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This transcript was created on 2026-05-04 at 14:18:07

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Hello, dear listener, and welcome back to Flightthrough Entirety

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the only Doctor Who podcast on Constant Alert against the threat

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of Shark Attack.

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I'm Nathan.

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I'm Todd.

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I'm James.

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And my knee, my name's Tegan Javanka.

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I'd like to speak to the pilot.

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Oh my God, Peter.

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Well, we mostly took 2016 off after using up all the ideas we had

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for the show, but now we're back for one last year and taking the

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opportunity to make a completely fresh start.

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So let's see how that goes as we discuss the pilot.

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It was interesting listening to you last episode about the fact

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that Nardal was put into that Christmas special and wasn't going

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to be there because I can't believe that this would have just been

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his introduction in sort of in the background doing things.

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Like it's a bit of a nothingness, really.

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And so I just can't imagine, like, I know he's not around a lot

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because we've got to introduce Bill.

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Yeah.

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And she has to have 3 or 4 episodes because she's a one and done

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companion. we know that coming into this?

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I think we suspected that.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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But it's just interesting seeing this introduction of Bill and the

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sort of the beats that Stephen plays in this compared to other

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companions that have been introduced over the last 6 or 7 years

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because, like we had an Adol last week, he was suddenly just

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there.

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Yeah.

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And if I look back at the last, maybe the last 4 episodes, like we

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had the end of Clara, which was exhausting, but that dynamic had

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been in the show for 3 years, and she'd been around.

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So, and then we had River, and that was a different dynamic with

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the Capaldi doctor showing different aspects of him.

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And then we had Nadol last week.

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And it's the only male Tartars team we've had since the keeper of

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Trark and really.

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I mean, yeah, we had Planet of Fire, but Turlo was out and Perry

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was coming in.

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And now we've got a different dynamic again, having to introduce

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another companion, and we're just used to a certain rhythm and

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there's certain beats in this where I kind of think, oh, I don't

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know if I like that, but it's just a different flavour.

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If you go back, look, even Clara wasn't introduced the normal

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way.

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Like, suddenly the doctor was after her.

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You look at Amy.

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We had young Amy first.

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Look at Donna, like she was coming back, finding the doctor.

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The last time we had a true companion who just sort of appeared on

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the scene, was in fact with Martha.

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And then all Doctor Who companions are sort of these high concept

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people that just automatically, like people die and they just

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accept it.

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Whereas with Bill with this, over, and I'm sort of going ahead

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with these episodes, she's just got a different kind of rhythm and

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a different energy.

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And, you know, in the 3rd episode she's really going to question

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death.

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But even here, it's like, you know, Dr. Watt, and all this, a

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kitchen, I like sci-fi.

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There's certain things where I kind of think, oh, is that

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working?

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And the whole rhythm of Peter Capaldi, like we've had, as I said, 4

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different episodes with him having to play the doctor slightly

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differently, and now he's getting written, as you mentioned, last

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week, much more like Matt Smith, which I didn't pick up on.

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And so I just find this episode really intriguing to see how that

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rhythm plays out through the episode and her introduction and

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everybody's slightly quirky between the doctor and Nardol.

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Sorry to sort of monopolise this.

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No, no, exactly what you mean.

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This feels like Moffat, I think, has been freed up a little bit

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because he's starting off his 6th series, a showrunner, and he's

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essentially doing the same thing that he's had to do on which

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Russell had to do many times, which is introduce an earthbound

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companion.

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He just adopts a really relaxed way of doing it.

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And so Bill's 1st scene is almost like a casting scene.

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He comes in and is cast by the doctor.

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Absolutely, yeah, yeah, yeah.

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It's almost as if that actually could have been her audition piece

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in a way.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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Although probably her audition piece was that terrible friend from

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the future.

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But let's not go there just yet.

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I think it's really nice that she's just a fairly normal person.

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She's not one of these superhero companions who kind of like

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blunders or fumbles their way into the Tartars.

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She just kind of appears and the doctor is interested in her

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rather than her being interested in the doctor.

