Utah location - I saw almost all of it in the trailers
Pre-titles "clues left through time" - I've seen The Pandorica Opens
Letters sent to summon you to a desert road - I've seen Back To The Future 2
Men In Black that make you forget you've seen them - I've seen Men In Black (and Torchwood)
The Doctor dying and not having time to regenerate - I've seen Turn Left
Funeral pyre for someone who comes back later - I've seen Last Of The Time Lords
The Doctor reappearing when you thought he was dead - I've seen The Big Bang
Child's voice on tape - I've seen The Empty Child
Mysterious child who you don't know who they are yet - I've seen Silence In The Library (and The Empty Child)
Amy pregnant - I've seen Amy's Choice
Forgetting things that have just happened, over & over - Flesh & Stone
Scary alien encounter in a bathroom - I've seen Boom Town
The Tardis from The Lodger - I've seen The Lodger
The Doctor not being allowed to know his future - I've seen it (Silence In The Library), but then I've seen it contradicted (Time Crash, Space & Time). Most of the time wouldn't it save a lot of trouble if he just found out then dealt with it? Doesn't seem to be a problem telling everyone else about their futures, Michael Gambon for instance?
Too many things happening, and not enough of them gripping or interesting. The characters are still too unreal, unsympathetic, even superficial. Who is the viewer supposed to relate to? And didn't the first ten minutes require too much inside knowledge of the show to be in the slightest bit interesting?
Okay, I like it being grown up and ambitious and clever, but I'd like it to entertain people from the start and I'm not sure that, in those stakes, this episode competes with The Eleventh Hour. Or Partners In Crime. Or Smith & Jones. Or New Earth - okay, it's better than New Earth. I could go on. But I'll wait till next week. (It wasn't the Twin Dilemma, so there's something)
PS: Here's the continuing debate from Facebook notes:
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Dave Spence Yeah - I didn't have a clue what was going on!
18 hours ago ·
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Ollie Hardaker I've come to the conclusion that Moffat has been planted by Michael Grade to destroy DW. Last series bored me to tears 95% of the time, this series has achieved the impossible after just one episode - after nearly 40 years of being a fan, I shall be switching over next week and watching something else (possibly paint drying)!
17 hours ago ·
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David Edward Knight It didn't hold my attention. It's fair to accuse Moffat of trying to be too clever as a reaction against Russell T Davies trying to be too dumb.
17 hours ago ·
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K A Costigan I'm still trying to get my head 'round it all. :/
15 hours ago ·
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Ollie Hardaker
Moffat needs to realise that he is not writing great drama, DW is entertainment. Yes, the scripts have to be good, but the success of DW has always been that it appeals to all levels, from doctors and solicitors to people with severe learni...ng difficulties and even Down's Syndrome. Please explain to me how the latter group is supposed to enjoy a story where there is lots of talking and nothing goes on? RTD was not to dumb, he created a show that entertained. He did not bog himself down in pointless continuity and got on with telling a fun story and entertaining the audience. So it didn't always hang together, but neither did the original series (Atlantis destroyed 3 times in 3 different ways!!!), but his stories were memorable. I remember very little of Moffat's first series! I'm switching off DW now for the first time since I was 3 because I am BORED See More
15 hours ago ·
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Doug Adamson I understand how some people aren't "getting it" when it comes to Moffat's take on the show. But I am really enjoying it, there's plenty of fun, an attempt to make it really scary and loads of "rules" of time travel to stick to.
12 hours ago ·
Jason John Lythgoe-Hay
I'm beginning to think I was watching a different episode to everyone else? I thought it was thoroughly engaging, intriguing and entertaining, the performances from the leads we brilliant, the script sparkling and fun and I love the idea of... a story that makes you think about what is happening/has happened/will happen. I was far from bored, but then I have an attention span greater than that of a goldfish. For years people complained that RTD's style of writing seemed to be all style and no content, now we have content... Can win all of the people! See More
12 hours ago ·
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David Edward Knight The trouble with Moffat's Dr Who is that unlike the first three decades of the programme he's neglected to keep it simple. Regardless of any impression RTD's helmsmanship may have given, keeping it simple doesn't mean you have to keep it stupid.
11 hours ago ·
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Ollie Hardaker
Here, here David! To others who would insult someone they have never met, I may in your opinion have the attention span of a goldfish (the length of which has never been scientifically proven and is therefore still open to challenge), but a...t least I have the intellectual capability and proof-reading skills to use the English language correctly i.e. grammar and spelling. If I had wished to be cerebrally stimulated in they same way all the time, I would watch the same kinds of programmes all the time. However, I keep my brain active by using a variety of different media stimuli. DW I use to stimulate the imagination and for that you need something more interesting than a group of people crawling about in the dark - that is just so last season (Time of the Angels)See More
10 hours ago ·
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Alan Mitchell
The story was pretty straight forward to me. One of the biggest things that the Moff is exploiting is the fact that this guy is a time traveller, something most other producers and writers have generally avoided. Instead they treat the TARD...IS as a starship travelling through time like a scheduled airline from and too destinations. The Moff confronts the fact that, if anything, the Doctor's life is non linear and is the main reason why he is immortal. He can exist before he was born and after he has died. Producing stories that make you think is a brave and brilliant way to go instead of the spoon fed narratives that proliferate in TV land. As the Doctor would say, Keep up, back there!See More
10 hours ago ·
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Kev Sutherland I watched it a second time and enjoyed it more. Also reading the reports on Gallfrey Base of how young kids and not-fans had reacted reminded me to relax and enjoy and stop being a hyper-critical 40-something. Criticisms aside (and if I'm so clever I should be writing new Who stories, not criticising existing ones) can you think of anything better on telly? See.
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