I really liked the slow burner mystery and the horror vibes throughout the episode. It was an edge on my seat mind boggling type episode and I really enjoyed it Tennants emotional acting over the doctors guilt for what happened in Flux was top notch. And the weirdness of the episode is everything I love with Doctor Who
Honestly, this episode was FANTASTIC! Proper "hide behind the sofa" vibes. I loved the darker feel and my heart nearly burst when Wilf appeared. Yes, I knew Bernard Cribbins was reprising the role, but I was still punched in the feels.
I think the Doctor realizing the HADS was going to lead the TARDIS back to him while the Not-thing ran to the button was fine because earlier in the episode we learned that thet Not-things have no ability to think two things at the same time, and with the Not-thing so focused on the robot, I doubt it would notice the Doctor realizing what was going to happen.
Personally I think I would've made a reference to the Emergency Protocols rather than the HADS even though I love its inclusion. Because in moments of danger, The TARDIS has emergency protocols to home in and protect its occupants. Like in The Sarah Jane Adventures when The TARDIS materialized into a wall just to protect The Doctor. Overall though, I'm not seeing it as a Deus Ex Machina like some people are saying; I view it as The Doctor says, "A Time Machine would know." Meaning The TARDIS would measure the future timeline to see if the danger would succeed or not and it would know if it would be okay to land. Probably why it doesn't land properly and just hovers because it knows that The Doctor and Donna need a quick getaway. (even if it was a little slow on the uptake that it was taking a 99.9% Clone of Donna onboard)
I like to think that the Not-Doctor knew he wasn't going to make it, but kept running for it anyway because it was too much like the Doctor to give up hope.
Doctor Who is perfect when it shows things that are kind of funny when seen on screen that would be terrifying if you were actually there. Goofy horror.
@@frightening_volleyball1231 Yes. It was a perfect blend of both. It was an interesting viewing experience. I had headphones on and didn’t even notice my husband was in the room trying to talk to me. I literally jumped when he touched my shoulder. The episode was very effective. Funny, suspenseful and even a bit scary. Well done Davies. And having Catherine and David by themselves playing off each other the entire episode was perfection. ❤️
The scene at the end where Donna was left behind was amazing. Showed the peril, and how easy it could have been for them all to switch places. I really enjoyed the episode I gave it an 8
Imagine Donna was actually left behind and the Doctor would have to convince the notDonna to become real Donna. If she was 99.9% Donna, she could have really become her. And the Doctor would have live knowing that he left his friend to die.
It was a solid episode. Indeed, the horror felt a tad iffy regarding the VFX, but the acting of both Tennant and Tate really held it all together. R.I.P. Bernard Cribbins, an absolute legend.
Honestly ‘mavity’ cracked me up everytime it was mentioned by the Doctor or Donna. Genius stroke imo. The episode was fantastic, I was completely absorbed.
Helps explain how the Doctor sees time differently to his companions too. He remembers it being ‘gravity’ , but every human in the universe now remembers it differently because they just accidentally changed it. The TARDIS also isn’t around to translate in this episode, so The Doctor is actually speaking English in this episode, so it makes sense that he would slip up and get it wrong at one point. If he said it in Gallifreyan the TARDIS would have translated it to ‘Mavity’ for Donna.
I respectfully disagree regarding historical figures being given serious treatments; we had Charles Dickens literally following the structural plot of Scrooge in a satirical way, and we had the royal family as wearwolves through Queen Victoria. Mary Seacole battled Sontarons! It was never serious! Great review!
I agree with what you said about the opening scene with Isaac Newton. Nothing against the actor who played him whatsoever, it just felt like a unnecessary change. I think the opening scene does at least show the Doctor and Donna dynamic in full play again after being away for the past 15 years. So that's on plus I will take away from this scene. Outside that, the episode was very enjoyable and scary and I can see why RTD said it wouldn't be for Kids! And having Wilf's final scene at the end is so heart-warming! Both Wilf and Bernard will be deeply missed. I'm glad he was able to return for that one last scene.
I wonder if it's quotas driven. If it is quotas driven and Davies realises he can't hit the required 20% of characters being POCs if there are only two characters so he needs to chuck in a pointless historical character cameo, the fact that it is race-swapped Newton means he racked his brains for a historical POC and couldn't think of one. That would be pretty poor: could have had Hendrix, Prince Siddhartha, Ibn Al-Haytham, Lao Tse...
@@markpostgate2551 The guy playing Newton is British, he has some indian ancestry from a parent though, so he looks more tanned than anything, it's hardly a big deal for a small opening joke that doesn't have massively to do with the actual meat of the episode.
@@chazo1367 Totally agree. He was only on screen for around a minute in total - if that - and it's not as if this was a documentary or biopic about Newton.
@@chazo1367I didn’t even notice he’s someone who could have definitely passed as white historically so I think it doesn’t really contradict history at all
While it was a throwaway line, I liked the line explaining why we'd never seen HADS in action before. That he'd previously turned it off because it wouldn't let him land at all and at one point he'd been in orbit for 3 years.
I loved this episode ngl. I thought it was clever, engaging, creepy and weird, I loved the way it got my brain working as I tried to work out what was happening and got to work it out with the Doctor. It gave me Midnight meets Moffat vibes which I was completely here for. The CGI was wonky but given that the creatures were meant to be struggling with maintaining their forms I kind of thought that was the point, they were purposefully visibly hit and miss with the effects to push the idea that these creatures don't fully understand our anatomy and dimensions etc. As for the Flux reference, I thought it was implied that the reason the ship was stuck where it was was because of the flux? Maybe I'm just reading into something that wasn't there but I thought that the lack of stars where it was etc was because of the Flux. Either way, 9/10 for me, I loved it.
The moment that has stuck in my head is when the alien took off his tie and when Donna realises, the aliens reaction was bone chilling. I think the idea that they learnt and the whole premise was great, only a few nitpicks so a solid 8.25 - lunch dinner egg
The body horror actually gave me Little Nightmares vibes and I loved that. I do agree though they could have pushed it further. I also hope that Mavity is just a running gag through the rest of RTD's era. 😂
The 'Sir Issac Nution' bit DID have relevance; the TARDIS was recalibrating it's 4-demshional coordinates using known unchanged FIXED points in time and space, as those are fixed points nothing changes even when the doctor interacts with them. I suspect that is going to be relevant in the 3rd episode in some fashion and revelent to why this doctor has taken on a prior doctor's appearance. 🤔
I liked the claustrophobic feeling to this episode and the way they showcased the skill of the actors. Very good writing, emotional and surprisingly scary. All in all I had a lot of fun with this one and more than I have in a very very long time with who. I also like how they didn’t reveal what the beings actually were. I think that would ruin the mystique of it.
I really think these easy resolutions we’ve seen with Donna and Rose letting go and the Tardis conveniently materialising are part of the Toymakers work and we will see this next week. RTD has a habit of tying everything up in the finales and i’m sure this will be the case :)
I think the Isaac newton scene is setting up a bigger plot because later in this episode Dona didn’t know what gravity was, and the doctor had to say “mavity”. This joke was repeated twice or 3 times so maybe it has hidden a major plot line in the joke itself? It’s kind of a stretch but that would be the best outcome in order for that scene to have any relevance because they changed a major point in time.
Maybe the Newton opening isn’t irrelevant - Toymaker shenanigans - you don’t know any more than I do. Superb episode like a 21st century Ark in Space. And don’t forget this is half the universe that was left after Logopolis destroyed a lot of the universe and that was never referred to again. 9/10
It was just horror enough without resorting to gore violence for me to satisfied with even the goofy elements, because it works for what the creatures wanted... getting them both to think to speed up their copy ability. I'm loving these specials.
I loved the episode. Last weeks was fun but left me feeling slightly flat, this weeks felt like a return to what I expect from RTD Doctor Who and reminded me why I was excited when it was announced he would be returning.