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He sort of takes her under his wing and has seen that she has

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potential and just sort of wants to play with that.

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And it's a really nice introduction for a new companion.

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I think relaxed is the right way of putting it.

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So that scene is really very unusual.

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So the pre-credit scene is entirely just the one scene, and it

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opens with that very kind of symmetrical shot, you know, of the 2

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doors with the desk in between them.

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We just hear the clock ticking, and then we just have this

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dialogue, and it is a piece that's written to introduce these 2

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actors and show us how they work together.

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They're not meeting for the 1st time.

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They both know one another.

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So we never see the meat for the 1st time.

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He's seen her in the lectures and has formed an opinion about

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her.

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She's been to the lectures and has formed an opinion about him.

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We've got some jobs to do in this scene.

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We need to reveal that Bill is a lesbian.

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We need to reveal the doctor's new job and that the doctor's been

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there for a long period of time.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

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All of that stuff we need to introduce, and it's done incredibly

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well, and it's done in a way that's funny.

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And I think the Dr. Watt thing at the end before we go into the

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opening credits is that Moffatt is going to use Bill to kind of

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undermine the doctor a little bit.

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So the doctor has a tendency to be a bit pompous, and because

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she's not really on board, she's not like the perfect companion

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the way that Clara was, she's not born to be the doctor's

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companion, almost, you know, from childhood, the way that Amy

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was.

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She's just a person that he mad.

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And without all that high concept stuff without having the doctor

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having gone back into her past to see her as a child or anything

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like that, none of that, it's just a person that she met.

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And so he's doing something new.

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And I think it works incredibly well.

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And there's the thing we go into the, after the opening credits, we

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go into a lecture, and the doctor's giving a lecture about time

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and he's saying that time, the passage of time is an illusion, that

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time doesn't really pass when you're watching a movie, movies are

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a series of still pictures, and that events, you know, that events

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don't just sort of go in order, and that's the doctor commenting

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on the way this is being told, because this story actually is more

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than a year, isn't it?

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Like we see Christmas.

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We see summer.

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Yeah, change of seasons.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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All of that stuff.

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So, so what we get, instead of the usual thing, we get the

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relationship between the doctor and build developing over months

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and months, and we get just these little bits and pieces, these

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little vignettes.

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And it's not really until about 20 minutes into the episode that

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it starts to be a normal Doctor Who episode.

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It's like a biopic, you know, when you, you, you see a film that

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someone's, someone's life and it just has little bits and pieces

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from their life.

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I guess the moment that I saw it really was just that scene where

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she comes into the doctor's study and she sees that the Christmas

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rug is now under the TARDIS and she comments on it and then we're

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out.

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Like, then we're out.

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There's certain ways of storytelling.

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Doctor Who does it sometimes and things like turn left and 73

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yards where you just drop in on someone's life every so often just

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to catch up on what's happened to them.

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And this way of introducing a new companion is a really

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interesting way of doing it because normally a companion has to

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kind of jump into the doctor's life and accept so much and it sort

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of begs belief a little bit, whereas the gentle way that Bill gets

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to know him introduces us to this new format quite gently as

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well.

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And I really like that.

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It's a very peaceful opening episode, which isn't trying to dance

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on the head of a pen and do too much and be too crazy.

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It's just saying, okay, we know what Doctor Who is.

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We've done this before.

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Let's have a nice solid stately doctor 2 episode.

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Yeah, I think I think the beginning of it.

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The way that it's told differently from a normal Doctor Who

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episode actually bumps this up in my estimation.

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This puts it among the best episodes that Moffatt has done.

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Because what Moffatt's doing is another formal experiment, and he

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does it with the 11th hour, right from his 1st episode, where it's

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like, okay, I have to create this show Abinitio, you know, like

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new, everyone's been watching it kind of thing, so they kind of

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know what the deal is, but I've got a completely new cast and I've

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got to introduce it.

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I'm going to put the doctor on the back foot and I'm going to have

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him save the world in 45 minutes without the title, so the Sonic

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screwdriver.

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Here he's doing the same thing.

