Better than last weeks episode. I was laughing on the floor like a crazy person every time Strax was on screen. I was a little disappointed, the preview made it look better. But, Jenna made it more watchable. I don't know why, but she just did. Starting to grow to like Matt as the Doc, but he still does my nut in.
6/10
Can't wait for the cyber men and Clara in that catsuit next week. ;D
I thought it was terrific, right up until the last scene.
Am I the only one who finds myself watching an episode I enjoy and, by the time it's half way through, finds myself thinking "Oh lordy, please don't screw this up with a reset button/wish it all better/DEM ending"?
Trouble with a lot of the Moffat-era stuff seems to be that you're expected to study every episode like you're revising for your DW O-level so it's nice when there's an episode that you can just sit back and enjoy without worrying about whether you've missed some obscure reference or link that'll make sense of something that you watched 6 months ago.
Could really have done without that last scene though.
Maybe it sounds a bit grumpy but I could do without having a couple of kids trailing along after the Doctor like rejects from the SJA.
Bit hypocritical, I suppose, given that DW is really "childrens TV" but there we are.
Always like a bit of Madame Vasta and Jenny.
DW could do a lot worse than make them semi-regulars on the show IMO.
I did worry that they'd got somebody new to play Vastra but it's still Neve McIntosh. I guess they just changed the makeup slightly or something.
Speaking of which, I just watched "A Good Man Goes To War" last night.
There's a bit in it where Vastra says something like "Mammals all look the same to me".
Jenny replies "I don't know why I spend my time with you".
And then Vastra whips out her huge, long tongue and zaps a guard with it.
Can't believe I didn't notice that subtext before.
Phew. I was beginning to think I was the only one who spotted the Emma Peel/Diana Rigg/leather catsuit/Jenny homage. Just one subtle but very effective touch in what I thought was a great episode.
Have to admit, it passed me by at first because we've seen Jenny in a catsuit before (Snowmen). And it's only as I write that I remember the bowler hat...
Silly, exciting, horrific and jolly. Add nods to the Fifth Doctor and Mrs. Peel, perfect pacing and Matt Smith's best performances this season and you have one of the finest eps since the show returned. A classic from start to finish.
I think that's 4 very good/excellent episodes in a row, and that was the best Gatiss penned episode I can think of. 7b has been an excellent series so far (apart from Rings).
The servant girl is Diana Rigg's daughter in real life, and was doing some of her mum's special moves. It was a quality homage.
Hope you are not mixing Ada and Jenny up. Jenny, Vastra's servant was doing an Emma Peel homage, but Ada the blind woman playing Diana Rigg's daughter is her daughter.
Thinking back on the episode it was only Clara and the ending that wasn't good.
Disappointed in Clara's character unless there is a reason to be revealed.
Each episode so far (apart from Bells) had had at least one oblique reference to classic series Doctors, sequentially:
Rings (Doc 1): Grandfather, mention of Susan
Cold War (Doc 2): HADS
Hide (Doc 3): blue crystal from Metebalis Three
Journey (Doc 4): swimming pool
Crimson Horror (Doc 5): Tegan
Nightmare in Silver will have cats. Lots of them.
Gary
Interesting. So next week will get a Doc six reference and the finale can get a Doc 7..
I thought it was ok (ish) with a slice of cringe at fainting man, a dash of W.T.F for Strax and a heap of steaming doo doo for the end scene with the kids.So far this time around only Cold war and Journey have made it onto the watch again list.
I thought it was ok (ish) with a slice of cringe at fainting man, a dash of W.T.F for Strax and a heap of steaming doo doo for the end scene with the kids.So far this time around only Cold war and Journey have made it onto the watch again list.
I agree, I thought the episode was ok (above average probably) but hated the ending.
Each episode so far (apart from Bells) had had at least one oblique reference to classic series Doctors, sequentially:
Rings (Doc 1): Grandfather, mention of Susan
Cold War (Doc 2): HADS
Hide (Doc 3): blue crystal from Metebalis Three
Journey (Doc 4): swimming pool
Crimson Horror (Doc 5): Tegan
Nightmare in Silver will have cats. Lots of them.
Gary
I knew we were getting lots of past references, but I hadn't noticed they were going in numerological order until your post! However with the fact they didn't start with Bells, I think it might be all just a coincidence though.
And I think it's more:
Rings (Doc 1): Susan
Cold War (Doc 2): HADS (and Ice Warriors!)
Hide (Doc 3): Metebalis Three Crystal
Journey (Doc 4): The Eye of Harmony
Crimson Horror (Doc 5): Tegan
there no explanation of how she had amassed so many unquestioning followers. I never got the sense of fear of being 'behind enemy lines' that I was expecting when the characters were in Sweetville. Also some explanation of what the noise the gramophone-style speakers that Jenny found was emitting would have been nice
I got the impression her followers were her victims after they've been dipped. Presumably they were brainwashed by the process. I guess she just keeps some in the glass jars for fun (she is insane, after all).
