September 26th, 2015
112 comments
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What Did You Think of The Witch’s Familiar?
Now that the highly anticipated second episode of series 9 has been aired what did you think? Was it everything you had hoped for or not what you expected.
Trapped and alone in a terrifying Dalek city, the Doctor is at the heart of an evil Empire: no sonic, no TARDIS, nobody to help. With his greatest temptation before him, can the Doctor resist?
And will there be mercy?
These exclusive and limited edition action figures are highly detailed and features 18 points of articulation, interchangeable head (with hat) and iconic accessories including Missy’s umbrella and “Missy Device”. The bespoke packaging is easy to display.
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The Moffat Paradox
September 27th, 2015 - 12:49amThis daughter could possibly have been fathered when Missy was the Master in all likelihood.
The Moffat Paradox
September 27th, 2015 - 12:41amBut in all of this:Paradigm Daleks.Paradigm Daleks.Where art thou?
Docwatcher
September 27th, 2015 - 12:19amDoctors, companions, and now even screwdrivers may come and go but not Davros and IMHO this was his finest hour in terms of both scripting and acting. He wasn’t exactly outwitted by the Doctor rather cheated by an all to predictable and therefore somewhat boring bit of time travel which in case we couldn’t see it coming it was felt necessary to show us in the trailer at the end of episode 1.
To my mind a scenario with much promise was never really capitalized on in the second episode which saw Clara seemingly happy to be suspended upside down menaced only by a pointed stick and equally happy to hop into a vacant Dalek without first wiping away the slime left on the seat by the previous occupant.
Obviously she needed basic driving tuition but couldn’t the discovery that it wouldn’t always say what she wanted have waited till the confrontation with the Doctor? In short this wasn’t the stuff that made me hide behind the sofa as a child, even the Daleks seemed to have lost their edge in this story and not just because I’m now in my 60s!
A
September 27th, 2015 - 12:10amVery relieved the Doctor exterminated the hand mines not the boy. I was a bit worried what he might be prepared to do if he thought his childhood friend, his Tardis & his impossible girl were dead last week.
The titles make sense. Clara was the magician’s(Doctor’s) apprentice last week, working out the plane situation & finding the Doctor in all of earth’s recorded history. This week she was the witch’s(Missy’s) familiar, following Missy’s lead & not necessarily doing well out of the bargain.
By instilling the Daleks with the potential for mercy, the Doctor has allowed for the possibility he could turn one or more good. This explains why Rusty could grasp concepts a Dalek shouldn’t be capable of, even if it didn’t work out quite how the Doctor hoped.
The Doctor’s confession… The reason he left Gallifray… Questions, questions. One I’ve had since deep breath is who is Susan’s grandmother? Since dark water, is this the first female version of the Master? Now, why did the Doctor give Missy jewellery in connection with a daughter? Also, when did the friendship go awry? Presumably during the 1st Doctor’s time but the Master has always been more reckless with regenerations.
Loved series 8. Am loving series 9, despite a bit of apprehension about the number of two part episodes.
Anonymous
September 27th, 2015 - 12:00amReally hoped that we were gonna see a regeneration scene for Davros. Imagine a rejuvenated Davros with no chair. Hope he collects the regen energy from rest of Daleks and we see him again.
Didn’t like the Dalek gunk!
Doctor Stu
September 26th, 2015 - 11:46pmThey are able to say the word but only because the Doctor went back to save Davros as a kid and from that Davros created the Daleks with a concept of mercy. The Doctor wouldn’t have know that mercy was a word in their vocabulary as he wasn’t there when RiverSong shot the dalek
Doctor Stu
September 26th, 2015 - 11:43pmDavros with his eyes open looked very wizards vs aliens, haven’t even seen that program but I feel that’s a suitable way to describe it
I was also kind of hoping for a Davros 3.75″ figure but now I feel like we’re going to get a Doctor in Davros’ chair figure instead
Doctor Stu
September 26th, 2015 - 11:40pmThe Doctor said they shouldn’t have the word mercy in their vocabulary but then he went back and sort of changed that when he rescued little kiddy Hitler at the end of the episode and remember when Riversong made the Dalek beg for mercy the Doctor wasn’t there to hear it
Fia
September 26th, 2015 - 11:31pmI loved the episodes 🙂 but, was wondering about the notion of a Dalek not having the word ‘mercy’ in his memory? because I distinctly remember a Dalek asking River Song for mercy.
Anyhoo, very enjoyable and I am now wondering if the Daleks will change in any way.
…someone else has mentioned that Missy said something about a daughter, I caught that too but then was distracted, think I’ll go watch it again 😀
T4RD1S
September 26th, 2015 - 11:30pmFantastic episode, not keen on sonic glasses and Davros on the floor was kind of weird. Also Davros crying and his eyes!
P.S plz make a Davros chair that moves and everything!
