Doctor Who

[Doctor MK]

Well, well, well. Hell Bent. That was certainly one way to end the series! Much like the TARDIS itself - it didn't necessarily take us where we wanted to go, but it definitely took us where we needed to go...

I think a lot of people are going to be mixed on this episode to begin with - after all, it's a much smaller and slower affair than the teaser trailers led us to believe, acting more of a character-driven swansong for Clara than an epic battle between The Doctor and the Time Lords - but I feel it will be one that gains more acclaim in hindsight, and on second viewing when you actually know what to expect and aren't just sitting there disappointed at the lack of fireworks.

Yes, it's a shame that the return to Gallifrey was very underplayed, and that Rassilon and the other Time Lords were no real threat whatsoever in the grand scheme of things. But as The Doctor himself has said in the past, Gallifrey is a boring place. He manipulates things enough to get his own way, we get to explore the planet a little bit more than we have previously, and then he is left to face the consequences of his actions. He and Clara are together the Hybrid - or are they? Maybe we'll never really know - and one of them has to say goodbye for the sake of themselves and the universe.

I must admit I was ready to throw my arms up in despair at The Doctor's plan to wipe Clara's memory - we've already seen that with Donna, and as heartbreaking as it was back then, it felt like it was going to be a cop out here, especially after the dramatic end to Face the Raven. But to subvert all expectations and make it The Doctor who loses his memory of Clara instead (or at least the memory of her as a person, he seems to retain the memories of their adventures)? Well played, Steven Moffat. Well played. Clara lives to fight another day as The Doctor she was always destined to become - and, much like the actual Doctor, on the run from the Time Lords and her inevitable (but not too inevitable) death - while the reset button is well and truly hit for everyone's favourite Gallifreyan, setting off in search of new adventures back at the helm of his own TARDIS and with brand spanking new sonic screwdriver in hand (seriously, I need me one of those in time for Christmas!). Maybe he'll bump into Clara and Ashildr again one day in their time-travelling American diner. Maybe he won't. But the possibility is out there, and it's a triumphant yet bittersweet conclusion for all involved. It takes the emotional sting out of Clara's death, for sure, but it's not as if it was for nil - she'll still end up there eventually, back to face the raven (unless ol' Doccy figures out a better escape plan for her in the meantime). It's a fist-punch of a climax that brings the curtain down with a bang on Series 9, and though I got a bit lost along the way during this final hour, I was smiling ear to ear come the credits.

Now we've reached the end, here are my final episode rankings for Series 9:

1. Heaven Sent
2. The Zygon Inversion
3. The Witch's Familiar
4. The Magician's Apprentice
5. Hell Bent
6. Face the Raven
7. The Zygon Invasion
8. Before the Flood
9. The Girl Who Died
10. Under the Lake
11. The Woman Who Lived
12. Sleep No More

Before this week Face the Raven was much closer to the top but certain events have made me reconsider its ranking, down to sixth place. Which sounds pretty drastic, but when you consider that I think everything from The Zygon Invasion upwards is a top-tier episode and the majority of the rest are at least good-to-decent, that just goes to show how stellar I think this series has been. The only real dud for me has been Sleep No More - and even that at least dared to be different with its POV gimmick. Doctor Who was very experimental this year and not afraid to roll the dice, and I for one feel it more than paid off. Favourite series since the reboot? Quite possibly. Second only to Series 4 with Tennant and Tate, if not beating it. Definitely Moffat's most consistent series in charge, at any rate. More like this, please!

So, that's it for Series 9, but luckily we've still got one episode of 2015 to go - until Christmas Day, here are the trailers for The Husbands of River Song to tide you over!

...and for all my moaning and cynicism, it actually doesn't look too bad! Bring on the sex storm!

 

and if I may mention it again, 

that goddam new sonic screwdriver give it to me now

 

Edited December 7, 2015 by Doctor MK

[Salamander]

I didn't actually get to see the whole episode yesterday, so I've only just caught the ending.  Hell Bent, huh.  That was a weird episode.  And I'm coming to the conclusion that it simply didn't come off, for me.

To me it felt a bit like a story with an epilogue stretched out to last two-thirds of the episode, without a second act - or like several different stories all thrown together.  Rassilon's power-hunger and feud with the Doctor to me was too important to be tossed out the window after fifteen minutes, with Rassilon humbly accepting exile off-screen.  That felt like it should've been the main plot of the episode, and instead it's just a lot of running around with Clara on an errand I am not entirely sure I understand - was there a point to rescuing her just to abandon her somewhere?  And wasn't the end result of the Doctor's memory getting wiped pretty pointless when both he and Clara just keep on doing exactly the same thing as they'd have done together, only apart?

