February 16th, 2020
41 comments
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Now that the Eighth episode of series 12 has aired what did you think? Was it everything you had hoped for or not what you expected.
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Anonymous
February 18th, 2020 - 12:31pmbooboo, how many people vote on these polls on average?
booboo
February 18th, 2020 - 12:44pmusually ends up at 1000+
Anonymous
February 17th, 2020 - 11:56pmI enjoyed this episode. It was a real spooky story, as a fan of Mary Shelley and Dr. Who this was the best. Jodie was on top form, she has grown so much as The Doctor. I liked from the moment she took over the TARDIS. I fully support Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor. I have a shirt replica of Jodie’s and wear it in support of her. 10/10 for the episode. Jodie Whittaker you rule
Time Maker
February 17th, 2020 - 11:04pmMy Top 5 favourite Parts of The Haunting of Villa Diodat
* Incredibly spooky moments such as the changing, rooms, moving skeleton hands and the possibility Graham saw actual ghosts! It was the perfect spine tingling episode and even better for me the episode aired on a stormy night!
* Marvellous acting from the guest characters who all felt like they really were pulled out from their time zones, everyone was believable from the Gentle knowledge seeking Percy Shelly to the horror loving Mary Shelly and the pompous poet Byron.
* The Lone Cyberman is something I was expecting yet it’s behaviour and appearance was something I did not expect, seeing a cyberman only partially upgraded made it particularly grotesque, perfect for inspiring Mary Shelly to write Frankenstein. seeing a cyberman with clear emotions added a new level of terror especially since it only had negative emotions like anger and hate (kind of like a Cyberman shaped Dalek) Also First Episode that features only one cyberman and this one proved that the Cybermen are more than capable of outsmarting their foes without the need of a big army.
* The Cyberium was probably the strangest thing in this episode considering it was a (to a degree) sentient metal liquid of all cyber data. since it’s from the far future that would explain why it looks so unbelievable, looks like the future cybermen have perfected their Nano tech, interesting to see it would prefer to be with the doctor than the lone cyberman which I guess could be due to the lone cyberman being unfinished and possibly considered unreliable while the Doctor is way more intelligent and would probably have started to convert her into a new cyber planner given the chance, or is their more to this Cyberium than meets the eye?
* The Doctor’s speech about why she saves lives no matter the cost is indeed an important one take away just one person and you take away what they will contribute to either humanity or the planet earth, whether it is big or small one death that shouldn’t happen is bound to really mess up someone else’s life, and as the Doctor implied she has absolutely no idea what damage Shelly’s early death will cause the time stream and how bad it could affect her companions, This time their wasn’t any true way the Doctor could win so she did the right thing to save an innocent life then go to save the ones in the future. Also interesting to see a new timelord trick of showing someone how they will die (admittedly a rather disturbing trick but it was used to save a life so we can forgive her for that) In a way it’s quite noble that the Doctor doesn’t use this trick on any of her/his past foes to scaring them off.
For once it’s hard for me to think of anything wrong with this episodes plot and performance so to throw something in from my personal tastes I wasn’t fond of the inclusion of the baby since I find them annoying.
(P.S sorry forgot to put my name on the original post)
Whovian
February 17th, 2020 - 10:01pmBit boring in places. The Lone Cyberman was creepy. On a whole, it was mediocre until the last 15 mins or so, it was nice to see the Doctor’s darker side coming out a bit & to see her a bit vulnerable, being presented with an impossible choice
Anonymous
February 17th, 2020 - 6:27pmFor me, the perfect Doctor Who story. I absolutely loved it. Dialogue superb. Actors great. Jodie on top form. History AND future. Nods to so many past Dr Who stories. No political agendas. Nice bit of horror and creepiness. This is Dr Who at its best. Perfect for so many reasons. Superb addition to Cyber-lore. Stunning. Surpasses any Dr Who for many years…
The Living Shadow
February 17th, 2020 - 5:29pmThis. More of this please!
Doctor Stu
February 17th, 2020 - 2:59pmTo be fair the mind meld isn’t a Jodie invention as it’s been used before in previous Doctor stories
Lorraine
February 17th, 2020 - 12:48pmI had friends round so have not seen this yet. The only thing I would say is that Who did start as an educational programme for children when I was 6. However the show and the viewers have grown up together and that is why the RTD and Moffatt years worked so well as the episodes were carefully crafted to appeal to both younger newer viewers and those more established so I think family programme rather than children’s programme is a more suitable show heading now. However you need good writers to be able to pull this off but I must say most of the posts above seem approving of last nights episode. If there are no PC rants I am looking forward indeed and I hope Jodie has somehow lost her sonic which seems to be the answer to everything at the moment plus her newly found Vulcan mind-meld! I will be glad when she regenerates but that does not seem to be anytime soon. I always thought the Borg was a rip off of the Cybermen but the scifi universe certainly has room for both.