"It happened, but it kinda didn't" criticism for Flux is kinda wild, I mean, that's whole Doctor Who. One moment you have Daleks in centre of London, next moment nobody knows who Daleks are and aliens don't exist, just to then have Daleks again and so on...... If anything, treatment Flux is getting is consistent to treatment most Doctor Who plotpoints are getting
t was magnificent. I think you’re expecting too much for 6:30 on a Saturday evening. It frightened my 10 year old and I got to say I was unsettled. One of the more horrific aspects is the corpse of the Captain banging on the ship. And one thing you fail to mention is where they are and the sheer nothingness of it all, which only elevated that sense of unease. Anyway, loved it.
I absolutely love this episode. Maybe it's rose colored glasses, maybe it's an excellent episode, maybe both, but it gave me what I love about Dr. Who.
Personally this episode was so much better than star beast, yes it could of been more scary (I was hoping for blink level horror) and the opening scene felt so out of place by the end but the mystery and the slow build up to the realisation was perfect for me
I feel as if the issac newtwon/marvity cold open might be a set up for 15 and season 1. The doctor knows thats marvity is the wrong word and i wouldnt be suprised if newton is the next historical. Or even maybe a underlying set up like RTD does, (badwolf, torchwood/ saxon)
I think the issue for me was the VFX. I wouldn't have minded so much in previous seasons, but now that the show is reportedly spending as much money on a single episode as it previously spent on an entire season, I would have expected more polish. It had the feel of a small VFX company that was in over its head, and did take me out of the story a couple of times. I very much agree with your comments on the cold open. I suppose the thinking was to get a bit of levity in before everything went dark and serious, but it was very jarring and also set up a bizarre continuity error: in between the Doctor declaring that the TARDIS was out of control, and the Doctor and Donna running out of the crashed TARDIS and very narrowly escaping incineration, they found time to exchange pleasantries and a dad joke with Isaac Newton, who took the whole incident remarkably well within his stride.
Honestly THANK YOU. I agree with all your points. I will first say that this is a big step up from the previous episode. Now, while many people are revelling in the fact that this episode expertly goes from silliness to uncanniness, I find that that the menace we are supposed to feel in a number of scenes is not quite there as a result, and really, I think it just feeds into the general issue of jarring tonal shifts from which both specials have suffered. Take the switch from the comical opening sequence to the supercharged “get you home” speech just a minute later. Such a scene is unearned and misplaced so early in the episode. The premise itself draws on elements from episodes such as Midnight, 42, Silence in the Library, The Rebel Flesh, The Lazarus Experiment and Nightmare in Silver, but with very little of the physical and psychological horror, social commentary, genre-specific aesthetics, or performances that can be described as truly distressing. That’s not to say these episodes aren't flawed or that all these things are necessary. It is also not to say that this episode doesn’t have, or at least strive for, a distinctive aesthetic and atmosphere, or that it doesn't offer entirely new ground for these two to play creepy, malicious doppelgangers of themselves. Tennant and Tate absolutely shine in this, although sometimes their performances spill over, by fault of the script, into juvenile tactics: “Donna” cackling from a molten puddle and the “Doctor” screeching through his legs detract from what were otherwise pretty extraordinary scenes. I do think some of the writing was stellar, like the “outcrop by the sea” monologue, and lines such as “my arms are too long” or “when something is gone it keeps existing” are just genius. Tennant’s delivery of that line as he bends himself backwards is UTTERLY SUBLIME and if only this were followed by some bone-crunching contortion and genuinely sinister lines rather than the asinine humour we end up getting. I guess the silliness is meant to appeal both to children who might actually find it horrifying, and to adults as a something tantalisingly goofy and weird, and maybe it’s just my personal taste that I really, really don’t jibe with that kind of humour. Same reason I really struggled with Everything Everywhere, which most of the world seemed to love. The high production value also makes it pretty hard to think on fondly as good old RTD campiness, and I would argue that the opening bit is there to try and establish this for the audience, but at least for me isn't nearly enough. I will say, however, that the sound effect when the “Doctor’s” jaw drops is pretty delicious. Actually, all the sound design and music in this episode is fabulous. Another reason I really appreciate the writing of this episode is that we really start to understand that this Doctor is distinct from Ten. I know I needed it. Ten would immediately pick up on when Donna is behaving slightly off, would not pull a gag on Donna pretending to choke, and certainly would not admit he found Newton hot. Fourteen also generally wears his emotions much more on his sleeve and only occasionally does this make the writing susceptible to these sloppy tonal shifts I mentioned that pull you out of the scene entirely. His sexuality, temperament and gate are reminiscent of Crowley and honestly, I appreciate that. My opinion on his episode also hinges on whether Donna really does remember everything the doctor has been through. Not only would this make more sense when "Donna" mentions Gallifrey, but otherwise I find slightly odd her total familiarity with what is essentially a different person, or at least a different personality. It feels a little unearned in my opinion and although she is more emotionally mature and would be less pressing on such matters, I still feel as though it leaves a lot wanting and it would all make more sense if she is just waiting for the doctor to open up with his own consent about things she already knows. I missed all of Thirteen's run, so don't really have an opinion about invoking the Flux. Seems a bit premature to anyhow. At least we got a chance to see the doctor assault a wall over it. It's clearly raw and unprocessed trauma. In fact, to me this instantly explains why Fourteen is so breezy and familiar with Donna, very open and interactive with everyone he meets but actually very much in his own bubble. He is still in processing and therefore somewhat dissociated from his surroundings. What confuses me, as I said above, is why this is reciprocated to the extent it is. Overall, a 6.5 or 7/10.
I adored this episode - and I was glad going in that I knew nothing about it. The first 20 minutes had so many questions, so many stakes or directions it could have gone - and in terms of celebrating having these 2 actors back in the role I can't think of a better way to make use of them than this! That it didn't go 'further' I'm fine with, instead it just highlighted how amazing Tennant and Tate are
I really thought that the horror elements in this episode worked to the Nth degree, it was unsettling without being gratuitous and unfamiliar and yeah, "east of sane, west of normal". That's what made it so unnerving!
The horror of these dopplegangers is so visceral to Me. The part revealing the long arms really got Me. Something about a creature that is almost perfect but has one small detail, or one major detail that is so different genuinly gets to Me. I implore anyone who reads this to go and watch the UA-cam horror series called "The Mandela Catalouge". The feeling these creatures give off gives Me memories of that series. If only the fear factor of these enemies was amped up more. Would've been genuinly horrifying. Great video Rich, keep up the great work!
I really loved it. The character moments were so so good. I loved the scenes trying to decipher who was real. I loved the doctor being more powerless. Catherine was amazing. Yes the corridor looked pretty bad but I just about give it a pass. I think the concept was executed really well. Saying that. I didn’t watch any trailers going in so had no expectations regarding a horror tone or expecting a mind blowing scene. My one critique is that it doesn’t really feel special enough to be 60th anniversary. The 50th was incredible but this one just felt like a normal episode. Still. As an episode of doctor who it’s a 7.5 or an 8 for me. Really liked it. P.s. I kinda wish they’d stuck with the consequences of the doctor picking the wrong Donna.
Loved it. Especially the reference to the flux. And get the family viewing issue. But definitely seeing the aliens transform in silhouette or with their back to us while seeing the Doctor and Donna react would have added to it.
totally agree with unrealised potential and the items on the uneccesary shelf. also like the tod reference. this video has really helped tp focus my own feelings about the episode.
In addition, I think when you say the body horror stuff "wasnt scary", I can assure you, that would have scared the hell out of me as a kid. It's a different kind of horror - it's Never-ending Story horror, it's Labyrinth horror. Remember, they tried to do scary body horror with Professor Lazarus, and it wasn't remotely scary.
