Doctor Who 50th

[mr_orgue]

Spoilers. Indirect kinda.

Reposted from the NZDWFC board...It was very Moffat, of course, but unlike most of s5 and s6 it worked for me. I think the reason is that, unlike the last few seasons, he went into this story with a purpose. The time war was a wound at the heart of the show - and probably a necessary one, certainly a powerful and

Comments

[buzzandhum]

(Hey, I remember my LJ password

[mr_orgue]

I actually loved Donna's fate, and the sheer meanness of it.

But apart from that, big big nods to all of your comment.

[mashugenah]

For me the central problem with the new Doctor Who? has always been the reliance on the general hand-waviness of it, especially its utter reliance on deus ex machina. It became an artistic construct that couldn't resolve any of its storylines or objectives without the authorial voice intervening - to try and hide their reliance on that crutch, they began to view the Doctor himself as a god. The Day of the Doctors places the intervention of the supreme being at the start, in the form of the sentient weapon, who provides more than a helping hand in pushing the Doctor toward the exit option. Almost all of the new series has resolved its plotlines with the Doctor going from a state of despondency to a state of hyper-active victory in the space of a few seconds, with the barest nod to the problems he's supposedly overcoming. This episode has all of those structural problems, but by putting the deus ex machina at the beginning rather than end, it tricks you into thinking it doesn't. The special was precocious and charming, but ultimately I

[mr_orgue]

As I was typing this post I included "narrative" along with continuity as another thing that Moffat couldn't do. I deleted it because "narrative" wasn't the right word for what I meant. But I was thinking of the same kind of stuff you talk about here. It's definitely a big weakness of both showrunners

[mashugenah]

We're well and truly into "emotional reaction" territory here, so there's definitely room to differ in conclusion without disagreeing on the observable inputs.

[mrteufel]

Hurt Doctor
Physician, heal thyself

[anonymous]

(Nate here; I need to unblock my LJ account apparently. rar

[mr_orgue]

I liked it a good chunk more than 5 out of 10, but agree with everything else. Your description of Moffat's efforts so far is bang on. Go on now Moffat, move along!

[natecull]

Yay, I is unblock! Man, Livejournal really is the place. This was Facebook before it was cool

[mr_orgue]

Do you read TARDIS Eruditorium? You should take a look if not. I think your discussion here is really smart in the same way Philip S's essays are smart. http://www.philipsandifer.com/

(I hope I can come up with something useful to say in reply apart from that, but right now I must sleep!)