{"id":44558,"date":"2014-08-23T22:44:07","date_gmt":"2014-08-24T04:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/08\/23\/the-new-doctor-2.html"},"modified":"2014-08-25T08:22:13","modified_gmt":"2014-08-25T14:22:13","slug":"the-new-doctor-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/08\/23\/the-new-doctor-2.html","title":{"rendered":"The New Doctor"},"content":{"rendered":"
Hmmmm.<\/p>\n

Well, the episode was not quite what I expected — though that's not necessarily a bad thing. …<\/p>\n

.
.
.
(Spoilers, sweetie, though mostly at a high level.)
.
.
.
Capaldi channeling Matt Smith for about the first half of the episode was also unexpected, but brilliant (and in keeping with the personality issues each of the Doctors of the modern era, at least, have had upon regeneration). The episode (as I'm guessing a lot of the series will be) was about identity: Who is the Doctor? And why is he different? And is he different? If so, how? And if so, again, why?<\/p>\n

(Questions seem important.)<\/p>\n

Part of the answer seems tied up in Clara, almost to an excessive degree. I don't like the idea that the Doctor is that dependent on the Companion, for a variety of reasons.<\/p>\n

Identity, of course, was a key to the whole plotline on the SS Marie Antoinette,<\/i> focusing on the identity of the cyborg captain and whether, over the millennia, replacement after replacement of the parts meant that the cyborg was no longer who he originally was (and, in case that was too subtle, there's the Doctor, seeing his own reflection in the mirror).<\/p>\n

There was plenty of setup for some series-spanning plotting, related to the Mysterious Creepy Woman at the end, whether it was a jump or a push, the nature of the Promised Land and its possible relationship to the Creepy Clockwork of the Girl in the Fireplace …\u00a0<\/p>\n

I found Clara's difficulty in accepting the Doctor's regen to be annoying, even though it was a bit refreshing, too. Of course, I find Clara annoying, too, though she was a bit less so overall this time, until we got to the end and suddenly the Doctor is so dependent upon the Companion. Except that Clara appears to know this, and is willing to take (even jokingly) advantage of it. Ugh.<\/p>\n

The dinosaur subplot was both fascinating and irritating, the latter due to (a) some awful scaling [T-Rexes were not 300-odd feet tall] and (b) the logistics of the dinosaur's final disposition and the motivations thereto, not to mention (c) it just felt a bit gratuitous.<\/p>\n

It was, of course, a joy to see the Paternoster Gang again, especially seeing more of them and their relationship. Watching how folk touched by the Doctor go about their lives when he's not around (the PG, Sarah Jane Smith, Captain Jack, Mickey and Martha) is always fascinating, and that trio are the most fascinating of all.<\/p>\n

Overall, it was a much more scattered ep than I'd expected, and the Doctor not quite as all grim-dark as had been hinted (though he had his moments).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0l look forward to watching more.<\/p>\n

#doctorwho<\/a> \u00a0<\/p>\n

Reshared post from +Doctor Who Fans<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Radiotimes poster for Deep Breath!<\/b><\/p>\n

Free <\/b>#DoctorWho<\/a><\/b> newsletter –<\/b> http:\/\/bit.ly\/TheWhoMail<\/a>\ufeff<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

View this post on Google+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hmmmm. Well, the episode was not quite what I expected — though that's not necessarily a bad thing. … …(Spoilers, sweetie, though mostly at a high level.)…Capaldi channeling Matt Smith for about the first half of the episode was also unexpected, but brilliant (and in keeping with the personality issues each of the Doctors of … Continue reading “The New Doctor”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,43],"tags":[152],"class_list":["post-44558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plusposts","category-media-tv-doctor-who","tag-doctorwho"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/1.jpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38415,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/08\/08\/the-once-and-future-doctor.html","url_meta":{"origin":44558,"position":0},"title":"The Once and Future Doctor","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 8-Aug-13 4:57pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Kay and I re-watched the 4th Series Doctor Who episode \"The Fires of Pompeii,\" just to see Peter Capaldi, now named as the Twelfth Doctor, in an earlier appearance on the show.It's an odd episode -- the second of the Donna appearances, with some weird moments and poor pacing and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20841,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/04\/23\/a-brief-doctor-who-series-6-premiere-episode-comment.html","url_meta":{"origin":44558,"position":1},"title":"A brief Doctor Who Series 6 Premiere Episode comment","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 23-Apr-11 11:21pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Stated below the fold just to be absolutely non-spoilery. ... Leave it to Steven Moffat to make the scariest thing in the world be not remembering the scariest thing in the world. That said -- well, plenty of horror, and some very cool near-history bits. A great Nixon White House,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Doctor Who"","block_context":{"text":"Doctor Who","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/media-tv-doctor-who"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/tardis.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11373,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/09\/10\/doctor_who_family_of_bloo.html","url_meta":{"origin":44558,"position":2},"title":"Doctor Who: “Family of Blood”","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 10-Sep-07 9:55pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I cannot -- will not -- do any spoilers for \"Family of Blood,\" but, set up by the first part (\"Human Nature\"), it's the best Doctor Who episode evah...","rel":"","context":"In "Doctor Who"","block_context":{"text":"Doctor Who","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/media-tv-doctor-who"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/tardis.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39570,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/11\/04\/ann-droid.html","url_meta":{"origin":44558,"position":3},"title":"Ann-Droid","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 4-Nov-13 9:53pm","format":false,"excerpt":"For a variety of reasons, we found ourselves watching the (excellent) \"Bad Wolf\" episode of the Ninth Doctor. \u00a0Which meant I had to find a \"Weakest Link\" episode to show Kay all about that show. Which, quite appropriately, ended up with us watching this \"Doctor Who\" \"Weakest Link\" episode ...\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9990,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/10\/01\/tenth_doctor_second_serie.html","url_meta":{"origin":44558,"position":4},"title":"Tenth Doctor, Second Series, First Impressions","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 1-Oct-06 8:21am","format":false,"excerpt":"Watched Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion and the \"New Earth\" episode of Doctor Who on the DVR last night. Okay, so David Tennant isn't bad. He hasn't established a...","rel":"","context":"In "Doctor Who"","block_context":{"text":"Doctor Who","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/media-tv-doctor-who"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/tardis.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":133331,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/04\/23\/the-set-piece-for-the-doctor-who-episode-smile.html","url_meta":{"origin":44558,"position":5},"title":"The set piece for the Doctor Who episode "Smile"","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 23-Apr-17 7:49pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It's the Valencia, Spain, City of Arts and Sciences (CAS). I love living in a world with buildings like this. Doctor Who: 4 things you should know about the futuristic city in Smile It's already one of Valencia in Spain's most famous tourist attractions. View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44558"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44588,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44558\/revisions\/44588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}