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Doctor Who Regeneration 03: Reversing the Polarity

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    #46
    -The Snowmen-
    The Xmas special that hit halfway through this series run is the second introduction of Clara. With this second incarnation she's that tiny bit less appealing than the first time but still has more about her than the final incarnation we end up with. Otherwise it's a very bog standard Xmas special with little in terms of stakes about it, more just setting the Doctor in place to get straight to meeting her in the next episode.

    Series 01 - 4 Strong Episodes
    Series 02 - 2 Strong Episodes
    Series 03 - 3 Strong Episodes
    Series 04 - 8 Strong Episodes
    Series 05 - 3 Strong Episodes
    Series 06 - 5 Strong Episodes
    Series 07 - 0 Strong Episodes So Far

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      #47
      -The Bells of St Johns-
      Clara's first proper episode is a fluff piece about wi-fi downloads of people via the Great Intelligence that I'd already forgotten was a thing as a season villain for the show. Whilst this Clara isn't as immediately warming as the other two, it's still stark the difference between her and how she's handled later which rears the same concerns as where there at the time of airing.

      Series 01 - 4 Strong Episodes
      Series 02 - 2 Strong Episodes
      Series 03 - 3 Strong Episodes
      Series 04 - 8 Strong Episodes
      Series 05 - 3 Strong Episodes
      Series 06 - 5 Strong Episodes
      Series 07 - 0 Strong Episodes So Far

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        #48
        -The Rings of Akhaten-
        Clara's first trip takes her to a city overlooking a planet where they believe life first began. Here a young girl has to sing a God to sleep, obviously it goes wrong and the Doctor and Clara try to stop the planet sized threat. It's a fairly plodding kind of episode that follows the well worn set up of having the new companion save the Doctor in their second ep so as to prove their value to the show. The final face off is a little too similar to when the Doctor faced down the Devil a few series back but less well handled. Overall, middling.

        Series 01 - 4 Strong Episodes
        Series 02 - 2 Strong Episodes
        Series 03 - 3 Strong Episodes
        Series 04 - 8 Strong Episodes
        Series 05 - 3 Strong Episodes
        Series 06 - 5 Strong Episodes
        Series 07 - 0 Strong Episodes So Far

        Comment


          #49
          -Cold War-
          The Doctor and Clara arrive aboard a Russian sub during the Cold War era just as they have discovered a frozen but still living Ice Warrior. The plot plays off its own cold war plot aboard the sub as they race to avoid the real one from unfolding against the way history records it. You get a decent bit of lore on the Ice Warriors but once again the season delivers an episode that errs towards decent rather than either great or poor.

          -Hide-

          This one is the one all about and empath and a researcher tracking down what appears to be a ghost in an old house until the Doctor and Clara arrive to investigate. There they uncover a pocket universe that holds the truth. It's function and plotting is pretty conventional for a standalone episode but there's something appealing about the execution even if it abandons the horror vibes too early for the sci-fi stuff later on.

          Series 01 - 4 Strong Episodes
          Series 02 - 2 Strong Episodes
          Series 03 - 3 Strong Episodes
          Series 04 - 8 Strong Episodes
          Series 05 - 3 Strong Episodes
          Series 06 - 5 Strong Episodes
          Series 07 - 1 Strong Episode So Far

          Comment


            #50
            -Journey to the Centre of the Tardis-
            Sadly not as intriguing as the idea should be. This is the one where three salvagers capture and damage the Tardis far beyond the levels they really should be able to. The bulk of the episode is them trying to find Clara and a tony tidbit of set up falling into place for the series finale. What's really interesting at this point is how this episode is a mere two or three from the end of the series, a point where the cliffhanger and anniversary special took place and it spectacularly showcases how last minute and poorly that concept came together as the show is still firmly establishing that Smith is the 11th regeneration and not the 13th still. It's a decent episode, it just doesn't pay off as strongly as it should.

            -The Nightmare in Silver-
            After the Daleks, the show upgrades the Cybermen and once again it's for the worse. They're pretty comical and lacking in a sense of threat at all in this episode that is otherwise alright. The central concept of sacrificing worlds to stop a threat is not too far from the Pompeii episode in the fourth series but it doesn't really go anywhere with it as the episode is instead focused on side characters and the Doctor arguing with himself.

            Series 01 - 4 Strong Episodes
            Series 02 - 2 Strong Episodes
            Series 03 - 3 Strong Episodes
            Series 04 - 8 Strong Episodes
            Series 05 - 3 Strong Episodes
            Series 06 - 5 Strong Episodes
            Series 07 - 1 Strong Episode So Far

            Comment


              #51
              -The Crimson Horror-
              I should have watched this before the previous ep but somehow got them the wrong way round. Regardless, this tale of a plan to unleash a paralysing venom on Victorian Yorkshire is one of the weakest episodes in the show in a long while, the victims coming across an cringe worthy to watch and the overall plot being as run of the mill as they could have managed.

