Doctor Who Discussion (11th Doctor/Season 7)

[AGE]

Ok i a real big fan of SG1 SG Atlantis and Supernatural, i don't watch much tv but these shows i really enjoy so a friend at work is like watch the new Dr Who.. she is a hardcore fan.. i said.. ok i'll give it a shot.. never have been a fan but what the heck.
so i started with Season 6 WOW!!!!!! i was hooked then went back to Season 5 which i found was better i said to myself.. Self.... why have you not watched this..hahah i really like the Doctor the 11th one. sorry i'm a noob.haha

but i started to watch Season 7 the first half was cool.. but just a lot of one off shows.. and the new series with the new actress ahhhhhh.. really not a fan.. and it's just a bunch of random eps.. i really feel like they forgot what made Season 5 and 6 so Great!!!!

[wyldman11]

The second part of this season has been interesting. Two or three episodes followed the same plot progression (ending with Clara jumping in and talking down the big bad instead of the Doctor). Not much has been done with Clara's mystery. I don't mind one off episodes but some of the plots like the singing moon girl felt more like they should have been a B plot of an episode not the A plot.

[Hordak Alpha]

'The Crimson Horror' was probably the only dud episode for me during the second half of series 7. The first time I've fallen asleep watching a Doctor Who episode since watching some of the Hartnell classic episodes where nothing happens for most of the stories.

[Thatman]

I'm not sure what it is, but I have not been enjoying this season as I have the previous ones. It's not bad, per se, it's just...I don't know, it just seems to fall flat to me somehow.

[wolfsfang]

I'm not sure what it is, but I have not been enjoying this season as I have the previous ones. It's not bad, per se, it's just...I don't know, it just seems to fall flat to me somehow.

Ya I agree. Something about it just seems off

[wyldman11]

I have been trying to figure it out myself. I will say Clara as taken a little too quickly with the time travel thing, and the Doctor seems to be trusting her a bit more than he has past companions. There are seems to be a lack of awe in some of things we have recently been shown. I mean we saw more of the insides of the Tardis than we probably have ever seen and the way it was shown didn't seem to draw you into visiting a new world with wonder. Which could be what the problem is there is a lack of wow.

[Replikor]

..I still think the storywriting in the 11th Doctors shows blows.
The 10th Doctor shows felt more dynamic.... you feel like the bumbling companion who is missing out on parts of the story in these new 11th Dr shows.... bleh.

[Dr Kain]

Seasons 5 and 6 were excellent. He did something different. It is only Season 7 that has been subpar.

[wyldman11]

I think the problem is they haven't explored the personality of Clara much I guess because they are afraid of cluing us in what is going on with her. She is almost written as a companion who has been there for a while, almost feeling like left over episodes that were written for Amy Pond that never got put out. And because they aren't delving much into her character that has been more focus on the Doctor himself.

[gbagok]

Well I did love Emperor Willow at least. I often forget how young Warwick was back in '87 too.

I somewhat expect Cyber Doctor will return and is going to be the reason for the next regeneration now.

[JonWes]

I'm not sure what it is, but I have not been enjoying this season as I have the previous ones. It's not bad, per se, it's just...I don't know, it just seems to fall flat to me somehow.

I would agree. I think "flat" is exactly the right word. For some reason I just feel like the show ran out of steam a bit with this season, and it's such a shame leading up to the 50th. I still think it's pretty solid for the most part, but there is a general feeling of "treading water" this season that I haven't really experienced since the show came back. It felt like the Pond's story ended about 6 episodes before we said goodbye to them. And then Clara hopped on board and I like her a lot, but she doesn't feel like a fleshed-out character so much as a mystery waiting to be revealed. But, maybe the finale will change that and propel the Doctor in a different direction. And once Clara's mystery is solved hopefully we'll get to know her a bit better as a character.

I think the problem is they haven't explored the personality of Clara much I guess because they are afraid of cluing us in what is going on with her. She is almost written as a companion who has been there for a while, almost feeling like left over episodes that were written for Amy Pond that never got put out. And because they aren't delving much into her character that has been more focus on the Doctor himself.

