Sleep No More was a very strange story. There’s some interesting stuff lurking in there: nice worldbuilding, the Doctor’s intuition that they’re in a story, and of course the point it makes of how necessary sleep is. But it wastes everything by taking the last idea in the most bizarre direction possible. Sleep deprivation can have scary effects, but instead of exploring this, what we get is… snot monsters. Which isn’t what I would call the natural direction to take the story. We won’t even get into how unbelievable the science is. What I do find interesting is how often Twelve is dropped into incredible situations that really don’t make sense - and how he sometimes dimly realises that this is the case. I’d like to think this is going somewhere, but it could be no more than a joke on the production team’s part
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"Sleep No More" was just ghastly--and not in any good way. All I can say is that, perhaps, the idea of Twelve's being dropped into incredible, nonsensical scenarios is meant to reflect a dream state.....Maybe.
I can see the idea that a companion would never want to stop traveling with the Doctor (especially Eleven!), but I think that would make a noble choice to serve some higher purpose even more touching.
On the other hand....He's a time traveler. Even a companion who gets tired of traveling and goes home can still have visits--I actually liked that concept that was shown in Eleven's reign.
So, I've just watched Heaven Sent... This is an instant classic. This had the emotion that I really couldn't summon over Clara's fate. Partly, of course, it was Capaldi's incredible performance, not just managing to sell the pathos of the appalling predicament the Doctor's in, but continuing the ongoing process of making his Doctor likeable. The other part was the actual predicament itself. Two billion years... For a fan of Classic Who, it underlined what was seen in the old series many times, that the Time Lords hated and feared him and had always considered him an outcast
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I liked "Heaven Sent" well enough. I think it did show how poorly "Sleep No More" fared as experimental and innovative. But I wasn't gripped by "Heaven Sent," either--bits of it, yes--but not overall. Capaldi was very good, a few moments outstanding; however, most of it struck me as a performance--the acting was visible, so to speak
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The Doctor can't remember what happens each time because, after the first time, he's really just a series of copies of the original - this isn't a time loop, but him being 'photocopied' from the original again and again. It's not until he's confronted by that wall that he realises what's happened. Sure, none of this is good for his sanity, but he doesn't actually remember more than a day of his two billion years of existence
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For me, a distinguishing feature of the Capaldi era is that I don't know where Moffat is going with the character and the plot....but I'm not much fussed about trying to guess. The Smith stories often piqued my curiosity, and I'd try to puzzle out Moffat's intents. The Capaldi stories, I pretty much just watch. If we get back to the type of character Eleven was, I'd really like that; on the other hand, if the direction continues to be the mean and off putting nasty old man........
So, Hell Bent... I enjoyed the story, but my response overall was of bemusement. I got the feeling that the production team had said, “In NuWho, all companions must have an angsty forced departure. But - we don’t want to do that to Clara! So we’ll do this instead…” Given that Clara was ultimately fine with adventuring without the Doctor, it seems that they could have skipped her death as a way of getting her to leave him, and just decide for herself that they were bad for each other and she could have adventures without him.
Really, I think its time for forced leavings on the part of companions to be dropped. In Classic Who, many companions left the Doctor by their own will, whether because they’d found something they really wanted to do, or because they’d been trying to get home all along. I find it hard to believe that this couldn’t be done credibly in NuWho, but Moffat seem to think that only angst will keep people watching a companion departure.
I think Rusty kind of established the tragic companion departure.....
As with most of the Twelfth Doctor episodes: I thought the episode was well done and that Capaldi was adequate....but it just doesn't follow from Eleven. None of it.
The next episode had better be damned good, as Capaldi's going to have to step it up considerably in order to capture any of the fireworks and fun--and, yes....angst--of Smith/Kingston.
So... How long do you think it'll be before River gets sick of old miseryguts and exits Darillium post-haste on an urgent assignment with the Library?
Don't get me wrong, I liked the Christmas special well enough - but it's becoming increasingly clear that Twelve is going to remain a miserable old goat, even if he does get cheered up momentarily by his adventure with River here. Yes, he's got reason to be angsty, between losing his memory of Clara and River's approaching death, but I find that his chronic grumpiness makes me sympathise with his angst less, not more. Not fair, maybe, but there it is. God help his next companion if he remains like this next season.
I think I could deal with angst, but Twelve's grumpiness is just annoying: I don't get why the Doctor suddenly hates everyone and everything. Eleven had some grumpiness, when he was living up in the clouds in Victorian England--but he was mostly angsty, and Matt Smith was really, really good at portraying layers of emotional turmoil.....
I really missed him during the Singing Towers. Capaldi was good--maybe even close to his best--but I kept flashing back to Smith in "A Christmas Carol" and the simple brilliance of his reaction when Eleven is confronted with the question of what HE would do if he only had one last day with his beloved........
I think we're supposed to think that since the Doctor's started a new regeneration cycle, he's reliving his first incarnation, who was famously grumpy. Trouble is, the First Doctor didn't have Twelve's negativity, and loosened up a lot as he went on - which Twelve has, to be fair, but not enough to lose it entirely.
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I can see the idea that a companion would never want to stop traveling with the Doctor (especially Eleven!), but I think that would make a noble choice to serve some higher purpose even more touching.
On the other hand....He's a time traveler. Even a companion who gets tired of traveling and goes home can still have visits--I actually liked that concept that was shown in Eleven's reign.
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*shrug*
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Really, I think its time for forced leavings on the part of companions to be dropped. In Classic Who, many companions left the Doctor by their own will, whether because they’d found something they really wanted to do, or because they’d been trying to get home all along. I find it hard to believe that this couldn’t be done credibly in NuWho, but Moffat seem to think that only angst will keep people watching a companion departure.
Diona the Lurker
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As with most of the Twelfth Doctor episodes: I thought the episode was well done and that Capaldi was adequate....but it just doesn't follow from Eleven. None of it.
The next episode had better be damned good, as Capaldi's going to have to step it up considerably in order to capture any of the fireworks and fun--and, yes....angst--of Smith/Kingston.
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Don't get me wrong, I liked the Christmas special well enough - but it's becoming increasingly clear that Twelve is going to remain a miserable old goat, even if he does get cheered up momentarily by his adventure with River here. Yes, he's got reason to be angsty, between losing his memory of Clara and River's approaching death, but I find that his chronic grumpiness makes me sympathise with his angst less, not more. Not fair, maybe, but there it is. God help his next companion if he remains like this next season.
Diona the Lurker
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I really missed him during the Singing Towers. Capaldi was good--maybe even close to his best--but I kept flashing back to Smith in "A Christmas Carol" and the simple brilliance of his reaction when Eleven is confronted with the question of what HE would do if he only had one last day with his beloved........
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Diona the Lurker
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