Rate and Discuss: Journey To The Centre of The TARDIS

[Rob McCow]

Mergrave and I are hoping it'll be a bit like Castrovalva.

[SiHart]

Hmm, well, that was great. But it also wasn't great. I don't quite know what to make of that, since it really did have the big red reset switch... blimey, I'll have to give this some thought.

[Dino]

I went for an 8. There was a lot of things I liked, design wise. Creature wise.
Plot wise. It just lost a bit of tension in other places I'll elaborate on when more people have seen it. Or I could spoiler it. Don't click if you haven't seen it.

I can't really knock the poor guest acting, as it's Doctor Who. I've tolerated worse acting! When it turned out the Doctor was lying about self destruct that did kill a lot of the drama.
But the monsters were pure Silent Hill as well as the costumes the salvage crew wore.

[J.R. Southall]

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[SiHart]

On reflection, I think i did rather like it. The paradox was fine, because it played by the rules set by the episode- the clues were set before it happened, so it wasn't quite so painful as it might have been.

There was lots to admire in this episode- some tantalising glimpses of the TARDIS. I absolutely adored the library and especially liked the sniffable encyclopaedia. Lovely, and magical! The Eye of Harmony was lovingly rendered- and so much more powerful looking than the thing in the TV Movie!
But best of all was the engine room. The effects were magnificent, with it all hanging in space in time, frozen, and it didn't spoil the magic because there was no way to ascertain what it actually looked like from what we saw!

I do miss the roundels and the reassuring hum of the old TARDIS though. The corridors were very generic sci-fi corridors alas- even the ones we saw in The Doctor's Wife were better than these.

[SiHart]

Oh and it was wonderful to hear Carole-Ann Ford, William Russell, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker and others echoing round the console room. Gave me goosepimples, that did!

[Andrew Curnow]

I'm not sure if I'm getting old, but I couldn't quite make out who the clips were of - other than Eccleston's "Genghis Khan" bit I couldn't hear them!

Bit like you Si, I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I really enjoyed what we got, but just felt it was lacking... something. But I don't know what. I didn't guess the twist of what the 'monsters' were, but it made sense and the clues were there, so... rather neat.

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

It didn't disappoint me as much as I thought it would!

That is a compliment ..... honest!

I'm know the show has been transmitted and so writing about it is probably not a spolier but as a spoilerphobe myself I don't want to risk spoiling it for someone else. The following text is my thoughts on the show tonight. I know nothing of the rest of the series etc so there's nothing in it that will spoil anything about that - but just don't click on the text if you haven't watched tonight's episode.

I was worried that perhaps too many questions or facts about the TARDIS might be disclosed and would perhaps spoil some of the mystery, but to be fair they kept it pretty faithful to what we already knew, without re-writing things.
Obviously I would have prefered more roundalls but that's just me! (and I accept I'm not going to get my own way with that one).
I also would have liked them to stumble into a old series console room but again that's just me.
I have to say that although I prefer the old series look when it comes to the interior of the TARDIS (excluding the swimming pool bits in The Invasion of Time of course), I do also quite like the way the corridors and things look these days. I love the architectural reconfiguration stuff; that was very good and made me think of Logopolis, Castrovalva and Edge of Destruction (well , the book of the 'Edge' anyway).
I'm not sure about seeing a book about the Time War; I was rather hoping we'd heard the last of that. I'm really not interested in it at all. Obviously this business of the Doctor's name must be another issue that we will have to endure at some point. Again, it's not something that I'm bothered about.

I loved the voices from the old episodes; it was nice that it crossed both the classic and new series - it kind of joined it all up (yes, I know it all one show at the end of the day, but in my mind I kind of separate them; it's not something I choose to do; it kind of just happens. Perhaps its just because the feel of the new Who just makes it feel like a slightly different show sometimes; rather than an updated version of the original)?
Overall, it was pretty good; that's 2 in a row that I've really enjoyed. I hope it continues in this way. I'm sure there are probably some plot holes, but as I didn't notice any at the time I'm happy!

7/10

[Mike Saville]

On the whole, very good. Obviously with the timey wimey stories they can unravel very quickly on second watching (or even a good night's sleep), but on first viewing it was very impressive. Once again the Doctor / Clara interplay was wonderful, especially after he'd realised what the creature thingy was.