Yeah, I just don't buy her as a real human being at this point. Likable, sure, but her reactions seem so off, it's hard to invest in her emotionally. I was kind of let down by the last episode. Being written by Gaiman, I expected more. As it is, the show has started to feel more and more like a kid's show instead of a family show, even though it has some moments that are very dark even for Who.

[Dr Kain]

I think the problem is they haven't explored the personality of Clara much I guess because they are afraid of cluing us in what is going on with her. She is almost written as a companion who has been there for a while, almost feeling like left over episodes that were written for Amy Pond that never got put out. And because they aren't delving much into her character that has been more focus on the Doctor himself.

Hell, I thought the first half of the season was just wasting time to get rid of Amy and Rori for some reason even though they did a good job of letting them go at the end of the last season. There was no need to bring them back. They should have just switched the Xmas specials around and have the one from 2011 introduce Clara.

[Haephestus]

'The Crimson Horror' was probably the only dud episode for me during the second half of series 7.

LOL. The Crimson Horror has been the highlight of the season for me. From the complete season 7, I would only rate Asylum of the Daleks higher than The Crimson Horror.

To be fair, I am easily impressed by the Silurian master detective, her human wife and bodyguard and ever-faithful Sontaran butler.

[Dr Kain]

LOL. The Crimson Horror has been the highlight of the season for me. From the complete season 7, I would only rate Asylum of the Daleks higher than The Crimson Horror.

To be fair, I am easily impressed by the Silurian master detective, her human wife and bodyguard and ever-faithful Sontaran butler.

The only episodes that stand out for me are The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe, Dinosaurs on a Space Ship, The Snowmen, The Bells of St John, and then this past weekend's Nightmare in Silver. The rest have been average at best.

[wyldman11]

Hell, I thought the first half of the season was just wasting time to get rid of Amy and Rori for some reason even though they did a good job of letting them go at the end of the last season. There was no need to bring them back. They should have just switched the Xmas specials around and have the one from 2011 introduce Clara.

I do agree, killing off the characters felt like an attempt to never bring them back. But with how each episode had some amount of time between both for the Doctor and Amy and Rory, there is still place to bring them back.

[JonWes]

Well, that was a great finale all around. Made up for a series full of ups and downs.

 

I really liked the resolution of River's story. It was really well done. I am definitely intrigued by the Hurt Doctor. I'm so glad I avoided all spoilers! I wonder if he's a Doctor between the 8th and 9th, since that's the only regeneration we never saw. It'd make sense if the Hurt Doctor was the one who was involved in the Time War, I suppose.

I am still confused what this has to do with the whoever tried to destroy the TARDIS in Series 5 and said "Silence Will Fall" and what it has to do with the Silence. I feel like there's a lot that's been dangling too long. Maybe they'll wrap that up in the 50th?

Interesting that the Valeyard was name-checked. The only part of the episode that was a bit embarrassing was the insertion of Clara into past episodes. It's such a fun idea I guess I could overlook it during the show... but man, that was pretty badly executed.

[Thatman]

Well, that was a great finale all around. Made up for a series full of ups and downs.

My first thought was

 

Hurt was the Doctor responsible for whatever happened in the Time War. So that while Smith is the 11th Doctor - as in he's the 11th to go by 'Doctor', he's the 12th regeneration of this particular individual.

[wolfsfang]

funny I found it really slow and quite boring, so in that regard it was a fitting end to this season as overall it has been a rather slow and boring one.

[JonWes]

My first thought was

 

The thing about that is, if that's the case, then why is the Hurt Doctor such a secret? I mean, the Doctor has been pretty open about his involvement in the Time War... but this Doctor is meant to be a secret. Hmmm....

[Thatman]

 

Maybe he regenerated during the Time War, so an actual "Doctor" was involved as well as the Hurt version? Don't know - I suppose they want to keep people guessing until November.

[wyldman11]

my guess

 

Part of the Time War, or who he was before he became the Doctor. Doing introducing him as the Doctor could be that is the moment he became the Doctor and he dies shortly after to become the First Doctor

also interesting fan theory

 

Okay so Clara is seemingly a massive analogy for the Doctor Who series.

* Victorian-Clara was born on November the 23rd, the day Doctor Who first aired, and died at the age of 26, the number of Classic Doctor Who seasons.

