but they barely did any real references to classic who at all in this series, and they only had a couple one-off mentions of new who stuff, afaik.
Re: Planet of the Apes. I think it was the TV series did it better. An archaeological site, discovered a human doll. That had a voice, when in Ape mythology humans were meant to be mute. Aside over.
I expected there to be a return of everything from every previous episode of the series, but now that I think about it, I have no idea how they'd fit in Kerblam! or the Morax. I too like the callbacks.
It was so anticlimatic. The evil villain, the imposter creator for this powerful race being beaten by a shot in the foot and left to die in a small cell. It started so good and interesting with the performance of the man they met first. Cant remember and forgets everything. Really a good performance. Like the one from Graham.
Some of this years episodes needed to be two parters. The chance to develop some of the themes that were sold short would be great. But all things said I loved the new doctor and team Tardis. But l'm easy to please.
I hope they get bolder in the next series. This was fine, but that's all. Just fine. They need to take risks, go over the top once in awhile, and show more doctor.
I think it's realistic that some Alien names are complicated. I mean, look at some nams of human cities or Settlements, rivers etc. Some of them aren't even easy to pronounce to English-speaking People.
I feel that comes from the Doctor though. One minute she is biting peoples heads off for carrying guns, then in this episode she is fudging that by saying it depends on the situation when it comes to explosives, lol. She was happy enough to blow Charlie to hell though in Kerblam! so maybe the companions are just confused ... I know I am ;)
I just read the book version of the pirate planet :D Good timing. I liked the ep overall, but yes there where some problems, which you named here. But overall I'm satisfied. And I like the names.
I thought it would be this episode that I really saw the Doctor early on when she actually got angry/protective and then we had that last scene and I was like oh yeah there’s the Doctor. I’m glad I’ve finally got it, just a bit disappointed it took all season.
"I've got to do a video on..." No you don't. You don't have to do a video on anything. You are not obliged to do anything for us and we are not entitled to expect anything from you. Anything you choose to do is a bonus and please don't ever feel pressured about having to do any of this. Keep it fun. :)
When I say "I've got to" that's not just me saying I feel outside pressure. I put it on myself to. By choice. It's how I keep going. Don't read too much into it. If I'm making something out of obligation, trust me you'll know (*cough* the ratings video *cough*)
Pretty good episode, it wasn’t the greatest finale it could’ve been, and it really should’ve been a two parter. It could’ve been like Series 8 where the only two parter is the finale. But I quite liked a lot of moments in this and Tim Shaw was pretty nice. Jodie Whittaker is growing on me but very slowly. Hopefully she ends up being like Capaldi for me who just got better every season. I’m excited for the New Year’s special, Daleks!
I caught the Pirate Planet parallels as well - including the Mentiads as the Downton Abbey lady and her friend. Overall though, a great first season for team TARDIS. If we have to sacrifice stronger scifi for stronger character driven stories then I'll take that for a while - no rush to switch back. Incidentally, Holy Terror was pretty good too, I liked the Colin Baker speech at the end - I just want to see the Frobisher penguin on screen.
I don't know if anyone else does this, but just based on past regenerations and how companions that were present for them reacted and the discussions had about the doctors regeneration inside the show, I always add meaning to why the doctor regenerates into who they regenerate into and like the stage they are now in and I like to belive that the doctor regeneragted into a women because of Bill. I don't know if anyone else has thought about it that way but I think its fun to think about. It was touched on quite a bit with Capaldi's regen and so I was thinking about Whitaker's and that's just my thought for various reasons.
I agree the alien names etc need a bit of work. I loved the Ux and the idea of them. Their faith was passed down, but that doesn't seem enough, nor why they would accept Tim Shaw. I am guessing torture. I loved that that blue git was put on ice, it makes him harmless but leaves the door open for him to come back which I don't think the crew realises. And it brings the Grace issue as well as the relationship between Grandfather and Grandson to a good full stop. My guess for next season is for more of a Yaz focus, as apart from the focus being on the guys, she seems to have been internalising something. My hope is for a longer season once it is finally on, and my fear is we will lose at least one of the group.
I watched alot of reviews for this episode, and I kept thinking, "Is no one gonna mention how much this plot smacks of the Pirate Planet?" Yours is the first opinion I've heard that had the same reaction as me.
I get what you're saying about faith not being easily shaken by logical arguments. But there was a pretty clear indication in one scene that what he was doing was taking an emotional toll on the male Ux. So I think his faith was already at least somewhat shaken.
That moment came for me as well when the Doctor says the line, "There must be a way," She does this playful little skipping motion as if to help her think. I thought yeah that's the Doctor.
I thought it was pretty good but I do agree it should of been a two parter to flesh out the alien race and the planet. It was skimmed over to quick for me. I like how it affected Graham where it amplified his desire for revenge. I think they should of paralleled it more with Tim Shaws need for revenge against the Doctor. Threatening the Earth was a natural coarse because the Doctor said it was protected. I just wish his reasoning was emphasized more. Plus, I found it funny that Doctor just so happened to get the distress signal... wish Tim Shaw said something about it was apart of his plan to lure the Doctor in so it didn’t seem so coincidental.
I agree that faith being questioned by logic is a stupid trope in television. The older I get, the more I realise that illogical decisions people make cannot to altered by being confronted with logic; as logic didn’t help inform the decision in the first place
I don't know that she *did* confront faith with logic though. Seemed to me that the Ux already had their doubts that they were doing their best to ignore and the Doctor just made it harder for them to do that.
The reason the names sit strangely on your ears is that they're ALIEN! They feel familiar but wrong at the same time and it makes them a little hard to remember but I like that personally in my sci-fi
the ux (is that how it is spelled? I don't even know) sound too similar to the shoe brand (uggs) which was really distracting for me, so yeah i definitely agree with you that the alien names this season were just really awkward
I feel the look is nice but they really, really need some costumes for the Doctor for historical episodes. That modern indoor outfit looks weird in e.g. the witchhunter episode when it just looks like it is cold outside and that sort of look would get a lot of attention. The 50s episode had the same problem.
This was the first time I've ever walked away from a NuWho finale thinking: "Is that IT?!?"
