Heads up! Dr Who starts Saturday....

[TimO]

It was a bit sentimental, but I don't think excessively so.

All too often the only thing the Doctor uses his time machine for, is to get to some random location where the storyline plays out.  Today, just for once, he actually used it to do something interesting.  Taking an artist who wasn't appreciated in his own era to see that he's considered one of the greatest painters of all time (up to now anyway) is the sort of thing you would want to do with a time machine.

Not a bad episode, although it seemed a bit contrived with the storyline about the beasty not really being very interesting or important, and a lot more about how Van Gogh was treated, behaved and felt.

Next week we get James Cordern playing himself. 

Doesn't James Cordern always play himself?

[Rhys W]

The Doctor is supposed to thwart aliens, not be some kind of extemporaneous social worker. 

[David Martin]

+1

It was really irritating in places but did the job for me. All felt abig rushed though - the story needed breathing space. Should have been a two-parter.

d.

Goodness me no. One episode like that was bad enough. The monster looked like an overgrown rubber chicken. Our overwhelming impresison was 'Oh %^& we have run out of special effects money. Quick, fight invisible monsters.'

The storyline was rather meh - somewhat boring and didn't captivate me at all.

[TimO]

The Doctor is supposed to thwart aliens, not be some kind of extemporaneous social worker. 

That doesn't stop him from trying to solve individual's problems.  In the Vampires of Venice he tried to stop Mum from killing herself, I'm sure there are other cases in the current series.

[woollypigs]

I kinda felt that there was one episode missing between the last two.

1: Rob gone, 2: Amy sad, 3: Van Gogh. 

I know that it is not normally a continuum in this series, but they have built it up somewhat to have a flow between each episode. And this big event of Rob getting taken by the crack and then nothing felt like something missing. 

But still great entertainment for a Saturday evening.

[TimO]

There was a certain amount of the Doctor trying to ensure that nothing happened between Amy and Vincent.

The episodes aren't always primarily about the long term storyline, which I think Rory's future reappearance will be involved with, so I guess that some episodes aren't going to fit into a sequence, and could be simply "stand alone", and not intimately tied into other episodes.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I kinda felt that there was one episode missing between the last two.

1: Rob gone, 2: Amy sad, 3: Van Gogh. 

I know that it is not normally a continuum in this series, but they have built it up somewhat to have a flow between each episode. And this big event of Rob getting taken by the crack and then nothing felt like something missing. 

But still great entertainment for a Saturday evening.

We couldn't have an Amy sad episode though, because she doesn't remember about Rory. But Van Gogh knew she was sad inside. He could see what had happened to her, even though she didn't know.

[woollypigs]

Oh yeah forgot that bit

[Si]

I thought that it was the best of the best of the series so far.  Although that wasn't difficult.

It had a similar sort of feel to Girl in the Fireplace but wasn't as good.

But at least the sonic screwdriver failed to fix all of the world's ills for a change!

[Mike J]

I thought it was a totally pointless episode.

[Valiant]

I liked it.

[alexb]

Did anyone else wonder if the Dr's all-powerful wing-mirror on a stalk was a tilt at the I-Pad?

[border-rider]

Oh yes. And the idea of only being able to view the world while looking into it and walking backwards was inspired

[Mr Larrington]

I thought it was a totally pointless episode.

Is there such a thing as a pointful episode of Dr Oho?

[mattc]

Good episode. 7/10

Made a nice change from the others - I guess that's the advantage of the guest writers.

Curtis fooled us; we were sure VG would lose an ear battling the chicken-thingy!

... so I guess that some episodes aren't going to fit into a sequence, and could be simply "stand alone", and not intimately tied into other episodes.

Chrikey I hope so. It's Dr Who not Eastenders. (or Touchwood)

[citoyen]

Curtis fooled us; we were sure VG would lose an ear battling the chicken-thingy!

That would have been neat. I enjoy it when they do that in Doctor Who - like when Peter Davison accidentally started the Great Fire Of London.

Which reminds me...

At the start of that story, the Doctor is trying to take Tegan back to Heathrow, but due to the erratic behaviour of the Tardis, he gets her there 300 years before the airport is built. This unpredictability has always been a key feature of his adventures. So answer me this: how is it that in this series the Doctor suddenly seems to have complete control over when and where the Tardis materialises? Did he take it in for an MOT or something?

d.

[mattc]

You mean apart from the South Wales / Rio misunderstanding?

[or was that deliberate , can't remember ... ]

[bobb]

I'd say the percentage of TARDIS fuck ups has been about the same in this series as in the past. He was several years late getting back to Amy and weren't they supposed to be in Rio a couple of episodes ago but weren't?

Edit: Bit of a X post....

[citoyen]

You mean apart from the South Wales / Rio misunderstanding?

Good point.

He was several years late getting back to Amy

And another.

I was forgetting about those incidents, but there have been a few times where his Tardis driving skillz have been uncharacteristically accurate. I guess whether or not the Tardis arrives in the right place depends on whether or not it suits the plot. 

The Rio "mistake" was clearly just a way for the writers to provide a reason for having Amy in a short skirt.

d.

[peliroja]

Doubt it. They don't usually require an excuse. 

[woollypigs]

At the start of the season he did say something about it being rebuilt

[TheLurker]

The TARDIS is probably more accurate at this time travel lark when the handbrake is off. So mebbe he's remembering to release the handbrake  now or the brake linings are so shot that it doesn't matter any more that he's left the handbrake on?

[Mike J]

That was a much better episode than the last one.

[Rhys W]

That episode was very good. I even warmed to the ubiquitous James Cordern. Daisy Haggard (as seen in Psychoville) was an inspired piece of casting. The Doctor trying to act human was comic genius. One criticism - the alien/monster seemed superfluous to the plot, something which has happened before in this series.

Only two more episodes left - a Daleks/Cybermen/Sontarans/Olivia Colman extravaganza, with the River Song and Crack loose ends tied up. Can't wait!

[delthebike]

I could see James Cordern's belly from the back of the room!