I think my first reaction at the end was 'Thank goodness, an episode of Dr Who I can actually like in its entirety'. Thank you John Hurt.
Amen! I had, as I said, some arguments: I understand what the Zygon plot is doing there, but it feels very arbitrarily grafted except for the parallel of Kate's some-must-be-sacrificed-if-all-are-to-be-saved willingness to nuke London (and I can't decide about the resolution: I like the notion of manipulating both sides to the same perspective when rational argument fails, because it matches both the War Doctor's pessimism and the Tenth and Eleventh's more impatient, tricksterish shortcuts of accepted behavior, but I'm not sure how I feel about memory wipes as the solution for world peace), and Moffat has a tendency to overexplain at moments that should be numinous, as when it takes forever for Hurt's Doctor to realize that the blond-haired woman appearing behind closed doors is the Moment, or when Smith's Doctor rattles on about curators past the point where it's plain he's about to be confronted with the results of his wish. But it's the first full episode I've seen in seasons* that I haven't wanted to rewrite or significantly restructure. It's full of lovely things and painful things and a lot of it is clever, but very little of it is facile. I just liked it.
And Hurt is just that good. He stands there and he has already acted Tennant and Smith off the screen. He can do more breathing than any number of actors with gesticulating. Even the script notices!
* [edit] While looking for another post, I found my review of "Victory of the Daleks." I really liked Matt Smith's Doctor to begin with!
Now post-Christmas Capaldi's Doctor can stop treating his Companions as puzzles to solve in order to distract himself from what he himself is. I've the impression Moffat was writing himself into a corner and can now breath easily again. Questing for Gallifrey allows far more adventures across space and time.
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Amen! I had, as I said, some arguments: I understand what the Zygon plot is doing there, but it feels very arbitrarily grafted except for the parallel of Kate's some-must-be-sacrificed-if-all-are-to-be-saved willingness to nuke London (and I can't decide about the resolution: I like the notion of manipulating both sides to the same perspective when rational argument fails, because it matches both the War Doctor's pessimism and the Tenth and Eleventh's more impatient, tricksterish shortcuts of accepted behavior, but I'm not sure how I feel about memory wipes as the solution for world peace), and Moffat has a tendency to overexplain at moments that should be numinous, as when it takes forever for Hurt's Doctor to realize that the blond-haired woman appearing behind closed doors is the Moment, or when Smith's Doctor rattles on about curators past the point where it's plain he's about to be confronted with the results of his wish. But it's the first full episode I've seen in seasons* that I haven't wanted to rewrite or significantly restructure. It's full of lovely things and painful things and a lot of it is clever, but very little of it is facile. I just liked it.
And Hurt is just that good. He stands there and he has already acted Tennant and Smith off the screen. He can do more breathing than any number of actors with gesticulating. Even the script notices!
* [edit] While looking for another post, I found my review of "Victory of the Daleks." I really liked Matt Smith's Doctor to begin with!
Now post-Christmas Capaldi's Doctor can stop treating his Companions as puzzles to solve in order to distract himself from what he himself is. I've the impression Moffat was writing himself into a corner and can now breath easily again. Questing for Gallifrey allows far more adventures across space and time.
On all fronts agreed.