This felt like it was the third episode. Like the follow up to The Ghost Monument.
it was probably written in that order. 3 episodes where the stenza would have been mentioned, all others didn't. Grace was a important part of it, and how graham and Ryan deal with it. Yazz didn't had a purpose except providing the second neural-thing, like all that stuff in the other episodes didn#t happen. all other episodes have been different. yepp, seems you got it.
One nitpick with a point you made. Tim Shaw didn't just threaten Earth because it was Earth, he did it because that's where the Doctor and company had beaten him and caused his initial downfall. It was deliberately picked by him as an act of revenge against them.
True, but at one point he said: "We have a new target" So the question is: if the old target wasn't the Earth, what was it then?
Ksvlala he said “there will be a new target” which could mean he didn’t have one in mind or that they changed it, that’s the thing about English a lot of it is ambiguous.
@@elliottwatt5297 Yes, it is ambiguous and you gotta love the English language for it. I wonder if it was a case that he was picking other targets until the gang turned up? He was there a long while after all. When they did he simply swapped targets as Earth became relevant to him because of their presence.
@Elliott Watt but he said all this, all he was doing was because he wanted revenge? So he did have a target = the Doctor, don't you think? A bit confusing.
Ksvlala as said above I think he was practising in the hope that he’d run into the Doctor again, so the 5 other planets he’d taken had been in the 3,407 year gap, I don’t think at the time we see him he had a particular target in mind, but as soon as the Doctor and the gang show up Earth becomes the obvious target. He created the weapon, or had it created, for this purpose, but was waiting for the Doctor to watch Earth be destroyed in typical dumb villain logic style.
"Tim Shaw" is the best Alien Name ever
Tim Shaw sounds like Indian Tim tams.
Tzim Sha!!
Am I the only person who doesn't call him that? It's Tzim-Sha! Tzim-Sha!
Yeah, it's Tzim-sha. But that's not as funny as Tim Shaw.
Transform and Roll Out?
They really had me thinking they were gonna kill off graham-so glad they didn’t. I agree with you about the names except I kinda like Stenza.
Stenza is okay by me too, it's simple and easy but I do think Chibnall's other names can be try too hard to sound alien and they're coming off as bad names.
Graham and The Doctor have been the high points of all the characters for me. Ryan is decent too but I still wonder why Yaz is there. Both this episode and last it was well into the show before she said anything worthy (or indeed at all last week). That's not considering the earlier episodes either. I feel sorry for Mandip Gill.
lwaves 100% agree, only names I can remember were Stenza and Pting but that’s because Pting was mentioned in the video. I’ve also noticed Ryan’s dyspraxia(I think that’s what he has) has disappeared. Yaz has one good episode unfortunately and with 4 people in the Tardis, one of which being a new doctor, someone was bound to get drowned out
Agree
I liked "Pting", cause it seemed to me that it was intended to sound a bit ridiculous.
Some, if Graham go's it be a sad episode
This may be just me, but I found the finale to be rather flat and uneventful. For something called 'The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos', there was little battle and mostly consisted of people standing around and talking exposition. For all the build-up of Tzim-Sha being a powerful threat that was worshiped as a god, he was easily taken out with one shot to the foot. It felt like a mid-season episode rather than a full-on finale. In fact, it made both 'The Wedding of River Song' and 'Hell Bent' look a bit better for me, because as much as I disagreed enormously with the choices made in those two finales, at least they took risks, taken chances and had raised stakes. This finale had none of that, and personally for me, I'd rather have something take a risk and fail rather than have something that was safe, generic, bland, forgettable or uninteresting. At least the failure will leave a memorable impact and get a reaction out of me.
He was weak if you watch or listen you will see but everything else I agree with but hopefully next season Chris will listen to everyone and make a great season
I know and that may be the case, but I still think a weak Stenza warrior could still have vanquished two humans easily.
Totally agree with you.
I think it's a good episode - just not a finale at all.
Agree. It made no sense that a warrior race predator like Tim Shaw could be beaten by a single shot in the foot by Graham. This is a warrior in full body armour. Dr is also inconsistent (she said Graham could not travel with her if he killed Tim Shaw) because the Dr has travelled with killers before - like Capt Jack and River Song (she carried and used a gun).
I hear it frequently said that character is one of Chibnall's strengths but I think if that was the case why isn't the dialogue more naturalistic. I find often the dialogue is plot led rather than character led, so character's will say things that you'd think they have no motivation to say, but the writer has motivation to have them say because it moves the plot along. To me that was seem a hallmark of a writer that doesn't put much thought into characterisation.
the two Guys were really good, perfect played out, the right amount of humor in it..., the doctor part was a mess. they report via Com (provided by the doctor because we gonna need them) that there are more Hostages to safe than 2. 2 douzends is more like it. they gonna need help. "Sry, i'm busy" WTF? even if this doctor has it's own kind of doing things, in character woudl have been smthg loke "sry, bit busy, proper busy, like stop the planet from blowing up any minute busy. can you hold one for a minute?" for me it looks like the writer didn't know the development,the figures took during the series when he wrote this. lazy, and the SciFi part was terrible technobabble, just without the doctor effect,all the others had while technobabbeling. there is room for improvement.
mark postgate.. spot on. that is exactly right all the dialogue is plot lead not emotion or character lead. no good dialogue between the companions and dr the entire series. no chatter between them, no joking, no arguments or flare ups.
Yeah. Prior to Season 11 I kept hearing about what a good dramatic showrunner Chibnall was. One thing I expected him to *nail* was character (including naturalistic dialogue). But all the characters feel weirdly shallow and so much of the dialogue feels forced.
I agree with the name thing, except for "stenza". I kinda like the sound of that.
You're not wrong about names. It was my primary distraction for this episode, I was constantly thinking about the names of everything and how clumsy they felt. Language has a rhythm and an organic evolution, and madey-uppy words need to match that to work effectively. Russell T Davies was great at making up things like Raxacoricofallapatorius and the Shadow Proclamation. Chibnall needs to take a lesson from RTD.
I disagree. I think the main reason you people are complaining is because the names aren't English enough for you.
@@timenotime That is unfairly presumptuous of you.
Alina R dude... rexicaricofalliputorius is apparently English?
RTD and Moffat used words that flow off the tongue easily.