              -The Name of the Doctor-

              The series finale lifts things up nicely, it unfolds at its core in a very typical manner but has plenty for fans to chew on and is lively enough. The whole thing is mostly remembered for the cliffhanger though where it drops the John Hurt bomb on us. The notable aspects of that being that within the often mentioned regeneration canon, he does slot in quite easily without contradicting anything and again it's clear that they did it without fully forming the concept of the War Doctor with the ep making Smith become the 12th incarnation, still that doesn't break what comes before, that will instead come up later in another special with a cheap throwaway line that breaks everything.

              Series 01 - 4 Strong Episodes
              Series 02 - 2 Strong Episodes
              Series 03 - 3 Strong Episodes
              Series 04 - 8 Strong Episodes
              Series 05 - 3 Strong Episodes
              Series 06 - 5 Strong Episodes
              Series 07 - 2 Strong Episode So Far

              Comment


                #52
                -The Time of the Doctor-
                I did it again and accidentally skipped an episode so I'll have to come back to that one next week. Instead I watched Smith's final episode which see's him return to Trenzalore to carry out his final days of battle to protect the local town before he ultimately dies. The central concept of him being stuck in the same place for hundreds of years never really lands because the episode lacks the runtime to show the passage of events properly and the show has too often recently explored the idea of the Doctor being made to stay in one place. That mostly leaves us with very distracting poor prosthetics as he gets older. It does however tie off the canon issues that Moffatt created, tying up loose ends from all three seasons even if some of them, including the regeneration limit, are dealt with in a very eye rolling and forced manner for very little effect. It was always one of the biggest bugbears about Moffatt that he talked a big game about adoring the shows history but really he only ever really meant the First Doctor and as such he shredded poorly through a lot of storylines, rules and concepts in haphazard manner that undermined the show. Smith does a decent job, though never selling the old Doctor sections before a nice farewell that goes for sweet rather than the gut punch of Tennants grander farewell. Overall though, it just about makes for a strong ending and takes me up to the main reason I started rewatching the show in the first place - reevaluating the Capaldi run.

                Series 01 - 4 Strong Episodes
                Series 02 - 2 Strong Episodes
                Series 03 - 3 Strong Episodes
                Series 04 - 8 Strong Episodes
                Series 05 - 3 Strong Episodes
                Series 06 - 5 Strong Episodes
                Series 07 - 3 Strong Episode So Far

                Comment


                  #53
                  -The Day of the Doctor-
                  And now the Smith era is done. It's a decent episode on rewatch, it gives a decent amount of time equally to the three Doctor's and the cameo by Tom Baker sits better second time around too. It fits nicely and if anything the only real grating point is how it adds a little fire to the irritation of Smith's finale in how canon breaking it is for the sake of cheap tricks. Looking back, that idea of cheaply rushing Smith as the final regeneration is really poor and would have been infinitely better served by having Capaldi live his run thinking he was out of regenerations and showing what that would mean to the Doctor. It would have given some meaty context to his incarnations motivations instead of being Moffatt pleasing himself with endless riffs and references to the First Doctor that make little to no sense and just detracted from the run.

                  Series 01 - 4 Strong Episodes
                  Series 02 - 2 Strong Episodes
                  Series 03 - 3 Strong Episodes
                  Series 04 - 8 Strong Episodes
                  Series 05 - 3 Strong Episodes
                  Series 06 - 5 Strong Episodes
                  Series 07 - 4 Strong Episodes

                  Comment


                    #54


                    By eck its a leaked clip of Whittaker as the Doctor

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                      #55
                      Waited for the new trailer but it's a fluff teaser in the end:

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                        #56


                        The Muppets do all regenerations and Tennant pops up as the Tenth (Eleventh) Doctor.

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                          #57
                          New images from Series 11:





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                            #58
                            Full Series 11 trailer has been released:

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                              #59
                              A pic has leaked of the new Tardis interior, its a proper leak though so there's no production lighting at all. The entire set looks like its supposed to be illuminated like a Christmas tree




                              It's one where it looks a bit naff but I imagine actually lit and on film it'll look really nice

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                                #60
                                I'm so far behind on this. It just lost its way, for me.
                                The last episode I can remember watching had The Doctor playing electric guitar in Medieval times.
                                How much have I missed?!

                                Or maybe a girl trapped in a puddle.

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