Doctor Who EP 7.12: Nightmare in Silver

I am so unbelievably close to watching the finale right now. As soon as I finish writing this post you can guess what I'll be doing and a review will come in the next day or so. Spoilers ahead folks.

the doctor vs mr clever oh yeah. caps from here

Episode Summary: What do you get when you put the Cybermen, Clara, two children, the Doctor, and the most hopeless army you've ever seen, together? A whole lot of trouble. Especially when the Doctor is attacked by cybermites and keeps switching between his identity as the Doctor and the Cybermen's Mr Clever.

This episode (penned by Neil Gaiman) was, enjoyable, but nothing compared to his triumph with The Doctor's Wife, arguably one of the best episodes of the last series. What's bothering me about series 7B is that there is simply not enough character development for Clara. I know I said this in the last post but I still don't know her. She meets with the Doctor every Wednesday, when the Doctor tells her to do something she does it (but this is mainly because the alternative is terrifying), she's a nanny, and she's the impossible girl! But where are her opinions? Her beliefs? How does she really feel about the Doctor and what he does? Does she want to know more? WHO ARE YOU CLARA? I just??? I'm hoping that this will be somewhat rectified in the finale.

u go clara. 4 for u.

Moving on to Nightmare in Silver, this new generation of Cybermen allowed them to attach cybermites to the flesh of humans (or time lords) and move in lightning speed - which only happened once - but overall they were quite brilliant. Usually, the Cybermen just sort of stomp around grabbing people to build up their army and attack the Doctor. However, the Doctor ended up being one of their first targets and it resulted in a battle between his cyber-identity, Mr Clever, and himself. The fight for survival moved backwards and forwards, as Mr Clever mocked him and flirted with Clara, and it was hard to tell who was who at times. But with a slap in the face or a neck-jerking twist, the Doctor was back in control of his body, but most importantly his mind, leaving Clara with the job of ordering the army and making sure the planet didn't get blown up. Nonetheless, the identity struggle was definitely my favourite part of the episode, partly because I so desperately want to see the Doctor break loose and turn dark and evil. Or start flirting with Clara. Yes. And by Clara I actually mean me.

Doctor Who EP 7.11: The Crimson Horror

The race to catch up to the finale before I glimpse any massive spoilers is causing me great pain. Especially, when I probably need to be writing my dissertation at this exact same moment, and yet, here I am writing about The Crimson Horror, which I only just watched this morning. Spoilers ahoy.

these ladies are some kickass detectives let me tell you that. caps from here

Episode Summary: The Doctor takes Clara back to 1893, and instead of arriving in London, they happen upon Yorkshire, where mysterious crimson bodies are turning up in the morgue. They are joined, and saved, by the trio of detectives we saw in last year's Christmas special: the Silurian Madame Vastra, her human (kickass) wife Jenny Flint, and the Sontaran Strax. The resident villain, this week, appears to seek a world of perfection and is preserving those deemed "desirable" in her new world (and wants to kill everyone who isn't). She also has a repulsive little alien thing attached to her. I think that says enough.

yeah this is pretty darn creepy

This episode was well paced and enjoyable with a whirlpool of different genres on the table: period feature, sci-fi/fantasy, and a bit of classic horror. As a side-note, Mark Gatiss wrote this episode, and I'm honestly surprised that he didn't write a character for himself because he's been known to do that in the past. Anyway, I was so excited to see my favourite trio of detectives getting up to their shenanigans in Victorian England, and they certainly did not disappoint. Strax provided some much needed comic relief, as he offered suggestions of invasions, explosions, and killing everyone in his way to get where he needed to be. One of his standout lines: "Horse! You have failed in your mission! You're lost with no sign of Sweetville. Do you have any final words before your summary execution?" (It's okay the horse didn't die.) And then there was the wonderful Jenny, who infiltrated Sweetville, saved the Doctor, and then as the duo were surrounded and the Doctor prepared himself for a fight, Jenny ripped off her period dress to reveal tight leather fighting clothing and eliminated the hoard of attractive employees. BOOM. She would make an excellent companion for the Doctor. Madame Vastra sought out information and shocked everyone with her appearance. You go Vastra.