@@ishaandw Exactly. It seems like these deliberately difficult to remember or pronounce names have been chosen to sound extra-alien, which is fine if so, but still annoying if it's all glottal stops and and starts.
I thought they were going to explore faith being manipulated and abused by an outside power a bit more than they did. That could have been really interesting.
I really wish they do that more thoroughly. As someone with a strong faith, the way the topic was treated was frankly halfassed, and a disservice to people who has a faith they ascribe to.
It's strange that three thousand years have passed and it's the same two worshippers! It would have been more interesting if there was a civilization of worshippers descended from them. This would raise the level of consequences of the Doctor's actions in sending Tim there (accidentally).
They did it with Capaldi's doctor...
I took the "threatening of the Earth" as revenge on the Doctor.
I HAD MY I LOVE THIS DOCTOR MOMENT.
It's when Tim Shaw says "I am unstoppable"and the Doctor has this look in her eyes and she says "No one is unstoppable" and I fell in love with Jodie's doctor on the spot.
i thought the twelth doctor was the grumpy space grandad and matt smith was the kindly space grandad. also i never took the toothfairy seriously because no one else in the show took him seriously, he's a better one off villain than a finale villain.
Ryan Law grumpy space granddad was the first doctor.
IMO, Matt Smith was the immature and childish Doctor (as befits the Doctor who met and hung out with young Amelia Pond while he was still in the process of regenerating).
As usual, I agree with what you say, but I think you're missing something. Despite my resolution to stop watching, I actually watched this story, and it starts off quite well, as though it could have been, say, a Russell T. Davies story. What ruins it is that every opponent looks strong before demonstrating extreme weakness. I agree with you, it's ridiculous that the Ux turn against their god after a few words from the Doctor; people with faith aren't that easily convinced. The robotic soldiers topple like skittles. The Stenza warrior, would-be leader of a warrior race, abandons all resistance after being shot in the foot, and allows himself to be manhandled into confinement by a couple of puny humans. He's supposed to be so cold that he can kill with a touch.
The Doctor is supposed to win conflicts through cleverness; but Chibnall can't do cleverness. He needs weak opponents because he can't think his way around genuinely strong ones.
The production quality is great. The acting is good or at least OK. But the stories are inadequate. Young children might find them convincing, but I don't. This show needs a new showrunner, and the sooner the better.
damn thanks, this is so much something I've had on my mind.
Love that you mentioned the Pirate Planet! Was the first thing I thought when we found out those were planets in those cube like stasis pods.
It felt like this was made up as they went along, and again, Bradley Walsh stole the show, along with Tosin Cole, I'd watch a spinoff of those two solving crimes in space! Better than previous efforts but lots of "just becauses" in this.
Typical Chibnall yawn fest. Not terrible (None of this series has been terrible). But not remotely good. The sort of episode that might make for passable mid season filler in the rest of new who. If he sticks around Chibnall needs to accept that he's just not up to being a show runner in the mould of Moffat or RTD. He should approach it more like a traditional bbc producer role and get better writers to provide the stories. Get a good script editor in to hang it all together. And for god's sake help Jodie find her character because she clearly has no idea what she's supposed to be playing.
mowog fpv hit the nail on the head.
The elements are good but they often lack the right flow and tension for an adventures series. Kerblam was a good flow, as was the finale and parts of the episodes. It isnt bad but often the flow is off. Its still very enjoyable i still would watch it again but chibnall can do better.
No i think moffts 6th and 7th was worser. That was hard getting into, this season is better in my opinion. The stories and larger plots were much more mindboggling and they promised a payoff but never delivered. And matt smiths doctor, not the actor was just weird.
"Arachnids in the UK" was terrible.
@@jonsnor4313 For a start no such word as 'worser' and series 6 and 7 piss all over series 11 nothing about this series made me want to watch the next one,since the reboot in 2005 there has always been a story arch,Bad Wolf,the master,Daleks,River song and the silence now I know these haven't always paid off but better to the anticipation then have none at all, long gone have the days of seasons of stand alone episodes,GOT,Breaking Bad,and even going back a bit Buffy,Lost,24 and Alias prove the point, you need a series Big Bad,no not Tim Shaw!
It wasn't a bad standalone episode, but as a finale, it's pretty terrible really.
I reckon even last week's episode "It Takes You Away" would have worked better as the finale.
I'm curious, why do you think it's terrible as a finale? It completes the character arcs and culminates the series with a compelling villain and major threat.
@@toasterhead79 To me it felt more like a second part of a 2 part story (with The Woman Who Fell To Earth being part 1). The threat felt like something The Doctor would come across half way through the season, not a finale. I think last week's episode completed character arcs much better (especially Graham and Ryan). Also, a lot of the ideas were just rehashed from previous stories ... nothing original. For example, captured planets by a mad dictator (series 4) etc. Just didn't feel epic enough in my opinion, but I might be in the minority.
@David Hanmer Welcome to the minority club! Yeah, I totally agree with your opinion of the finale. Plus as a writer, I think that Chibnall (or Chin Ball, as I've grown to call him after watching this episode) made Graham insanely out of character until the very last minute. Graham does not kill. He is way too nice for that. I also felt like he was a total jerk towards Ryan for a good portion of the episode, and we literally just had a very good bonding moment between the two last week.
Also, one more thing, Chin Ball: I don't know what your definition of a standalone episode is, but if you bring back a villain from the first episode without giving a detailed explanation of who he is, then this does not count as a standalone episode. And for God's sake, stop using overused sci-fi tropes in all of your episodes! Did you really have to make Tim Shaw try to destroy the earth?!
And another thing, they mentioned the Ghost Monument for a second with no explanation. If someone watched this finale without having watched that episode, they would probably be extremely confused. Therefore, another reason why this cannot be classified as a standalone episode. Okay, I'm done with my rant for now. Feel free to add on to anything I missed, fellow Whovians!
I dont think the threatening of the earth was bad its cliche at this point but in episode 1 i think the doctor mentioned shes the protector of earth and tim shaw wants to get back at the doctor and her companions for what they did. out of all the earth ending threats i feel this was a better one rather than oh no a giant space spider
Rob real talk though, what the hell possessed them to do a giant spider episode and not tie it in with the Spider Queen from the Pertwee era?
