Doctor Who: "Listen" OAD 09/13/14

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And that's exactly why I liked it as much as I did. It reminded me a bit of Nabokov's short story "Symbols and Signs" (well worth reading - full text here: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1948/05/15/symbols-and-signs )

 

Just one nit... I never liked time travel shows that makes the descendant of a person as a dead ringer of that person. I understand it's cheaper because it uses less actors.

Basic genetics will dictate that a Orson should only have 1/8 of the Danny's gene (unless they practice inter-marriage).

 

Well, since I literally slept through parts of this episode TWO TIMES, and since a lot of you thought it was a good episode I played it a third time going through the part I slept through on the last attempt.

And all I can say is . . . to each his own. To me this was absolutely the WORST Dr. Who episode I have ever seen and I too have been watching all the way back from the Hartnell episodes. Even though this time I did not fall asleep I had a hard time just getting through it.

And I'm sorry but I still think the new Dr. is terrible. In addition to him mumbling (or his stronger accent) making it sometimes hard to understand what he's saying he just doesn't personify "The Dr." at least to me. And again I'm comparing him to ALL the Drs. Certainly some were better than others but to me Capaldi is the worst. Yes, Tennant and Smith were younger Drs. and I initially thought that was a bad idea but they quickly won me over and while I have no objection to an older Dr., Capaldi just doesn't do anything for me.

Clara is just fine and doing quite nicely as the current companion but I also liked Amy Pond and many of the other companions that some people didn't like.

So this current season, at least to me, has been VERY disappointing. Of course I'll still watch all the episodes and maybe they will get better.

Gerry

 

You want to nit-pick?

1) You mean fewer actors, not "less".

2) Some families have a strong family resemblance. If a kid "takes after" his dad, and the same thing happens in the next generation, and the next, it's not unheard of to have a descendent a couple of generations down the line be the "spitting image" of great-grandpa.

3) It's theater. Get over it.

 

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As a nit-picking aside I am suprised that some people have assumed the time-travelling ancestor is Clara.

 

I tend to doubt it is connected - but there was a curious unresolved/throwaway line in a previous episode.

Shoot him, bag him and throw him outside.

Journey Blue: No! Stop!

I'm sorry! He might be a duplicate.

Journey Blue: He's a doctor!

 

I am very lost on the people who think it's the worst episode. I understand not liking it but I'm confused on what could make this the worst compared to some of the stinkers there have been before. It didn't have the whimsical or stupid characteristics of the really bad episodes from the past.

I am pretty sure Doctor Who is considered to be made for the UK audience, and people from the UK have no problem with this accent. Now if Scotland leaves things might change

 

I'm finding him easier to understand than Matt Smith and David Tennant.

I've generally had a hell of a time understanding the other doctors. For whatever reason, Capaldi comes through much clearer to me.

 

I found Matt Smith the hardest to understand and Capaldi the easiest.

Amy was difficult because she talked to fast. I understood her perfectly in Guardians of the Galaxy.

I really liked this episode. I like Capaldi a lot. I like that he's different and not just an extension of the previous actor.

I also think Clara and Capaldi interactions are very good. Her and Smith were like mixing water and oil.

 

I never had a problem understanding Amy. I thought her accent was extremely mild, barely even there, especially compared to a lot of thick Scottish brogue accents. Capaldi has a much more pronounced Scottish accent.

 

Amy Pond's accent is Highand Scot while Capaldi's is Glasgow.

(skip to 3:44 to get to Scotland)

 

I always thinks it's odd to hear so many people complaining about how difficult these people are to understand. I've never had any issues understanding them, well no more than American English speaking actors who can also mumble words, and rarely even consciously notice their accents.

 

Comparing the actors and actresses on Doctor Who to the spectrum of actual accents I've heard in the UK, and I find, say, Capaldi's accent way easier than, for example, "Cornish Fisherman in Newlyn" (where the only word I could clearly distinguish was the "Right?"[1] at the end of the sentence)

[1] Pronounced approximately as "Rooooorght?"

 

All this talk of English accents reminds me of the "British Movie".

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/british-movie/n13054

 

Finally a good episode. I'm starting to get the hang of Capaldi's accent. I am confused about Clara and how much she knows about her timeline, though. I think the Rupert/Dan Pink storyline is going to go somewhere, just like the River Song storyline.

 

Wow. I'm not saying Fear Her was good, but if you think it was the worst show ever you must have had much better luck watching TV than I've had over the years.

 

It's entirely possible that I might have been employing a modicum of hyperbole.

 

It was the most hyperbole I have ever seen anyone use, actually.

 

This. Robot of Sherwood was just awful.

I will disagree with Capaldi. I think he is just awful in the role so far, but NO ONE could pull of these scripts. This whole season has pretty much been a big pile of failure.

Listen was more interesting than most. The Honey I shrunk the Doctor episode wasn't terrible, but none of these episodes have come close to approaching great.

Moffat has to go. Give a new show runner the reins.

 

I agree with all of this except I am giving Capaldi a little rope because of what you say. I'm not sure anyone could fix the mess that is the scripts.