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He's saying, all right, let's pretend no one's watched this before

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and I'm introducing the entire concept of Doctor Who for the 1st

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time.

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And so that's how he does it.

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So it starts very, very differently.

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It starts a little bit like an unearthly child where we're in an

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educational institution and, you know, only this time it's the

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teacher that's kind of unearthly.

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Do you think he had charter on his mind a little bit when he was

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writing this?

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A little bit.

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I mean, we have a picture of Susan on the desk. you know.

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So we're introducing the whole concept, again, from the

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beginning.

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And I think just doing that.

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Like, I'm so, I'm so on board with doing things in Doctor Who that

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we haven't done before.

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And you mentioned 73 yards, Peter, but this is like that as well

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but it's much less high concept.

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This is a way that you tell stories all the time on television, but

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Doctor Who never does it, and it's great to see it try.

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It feels like the introduction to sort of a miniseries on Netflix

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does it?

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Where they introduce the characters.

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I also think it plays into the fact that Moffat probably, you've

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always said that Moffat rebels against what he's done previously.

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He probably felt the need to get away from a high concept

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companion.

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He had them with both Amy and Clara.

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And so when he introduces Bill.

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He probably recognised that he had to do the same thing that Joe

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Grant did for the 3rd doctor, and he needed a companion, who just

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warms the doctor up, and she does that constantly throughout this

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episode and the season.

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And she plays into that quirky kind of companion that we see every

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so often, like Joe, like Dodo, like Romana 2, who just kind of

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jolly their doctor up a little bit.

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And I think that's such a nice thing to do for this whole season.

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They kind of puncture their pomposity.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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And it works because this has, like, Capaldi has absolutely nailed

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it by now.

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This is one of the best sustained performances as the doctor ever

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this season.

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Do you remember how Christopher Eccleston's doctor went back in

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time and gave Billy Piper a bike for Christmas when she was 12.

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Red bike for Christmas when you were driving.

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Is that the empty child?

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Yeah, yeah, that's Moffat.

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Here, that wonderful moment, that incredible Christmas where she

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comes, she brings the rug.

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There's that hilarious line where he says, I didn't get you

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anything and she says, well, it didn't cost very much.

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But then he gets her something.

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He goes back in time, takes photos of her mother after she says

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she's got no photos of her mother, and in the very next scene we

248
00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:35.399
see, her going through the photos and weeping, and we see the

249
00:12:35.399 --> 00:12:37.679
photos, and obviously that will play into a terrible episode later

250
00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:38.340
in the season.

251
00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:43.320
But then she goes back into his study and the TARDIS has moved. the

252
00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:46.500
rugs under the TARDIS, and clearly it's under the TARDIS because

253
00:12:46.500 --> 00:12:49.679
he's moved the TARDIS to go back in time and visit the mother.

254
00:12:49.740 --> 00:12:51.419
And it doesn't go anywhere.

255
00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:56.519
Like we see her see what might be the doctor in the background, you

256
00:12:56.519 --> 00:12:59.639
know, in the mirror taking the photo, but she never says anything

257
00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:01.019
and it never comes up again.

258
00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:05.700
And no conclusions drawn from it because that's how the story's

259
00:13:05.700 --> 00:13:06.539
being told at the moment.

260
00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:08.220
It's those shots.

261
00:13:08.279 --> 00:13:12.120
Remember when the sort of the field of view pulls back and we see

262
00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:16.919
a series of images, steel images from different points of time in

263
00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:17.580
the narrative.

264
00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:19.919
That's how the narrative's being told at this point.

265
00:13:19.980 --> 00:13:22.320
I would have liked to have been party to that scene where the

266
00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:24.720
doctor just turned up to Bill's mother and said, I'm just going to

267
00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:25.500
take some photos of you.

268
00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:37.080
I'm very impressed by this discussion because listeners, I work on

269
00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:40.259
a much simpler level, which has nice intro sequence.

270
00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:43.620
What's going on with Susan and shot very differently, but you've

271
00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:47.460
just articulated everything that I kind of encapsulated in my just

272
00:13:47.460 --> 00:13:50.519
lemme gas has gone from a 7.5 to a 7.75.

