Doctor Who (37) 11:09 It Takes You Away.

[Matteo]

Umm...OK.

 

[Cathbad]

Didn't the frog say he picked that form because he rather enjoyed it?

Honestly, I was a bit bored at the beginning of the episode. From the time they discovered the portal until the farewell scene was excellent fun! But, for the second episode this season, the ending felt like it was missing something. Overall, a good episode!

 

[Luiglin]

The only lazy part for me is why didn't the Doctor see someone they'd lost?

They could ever have had a weird effect where the Doctor could have seen an amalgam of all the past incarnations.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

The only lazy part for me is why didn't the Doctor see someone they'd lost?

I think that was because the Solitract didn't need to lure the Doctor at that point -- she'd already agreed to stay.

 

[Luiglin]

I think that was because the Solitract didn't need to lure the Doctor at that point -- she'd already agreed to stay.

Possibly, I just it would have made it interesting to see something like that occur at the same time as Graham saw his dead wife.

 

[Vince W]

This could have been a great Doctor cum Lovecraft episode, but ends up being a limping story of love conquering fear. Again.

The initial set up was quite good and very eerie. Very Jo Nesbo/Dunwich Horror type of vibe. Hannah was wonderful since she realises very early on that Ryan sucks. The whole conscious universe kicks them out line was weak. Hannah should have saved them all by leading them back through the tunnel by her sense of touch once they figured out they'd been trapped by Yog-Sothoth.

The Doctor seems to be an infodump device this series. Need to explain something? The Doctor suddenly remembers. At least when she's not running about claiming 'I don't know' all over the place.

Ryan finally had some redeeming value when he finally called Graham granddad. Now pin his mittens to his sleeves and send him on his way. Ryan's the worst. Except for Yas. She's the worst too.

Was anyone else hoping that Graham would punch Erik squarely on the nose? No. Just me then I guess.

Overall it was a messy, but good episode.

 

[Matteo]

This could have been a great Doctor cum Lovecraft episode, but ends up being a limping story of love conquering fear. Again.
[...]
The Doctor seems to be an infodump device this series. Need to explain something? The Doctor suddenly remembers. At least when she's not running about claiming 'I don't know' all over the place.
[...]
Was anyone else hoping that Graham would punch Erik squarely on the nose? No. Just me then I guess.

True, true, and me.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Sorry, I’ve been letting the side down but I’m still very much pro-Doctor Who! I don’t watch tv at all these days and I don’t take notice of the time so I tend to miss it, but recently I got all up to date.

Even I was a bit, what the heck, with the frog, but I realise it was the doing of a weird sentient Universe that was basing everything on what it gathered from the folk inside it, including Grace’s love for frogs. It probably assumed it was some amazing creature that the majority of people loved!

I’m still loving the Doctor’s enthusiasm, her desire to bring out the best in everyone and be the facilitator to help them on the right path, and so I rather liked that the way she solved all this was promising to be the Universe’s friend. Like she said, she’s discovered something completely extraordinary and it wasn’t trying to be malevolent, why wouldn’t she want to befriend it first and foremost. Everyone talks about the Doctor being a big pacifist, so this was quite inkeeping with their way of working things out.

Plus it fit with the overall theme of having to let go even when it’s hard and painful, and knowing when things can’t be, etc.

The Doctor seems to be an infodump device this series. Need to explain something? The Doctor suddenly remembers. At least when she's not running about claiming 'I don't know' all over the place.

...just like all the other Doctors? Isn’t that why people say why the Doctor has companions, so there’s someone there they can explain everything (and thus us the audience) to? And it’s generally how it goes, they turn up in some form of mystery and then it takes a fair portion of the episode to gather evidence, review it, turn it over in that big, mad brain of theirs, and form an idea of what’s going on. Like this week, mirror portal, buffer zone, nice replica universe where people are being shown someone they’d find it hard to let go of...only finally then did the Solitract pop into her head. It’s not really suddenly. I reckon people would find it much more annoying, and wouldn’t make for a very good programme, if the Doctor turned up, took one look at the situation and knew what’s going on immediately.


Anyway, the real surprising thing for me this week...my mum was visiting this weekend and she a.) actually asked to watch it (genuinely shocked at that) b.) turns out she’s been watching all of them! c.) claims she, and I quote, “can watch it with her (Jodie) in it” and d.) is apparently a fan of the new format, as she found all previous series ‘too silly’. This is a massive turnaround!

