vivdunstan

Wow. And crikey.

I’m probably not going to post more detailed or spoilery thoughts. But basically I enjoyed that a lot.

I've been continuing to slowly rewatch the early Peter Capaldi incarnation stories. But not feeling the urge to blog about them individually. And also, frankly, struggling to keep watching fully through many of them.

I find this early stage of his Doctor so phenomenally unlikeable. I watch it for Clara, not the Doctor. And then I constantly wonder why she sticks with him. I'm used to post regeneration trauma and all. And, hey, I watched through the Sixth Doctor stories 40 years ago. But I don't have the patience for it this time. And I'm finding it a particularly difficult set of stories to rewatch.

Against that Peter Capaldi's casting was one of the most exciting for me in Doctor Who ever. And he would go on to be superb in the ninth season, with the Doctor's character and relationship with the companion heavily reworked. But I struggle to rewatch much of season 8. I still think it was a fundamental mistake in approach by Steven Moffat.

Yet there are some absolute standout classics even in this year. "Listen" and "Flatline" are both superb. And I have a really soft spot for "Mummy On The Orient Express", despite the Doctor/companion extreme angst.

But, yup, not a happy fan rewatching at the moment. It's just as well I'm enjoying the Fifteenth Doctor's new stories on TV so very much!

This is going to be full of big spoilers, so ( into spoiler space ... )

This is going to be full of spoilers, so I recommend only reading after you've seen the episode, or if you're sure you won't be watching it. ( spoilers ... )

Just watched this in the middle of the night. And jotting down quick thoughts. Which are phenomenally spoilery, so putting in a spoiler cut.

( spoilers )

Onto another Matt Smith episode, and here another written by Chris Chibnall. And like the previous one much better for me than many of his own showrunner era episodes. And I'm rather puzzled by why. Though I guess it's partly due to the tone and framing, and also such strong established companion characters.

( spoilers )