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Post by doctorkernow on May 28, 2017 6:48:27 GMT
Hello again.
Well world disaster averted again. Wait a minute, the Monks are now in charge.
Watching this was a bit like watching Casualty you knew when something bad was going to happen and so Mrs Kernow and I were able to predict 9/10ths of the plot.
There were some plot holes particularly in the world's most shoddy biological hazards laboratory. I liked the two actors playing the scientists though.
The monks were still creepy , but I found the wanting to be loved a bit odd perhaps this will be explored next time.
As usual the leads were brill. That last five minutes when we were shouting at the screen "No Bill, don't do it!" were excellent.
We enjoyed the episode as a whole. Music again excellent really adding to the whole doom ridden atmosphere. For me, Extremis was the better of the two episodes. However next week, let's hope we're in fifth gear and get a thrilling final episode.
I'm wondering if Sim's Master is lurking behind it all. Maybe not...who knows?
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Post by doctorkernow on May 28, 2017 7:02:13 GMT
Thanks shutupbanks for posting this, I've just read the article. Scary's not the word how about terrifying! As a gardener, I know that good soil is vital to producing good veg. I try to garden organically to encourage nature in our garden. However, some of these scientists are so arrogant in the way they conduct research in GM food. They don't seem to realise that if they make a mistake then its goodbye life as we know it. Science is a powerful tool, but we must use it wisely as science fiction has constantly pointed out since its beginning.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2017 7:07:42 GMT
Yet another play-by-play as I watch.
Whoa, hey, we've got a subplot with a member of the supporting cast.
"What are you doing?" "Oh, updating him." Watching his back, which honestly is a good idea for first contact with an enormous prismatic structure anyway.
I do enjoy it when stories put the "United" into United Nations.
And as always, it just takes one small mistake.
Ah... They're not monks. They're technological vaticinators. The carrion oracles.
"Power must consent." A bit of the Sou(ou)shi to these people, didn't work out particularly well for the Venusians.
I like that. It's the Chinese general who steps forward first and chooses not to fight. Without hesitation.
Truth be told, plague as the foremost existential fear is a pretty recent phenomenon. It was interesting discussing a Ray Bradbury short story about the end of the world because there was a lot of ambiguity surrounding what exactly had wiped out the States. Those who didn't research the date of publication said it was a disease, but those who did snap to atomic war instead. Just goes to show, even if fear is constant, the nature of that fear isn't.
There it is. The fundamental weakness of the human species. The death of one is horrific, the death of billions, we just can't see.
Another solid episode. Not as strong as the story that kicked off this arc since many characters exist purely for the sake of the plot (the Irish Cowboy effect), but I'm definitely looking forward to what The Lie of the Land has to offer. I'm a sucker for dystopias and British television has always excelled at them.
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Post by Timelord007 on May 28, 2017 7:16:22 GMT
Amazing episode, loving this arc, Capaldi just smashing it this season & Bills just awesome & so likeable.
This is dark gritty Doctor Who & i love it.
8/10
If Magnus was here he'd say the monks are the war chief lol.
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Post by doctorkernow on May 28, 2017 7:21:35 GMT
Hello again.
Just spotted this from Morgan Jeffery's review on Digital Spy.
"...while the Pyramid gimmick is attention-grabbing, it never really goes anywhere. (The Monks' craft could have been disguised as a Waitrose for all the difference it'd make to the plot.)"
The Waitrose at the End of the World?
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2017 7:25:36 GMT
Thanks shutupbanks for posting this, I've just read the article. Scary's not the word how about terrifying! As a gardener, I know that good soil is vital to producing good veg. I try to garden organically to encourage nature in our garden. However, some of these scientists are so arrogant in the way they conduct research in GM food. They don't seem to realise that if they make a mistake then its goodbye life as we know it. Science is a powerful tool, but we must use it wisely as science fiction has constantly pointed out since its beginning. It's pretty frightening stuff, but bear in mind this isn't even counting a disease like anthrax which has been weaponised by the military since the 1910s. Manufactured exclusively for the purpose of wiping out human population centres. Animal feed pellets injected with anthrax were expected to be used against German livestock during the Second World War, killing anyone who came in contact with the contaminated meat. It's been used as recently as 2001 with the infected letters put through the United States postal system. The Andromeda Strain also points out the possibility of bacterium coming from space on cosmic debris. A probe that fails to burn up in the atmosphere or an asteroid that impacts just outside New York, Beijing, St. Petersburg, Sydney... It doesn't even have to be a terrestrial creation in order to be a threat. Both on and above the Earth, it's a chillingly real danger. Honestly, my fear is that someone gets crazy enough to do it on purpose.
