We've had a dozen threads but never one collective thread. And what good timing, starting this AFTER the season just went on hiatus. I was still so depressed about the last episode I decided to start this.

The obsession of my youth, a show I couldn't actually believe came back. I've always had slightly mixed emotions on the return but when it's good it gets right to your heart more than almost anything else in entertainment can. And when the right companion comes along, I become very attached (see my breaking my 3 and a half year avatar allergy).

I wish Amy and Rory had been able to just leave of their own volition, but barring that, the last scenes were heartbreaking and harrowingly acted by everyone involved, especially underrated Matt Smith, probably the actor who has best captured the Doctor's spirit since the 70s.

I loved Jenna Louise Coleman on Emmerdale and her first episode showed promise. I do wonder how they will bring that character back. If it's the same characters, before her death, then the Doctor will have to spend all his time not telling her or River he saw them die. Awkward.

And then Doctor Who fandom always has first rate vids. For example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bJpfFLtbdY&list=FLNEnwk1pvnNWCT3Fn9r49Eg&feature=mh_lolz

I missed the first twenty minutes, so I can't judge the episode as a whole until I watch it in its entirety. What I did see seemed like sort of a mess, like the way The End of Time was a complete clusterfvck of a mess.

I did like that the Doctor spent what he thought were the last years of his last life holding the fort down in a small town on Trenzalore. Very in character for him.

Got a laugh when I realized both Matt and Karen were wearing wigs in those last minutes.

I really liked the regeneration. I watched it thinking that while Eleven has had his I AM BIGGER THAN EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE moments, this was so much more on the mark than Tennant's regeneration was. And I loved how he held it off long enough to say goodbye (as the Eleventh) to Clara and make a good point about regenerations being the way of things. And then he controlled himself enough to not almost take the TARDIS with him this time. Like, he gave himself the moment at the end and the goodbye, then got on with it.

I've seen some fanboys/fangirls complaining about Smith just snapping into Capaldi and I just have to wonder if they were paying attention at all during the Love From Gallifrey battle or while Eleven was preparing Clara for the change. The snap made perfect sense to me given the circumstances. The Doctor had regenerated before he even went back into the TARDIS, but he wanted one last moment with Clara.

I'll have better-informed opinions on the story and execution once I see the entire episode, but I spent a lot of time scratching my head wondering WTF story was Moffat trying to tell?

And I love Steven Moffat as only a fangirl can.

Edited December 28, 201311 yr by katie_9918

I think the episode didn't make much sense. Did you see Amy as the TARDIS showing him Amy as goodbye or as a hallucination that 11 was having of her?

I think the episode didn't make much sense. Did you see Amy as the TARDIS showing him Amy as goodbye or as a hallucination that 11 was having of her?

That's a good question. I'm thinking it's a little bit of both.

I LOVED the whole thing from last season about how the Doctor kept coming back to Amy (holding onto her) because she was the first face his face saw (it certainly explained why the Tenth Doctor was so fixated on Rose that it literally handicapped his last two seasons) and then Moffat followed through on it with Karen Gillan's cameo. In a way, it did sort of synchronize perfectly with the Tenth Doctor choosing to visit Rose before she'd even met him right before his TARDIS-destroying regeneration and, again, explained exactly WHY Rose was so damned special when there were at least five or so Companions before Rose who did more for the Doctor than Rose ever did (not to mention my poor Martha, who was as selfless as Rose was completely selfish) and only got a hand-wavey "oh I visited them too, you just didn't see it" on the Sarah Jane Adventures.

I think the Doctor wanted to see Amy one last time and the TARDIS knew it and granted him that one last wish because he deserved it.

I saw this hilarious post where the Seventh Doctor tells The Rani, "You were the first face I ever saw. That means something," and she says, "Whatever," and guns him down.

What episode of SJA was that Katie?

What episode of SJA was that Katie?

That was "Death of the Doctor." Matt Smith appeared as the Eleventh Doctor and Katy Manning appeared as Jo (Grant) Jones.

I really liked the regeneration. I watched it thinking that while Eleven has had his I AM BIGGER THAN EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE moments, this was so much more on the mark than Tennant's regeneration was. And I loved how he held it off long enough to say goodbye (as the Eleventh) to Clara and make a good point about regenerations being the way of things. And then he controlled himself enough to not almost take the TARDIS with him this time. Like, he gave himself the moment at the end and the goodbye, then got on with it.

I've seen some fanboys/fangirls complaining about Smith just snapping into Capaldi and I just have to wonder if they were paying attention at all during the Love From Gallifrey battle or while Eleven was preparing Clara for the change. The snap made perfect sense to me given the circumstances. The Doctor had regenerated before he even went back into the TARDIS, but he wanted one last moment with Clara.

Upon re-watch, I got a bit of an a-ha moment when Eleven started talking about how one minute we're here and the next we're gone "like breath on a mirror." It's like they were telling us outright how quickly it would happen. But like Clara, the audience was still in the process of saying goodbye.