As always my 100% FAVOURITE DW reviewer. Probably not a lot I could add in that you haven't said already. Although, one thing they COULD have done - once the DoctorCreature was established as the creature and NOT the Doctor they could have had "cameos" as the creature was unable to determine what visage it should have, and devolve into a few past face, or evolve into Ncuti for a second.
I think “mavity” is more than a joke. It’s tied to an arc about timelines and canon collapsing. It’s particularly significant that the Doctor said “gravity” and then corrected himself. He is aware.
I love your style of reviewing Rich, measured and considering all facets of the episode. Personally, for me, better than Star Beast, but I was hoping for more horror, felt like the episode had the handbrake on, definitely not a 60th Anniversary episode, but high hopes for next week.
In terms of the "furthest I've ever been" line, think of it this way: You have two seemingly endless sheets of paper, lying on top of one another. A stick figure on one of those pages has a device that can let him move outward from their sheet to the other sheet, through a direction they cannot perceive. But they can also go so far as to find the "edge" of the page, and that distance to us in the 3D world is much greater than the much shorter distance between the two papers. Likewise it is with the doctor and the universe.
That spider walking bit with David Tennant looked so ridiculously silly. I’m assuming they did it with CGI, but it looked way more realistic when they did it with Linda Blair in the Exorcist …and they only did that with wires
I really enjoyed the episode overall, apart from the obvious part which you've addressed already, so I won't do it again. The fear part for me wasn't from the weird bodily distortions, it was the conversation they had when the Doctor put the salt on the floor, the Copy Doctor saying they drifted there, unaffected by time but feeling the presence of our universe and the life it contained, saying they wanted to go there to "play your vicious games....and win" That was really unsettling for me, these are beings from another universe, outside of time and space, able to feel the presence of life across trillions of lightyears and they are malevolent, they want to join in the pain and suffering, the viciousness of life. And be the best at it. Creepy. Reminded me of Event Horizon, like a family friendly version.
6:43 tbf although the big cgi version weren’t scary for us (looking like snapchat filters & miss evangelista) it would probably have been quite scary for the doctor and donna haha edit: but yes, it still would’ve been better if we felt that fear alongside them (of course)
When I first saw the Doppelgangers I thought the ship had become sentient thanks to the wormhole and was either killing the crew because it developed a hatred or accidentally because it didn't understand
Why are people overthinking the opening bit? Yes it was "irrelevant" but it was funny. Having fun is good and okay people! We are watching 'Doctor Who' not 'Law and Order' 😂
Midnight was the first thing I thought about when we found out what was going on...I think it is some evolution of that creature. Also, I think 14 will regenerate mid episode or at least earlier than we are expecting next week
Strong Event Horizon vibes in this episode. Please don't tell me I'm the only one who saw the corridor or the claustrophobic, dimly lit undercrofts and thought that.
I agree with pretty much everything you’ve said here. A good, but not great, episode. My only real disappointment was that it isn’t as scary as we’d probably been led on to believe! Shame we only have David for one more episode and I’d hoped we’d already seen the toy maker by now as I don’t think one episode for such a top class and powerful enemy of the doctor is enough (just my opinion). Really looking forward to next Saturdays episode!
I agree about the aliens, their first appearance was nicely chilling but then that was lost and never recovered, and the episode really relied on that to work. I also noticed a similarity to Midnight, but unlike this episode, the fear ramped up and the alien became more scary in that. I don't think the repeated "are you the Doctor", "are you Donna scenes" really helped. The TARDIS coming back doesn't make much sense because the danger wasn't over and it even let the threat inside. FYI you didn't mention the reference to the woeful Timeless Child in the Flux conversation
I've loved Doctor Who since I was a child in the early 80s. Its not a TV show, it's an experience, an adventure, a way of thinking. It can do things no other TV show or film series is capable of, and it does it (mostly) on the BBC with £50 and a shed load of goodwill. It's fun and joyful, even when it's horror. I detect so little joy in your review, and that makes me sad.
As always your reviews are thoughtful and well reasoned but I was quite a bit higher on this. While it didn't capture i agree the true high bench marks of claustrophobic horror from a doctor dances or impossible planet I thought for an hour long two hander they took you on a wonderfully twisty journey and the performances and space design were amazing
I didn't get the beginning, but once the atmosphere sets in I really enjoyed the episode. Someone famous said "The scariest thing people encounter is themselves" and that concept kept this episode alive and drove the tension really well
I think the Isaac Newton part is a abit of foreshadowing. Maybe the doctor is going to be going around changing small things that are important and slowly changes the future too much and causing massive damage. Just a thought as seemed such an odd part and unnecessary. But overall loved it! Solid 8.5/10 for me. Think with it being on at 6.30 it was scary enough without going too far for the time slot.
"changing small things"... like turning him into a gay Indian for no reason whatsoever? Oh, hang on, there IS a reason... straight white men are inferior, how could that have slipped my mind? Sorry.
Did anyone catch that word gravity changed to mavity? The joke from the cold open comes back at the end of the episode. That and the actor playing Newton I think are part of the implication that this Doctor is affecting history and canon.
I really enjoyed the episode on the whole. While some of the visual effects felt like they needed a little longer in the oven, I liked the tension of the two duplicates, and the early stages where they were playing around with size and shape had some “PG-friendly scariness” to them. After a particularly sonic screwdriver-heavy episode last week, it was also great to have The Doctor and Donna needing to rely on their wits to survive, rather than a screwdriver-provided mcguffin; while at the same time facing an enemy that was counting on them needing to work things out in order for them to be victorious. The Doctor choosing the wrong Donna was also a genuine moment of anxiety - there was a split second where I thought we were going to see the real Donna die. That being said, she did seem to forgive him far too quickly, especially given how close to death she was. The cold open was…a choice. Like you say, while DH plays hard and loose with history sometimes, it has normally been quite reverential to its historical figures - even going as far as to cast actors who look like the figures where we know for a fact what they look like. So the colourblind casting of Newton (who was Caucasian in real life) felt rather odd. While I can’t say that this was RTD’s intention, it feels like a needlessly decisive choice. Yes, there will be people that dislike the choice because they are out-and-out bigots, or make a living by calling everything “woke”. There are also people (like me) who, while they genuinely couldn’t care less about the race of actors playing fictional characters, may question the decision to race-swap Newton. On the other side, there seems to be a lot of people being rather unpleasant to those who voice concerns, revelling in the fact it is “upsetting the gammons”. While I appreciate that’s a very online thing, it felt divisive in a fandom that has become increasingly toxic since the Capaldi era. On that topic, I also thought that the pronouns issue was dealt with a lot better in this episode. Donna asking whether an insectoid creature was a “he? She? Them?” as part of trying to deduce the alien’s fate felt a lot more of a rational question to ask, and a lot less preachy, than a character being called out for “assuming a pronoun”. Finally, while I have enjoyed having Tennant back, I’m really not seeing many differences between 10 and 14’s character. For all of Tennant & RTD’s insistence that these are two distinct characters, to me it just feels like 10’s personality but more matured, like how we would expect 10 to be if he’d never regenerated into Smith/Hurt/Capaldi/Whitticker and lived through all those events. The emotional reaction felt similar to how 10 reacted to similar events, but through the eyes of an older man. If there are personality differences, they are subtle and lost to the fact that the mannerisms, costume choices and even accent, are identical to 10
This is the 3rd (2 Proper, 1 Minisode) Episode of him as 14. And sorry, he still feels more like 10 than a new Doctor to me too!!! I thought he would put on his natural accent as 14, but no can't hear any hint of Scottishness!!!
@@marionbaggins I really thought 14 would be Scottish. It would have been a nice nod to Capaldi’s Doctor, as well as been a quick way of signifying they are two different people. It’s funny, in Echo Of The Daleks, it felt like Tennant was doing an impression of Whittaker’s take on The Doctor, up until the “Penny drop” moment, where it felt like Tennant again
David and Catherine were very good in this episode, a lot of it looked fantastic (with you on the drone shots outside the spaceship) but what i enjoyed most was the concept. Interestingly, my 8-year old son started losing interest midway through and he adores Tennant and Tate, there was me thinking he'd love the fact he got double the amount of them! I agree the opening scene seems superfluous unless, like with the Doctors regretting the use of the salt comment, there are repercussions later.