273
00:13:50.820 --> 00:13:53.460
It's actually solidified, isn't it?

274
00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:53.879
eight?

275
00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:58.200
So it's actually gone up in my estimations.

276
00:13:58.259 --> 00:14:00.539
But everything that you're saying is totally true.

277
00:14:00.539 --> 00:14:05.039
And I think it's a testament to Stephen Moffat that 6 seasons in, 7

278
00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:05.700
years or whatever.

279
00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:09.299
He can still do this, whereas I think other people struggle.

280
00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:12.600
Well, because he's not relying on it being a puzzle box.

281
00:14:12.659 --> 00:14:14.159
This is incredibly straightforward.

282
00:14:14.220 --> 00:14:16.679
It's very, very straightforward.

283
00:14:16.740 --> 00:14:18.659
There's no kind of twists or loops.

284
00:14:18.779 --> 00:14:21.840
There's no things that, you know, initially means something and

285
00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:23.519
then later means something else.

286
00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:27.899
He's allowed the episode to be funny.

287
00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:29.940
Like there's some really great funny lines.

288
00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.879
It's properly scary in all sorts of ways.

289
00:14:32.940 --> 00:14:36.720
This guy, the director who is called Lawrence Goff.

290
00:14:36.779 --> 00:14:37.980
What's he directed before?

291
00:14:38.039 --> 00:14:40.740
So maybe Whitney Houston's I want to dance with him.

292
00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:45.539
No, he all he's done for Doctor Who is this and smile, and he did

293
00:14:45.539 --> 00:14:46.500
friend from the future.

294
00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:49.139
Oh, well, that's one black mark against him.

295
00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:53.279
Yeah, so that came out to introduce Bill. that was introducing

296
00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:55.740
Bill, it came out like earlier in the year.

297
00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:56.519
Cup.

298
00:14:56.580 --> 00:14:58.080
Yeah, it was World Cup, wasn't it?

299
00:14:58.139 --> 00:14:58.500
Yeah.

300
00:14:58.620 --> 00:14:59.940
It's not very good.

301
00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:00.600
It is.

302
00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:06.419
When Moffatt writes the pilot, he actually kind of almost includes

303
00:15:06.419 --> 00:15:09.960
that scene with the Daleks and the Movellans in order to kind of

304
00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:11.940
make that scene canon.

305
00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:16.679
But in fact, there's a moment where, like, Bill says, what is it?

306
00:15:16.679 --> 00:15:19.320
And the doctor says it's a dalek and she says, what's that?

307
00:15:19.379 --> 00:15:21.659
And the doctor says, oh, you know, it doesn't matter.

308
00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:22.799
It just a dalek.

309
00:15:22.860 --> 00:15:28.019
And in the episode that we see she smiles, and all I can think of

310
00:15:28.019 --> 00:15:31.559
is that brilliant line in the opening scene where the doctor says

311
00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:35.159
when most people encounter something they don't understand, they

312
00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:37.679
frown, but you smile.

313
00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:42.120
And that's, you know, that's actually better than what we see in

314
00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:45.059
Friend from the Future, which is a bit too much, I think.

315
00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:50.399
That friend from the future thing. was so appalling that I was so

316
00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:52.620
put off by the character.

317
00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:54.899
And I just kind of thought, oh, no.

318
00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:59.220
And and then we were hearing like, oh, Nadols had to be introduced

319
00:15:59.220 --> 00:16:01.500
because she's not very good and all this sort of stuff.

320
00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:04.919
So I was on the back foot, you know, to begin with, has sort of

321
00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:07.440
proved me wrong that you're not terrible, right?

322
00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:12.840
But in fact, not always written in because Matt Lucas contacts him

323
00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:16.799
and says, I really enjoyed working with you.

324
00:16:16.860 --> 00:16:18.539
Can I be in more?

325
00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:21.600
And so they, he asked to be written back in a bit of a Catherine

326
00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:22.200
Tate situation.

