Now I want a t-shirt that says “Move Away From The Pterodactyls”
Catch the episode free and legally on ABC-TV iView if you’re in Australia (it won’t be broadcast on free to air until next Saturday). I expect that BBC-UK and BBC-America and various agents elsewhere will have similar arrangements.
If you want to add your own spoilers in comments, please wrap them in our special Hoyden spoiler tags so that they get that nice bright orange stripe down the side? Then readers can flip past them if they want to.
The ex-Harry Potter actor quotient for this episode is high indeed. Plus: love the thermos scene.
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Categories: arts & entertainment, fun & hobbies
Otterday! And Open Thread 
100 books by women in 2016 
Today was a singing day 
Hoyden About Town 
No spoilers.
It was awesome! Really loved it.
Is anyone else getting the impression that the Moffat era seems to be channeling the old school Doctor Who vibe a bit more accurately than was the case throughout the Davies years? Maybe it’s just me that thinks this…
Spoilers Below!
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I never watched much of the Original Dr Who so I don’t know how it compares. I am not sure how I feel about this episode.
I certainly feel like we are getting foreshadowing of Amy and Rory leaving the series with mentions of the gaps between visits gettings longer and them wanting to go home after it was all over.
Also was a touch shocked that the Dr just blew up Solomon. That seemed a bit out of character to me.
I did love Rorys Dad and the scene with the thermos was utterly adorable though
Boring. Seems the writers are running out of ideas, or caring, and they’re just mashing together clichéd concepts in an attempt at crowd-pleasing. The whole thing was just predictable and dull.But it did surprise me that the Doctor killed Solomon. That was odd.
(By the way, the spoiler code in the post is missing a / in the close div tag)
Thanks for letting me know.
@ people above that aren’t me or Tigtog
While I found it a bit distasteful that The Doctor killed Solomon, that sort of thing was totally par for the course in the pre-Davies era Doctor Who serials.
That thermos scene was stunning! How good was it that Rory’s dad caries a trowel everywhere!
Also, I’m really enjoying that The Doctor isn’t continually reaching for his sonic screwdriver so far this season…
I did not like it.
I felt that Queen Nefertiti should have been more awesome, and should not have ended up with sexist hunter man. That coupling just made no sense.
And yeah, blowing up Solomon was really jarring. Normally the Doctor gives baddies some form of a choice, a chance to redeem themselves, but that was completely absent.
I guess the trouble is the Doctor can’t possibly let Solomon go – he obviously hasn’t learned any lessons or developed any guilt, he’ll just commit genocide again at the first opportunity – and hasn’t got anywhere to lock him up where he can’t hurt anyone any more. (The Doc can’t be expected to give up his OWN life to guard him in the TARDIS like he was planning to do with the Master.) Still, that shouldn’t be an insurmountable problem. UNIT owe him a few favours, you’d think they’d supply a prison cell…though of course they’re British, they might demand inconsiderate things like TRIALS, the Doctor’s not to know that they had Tosh from Torchwood banged up for the rest of her life without such minor inconveniences, and the Doctor’s not the type to HOPE that they’ll just extraordinarily rendition him to Guantanamo or something…still, there’s gotta be SOME grateful planet SOMEWHERE that could just TAKE THE DOCTOR’S WORD for it that someone badly needs locking up for life.
I’m really having trouble with the politics in this. I can’t comment on its resemblance to Old Who, but it feels like this episode is just going in the wrong direction.
For one thing, as some of you have also said, I think it was wrong of the Doctor to kill Solomon – yes, he was a creepy, disgusting misogynist killer, but it’s not the Doctor’s way to knowingly kill people. I know Eleven can be manipulative and cold, but he’s still not a killer.
The other thing I’m really not liking is the way that genocide is being thrown around lately. I know the Doctor’s reaction is appropriate, but something about it just felt wrong.
And finally, what is it with all the sexiness ALL THE TIME? Especially the random women wanting to get into the Doctor’s pants thing? I mean, really? I recognise that DW has a wider audience than ever including more and more adults, but that doesn’t mean you have to sex everything up. All the (misogynistic) banter, flirting, weird character pairings at the end of the episode… Why?
I’m really not impressed.
I’d call this one hamartia – missing the mark. A shame, since dinosaurs on a spaceship is awesome.
Killing Solomon was one thing. Liking it was something else entirely. The Doctor was gloating about his vengeance. Not cool.
I liked the sexiness with Queen Nefertiti, liked the anti-slavery message. Didn’t like the dialogue when the Doctor refused to hand her over to Solomon. He should have said, “She isn’t mine to give.”
Yeah, right there with you, Kristin. Also, Solomon’s speech to Nefertiti was waaaay disturbing. Like “this should not be on tv that kids watch” and “this guy is a rapist” disturbing.
Nefertiti should not have ended up with big game hunter guy. She and Amy should have wanted his entrails for necklaces by the end of their association. The flirting was so awkward they had to have Amy identify it as such for the audience. There was no chemistry there and just reinforces the idea that strong powerful women just want a man to dominate them and consider them useless. I don’t even understand why the Doctor went out of his way to include him in his jaunt. The Dr had no reason to believe that there was big game roaming around that ship.
wondering makes a good point that –
“The flirting was so awkward they had to have Amy identify it as such for the audience”
but I disagree with this –
“just reinforces the idea that strong powerful women just want a man to dominate them and consider them useless”
I think Nefertiti wanted to have a worthy opponent as a lover. It’s a dominance game, preferably with neither one winning. More fun than a husband who is scared of being executed if he bores her.
Kristin, thank you – I was thinking along the same lines but couldn’t find the words.
I think both Nefertiti and the big game hunter are not that interested in people who defer to them – they’ll work with them to get things done, but they don’t have much respect for them. Someone who doesn’t put up with their bullshit though? And insists on going their own way? Why, how refreshing!
P.S. I’ve known a few couples who run on this mutual-lack-of-patience-with-timidity dynamic. In one of them she eventually saw through too much of his bullshit and went her own way. In another we were all in awe when she bought him a unicycle for his 21st birthday (it was absolutely perfect, but none of us thought of clubbing together for one), then they went off to be nomadic ski instructors together, and they’re still going strong (although maybe the knees have given out).
What a sweet story!