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Post by relativetime on May 28, 2017 7:53:06 GMT
Not a single episode this season has been bad so far. This episode keeps that quality up. The pacing is a little different from the one-parters and two-parters we're familiar with, but as the middle part of an ongoing story, I thought this was just right. It's funny how a lot of people believed this season would be more light-hearted and geared more toward younger audiences when, in reality, this season has been one of the darker seasons of New Who so far.
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Post by acousticwolf on May 28, 2017 8:19:07 GMT
Think I'm going to have watch all the linking stories together to get the best out of them. Disappointed that the Doctor's blindness turned out to just be a plot device.
Still loving Bill but seriously? It took how long for her to notice something wrong with the Doctor?
Eating my words about Matt Lucas, he's great and Nardole is a great addition.
Here's hoping next week doesn't descend into pantomime.
Cheers
Tony
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2017 8:46:32 GMT
Last night's Doctor Who picked up 4.01 million viewers, behind both the FA Cup Final, which had 7.88 million, and Britain's Got Talent, which charmed 8.38 million. Slightly better for Doctor Who that I tought, ratings wise: I thought it was going to slip under 4 million.
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Post by nucleusofswarm on May 28, 2017 8:55:53 GMT
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on May 28, 2017 9:06:54 GMT
It was ok, but only just.... why all this nonsense about the doctor being president again, I don't see how it's 'nonsense'. If governments and secret organisations around the world were in communication with a friendly alien being who has helped protect the Earth numerous times, I think it makes complete sense that they would make him the President of the Earth at times of crisis. I disagree. Peter Capaldi was at his best in this episode.
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on May 28, 2017 9:08:55 GMT
Hello again. Well world disaster averted again. Wait a minute, the Monks are now in charge. Watching this was a bit like watching Casualty you knew when something bad was going to happen and so Mrs Kernow and I were able to predict 9/10ths of the plot. There were some plot holes particularly in the world's most shoddy biological hazards laboratory. I liked the two actors playing the scientists though. The monks were still creepy , but I found the wanting to be loved a bit odd perhaps this will be explored next time. As usual the leads were brill. That last five minutes when we were shouting at the screen "No Bill, don't do it!" were excellent. We enjoyed the episode as a whole. Music again excellent really adding to the whole doom ridden atmosphere. For me, Extremis was the better of the two episodes. However next week, let's hope we're in fifth gear and get a thrilling final episode. I'm wondering if Sim's Master is lurking behind it all. Maybe not...who knows? If he was, I'm sure he'd have given them consent whilst he was Harold Saxon in 2007.
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on May 28, 2017 9:10:57 GMT
Hello again. Just spotted this from Morgan Jeffery's review on Digital Spy. "...while the Pyramid gimmick is attention-grabbing, it never really goes anywhere. (The Monks' craft could have been disguised as a Waitrose for all the difference it'd make to the plot.)" The Waitrose at the End of the World? Surely the point of making it a pyramid was to attract the attention of the three most powerful countries?
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on May 28, 2017 9:13:40 GMT
Last night's Doctor Who picked up 4.01 million viewers, behind both the FA Cup Final, which had 7.88 million, and Britain's Got Talent, which charmed 8.38 million. Slightly better for Doctor Who that I tought, ratings wise: I thought it was going to slip under 4 million. Doctor Who is holding up well. It's showing that audiences are enjoying the show. I expect Series 11 to be higher though with Chris Chibnall in charge.
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Post by muckypup on May 28, 2017 9:25:40 GMT
It was ok, but only just.... why all this nonsense about the doctor being president again, I don't see how it's 'nonsense'. If governments and secret organisations around the world were in communication with a friendly alien being who has helped protect the Earth numerous times, I think it makes complete sense that they would make him the President of the Earth at times of crisis. I disagree. Peter Capaldi was at his best in this episode. Glad you are enjoying it, thats not to say I am not, just not this story. i really have a problem with the "president" stuff, It seems to go against everything the doctor is. The doctor has always been the man in the background working it all out, not the president! It feels a lazy shortcut to get the doctor to the problem with out having a credible story to get him there. and I am afraid we will have to agree to disagree on capaldi, I am sure you will be in the winning camp with people that like him, but I don't think he has been good at all. Moments of greatness but I am not convinced by his acting style. He has also been hampered by some of the worst writing & stories in its 50+ year history. Still my least liked doctor, but has been better this series, bill has brought the best of him out.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2017 9:41:09 GMT
i really have a problem with the "president" stuff, It seems to go against everything the doctor is. The doctor has always been the man in the background working it all out, not the president! It feels a lazy shortcut to get the doctor to the problem without having a credible story to get him there. Actually speaking of shortcuts, where was UNIT during all of this? You know... The organisation that was developed out of the United Kingdom and incorporated Germans, Japanese, French, Indian, Polish and a variety of other nationalities under one banner? I wouldn't bring it up, except that the implication seems to be that the American, Russian and Chinese detachments are all from their respective national militaries. I have difficulty believing the President of the Earth idea. Without a world government, it seems at best, a token role like President of the Lancashire Yacht Club or, at worst, an autocratic position that no one would agree to establish in the first place. Not even if it was the Doctor. I know there's a desire not to have him turn up as repeatedly as a scientific advisor out of necessity, but wasn't this why the psychic paper was created?