I have a really weird thought. As we all unfortunately saw in the timeless child 13 used their memories to break out of the matrix on gallifrey. Idk how the creature mimicking the doctor was able to sustain it. Because it had their memories that was clearly stated, so either they got really big brains or it’s a flaw in the writing idk. Also love the channel keep it up 👍
I liked that a whole lot more than the first special. Very good. A few niggles. But VERY good. Light years ahead of last week or the last 4 years. I liked it. Midnight-lite, but I liked it. And gosh... are we actually going to deal with The Timeless Child? Properly? Like... not just flashback it or sweep it under the rug and have no impact? We're going to deal with it. Rightly or wrongly that it was a lore thing at all, we're going to properly deal with it. Well, alright then.
I think my main criticism is that they didn't lean into the horror enough. Obviously they need to keep it family friendly but just more of that minor body horror would've really worked. When they became massive giants blob monsters, it lost all of its creepy factor and just became rediculous. I would have had them remain "human size" with the weird proportions and I would have had more of those dark corridor scenes just to really build tension. As for the Newton stuff, I assume it's building to some sort of reveal next episode, but I do wish it had just a little bit more of an impact on this one. Overall I'd say 7/10
This episode was a slow one and the beginning can easily not been in there. But I really like this episode, with the mystery of what's going on and The Doctor not having his screwdriver to get out of places. I did think the ending to the enemies was good but did not need The Doctor to save Donna at the last minute. Just because I think The Doctor should have known who's was who. But again I enjoyed the episode and seeing Wilf again just got me teary eyed man.
I think the “happy coincidence” ending with the tardis is fine since we have had that before in stellar episodes such as the satan pit with the tardis just kinda showing up at the end to save the doctor
It’s actually quite like Raiders of the Lost Ark in that, when you think about it, The Doctor had no overall effect on the plot save for speeding up the countdown. Without them being there, everything would have played out exactly the same.
I enjoy watching Rich's reviews but sometimes I feel like the doctor could pick him up for an adventure and he would walk out of the tardis like ehhh I'll give that one a 6 Doctor thanks for the trip though
I disagree with you so much. I found this the most enjoyable episode of Dr Who for decades. I loved every single thing about it, everything, it had not a single flaw for me, perfect! Even Mavity 😝
Thanks for these reviews Rich, really enjoying them, it’s great to have a balanced critique. Totally agree this had a great concept, and some chilling moments, but the execution let it all down a bit. The worst for me was the instagram filter cgi, which undid a lot of the horror as it just looked naff. They should have gone for more crooked design, rather than just enlarged. Like the double knee, or the practical effect with the long arms. The giant size versions, and the head through the legs Doctor were all a bit Alice In Wonderland rather than Cronenberg levels of creepy. It was still a good episode, but yeah agree with the 7/10, and just like last week, this all feels a bit underwhelming if this is the level they stick to for the 60th anniversary. These would be good episodes in a normal series, or a Christmas special etc, but for anniversary specials they’re just a bit disappointing, especially after all the hype. Though still hoping that they’re saving the best ‘til last with The Giggle!
I am so glad to hear someone else who thought the horror element fell short. Especially when it was hyped up so much. The episode was good but it could have been better.
I didn’t think it was incredibly scary but more eerie which worked in my opinion. But then I watched it with my young brother and he was really scared and couldn’t finish the episode, I think sometimes we forget the show is supposed to be at least a little child friendly
I feel like the mavity thing will come back honestly because he slips up and says gravity then corrects himself. I don't know why nobody thinks it's as important as I do
I dug it, it's a great concept that is slightly let down by bad execution. My one big dig is that this still doesn't feel like an anniversary special, it doesn't feel reflective enough on the previous era. This was also my gripe with star beast and I was hoping this would fix it. One last chance Russel, I believe in you
Personally when it comes to the absence of the Sonic Screwdriver, I thought you'd be singing the praises of such a concept. No TARDIS, No Sonic. Its times like that when The Doctor has to think on their feet. Especially after the Scanner and Shields last week... I had no problems with them but I know that you've had problems with the Sonic being overused with new buffs over the years.
I loved it, it was fun with just the right amount of tension and campiness. Along with terrific acting. While I was just “meh” about the Timeless Children/Flux storylines when they aired, I’m glad they got addressed here. Davies did what Chibnall did not: make me feel an emotional impact from the Doctor’s trauma. And nobody does angst like Tennant. While I agree that the cold open was a throwaway (or at least it appears so, we’ll see), I just loved the image of the Tardis sitting on top of the apple tree. And I kept laughing every time “mavity” came up.
I agree with your opinion opening scene... if they were going to go colour-blind, I would've preferred for the episode to focus on Newton. I am more offended that they did it for a joke which came about three times. I wouldn't mind the actor reprising the role for an actual episode in the upcoming seasons. I don't consider it the same as the male-presenting line from last week... just really disappointing. When watching the episode, I didn't get distracted by the corridor or any of the CGI. Which I consider a good sign because when I get to nitpicking, is when the story has lost me. While I liked this episode, I do have some issues. For starters, it felt like felt like a mix of heaven-sent & midnight, which while I loved both of those episodes, mixed together detracted from each. This showed with the mixed tone, going from super serious to more jokey, like going from the Flux talk to superstition with the salt. It also felt like this was a typical mid-season story... I was hoping for something more complex with this being the 60th.
My kids were pretty scared. I wasn’t but it is hard to please everyone. I was hoping the 3 specials would all be linked to Neil Patrick Harris. But it was made out to be all 3 episodes were part of the 60th anniversary special; however, I think next week’s will be the 60th special. And this and last weeks were regular episodes!
I notice how he only says flux and doesn’t state the timeless child or anything. So we acknowledge certain events but there’s wiggle room to make small retcons to tidy it up a bit
I really liked the slow burner mystery and the horror vibes throughout the episode. It was an edge on my seat mind boggling type episode and I really enjoyed it
Tennants emotional acting over the doctors guilt for what happened in Flux was top notch. And the weirdness of the episode is everything I love with Doctor Who
Same here.
Honestly, this episode was FANTASTIC! Proper "hide behind the sofa" vibes. I loved the darker feel and my heart nearly burst when Wilf appeared. Yes, I knew Bernard Cribbins was reprising the role, but I was still punched in the feels.
I think the Doctor realizing the HADS was going to lead the TARDIS back to him while the Not-thing ran to the button was fine because earlier in the episode we learned that thet Not-things have no ability to think two things at the same time, and with the Not-thing so focused on the robot, I doubt it would notice the Doctor realizing what was going to happen.
Personally I think I would've made a reference to the Emergency Protocols rather than the HADS even though I love its inclusion.
Because in moments of danger, The TARDIS has emergency protocols to home in and protect its occupants. Like in The Sarah Jane Adventures when The TARDIS materialized into a wall just to protect The Doctor.
Overall though, I'm not seeing it as a Deus Ex Machina like some people are saying; I view it as The Doctor says, "A Time Machine would know." Meaning The TARDIS would measure the future timeline to see if the danger would succeed or not and it would know if it would be okay to land. Probably why it doesn't land properly and just hovers because it knows that The Doctor and Donna need a quick getaway. (even if it was a little slow on the uptake that it was taking a 99.9% Clone of Donna onboard)
I like to think that the Not-Doctor knew he wasn't going to make it, but kept running for it anyway because it was too much like the Doctor to give up hope.
I actually liked the horror in this episode. It reminded me of Sam Raimi. A scary atmosphere with goofy creatures
I thought the very same!
