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

One of the most nonsensical articles I've ever read.

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/jan/03/sherlock-doctor-who-fans-influencing-tv

What is the example of fans influencing Who?

Written by Steven Moffat, The Time of the Doctor included a plot twist that granted the Time Lord another dozen physical regenerations, thus resolving (at least in the minds of the producers) the problem, much discussed on fan sites, that according to the rules originally set down, the Doctor was permitted only 12 embodiments.

That's it.

And of course people are using this article as gospel, and inventing all sorts of other things that weren't even said in the article (tying up the loose ends of the exploding TARDIS and such) to try to give it credibility.

The above has nothing to do with pandering to fans. It's clearly something that Moffat has been wanting to do for a long time.

The joke is that this man apparently wrote a gushing review of The End of Time, comparing it to Shakespeare. TEOT is the most fan pandering nonsense imaginable.

It's too bad that the UK press does the same contortions-for-hipness that has soured so much media coverage in the US.

What was done in TOTD was also discussed more than once in the classic series - the Time Lords promised either the Master or someone else a full new set of regenerations if he did X or Y, I can't remember what. Or maybe it was the Valeyard, trying to get more life if he framed the Doctor for some corrupt Time Lords. And then the current group gave the Doctor just that on Trenzalore - a new set of regenerations.

Edited January 5, 201411 yr by Vee

That was in The Five Doctors.

Oh, yes, but the Valeyard also was promised the Sixth Doctor's remaining regenerations, IIRC, if he got rid of him. Or something. The point is, the process has been established.

First pix of Peter Capaldi filming.

Unless I'm mistaken that may be the same outfit Clara was wearing in TOTD, so this may be from the first post-regeneration story - i.e., Capaldi's outfit is likely not final. It looks a little too similar to Smith's, because it probably is one of the Eleventh's. Oh, and the report confirms it's from the first story.

Edited January 7, 201411 yr by Vee

Excerpted from Doctor Who Magazine, in a new interview with superfan Peter Capaldi:

Doctor Who Peter Capaldi says he was born to play the Time Lord and the role is “in his DNA”.

In his first interview since taking on the sci-fi role, the former Thick Of It star said the show has always been a huge part of his life.

Capaldi said: “I was five when the show started. I don’t remember Doctor Who not being part of my life, and it became a part of growing up, along with The Beatles, National Health spectacles, and fog. And it runs deep. It’s in my DNA.”

The 55-year-old told the February issue of Doctor Who Magazine that he was most looking forward to “getting on with it” and said the way he was unveiled as the 12th Time Lord on a special BBC1 show in August last year was a baptism of fire to his new found level of fame.

“Admittedly, it was somewhat outside of my comfort zone to be revealed in that way, but that’s the way it fell. I was nervous about the ‘Tonight, Matthew, I’m going to be Doctor Who’ element. It seemed a million miles away from the actual job. However, in the end, I kind of enjoyed it. A little showbiz never hurt anyone. And Zoe Ball was great.”

Capaldi, who wrote a fan letter about Doctor Who to Radio Times in 1974, went on to say he “can’t stop” watching old episodes of Doctor Who as he began filming in Cardiff this week.

And he defended the lack of big budget effects in the old versions of the show.

He said: “People look at them now and, understandably, mock the bargain-basement monsters, and the accidents and collisions that came from having virtually no time in the studio to shoot fantastically ambitious stories. But those old shows were only made to be watched once, on a flickering monochrome telly that smelled of valves and furniture polish.

“In that context, they succeeded immeasurably. They were triumphs of imagination.

“It may surprise you now, but something like The Web Planet [an episode from 1965] lived powerfully and expansively in my head for decades… until the DVDs came along and spoiled the party. But I’m glad to say that the Menoptra eventually flitted back into my dreams, where they belong.”

The new series of Doctor Who featuring Capaldi will be on screen in the second half of the year. Show runner Steven Moffat told industry magazine Broadcast there will be at least 13 eps in 2014.

Thanks. That was nice of him to defend the old show and its production values.

(and that stuff looks a lot better than most of the mid/late 80s material...)

In that issue, Moff mentions how both 8 and 9 will be full 13 episode seasons and in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

I'm digging the BBC America Matt Smith lovefest, and finally watching The Time of The Doctor all the way through.

Am I the only one who's come to the conclusion that Capaldi's cameo in The Day of The Doctor came about for the main, if not sole, purpose of being able to fanwank that the War Council's knowledge of "all THIRTEEN!" made them realize that whenever Smith's Doctor's time was up, the Time Lords would need to find some way of giving him another regeneration cycle?

Thus the creation of a stable time loop?

Edited January 16, 201411 yr by katie_9918

Doctor Who won two big awards at the NTA Awards. Best Drama was a nice surprise - it's been four years.

Capaldi's outfit.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BfAZ7I9CUAA_8ba.jpg

The outfit and the pose remind me more of The Master, but I sort of like it. Nice of them to part it so we can look at his crotch...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/doctor-who/10599910/First-picture-of-Peter-Capaldis-Doctor-Who-costume-revealed.html