Doctor Who Series 37 Episode 2 - "The Ghost Monument" Spoilers

[Crazedwraith]

Just about to fire it up on the iplayer.

[The Romulan Republic]

Still pissed I missed this one, but I have been very busy lately.

Was it any good?

[Crazedwraith]

Quite enjoyed this episode, the ending was a little predictable, I'm not sure I like the rags hinting at a great mystery about the Doctor. (Been there done that) But basically solid.

The performances and relations of the main cast, the Doctor and the especially the three companions is very well done and the real strength of the episode.

Whittaker really excelled in the TARDIS reunion scene though.

[The Romulan Republic]

I expected Whittaker to be good, but I'm glad to hear that the ensemble is holding its own as well. Should be an interesting new dynamic for the new series (though not for Who if you go back to the really old days, of course). The closest we've had is 11/Amy/Rory (and sometimes River), and I really liked 11/Amy/Rory's dynamic.

Agreed that we don't need a new mystery about the Doctor every season. That was a Moffatism I can do without.

Edit: I suppose it made sense to focus more on the Doctor's identity around the 50th (even if it could have been better-written), but that was five years ago.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I rather enjoyed that, though pretty much as soon as they mentioned the flesh-eating microbes and started wondering where the people went I'm thinking "um...the microbes killed them perhaps?" It was an interesting development that this wasn't science gone wrong but people being forced to make weapons. Nice touch.

The new Doctor and her crew are working very nicely I think. Whittaker is completely selling it for me. The TARDIS reunion was particularly well-done. As for the new Console Room set, I'm not completely convinced about it yet, but I suspect that rather like Eleven's first version it'll grow on me. The "You've redecorated" line was just perfect.

[bilateralrope]

Those tooth collecting warriors seem to be seem to be a local power that the rest of the galaxy doesn't care about. And part of this seasons overall plot.

[Crazedwraith]

I just realised; this was an 'everybody lives' episode. I was expecting at some one to fall into to microbe waters.

Oh and the Stanza are being set up as an ongoing threat, and interestingly Thirteen seems to know a lot less about things. Or at least that's the impression I'm getting.

[The Romulan Republic]

Okay, having seen the new TARDIS interior... its different, as they all are, but I like it well enough. It has an interesting atmosphere, a little reminiscent of Ten's TARDIS, actually.

Anyone see the teaser for the next episode? Rosa Parks on Doctor Who. Hope they don't screw it up. Writing an episode around US race relations is like walking into a minefield, and I wonder if some nuances might be lost on British writers, but good for them for doing it anyway.

[B5B7]

There were a couple of odd points - the guy who is supposed to be selfish rescued two people from space, and the Doctor freaking out when the Tardis wasn't there when they got to the destination - she should know that the Tardis has a habit of phasing in and out and turning up when it desires, so that may need to wait a little while.
I have an explanation for why the robots were such poor shots - the scientists sabotaged their programming.

[Crazedwraith]

The two competitors were expecting bonuses in the competition for having picked the people up but the organiser had discontinued that in the final stage.

And 13's memory still seems a little off.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Yeah, but custard cream dispenser, people.

[B5B7]

I have just rewatched the episode and this time saw and remembered the bits about the bonuses.
There are a couple of HHGG references with this episode - the spaceships grabbing people from death in space is like what happened with Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, and the Doctor used the line 'Don't panic' shortly after.

[Q99]

I'm digging the fairly big crew. Gives a lot to work with.

Whittaker really excelled in the TARDIS reunion scene though.

Yes, they really care for each other

[Q99]

Observations on 13- Having heard of most species and so on around space seems to be very downplayed. Flipside, building stuff is played up- many Doctors build a sonic, but building one onscreen in a montage? And then the microwave-space-warper? 13 likes to make stuff, and it's being on-screen emphasized more.

She's very get-your-hands-dirty, as the return of Venusian Aikido also shows.

[The Romulan Republic]

I'm digging the fairly big crew. Gives a lot to work with.

Whittaker really excelled in the TARDIS reunion scene though.

Yes, they really care for each other

Yep.

Hmm... Eleven did call her Sexy. And the TARDIS definitely seems to identify as a female...

Does this mean the Doctor is in a lesbian relationship now?

[Q99]

Why not?

[HortonX25]

I'm digging the fairly big crew. Gives a lot to work with.

Whittaker really excelled in the TARDIS reunion scene though.

Yes, they really care for each other

Yep.

Hmm... Eleven did call her Sexy. And the TARDIS definitely seems to identify as a female...

Does this mean the Doctor is in a lesbian relationship now?

Honestly, I think they should add that now just to trigger people.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Not sure you can count it as a "lesbian" relationship when one is an immortal higher-deimensional timeship and the other is a multi-lived gender-swapping species. Neither are human, neither are the same species and I would be frankly astonished if the Time Lords even ascribed to the same ideas of sex/gender as we humans do...the aforementioend regenerating thing kinda messes up that one.

