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Doctor Who Regeneration 03: Reversing the Polarity

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    Jodie is killing it in a good way but I feel the writers are not giving her enough.

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      That was Capaldi's issue his entire run. Sucks it's off air for 16 months now but hopefully they have a real think through the next run and shift some stuff around

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        I really hope so

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          Still waiting for a main news site to confirm it but on Era they've mentioned that consolidated viewing figures for the New Years special are coming in at 6.9m which is the lowest for any Xmas period special the show has aired. The programme was still one of the most watched but the switch around doesn't seem to have paid off.

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            The Magician's Apprentice
            Finally moving forward on Series 9 and we pick up almost exactly where we left off with the show with Clara and Missy back in the frame. The episode is the first of a two parter and despite largely restricting all the events to just three or four sets the set up and delivery is broadly solid for the most part. The weakest part from first viewing remains the weakest part on the second, the Doctor playing electric guitar atop a tank in the middle of a medieval fighting pit. Big dose of cringe and there's a strong sense that Missy is only there to give Clara something to do whilst the Doctor is busy with Davros, that and the shows over obsession with the character. Solid though, some decent interchanges to start the series off.

            Series 01 - 4 Strong Episodes (Total 4 For Eccleston)
            Series 02 - 2 Strong Episodes
            Series 03 - 3 Strong Episodes
            Series 04 - 8 Strong Episodes (Total 15 For Tennant)
            Series 05 - 3 Strong Episodes
            Series 06 - 5 Strong Episodes
            Series 07 - 4 Strong Episodes (Total 12 For Smith)
            Series 08 - 2 Strong Episodes
            Series 09 - 0 Strong Episodes So Far

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              The Witches Familiar
              The second part, looking back, makes for an overall pretty solid character led two parter. That's especially good considering it was a series opener, the scenes between the Doctor and Davros are solid stuff and the only thing that let's them down is that the Missy-Clara arc doesn't really contribute anything and that the reveal and resolution of the story at the end can be seen coming from early in the first part. Good stuff overall though.

              Series 01 - 4 Strong Episodes (Total 4 For Eccleston)
              Series 02 - 2 Strong Episodes
              Series 03 - 3 Strong Episodes
              Series 04 - 8 Strong Episodes (Total 15 For Tennant)
              Series 05 - 3 Strong Episodes
              Series 06 - 5 Strong Episodes
              Series 07 - 4 Strong Episodes (Total 12 For Smith)
              Series 08 - 2 Strong Episodes
              Series 09 - 0 Strong Episodes So Far

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                Under the Lake
                I can't quite remember which moment in the episode it dawned on me but it did - I remember why Season 9 was so recent yet made so little impact on me. The season is made up of two parters, the stumbling block of the show made a centre piece. This ep see's ghosts waling the halls of an underwater base and falls quickly into the usual trappings of the shows multi-parters, it's a one ep idea stretched too thinly to make two. The first half of set up is fine but it begins to pad out in the second half and loses momentum because it hangs on who will live and who will die but you're miles ahead of the plot by then.

                Before the Flood
                The second half introduces one of the absolute worst indulgences the show has done - the Doctor talking directly into the camera to the viewer. Cringe throughout those elements and the rest of this episode is just okay because like the latter end of the first part, it's deep in predictable territory with the only interesting element being a causality loop (the bootstrap theory).

                Series 01 - 4 Strong Episodes (Total 4 For Eccleston)
                Series 02 - 2 Strong Episodes
                Series 03 - 3 Strong Episodes
                Series 04 - 8 Strong Episodes (Total 15 For Tennant)
                Series 05 - 3 Strong Episodes
                Series 06 - 5 Strong Episodes
                Series 07 - 4 Strong Episodes (Total 12 For Smith)
                Series 08 - 2 Strong Episodes
                Series 09 - 0 Strong Episodes So Far

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                  The Girl Who Died
                  Pretty much a big shoulder shrug for this one. It's the one with the Viking villagers who are going to be wiped out by an alien posing as Odin. Much of the Doctor's arc rests on his cold pessimism which builds up till he has a mental flash of Tennant's Pompeii episode which finally explains away the repeat casting (if you also ignore Capaldi's turn in Torchwood) and sets him up to be more like the Doctor we normally know (which again subsequent episodes don't really follow up on). The main crux of this episode though is to make us suffer more of Maisie Williams one note acting as a set up for the next episode and a later sequence in the series.