327
00:16:22.259 --> 00:16:26.220
Well, I can't believe that because he gave up other work to be in

328
00:16:26.220 --> 00:16:26.820
Doctor Who.

329
00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:30.000
He gave up on a pilot in America to be indoct.

330
00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:31.740
Look, gave up on a pilot, shoot the pilot.

331
00:16:31.799 --> 00:16:34.860
I think that's incredible because like I can't imagine this season

332
00:16:34.860 --> 00:16:35.399
without him.

333
00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:36.059
Yeah.

334
00:16:36.059 --> 00:16:40.200
And the fact that how he is actually used, as I said, in these 1st

335
00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:43.559
few episodes giving space for Bill, and then that team just sort

336
00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:44.700
of takes off mid-season.

337
00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:48.000
The reason I think that Friend from the Future doesn't work is

338
00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:51.299
that it picks up on one particular aspect of Bill's character

339
00:16:51.299 --> 00:16:54.240
which is quite funny in the context of the episode, the fact that

340
00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:55.019
she's very literal.

341
00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:59.940
And it just kind of focusses on that without any of the warming up

342
00:16:59.940 --> 00:17:01.259
and the introduction to the character.

343
00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:05.519
So she seems like a bit weird and a bit of an idiot in Friend from

344
00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:05.819
the Future.

345
00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:09.839
I think this episode kind of teeters on the edge of that a little

346
00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:10.140
bit.

347
00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:11.640
It goes to that well too often.

348
00:17:11.700 --> 00:17:12.180
Yeah.

349
00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:14.460
Like the Dr. Watt thing is brilliant.

350
00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:17.039
Like that's perfect because that is what you would say.

351
00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:20.039
And it just reminds you of the Christmas invasion, you know

352
00:17:20.039 --> 00:17:21.180
tenants 1st episode.

353
00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:25.079
We go into the credits with Jackie saying Doctor Who.

354
00:17:25.140 --> 00:17:28.680
So having her say Dr. Watt and then going into the Doctor Who

355
00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:30.660
title sequence, I think is kind of perfect.

356
00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:37.319
But it takes too long, I think, for her to realise, you know, Nadol

357
00:17:37.319 --> 00:17:40.380
and the doctor kind of are both going, wow, it's taking a long

358
00:17:40.380 --> 00:17:41.099
time to get to.

359
00:17:41.160 --> 00:17:44.039
It's bigger on the inside than the outside, isn't it?

360
00:17:44.099 --> 00:17:45.420
As if she's a bit dim.

361
00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:48.900
And of course, she absolutely isn't and makes it clear that she's

362
00:17:48.900 --> 00:17:49.140
not.

363
00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:50.700
And once she knows what's going on.

364
00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:53.160
She asks a whole heap of really sort of pertinent questions.

365
00:17:53.220 --> 00:17:56.519
There's that introduction, which I think really works well, but

366
00:17:56.519 --> 00:17:59.940
visually, but makes her look like an idiot, which is she's at the

367
00:17:59.940 --> 00:18:04.799
door talking about how they're trapped or the, or whatever they're

368
00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:05.279
in the room.

369
00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:08.700
And the camera pulls back and we see that she's actually in a

370
00:18:08.700 --> 00:18:10.859
small part of a very large black space.

371
00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:13.259
And then the lights come on.

372
00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:18.960
That's really great, but it does, I think, it does make her look a

373
00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:19.319
bit stupid.

374
00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:22.740
I guess that's what I was saying earlier about the fact that

375
00:18:22.740 --> 00:18:27.180
sometimes the beats in this kind of they're not the wrong beats

376
00:18:27.180 --> 00:18:29.220
but they're a bit uncomfortable.

377
00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:31.380
Like Dr. Watt is an uncomfortable thing because you're used to

378
00:18:31.380 --> 00:18:33.180
Doctor Who, rather than Dr. Watt.

379
00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:35.279
And that's another example of that.

380
00:18:35.339 --> 00:18:37.619
So there's points in this where it's sort of like, what is that

381
00:18:37.619 --> 00:18:38.099
dynamic?