The red stuff that she was planning on spreading in the rocket was the poison. I figured she had developed a vaccine to protect "the brightest and the best" and the dip was to test that it worked. Or maybe the dip was a modified form of the poison which selected the best and rejected the rest.
The gramophone things sounded a bit like the TARDIS noise. Not sure if they were significant at all. It's possible some of the inconsistencies in this episode are arc stuff that's going to be revealed subsequently.
Edit: just saw the post that said the gramophones were to mimic factory noise. Never thought of that!
Each episode so far (apart from Bells) had had at least one oblique reference to classic series Doctors, sequentially:
Rings (Doc 1): Grandfather, mention of Susan
Cold War (Doc 2): HADS
Hide (Doc 3): blue crystal from Metebalis Three
Journey (Doc 4): swimming pool
Crimson Horror (Doc 5): Tegan
Nightmare in Silver will have cats. Lots of them.
Gary
I have to admit, when they kept mentions "mr sweet" I was awaiting the Bertie Bassett liquorice all sorts man to appear from that sylvestor McCoy storyline I was disappointed when it was a slug!
As characters go, I don't mind Strax, Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint. In fact if they had their own series I would watch it, but hopefully that was their final appearance in Doctor Who. After all the Doctor is supposed to be the main character.
Overall I thought the episode was OK, liked Diana Rigg, disliked the over done Yorkshire accent.
I have to admit, when they kept mentions "mr sweet" I was awaiting the Bertie Bassett liquorice all sorts man to appear from that sylvestor McCoy storyline I was disappointed when it was a slug!
you are not alone! I loved the bertie bassett candyman, I was thinking of him as Mr Sweets!
Phew. I was beginning to think I was the only one who spotted the Emma Peel/Diana Rigg/leather catsuit/Jenny homage. Just one subtle but very effective touch in what I thought was a great episode.
Replying to yours and the quote you answered - my parents both said oh that's meant to be Diana Rigg doing her catsuit stuff so it worked for some people.
Also Clara never said he's not my boyfriend when the kids said he was
I thought the individual elements of this story were good, but it ended up being a bit of a mess because there were too many ideas competing for attention. Was this meant to be a gothic horror story or a bit of light relief? It felt like it was trying to be both, and for me the humour diluted what could have been a properly horrific story of parental abuse and Victorian values gone mad.
It's like taking your favourite starter, main course and dessert, mixing them together, and expecting the end result to be delicious.
That's not to say there weren't elements of this episode I didn't enjoy - I liked lots of it - but looking back at the whole thing it just didn't work for me as well as it could and perhaps should have.
I thought it was excellent, one of the best Nu-Who episodes I've seen. Reasons why...
Genuinely disturbing - Matt Smith's Doctor in agony (shades of Frankenstein's monster, notice the walk?)
Loved the flashback with the grain and blemishes on the screen - nice touch.
Matt Smith's performance - arguably the best ever Doctor? Possibly.
Diana Rigg was great as the evil hag villain.
The BBC should do all in their power to get the much rumoured Doctor Who feature film made before Matt Smith quits the part. He deserves to play the Doctor in the film.
Also, this is probably down to my lack of understanding, but what was the point of dipping the new residents in the venom? I get that it was to preserve them, but was that the same venom that was to be released in the rocket, or vaccine? And if it was a vaccine, why did those that survived then had to be placed in some sort of stasis in the glass domes as Clara was - surely they would just be immunised like Mrs Gillyflower, in which case why put them in the domes? There just seemed to be a bit of a logical inconsistency there.
I think the goo was more a paralyzer than antidote, turning the worthy into human mannequins (Carry On Screaming style), where they were then placed in the protective bell jars to 'sleep' until the end of days was over and it was safe to come out. Gillyflower and perhaps her army were immunised because somebody then had to revive the rest. I say perhaps because it sounded to me like the last exchange between the models and Old Ma Gilly implied they were going back to sleep in their own jars.
On why some of the chosen ones were in jars and others weren't, even if everyone was immunised (or why she didn't immunised everyone), was perhaps because Gillyflower only needed a select few to be her personal guard. The rest that she had no immediate use for were put in storage.
When it comes to her army of supermodels, I did wonder if that was another effect of the goo (although how a paralyzing goo can turn you into a slave I don't know), or just a bunch of Charles Manson level insane disciples, but I guess we're supposed to think the former.
Comments
Haribo ones seem a bit softer than the ones I had when I was a lad.
6/10
Can't wait for the cyber men and Clara in that catsuit next week. ;D
Am I the only one who finds myself watching an episode I enjoy and, by the time it's half way through, finds myself thinking "Oh lordy, please don't screw this up with a reset button/wish it all better/DEM ending"?
Trouble with a lot of the Moffat-era stuff seems to be that you're expected to study every episode like you're revising for your DW O-level so it's nice when there's an episode that you can just sit back and enjoy without worrying about whether you've missed some obscure reference or link that'll make sense of something that you watched 6 months ago.
Could really have done without that last scene though.
Maybe it sounds a bit grumpy but I could do without having a couple of kids trailing along after the Doctor like rejects from the SJA.
Bit hypocritical, I suppose, given that DW is really "childrens TV" but there we are.