Yes. I thought the level of horror was spot on. I was on the edge of my seat the entire episode
Doctor Who is perfect when it shows things that are kind of funny when seen on screen that would be terrifying if you were actually there. Goofy horror.
@loftus4453 yeah, exactly, I was both on the edge & laughing at the same time
@@frightening_volleyball1231 Yes. It was a perfect blend of both. It was an interesting viewing experience. I had headphones on and didn’t even notice my husband was in the room trying to talk to me. I literally jumped when he touched my shoulder. The episode was very effective. Funny, suspenseful and even a bit scary. Well done Davies. And having Catherine and David by themselves playing off each other the entire episode was perfection. ❤️
The scene at the end where Donna was left behind was amazing. Showed the peril, and how easy it could have been for them all to switch places. I really enjoyed the episode I gave it an 8
Imagine Donna was actually left behind and the Doctor would have to convince the notDonna to become real Donna. If she was 99.9% Donna, she could have really become her. And the Doctor would have live knowing that he left his friend to die.
It was a solid episode. Indeed, the horror felt a tad iffy regarding the VFX, but the acting of both Tennant and Tate really held it all together.
R.I.P. Bernard Cribbins, an absolute legend.
Honestly ‘mavity’ cracked me up everytime it was mentioned by the Doctor or Donna. Genius stroke imo. The episode was fantastic, I was completely absorbed.
Helps explain how the Doctor sees time differently to his companions too. He remembers it being ‘gravity’ , but every human in the universe now remembers it differently because they just accidentally changed it.
The TARDIS also isn’t around to translate in this episode, so The Doctor is actually speaking English in this episode, so it makes sense that he would slip up and get it wrong at one point.
If he said it in Gallifreyan the TARDIS would have translated it to ‘Mavity’ for Donna.
To summarise my take on this episode. The first 15 minutes are rough, followed by 40 minutes of pure gold. I loved this episode.
I respectfully disagree regarding historical figures being given serious treatments; we had Charles Dickens literally following the structural plot of Scrooge in a satirical way, and we had the royal family as wearwolves through Queen Victoria. Mary Seacole battled Sontarons! It was never serious! Great review!
I agree with what you said about the opening scene with Isaac Newton. Nothing against the actor who played him whatsoever, it just felt like a unnecessary change. I think the opening scene does at least show the Doctor and Donna dynamic in full play again after being away for the past 15 years. So that's on plus I will take away from this scene. Outside that, the episode was very enjoyable and scary and I can see why RTD said it wouldn't be for Kids! And having Wilf's final scene at the end is so heart-warming! Both Wilf and Bernard will be deeply missed. I'm glad he was able to return for that one last scene.
I wonder if it's quotas driven. If it is quotas driven and Davies realises he can't hit the required 20% of characters being POCs if there are only two characters so he needs to chuck in a pointless historical character cameo, the fact that it is race-swapped Newton means he racked his brains for a historical POC and couldn't think of one. That would be pretty poor: could have had Hendrix, Prince Siddhartha, Ibn Al-Haytham, Lao Tse...
I think it is because of the BBC quota
@@markpostgate2551 The guy playing Newton is British, he has some indian ancestry from a parent though, so he looks more tanned than anything, it's hardly a big deal for a small opening joke that doesn't have massively to do with the actual meat of the episode.
@@chazo1367 Totally agree. He was only on screen for around a minute in total - if that - and it's not as if this was a documentary or biopic about Newton.
@@chazo1367I didn’t even notice he’s someone who could have definitely passed as white historically so I think it doesn’t really contradict history at all
While it was a throwaway line, I liked the line explaining why we'd never seen HADS in action before. That he'd previously turned it off because it wouldn't let him land at all and at one point he'd been in orbit for 3 years.
They are featured in The Krotons for the first time I think 👍
I loved this episode ngl. I thought it was clever, engaging, creepy and weird, I loved the way it got my brain working as I tried to work out what was happening and got to work it out with the Doctor. It gave me Midnight meets Moffat vibes which I was completely here for. The CGI was wonky but given that the creatures were meant to be struggling with maintaining their forms I kind of thought that was the point, they were purposefully visibly hit and miss with the effects to push the idea that these creatures don't fully understand our anatomy and dimensions etc.
As for the Flux reference, I thought it was implied that the reason the ship was stuck where it was was because of the flux? Maybe I'm just reading into something that wasn't there but I thought that the lack of stars where it was etc was because of the Flux. Either way, 9/10 for me, I loved it.
The moment that has stuck in my head is when the alien took off his tie and when Donna realises, the aliens reaction was bone chilling. I think the idea that they learnt and the whole premise was great, only a few nitpicks so a solid 8.25 - lunch dinner egg
The body horror actually gave me Little Nightmares vibes and I loved that. I do agree though they could have pushed it further.
I also hope that Mavity is just a running gag through the rest of RTD's era. 😂
The 'Sir Issac Nution' bit DID have relevance; the TARDIS was recalibrating it's 4-demshional coordinates using known unchanged FIXED points in time and space, as those are fixed points nothing changes even when the doctor interacts with them. I suspect that is going to be relevant in the 3rd episode in some fashion and revelent to why this doctor has taken on a prior doctor's appearance. 🤔
I liked the claustrophobic feeling to this episode and the way they showcased the skill of the actors. Very good writing, emotional and surprisingly scary. All in all I had a lot of fun with this one and more than I have in a very very long time with who.
I also like how they didn’t reveal what the beings actually were. I think that would ruin the mystique of it.
I really think these easy resolutions we’ve seen with Donna and Rose letting go and the Tardis conveniently materialising are part of the Toymakers work and we will see this next week. RTD has a habit of tying everything up in the finales and i’m sure this will be the case :)
I think the Isaac newton scene is setting up a bigger plot because later in this episode Dona didn’t know what gravity was, and the doctor had to say “mavity”. This joke was repeated twice or 3 times so maybe it has hidden a major plot line in the joke itself? It’s kind of a stretch but that would be the best outcome in order for that scene to have any relevance because they changed a major point in time.
Maybe the Newton opening isn’t irrelevant - Toymaker shenanigans - you don’t know any more than I do. Superb episode like a 21st century Ark in Space. And don’t forget this is half the universe that was left after Logopolis destroyed a lot of the universe and that was never referred to again. 9/10
It was just horror enough without resorting to gore violence for me to satisfied with even the goofy elements, because it works for what the creatures wanted... getting them both to think to speed up their copy ability.
I'm loving these specials.
So it took 1 year and 362 days, and a change of Showrunner but we at least we know what state of existence the universe is in after Flux/Series 13...
I loved the episode. Last weeks was fun but left me feeling slightly flat, this weeks felt like a return to what I expect from RTD Doctor Who and reminded me why I was excited when it was announced he would be returning.
"It happened, but it kinda didn't" criticism for Flux is kinda wild, I mean, that's whole Doctor Who. One moment you have Daleks in centre of London, next moment nobody knows who Daleks are and aliens don't exist, just to then have Daleks again and so on...... If anything, treatment Flux is getting is consistent to treatment most Doctor Who plotpoints are getting
t was magnificent. I think you’re expecting too much for 6:30 on a Saturday evening. It frightened my 10 year old and I got to say I was unsettled. One of the more horrific aspects is the corpse of the Captain banging on the ship. And one thing you fail to mention is where they are and the sheer nothingness of it all, which only elevated that sense of unease. Anyway, loved it.
I absolutely love this episode. Maybe it's rose colored glasses, maybe it's an excellent episode, maybe both, but it gave me what I love about Dr. Who.
I'm with you that it was that tiny bit short of brilliance. It reminded me of Midnight, but the psychological horror in Midnight was better.
Personally this episode was so much better than star beast, yes it could of been more scary (I was hoping for blink level horror) and the opening scene felt so out of place by the end but the mystery and the slow build up to the realisation was perfect for me
I think the Newton/mavity thing will be important for the third special
Or much like the Boss tease, something for Ncuti to deal with.
