by Whifflefire » Fri Jan 18, 2019 5:28 pm
- Motto: ""From Primus Every Help""
- Weapon: Gattling Gun
I liked the last season. At the very least, the episodes made sense on first viewing, and the challenge of the week was the focus, rather than a side quest in subordination to attempts at foreshadowing future plots. During series 7.5, 8, and 9, I found myself unable to connect with more stories than not. It felt like there was a lack of effort in trying sell the story to the viewer, like the ostensible focus was shoehorned in between scenes about less important matters that expected you to pay as much attention to them. ( I've been rewatching clips from this era, and I seem to have missed a lot of good scenes because they appeared in context as filler.)
These last two seasons have emphasised The Doctor Solving the problem he (and she) encounters, with contextually logical explanations and solutions rather than the pulled-out-of-a-hat gamble of a solution some stories would come up with (Journey to the Centre Of the TARDIS and Kill the Moon come to mind). Even the season finale, as underwhelming as some found it, at least it was not the series 6 finale, with its constant subversive plot twists bordering on a parody.
I don't mind the new Doctor, it only makes sense that after the brooding, perpetually suspicious old man comes a peppy, life-loving, friend-to-all hipster. And the companions have been very enjoyable, I think everyone agrees Graham is the unprecedented champion of the line up. Hopefully next series will give more time to Yaz and explore Ryan's relationship with his father more. (Or maybe by the time it gets here we'll have forgotten and stopped caring)
And the New Years special was quite enjoyable as well, I hadn't been following spoilers so I didn't actually know there was going to be a dalek featured, but I correctly guessed the identity of the squid-thing on the wall when it first showed up.