Always like a bit of Madame Vasta and Jenny.
DW could do a lot worse than make them semi-regulars on the show IMO.
I did worry that they'd got somebody new to play Vastra but it's still Neve McIntosh. I guess they just changed the makeup slightly or something.
Speaking of which, I just watched "A Good Man Goes To War" last night.
There's a bit in it where Vastra says something like "Mammals all look the same to me".
Jenny replies "I don't know why I spend my time with you".
And then Vastra whips out her huge, long tongue and zaps a guard with it.
Can't believe I didn't notice that subtext before.
They were making 'factory' noises so that someone outside would think they were hearing a working factory
Have to admit, it passed me by at first because we've seen Jenny in a catsuit before (Snowmen). And it's only as I write that I remember the bowler hat...
Gary
Same here. It's easily the best Matt Smith season for me - by a long chalk.
Hope you are not mixing Ada and Jenny up. Jenny, Vastra's servant was doing an Emma Peel homage, but Ada the blind woman playing Diana Rigg's daughter is her daughter.
Thinking back on the episode it was only Clara and the ending that wasn't good.
Disappointed in Clara's character unless there is a reason to be revealed.
Interesting. So next week will get a Doc six reference and the finale can get a Doc 7..
That leaves 8, 9 and 10 for the 50th.
They're the only ones they seem to sell nowadays and I live in Yorkshire.
I agree, I thought the episode was ok (above average probably) but hated the ending.
I knew we were getting lots of past references, but I hadn't noticed they were going in numerological order until your post! However with the fact they didn't start with Bells, I think it might be all just a coincidence though.
And I think it's more:
Rings (Doc 1): Susan
Cold War (Doc 2): HADS (and Ice Warriors!)
Hide (Doc 3): Metebalis Three Crystal
Journey (Doc 4): The Eye of Harmony
Crimson Horror (Doc 5): Tegan
I got the impression her followers were her victims after they've been dipped. Presumably they were brainwashed by the process. I guess she just keeps some in the glass jars for fun (she is insane, after all).
The red stuff that she was planning on spreading in the rocket was the poison. I figured she had developed a vaccine to protect "the brightest and the best" and the dip was to test that it worked. Or maybe the dip was a modified form of the poison which selected the best and rejected the rest.
The gramophone things sounded a bit like the TARDIS noise. Not sure if they were significant at all. It's possible some of the inconsistencies in this episode are arc stuff that's going to be revealed subsequently.
Edit: just saw the post that said the gramophones were to mimic factory noise. Never thought of that!
I have to admit, when they kept mentions "mr sweet" I was awaiting the Bertie Bassett liquorice all sorts man to appear from that sylvestor McCoy storyline
Overall I thought the episode was OK, liked Diana Rigg, disliked the over done Yorkshire accent.
you are not alone! I loved the bertie bassett candyman, I was thinking of him as Mr Sweets!
The leech was cute, shame it got stomped, lol!
Replying to yours and the quote you answered - my parents both said oh that's meant to be Diana Rigg doing her catsuit stuff so it worked for some people.
Also Clara never said he's not my boyfriend when the kids said he was
Jenny, Strax and Vastra are amazing, I loved the sequence with the horse and Strax eventually.
I also see the sonic screwdriver finally has a setting for wood.
The doctor planted a romantic kiss on Jenny! And got a slap for it. He also kissed Clara and Ada.
It's like taking your favourite starter, main course and dessert, mixing them together, and expecting the end result to be delicious.
That's not to say there weren't elements of this episode I didn't enjoy - I liked lots of it - but looking back at the whole thing it just didn't work for me as well as it could and perhaps should have.
A few more thoughts in my weekly review:
http://slouchingtowardstv.com/2013/05/05/doctor-who-s7-ep11-review-the-crimson-horror/
Genuinely disturbing - Matt Smith's Doctor in agony (shades of Frankenstein's monster, notice the walk?)
Loved the flashback with the grain and blemishes on the screen - nice touch.
Matt Smith's performance - arguably the best ever Doctor? Possibly.
Diana Rigg was great as the evil hag villain.
The BBC should do all in their power to get the much rumoured Doctor Who feature film made before Matt Smith quits the part. He deserves to play the Doctor in the film.
I think the goo was more a paralyzer than antidote, turning the worthy into human mannequins (Carry On Screaming style), where they were then placed in the protective bell jars to 'sleep' until the end of days was over and it was safe to come out. Gillyflower and perhaps her army were immunised because somebody then had to revive the rest. I say perhaps because it sounded to me like the last exchange between the models and Old Ma Gilly implied they were going back to sleep in their own jars.
On why some of the chosen ones were in jars and others weren't, even if everyone was immunised (or why she didn't immunised everyone), was perhaps because Gillyflower only needed a select few to be her personal guard. The rest that she had no immediate use for were put in storage.
When it comes to her army of supermodels, I did wonder if that was another effect of the goo (although how a paralyzing goo can turn you into a slave I don't know), or just a bunch of Charles Manson level insane disciples, but I guess we're supposed to think the former.