The TARDIS had some great interiors, though some missed opportunities, such as old console rooms and less generic corridors, pulled back the wonder levels a little. The library though was remarkable, with so many magical nuances. I loved the book, though I'm not sure what can be achieved by the Doctor's name plot thread that will be satisfying. Still, I'm open to be convinced.

The support acting was reasonable. Yeah, not quite on a level of last week, but leaps and bounds ahead of Celia Imrie in episode 1.

Torn between a 7 and an 8, but I'm in a loving mood, so 8 it is.

[Andrew Curnow]

Now that I've slept on it, as it were, I do have a couple of questions that are probably obviously-answered, but which are sort of niggling at me:

1. How was the Doctor outside the TARDIS when the salvagers found him (are we supposed to assume he was blown outside by the explosion)?

2. Why did the 'reset' at the end also restore the Dad into the android brother's photograph (or am I missing the point entirely)?


I'm also wondering whether at any point they considered making this one just a two-hander with the Doctor & Clara? I mean, no disrespect to the other actors, but the characters didn't add much to the story really.

And to be slightly tongue-in-cheek, surely the only person able to write 'The History of the Time War' would be the Doctor - so never mind flicking inside, surely his name should be on the front cover!! (Mind you, bit vain of him to leave it on a stand like that - maybe it's his one & only book, and in fact the reason the modern-day Doctors sometimes get a little crabby is 'difficult second novel syndrome'!)

[Martin Curnow]

Maybe I was expecting too much but I was massively disappointed by the episode.

May need to watch again but did we have much Cloister Bell ringing? Can't recall but we did last week.

Lots of corridors and a couple of rooms. No lit roundels and had they liaised we could have had the first Doctor's console room from An Adventure in Time & Space popping up.

The Doctor was initially pretending the TARDIS was going to self-destruct in 30 minutes -er, why? Couldn't he have gone off looking for Clara on his own without needing the other 3?

[Perry Vale]

Technobabble galore, populated with a supporting cast (introduced 1 second earlier by a photo on a wall) it was impossible to care about. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, without the Dinosaurs. Or the fun. What was the point of it all? Shame the HADS was no defence against a 'Magnograb'...

Oh and also, I'm certainly no 'fanboy', but would it have been too much to ask for a brief cameo of the original console room in the 50th anniversary year? Are people really that impressed with massive amounts of CGI?

5/10, and that's mostly for The Cult's 'Fire Woman'.

[Mike Saville]

And to be slightly tongue-in-cheek, surely the only person able to write 'The History of the Time War' would be the Doctor - so never mind flicking inside, surely his name should be on the front cover!! (Mind you, bit vain of him to leave it on a stand like that - maybe it's his one & only book, and in fact the reason the modern-day Doctors sometimes get a little crabby is 'difficult second novel syndrome'!)

Heh heh. I can see it now. Maybe Clara's his muse.

Perhaps the book is still a work in progress? What would be interesting is if the TARDIS put the book there for Clara to find. Give her something to think about. Maybe even scare her off? I also didn't catch where she said she saw his name, but I got the sense of written in the book in a literal sense- hand written- and something much more ominous than a printed line of text in a book.

[Andrew Curnow]

What would be interesting is if the TARDIS put the book there for Clara to find

Oh now that's a much more intriguing idea than the Doctor having put it there. Good thinking Mike!

Heh heh. I can see it now. Maybe Clara's his muse.

Suddenly it makes sense of the season finale's title - I've been wondering what "Waiting for the Reviews to Come In" could possibly mean, clearly the Doctor's knocking one out.

[Andrew Curnow]

I hasten to add, for Steve any other's benefit, that the finale ISN'T called that (as far as I know) - but please nobody post what it IS called on this thread, thank you!!

[Andrew Curnow]

Oh! I also hasten to add, when I say "the Doctor's knocking one out" I'm referring to a second novel.

[Nyder]

Oh! I also hasten to add, when I say "the Doctor's knocking one out" I'm referring to a second novel.

I did wonder Andrew!

[Mike Saville]

Suddenly it makes sense of the season finale's title - I've been wondering what "Waiting for the Reviews to Come In" could possibly mean, clearly the Doctor's knocking one out.

Limp wristed Time Lords. If I had Clara with me in the TARDIS, I'd not be needing to knocking one out. Fnar! Fnar!