47
September 26th, 2015 - 11:17pmVery good in general ! The opening scene I didn’t care for too much, just to resolve the point of escape, and I do wish some of lines weren’t so clunky with out of place “humour.” The portrayal of Davros was superb, and the interactions between him and The Doctor were brilliant. It was pleasing to see an episode where the quality of the protagonists shine through, writing and performance were far better than my typo’s, and their was character development too. I hope the rest of the season carries on in such strong form, as I have thoroughly enjoyed the opening two-parter and think they have been the best Doctor Who for a long time. Oh, and very much as a “ps”…. Last week’s scene with the tank n’ guitar…….seen it before – and it was much better too. \m/,
Nigel M
September 26th, 2015 - 11:14pmNot bad but…”Mercy” ? Mr Moffat seems to have forgotten his own previous scripts. In “The Big Bang” (last episode, series 5) the re-animated dalek shoots the Doctor and the dalek becomes temporarily powerless. River Song points her gun at it and it asks for “mercy” three times when it realises that she is going to kill it.
So what’s all this nonsense about daleks being unable to say the word in this episode ?
dan23uk
September 26th, 2015 - 11:09pmThis is set after
The Stolen Earth /Journey’s End coz in
The Magician’s Apprentice Davros played some of his conversations his head with the doctor & you saw /heard 10th doctor (David Tennant).
12th Doctor Fan
September 26th, 2015 - 10:52pmLoved it but not a fan of the sunglasses, Doctor in Davros chair hilarious, Capaldi wonderful as ever Missy much better this week Clara in dalek excellent. Davros brill played.
Obsie
September 26th, 2015 - 10:47pmBesides which “geniuses” in these things become totally deranged and delusional with their grandiose notions in their megalomania.
the astronaut of death
September 26th, 2015 - 10:46pmthat was great…..peter capaldi’s and Julian bleach’s acting was amazing. the story was very well played out and it really got to me when we saw Davros opened his eyes and cried . Missy was amazing as ever. dont really like the sun glasses though (bit stupid)
what did you think booboo?
Anonymous
September 26th, 2015 - 10:44pmI love the tech on doctor who but getting rid of the sonic screwdriver for sonic shades, nah your alright thanks
Obsie
September 26th, 2015 - 10:41pmWell luckily sonic cane disappeared as quick as it came.
Obsie
September 26th, 2015 - 10:39pmMe too, the thing that occurred to me was the notion of it being a little too much for younger ones.
A
September 26th, 2015 - 10:38pmHow does he open a door with sunnies? Or interact with other tech? With a glance? I can’t imagine that’ll make a good visual compared to the motion, light & sound of the screwdriver.
the astronaut of death
September 26th, 2015 - 10:36pmwhat other excuse is there? of course it happens to him later on in his life….
chooky1441
September 26th, 2015 - 10:34pmI liked the story overall but…how is the ending possible? If he saves Davros from being blow up doesn’t that mean that the Davros that we know doesn’t exists….or are they using “well maybe he just got blown up later and that’s why hes deformed” as an excuse.
Anonymous
September 26th, 2015 - 10:23pmDavros’s greatest enemy is his ego.
Doctordredd67
September 26th, 2015 - 10:18pmSeeing Davros lying on the floor reminded me of The Borg Queen from star trek first contact!!!
Doctordredd67
September 26th, 2015 - 10:14pmBrilliant story to start off series 9′ I think missy had most of the best lines but for me, the best scene was the doctor appearing in Davros’s chair and asking the daleks if they want to play at Dodgems!!! Hilarious.
A well written story with plenty of humour, drama, flashbacks to the previous doctors, and great performances from the leading characters. My whole family is looking forward to the rest of the series. 🙂
the astronaut of death
September 26th, 2015 - 10:00pmloved the final scene of the doctor andyoung davros walking off into fog
A
September 26th, 2015 - 9:59pmYeah. I’m not sure about them either. However, Missy had, essentially, a smart phone device so it’s not entirely surprising the Doctor would try to go one better. It might be a phase he will get over.
Obsie
September 26th, 2015 - 9:46pmNoticed that Missy again said that she gave Clara to The Doctor; the curiosity values are growing more and more.
Ashildr
September 26th, 2015 - 9:41pmAm i the only one who had memories of asylum of the daleks? I am not a Dalek, i am Clara. Good echo of Oswin Oswald
The Living Shadow
September 26th, 2015 - 9:27pmVery nice episode! Was not what I expected for many reasons, (too many to list!) but I love surprises, especially when it comes to Doctor Who!
I loved all the performances; Capaldi as the Doctor was great; Gomez as Missy was mad, and rightly so; Clara was portrayed well by Coleman. The best role though, was Davros. Julian Bleach was stunning in this story and it’s fair to say that (sorry missy), Davros is the most horrible villain in Who! He’s essentially a Dalek, who can cleverly taunt the Doctor on a more personal level, and that idea was conveyed perfectly in this episode.
Overall, I liked the storyline of both parts of this series opener, it was a lot more character based than I had expected; we saw an interest of dynamic between the Doctor and Davros, meanwhile Missy and Clara have a very uneasy, but even quite humorous, bond. Would’ve liked to have seen more of “Snake Nest in a dress” in part two though!