Doctor Who S34E7 Kill The Moon

[Solauren]

What. The. Fucking. Hell. Was. That??????

I like to think it was all a mental ruse of some kind the Doctor was putting on (holograms, hypnosis, whatever) to push Clara away so she can be with her boyfriend and not worry about him, while he starts the process of evaluating possible new companions.

Otherwise, it makes no sense in the context of established Who-canon, and is almost deliberately insulting to anyone with a atom's worth of actual scientific knowledge.

[jwl]

For the record, the Doctor did not claim the moon was 100 million years old, but that the whatever it was, had been there for 100 million years. Or I guess, more accurately THIS moon had been there for 100 million years.

But the moon has been there on the order of 100 million years. 5 billion years would have caused continuity problems the next time the Silurians turn up.

Basically it goes like this:

On the order of 100 million years ago, a giant egg was laid in the orbital path of earth and its twin planet mondas. This created a new planetoid, and the advanced civilization of lizard people living on earth detected it, coming towards earth. This caused them to panic, as they thought it would destroy the planet, so they went into hibernation underground (taking care not to accidentally turn themselves into werewolves and destroy the planet), or in a giant spaceship, set to return when the catastrophe is over. However, the egg was captured by the earth's gravitational field, and catastrophe never happened; so the lizard people continued staying in hibernation for millions of years. The existence of these lizard people (along with the werewolves and the planet mondas) was discovered in the 1980s, and they were named (rightly or wrongly) the silurians. The fact the moon is the egg, however, was not discovered for another ~60 years.

[NecronLord]

On the order of 100 million years ago, a giant egg was laid in the orbital path of earth and its twin planet mondas. This created a new planetoid, and the advanced civilization of lizard people living on earth detected it, coming towards earth. This caused them to panic, as they thought it would destroy the planet, so they went into hibernation underground (taking care not to accidentally turn themselves into werewolves and destroy the planet), or in a giant spaceship, set to return when the catastrophe is over. However, the egg was captured by the earth's gravitational field, and catastrophe never happened; so the lizard people continued staying in hibernation for millions of years. The existence of these lizard people (along with the werewolves and the planet mondas) was discovered in the 1980s, and they were named (rightly or wrongly) the silurians. The fact the moon is the egg, however, was not discovered for another ~60 years.

That succinctly shows the madness of the setting, doesn't it?

[Burak Gazan]

What's the likelihood of the BBC putting a little message saying "We apologize for last weeks episode. It will be struck from DW cannon and will not be on the DVDs".

Or if it was an integral part of the season arc: "Please bear with us, this episode will make sense at a later date".

This episode was the "Threshold" of the DW francise to date
God help them, they made stuff that rivals the worst of Voyager

[SpottedKitty]

This episode was the "Threshold" of the DW francise to date

Thanks, I had successfully forgotten watching that episode once when I was younger and less jaded...

(FWIW, my preferred comparison is with "Spock's Brain".)

[Enigma]

I didn't think it was that bad. Not the best, but not the worst.

But I found Clara tolerable until now. I hope this is her last season on the show.

[The Romulan Republic]

I've read that Clara is supposed to leave in the next Christmas special.

[Enigma]

I've read that Clara is supposed to leave in the next Christmas special.

About time. I found it stupid that she expected the Doctor to make the decision for them.

[The Romulan Republic]

She had a point that the Doctor is also connected to Earth and it was a rather huge burden to put on her. However, I thought the Doctor had already made his opinion pretty clear and Clara seemed to selfishly want the Doctor to take the responsibility off of her. But the Doctor has spent his whole life making those sorts of decisions (the end of the time war being the most notable example). I don't blame him if he wants someone else to do it for a change.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Honestly, they aren't going to strip this one from canon. They didn't do that for The Twin Dilemma in the 80's and this episode wasn't as bad as that trainwreck was.

