Under The Lake/Before The Flood

[poliphilo]

I like it that two-parters are becoming the norm. I've always thought 40 minutes just wasn't long enough. And it's nice to have a cliff-hanger.

Under the Lake/Before the Flood was old-style Who. Weird situation with monsters- Doctor turns up- lots of running around- Doctor does something clever. In this instance it was something mind-bendingly clever. I don't really understand what was supposed to be going-on, but I like to think Toby Whitehouse does

I hadn't recognised Paul Kaye under all that make-up. He's always good value.

I think I rather imprinted on David Tennant's Doctor- and this led me to be unfair to his successors. I need to move on. I was quite snippy about Matt Smith when he was in office but now think of him fondly.  Bow ties are cool after all.  Capaldi is the least lovable of the recent Doctors but that's not a bad thing- not a bad thing at all. The Doctor is an alien; we mustn't lose sight of that.

Is it my imagination or is Capaldi deliberately channelling Tom Baker? There's something about the way he lopes...

Comments

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

In the intro to "Before the Flood," Capaldi tells you to Google The Bootstrap Paradox. Doing that may help you sort out the plot. It certainly helped me.

I am liking the Capaldi doctor -- abrasive and socially clueless -- a whole lot. I don't think he's channeling any particular Doctor. I think he likes them all.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I like what Capaldi is doing with the role. There was a danger with Tennant and then Smith that the Doctor was becoming cuddly.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

I will admire the actors for what they contributed to the role as the Doctor. But even as a fangirl of David Tennant I thought the Doctor was getting a "bachelor vibe". He is an alien. I thought it would stop with Matt Smith, then there was the flirting....

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Then there was the whole River Song thing. Is the Doctor a married man or what? I thought it worked with Tennant but not with Smith. Smith was sort of sexless in the role and shouldn't have been lumbered with that particular story line.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

The Doctor is suppose to be asexual right?. I can't agree on how the show perceives marriage. Queen Liz, Marilyn Monroe, then River Song. Tennant was stuck with the "Rose is my true love, but I can't say it" story line. How far did he go with Queen Liz?. It just look like he was on the rebound from losing Donna. They both have red hair.

On one hand the Eleventh Doctor did protest more when he was propositioned, but still had a tendency to flirt in that "tongue in cheek" kind of way. For example, In "The Crimson Horror". The way he said Jenny's name before kissed her.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The first eight Doctors steered clear of romance- which created a presumption of asexuality- but don't forget that William Hartnell's Doctor had a granddaughter.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Maybe I should have phrased it differently. I Knew the Doctor had a wife, kids and a granddaughter. The Tenth Doctor mentioned the latter once to Rose and that was it. I thought it was like an arranged marriage. That Time lords aren't as interested with having sex compared to humans. That was why the romance angle with Rose, didn't sit well with me. The Doctor is meant to be a teacher to his champions. In Donna's case it was about supporting each other as grown up friends do.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The Doctor's sexuality remains somewhat mysterious- and that, I think, is how it should be. He is, after all, a
member of a highly advanced alien species. His otherness is part of his charm.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

David Tennant said the Doctor is asexual but he also isn't a monk so he does notice when someone is "attractive".

Doctor Who is a rarity compared to other shows where it's suppose to be a continuation from old who to new who, even with the hiatus it had. However the dynamics of what the show was about became altered after the Doctor went through the Time war.

Theres a message in the show that the Doctor depends on his champions more. The Doctor is more sexualised. I heard they stopped it with Peter Capaldi because he insisted on it.Although shows are more explicit then they were a few decades ago. Whats consistent is that the female champions are still sexualised in some way.

The point I want to make is I'd preferred it when the Doctor was impressed by a persons intelligence then being propositioned. I'm sorry if I'm getting too comprehensive.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

From Into The Dalek: :-)

Doctor: This is Clara. Not my assistant, she’s, uh, some other word.

Clara: I’m his carer.

Doctor: Yeah, my carer, she cares so I don’t have to.

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

I'm happy you're beginning to warm to him. ^_^ I'm entirely fine with a comparatively abrasive Doctor - it's rather a departure from other recent incarnations, true, but no less valid, especially considering his "origins", with William Hartnell. And much as I'm fine with elements of romance, that was becoming a bit overdone at points, especially with Rose.

(And another bonus of the current outing - it's canon that Time Lords can indeed switch gender! Not that that was ever unreasonable, but the howls of protest at some of the female candidates being put forward by the fandom were rather amusing, as if someone could perfectly easily regenerate at a cellular level, but becoming female? Preposterous! =:)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'd welcome a female Doctor.

I wonder whether the Master's sex-change was a way of testing the water.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

"And much as I'm fine with elements of romance, that was becoming a bit overdone at points, especially with Rose."

Agree. The Rusty era was dominated by Rose, even when she left. I did like her at the beginning with the Ninth Doctor.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I liked Rose (or perhaps I liked Billie Piper) but I thought that storyline went over the top. Its resolution- with Rose being paired off with the Doctor clone- was downright creepy.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

"I liked Rose (or perhaps I liked Billie Piper) but I thought that story line went over the top. Its resolution- with Rose being paired off with the Doctor clone- was downright creepy."

Logically it was not necessary for Rusty to do that. I'd rather Rose had moved on. It just looked like the clone was created just to go "domestic" for her. At Donna's expense too.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Is it my imagination or is Capaldi deliberately channeling Tom Baker? There's something about the way he lopes...

Sometimes he sounds like Tom Baker to me. Last series his mannerisms reminded me of Adrian "Monk".

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We know Capaldi was a huge schoolboy fan of the show.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

I didn't watch the old series when I was growing up. I decided to watch all of the Fourth Doctor episodes after watching the new series to make comparisons. I'm content with the Twelfth Doctor not talking as fast as he did before.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm old enough to have been around- and a member of the target audience- when the show first aired in 1963.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

I caught part of the old series before it was cancelled. I show a bit of the reruns here and there but I couldn't really grasp the concept of the show. I was too busy watching other children programs as a kid.

[basefinder.livejournal.com]

Oops, I forgot to watch Doctor Who. My enthusiasm for Capaldi has waned, after some initial enjoyment. Maybe I'll catch this latest episode another time, since it sounds good.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

My enthusiasm for Capaldi seems to be warming up. Actually I think it mainly has to do with the writing- and I liked this latest two-parter quite a lot.