382
00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:42.059
What is that actual relationship, the energy, the energy is

383
00:18:42.059 --> 00:18:42.420
different.

384
00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:45.660
She brings a different energy, and we're not used to it, and it's

385
00:18:45.660 --> 00:18:46.319
not a wrong energy.

386
00:18:46.380 --> 00:18:48.000
It's just playing different notes.

387
00:18:48.059 --> 00:18:51.480
And when you get into it, and as it builds in the next few

388
00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:53.940
episodes up to knock, knock, where I really think it's like

389
00:18:53.940 --> 00:18:57.720
working so well by then, it's absolutely brilliant, and you can

390
00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:01.319
see what a wonderful companion she is for this doctor. and what a

391
00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:02.220
great dynamic they have.

392
00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:06.660
You can see that the, the, her puncturing his pomposity thing most

393
00:19:06.660 --> 00:19:10.380
clearly in that 1st scene in the TARDIS, because you've got Murray

394
00:19:10.380 --> 00:19:15.480
there, bizarrely using River Songs theme for some reason, we're in

395
00:19:15.480 --> 00:19:18.599
the TARDIS, we've got the River Song theme, and the doctor's

396
00:19:18.599 --> 00:19:21.900
making this sort of big pompous statement, and then the music goes

397
00:19:21.900 --> 00:19:27.119
away for when Bill says it's like a kitchen, and the same thing

398
00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:27.720
happens.

399
00:19:27.779 --> 00:19:30.000
He does this, you know, this can take you anywhere in time and

400
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:31.259
space, blah, blah, blah.

401
00:19:31.319 --> 00:19:32.099
Murray is going crazy.

402
00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:34.200
And then she says, can I use the toilet?

403
00:19:34.259 --> 00:19:39.299
And like that's a little bit of a kind of low hanging fruit that's

404
00:19:39.299 --> 00:19:40.440
a little bit easy, that line.

405
00:19:40.500 --> 00:19:45.059
And I did spend the time on the Movellan spaceship kind of worried

406
00:19:45.059 --> 00:19:47.940
for her because she didn't seem to actually get the chance to go

407
00:19:47.940 --> 00:19:49.319
to the toilet at that point.

408
00:19:49.740 --> 00:19:52.319
Maybe she did and they just didn't mention it.

409
00:19:52.380 --> 00:19:53.759
Maybe she went in Australia.

410
00:19:53.819 --> 00:19:56.339
Maybe that's friend from the future part two.

411
00:19:56.460 --> 00:20:01.259
No, I think if you're going to make companion goofy, they've got

412
00:20:01.259 --> 00:20:05.460
to be funny and Moffat weirdly misses a couple of opportunities

413
00:20:05.460 --> 00:20:05.759
here.

414
00:20:05.819 --> 00:20:07.619
The kitchen remark is just weird.

415
00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:09.839
The TARDIS doesn't look like the kitchen.

416
00:20:09.900 --> 00:20:11.400
So why does she say it looks like a kitchen?

417
00:20:11.460 --> 00:20:13.200
It needed a better punchline to that.

418
00:20:13.259 --> 00:20:14.099
Yeah, yeah.

419
00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:17.880
There is one piece of dialogue, which I think is absolutely superb

420
00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:21.539
and it is in the bathroom at the thing in Sydney, which, and I

421
00:20:21.539 --> 00:20:24.359
don't want to compromise Simon's Opsec, but it's really close to

422
00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:25.619
where he lives, isn't it?

423
00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:28.019
When they come to Sydney, they land on Simon's doorstep.

424
00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:31.559
But there is no cafe there.

425
00:20:31.619 --> 00:20:32.279
No, I know.

426
00:20:32.339 --> 00:20:32.759
I know.

427
00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:35.220
Like, I'm sorry, that's one of the things that irritates me about

428
00:20:35.220 --> 00:20:38.640
mini TV shows when they put in things that aren't there.

429
00:20:38.700 --> 00:20:40.500
They're just housing, Stephen.