                  Series 01 - 4 Strong Episodes (Total 4 For Eccleston)
                  Series 02 - 2 Strong Episodes
                  Series 03 - 3 Strong Episodes
                  Series 04 - 8 Strong Episodes (Total 15 For Tennant)
                  Series 05 - 3 Strong Episodes
                  Series 06 - 5 Strong Episodes
                  Series 07 - 4 Strong Episodes (Total 12 For Smith)
                  Series 08 - 2 Strong Episodes
                  Series 09 - 0 Strong Episodes So Far

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                    Originally posted by Superman Falls View Post
                    which finally explains away the repeat casting
                    I missed a good chunk of this episode. What was the explanation?

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                      He manages to save the villagers with the exception of Maisie. He's in a barn talking to Clara about how tired he is of losing people all the time when he catches his own reflection and then starts remembering questioning his own face when he first regenerated. The mood he's in is similar to how they used to play Tennant so they essentially have it that as this was the first regeneration of a new cycle he subconsciously gave himself the Capaldi face as a reminder of the kind of man he should be, one who always saves someone even if it's just one person.


                      Then he goes and does the exact opposite by saving Maisie having saved the all the villagers - by making her immortal

                      It's a fine enough explanation but the execution doesn't quite land, it's feels more like it's there because it was as good a space they could fit it in as they thought there'd be that year.

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                        That sounds okay, I guess. It's interesting that they felt the need to get into it at all.

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                          At the time that he was cast and it first came up I figured they'd pull a Colin Baker and just ignore it but it didn't go away, I think his turn in Torchwood was too recent and too prominent to ignore for many. It's ironic that they wouldn't reference that role really.

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                            Yeah, that's the thing - they have ignored it in the past so I always took it that they'd just ignore it this time around too.

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                              The Woman Who Lived
                              Otherwise known as The Poor Man's Captain Jack. Maisie returns for part two and is given more to do but is woefully miscast as her character crosses the Doctor 800 years later than the previous episode. She can't remember much other than her having the most immaculate hand written diary system ever. There's elements of good story opportunity in the mix but she's a poor fit for an arc that required much more emotional weight and world weariness to carry off, the ending closing up simply as her having a bit of hissy fit over boredom more than anything else. It's a good example of what happens when you force two parters for the sake of them.

                              Series 01 - 4 Strong Episodes (Total 4 For Eccleston)
                              Series 02 - 2 Strong Episodes
                              Series 03 - 3 Strong Episodes
                              Series 04 - 8 Strong Episodes (Total 15 For Tennant)
                              Series 05 - 3 Strong Episodes
                              Series 06 - 5 Strong Episodes
                              Series 07 - 4 Strong Episodes (Total 12 For Smith)
                              Series 08 - 2 Strong Episodes
                              Series 09 - 0 Strong Episodes So Far

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                                The Zygon Invasion
                                Osgood, the character who seems to be around because they probably couldn't get Lee Evans to return, is back for this follow up to the 50th anniversary special. It's pretty rubbish to be honest, the kind of almost RTD era treading the water middling one episode kind of stuff but drawn out over two and a lot drier here because of the tone of the show by this point. Slipping into the low point of the season.

                                Series 01 - 4 Strong Episodes (Total 4 For Eccleston)
                                Series 02 - 2 Strong Episodes
                                Series 03 - 3 Strong Episodes
                                Series 04 - 8 Strong Episodes (Total 15 For Tennant)
                                Series 05 - 3 Strong Episodes
                                Series 06 - 5 Strong Episodes
                                Series 07 - 4 Strong Episodes (Total 12 For Smith)
                                Series 08 - 2 Strong Episodes
                                Series 09 - 0 Strong Episodes So Far

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