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Post by sherlock on May 28, 2017 9:50:39 GMT
i really have a problem with the "president" stuff, It seems to go against everything the doctor is. The doctor has always been the man in the background working it all out, not the president! It feels a lazy shortcut to get the doctor to the problem without having a credible story to get him there. Actually speaking of shortcuts, where was UNIT during all of this? You know... The organisation that was developed out of the United Kingdom and incorporated Germans, Japanese, French, Indian, Polish and a variety of other nationalities under one banner? I wouldn't bring it up, except that the implication seems to be that the American, Russian and Chinese detachments are all from their respective national militaries. I have difficulty believing the President of the Earth idea. Without a world government, it seems at best, a token role like President of the Lancashire Yacht Club or, at worst, an autocratic position that no one would agree to establish in the first place. Not even if it was the Doctor. I know there's a desire not to have him turn up as repeatedly as a scientific advisor out of necessity, but wasn't this why the psychic paper was created? Presumably since it was such a tense situation around the pyramid the UN didn't want to risk sending in another paramilitary group so used the peacekeepers already present. I have difficulty with with the President of Earth notion. I mean they seriously got every country to agree that? It is literally just a plot device to give the Doctor authority and move him to the story quickly.
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Post by acousticwolf on May 28, 2017 9:50:52 GMT
A question Mrs Acousticwolf posed. How did the Monks fix the Doctor's blindness? It's all part of the magic ...
Cheers
Tony
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2017 9:57:01 GMT
Actually speaking of shortcuts, where was UNIT during all of this? You know... The organisation that was developed out of the United Kingdom and incorporated Germans, Japanese, French, Indian, Polish and a variety of other nationalities under one banner? I wouldn't bring it up, except that the implication seems to be that the American, Russian and Chinese detachments are all from their respective national militaries. I have difficulty believing the President of the Earth idea. Without a world government, it seems at best, a token role like President of the Lancashire Yacht Club or, at worst, an autocratic position that no one would agree to establish in the first place. Not even if it was the Doctor. I know there's a desire not to have him turn up as repeatedly as a scientific advisor out of necessity, but wasn't this why the psychic paper was created? Presumably since it was such a tense situation around the pyramid the UN didn't want to risk sending in another paramilitary group so used the peacekeepers already present. I have difficulty with the President of Earth notion. I mean they seriously got every country to agree that? It is literally just a plot device to give the Doctor authority and move him to the story quickly. That works. I'd have liked a line of dialogue acknowledging it though. Similar to why the Doctor hasn't tried to repair his eyesight with other instruments before Extremis; i.e. Gallifreyan eyes are hard to repair. I know right? Which again, I thought we already had one. One which keeps popping out of the woodwork when people remember we have it. In this story, we had the Secretary-General of the UN. Why not have him request the Doctor based on his previous work with the UN? His CV speaks for itself, no title needed.
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Post by mark687 on May 28, 2017 10:15:23 GMT
It was ok, but only just.... why all this nonsense about the doctor being president again, capaldis is dropping again in my estimation, piss poor acting when he was talking to bill over the intercom...in fact the lab stuff was not great at all. The nardole getting sick, felt like a big chunk was cut The plus side I really like Bill more and more, surprisingly she is turn out to be my favourite companion of the new series The monks were suitably creepy but worked much better than last week, I wonder if we will get a big reveal as to who they are or is it just going to be another silence and be a damp squib. But watching it I got the feeling I had seen it all before, last seasons zygon episode did this world in peril stuff much better. Not great but certainly better than last weeks, not sure next weeks looks any better....I think I am going to be glad to see the back of this story. There's nothing wrong with it per say, the 3 leads are great, but its just not engaging me as a story arc.
It keeps reminding me of Sound of Drums Last of the Timelords if they'd done it in the 60s.
Regards
mark687
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