New Doctor Who

Actually, the scene stinks on its own without any 'help' from the dialogue. Just the visual image of the Doctor carrying the torch is cringe inducing. Dialogue is like the twist of the knife that finishes it off.

 

TROA was more than a nodding homage to George Lucas' Mos Eisley Spaceport whereas Cold War owes quite a bit to the Alien franchise. Preferred the latter though.

 

Like a lot of Moffat's productions it was fun while it was being watched but it breaks apart on post-viewing analysis. Still, I liked it, give it a 7.5 out of 10.

 

...until the last two minutes which got too 'happy ending-y' for me.

 

No, I mean things like:

The professor appears to be in his mid-40's. The setting is 1974, so he was born around 1930. He was a veteran of a war, "espionage behind enemy lines". Ummm...which war would that be?

Who wrote the words "Help Me" on the stairway wall?

Why does the simple act of outlining a cold spot on the floor cause the portal to the pocket universe to appear?

What caused the monsters and the time-traveler to interact and cause their predicament?

Why did the Doctor and Clara appear at the manor, anyway?

How does the Doctor know the precise spot to appear at random times in Earth's past in order to snap a picture of the time-traveler?

Recording instruments, i.e. cameras, won't work unless there is an empath nearby. Inside the manor, that would be Emma. Who is the empath when the Doctor goes on his photography junket? The Tardis? The Doctor?

If the monster in the pocket universe is pining away for it's lost love in the manor why does it vocalize sinister human laughing sounds?

Since the doctor went millions of years into Earth's past and took a photo of the time-traveler, that means the monster in Earth's universe has been stranded there for.... millions of years?

The headband thingy with the blue crystal from Metebelis 3 is worn by Emma and is used to augment her psychic powers and hold the portal open. There is a power cord connected from the headband to inside the Tardis. So why does the headband work when the Tardis jumps into the pocket universe? (Heckuva long extension cord, isn't it?)

Local manifestation of the portal are below zero temperatures. Yet the Doctor is unharmed by clinging to the outside of the Tardis when crossing over between universes. Really?

Would the Doctor really put the Tardis at risk a second time in order to unite the two monsters? (BTW, this love conquers all theme is really getting trite.)

Was it really necessary to have the time-traveler be in the future family tree of the professor and Emma?

What does the title "Hide" have anything to do with the story?

 

Yes, the love story themes are getting old. So is the magic wand, er, the sonic screwdriver.

Cold War was a much needed departure into a more trad story, which I enjoyed.

 

Now, now. Let's not forget that, even from the beginning, the Doctor was never meant as "serious" sci-fi; more of a children's story.

And let's face it: He may be over 1,000 years old now, but he's still the rebellious child that stole a TARDIS and set out for adventure....

The only question I have is: How do we get from where we are to where Ms. Oswald becomes a Dalek on a planet full of mad Daleks? And for that, I'll continue to watch the journey.

What do y'all think? Will this be the last doctor, with a title for the 50th anniversary special that indicates we'll finally get his true name?

(in other words, has the series run out of steam again?)

 

I don't think this will be the last Doctor. Has the series run out of steam again? I haven't checked the ratings but I presume they are still fairly strong. I know Doctor Who is the highest rated show on BBC America. If it is winding down the cure is usually a regeneration along with a new producer and writers.

I think the 44 minute format is too limiting. Just about every story in series 7 could have used another 5 minutes or so to fill out the plot. Certainly all those questions I listed about "Hide" could have been answered with another 5 minutes. I wish they would go to a 50 minute program length.

 

The timing of commercials is problematic as well. When I was in England back in the early 90's, I thought it pretty novel that they didn't show commercials during the program. Don't know if they still do it that way, but it would certainly help the flow of the show.

 

Although I get BBC America via cable my "not we's" (kids) can't wait until 8:00, do I torrent the show, hence no commercials. I remember them being an annoyance when the show was on Sy-Fy network.

 

It must be the monster in the manor. But why/how write it out in English?

So if you draw a circle, a two-dimension construct, on the interface of a three (four?) dimensional pocket universe with our universe it suddenly and quite conveniently pops open a portal? A couple lines of dialogue by the Doctor explaining why this happens would have been helpful.

Well, yes, that's obvious. But how?

Did the explanation occur during the incessant sound amplified whining of the sonic screwdriver or during the incessant overly amplified sound track? Because I missed it.

OK, fair enough, but that presumes the Tardis can make pinpoint time jumps. When did she gain that ability?

It's likely the Tardis, but again, one little line of dialogue would have been helpful.

That's rich!

The woman time-traveler has only been stranded for a short while, but we know there is a differential in the pace of time passing between the pocket universe and our universe. So when the Doctor visited many points in time in earth's past, including millions of years, only minutes in the pocket universe had elapsed. However, the monster inside the manor on earth must have endured being stranded for millenia.

But we know he is vulnerable to heat, cold, suffocation, bullets, etc. but I'll concede this one.

Wasn't the quote, "if the Tardis is in the pocket universe for a minute or so it will burn her heart out"? So I find it a bit flippant that the Doctor would rescue the monster so it could be reunited with its love. Essentially he is putting his love, the Tardis, at risk for this monster couple.

I do enjoy the show, but I don't like lazy, sloppy scripts. Including this plot point seems to have been done to hammer home the point that the professor and Emma MUST get together because this time-traveling woman is their progeny, so just drop the resistance to expressing your mutual attraction and start copulating already! However, there were plenty of subtle hints that they would end up together, so I felt it was unnecessary.

Well, don't you think it's useful to the production of the story to have the title relate to the plot? I mean:

Asylum of the Daleks
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship[!]
The Snowmen
Bells of St. John
Rings of Akhaten
Cold War

all make sense, then there's "Hide". <Tennant voice> "What?, WHAT?"

Wasn't his name revealed in the classic series (third Doc? Monster of Peladon?) in written down form but it was just a mash-up of unpronounceable letters?

Some of my complaints could have been addressed with a couple of lines of dialogue. How did the time-traveler and the monsters happen to "collide" with each other and why was one participant shunted off to Earth while the others stuck in the pocket universe? A simple three or four lines of dialogue would have provided the backstory.

What is the deal with references to the number eleven in recent stories? We Bells we had Clara telling a kid that "chapter eleven is the best chapter in the book, you'll cry your eyes out" and in Hide we hear, "whiskey is the eleventh most disgusting thing ever invented?" We are on the eleventh Doctor. Is the references to the number eleven some in-joke among the writers?

 

It's still commercial-free; I agree with the comment that it's too short but I think the BBC feel they need to keep it that way so that they can syndicate it to stations who do have them and hence have a hour-long show,

 

Any one catch the 1893 reference to a modern day directional device in Crimson Horror last night? I didn't at first, but when I re-watched it a little while ago, I did. Pretty funny.

Also, there was a tip of that hat to a 5th Doctor companion.

Not a bad episode. There have certainly been worse.