There were some parts I appreciate, though.  The more I think about it, the more I am okay with Rassilon being out there somewhere, plotting revenge - perhaps he's intended as a kind of replacement for Omega, now, who I believe they don't have the rights to?  The General's regenerated form is still bald, which is all I needed.  The crypt of the Matrix was suitably spooky, with the Crypt Wraiths, or Sliders, particularly eerie.  That teasing of the "half-human" plot point from the movie, and the ultimate solution of the Hybrid mystery as being two people.  The Doctor being the one who loses his memory, rendering the afterstory somewhat cleverer than it had previously appeared.  All of that worked, but they're just points, not the line.

It's late, and I haven't really had time to think it over yet, but if I were to rewrite the episode, I'd mix more of it about.  Have the Doctor still be on the run from Rassilon even through the citadel of the Time Lords rather than eliminating him and transferring the threat to the General.  Making the goodbye to Clara more of a goodbye, rather than essentially nullifying Face The Raven (yes, it'll still happen, but at an indefinite point in the future of Clara's own choosing).  Not have the sonic screwdriver slow-mo pinwheel through the air, either...

Christmas looks pretty silly.  It'd better be good.  It's probably all we'll be getting until Christmas 2016...

[Doctor MK]

I didn't actually get to see the whole episode yesterday, so I've only just caught the ending.  Hell Bent, huh.  That was a weird episode.  And I'm coming to the conclusion that it simply didn't come off, for me.

Hidden Content

Christmas looks pretty silly.  It'd better be good.  It's probably all we'll be getting until Christmas 2016...

I agree that the episode was a bit of a hodge-podge in terms of plotting. Even with its extended running time, and ironically in a series that's been full of two-parters, I think this specific story could have benefited from being stretched out further - The Doctor could have caused (and been involved in) a lot more chaos on Gallifrey than he actually ended up doing, so in terms of cranking up the "epic" scale they definitely missed a chance there.

As for the Clara stuff - he'd saved her using the Extraction Chamber (under the pretence that she could help him explain about the Hybrid) and then proceeded to steal a TARDIS to kick-start her pulse again and escape. He also knew that the Time Lords would be after them to put Clara back on Trap Street and set the normal course of events back in place. This is ultimately why he needed the memory wipe, so that she couldn't be tracked, and also because The Doctor was well aware of how far he was going in order to save her and it simply wasn't healthy. Clara kept her memory in the end, but one of them had to lose the other, or else they'd have just kept pushing each other further and further to the limit until something even worse happened. The fact that Clara chose to fly off in her own TARDIS at the end and take the long way round back to Gallifrey was her own choice - the important thing was she couldn't do it with The Doctor, because the two of them together were the unstoppable Hybrid. It's bittersweet in that they both get to carry on exploring the wonders of time and space, they just have to do it apart.

It's a bit of a messy and convoluted tale, I'll give you that, but for me the sentiment won out and it wrapped things up nicely which is what I'll take away from the episode in the long run.

As for Christmas... yeah, I think you're pretty spot on in thinking this will be our last episode for at least a year, I can picture Christmas 2016 being the prologue/Episode 1 of Series 10, followed by a Q1 2017 launch for the rest of the run. I suppose that's why they're giving us Class next year in the meantime, help to fill the gap a bit.

[Doctor MK]

Apologies for the bump, but there's a couple of preview clips available for tomorrow's Christmas special:

Reviews seem to suggest The Husbands of River Song is pretty decent festive fare - here's hoping it's one to enjoy!

 

[The Tenth Doctor]

I was very surprised by today's episode. The first half was quite funny, I laughed quite a bit (which hasn't happened in a long while in Doctor Who). Then the second half came in and to be honest...

I gasped and bit my wrist when River said her diary was nearly full. I shook my head in horror when she said they were passing Darillium. I knew what was in that present. This was a fantastic way to nod to fans who knew River's fate. 

Bravo, I have a new favourite Christmas special (that isn't a regeneration episode).

[Doctor MK]

I hate to be "that guy" because most people seem to have enjoyed this year's special, but The Husbands of River Song left me feeling a little cold if I'm honest. It wasn't terrible, and it certainly wasn't on the same level as something like The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe, but for every chuckle and inspired moment I just found it to be a very hollow experience that I didn't feel particularly invested in. Typical Christmas fare then I suppose, and that's about the only reason it gets away with it.