I could see the whole end of the world thing a result of Newton changing gravity to mavity.
Yeah, in that one they're going to make Alan Turing straight... NOT!
I feel as if the issac newtwon/marvity cold open might be a set up for 15 and season 1. The doctor knows thats marvity is the wrong word and i wouldnt be suprised if newton is the next historical. Or even maybe a underlying set up like RTD does, (badwolf, torchwood/ saxon)
Really enjoyed the episode. And when not-Doctor realized his tie should have still been there? Beautiful. Excited for the final episode!
I think the issue for me was the VFX. I wouldn't have minded so much in previous seasons, but now that the show is reportedly spending as much money on a single episode as it previously spent on an entire season, I would have expected more polish. It had the feel of a small VFX company that was in over its head, and did take me out of the story a couple of times.
I very much agree with your comments on the cold open. I suppose the thinking was to get a bit of levity in before everything went dark and serious, but it was very jarring and also set up a bizarre continuity error: in between the Doctor declaring that the TARDIS was out of control, and the Doctor and Donna running out of the crashed TARDIS and very narrowly escaping incineration, they found time to exchange pleasantries and a dad joke with Isaac Newton, who took the whole incident remarkably well within his stride.
Honestly THANK YOU. I agree with all your points. I will first say that this is a big step up from the previous episode. Now, while many people are revelling in the fact that this episode expertly goes from silliness to uncanniness, I find that that the menace we are supposed to feel in a number of scenes is not quite there as a result, and really, I think it just feeds into the general issue of jarring tonal shifts from which both specials have suffered. Take the switch from the comical opening sequence to the supercharged “get you home” speech just a minute later. Such a scene is unearned and misplaced so early in the episode.
The premise itself draws on elements from episodes such as Midnight, 42, Silence in the Library, The Rebel Flesh, The Lazarus Experiment and Nightmare in Silver, but with very little of the physical and psychological horror, social commentary, genre-specific aesthetics, or performances that can be described as truly distressing. That’s not to say these episodes aren't flawed or that all these things are necessary. It is also not to say that this episode doesn’t have, or at least strive for, a distinctive aesthetic and atmosphere, or that it doesn't offer entirely new ground for these two to play creepy, malicious doppelgangers of themselves. Tennant and Tate absolutely shine in this, although sometimes their performances spill over, by fault of the script, into juvenile tactics: “Donna” cackling from a molten puddle and the “Doctor” screeching through his legs detract from what were otherwise pretty extraordinary scenes. I do think some of the writing was stellar, like the “outcrop by the sea” monologue, and lines such as “my arms are too long” or “when something is gone it keeps existing” are just genius. Tennant’s delivery of that line as he bends himself backwards is UTTERLY SUBLIME and if only this were followed by some bone-crunching contortion and genuinely sinister lines rather than the asinine humour we end up getting. I guess the silliness is meant to appeal both to children who might actually find it horrifying, and to adults as a something tantalisingly goofy and weird, and maybe it’s just my personal taste that I really, really don’t jibe with that kind of humour. Same reason I really struggled with Everything Everywhere, which most of the world seemed to love. The high production value also makes it pretty hard to think on fondly as good old RTD campiness, and I would argue that the opening bit is there to try and establish this for the audience, but at least for me isn't nearly enough. I will say, however, that the sound effect when the “Doctor’s” jaw drops is pretty delicious. Actually, all the sound design and music in this episode is fabulous.
Another reason I really appreciate the writing of this episode is that we really start to understand that this Doctor is distinct from Ten. I know I needed it. Ten would immediately pick up on when Donna is behaving slightly off, would not pull a gag on Donna pretending to choke, and certainly would not admit he found Newton hot. Fourteen also generally wears his emotions much more on his sleeve and only occasionally does this make the writing susceptible to these sloppy tonal shifts I mentioned that pull you out of the scene entirely. His sexuality, temperament and gate are reminiscent of Crowley and honestly, I appreciate that. My opinion on his episode also hinges on whether Donna really does remember everything the doctor has been through. Not only would this make more sense when "Donna" mentions Gallifrey, but otherwise I find slightly odd her total familiarity with what is essentially a different person, or at least a different personality. It feels a little unearned in my opinion and although she is more emotionally mature and would be less pressing on such matters, I still feel as though it leaves a lot wanting and it would all make more sense if she is just waiting for the doctor to open up with his own consent about things she already knows.
I missed all of Thirteen's run, so don't really have an opinion about invoking the Flux. Seems a bit premature to anyhow. At least we got a chance to see the doctor assault a wall over it. It's clearly raw and unprocessed trauma. In fact, to me this instantly explains why Fourteen is so breezy and familiar with Donna, very open and interactive with everyone he meets but actually very much in his own bubble. He is still in processing and therefore somewhat dissociated from his surroundings. What confuses me, as I said above, is why this is reciprocated to the extent it is.
Overall, a 6.5 or 7/10.
I adored this episode - and I was glad going in that I knew nothing about it.
The first 20 minutes had so many questions, so many stakes or directions it could have gone - and in terms of celebrating having these 2 actors back in the role I can't think of a better way to make use of them than this! That it didn't go 'further' I'm fine with, instead it just highlighted how amazing Tennant and Tate are
I really thought that the horror elements in this episode worked to the Nth degree, it was unsettling without being gratuitous and unfamiliar and yeah, "east of sane, west of normal". That's what made it so unnerving!
The horror of these dopplegangers is so visceral to Me.
The part revealing the long arms really got Me. Something about a creature that is almost perfect but has one small detail, or one major detail that is so different genuinly gets to Me.
I implore anyone who reads this to go and watch the UA-cam horror series called "The Mandela Catalouge". The feeling these creatures give off gives Me memories of that series.
If only the fear factor of these enemies was amped up more. Would've been genuinly horrifying.
Great video Rich, keep up the great work!
I really loved it. The character moments were so so good. I loved the scenes trying to decipher who was real. I loved the doctor being more powerless. Catherine was amazing. Yes the corridor looked pretty bad but I just about give it a pass. I think the concept was executed really well. Saying that. I didn’t watch any trailers going in so had no expectations regarding a horror tone or expecting a mind blowing scene.
My one critique is that it doesn’t really feel special enough to be 60th anniversary. The 50th was incredible but this one just felt like a normal episode.
Still. As an episode of doctor who it’s a 7.5 or an 8 for me. Really liked it.
P.s. I kinda wish they’d stuck with the consequences of the doctor picking the wrong Donna.
Loved it. Especially the reference to the flux. And get the family viewing issue. But definitely seeing the aliens transform in silhouette or with their back to us while seeing the Doctor and Donna react would have added to it.
I thought it was the best episode in years- easy 9.5/10 for me
That's a bit high. It can't compare at all to the library two parter for example.
totally agree with unrealised potential and the items on the uneccesary shelf. also like the tod reference. this video has really helped tp focus my own feelings about the episode.
In addition, I think when you say the body horror stuff "wasnt scary", I can assure you, that would have scared the hell out of me as a kid. It's a different kind of horror - it's Never-ending Story horror, it's Labyrinth horror. Remember, they tried to do scary body horror with Professor Lazarus, and it wasn't remotely scary.
As always my 100% FAVOURITE DW reviewer.
Probably not a lot I could add in that you haven't said already.
Although, one thing they COULD have done - once the DoctorCreature was established as the creature and NOT the Doctor they could have had "cameos" as the creature was unable to determine what visage it should have, and devolve into a few past face, or evolve into Ncuti for a second.
I think “mavity” is more than a joke. It’s tied to an arc about timelines and canon collapsing.
It’s particularly significant that the Doctor said “gravity” and then corrected himself. He is aware.
I caught that. The Doctor saying gravity then correcting to mavity. I suspect the Isaac Newton gag isn’t just a gag.
