Post by constonks on Jan 14, 2022 2:41:29 GMT
It's the thirteenth of the month and this year I'm going to go through Jodie's stuff (including books, comics, etc.) before the regeneration!
That means starting with Twice Upon a Time. I gotta say, the first time I watched this episode, I thought it was okay. This time I loved it, I really did.
Here's nine little things about it before I continue into Jodie's first few stories:
1. Yes, I have the same complaint everyone has about this episode - the First Doctor gets a few lines that make him out to be a lot more sexist/archaic than he actually was. That's just Moffat being flippant, which is his usual brand of course, but he does miss the mark a few times. BUT every other line is great. The battle of good and evil speech with Bill, all the swipes at the Twelfth Doctor's fashion and gadgets, his admission of fear, his apology to the captain at the end...
2. Bill reminds me so much of Ace (in both her personality and her relationship with the Doctor) and she deserved another season.
3. Rusty and the Doctor's interaction in this episode makes me feel like they clashed at some point AFTER Into the Dalek. They didn't leave that on bad terms, after all, and now Rusty's trying to shoot him. So what happened? Your move, Big Finish...
4. This is Moffat's swansong - so we get some stuff to tie it all together - "That's what it means to be a Doctor of War." And of course, it's not said, but... just this once, everybody lives. Even the dead people (sort of).
5. And it's Murray Gold's swansong - and his most recognizable piece - I Am The Doctor - plays prominently (to great effect IMO) in the "Doctor slideshow" - plus we get a take on "vale decem", a return of the "Lethbridge-Stewart" theme, Capaldi's original four-note theme underpinning the Ypres scene.
6. Speaking of Lethbridge-Stewarts, the reveal - complete with the motif and Capaldi's reaction - lovely. Made me misty and the truce happening right after it broke me completely.
7. I love that Bill and Nardole admit that the Doctor has every right to give up if he wants. They let it be his choice. And he still doesn't determine whether he's going to live until he gets back to the TARDIS, which makes the whole ending hit way harder.
8. Clara is so noticably green-screened in from the set of Victoria, which is too bad (I would have been great to see the three companions side by side) but I'm glad they got Jenna to film the scene. She had to be there.
9. The "aw brilliant" makes me smile, just like "kidneys" and "new teeth" and "legs" and "you were expecting someone else?!" before it. And the transition out of the Moffat era gets to mirror the transition into it. Tennant says a single line, Smith gives a long speech / Capaldi gives a long speech, Whitaker says a single line. Though that may just be that Moffat likes writing long speeches!
---
Below the spoiler are the rest of the stories I'll be checking out (some for the first time) in the next little while - with another set starting on the 13th of February (though we'll see if I follow through with this!!):
1. Twice Upon a Time
2. The Many Lives of Doctor Who (Titan comic)
3. Things She Thought While Falling (Lockdown short story)
4. The Woman Who Fell to Earth
5. The Ghost Monument
6. The Warmonger (DWM comic)
7. Rosa
8. Chasing the Dawn (short story from Star Tales)
9. Arachnids in the UK
10. That's All Right, Mama (short story from Star Tales)
That means starting with Twice Upon a Time. I gotta say, the first time I watched this episode, I thought it was okay. This time I loved it, I really did.
Here's nine little things about it before I continue into Jodie's first few stories:
1. Yes, I have the same complaint everyone has about this episode - the First Doctor gets a few lines that make him out to be a lot more sexist/archaic than he actually was. That's just Moffat being flippant, which is his usual brand of course, but he does miss the mark a few times. BUT every other line is great. The battle of good and evil speech with Bill, all the swipes at the Twelfth Doctor's fashion and gadgets, his admission of fear, his apology to the captain at the end...
2. Bill reminds me so much of Ace (in both her personality and her relationship with the Doctor) and she deserved another season.
3. Rusty and the Doctor's interaction in this episode makes me feel like they clashed at some point AFTER Into the Dalek. They didn't leave that on bad terms, after all, and now Rusty's trying to shoot him. So what happened? Your move, Big Finish...
4. This is Moffat's swansong - so we get some stuff to tie it all together - "That's what it means to be a Doctor of War." And of course, it's not said, but... just this once, everybody lives. Even the dead people (sort of).
5. And it's Murray Gold's swansong - and his most recognizable piece - I Am The Doctor - plays prominently (to great effect IMO) in the "Doctor slideshow" - plus we get a take on "vale decem", a return of the "Lethbridge-Stewart" theme, Capaldi's original four-note theme underpinning the Ypres scene.
6. Speaking of Lethbridge-Stewarts, the reveal - complete with the motif and Capaldi's reaction - lovely. Made me misty and the truce happening right after it broke me completely.
7. I love that Bill and Nardole admit that the Doctor has every right to give up if he wants. They let it be his choice. And he still doesn't determine whether he's going to live until he gets back to the TARDIS, which makes the whole ending hit way harder.
8. Clara is so noticably green-screened in from the set of Victoria, which is too bad (I would have been great to see the three companions side by side) but I'm glad they got Jenna to film the scene. She had to be there.
9. The "aw brilliant" makes me smile, just like "kidneys" and "new teeth" and "legs" and "you were expecting someone else?!" before it. And the transition out of the Moffat era gets to mirror the transition into it. Tennant says a single line, Smith gives a long speech / Capaldi gives a long speech, Whitaker says a single line. Though that may just be that Moffat likes writing long speeches!
---
Below the spoiler are the rest of the stories I'll be checking out (some for the first time) in the next little while - with another set starting on the 13th of February (though we'll see if I follow through with this!!):
3. Things She Thought While Falling (Lockdown short story)
4. The Woman Who Fell to Earth
5. The Ghost Monument
6. The Warmonger (DWM comic)
7. Rosa
8. Chasing the Dawn (short story from Star Tales)
9. Arachnids in the UK
10. That's All Right, Mama (short story from Star Tales)