 

[Vince W]

I don't know why, but the way Whitaker does it feels a little unnatural to me, so I guess it sticks out to me.

 

[MemoryTale]

I don't know why, but the way Whitaker does it feels a little unnatural to me, so I guess it sticks out to me.

I think that's more the writing to be honest. Like the episode on the spaceship where they literally stopped racing to save their own lives so the Doctor could explain to Yaz what anti-matter was. It's like plot holes - every story has them, but in the good ones you're so invested in what's going on you don't really notice them.

I'm undecided on this one, I may have to watch it again. I felt they could have made it better by cutting out the moths and the Gollum creature, none of them were important in the grand scheme of things, and the time saved by cutting them could have made the core story make more sense.

I've liked Jodie as the Doctor, and I like her Doctor-gimmick of being a team motivator, it suits what the Doctor has always done, make people a better version of themselves. In the first episode when she made the sonic I thought her gimmick was going to be a mad inventor, but team motivator works too

Does anyone else get the vibe that this could have been a series finale? It had the emotional payoff for Graham saying goodbye to Grace, which he's been struggling with throughout the series* and the scene where Ryan calls Graham grandad, which we all knew was coming, and Yaz… Had nothing, but then what's new. Seriously, I think Yaz has had a significant story role in maybe two episodes.

*whenever the writers remember it, like Ryan's dyspraxia.

 

[REBerg]

Erm....

The sheep wars.​

Oft mentioned in previous regenerations of Who. Apparently it was absolute carnage like lambs to the slaughter. The Who's Who, What, Where of Earth history tells us it ranks well above the several invasions of the more peaceful species that have attempted to take over from man as the top dog on the planet. The Daleks' Solarians and the all the other's worst fear was that the sheep might join in on the side of the humans. The Cybermen actually turned back several invasion fleets just on the rumour that the sheep had resumed the manufacture of their favourite weapons - "Golden Fleeces". Yes we humans, even though we mercilessly quashed the sheep ourselves, have much to thank these apparently peace loving guardians.

Arriving at the top of a scenic hill overlooking a fjord, the Doctor deduces they’re in Norway, though not because of the fjord, but rather because of the taste of the soil. A stray sheep leads to her wondering if they’ve arrived in the midst of the Woolly Rebellion in 2211, in which there’s “a total renegotiation of the sheep-human relationship. Utter bloodbath.” If you don’t want to see that made into an actual Doctor Who episode, then we can’t be friends.

-- Ross Ruediger, Vulture​

​

 

[REBerg]

I liked the concept of a conscious universe attempting to tap into ours. Universes get lonely too.
That curious universe suddenly appearing as a frog caught me by complete surprise. Holy Hypnotoad!
Once I was done chuckling, I thought, "why not?"
True, the animation was too poor for the closeups of the frog's lip movements. Wide shots of the Doctor and Frog Universe conversing would have sufficed.

 

[SPoots]

I liked this episode though I wanted to see more of that in-between hell workd. That was one of the scariest ideas I’ve seen in new who for a while, and was sorry to see it wasn’t the focus of the episode.

 

[BigBadBob141]

I can not repeat what is being said about the new female doctor on you tube!
All I can say is they are using lots and lots of naughty words!!!

 

[Cathbad]

 

[Mr Orange]

i thought the episode was another good one. good, not too obvious storyline without too many holes (for Who at least). it seems that the show is getting its personality together. i really like Whittaker as the doctor, although i agree that it seems like the dialogue hasn't been written for her quite right sometimes. could have done without Ribbons or whatever his name was, although the flesh moths were a good additon to the antizone.

i thought it would have been good to have someone from the doctor's past instead of the frog (Bill or Clara perhaps). i would have thought the frog universe would still be trying to keep the doctor there so might have gone for that instead of a terrible animated frog. it could also have a been a good opportunity to advance a long storyline, which has been sadly missing this season. the lpg scarf monsters got my hopes up back in Ep02 that there would be one but i have been disappointed since.

Perhaps the writer thought that the previous episodes where the TARDIS decided to go somewhere/sometime, based on something being amiss would have sunk in by now... particularly when, in this case, the thing that was amiss was an attempt to link our universe with something incompatible with our universe.

i also thought that was fairly well known.

i think they need to lose a companion. there's one too many and none of them are getting developed enough.

and i wanted someone to punch Erik as well.