Highlights: The Doctor acting like it was his first time in the TARDIS, the "irritable bowel" gag, the disgusting unzipping of the head in the restaurant and The Doctor's subsequent reaction, and of course the final scenes by the Singing Towers.

Capaldi and Kingston themselves were fine, the acting was solid and the jokes were plentiful, but the story itself just didn't do it for me. It started well and it ended well, but everything in between (especially on the cruiseliner) felt so throwaway and inconsequential I found it hard to stay interested. I thought the joke of River not recognising The Doctor went on for far too long (seriously, it's like 40 minutes in before she works it out!) and unfortunately very little else was there to carry the episode besides the performances. The Darillium finale was touching and it was nice to actually have it documented on screen, but the "and they both lived happily ever after" text at the end was a cheesy step too far for my tastes.

I dunno. I've never been massively keen on River Song and this did nothing to change my opinion, the whole thing just fell a little bit flat for me. Still, on the plus side, looks like that really should be her final appearance now...

[Salamander]

What I found interesting was how well the episode would have worked as Moffat's own swan song.  There were lots of little hints here and there that that was how he went into it - tying up his own old loose ends, musing on how everything has to come to an end eventually.  Even though Moffat's back for the next series, I still viewed it through that prism, and that made it work for me, funnily enough.

It was a really odd episode, though.  A frankly bizarre plot, barely Christmassy at all - you could easily lift the Christmas elements out and make it, I don't know, a Valentine's Day story - with a giant robot, some unexpectedly disgusting visual effects (maybe the Dream Crabs from last year played well with the audience?), a plot that zipped about all over the place.  Where it worked, it worked, but it strikes me as similar to Hell Bent in that the actual narrative of events on-screen often felt quite detached from the theme of the story, which was itself the real main event to the story.  I can imagine a lot of people walking away a little dazed.

[Covskin]

I enjoyed the episode for what it was, save the odd moment here or there. Whenever King Hydroflax was removed from his body though, all I could think was this:

[AlphaRuby]

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-01-22/doctor-who-showrunner-steven-moffat-quits-to-be-replaced-by-broadchurch-creator-chris-chibnall

Steven Moffat will be quitting the show after the 2017 season, and will be replaced by Chris Chibnall.

Honestly, I gave up on Moffat's era midway through the 2014 season, so hopefully Chibnall can give the series a fresh start.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Oh well. I always felt sorry for Moffat, so many people despised what he did and I thought most was quite good (Not 2014's though). Last year's were quite good really. So I hope the new guy is ready cause I read the start of this topic and we all were tired of Russell and wanted Moffat back then.

[TheGerkuman]

I don't get the decision.

Not the decision for Moffat to leave, it's time for him to go, but Chibnall? Sure his work on Broadchurch is good, but he was behind some middling episodes of Doctor Who and wrote most of the generally hated first series of Torchwood.

Also, it really is time for them to try having two co-head writers and seeing if that works.

[Salamander]

Chibnall's episodes on the second series of Torchwood were much better, though, and it's also worth noting that he worked on Sherlock with Moffat and Gatiss.  His subsequent work on Broadchurch may have put him in mind as a good showrunner even if his DW episodes have been hit-and-miss.

It's also worth noting, in case anyone didn't read the link itself, that this confirms that we're only getting a Christmas special this year, and Series 10 will be airing in Spring 2017 - so we won't be seeing anything from Chibnall until 2018.  In other words, it will have been quite a few years since he wrote any Who anyway, so hopefully he'll have had time to grow a bit more as a writer.

[Patticus]

I can't say I'm very impressed with his Who resume:

• "42" (2007)
• "The Hungry Earth" / "Cold Blood" (2010)
• Pond Life (2012)
• "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" (2012)
• "The Power of Three" (2012)
• "P.S." (2012) (Unrecorded)

It is a record of absolute mediocrity. Not necessarily bad, but not up there with what Moffat brought to the table during Davies' tenure as showrunner.

Pretty surprised Gatiss didn't get the gig, to be honest. He looked a lot more heir-apparenty than Chibnall.

[TheGerkuman]

But even Gatiss hasn't had a very good run.