Doctor Who EP 7.10: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to review all the episodes over the next day or so, considering I also have class work to do, but I'm trying my best to do what I can. Oh well. Spoilers ahead for this episode.

they are precious to me. caps from here

Episode Summary: The Doctor turns off the shield oscillators so that Clara can try to fly the TARDIS, and they are consequently pulled in by a salvage vessel using a magnograb. Clara is lost in the TARDIS and the Doctor recruits the salvagers to help find her. The TARDIS then starts to reconfigure itself and there are crispy molten rock people chasing after them all. Yeah.

This has to be my favourite episode among those that have been reviewed so far. There were flaws but overall the episode was brilliant. Both Clara and The Doctor were dashing in their outfits as tried to find each other within the labyrinth that is the TARDIS. But, as soon as, the Van Baalen brothers wandered away to start tearing apart the TARDIS console for scraps, that was when it got tricky. The architecture of the ship was constantly reinventing itself, and making them run around in endless looping hallways to protect its equipment being stolen. Fair enough.

you better have the answer doctor

I loved being able to see into the hidden rooms that have been mentioned over the past few series, such as the swimming pool, and the all important library, where Clara managed to get a glimpse of the Doctor's real name in The History of the Time War book. Conveniently, this book was on a display stand and after opening it to a random page, she only had to turn it to the next page to find his name. However, at the end of the episode the Doctor was able to re-set time so that Clara didn't remember this information. CONVENIENT. To me, this seems like a 'get out of jail free' card and was just way too easy. It would've been far more interesting if Clara had been able to keep her memories and have the Doctor deal with the fact that she knows secrets that she shouldn't.

It's always really interesting (and exciting) when there are links back to the past. Clara discovered a room full of items that had been collected over the years, including: Melody Pond's cot, Amy's handmade TARDIS, and a magnifying glass that was probably used by both Amy and Donna. There are more items listed here. Then when one of the brother's started pulling apart the console, there was a leak in time, as voices from the past were heard including previous Doctor's and companions. I know I definitely heard Amy shout, "We are in space!"

Doctor Who EP 7.09: Hide

WOAH LONG TIME NO SEE! Well actually I don't see you per se because you're apart of my invisible audience but it is not the time to start talking about these technical issues is it? You want all the Doctor Who reviews before I watch the finale don't you? I'm glad you just said yes because that's what I'm going to try and do like right now. Obviously don't read on if you don't like spoilers.

the doctor was actually afraid and this is important to me. caps from here

Episode Summary: The Doctor and Clara travel to 1974 to visit a well-known psychic and a war veteran with a ghost problem. And a monster problem. And the ghost isn't actually a ghost. And the Doctor actually came here to ask the psychic a few questions about Clara. And the Doctor also plays cupid. It's really good.

I was hooked from the start of this episode, and while I'd say that the first half may have been stronger than the second half, it was excellent and I loved it. I would like to thank the writer for not having the characters ask the  "Doctor who?" question when the Doctor introduced himself and Clara to Alec Palmer and Emma Grayling. "I'm the Doctor." "Doctor what?" "If you like." THANK YOU.

but she's definitely not afraid here she's feeling awesome

Clara is afraid. She may be trying to hide it from the Doctor and the people she meets but she is afraid and it's so refreshing to see how she reacts differently to some of the previous companions, that wandered off as soon as they got the chance. When the Doctor asks her to come with him and search the ~spooky~ house for the ghost, unlike other companions, she doesn't even want to because the actual idea that someone who might be dead is screeching through the hallways is terrifying. 

The Doctor is afraid. We don't get to see the Doctor show fear very often but when he's stuck in a pocket universe with no TARDIS, and no other devices to help him get back, it's fair enough that he was afraid. Oh and he was being chased by an unknown creature as well. So there's that. But what I loved about this creature, is that for most of the episode we believe that it's this terrifying monster that wants to kill the Doctor, and then it's revealed that it was actually chasing the Doctor because it was looking for a way home, back to its partner inside the spooky house. It was just nice to have a so-called monster not looking to take over the world, or destroy earth, or destroy the Doctor, but to get back to it's loved one.