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Doctor Who [Spoilers]

Was the presence of a Tardis in Unit HQ in last night's episode, that had apparently been retrieved from somewhere in the West Country, a hat-tip to The Daemons?
No, it was from the Weeping Angels episode the week before. The Tardis does not appear in the story The Damon’s, the Doctor drives from Unit HQ to the village.
 
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To clarify earlier points..
I've liked JW from the start (I'd seen her in a couple of things before the Doctor, and got used to her acting style

I really enjoyed Jodie's portrayal of a strong, grieving mother in three series of "Broadchurch".
I too really like JW as an actress, especially agree about her performance in Broadchurch. I suppose my criticism of her in Dr Who is more about what's been done with her rather than what she's done herself. I had the same misgivings about the Capaldi era - a fabulous actor often left with not enough to do.
Personally based on Chibnall’s previous form they are all going to come clattering down in a horroble car crash destroying anything vaguely interesting previously set up. And possibly even involving a big red reset button.
I'm hoping against hope it all comes together. Be interesting to see how this informs the regeneration, too.
 
To clarify earlier points..



I too really like JW as an actress, especially agree about her performance in Broadchurch. I suppose my criticism of her in Dr Who is more about what's been done with her rather than what she's done herself. I had the same misgivings about the Capaldi era - a fabulous actor often left with not enough to do.

I'm hoping against hope it all comes together. Be interesting to see how this informs the regeneration, too.
I'd add Matt's Smith's era to that as well, I thought he had some rather good moments as the Doctor, but I didn't enjoy the stories in general.
 
Do you know? It wasn't perfect, but I think they pulled it off. It went like a rocket, and all the threads were tied up apart from the one with the watch which wisely was left to preserve the mystery, but I've thoroughly enjoyed this serial. One classic episode in there is not to be sneezed at, and the rest were above average. The Three Doctors, but all the same Doctor! Gave the Sontarans a real boost, too, I always liked them (one of my first TV memories is of one). I love it when a plan comes together. Oh, wrong show. Back at New Year!
 
That sodding sonic screwdriver...
 
I love 'Doctor Who' and I really like Jodie... but this final episode of 'Flux' just didn't do it for me. Too manic, too muddled.... sadly a messy conclusion to a story that had promised much. I had hopes that Chris Chibnall would have the skill to pull it off, but for me, regret to say he hit the crossbar. Looks to me like all the Timeless Child and stolen memories stuff is likely to get quietly forgotten. I might be mistaken on that but if I'm not, I have to ask what was the point of all that stuff?
 
I love 'Doctor Who' and I really like Jodie... but this final episode of 'Flux' just didn't do it for me. Too manic, too muddled.... sadly a messy conclusion to a story that had promised much. I had hopes that Chris Chibnall would have the skill to pull it off, but for me, regret to say he hit the crossbar. Looks to me like all the Timeless Child and stolen memories stuff is likely to get quietly forgotten. I might be mistaken on that but if I'm not, I have to ask what was the point of all that stuff?
It may be returned in the three specials, of course. But, yes, I agree with you about Flux. I enjoyed it, it promised a lot, but then sadly didn't seem to deliver very much at the end. Too many subplots, perhaps - like Vinder and Bel - that weren't actually needed.
 
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I have to say I much prefer the serial format.

I didn't realise how much I missed the huge cliffhanger endings, the tension building up to that huge downward swoosh sound that starts the closing theme.

Oh and.... are all those Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans wiped out then? And did everything in the universe get repaired?
 
Oh and.... are all those Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans wiped out then? And did everything in the universe get repaired?
No idea Carlos! But Daleks popped up in the trailer for the New Year's Day special, so maybe not..... unless, seeing as the trailer seemed to depict them exterminating the Doctor, Yaz and Dan, that could possibly be a bit of mis-direction. And the third time in a row we've had Daleks on New Year's Day? Getting a little bit samey! Oh, for an Ice Warrior or two!
 
I have to say I much prefer the serial format.

I didn't realise how much I missed the huge cliffhanger endings, the tension building up to that huge downward swoosh sound that starts the closing theme.

Oh and.... are all those Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans wiped out then? And did everything in the universe get repaired?
Well as soon as it finished they did show a trailer for the New Years special with Daleks so any worry there has gone instantly.
 
Oh and.... are all those Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans wiped out then?

Looks like millions of them were, as well as the Doggy alien fleet, and all that genocidal double or triple-crossing provoked high-fives all around from the Doctor and her new "fam".
... and yet the Doctor was horrified back in episode 2 when a soldier destroyed the Sontaran ships!
Surely some double standards there Doc?

There were some very good elements to the Flux story - loved the creepy Angels home invasion episode and the return of Kate Stewart was a welcome blast from the past, but the ending was a bit meh.
 
... and yet the Doctor was horrified back in episode 2 when a soldier destroyed the Sontaran ships!
Surely some double standards there Doc?
True, Bless. But... (donning my Defence Counsel wig and gown).... what she was really aggrieved about in the Crimea episode was that she had managed to trick the Sontarans into retreating (albeit with threats to return and finish the job). That ties in with Tennant's Doctor's outrage when the retreating Sycorax ship got blasted out of the skies on the order of Margaret Tha.....err.....Harriet Jones. You do remember that, a mere ... err... 16 years or so ago, don't you? Keep up, man! She was probably ok with the idea of saving the remnants of the Universe from being crushed under the heel of Sontaran jackboots for the rest of eternity. I rest my case, Your Honour.
 
A bit late to the party, but I just wanted to add my comments to the already-large pile of "best Jodie Whittaker episodes by a country mile" that have already been posted here.