William Trotman they didn’t want to have any unnecessary references for new viewers
So they just stole the plot from The Green Death instead.
It makes sense for a character who is a sore looser to concentrate on revenge against the doctor and some humans in a very unfair way. It had a good set up in episode 1. Not empathizing it too why he does is actually taking the viewers seriously. And didnt ruin a great moment with tension. If they can keep this sort of writing of action season 12 will be great.
It could be a good mid-series episode but for the finale... meh. Well, considering it was one of the best episodes they could come up with, no wonder they saved it for the end. But it just shows how utterly underwhelming the whole season was.
There were quite a few things in this episode that felt like a setup for something that never paid off. They made a big thing out of the "com dots" and making sure they stay in contact... then no one ever talked to anyone except the person they were with. The only purpose for them seemed to be so the Doctor could use them to communicate with Tim Shaw at one point.
I really don't get your praise of the cinematography this series. Personally I found it really annoying how many close ups they kept using, particularly in the TARDIS where it just went between two medium close ups as they talked to each other. I want to see the scale and scope of the set. It's the end of the series and I still don't have a great feel for the space inside the TARDIS. This stands in stark contrast to series 5 where all the shots inside Smith's TARDIS showed how big it was and all the things inside it. This new one just hasn't been shown off much at all.
The only impression Tim Shaw made was...
A DENTAL IMPRESSION!
(I'll see myself out.)
How lame is tooth guy who appeared in front of Graham unarmed? What was his plan to stop the Doctor without any weapons at all? Just talk everyone to death?
And a couple of Earthlings invade his sanctuary and defeat him when whole armies couldn't before?!
The robot army was worse than useless, a true technologically advanced robot army would have a device on each of them which would prevent them from shooting each other. Your prey ducks so you shoot each other?! That is SO cartoonishly lame.
I would make the argument that the planet, having scrambled the brains of all the other attacking armies, made Tooth Guy and his drones not be able to cope with the Doctors Companions whose brains weren't scrambled. He expected them to be easy prey.
But of course, this reasoning was never mentioned in this episode due to the continued poor writing.
When the Doctor faces off with the Daleks in January there had better be at least SOME sense of doom defeat and despair and not this ridiculous Scooby-Doo garbage.
His hand was weaponized. But it was like bringing a knife to a gunfight.
"The Joy in Exploration Doctor"
That's Every Doctor !
Yeah, I'm pretty sure the Doctor left Gallifrey because he (it) was bored and wanted to see the universe, i.e. explore
All doctors are the Exploration Doctor, its a key aspect of the character not just a particular Doctor.
My thoughts exactly!
Yah, but at least in the new series, the other doctors seemed to be way more involved with personal tragedies and 'end of the universe drama' to really express the simple joy in exploration that I felt from 13th doctor.
@@radmoonable Yeah because she hasn't lost anyone or had to make a earth changing decision.
Every Doctor at the beginning has a glint in their eye when they think they will show a companion the wonders of the universe.
@@trevorfeelgood not really, David Tenant's doctor had a God complex from pretty much the first few minutes he was awake, Matt Smith was trying to decider one mystery or other since his first episode.
I can't wait for your next videos. I've been hopping on youtube after each episode since the last Xmas special just to see what you have to say about it all afterwards. During this particular finale, I found myself feeling like the whole season had been okay, but in a lot of ways felt more like a spinoff than the Doctor Who I had been waiting for. I know you have your issues with Russell, but I really miss his era.
The preview for the New Years special looks promising and also more like a real finale.
I'm looking forward to it.
My doctor moment for 13 was when she told Graham he was the strongest person shes ever met, Graham's arc over this episode really hit me for some reason and him saying he was too weak, and the doctor saying he was so strong brought me to tears.
i didnt like the preaching of pacifism so hard tbh the whole series. I think Graham should have killed him and I think that sometimes killing is justified and the Doctor has to get over it. Like if she doesnt want to fine, but she needs to stop stopping others. My favorite moment was him telling off the doctor when he originally told her he was gonna kill Tim Shaw. I wish he went thru with it.
I feel a lot more could have been done with this one as a two perter. For example the idea of the Doctor's decision and stance on not killing Tim Shaw could be viewed as a mistake considering he did indeed come back and was able to cause more destruction than ever. It didn't need to debunk her stance outright but could have at lest challenged it. I like the direction of Tim Shaw at lot, an extraordinary stroke of good luck driving an already bad person dangerously delusional.
About the Ux recognizing Tim Shaw as a god, reminded me of the Mayans or Aztecs when the spanish conquerors arrived in America and they believed these men were gods based on ancient mythology, surely was part of their faith, but coming back to the Ux their faith was already shaken at the point the Doctor arrived
I got a real Douglas Adams vibe again. The planets compressed in stasis - The Pirate Planet, which you mentioned (Tom Baker era when Adams was script editor and a creative influence). And the idea of a species that existed on faith - Electric Monk; a character from one of Adams's Dirk Gently novels that would believe completely in anything, but what it believed in would constantly change.
"honestly might be a week of nothing but doctor who videos"
me: sweet dreams are made of this.
Am I the only one who thought that Ranskoor av Whatever looked like the planet the Doctor escapes to in The Pilot? Basically the same.
I'll have to go back and check that now.
I will say, it seemed that their faith was waning before the Doctor's explanation. They seemed uncertain, so it wasn't a heel face turn on their faith.
The biggest problem with the series as a whole was exposition. There was way too much of it. So many episodes were guilty of telling the audience something instead of showing. I liked this ep generally more than most of them this season
This exactly! The moment in 'It Takes you Away' where the Doctor flat out explains the 'solitract' energy is the major weakness of that episode for me. It completely ruins the mystique. I can't help but imagine if the characters were to discover strange things about the physics of the universe for the Doctor to actually deduce these things herself: it's a different universe, it's 'incompatible' with ours (how, in what way?), and it's CONSCIOUS. It would have made for a more unnerving and compelling episode on top of the uncanniness of dead people being alive.
@@toasterhead79 yes! i was thinking of that exact moment when i wrote this comment. it's so much cooler when they subtly introduce things and you work it out along with the doctor and the companions as opposed to the doctor saying "oh i remember this from a story i was told as a kid!"