* Modern-Clara was born in 1989, the year Classic Who was cancelled. Her mother died on March the 5th, the day Doctor Who returned to screens.

* Clara is eventually revealed to have fallen through and has scattered herself across he Doctor’s timeline and has met all eleven Doctors. We see this in ‘The Name of the Doctor’ which is interspersed with scenes of Classic Who with Clara edited into the footage.

If Moffat has introduced a character that is analogous to the fiftieth anniversary of the series then it is not such a large leap to guess that John Hurt’s Doctor represents the cancellation of the series and what happened off-screen until Christopher Ecclestone took on the role in 2005.

Let me explain. The Eleventh Doctor refused to acknowledge John Hurt’s character as the Doctor but admitted that he is an incarnation of himself. My theory is that John Hurt’s character is analogous to the gap between the 1996 TV Movie starring Paul McGann and the 2005 revival.

The reason ‘Doctor Who’ was off our screens for that time is because shortly after the Eighth Doctor was born and tied up the Seventh Doctor’s loose ends, he stopped being the Doctor. He became a warrior, an ‘Oncoming Storm’, the killer of both Daleks and his own kind.

Perhaps it was his role in ending the Time War that was the act that broke his promise to be ‘The Doctor’, “The one who makes people better” or “A great healer”. Perhaps it was something far worse.

Basically my theory is that John Hurt is an older representation of Paul McGann’s character. The reason why there were no Doctor Who episodes between the movie and the 2005 series is because the protagonist was no longer the Doctor. The protagonist only became the Doctor once more when he abandoned his eighth incarnation and regenerated into his ninth.

I may be right. I may be wrong. All I know is that John Hurt’s Doctor is wearing the same jacket that Christopher Ecclestone wore when he first appeared as the Ninth Doctor.

found here

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436992/.../214756019?p=1

[JonWes]

As an 8th Doctor fan, I REALLY

 

don't want Hurt to be an older version of him. I'm fine with a regen in there. But, to me, the 8th Doctor doesn't become something that's not the Doctor.

[wyldman11]

As an 8th Doctor fan, I REALLY

That is the biggest problem I have with that speculation but

 

Clara saw all the faces of the doctor, as did we the 8th brushed past her pretty quickly. The main thing I liked about the theory is how this (un)doctor would have been the Doctor during the time there was no show.

[King Kahn]

That is the biggest problem I have with that speculation but

Yes, i like the idea of him being the Undoctor.

He either has to be the before the first doctor or inbetween the 8th/9th doctor.

I would say that he has to come just before eccelston and here is why.

Since the beginning of the new DW series it has been stated over and over again that the doctor is the reason there are no other timelords, etc so it would make sense to tie it into this new series even more. We also never saw the regeneration between the tv movie doctor and when the new series started up so it'd be a perfect fit.

If he was a proto-doctor then all of the previous docs would have had that angst as well which they really didn't

[Hordak Alpha]

Ah, I don't know where everyone keeps thinking that

 

the 'Hurt' Doctor is a regeneration set during the time war. Hasn't it been said since the revamped series began that the Doctor has been running ALL OF HIS LIFE(the classic series and the new series) from something in his past? What he did during the time war has already been told to a certain extent. We know from the specials 'The End Of The World' and 'The End of Time' that the Doctor somehow sealed Galifrey, Skaro and the time war conflict itself within a self contained time bubble or something to that effect where the Time Lords and the Daleks were all destroyed. Obviously Daleks have survived but the Time Lords did not.

That is already known and we already know the Doctor killed his own people to save the universe.

This big secret, this 'Hurt Doctor', being the something the Doctor has been running from of his past can only mean one thing in my opinion. The 'Hurt Doctor' is the person he was before he chose to become the Doctor. The 'Hurt Doctor' existed prior to the First Doctor. This incarnation essentially probably was when the Doctor was using his real name but whatever horrible thing he did in that incarnation was a reason he re-invented himself and changed his name. The 'Hurt Doctor' probably regenerated into the First Doctor. Hartnell's portrayal can still be considered to be known as the First Doctor because that was the first incarnation where he went by that identity.

That is my theory anyways and makes the most sense to me. Having John Hurt portraying a regen between 8 and 9 doesn't make any sense.