It'd still be a hilarious thing to throw in though

[The Romulan Republic]

Not sure you can count it as a "lesbian" relationship when one is an immortal higher-deimensional timeship and the other is a multi-lived gender-swapping species. Neither are human, neither are the same species and I would be frankly astonished if the Time Lords even ascribed to the same ideas of sex/gender as we humans do...the aforementioend regenerating thing kinda messes up that one.

It'd still be a hilarious thing to throw in though

Its my head cannon that most Timelords are naturally bisexual, due to the regeneration issue (there are certainly hints that the Doctor him/herself is bi).

[Broomstick]

The one thing that I am enjoying most about this series is that Thirteen is a Doctor who just happens to be female, as some just happen to have been old, or Eleven just happened to be young, and Twelve just happened to have a Scottish accent, and Nine one from "oop North" (Mancunian? Not one I'm terribly familiar with). She is not The Female Doctor but written as the Doctor, who just happens to be female.

That said, I do like the one or two subtle references we've seen to the gender change:

"Why did you call me Madam?"
"Because you're a woman"
"Does it suit me?"

"Come to daddy. I mean mummy."

One per episode at this point is quite enough, and on par with "a half an hour ago I was a white-haired Scotsman" as reference to the regeneration.

The Doctor just goes on being the Doctor in a new body, as has happened more than a dozen time before.

Also like seeing a female character being portrayed as a thing-maker - it's very consistent with being the Doctor, but not so common a female type in media.

I thought the rags were going to turn out to be the remains of the people who had been on the planet, so having them be an engineered weapon/threat was a nice turn for me.

[Q99]

It's not that they don't bring it up, like you note, but they bring it up just the right amount.

[Tsyroc]

There were a couple of times in the episodes that I thought it got a little preachy. Once with guns and another with knives. The guns bit is consistent with what the Doctor has said before and how it worked out in episode was amusing, although how anyone but the Doctor was supposed to use the Doctor's answer to the situation is something that's just left to slide. It's one of those things that can be annoying and amusing about the Doctor.

The knife comment, "Only an idiot carries a knife.", (was that in the first episode?) bugged me because I pretty much always carry a knife and I thought it might be pandering to the government in the UK but later on a character was saved by someone who was carrying a knife. So that pretty much nullified my annoyance with the knife comment, for the most part. "Idiot" seems rather harsh though.

I did like the tie-in with the villain from the first episode. I also wonder if they'll run across the winners of the rally later in the season?

[Tsyroc]

Its my head cannon that most Timelords are naturally bisexual, due to the regeneration issue (there are certainly hints that the Doctor him/herself is bi).

It makes logical sense. They do live a very long time so why stay limited to one way of living?

Plus, if they have a significant other who is also a Timelord. It's very possible that person could end up switching sexes. If the couple is in love it makes sense to be go with the flow.

The Doctor seemed okay with and somewhat reciprocated Captain Jack's interest. I just think he was more interested in Rose at the time.

[The Romulan Republic]

There were a couple of times in the episodes that I thought it got a little preachy. Once with guns and another with knives. The guns bit is consistent with what the Doctor has said before and how it worked out in episode was amusing, although how anyone but the Doctor was supposed to use the Doctor's answer to the situation is something that's just left to slide. It's one of those things that can be annoying and amusing about the Doctor.

The knife comment, "Only an idiot carries a knife.", (was that in the first episode?) bugged me because I pretty much always carry a knife and I thought it might be pandering to the government in the UK but later on a character was saved by someone who was carrying a knife. So that pretty much nullified my annoyance with the knife comment, for the most part. "Idiot" seems rather harsh though.

I did like the tie-in with the villain from the first episode. I also wonder if they'll run across the winners of the rally later in the season?

That would be funny.

The Doctor being anti-gun is pretty consistent, at least for the post-Time War regenerations. As to knives... the Doctor probably wouldn't look down much on using a knife as a tool, but generally disdains physical force, especially lethal force, when other solutions are available. This could be seen as hypocritically/self-deluded, though, as more than one version of the Doctor has killed vast numbers of people through less direct means (Eleven mind-controlling the entire human race in perpetuity into committing genocide against the Silence comes to mind). It comes across as the Doctor needing to keep a certain psychological distance from her atrocities, and then telling herself that she's not a killer as long as she doesn't carry a weapon or directly get her hands dirty (I use "her", but this is true of pretty much all the new series Doctors collectively).

[Broomstick]

(Eleven mind-controlling the entire human race in perpetuity into committing genocide against the Silence comes to mind)

I saw that more as the Doctor having the Silence hoist by their own petard(s) - much like Tim Shaw and the DNA bombs. The Doctor turned the bad guys' weapon against them, and it was triggered by the bad guy trying to use it against someone else.

Admittedly, it's a fine distinction.