Amanda
February 17th, 2020 - 11:28amI loved it. I love all of Doctor Who, and have done since the very first episode. (Yes, I am that old.) I think it’s a bit sad that grown ups feel the need to run down the episodes with an excellent female doctor, or even find it necessary to bother reviewing a children’s programme as if it were written for adults, but there you go. Originally conceived as something different which was able to educate children as well as be enjoyed by them, it’s still managing to do just that .
Anonymous
February 17th, 2020 - 9:46amMy Top 5 favourite Parts of The Haunting of Villa Diodat
* Incredibly spooky moments such as the changing, rooms, moving skeleton hands and the possibility Graham saw actual ghosts! It was the perfect spine tingling episode and even better for me the episode aired on a stormy night!
* Marvellous acting from the guest characters who all felt like they really were pulled out from their time zones, everyone was believable from the Gentle knowledge seeking Percy Shelly to the horror loving Mary Shelly and the pompous poet Byron.
* The Lone Cyberman is something I was expecting yet it’s behaviour and appearance was something I did not expect, seeing a cyberman only partially upgraded made it particularly grotesque, perfect for inspiring Mary Shelly to write Frankenstein. seeing a cyberman with clear emotions added a new level of terror especially since it only had negative emotions like anger and hate (kind of like a Cyberman shaped Dalek) Also First Episode that features only one cyberman and this one proved that the Cybermen are more than capable of outsmarting their foes without the need of a big army.
* The Cyberium was probably the strangest thing in this episode considering it was a (to a degree) sentient metal liquid of all cyber data. since it’s from the far future that would explain why it looks so unbelievable, looks like the future cybermen have perfected their Nano tech, interesting to see it would prefer to be with the doctor than the lone cyberman which I guess could be due to the lone cyberman being unfinished and possibly considered unreliable while the Doctor is way more intelligent and would probably have started to convert her into a new cyber planner given the chance, or is their more to this Cyberium than meets the eye?
* The Doctor’s speech about why she saves lives no matter the cost is indeed an important one take away just one person and you take away what they will contribute to either humanity or the planet earth, whether it is big or small one death that shouldn’t happen is bound to really mess up someone else’s life, and as the Doctor implied she has absolutely no idea what damage Shelly’s early death will cause the time stream and how bad it could affect her companions, This time their wasn’t any true way the Doctor could win so she did the right thing to save an innocent life then go to save the ones in the future. Also interesting to see a new timelord trick of showing someone how they will die (admittedly a rather disturbing trick but it was used to save a life so we can forgive her for that) In a way it’s quite noble that the Doctor doesn’t use this trick on any of her/his past foes to scaring them off.
For once it’s hard for me to think of anything wrong with this episodes plot and performance so to throw something in from my personal tastes I wasn’t fond of the inclusion of the baby since I find them annoying.
The Moffat Paradox
February 17th, 2020 - 9:05amJordan9364 hits the nail on the head as well. If the episodes since series 11 had been a LOT MORE like this us sceptics would have had A LOT LESS of a problem with the Chibnall/Whittaker tenure.
Anonymous
February 17th, 2020 - 9:01amThe cybermen was a good shock for me
Mick C
February 17th, 2020 - 3:18amNot a fan of 19th century Goth at all so turned it off after about 5 mins, finished watching it after i heard about the Cyberman my ratings for the overall quality of the episode 7/10 for my personal enjoyment 2/10. Just because I don’t like the type of story being told doesn’t mean i say they are poorly made. Can’t stand Gothic Horror like Vampires, Mummies and Frankensteins Monsters set in 18-19th century so i simply don’t watch them, irrespective if they are well made or not.
For those people who say Jodie can’t act i think that is somewhat harsh. Jodie is a fine actress who may be over doing some things a bit and can be very annoying at times but that is also in the hands of Chibnell and the directors.
I hated Davidson as the Doctor, i thought it was a poor choice but i thought he was a good actor as i had seen him in other shows more suited to him than Dr Who.
Anonymous
February 17th, 2020 - 12:58amSorry but for me this episode did nothing the cyberman was a poor rip of the borg from star trek and the actress playing the doctor was so wooden
The Moffat Paradox
February 16th, 2020 - 11:53pmInitial thoughts.Didn’t think apart from “Twice Upon A Time” and “Resolution “ that I was really watching Doctor Who since “The Doctor Falls’” which was the Cybermen’s last appearance.
So it seemed fitting that I was watching something that connotates more in my mind with actual Who upon their return and apart from slight digging at Byron’s character I thought also not provoking anything really in agenda controversy.