The acting was a lot less annoying than before, somehow, and the stories rattled along nicely. Even the absence of Bradley Walsh's Graham went almost unnoticed (and he'd been the most interesting companion of the last 2 seasons, for me at least) because it meant that Yaz actually became a decent character in her own right. Dan was OK, Karvansita could have dialled down the Northern-ness a bit, but what the heck, he was good value for his screentime.

However, in packing so much into 6 episodes, I can't have been alone in going into the last one thinking "have we got enough time to resolve all of this?". Of course, the answer turned out to be "no". Sontarans are a great villain, well used here, so we didn't need Cybermen and/or Daleks as well. Kate Stewart was introduced and then had f-all to do, sadly - did she even get introduced properly to the Doctor? I may have blinked (bad idea, with all those Angels around) and missed that, but I don't think so.

How is the Grand Serpent not the Master? Are we going to see more of him? You can't just chuck him out onto a chunk of rock and forget him! A character with great potential, so I hope we see more of him.

All the jeopardy with Swarm and Azure was undone in a blink with the Deus ex Machina wiping them out just like that.

Bel and Vinder could have been just about anyone - hands up who thought that their baby would be the Doctor, or Tecteun, or someone of importance? I've probably dreamt this, but I could swear I heard Bel say something about "our beautiful azure child" during an earlier episode, which would change things a bit...

All in all, very enjoyable, more good than bad, but after a couple of seasons of extremely thin material, there was enough here for 2 six-parters, never mind one!
 
I think is so often the problem with Doctor Who. The set up is complex enough for us to keep hanging on wondering how the hell they are going to get out of it this time - and then it gets so incredibly complex in order to explain how they do get out of it, that everyone is left wondering what the hell just happened.

A few linear and quite simple stories might be in order. Some good old, 'cheating the monsters out of victory through clever thinking and quick talking', rather than waving of the sonic and massive, fast-talking gobbledigook.
 
but I could swear I heard Bel say something about "our beautiful azure child" during an earlier episode, which would change things a bit...
In episode 3 - I think - Bel said the line "our as yet unborn child" - which came over a bit odd in the actor's softly-spoken lilting delivery - and some people (myself included) initially mis-heard it as "our azure unborn child" - which just sounds weird.
 
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After the total ruination of the franchise, I haven’t watched any of the Flux series and I won’t be watching whatever they’ll be putting out at New Year.

I think I’ve saved myself a good few hours of ennui and disappointment.
I’d like to think that with JW and Chibnall leaving, things will improve but having seen the BBC’s sledgehammer approach to this and other drama series over the past couple of years, I’m not holding out any hope things will improve.
 
In episode 3 - I think - Bel said the line "our as yet unborn child" - which came over a bit odd in the actor's softly-spoken lilting delivery - and some people (myself included) initially mis-heard it as "my azure unborn child" - which just sounds weird.
Ah - I misremembered the exact words, then, but wasn't entirely alone in hearing a rogue "azure". It did sound weird, not least because one of the 2 chief baddies was named Azure.
 
The only downside of tonight's New Year's Special was that we won't get Aisling Bea cast as The Doctor, but other than that, a terrific episode. It's about time they did Groundhog Day (as noted by Dan), but the twist that there was one minute less each time to avoid extermination was inspired. Talk about getting to the fireworks factory. And the Doc/Yaz relationship actually seemed to be getting somewhere, even if the Doc is reluctant.

Really enjoyed it - they even tackled the morality of killing off the bad guys in the previous episode, it was the Sontarans' plan. Hmm, OK, you're (half) excused.
 
The only downside of tonight's New Year's Special was that we won't get Aisling Bea cast as The Doctor,

We could still have Aisling Bea as '14' (or sometime after). The Doctor has regenerated on a couple of occasions into the likeness of people he has previously met - '5' met Maxil on Gallifrey, then regenerated to look like him. And '10' met Caecilius in Pompeii, and at some time later '11' regenerated to look like him. And of course Romana quite deliberately regenerated to look like Princess Astra. So it could happen at some point. Just saying.
 
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The only downside of tonight's New Year's Special was that we won't get Aisling Bea cast as The Doctor, but other than that, a terrific episode. It's about time they did Groundhog Day (as noted by Dan), but the twist that there was one minute less each time to avoid extermination was inspired. Talk about getting to the fireworks factory. And the Doc/Yaz relationship actually seemed to be getting somewhere, even if the Doc is reluctant.
They've done the Companion-In-Love-With-The-Doctor before - Rose, Martha,Adric,Turlough...
 
They've done the Companion-In-Love-With-The-Doctor before - Rose, Martha,Adric,Turlough...
Well, Adric might well have had a crush on the Doctor. Turlough on the other hand tried to crush the Doctor's skull. Always thought the Brig had a bit of thing for the Third Doctor. I think the poor chap found it hard to adjust when he turned into Tom!!
 
Always thought the Brig had a bit of thing for the Third Doctor. I think the poor chap found it hard to adjust when he turned into Tom!
A British Brigadier?
Never!
I'm sure his upper lip was the only thing that was stiff in the presence of The Doctor.
 
I’m not bothered with the lesbian angle but the whole Yaz thing reminds me too much of Martha.
 
I saw a clip of the Doctor getting exterminated by a Dalek. Did this happen and if so, did she regenerate and if not, why not?
 
I saw a clip of the Doctor getting exterminated by a Dalek. Did this happen and if so, did she regenerate and if not, why not?
Well, she got exterminated several times, but she didn't regenerate once. As to why not, the best answer is because it was all a bit timey wimey. But you don't have too much longer to wait until she does regenerate into ... someone.
 
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