This article from the Atlantic talks about DW and how they like Matt, but feel let down by the writing. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/12/the-captain-kirk-problem-how-em-doctor-who-em-betrayed-matt-smith/282690/

I agree with some of this, but I am bewildered that Matt Smith coming second to David Tennant in fan polls means he's a failure with the public.

Smith’s farewell turn is certainly the worst of the NuWho baton-passers.

Apparently he didn't watch The End of Time.

That article is written from the point of view of an American reared entirely on contemporary American genre shows with no sense of DW before 2005. It would be quaint if I hadn't seen that article at least twenty times from other people in the last four years, all of which amount to the same complaints once leveled at RTD and all of which approach DW as though it is a static show in the mold of a seven-season American primetime genre show with a set premise and rules.

His claims about the show's ratings and popularity are also utterly contrary to the actual numbers and facts - the show is more popular than ever. This guy is a vapid tourist.

Edited December 31, 201311 yr by Vee

Yeah, the Tenth Doctor's regeneration is still annoying as hell five years later.

I agree with some of this, but I am bewildered that Matt Smith coming second to David Tennant in fan polls means he's a failure with the public.

Apparently he didn't watch The End of Time.

Watching the End of Time right now and just remembering that I THOUGHT we were going to be okay, but had no idea the great ride we were in for with the Eleventh Doctor.

I sighed nostalgically with the rewatch of Parting of The Ways.

I want to go straight into The Eleventh Hour with The End Of Time.

Hell, it's New Years. Why not?

Edited January 1, 201411 yr by katie_9918

I finally watched TOTD. It got reviews that ranged from the sublime to the condemning, so I wasn't sure what to expect. But I think that's the best regeneration story since The Caves of Androzani, and probably one of the best, period. Really excellent, and unlike some past series finales of DW it wasn't kind of hollow in its cause and effects, drama-wise. I can understand why people felt it was overstuffed - it could easily have been a two-parter, but I thought it was easily the equal of Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways, if not better, and certainly far better than The End of Time, which I am more charitable about than I used to be these days.

Really a fantastic story, all around. Matt Smith's era could've used another couple years for me, but he had a solid run and one of the best final stories in DW history, IMO. Jenna Coleman's Clara is a standard companion at the moment, yes, but she did so well with what they gave her. Orla Brady was great, and the final reverie with Amy/Amelia - that was beautiful, and a major callback to Androzani, where the Doctor remembers all his recent companions, particularly the dead Adric. Just such an incredible moment.

Really wonderful stuff, and it also closed the book on the fun but byzantine Eleventh Doctor mythology. And it must be said that Eleven's final scene was far more dignified - and mature - than Ten's, about the process of changing. It was also a metacommentary on the show.

Edited January 1, 201411 yr by Vee

I agree with some of this, but I am bewildered that Matt Smith coming second to David Tennant in fan polls means he's a failure with the public.

Apparently he didn't watch The End of Time.

That just proves that whoever did that poll doesn't have the first clue as to why Who didn't die when Hartnell stepped down.

So it's pretty much worthless, if they're trying to claim that Matt was some kind of failure based on one Internet poll.

Tennant may have jump-started Who's public face in the US, but Smith skyrocketed it to the level of Star Trek and Star Wars. May not mean much in the UK, but Trek and Wars are the stick to measure all other Sci-Fi here against here, as far as I know.

Edited January 1, 201411 yr by katie_9918

So...

I've become accustomed to the show having no real plotline, or if there is one, the plotline confusing me (did they want to kill the planet or was that a ruse to kill the Doctor?), so I went into this not expecting anything along those lines. In that context, I was able to enjoy more of the episode, mostly the emotional scenes with the Doctor and Handles (I hope he was buried beside Kamelion's remains...), and the Doctor and Clara. Clara's role seems to be similar to some of the lesser old school companions (complete with being asked to leave the room), but JLC gave a lovely performance. She's really done well here and in the anniversary special, as they've dropped some of the banter and one-liners.

I was uncomfortable with the way Tasha Lem was treated - essentially, a horny woman hitting on the Doctor, a woman tortured and murdered because of the Doctor, a woman who only managed to regain control because of the Doctor, and the Doctor using Clara to make her jealous. I've heard a lot of theories that she's River Song, which I'd rather not believe - I think if we see River again it should be Alex Kingston.

I hope we'll see more of Clara's father and her relationship with him.

The Amy/Doctor scene was a little rushed for me, and the music in these scenes (especially the post-regeneration scene) drowned out the dialogue for me, but I'm glad Karen agreed to return. The moment was touching. The Doctor's speech about how he will always remember this incarnation was a classy, appropriate way to handle regeneration, superbly played by Matt Smith.

Smith has never let me down as the Doctor and this episode was no exception. He hurt himself during filming but still his performance wasn't affected. The scenes in the Christmas town were a great showcase of everything he brought to the role - boyishness, joy, and the heart of a warrior under the facade of a clown. He also continued to do a wonderful job with child actors. I'm really going to miss him. I think he could have lasted a few more years, but I can see why he wanted to go to other career ventures, and I wish him well.

This is a chance for the show to start fresh, especially with Clara, so I look forward to seeing that happen.

Edited January 1, 201411 yr by DRW50