There is only one thing in the 51 years of Doctor Who that is constant: change. The Doctor has been irascible, puckish, aggressive, alien, boring, belligerent, manipulative, compassionate, condescending, romantic, manic, and mean. Companions come and go. The Tardis set is swapped out. New enemies are created while old ones are reinvented. The show is always changing and evolving in new ways. The minute we start trying to create rules for what it can and cannot do is the minute that we start boxing it in. Are all the changes good? Four words: "Victory of the Daleks." But even when things don't turn out well (although, so far, Missy is completely blowing away the Simm Master for me), it doesn't mean that the show should stop taking chances and trying new things. That freedom to change is what made Doctor Who last for 51 years and it's what is going to keep it going for many, many more.
it wasnt the bad episode, but i do hope that Clara leaves the show soon. been making the show dull with the Doctor acting like the guest in his own show. i do find it interesting that no one complained too much about the Doctor letting Clara play out her threat knowing that it wasnt reality, it was fairly cruel. perhaps the Doctor likes keeping her around since she makes weird faces? as for Missy? while its cool its the "Mistress" i think it would have been nice to have the Rani or someone else be the main villain. would be cool if the Timelords slipped in someone else to push things along to get them back since the Doctor seems to be taking his sweet time about doing anything about it.
Fans like you are the reason I hate interacting with Doctor Who fans these days. Show the slighted bit of distain for something the new series has done and people make out you can't have a problem with it. Change isn't always for the better, and while I'm still very much on the fence about the Master's gender change people are perfectly entitled to take issue with it. Get the hell over yourself.
Yeah, I do need to apologize. I was a bit sick of the constant whining, but you're right, people are entitled to whine. It's not about seeing the show as flawless or anything like that, I'm just kinda tired of so much negativity all the time. This thread is just constant negativity where there doesn't need to be any.
It's actually the more robotic Cybermen with minimal organic parts that are the change during RTD's run (in the parallel universe). When the Cybermen debuted in the 60's they were sort of humans who in order to survive the harsh climate of their home planet, had adopted cybernetic parts to strengthen their bodies. In subsequent episode they became more mechanical, but were still human(like) bodies with mechanical parts added. True, but it has also been established (sort of) that unlike other Timelords, the Doctor has no control over his regeneration. Romana tried out different bodies, the Master decided to regenerate into a young body, but for the Doctor it's a painful proces and he never knows what he ends up with and can't change it. Honestly, throughout the 50+ years we have Doctor who and thirteen actors to play the part, he has always been male. Can he be a woman? Possibly even likely, yes. Should he be a woman? Only if it is warranted. And I fear that when they decide to take that step it will be more for the shock effect than for good story telling, regardless of who will be the showrunner at the time.
And that's why people take issue with what your saying. Whether or not negativity is "needed" isn't your decision to make.
The only thing in a fandom that annoys me more than those who whine about every little change are those who blindly defend every ridiculous thing a show/game/comic/movie series does without question. I've seen this a lot in the New Doctor Who fandom, folks always seem quick to defend and support every bad decision the show makes and are unwilling to accept when it done goofed. I'm not too fussed about the Master being a woman, because it can feasibly happen with regeneration and Michelle Gomez has been fun to watch so far (though I do wish she didn't put on a fake English accent so we can have a Scottish Master to go with the Scottish Doctor), but I do get the feeling it was only done to appease those who've been demanding a female Doctor for years and as an experiment to see how audiences react to a female regeneration. Plus, I think they missed a trick not making her the Rani, because her little speech about "Cybermen in Cyber Space" is a very Rani thing to say. On that note, I don't get this mindset that if you're not keen on Missy or the possibility of the Doctor one day being a woman it means you're misogynistic and need to check your privilege. Not everything has to have a strong female lead, and the majority of TV shows, comics and movies nowadays do have strong female characters who don't need no man, to the point where it's actually becoming more of a predictable cliché than the damsel in distress, so you can't complain that there aren't enough of them.