I love your style of reviewing Rich, measured and considering all facets of the episode. Personally, for me, better than Star Beast, but I was hoping for more horror, felt like the episode had the handbrake on, definitely not a 60th Anniversary episode, but high hopes for next week.
Loved it, so creepy and raw for the doctor starting to open up about the events of the flux
I feel like the TARDIS was doing a bit more *flying* about in this episode and I am not sure how I feel about that - I like static materialisations 😔
I think it was because the tardis was malfunctioning so static landing might not be possible
In terms of the "furthest I've ever been" line, think of it this way:
You have two seemingly endless sheets of paper, lying on top of one another. A stick figure on one of those pages has a device that can let him move outward from their sheet to the other sheet, through a direction they cannot perceive. But they can also go so far as to find the "edge" of the page, and that distance to us in the 3D world is much greater than the much shorter distance between the two papers. Likewise it is with the doctor and the universe.
I actually loved the "mavity" joke. Completely pointless, yes... but i laughed every time.
But was it pointless?
That spider walking bit with David Tennant looked so ridiculously silly. I’m assuming they did it with CGI, but it looked way more realistic when they did it with Linda Blair in the Exorcist …and they only did that with wires
I really enjoyed the episode overall, apart from the obvious part which you've addressed already, so I won't do it again. The fear part for me wasn't from the weird bodily distortions, it was the conversation they had when the Doctor put the salt on the floor, the Copy Doctor saying they drifted there, unaffected by time but feeling the presence of our universe and the life it contained, saying they wanted to go there to "play your vicious games....and win"
That was really unsettling for me, these are beings from another universe, outside of time and space, able to feel the presence of life across trillions of lightyears and they are malevolent, they want to join in the pain and suffering, the viciousness of life. And be the best at it. Creepy. Reminded me of Event Horizon, like a family friendly version.
I also thought the newton cold open was unnecessary but I think it sets up the premise for The Giggle in how the Toymaker has affected the world
I think this was the best episode of Who since Heaven Sent!! I know it’s goofy but it was thoroughly entertaining which is rare nowadays!!
6:43 tbf although the big cgi version weren’t scary for us (looking like snapchat filters & miss evangelista) it would probably have been quite scary for the doctor and donna haha
edit: but yes, it still would’ve been better if we felt that fear alongside them (of course)
When I first saw the Doppelgangers I thought the ship had become sentient thanks to the wormhole and was either killing the crew because it developed a hatred or accidentally because it didn't understand
Why are people overthinking the opening bit? Yes it was "irrelevant" but it was funny.
Having fun is good and okay people! We are watching 'Doctor Who' not 'Law and Order' 😂
"Having fun" does not equate to "pointless disconnected nonsense that rattles against the tone of the episode" but sure ok.
Midnight was the first thing I thought about when we found out what was going on...I think it is some evolution of that creature.
Also, I think 14 will regenerate mid episode or at least earlier than we are expecting next week
This episode was so wonderfully weird and exactly what I love about Doctor Who!
Strong Event Horizon vibes in this episode. Please don't tell me I'm the only one who saw the corridor or the claustrophobic, dimly lit undercrofts and thought that.
Loved this episode, the pacing was great and the character work and acting was excellent
Hello Rich not seen you in ages. All I have to say about this is. Weird & scary just as RTD predicted. Looking forward to next week ❤
the long forearms reminds me of everything everywhere all at once
Something tells me there’s going to be a resolution to the opening that will ultimately be crushing in ep 3.
I agree with pretty much everything you’ve said here. A good, but not great, episode. My only real disappointment was that it isn’t as scary as we’d probably been led on to believe! Shame we only have David for one more episode and I’d hoped we’d already seen the toy maker by now as I don’t think one episode for such a top class and powerful enemy of the doctor is enough (just my opinion). Really looking forward to next Saturdays episode!
I agree about the aliens, their first appearance was nicely chilling but then that was lost and never recovered, and the episode really relied on that to work. I also noticed a similarity to Midnight, but unlike this episode, the fear ramped up and the alien became more scary in that. I don't think the repeated "are you the Doctor", "are you Donna scenes" really helped.
The TARDIS coming back doesn't make much sense because the danger wasn't over and it even let the threat inside.
FYI you didn't mention the reference to the woeful Timeless Child in the Flux conversation
I've loved Doctor Who since I was a child in the early 80s. Its not a TV show, it's an experience, an adventure, a way of thinking. It can do things no other TV show or film series is capable of, and it does it (mostly) on the BBC with £50 and a shed load of goodwill. It's fun and joyful, even when it's horror. I detect so little joy in your review, and that makes me sad.
I loved the opening scene, very very fun. The cosmic horror was beautiful. Great episode.
For a minute or two I thought it was the midnight creature
As always your reviews are thoughtful and well reasoned but I was quite a bit higher on this. While it didn't capture i agree the true high bench marks of claustrophobic horror from a doctor dances or impossible planet I thought for an hour long two hander they took you on a wonderfully twisty journey and the performances and space design were amazing
I’m like 98% certain that the issac newton segment is for the next episode
I didn't get the beginning, but once the atmosphere sets in I really enjoyed the episode. Someone famous said "The scariest thing people encounter is themselves" and that concept kept this episode alive and drove the tension really well
I think the Isaac Newton part is a abit of foreshadowing. Maybe the doctor is going to be going around changing small things that are important and slowly changes the future too much and causing massive damage. Just a thought as seemed such an odd part and unnecessary.
But overall loved it! Solid 8.5/10 for me. Think with it being on at 6.30 it was scary enough without going too far for the time slot.
"changing small things"... like turning him into a gay Indian for no reason whatsoever? Oh, hang on, there IS a reason... straight white men are inferior, how could that have slipped my mind? Sorry.
I actually loved this episode a lot. This and the giggle were amazing
Must admit when we saw that corridor we said as one, Ahhhhh, good old CSO!
Did anyone catch that word gravity changed to mavity? The joke from the cold open comes back at the end of the episode. That and the actor playing Newton I think are part of the implication that this Doctor is affecting history and canon.
I really enjoyed the episode on the whole. While some of the visual effects felt like they needed a little longer in the oven, I liked the tension of the two duplicates, and the early stages where they were playing around with size and shape had some “PG-friendly scariness” to them.
After a particularly sonic screwdriver-heavy episode last week, it was also great to have The Doctor and Donna needing to rely on their wits to survive, rather than a screwdriver-provided mcguffin; while at the same time facing an enemy that was counting on them needing to work things out in order for them to be victorious.
The Doctor choosing the wrong Donna was also a genuine moment of anxiety - there was a split second where I thought we were going to see the real Donna die. That being said, she did seem to forgive him far too quickly, especially given how close to death she was.
The cold open was…a choice. Like you say, while DH plays hard and loose with history sometimes, it has normally been quite reverential to its historical figures - even going as far as to cast actors who look like the figures where we know for a fact what they look like. So the colourblind casting of Newton (who was Caucasian in real life) felt rather odd.
While I can’t say that this was RTD’s intention, it feels like a needlessly decisive choice. Yes, there will be people that dislike the choice because they are out-and-out bigots, or make a living by calling everything “woke”. There are also people (like me) who, while they genuinely couldn’t care less about the race of actors playing fictional characters, may question the decision to race-swap Newton. On the other side, there seems to be a lot of people being rather unpleasant to those who voice concerns, revelling in the fact it is “upsetting the gammons”. While I appreciate that’s a very online thing, it felt divisive in a fandom that has become increasingly toxic since the Capaldi era.
On that topic, I also thought that the pronouns issue was dealt with a lot better in this episode. Donna asking whether an insectoid creature was a “he? She? Them?” as part of trying to deduce the alien’s fate felt a lot more of a rational question to ask, and a lot less preachy, than a character being called out for “assuming a pronoun”.