RORY DOCTOR RIVER POND
February 16th, 2020 - 11:28pmI quite enjoyed that. Even though the companions contributed nothing to the plot, I enjoyed their presence in this episode, probably because they were separate. Also quite liked Jodie this week. I felt bad for the writer though, as her ideas were probably pushed aside by Chibnall and the Cyberman arc. Also, Mary Shelley actually didn’t get much attention – all other historical characters, were more memorable, and got more screen time. It wasn’t even foreshadowed that she would go on to write Frankenstein, so those who don’t know her won’t learn anything, which is what Chibnall is trying to do. It’s a shame the episode was taken over by the Cyberman plot, as it didn’t give Shelley the attention she deserves… but I enjoyed it nonetheless. What could’ve been a great standalone was just infected with the arc.
Doctor Mysterio
February 16th, 2020 - 11:16pmAnother great episode, made all the more enjoyable for being mainly spoiler free prior to viewing. The new take on the Cyberman was interesting and the guest cast impressed. My only complaint is that there are perhaps too many companions in the TARDIS to give them all enough to do each week, but with stories like this, I think that can be excused. Jodie of course continues to shine in the role, flipping seamlessly between comedy drama and tragedy, and leading the cast well. The series is definitely building towards a bigger conclusion, whether in this season or the next. And that means there’s finally some mystery again!
While I didn’t really rate Orphan-55 much, the rest of this season has been pretty good. Lessons have clearly been learnt from last year, as the new production team have managed to turn out a second season of consistently good episodes. This is now sitting up there with seasons 4 and 10 for me.
The episode this week again looked great on screen. We are truly being spoilt these days! What a great time to be a Who fan.
Jordan9364
February 16th, 2020 - 11:15pmDecent episode with a good villain that doesn’t push political views – exactly what Dr Who should be, probably one of Jodie’s best episodes
Anonymous
February 16th, 2020 - 9:59pmThis Episode once again proves that the Cybermen are one of the most terrifying and brilliant villains ever to face the Doctor. I especially liked the Frankenstein Cyberman design with different eras of the Cybermen shown.
Demdike@CultLabs
February 16th, 2020 - 8:57pmBest episode since World Enough and Time for me.
Cyberpeople
February 16th, 2020 - 8:44pmCertainly one of the better episodes of this series But that’s not too difficult with the majority being below average. The lone Cyberman worked well within the story, and the acting on the whole was fairly strong, especially from the guest cast. This story also probably benefited for not being co written with Chibnall.
Mark Belsom
February 16th, 2020 - 8:43pmQuite enjoyed tonight’s episode, also nice to see a creepy cyberman for a change.
UK Viewer
February 16th, 2020 - 8:42pmI loved it up until the Cyberman angle came into play, I would have much proffered it to have been a new ‘monster’. The frights were very good, and had us (non-fan wife) jumping in our seats at times.
Still gets 9 out of 10 though.
The cyberman bits were very good and it looked really uggh and horrible. I just, personally, would have rather have had all that in next weeks episode.
I’m sure many will be pleased there were no “PC Rants” in this one, or if there was they were too subtle this time! LOL!
Graham again was the best of the companions then Yaz, then Ryan… They just don’t give him enough to do or say that makes him ‘work’. I wonder if any of them will survive the series finale over the next two weeks?
Felt the anger of the Doctor knowing that whatever she chose to do billions of lives would be lost…
“Sorrow is knowledge: they who know the most must mourn the deepest o’er the fatal truth, the Tree of Knowledge is not that of Life.” – Lord Byron, Manfred, Act I, Scene I.
Simon W
February 16th, 2020 - 8:36pmThis season out of the 8 episodes I’ve seen I really enjoyed 4 of them that’s Episodes 1, 2, 5 and tonight’s one the other stories plz pardon the pun was rubbish that’s Episodes 3, 4, 6 and 7 I’m a die hard fan and enjoy Who those episodes I didn’t enjoy. I’m hoping Episodes 9 and 10 are going to be even better with the conclusion on the Timeless Child story ark and I hope Captain Jack is in one of them.
Anonymous
February 16th, 2020 - 8:34pmAverage story let down by jodie been unable to act and relying on the sonic screwdriver as usual
James McGregor
February 16th, 2020 - 8:15pmWithout a doubt, the BEST episode of the past two series! If they had all been of this calibre, NOBODY would be complaining….I know I would not have been lol!
Maxine Alderton, the writer, what a revelation! more from her in the future please!
Anonymous
February 16th, 2020 - 8:12pmI haven’t enjoyed the last few, so I wasn’t expecting to like this either. But I’m pleasantly surprised by it. Really good episode, villain was awesome, and Jodie had a good little speech in there. Overall great stuff!
SadDoctor
February 16th, 2020 - 8:12pmSame problems as the rest of the series, another poor outing!
When The Doctor Was Me
February 16th, 2020 - 8:02pmLoved it! Spooky. The Lone Cyberman was horrific! The line about his children was horrifying! Best episode this series for me!
Anonymous
February 16th, 2020 - 8:02pmLoving this series. History meets the cybermen. Brilliant.