Doctor Who

So the Dalek shell was destroyed by a modified microwave oven? Did I get that right? And on that note, what exactly did the army do to defeat him? And how exactly was he able to reassemble himself from three pieces scattered around the globe? Like, if he had access to some tech, I'd say sure, he can do that, but the guy didn't, implying that it's just a thing Daleks, or at least advance scouts, can do.

Edited by WillKeaton on Jan 2nd 2019 at 10:44:30 AM

No, the Dalek's cobbled together shell was destroyed by a microwave oven (like it was previously been destroyed by a bonfire), but the Dalek itself survived. Until the Doctor threw it into a supernova, that is.

I'm shocked a Dalek shell could be destroyed by something as mundane as an bonfire.

One Strip! One Strip!

I mean they said that the battle raged on for a while, so I assumed it was already damaged a lot.

From what? The dust of the many people it vaporized? I mean, it's supposed to take some pretty heavy artillery to kill a Dalek unless you aim for the eyestalk, and they've shown was to get around that. In later years, they could fly, have shields, etc. What did these guys throw at him that allowed them to do that much damage?

One Strip! One Strip!

Maybe it's because this Dalek's casing was made out of Earth materials instead of whatever it's usually made out of? Or at least as far as I could tell.

That makes sense if we're talking about the Dalek's home-made armour that it used in 2019, but when it first arrived back in the 9th Century it was almost certainly wearing typical Skaro-made armour. Actually, how did he get here in the first place? Did he have a ship?

Edited by WillKeaton on Jan 2nd 2019 at 11:53:04 AM

They said he was a "recon scout" for the Daleks, so presumably he could have had a ship or flown there with its own rockets. As for how they defeated it in the 9th century, well, humans are resourceful. We didn't need to see the entire battle — and the narration stated that it was "one of the bloodiest battles" anyway, so it wasn't like the Dalek went down easily.

And now I'm all caught up. In the end, I don't think I have too many strong feelings over this episode. Despite my complaining, I was really more middling on the actual finale earlier. So probably, just from my perspective of coming at it now and with the actual finale being a bit lacklustre, it was just a less significant episode than I might have hoped it would be.

I did like scenes with Graham and Aaron where they discuss Grace's stuff and why Aaron didn't show up to her funeral; those were good moments in humanising a character who could've easily just been a standard deadbeat dad. The final turn to Ryan and his dad just being made up would be a little cheesy, however, so I hope that isn't just the end of that arc or it'd be silly. You can't make up for missing fatherhood just by microwaving a Dalek! Well, probably. Of course, they were a little disconnected from the whole Dalek plotline that was going on at the time, an all-to-easy problem to run into. Ah well.

All in all I am a little disappointed with series 11 as a whole. It hasn't reached the lower lows of some series, but it's also kind of failed, for me at least, to reach too many higher highs. Not that there haven't been some gems, but on the whole. I think if I have one last objection — not that anyone will ever really be able to get me to shut up — I wish the companions gave back a bit more. I tend to think companion-Doctor relationships are at their best where both can argue a bit with each other, and both can give out sort of sensible perspectives. I don't really remember many scenes where Graham, Yaz or Ryan really seriously challenge the Doctor? They're very quick to just sort of go 'ah alright', even if, as with the guns, they clearly don't feel so bidden to those rules themselves. Obviously the scenes with Graham in the finale are an example of a disagreement, but that's limited to there, and I don't think the episode really explores the confrontation between them that well. Between Ryan and Graham, eh, maybe a little better. But I think an ensemble cast could really be a better excuse to, you know, be able to juggle a few different perspectives, have a few more arguments about various dilemmas, etc.

I don't think Thirteen has done anything that the others would find objectionable, though. She hasn't had a moment like Nine in "Dalek" or Ten drowning the Racnoss in "The Runaway Bride." (I don't remember if Eleven ever had a moment like that either, but there was that time he couldn't save Rory...I guess.)

If anything, I'd say that that's the only thing missing from this Doctor — the moment where you can see them about to tip over the edge.

Best 13th Doctor episode so far.

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!

That's true, but I think more generally a lot of companions, like, even when the Doctor's not doing seriously ambiguous stuff there's a bit of give-and-take between the perspectives of Nine and Rose, or Amy, Eleventh and obviously Rory. They're not just passive travellers, and they do often have a lot of agency on their own.

I do think the step-away from the rage of the Doctor is interesting — and it's maybe the boldest move that Thirteen has made? Though right now I think the series could do better to explore that, and her sort of ardent almost-pacifism; Tim Shaw has been where it's come closest, but I don't think it really ever forces Thirteen to engage with the question of, hey, you let this guy go and here he is again, and you don't seem to want to directly do anything to him now. So, how are you going to deal with his threat?

Edited by Lavaeolus on Jan 2nd 2019 at 2:25:15 PM

Remember how they made a big deal of the Dalek getting cut into three pieces and the other two pieces were guarded for generations? Remember how this contributed nothing to the plot?

I remember that time I was cut into three pieces thousands of miles apart for thousands of years. Fortunately someone dug up my pinkie and here I am! It's a good thing nobody had heard of cremation or I would've been right fucked, let me tell you.

I sort of liked the cool mythology-ness of it and the way it helped the Dalek come off as being very fear-inspiring, but I'm not the only one who thought it was a bit weird, am I?