I was still holding out for Paul Cornell (Father's Day, Human Nature/Family of Blood, Lots of Doctor Who books) + someone else, maybe Peter Harness (Kill the Moon, Zygon Invasion/Inversion, third season of Wallander) or Gareth Roberts (Shakespeare Code, The Lodger, a lot of the good Sarah Jane Adventures, Doctor Who books)

[Boomer]

49 minutes ago, TheGerkuman said:

or Gareth Roberts

Oh I would've loved this, considering we have the same name

[Gabz Girl]

So...I haven't watched Doctor Who since Matt Smith left, and even then I was only watching it from time to time (the Christmas specials and Doctor Who Anniversary episode). Steve Moffat is incredible when he writes one or two eps of the show but as a showrunner I don't think he's been that great, at least lately. =/ Me and my family used to watch Doctor Who every Saturday evening back in the day but when Peter Capaldi stepped in we lost all interest, especially my mum who just finds it confusing nowadays.

Now on one hand I'm very happy to hear that Steve Moffat is leaving and the show can start with a new, fresh direction. Hell maybe they can finally bring back characters like Captain Jack! On the other hand though, this Chibnall guy hasn't done any stand out episodes of Doctor Who which is slightly worrying. Nevertheless I'll give him a chance since he did do some good eps on Torchwood series two and Broadchurch. 

[Kevin]

Steve Moffat was a mixed bag in terms of episode quality. Some he nailed while others were meh. I'm indifferent about him leaving, but hopefully Gatiss will bring something fresh to the table in regards to the series itself.

[Big Panda]

EDIT: *sigh* forget it.

[PickleBrows]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned this yet. I mean it's probably more for the LEGO topic but this'll more than fit in here!

 

A multi-doctor adventure, but probably not the one you're expecting.

[SBR2]

Personally I love Moffatt and will never understand the hate. But he has been doing this for a collective ten years if you count his RTD era eps so maybe it is time.

[Failinhearts]

I should probably update y'all on my adventure to catch up on Doctor Who. I am busy watching Series 6 and some episodes sure do confuse me. I was able to follow the stories pretty well with Series 1-5, but Series 6 kinda lost me in some episodes. So yeah, not the biggest fan.

Hopefully Series 7 is better. As for Moffat leaving, I really should check on his more recent episodes with Series 8 and 9 before I can really give a solid opinion. As for his successor, all I've seen was 42 and the Hungry Earth two-parter. I enjoyed them, but they weren't as spectacular as Moffat's pre-showrunner episodes.

[PickleBrows]

If you've pre-ordered Series 9 from the BBC Shop then you might just have a dispatch email, I got mine through something before 9 AM.

Who knows, an early delivery could be on the cards now!

[PickleBrows]

Sorry for the double post but I think this'll be better off on its own.

As I said in the statuses my copy of Series 9 came early today. I've had one or two people ask me about what the set is like so I figured I'd post some photos so that those who want to see it can get a proper look outside of those stock photos. This is quite a big spoiler box so you know, fair warning and all that.

Spoiler

The set is definitely a fair bit bulkier than the Series 8 set although it's a little bit slimmer than the likes of the original Series 5 set.

I had no idea this was going to be included but it's a really nice little surprise. This little booklet is included and it gives you some trivia and behind the scenes info on each episode on the boxset. There's some nice info in here but I'll let this one stay as a surprise until you guys get your copies.

 

[Doctor MK]

That is one nice looking box set! Loving the images of The Doctor, Davros and Clara on the inside. The disc art looks pretty nifty too, and I love how each one looks pretty much like a Confession Dial (although I wonder how the DVD and Blu-Ray versions will differ, as the latter has 6 discs while the former has 7... I know it's exactly the same content, just going to be interesting to see how they split it all up!)

What's in the Series 9 Facts booklet? The cover design is such an awesome throwback to the classic series, Capaldi must be feeling in his element!

Damn I can't wait to get my copy now

EDIT: Holy shit this is the DVD menu?!

Epic animation sequence + Heaven Sent music = HOOK IT TO MY VEINS

EDIT 2: Just got my copy! Because Series 9 was possibly my favourite season to date, and because Twelve/Clara is one of my favourite pairings of the modern era, I opted for the beautiful Amazon exclusive steelbook, which surprisingly arrived today! Here's a look:

It's so pretty! 

The discs were actually the other way around to start with (Discs 4-6 on the left, Discs 1-3 on the right) but I like things to be in left-right order so I swapped them over  

[Salamander]

There may be new news coming soon; it seems that the new companion for Series 10 has been cast, and it could be someone Peter Capaldi has already worked with in the past (the original source isn't wholly unambiguous). (ignore the crossed-out bit, the source was updated to debunk that interpretation).