During the episode I really regretted just having seen the trailer for this episode with the Cybermen stepping out of the glass containers. It spoiled the surprise. I honestly don't know if I had figured out that the skeletons were Cybermen (until the door with their symbol on it) otherwise, so that shows again that a trailer can really spoil a surprise. Missy being the Master... wasn't unexpected considering all the speculation. Still, with her being a woman and the reference to being abondoned, I hoped it to be either The Rani or possible even his granddaughter, Susan. It would've been a great way to bring back The Rani. The Master may be his greatest Timelord foe, but I wouldn't object to seeing others (and I have a soft spot for the Monk as a not villain Timelord who wants to improve history with a little gain for himself) and this was a great opportunity, especially with that fluid and The Rani's history... Okay, Dark Water. Being part one of two-parter (and part two being an extended episode) means that this was basically all set up for part two. Although the ending and the endreveal was spectaculair and makes me look forward to next week, the road to get there wasn't without fault IMO. The opening was very good, in a macabre sort of way. Very cruel way for Danny to go, but at the same time, as Clara said herself, it was a very boring way. Well, 1) I found Danny to be a very boring/bland character, so it fits, but 2) not a surprising comment considering the life Clara leads. I may have problems with this season and Clara, but I respect and admire how they keep hammering down that travelling with the Doctor has a negative effect on the companion/Clara: all the wonders that she sees and the adventures that she has, make ordinary life on Earth dull in comparison. And something like Danny's death should shock her immensily, but she's mostly struck by how boring his death was; not tragic, but boring. After the volcano scenes and the Doctor revealing that it hadn't been real, I was at first surprised by the Doctor forgiving her betrayal, but then I realised that this was in character: the companion has always been a close connection to the Doctor and it is part why since Ten he sometimes prefers to travel alone: he keeps on going, while they leave, grow old or die -- and that hurts him a lot. The friendship he has with his companion is such that he can forgive Clara because he knows that something dreadful must've happened for her to do this. But then they go searching for the afterlife and the episode lost me. That I found so profoundly stupid, that I couldn't accept it. Travelling with the Tardis to heaven/hell/the afterlife, is so beyond stupid that it doesn't fit for me. I would far prefer the Doctor noting something strange about Danny's dead (the car coming out of nowhere and that he had met a descendant of Pink) and investigate that and then find Missy & co. Maybe it was because of disbelief that for me afterwards the episode seemed to drag on (hell, even the Doctor claimed that the guy was dragging his heels and told him to hurry up). The talk between Clara and Danny was good with Clara wanting to find a reason to believe this was really Danny, but him sabotaging this on purpose so she could go on with her life and not go in search for him. That was good, but the other scenes with him, especially with the boy he had killed in combat, failed miserably. Considering that the threat of feeling yourself burn and the confrontation with the boy he had killed were all intended to pursuade him to delete his feelings (and thus become a Cybermen), it should've had more impact. When the episode finally started moving again, it reached it's peak with all the reveals and the Doctor really, really frightened. As a set up it wasn't bad. I'm not as thrilled as with "The Pandorica Opens" or "The Impossible Astronaut", and even "Utopia/Sound of the Drum" had me more exited (although the follow up with that one was a disaster). We've had worse and it could've been better. Still, I like the Doctor being the focus of the story (despite the drama surrounding Clara) and that in this season already makes it a very nice episode. Look forward to next week.
I honestly don't care about their gender, speaking as someone who grew up watching troughton on VHS. It doesn't bother me in the slightest as long as the person has the chops to do it. Honestly, Gomez is a great choice for the Master. She has that look about her and she a great actor. It kinda bums me out that a show so reliant on change can't take a risk without everyone bemoaning and calling for the show runners head. I'm not the biggest fan of Moffat, and I still think the whole thing leaves a sour taste in my mouth. (Missy? Really? Just call her the Master, and pack in the boyfriend crap). regardless, it's been hinted at that time lords can change race, spieces, and gender before, don't see why people have a problem.
I'll also say, I'm surprised and happy by the overwhelming positivity I've seen on doctor who dedicated forums for the change.
John Simm, John Simm is wearing a Women's body. But Gomez is good actor regardless. Still say she would be cooler as the Rani.
Well said. Nu-Who shouldn't be exempt from criticism and neither should the Classic series or audios. As for Moffat's latest idea, I can't say that I'm suprised, but I can't be angry at something I'll never even watch. It's a shame for people that have stuck with the series a lot longer than I did that it appears to be going rapidly downhill, but maybe there's hope for you guys once Moffat and his ego departs.
I've been watching the show since the mid-90s and had seen every extant episode available well before the modern series started. I love Stephen Moffat's tenure and will be sad when he leaves, which hopefully won't be for several more years. Your opinion is not objective fact.
Fair enough. You like it, more power to you and all that. Also, I wasn't trying to say that everybody feels the same way about Moffat, but I've noticed an increase in criticism of the show during the present series even from people who've enjoyed most of the revival era and I know a couple of people who have been watching since the early 70's who have decided enough is enough which I think is a shame.
I think this series was just lacking in general. I like Capaldi, but think the writing was very poor. this seasons highlights were robots of Sherwood, mummy on the orient express and hopefully the finale as last nights episode was pretty good other than the spoilers in the adverts for it. As for the female master, she has yet to be seen on screen and have more development.
He actually wanted to leave around the same time Colin Baker was fired, but the BBC wouldn't let him.
