Doctor Who review
So Doctor Who was great fun, and a great introduction to Bill :needs to find icons: It was wonderful seeing her reaction to everything, and she and the Doctor already have a very sweet friendship developing. It was a lovely touch that the Doctor went back to take pictures of her Mother after she got him the rug as a Xmas present. Somehow I managed to completely miss that first time around though oops, I thought her seeing the Doctor's face in the background of one of the photos was meant to be there to set up a mystery of her wondering how exactly he happened to be in the photo, so it was a bit of a "oh duh" moment when all the reviews pointed out that it was really just meant to be the Doctor giving Bill a Christmas gift :D
The main plot wasn't the strongest, but it didn't really matter as the episode was all about introducing Bill to the audience, and it did that perfectly. (I mean not that I thought that the plot was that bad either, I've seen a few complaints that it was just a rip-off of The Water Of Mars and Midnight, but it still felt like an original and interesting idea for an episode to me? It's hard not to callback memories of The Water Of Mars when you're using water as your main threat, but the whole puddle thing was hardly a direct rip-off IMO). And the change of settings was really fun as Bill gets a crash course on what the TARDIS can do. The only part that felt a little bit forced to me was when they ended up coming across the Daleks, but apparently that was something to do with them having to tie in with the clip that they had already filmed months earlier?
And then there was the mystery set up with guarding the vault of course, and the Doctor not having travelled in so long, both of which are quite intriguing. (LOL at Bill breezing right past it when the Doctor is waiting for her to agree with him that it doesn't make sense that he looks so young for being a teacher there for 50 years). I'm not sure if the focus on the photo of his granddaughter was meant to signify anything else or not, I first assumed that it was just meant to draw parells with his seeing Bill as a similar protege, but maybe there could be more to it? Either way it was nice to have that callback to the past, as well as the photo of River aww
And major ouch at Clara's theme playing when Bill confronts the Doctor over taking her memories :( :( :( I will never be over it *sobs*
And finally I wasn't a fan of Nardole in the Xmas specials at all, I found him really grating, but he did mostly work for me here as comic-relief (could have done without the toilet humour though. I mean Bill wanting to use the toilet was a funny little moment, but nope to Nardole's response). I wouldn't call him all that essential to the episode either though, he was mostly just there to make sarcastic comments, and he felt a little bit unnecessary at times. But then fans are always asking for a wider variety of companions than just young women from Earth, so I suppose we can't complain too much that they really are trying for something different this time with Nardole *g* I don't think that we've seen yet what made him and the Doctor start travelling together and being friendly, unless I'm forgetting an explanation from the last Xmas special?
The main plot wasn't the strongest, but it didn't really matter as the episode was all about introducing Bill to the audience, and it did that perfectly. (I mean not that I thought that the plot was that bad either, I've seen a few complaints that it was just a rip-off of The Water Of Mars and Midnight, but it still felt like an original and interesting idea for an episode to me? It's hard not to callback memories of The Water Of Mars when you're using water as your main threat, but the whole puddle thing was hardly a direct rip-off IMO). And the change of settings was really fun as Bill gets a crash course on what the TARDIS can do. The only part that felt a little bit forced to me was when they ended up coming across the Daleks, but apparently that was something to do with them having to tie in with the clip that they had already filmed months earlier?
And then there was the mystery set up with guarding the vault of course, and the Doctor not having travelled in so long, both of which are quite intriguing. (LOL at Bill breezing right past it when the Doctor is waiting for her to agree with him that it doesn't make sense that he looks so young for being a teacher there for 50 years). I'm not sure if the focus on the photo of his granddaughter was meant to signify anything else or not, I first assumed that it was just meant to draw parells with his seeing Bill as a similar protege, but maybe there could be more to it? Either way it was nice to have that callback to the past, as well as the photo of River aww
And major ouch at Clara's theme playing when Bill confronts the Doctor over taking her memories :( :( :( I will never be over it *sobs*
And finally I wasn't a fan of Nardole in the Xmas specials at all, I found him really grating, but he did mostly work for me here as comic-relief (could have done without the toilet humour though. I mean Bill wanting to use the toilet was a funny little moment, but nope to Nardole's response). I wouldn't call him all that essential to the episode either though, he was mostly just there to make sarcastic comments, and he felt a little bit unnecessary at times. But then fans are always asking for a wider variety of companions than just young women from Earth, so I suppose we can't complain too much that they really are trying for something different this time with Nardole *g* I don't think that we've seen yet what made him and the Doctor start travelling together and being friendly, unless I'm forgetting an explanation from the last Xmas special?