[PREDATOR490]

The Doctor has literally openly declared himself the "Defender of Earth" and screwed over people that dare make the 'wrong choice'. Harriot Jones made a valid decision to keep Earth safe and he burned her for it.
During the Sontarron Invasion the Doctor is openly condescending to them trying to do their job of defending the planet and he gets pissy when the lowly humans figure out a way to fight back with the Valiant / Plastic bullets.

If you are going to draw a parallel to Star Trek, A Matter of Time with Picard begging Rasmussen to help him make the decision is entirely appropriate. Replace that dude with the Doctor and I wonder if people would be calling Picard selfish.
If the Doctor was really serious about not interfering... he should be packing up Clara and School girl in the Tardis and leaving. Instead he leaves them behind to die in a nuclear explosion if they make the 'wrong choice'

The way the episode goes it appears the Doctor is either extremely stupid and a hypocrite or he knew what was going to happen and deliberately put Clara through a horrific abuse. That is not the kind of thing you expect a friend to do and Clara has a serious right to be angry about it.

[Parallax]

... this episode made me facepalm for just about the entire length of it.
While not quite as horrendous as Fear Her or Love And Monsters, this really was really freaking awful from start to finish. I'm struggling to think of just one thing about the episode I actually liked.

[Havok]

The Doctor has literally openly declared himself the "Defender of Earth" and screwed over people that dare make the 'wrong choice'. Harriot Jones made a valid decision to keep Earth safe and he burned her for it.

No, the 10th Doctor did that. 9 didn't and neither did 11 as far as I can recall. Some Doctors are detached from humanity simply having a human companion, while others, especially 10, collects humans and and has a special love for them.

13 (Isn't he 13?) is connected to and only seems to have any humanity because of his companion.

[jwl]

Well the doctor typically criticized the time lords for having the exact attitude he had in this episode. First thing I thought after watching this was "the doctor has become a time lord".

[Havok]

Well the doctor typically criticized the time lords for having the exact attitude he had in this episode. First thing I thought after watching this was "the doctor has become a time lord".

That's exactly what Pink was saying when he called him an officer and part of the ruling class and saluted him.

[Bedlam]

Interesting he's become more 'Time lordy' after getting a new set of regenerations from them. I wonder if they might have 'slipped him something' along with the regenerations?

[Gandalf]

Maybe that now he's a bit older, he's passed that youthful rebellion that plagued his first regenerations, and he's made peace with the Time Lord establishment.

[Parallax]

... and yet he isn't (apparently) doing anything to bring Gallifrey back.

[Havok]

... and yet he isn't (apparently) doing anything to bring Gallifrey back.

Gallifrey is in a suspended period in their history, or at a VERY slow pace. Whether he brings them back now or in a million years, they are at almost the same point as when he shifted them out of our universe.

[Havok]

Interesting he's become more 'Time lordy' after getting a new set of regenerations from them. I wonder if they might have 'slipped him something' along with the regenerations?

Doubtful. The guilt from destroying Gallifrey is gone.
The younger regenerations seemed like a way to run from the older Doctors of the past, especially given he regenerated younger each time, (probably couple that with the fact that he was winding down with regenerations and getting up in age) and the Hurt Doctor that he blamed for the decision.

Now the need to feel and be young and carefree and distanced from those types of decisions probably doesn't weigh as heavily on his mind.

[Broomstick]

I think perhaps going from believing he committed double genocide and seeking forgiveness for that to knowing he didn't commit those crimes might have had an effect as well.

[Enigma]

I just realized that Donna would have been the perfect companion for Capaldi's Doctor. Oh the bickering and insults flying between the two of them. Lol.

[Pelranius]

I just realized that Donna would have been the perfect companion for Capaldi's Doctor. Oh the bickering and insults flying between the two of them. Lol.

It would only be a short time until one tries braining the other with... I don't know, a brick in a sock?

[Havok]

I think perhaps going from believing he committed double genocide and seeking forgiveness for that to knowing he didn't commit those crimes might have had an effect as well.

Yes, I said that.