Sounds like i'm in the minority but didn't enjoy this weeks episode half as much as last weeks. The humour was lame as last week got a few laughs and just didn't enjoy the storyline as much
The first episode was a bit madcap, which was fun, this week was a little more along the lines of what I actually expected to see.
I like the introduction of the timeless child, I hope it's something that is actually new and different...and doesn't drag on for no reason.
I just couldn't get past the woman with a Northern Ireland accent claiming never to have heard of planet Earth. And then Jodie's little speech about being "better together". I didn't like this episode, and not impressed with the new Tardis interior either. Aren't I an old misery guts
Surely it will get better.
I thought this episode, The Ghost Monument, was a mixed bag. For me, these were the pros and cons:-
Pros:-
- Jodie continues to demonstrate impressive performances. Any fears I had of her not being the suitable actor for the role (nothing to do with her being female), are being dispelled. She is able to show that her Doctor has the appropriate energy, intelligence, dexterity and when needed, a sense of vulnerability. It's apparent already that she has created new personality traits in her Doctor, different from her predecessors.
- The introduction of the Timeless Child. Hopefully a strong story arc that will be developed and brought to a suitable climax at the end of the series. The look of fear on her face when that was mentioned by the Remnants suggests this will be an important aspect of the series. Thankfully, as Skully said, it wasn't dwelled on too much in this episode and leaves it open for further development later on. The last thing they needed was to fuck it up too soon with confusing, boring, over-complicated themes that became irritating under Moffat's reign.
- The new TARDIS's makeover, both externally and internally, looks very good. Another good sign was the touching sight of the new Doctor having a bond with her craft, similarly to the links her predecessors had with their TARDIS's.
- The music and photography is really quite breathtaking. I can see the quality and amount of detail they're putting in to the production and it is very impressive.
Cons:-
- I thought the storyline in this episode was less exciting than the opening episode last week. I also expected something more at the conclusion than just having the others teleport away and leave the Doctor and her companions behind. I know the TARDIS appeared shortly afterwards, but for a few minutes it was a little deflating and I was asking "is that it?" kind of thing.
- Bradley Walsh's granddad is becoming irritating to me. He seems to be complaining a little too much. Sand in his eyes, stuck on an Alien planet, trackers keep being inserted in him without permission, we can't travel at night, etc.. All these complaints are grating on me and take away my focus from the story.
So still an enjoyable, if slightly flawed episode. As I've said though, I'm hoping for further developments later in the series and I'm pleased they're not throwing too much stuff at us in one go. As with last week, you're left looking forward to the next episode so that has to be a good thing.
I thought last week's was quite good. I'm happy with 'quite good' if it's consistent, rather than brilliant one week and crap the next. I always prefer the episodes set away from Earth anyway, so it was an easy one to like
Regardless of gender, they were right to go younger again this time. Jodie's Doctor has more energy about her. I had reservations about changing the whole cast in one go but I now think it's been a good thing. The fact that none of the new companions knew the old Doctor has allowed the show to move on quickly from the regeneration.
Not sure about the new Tardis, though. Maybe it'll grow on me...
In terms of excitement and entertainment I wouldn't call Rosa the best of episodes but that final scene on the bus was incredible. The looks on their faces, especially Walsh, when they realised they were all going to be part of it were all well acted and the music picked was brilliant. Vinette Robinson gave a great performance. I have been looking on Twitter and of course people are saying that this is not the type of thing that Doctor Who should be doing, it's supposed to be a fun sci-fi show but I think if you are going to do a show about time travel you need to study history particularly human history and that it is good for a show to push it's own boundaries.
I agree. Time travel shows have historical events witnessed by their characters, it's how they all work, so where's the harm in having the longest running time travel show doing this with something as important as Rosa Parks' story, especially if the event is relevant to the characters and/or what we're dealing with in today's society. As long as they don't become an historical event show and maintain a good mix of fun, stupid and serious story lines then it's all good imo.
Overall I think they handled it quite well, including how hard, yet important it was for them to be taking part. Can't fault the main cast or the actress who played Rosa, her parts of the episode were well put together, however, although I get where they were going with the episodes villain, I thought that part wasn't well written, he was supposed to be a racist terrorist of some sort, but wasn't developed enough imo, so I didn't buy him as a big bad, but that's the only issue I had with it.
I wasn't sure Bradley Walsh was the right person for Doctor Who but he is actually very good and brings gthe right amount of comedic value one minute and pathos the next. A good cast and yes I thought the Rosa Parks story was good. Red Dwarf did something similar with the shooting of JFK.
It was rather lacking in excitement but enthralling nonetheless, and well acted. The villain was pathetic though. Although that may have been intentional.
An ok episode, but we need a decent monster next week to keep things moving on