Finally, while I have enjoyed having Tennant back, I’m really not seeing many differences between 10 and 14’s character. For all of Tennant & RTD’s insistence that these are two distinct characters, to me it just feels like 10’s personality but more matured, like how we would expect 10 to be if he’d never regenerated into Smith/Hurt/Capaldi/Whitticker and lived through all those events. The emotional reaction felt similar to how 10 reacted to similar events, but through the eyes of an older man. If there are personality differences, they are subtle and lost to the fact that the mannerisms, costume choices and even accent, are identical to 10
This is the 3rd (2 Proper, 1 Minisode) Episode of him as 14. And sorry, he still feels more like 10 than a new Doctor to me too!!! I thought he would put on his natural accent as 14, but no can't hear any hint of Scottishness!!!
@@marionbaggins I really thought 14 would be Scottish. It would have been a nice nod to Capaldi’s Doctor, as well as been a quick way of signifying they are two different people. It’s funny, in Echo Of The Daleks, it felt like Tennant was doing an impression of Whittaker’s take on The Doctor, up until the “Penny drop” moment, where it felt like Tennant again
@@billydeeuk McCoy was also Scottish, it would have been something different between 10 and 14! Here is hoping 15 has the Scottish Accent!
David and Catherine were very good in this episode, a lot of it looked fantastic (with you on the drone shots outside the spaceship) but what i enjoyed most was the concept.
Interestingly, my 8-year old son started losing interest midway through and he adores Tennant and Tate, there was me thinking he'd love the fact he got double the amount of them!
I agree the opening scene seems superfluous unless, like with the Doctors regretting the use of the salt comment, there are repercussions later.
I have a really weird thought. As we all unfortunately saw in the timeless child 13 used their memories to break out of the matrix on gallifrey. Idk how the creature mimicking the doctor was able to sustain it. Because it had their memories that was clearly stated, so either they got really big brains or it’s a flaw in the writing idk. Also love the channel keep it up 👍
I liked that a whole lot more than the first special. Very good. A few niggles. But VERY good.
Light years ahead of last week or the last 4 years. I liked it. Midnight-lite, but I liked it.
And gosh... are we actually going to deal with The Timeless Child? Properly? Like... not just flashback it or sweep it under the rug and have no impact?
We're going to deal with it. Rightly or wrongly that it was a lore thing at all, we're going to properly deal with it.
Well, alright then.
Im gonna say it, this was my favorite episode since Midnight
I think my main criticism is that they didn't lean into the horror enough. Obviously they need to keep it family friendly but just more of that minor body horror would've really worked. When they became massive giants blob monsters, it lost all of its creepy factor and just became rediculous. I would have had them remain "human size" with the weird proportions and I would have had more of those dark corridor scenes just to really build tension. As for the Newton stuff, I assume it's building to some sort of reveal next episode, but I do wish it had just a little bit more of an impact on this one. Overall I'd say 7/10
Spot on with your review. I really enjoyed the episode, except for the baffling Newton open.
This episode is class, so much better than the first my god we are so back
I fear that opening corridor’s going to age like the CSO in Underworld.
This episode was a slow one and the beginning can easily not been in there. But I really like this episode, with the mystery of what's going on and The Doctor not having his screwdriver to get out of places. I did think the ending to the enemies was good but did not need The Doctor to save Donna at the last minute. Just because I think The Doctor should have known who's was who. But again I enjoyed the episode and seeing Wilf again just got me teary eyed man.
I think the “happy coincidence” ending with the tardis is fine since we have had that before in stellar episodes such as the satan pit with the tardis just kinda showing up at the end to save the doctor
It’s actually quite like Raiders of the Lost Ark in that, when you think about it, The Doctor had no overall effect on the plot save for speeding up the countdown.
Without them being there, everything would have played out exactly the same.
I enjoy watching Rich's reviews but sometimes I feel like the doctor could pick him up for an adventure and he would walk out of the tardis like ehhh I'll give that one a 6 Doctor thanks for the trip though
I disagree with you so much. I found this the most enjoyable episode of Dr Who for decades. I loved every single thing about it, everything, it had not a single flaw for me, perfect! Even Mavity 😝
Thanks for these reviews Rich, really enjoying them, it’s great to have a balanced critique. Totally agree this had a great concept, and some chilling moments, but the execution let it all down a bit. The worst for me was the instagram filter cgi, which undid a lot of the horror as it just looked naff. They should have gone for more crooked design, rather than just enlarged. Like the double knee, or the practical effect with the long arms. The giant size versions, and the head through the legs Doctor were all a bit Alice In Wonderland rather than Cronenberg levels of creepy. It was still a good episode, but yeah agree with the 7/10, and just like last week, this all feels a bit underwhelming if this is the level they stick to for the 60th anniversary. These would be good episodes in a normal series, or a Christmas special etc, but for anniversary specials they’re just a bit disappointing, especially after all the hype. Though still hoping that they’re saving the best ‘til last with The Giggle!
I wonder if the fake Donna initially being rescued will mean there can be a big switcheroo in the next episode...
I am so glad to hear someone else who thought the horror element fell short. Especially when it was hyped up so much.
The episode was good but it could have been better.
I didn’t think it was incredibly scary but more eerie which worked in my opinion. But then I watched it with my young brother and he was really scared and couldn’t finish the episode, I think sometimes we forget the show is supposed to be at least a little child friendly
I loved the feeling of isolation it had but I really need to rewatch it to form a better opinion
One of my fav episodes ever, really gave me Midnight vibes
I was thinking they could be the same creature, creature cousins...would have been nice for the Dr to make that connection.
I feel like the mavity thing will come back honestly because he slips up and says gravity then corrects himself. I don't know why nobody thinks it's as important as I do
I dug it, it's a great concept that is slightly let down by bad execution. My one big dig is that this still doesn't feel like an anniversary special, it doesn't feel reflective enough on the previous era. This was also my gripe with star beast and I was hoping this would fix it. One last chance Russel, I believe in you
Personally when it comes to the absence of the Sonic Screwdriver, I thought you'd be singing the praises of such a concept. No TARDIS, No Sonic. Its times like that when The Doctor has to think on their feet.
Especially after the Scanner and Shields last week... I had no problems with them but I know that you've had problems with the Sonic being overused with new buffs over the years.
I loved it, it was fun with just the right amount of tension and campiness. Along with terrific acting. While I was just “meh” about the Timeless Children/Flux storylines when they aired, I’m glad they got addressed here. Davies did what Chibnall did not: make me feel an emotional impact from the Doctor’s trauma. And nobody does angst like Tennant.
While I agree that the cold open was a throwaway (or at least it appears so, we’ll see), I just loved the image of the Tardis sitting on top of the apple tree. And I kept laughing every time “mavity” came up.
The Isaac Newton bit was to have a little light humor to accompany a really dark episode
I agree with your opinion opening scene... if they were going to go colour-blind, I would've preferred for the episode to focus on Newton. I am more offended that they did it for a joke which came about three times. I wouldn't mind the actor reprising the role for an actual episode in the upcoming seasons. I don't consider it the same as the male-presenting line from last week... just really disappointing.
When watching the episode, I didn't get distracted by the corridor or any of the CGI. Which I consider a good sign because when I get to nitpicking, is when the story has lost me.
While I liked this episode, I do have some issues. For starters, it felt like felt like a mix of heaven-sent & midnight, which while I loved both of those episodes, mixed together detracted from each. This showed with the mixed tone, going from super serious to more jokey, like going from the Flux talk to superstition with the salt. It also felt like this was a typical mid-season story... I was hoping for something more complex with this being the 60th.
My kids were pretty scared. I wasn’t but it is hard to please everyone. I was hoping the 3 specials would all be linked to Neil Patrick Harris. But it was made out to be all 3 episodes were part of the 60th anniversary special; however, I think next week’s will be the 60th special. And this and last weeks were regular episodes!
I notice how he only says flux and doesn’t state the timeless child or anything. So we acknowledge certain events but there’s wiggle room to make small retcons to tidy it up a bit