Edited by Lavaeolus on Jan 2nd 2019 at 2:49:42 PM

I mean, I was thinking 'the ability to survive being chopped into three pieces and then being buried for centuries sure isn't a power we've seen Daleks use before!'

I'm willing to accept that the Dalek was able to survive that. What really bugs me is that, as soon as one third of his body was exposed to UV light, it was able to bend spacetime and summon its other two pieces to itself and then reform into a single, complete, Dalek. Like, if he had access to some tech, I'd say, "Sure" fine, whatever," but he didn't, he just did it au natural.

Part of Chris Chibnall's writing issues is introducing things that go nowhere. I thought it was fine in this case, because it lent a good backstory to the Dalek, and we didn't really need to see the Dalek go off and find it's other pieces, but yeah.

Actually, I would have enjoyed it more if the Chekhov's Gun was introduced in the beginning, rather than awkwardly in the middle, although I did enjoy the Dalek shell being destroyed via microwave.

I always feel the BBC never quite knows how to do Army. Parking four tonner trucks that close and then just lining up? I get its brow cinematic but its like the repeat use of "at arms!" In the prior series. Gets my goat.

As for the tank.... that was a scimitar - hand crank turret so unsurprised it lost the rapid fir engagement. But they dont have the budget for proper armoured or military consulting probs. That and the writers seem to despise the military in a few episodes. That was more capaldi era though.

My issue with the recent series is the moral inconsistency. And the fact that the writers find themselves trapped with delivering a satisfying ending and a moral one in the time they have. A quick line on howntyey dropped the spiders on a low gravity world or a weird refuge could have solved it in that one for example.

Overall I did love the new years special. The dalek felt cruel and effective. The majority was excellently filmed. The whole series has to me been pretty good. I do hope they get a handle on the major moral message though. But that's been a constant throughout the whole of nu who.

And overall 'meh' episode, not The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe bad but then what is?

Just overall bare bones Doctor Who.

Only major problems are the idea of warriors with sword beating a Dalek, Dalek casing and force field generate enough heat to melt bullets and set someone on fire so one getting beaten by a bonfire is ludicrous.

And the UNIT thing was somehow the dumbest thing to come out of Chibnall's tenure, somehow beating space racist from the future, the mere fact that the governments knows there Zygons walking about is enough reason not to cancel it.

Counterpoint: people actually voted for Brexit.

Counter-counterpoint: That's not an argument.

You can't get Tories to get rid of Trident so getting rid of UNIT is just as unlikely if not more so considering they have whole VAULTS of alien tech to prove the existence and threat of an invasion. They'd simply divert more funds from social programs.

Ultimately a disrespectful treatment of a long long time Doctor Who staple all for a really dumb joke. Bet UNIT will be back in series 12 considering the internet back-draft to that plot point if there's anyone still watching.

Edited by Archivist10 on Jan 4th 2019 at 11:15:17 AM

Yes, it is. People are stupid. People in government are even stupider. You might think "But they have proof of alien invasions!" but as the woman in the call center stated, "When was the last time an alien invasion happened?" and if you point out "They have all this tech from alien invasions" then I'd also point out that they keep that tech out of the hands of any government.

Again: people are stupid. People in government are even stupider.

Not really, it was a pretty funny joke. And it wasn't disrespectful of UNIT at all, it was, in fact, making fun of Brexit and austerity and the British government, not UNIT. To all the fans who are shouting "But the government is shooting themselves in the foot then," well, that's the point.

Edited by alliterator on Jan 4th 2019 at 3:18:14 AM

When WAS the last alien invasion?

Finally finished watching all of Series 11. This Series was more than anything else a mixed bag. While there were some standout stories, most of them were done by the other writers. Whenever Chibnall was at the helm, the results tended to be considerably more dubious. (Though I did like Ghost Monument and The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos.) None of his stories were terrible or even that bad, but I don't know if I'd call most of them good.

That said, I did appreciate what the Series was going for. As a whole, it was deliberately trying to scale things back to be more like the Classic Series while still keeping the Quality of Life enhancements from Nu-Who. The tone is also more serious and grounded than the grandiose and humorous Series' of yesteryear, and while there's still Character Development, it's dialed back a bit in favor of more focus on the plot and adventure. I also enjoyed the Companions, Graham especially, though Yaz could've used a bit more focus.

The best thing about this Series though is the Doctor herself. Jodie may not be my favourite Doctor, but she's still one of the most fun. She's energetic, bouncy, and just a touch manic while still being one of the kinder and more compassionate Doctors, and you can sense her sheer joy and thrill at exploring the universe dripping from every pore. Oh, and no Timewar baggage. (Which is another way it's like the Classic Series.) Jodie is brilliant. There are certaintly some things about this Series that need tuning up, but Jodie isn't one of them. If there's anything worth watching it for, it's her.

Edited by kkhohoho on Jan 4th 2019 at 5:39:26 AM

The Monk invasion during "The Pyramid at the End of the World"/"The Lie of the Land." But even then, we saw that people were forgetting about quickly.

I completely agree about Jodie. She's quickly becoming one of my favorite Doctors. (Right now it goes: Nine - Thirteen - Ten - Twelve - Eleven.)

Edited by alliterator on Jan 4th 2019 at 3:54:37 AM