[Andrew Curnow]

Puts a whole new spin on the Doctor's occasional comment that, "We're going further than we've ever gone before!"

[Nyder]

I gave it an 8/10 (7.5 would have been more accurate)

Right - let's get the worse aspect of the story over with first. The older, taller brother Bram. I can safely say that was the worse piece of acting I've seen in New Who. I could have delivered the lines with more conviction. Didn't alarm bells go off in the read-through?

Other niggles from me - the TARDIS corridors were too non-descript. A bit of roundels action was definitely required. And yes, would it have killed them to have had a CGI-replica of an early TARDIS console room which could have been glimpsed at, like they did with the very impressive swimming pool and observatory?

But apart from all that ...... I did enjoy it. Honest Guv When I heard Jon Pertwee's voice eminate from the console, it really sent a shiver up my spine. I also laughed out loud when Clara called the TARDIS an "appliance". Long may they not get on with other! Series 7B is definitely the era of the scary monsters. Those Time Zombies were terrifying! Once again, the interplay between The Doctor & Clara was great stuff. I just hope that they haven't exhausted all TARDIS scenes because of this one story, and we get some more Console room action for the remaining stories!

[Andrew Curnow]

the TARDIS corridors were too non-descript.

Mm, I agree. The 'tree' of living metal 'fruit' was suitably weird, but the blank corridors were disappointingly routine - they could have been on Babylon 5 or the Enterprise.

[J.R. Southall]

To be honest, I didn't take a lot of notice of the corridors. The "infinite" TARDIS must be so filled with them... I don't know. Take a look at the inner walls of your house and tell me those corridors were dull.

And as to Mark Oliver's acting, the reaction to that has surprised me! That was his character, it was a performance!

[J.R. Southall]

I have to admit, I'm a little out of step with a lot of old-school fans. Whenever they do something "trad", like Cold War, I end up finding it ordinary and disappointing, whereas when the series is chancing new things and pushing at the boundaries of what it should be about - such as here and in episodes like The Girl Who Waited and The Wedding of River Song - I'm completely in my element. I guess I'm the kind of fellow who would have enjoyed The Deadly Assassin back in 1976...

[Si Hunt]

I really, really liked this episode. I thought the labyrinthine TARDIS was marvellous; and like in "Castrovalva" it became a threat when it went wrong; a terrifying place full of dissappearing doors and rampaging monsters. You know, I didn't really miss the roundels, this is the new style TARDIS and it felt like an extension of the new console room which is the main thing. I'd imagine kids would have loved this episode; it was packed with flights of imagination like jumping into the void, the "singing" library, the cathedral and the white void engine room with the splintered engines just hanging, frozen, in time. Brilliant.

No, the brothers couldn't act very well! But this is Doctor Who. And I found their story sufficiently difficult to guess and interesting; if only they'd had more memorable names. I never seem able to remember the names these days. I said as we watched this very traditional tale (I love the fact it began with a shot of the TARDIS spinning through space, then them both in the console room, like in the Tom Baker era!) that I hoped Clara's back story wasn't mentioned. But I'm now glad it was; it felt natural and not forced, like the Doctor should finally mention it at this point, even if she subsequently forgot.

I'm not entirely sure what those big pole things were due a brief lapse in concentration during the relevant line of dialogue; can anyone tell me? I'm also not entirely sure I got the resolution, but it was near enough and I'll pay more attention on re-watching.

How chilling was the explanation for the fire people? A real "Wow! Ugh, that's nasty!" moment. All in all, a more traditional tale, imaginative, well played (yes, well, supporting actors don't ALWAYS need to be able to act!) and scary. Bravo!

And next weeks looks great too!

Si.

[Alex]

Absolutely adored that. I thought it was a very tense, very exciting episode (there were times it tricked me in to thinking this really could be the end for the Doctor and Clara, something due to the nature of the show is very difficult to do), and I thought it looked beautiful throughout. The glimpses of the Tardis were astonishingly well done, and the whole episode was a real delight.

Until the end! I know it had been set up, but the reset button was a disappointment, if only because it led to Clara's memory being wiped. So whilst I would have given it a 9/10 (the highest rating I give as I don't believe anything can be perfect!) it slips a point to 8/10. But it's still easily one of the best episodes since the new series began, and I'm absolutely loving this season in general right now.