Doctor Who (37) 11.06 Demons of the Punjab

[Narkalui]

Way better than last week, but still under par in terms of quality

 

[nixie]

I really liked this week, sad and sweet it pulled the heart strings.

 

[Anthoney]

I thought it was pretty good. I liked the twist with the aliens. It furthered my already poor opinion on any flavor of religious zealotry. Finally, it had a heart crushing City on the Edge of Forever decision to be made.

 

[Dave]

I'm surprised at the lack of comments here. Twitter is full of "life long Dr Who fans" who now apparently no longer watch it, but dislike it enough to complain strongly about something they never watch. The rest are complaining about the lack of sci-fi and that it is "too historical." Oh! The sheer irony of that; the original premise of the TV show itself, before Terry Nation introduced Daleks.

I like that the aliens are now not monsters and that humans are often the monsters. I'm watching it as I would watch any YA TV show and it is very good quality for that audience. if I want something more serious then there is plenty of other sci-fi and fantasy on TV now. Too much for me to get around to it all.

What did I take away from this week? 1. That the creature last week was apparently a Turtle. A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, obviously! I completely missed that joke.
2. That the Grim Reapers travel in pairs. Who knew?

I thought the "fate" story line was at odds with most Dr Who stories. Usually, great play is made of the idea that time is in a flux, changeable and very fragile. However here, there was nothing they could do to prevent the timeline they already suspected.

I didn't understand how "old" granny didn't remember Yaz and her weird friends, and then put two and two together when she saw the poorly drawn henna hands.

 

[Ursa major]

However here, there was nothing they could do to prevent the timeline they already suspected.

There was nothing they could do that would keep Yaz in existence (hence Anthoney's mention of a City on the Edge of Forever decision).

 

[Dave]

I was writing as he posted that. It is a good comparison. Yes, they could have changed history, but they would have had to live with those consequences.

 

[Anthoney]

I didn't understand how "old" granny didn't remember Yaz and her weird friends, and then put two and two together when she saw the poorly drawn henna hands.

That's exactly what I expected. Then maybe a comment like "That's why you're my favorite grandchild." I was a little disappoint with how that part played out.

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Where to start?

The usual overdoing of the screwy driver. The usual get off this planet because I protect these people.

Ancient time travelling races she's never met nonsense - I thought the time Lords new everything about everyone and certainly those that could interfere with their control. But then again time travel tech is now available on Again.

The writers excelled themselves this week with inconsistency of plot. Aliens that would "look after" those that died alone. Well that was nonsense because at the end the guy that got shot was with his brother - no matter the brother had a hand in his shooting.

Pretty pathetic aliens again. Give them some 1980s shoulder pads with a few spikey bits, stick a bit of old spider mask on their faces and a leftover cloak from "Arthur" and we have the latest alien on the cheap.

Again we have the "ring the changes" on Team Tardis soul searching interchange with the minor characters.

If only they had had the guts to bite the bullet and go for writing out Yaz because she interfered.

 

[Anthoney]

 

[MemoryTale]

I liked this episode, I thought it was a very good human drama.

I can forgive Yaz's nan not remembering her, it was fifty years ago. Even if she had remembered Yaz and her quirky friends, she didn't know they were time travelers so she'd just assume they'd have grown old and/or died like everyone else.

I was a bit confused by nan's story though - did she end up marrying Manesh? If so what could he have done to even make her forgive him for all the bad he did during this story?

 

[Matteo]

Ho hum...

Well at least there was less running in this episode.

As a little historical drama it was fine but too preachy. Obviously I understand the partition was an important and tragic event but don't shoehorn it into a Dr Who episode; make another drama about it (or a documentary).

Not messing with the timeline was OK as it would directly affect Yaz (and the Doctor did say it was risky).

The aliens looked OK (the heads at least) but their story made no sense. They ended up being pretty pathetic.

Yaz's grandmother Umbreen would have to be pushing 90 (partition was 71 years ago) - she didn't look it. And she seemed to have all her marbles so she should have remembered the events of the story.

They couldn't tell that the holy man had been shot?

Nice scene between Graham and Prem - showed Bradley's acting chops I thought.

But I could have done without the heart to heart with Yaz.

That's about it really. Nothing really stood out for me in what was another mediocre episode.

 

[Cathbad]

Wow. I honestly believe there are a few posters on here that should truly consider not watching Who anymore. I don't know how they see things as they do, but that's differences in perspective, I guess. Terms like "preachy" and PC confuse me, because I just don't see it.

And does every alien have to be a monster, else they're "pathetic"?

I think I should start giving these Dr. Who threads a pass - they're depressing me.

Sorry for the rant.

 

[Luiglin]

I enjoyed the episode but at the same time still find myself hankering for a good old monster-of-the-week episode - maybe next week?

One thing though it was beautifully shot.

 

[Cathbad]

One thing though it was beautifully shot.

Definitely!

 

[REBerg]

This was an engaging drama, but it needed a few splashes of humor here and there to lighten things up.
The episode also functioned well as another educational slice of history. At least, in this case, Team TARDIS wasn't attempting to correct a major deviation in the timeline, just trying to keep a team member from negating her existence.

The aliens looked OK (the heads at least) but their story made no sense. They ended up being pretty pathetic.

Yeah. The chamber filled with the floating heads of the dead "witnessed" by the aliens looked like a balloon launch.
Hmm. Maybe the episode did offer a little humor.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

What did I take away from this week? 1. That the creature last week was apparently a Turtle. A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, obviously! I completely missed that joke.

No, they were just implying another adventure in between last week's episode and this one. They've done that earlier in this season, as well. (And all the modern Doctors have, too.) Not everything happens on camera.

 

[Cathbad]

Not everything happens on camera.

Whaaat!?

 

[REBerg]

Whaaat!?

You have to subscribe to the live TARDIS feed to follow all of the Doctor's adventures 24/7.

 

[Luiglin]

No, they were just implying another adventure in between last week's episode and this one. They've done that earlier in this season, as well. (And all the modern Doctors have, too.) Not everything happens on camera.

I want to the war turtles instead then. Sounds fun.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Yeah, some of the off-camera episodes sound like more fun than the ones we get to ride along for.