That's what I've been trying to say! The dialogue is terrible and exposition are terrible!
@@minnieatkins Yeah, that explanation was way too convenient, and just lazy writing
This was my favourite episode in the series but that doesn't say much. As a standalone this is a 7/10 for me but as a FINALE it's a 6/10. If I had to rank the episodes from worst to best for me it would be this:
10) The Tsnagura Conundrum (2/10)
9) The Ghost Monument (2/10)
8) Arachnids in the UK (3/10)
7) Keblam! (3/10)
6) Demons of the Punjab (3/10)
5) The Witchfinders (4/10)
4) It Takes You Away (4/10)
3) Rosa (6/10)
2) The Woman Who Fell to Earth (6/10)
1) The Battle of Ranskoor Available Kolos (6.5/10)
Definitely my least favourite New Who series. Even worse than series 7 for me because I managed to pull a lot more from that which I genuinely loved and enjoyed.
The effects were great and the lighting in particular was very nice.
If I had to categorize this Doctor, I'd call her "The Kind Doctor". She is the embodiment of Capldi's last lines - to just be kind. But with Chibnall's planned 5 year arc, that might change.
I was just thinking something similar. I've seen a few people complaining that Thirteen isn't as confident and commanding as her last few incarnations and honestly I think that's intentional. I think they're deliberately going for an incarnation that *isn't* so eager to just take over and steamroll people.
The switch from "companions" to "friends" or "fam" also seem to signal a Doctor who cares a lot more about what other people think than Eleven or Twelve ever did.
I think the point of easily shaken faith could have been dealt with, as you said, in a two parter, because you saw a brief glimpse of indecision when Delph questions Andinio when she goes to him to tell him they need to grab another planet (Earth) and he basically say, 'No, this isn't right' and she just proclaims that they have to do what the Creator wills. Clearly at least Delph has been thinking about things in the 3407 years since Tzim-Sha appeared to them. But we don't get to see anything of that development, we just get to see a tipping point (the doctor) and none of the 'getting to that place where faith could break'. It was done in such a throwaway fashion, you really don't get any sort of character development for these two at all. Then again, we really don't get any sort of development regarding the Ux at all. Like, for example...what were they doing on their planet before Tzim-Sha appeared in the first place? What is it that they believe about their creator that makes it impossible that it would know the Doctor? It's like the put up a house and forgot the foundation.
What happened to the 9 distress calls?
Didn't have time to go check on them, lol ;)
All Paltraki. He sent one, but then forgot he sent one. So he sent another one. Rinse and repeat.
@@TheSmart-CasualGamer I guess that makes sense but the forgetting part was not as stressef as the guy from the children's home from day of the Moon who lost years of his silence Here it was just I forgot, Oh now Ive got this plot device I can remember now
@@TheSmart-CasualGamer But ... if you send a distress call it tends to keep going until it is answered, you turn it off or the power runs out. So unless Paltraki forgot he sent it, saw it working, turned it off, then sent it again that doesn't fly.
He could have also forgotten the layout of the ship. He did forget his name, so he could forget stuff like this.
I thought it was great. Pros and cons:
Cons:
- I was expecting some kind of trippy things to happen with the planet messing with their heads. I agree with you that it was a missed opportunity towards the overall plot. It could have been removed and it wouldn't have made a difference. The only argument for it I guess would be that it ups the stakes by adding a layer of unpredictability to it. The only thing that happened was them going "ohh the planet is giving me a headache" basically. I mean, that did give it a bit more tension but not much.
- I kind of wish they would have telegraphed Graham's anger throughout the series. I know we got his grief (which, coming from experience can manifest itself as anger) but he never felt like a vengeful person until this episode.
- Didn't the Daleks steal planets before? I kind of wished it would have been foreshadowed maybe at the end of the last episode, not through a trailer. Maybe having hints at it during the season would be too mystery box-like but something that huge might need more build.
- Yeah, their faith was shaken a bit too quickly. I thought the lady was going to turn on the Doctor and get herself accidentally killed or something.
- Speaking of mystery boxes... what happened to the The Timeless Child?
- Yeah, the guest actor needed more to do. He was good though.
Pros:
- Jodie was so fun to watch throughout. I love seeing the Doctor gradually figure out things.
- I totally figured out they were going to use the TARDIS to solve it. That's a pro because it was an excited "I called it!" not something I found predictably boring or anything.
- I love the concept of a highly intelligent race with telepathic abilities whose Achille's heel is their religious devotion. I know it's not really that original but damn it's a cool idea.
- Graham and Ryan had great moments in this episode.
- Tim Shaw is still cool as hell. I am glad we saw more of him.
- Yaz is finally starting to click with me. I still think she needs more to do but she's starting to almost become The Doctor's sidekick of sorts. Graham and Ryan have their familial connection while Yaz is almost doing the Clara thing.... although spun more positively this time.
- The direction is beautiful. This whole season has been shot well. The special effects have generally looked good, except that one scene in Kerblam.
I actually have no problem with the way they handled Graham in this. He and everyone else thought he'd more or less come to terms with it and had his emotional reactions under control. But that went out the window as soon as Tim Shaw reentered the picture. That seems very human to me.
It was ok, which is how I feel about series 11 itself in general. Tim Shaw comes off as a fire sale Predator but the actor does a good job with it for all that. Graham was excellent yet again. I also agree on the names but the Ux is the worst of the bunch!
It's interesting that you had your Doctor revelation moment in the finale and I had mine in the opener :) you're spot on about the "Enjoyment in exploration". I got that from her in episode 1 where she said "I'm just a traveller". Something about that line stuck out to me for some reason. Where previous Doctors have been all about the action and adventure, I could tell her Doctor was going to be more tranquil.
I love how passionate you are in your videos by the way :)
I disagree on the faith thing. I would say that faith is usually a set of one or more basic "beliefs" that may not be logic-based (which doesn't mean they are illogical or baseless), and then the world you find yourself in is interpreted in the light of those beliefs. But the tool you use for this interpretation is still logic - only with different fundamental assumptions about certain things. Therefore I think that it is not surprising at all that you can convince "religious" people with logic - even convince them of something that has to do with their faith. What the Doctor convinced the Ux of was not that their belief in the "Creator" was wrong (because that was a deeper belief not based on logic), but that Tim Shaw was not, in fact, the Creator they believed in. I still think it strange that the Doctor convinces them with a few words, but not for the reason you mentioned, but rather because I'm surprised they hadn't figured it out earlier (or at least Andinio hadn't - although she seemed to have felt that something was off as well). If you believe that a God exists (and I do believe that), then it will (or at least should) take more than a surprising entrance like Tim Shaw's to convince you that you've come face to face with this God, just as, if you believe in the existence of aliens, that (ideally) doesn't mean you believe every weird person who claims to have seen or encountered aliens. Of course, some people will always be more credulous than others, but I do not think that has much to do with whether they believe in a "religion" or in more "normal" things.
I think being the 'Joy of Exploration' doctor could be a breath of fresh air for the series, but I still feel Whittaker needs moments of intensity to balance the optimism. I was hoping to see her get threateningly protective of her companions at some point this series, as she nearly did in the first episode, but I'm still waiting for a moment like that
I always thought Eccelston was the joy of exploration Doctor, lol. That huge grin and wide spread arms he always had when stepping from the TARDIS with Rose kinda cemented that with me. As for the Doctor being protective of her companions? All I have seen her do in this series is send them off into potentially dangerous situations alone
@@ukmediawarrior
The Doctor: *waves dismissively* "Go. Go die somewhere."
Companion: "Okay!"
Companion comes back alive.
Doctor: "You again?"
I actually really liked the neural stabilizers, they had a lot of potential uses that make the episode feel suspenseful.
At first I thought the planet was going to maybe mess with Grahams mind and make him more likely to attack Tim Shaw, or that it would be damaged somehow. How they ended up being used felt fresh and cleverly utilized.
Mark addy could've been used better he basically exists to have amnesia and gradually explain what's going on as he remembers.
I know, right? What was with the end where he got his crew back and they were all "Soooo, we'll just all run away and you can deal with it now, 'k bai!"? Umm, you're welcome?
I really wish there was some dialogue between the the Ux and the Doctor, both being ancient species with powers dealing with the fabric of spacetime. It just would have been fun to see the Ux perhaps realize that the Doctor is a Timelord and see how they might have deep philosophical mind-bendy conversations and relating to each other and dive into space lore.
Loving the content 👍🏻 Can you do a video at some point comparing the DW openings over the years?
It’s on the to-do list. No promises on when I get to it.
Tim Shaw was back,. weren't expecting that. Graham proves to be more than we think he is.
What's so hard about saying *check notes* ranskoor av kolos?
13:12 TURN ON CLOSED CAPTIONS! I'm laughing my arse off playing this on repeat.
I really like how the Ux don’t just abandon their faith at the end of the episode, they retain a version of it. I’d still like to know how Tim Shaw conned them, and a villain who’s taken seriously by the doctor.
It's one of the few finales that is a single part-er. Which is interesting. Perhaps if this had been a two-part story we might have had part-one exploring a plant messing with their heads and the Doctor figuring out that they needed the mental balancers. An ending revealing the return of Tim Shaw would have made for a good cliffhanger, too.
Also, given that Moffat's last series had the 'every episode is stand alone' thing, I'm wondering if this is a decree from on high in the BBC. Because, this series has had a lot of interesting concepts that they didn't get to explore because they didn't have multiple parts.
Hey, I can rank them!
1. Kerblam!
2. It takes you away.
3. Daemons of the Punjab.
4. The Tsuranga Conundrum.
5. Rosa.
6. The Ghost Monument.
7. The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos.
8. The Witchfinders.
9. The Woman who fell to Earth.
10. Arachnids in the UK.
I liked all of these barring Witchfinders and the two below.
I feel like if they had just shown Yaz’s family as the world was about to be stolen it would remind us of the personal stakes for the characters when the earth is threatened, not just ‘it’s the earth so we gotta save it’
i think this episode really nailed the ghost monument down as a great episode with story building but we didn't know at the time
Didn’t care for it myself. Although, the fact that (as so many have taken to mention) this one didn’t really “feel like a finale” is the finale clue that they really are going whole hog in making this like the Classic Era again. Which honestly I’m kinda down for. I can get used to the finales feeing like kinda just another episode, even if this one didn’t work for me.
Personally I kind of wish they hadn't gone for the classic "end of season major threat" thing. It's not a two-parter like finales usually have going for them. If they weren't going to take the necessary time to do a story of that scale properly, it might've been better to just throw a really good standalone episode at us instead.
irrevenant3 to be fair it’s not like “really good standalone episode” and “major threat” are remotely incompatible. Something like Fires of Pompeii comes to mind.
That said, Chibnall seems to be more at home in episodes with smaller stakes. Whenever he writes threats that are immediately global, in either this or Torchwood, he falters in the resolution.
@@ThePonderer Very true.
This series has been pretty good. Not the best not the worst. It doesn't have the lows of some of the previous series but it doesn't have the highs of some of the previous series.
Yeah, definitely. It's been just a bit... Chill?
@John Sturchio honestly I thought most of the series was pretty good and more memorable stories than Capaldi ever got sadly. Besides episodes 4 and 5, haha.
For me, as a whole, it's been above average. Some good and great episode and some very average episodes but I can't say any were bad. Overall, I've enjoyed this series more than the last one on first viewing.
Speaking of highs and lows, I thought of this before this series started. Think of soundwaves or tones. RTD is a smooth, steady, undulating tone that gradually moves up and down. Moffat is a jagged tone of straight lines going from the very top to the very bottom. I predicted to myself that Chibnall would be more of a steady tone, closer to the middle in all areas, with smaller fluctuations. I may have been right.
@@lwaves Yeah I think I agree.
I can't think of worse New Who. At least I liked the Doctor and the companions ( yes even Clara, she's effin beautiful). Here I started with a tiny crush on Jodie based on Black Mirror and Broadchurch but now dread when she's about to speak.
All this talk of "character development" and I never seem to notice it
I personally felt that this was an okay but underwhelming and uneventful series finale. The visuals look nice. There was nice moments between Ryan and Graham which I liked. Tim Shaw was still lame but he was a lot more tolerable in this episode. But it did not feel like a finale and the lack of any memorable moments such as a main character die or cliffhanger makes it feel forgettable.
I think were getting daleks for thanksgiving
I made this comment on Gallifrey Base as well, but for me this series has reminded me a lot of the classic series. The final was the same, not a great 'everything at stake' ending that we've been use to but just a standard story to finish the season . Even the Doctor's speech at the end reminds me of the Doctor's speech at the end of The Reign of Terror which was the final of season one.
Her speech did feel like the 'Doctor' moment for me too. The jot Doctor, I like that. As you mentioned Capaldi, for me I struggled with his character until I compared him to Dr House, then I got him.
I had my 'Doctor' moment in this episode as well but for me it was right at the beginning when Graeme asks if they have to answer the distress calls ... her reply was pure Doctor for me.
Oooh, your point about it being a two parter! That's exactly it for me. I think I just found myself kinda bored near the end because too much was going on and I couldn't follow it all. And we definitely needed more set up as well. Also I really didn't like the colors in this one. I kept checking the light balance on my laptop to see if the laptop was dimming it. Aside from that, I think it was pretty good. I'm happy with what we got. Still kinda wish for less companions next season though. It definitely didn't need to be this orange and gloomy and dim. I don't mind the Aliens names myself, except like this one. The rest are fine.
I can unreservedly say I loved this ep. Thought it was a good finale, loved Jodie, loved the Graham/Ryan stuff. Liked that they dealt with the unresolved Tim Shaw stuff. It worked for me. Sad we’re at a point in our fandom where “I’m liking the show” feels like kind of a controversial opinion 😕
The Alien names remind me of when I'm playing D&D and I'm trying to come up with character names on the fly, so I just say whatever gibberish that pops into my head
When the planets were being put back to their rightful locations and Yaz went and put her face in the way of the energy beam from the TARDIS, I was screaming in my head “Yaz move your head you’re gonna get teleported into the vacuum of space!”
where did the P'Ting come from..? from the spittoon :)
If you can't pronounce this episode's name, I'd like to see you try Raxacoricofallipatorius😂. While not a fan of Chibnall's episodes, this one was better than I expected. Maybe because the Doctor's line at the end "Travel hopefully" is sticking with me. It was a beautiful moment and so well delivered by Whittaker. While I didn't love this season this was a pretty good ending for me. On a side note, I for one I'm looking forward to a whole week of Doctor Who videos from you!
Well I had the feeling that their faith was already pretty shaken when the Doctor came along. I guess all it needed was a little nudge.^^
I was surprised the Doctor didn't start telling the woman who her God was the second she asked how they knew each other. Instead Doc dodged the questions until standing in front of Tim Shaw. Just felt weird.
Three piping hot takes, fresh from the oven 🥧🥧🥧
1 - Yaz did absolutely nothing this episode, and honestly had like one episode the entire series where she felt like she really mattered in any meaningful sense. Even that didn’t really require her to be a companion - they could have just run into her while back on earth, and brought her along for that one episode. I think they should have used someone interesting enough to carry their own weight without needing a ton of lines or plot focus - i.e. a historical figure like James I or an alien à la Nardole - if they were really set on 3 companions. (I know I’m rambling at this point, I just reeeeally want to see more of King James, and I feel like his wanting to understand the universe fits way better with the show than any motivation they’ve given Yaz so far)
2 (shorter, I promise) - Chris Chibnall is the worst showrunner of new who. To be fair, that’s not saying much, since I really liked the others, but aside from a couple of really bad episodes (okay, two: Hell Bent and that Absorbaloff nonsense), I feel like the worst episodes from before are at least nearly as good as the best episodes that Chibnall did by himself. This might even be my least favorite series, purely because of the writing, even though I love so much else about it, especially the new Doctor and Graham/Ryan.
3 - With one or two exceptions, all of the episodes this series needed to be two-parters. It always felt like they rushed the ending, and there’s generally been at least one thing that they brought up and didn’t address or resolve. This time it was the “Easily Shaken Faith” and skipping over why the Ux believed Tzim Sha so easily; in the Witchfinders, it was introducing and defeating a whole species of evil aliens in the span of like five minutes; in Arachnids, they totally glossed over having any consequences for that business guy, which makes their whole Environmental/Economic exploitation angle fall flat, etc. The only exceptions that come to mind are Demons of the Punjab, and maybe Kerblam - and even then, I feel like Kerblam didn’t have much consequence overall. Even something small, like how they mentioned the “end of space capitalism” in Oxygen, would’ve made it feel like it mattered more. With the others, even if it wasn’t a full on two-parter, even taking like five more minutes would make the episode tons better imho (though I get that that’s impossible, what with timeslots and all). And with every episode so insistent on being a standalone one-parter, it feels like nothing they do really matters in terms of the overall story. I kinda feel like that was the utility of the “mystery boxes” in previous series; even though they can get a bit trite, they tie the episodes together and make it feel like each one advances the plot towards something important. This series, even when they were building up the Stenza as a threat, it never really felt like we were getting anywhere since the next episode would do a total 180 and ignore everything that just happened. Maybe it’d be different if the three Stenza episodes were closer together, but as-is it felt more like a random callback to something unrelated than an actual overarching plot-line.
Unrelated, and I know they just used them in The Doctor Falls, but it would’ve been really cool to at least mention the Cybermen in Kerblam!, even if they wanted the Kerblam Man to be its own thing. I appreciate that they’re trying to do all new stuff, but they barely did any real references to classic who at all in this series, and they only had a couple one-off mentions of new who stuff, afaik.
Re: Planet of the Apes.
I think it was the TV series did it better. An archaeological site, discovered a human doll. That had a voice, when in Ape mythology humans were meant to be mute.
Aside over.
Imagine the confusion of the Apes if they had found Sylvanian Family / Calico Critters toys... "Bunnies wore clothes and were shopkeepers?"
I expected there to be a return of everything from every previous episode of the series, but now that I think about it, I have no idea how they'd fit in Kerblam! or the Morax. I too like the callbacks.
A lot of Doctor Who content coming from you? ...excellent & thank you 🙏🏽
"Solitract" actually describes what it is: A solitary tract of territory.
I still can't decide if that's clever or lame, but it's memorable.
It was so anticlimatic. The evil villain, the imposter creator for this powerful race being beaten by a shot in the foot and left to die in a small cell. It started so good and interesting with the performance of the man they met first. Cant remember and forgets everything. Really a good performance. Like the one from Graham.
Some of this years episodes needed to be two parters. The chance to develop some of the themes that were sold short would be great. But all things said I loved the new doctor and team Tardis. But l'm easy to please.
I hope they get bolder in the next series. This was fine, but that's all. Just fine. They need to take risks, go over the top once in awhile, and show more doctor.
I think it's realistic that some Alien names are complicated. I mean, look at some nams of human cities or Settlements, rivers etc. Some of them aren't even easy to pronounce to English-speaking People.
One change I never expected from this season, the TARDIS crew seem pretty comfortable carrying guns...?
I feel that comes from the Doctor though. One minute she is biting peoples heads off for carrying guns, then in this episode she is fudging that by saying it depends on the situation when it comes to explosives, lol. She was happy enough to blow Charlie to hell though in Kerblam! so maybe the companions are just confused ... I know I am ;)
I just read the book version of the pirate planet :D Good timing. I liked the ep overall, but yes there where some problems, which you named here. But overall I'm satisfied. And I like the names.
Now I want to see you make a graphic representation labeling every Doctor.
I thought it would be this episode that I really saw the Doctor early on when she actually got angry/protective and then we had that last scene and I was like oh yeah there’s the Doctor. I’m glad I’ve finally got it, just a bit disappointed it took all season.
"I've got to do a video on..."
No you don't. You don't have to do a video on anything. You are not obliged to do anything for us and we are not entitled to expect anything from you. Anything you choose to do is a bonus and please don't ever feel pressured about having to do any of this. Keep it fun. :)
When I say "I've got to" that's not just me saying I feel outside pressure. I put it on myself to. By choice. It's how I keep going. Don't read too much into it. If I'm making something out of obligation, trust me you'll know (*cough* the ratings video *cough*)
Pretty good episode, it wasn’t the greatest finale it could’ve been, and it really should’ve been a two parter. It could’ve been like Series 8 where the only two parter is the finale. But I quite liked a lot of moments in this and Tim Shaw was pretty nice. Jodie Whittaker is growing on me but very slowly. Hopefully she ends up being like Capaldi for me who just got better every season. I’m excited for the New Year’s special, Daleks!
I caught the Pirate Planet parallels as well - including the Mentiads as the Downton Abbey lady and her friend. Overall though, a great first season for team TARDIS. If we have to sacrifice stronger scifi for stronger character driven stories then I'll take that for a while - no rush to switch back.
Incidentally, Holy Terror was pretty good too, I liked the Colin Baker speech at the end - I just want to see the Frobisher penguin on screen.
Forbisher would be PERFECT for a Children in Need short!
I don't know if anyone else does this, but just based on past regenerations and how companions that were present for them reacted and the discussions had about the doctors regeneration inside the show, I always add meaning to why the doctor regenerates into who they regenerate into and like the stage they are now in and I like to belive that the doctor regeneragted into a women because of Bill. I don't know if anyone else has thought about it that way but I think its fun to think about. It was touched on quite a bit with Capaldi's regen and so I was thinking about Whitaker's and that's just my thought for various reasons.
I agree the alien names etc need a bit of work. I loved the Ux and the idea of them. Their faith was passed down, but that doesn't seem enough, nor why they would accept Tim Shaw. I am guessing torture. I loved that that blue git was put on ice, it makes him harmless but leaves the door open for him to come back which I don't think the crew realises. And it brings the Grace issue as well as the relationship between Grandfather and Grandson to a good full stop.
My guess for next season is for more of a Yaz focus, as apart from the focus being on the guys, she seems to have been internalising something. My hope is for a longer season once it is finally on, and my fear is we will lose at least one of the group.
I watched alot of reviews for this episode, and I kept thinking, "Is no one gonna mention how much this plot smacks of the Pirate Planet?" Yours is the first opinion I've heard that had the same reaction as me.
I get what you're saying about faith not being easily shaken by logical arguments. But there was a pretty clear indication in one scene that what he was doing was taking an emotional toll on the male Ux. So I think his faith was already at least somewhat shaken.
That moment came for me as well when the Doctor says the line, "There must be a way," She does this playful little skipping motion as if to help her think. I thought yeah that's the Doctor.
I thought it was pretty good but I do agree it should of been a two parter to flesh out the alien race and the planet. It was skimmed over to quick for me. I like how it affected Graham where it amplified his desire for revenge. I think they should of paralleled it more with Tim Shaws need for revenge against the Doctor. Threatening the Earth was a natural coarse because the Doctor said it was protected. I just wish his reasoning was emphasized more. Plus, I found it funny that Doctor just so happened to get the distress signal... wish Tim Shaw said something about it was apart of his plan to lure the Doctor in so it didn’t seem so coincidental.
I agree that faith being questioned by logic is a stupid trope in television. The older I get, the more I realise that illogical decisions people make cannot to altered by being confronted with logic; as logic didn’t help inform the decision in the first place
I don't know that she *did* confront faith with logic though. Seemed to me that the Ux already had their doubts that they were doing their best to ignore and the Doctor just made it harder for them to do that.
Wait this was the finale?! I honestly thought it was a penultimate one. My mind kept censoring "finale" out.
When Graham shot him in the foot my niece said "well the doctor said we don't destroy things that can't be rebuilt. His foot can be rebuilt
To be honest if it wasn't for Graham I might not be coming back. Easily, one of the best companions we have seen in a while.
The reason the names sit strangely on your ears is that they're ALIEN! They feel familiar but wrong at the same time and it makes them a little hard to remember but I like that personally in my sci-fi
the ux (is that how it is spelled? I don't even know) sound too similar to the shoe brand (uggs) which was really distracting for me, so yeah i definitely agree with you that the alien names this season were just really awkward
I feel the look is nice but they really, really need some costumes for the Doctor for historical episodes. That modern indoor outfit looks weird in e.g. the witchhunter episode when it just looks like it is cold outside and that sort of look would get a lot of attention. The 50s episode had the same problem.