430
00:20:40.680 --> 00:20:43.380
Geography is always wrong in TV shows.

431
00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:43.980
It's all fun.

432
00:20:44.039 --> 00:20:48.480
But she says to the doctor, can I ask you a personal question?

433
00:20:48.539 --> 00:20:50.099
And he says no.

434
00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:52.440
And then she says, can I anyway?

435
00:20:52.500 --> 00:20:54.240
And he says, yes.

436
00:20:54.299 --> 00:20:59.579
Which I think is surprisingly funny for something so simple.

437
00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:01.740
Yeah, like I think she is smart.

438
00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:04.740
She does come off as smart and she kind of knows what she's doing

439
00:21:04.740 --> 00:21:07.440
but it does risk making her look stupid, some of that.

440
00:21:07.500 --> 00:21:08.099
Yeah.

441
00:21:11.940 --> 00:21:16.079
But the time we get to the next episode, the 1st time for the next

442
00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:17.519
episode, with them in smile.

443
00:21:17.579 --> 00:21:20.339
Yeah, there's just an obvious chemistry there that's working so

444
00:21:20.339 --> 00:21:20.579
well.

445
00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:25.140
I love the fact that she gets to work with a Dalek contract, really

446
00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:28.019
um, obliged to have a Dalek in the season and we get the

447
00:21:28.019 --> 00:21:28.740
Mavellins.

448
00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:31.079
Like, I just think that's so funny.

449
00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:33.359
Stunningly true to June Hudson's original design.

450
00:21:33.420 --> 00:21:34.259
Yeah.

451
00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:37.319
So what's really good about this is we're around about halfway

452
00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:39.299
through before it turns into a Doctor Who episode.

453
00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:42.960
So it is an episode about Bill at University.

454
00:21:43.019 --> 00:21:45.119
Oh, can I just say St.

455
00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:51.660
Luke's University and Luke, who writes more of the New Testament

456
00:21:51.660 --> 00:21:53.759
than anyone else, anyone else by words?

457
00:21:53.819 --> 00:21:57.900
He writes 2 books, but they're quite long, he is famously a doctor

458
00:21:57.900 --> 00:22:01.680
a physician, and so it's clearly named for that reason.

459
00:22:01.799 --> 00:22:04.440
So it's a story about her at St.

460
00:22:04.440 --> 00:22:07.019
Luke's University and her meeting Heather and that sort of

461
00:22:07.019 --> 00:22:09.960
relationship and stuff and only turns into a Doctor Who episode

462
00:22:09.960 --> 00:22:12.539
around about halfway through.

463
00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:15.359
Maybe the moment it turns into a Doctor Who episode is that

464
00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:18.359
brilliant moment where she's at the window talking about what

465
00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:22.019
she's seen and she looks down and there's Capaldi running outside

466
00:22:22.019 --> 00:22:25.200
the window and she turns around and the chair is still spinning

467
00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:28.440
and we get the doctor's music and stuff and then it turns into a

468
00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:29.099
Doctor Who episode.

469
00:22:29.160 --> 00:22:29.880
So it takes a while.

470
00:22:29.940 --> 00:22:32.220
That's where you get the fabulous line.

471
00:22:32.279 --> 00:22:35.339
Why do you run like that, like a penguin with itself on fire?

472
00:22:35.460 --> 00:22:39.480
Well, Armando Unucci said, you can't put anything funnier on

473
00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:41.400
television than Peter Capaldi running.

474
00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:43.380
And I think that's definitely true.

475
00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:45.660
Pearl Mackey's also quite funny when she runs.

476
00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:46.259
She all armed.

477
00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:47.460
She is, isn't she?

478
00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:51.240
Particularly at the end where she sort of arrives at the puddle.

479
00:22:51.299 --> 00:22:52.140
Do you know what I mean?

480
00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:55.799
And the doctor's been there and she's sort of kind of tired.

481
00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:58.200
She does run it in a funny way too, doesn't she?

482
00:22:58.259 --> 00:23:01.799
I like this episode becomes Doctor Who when they realise they've

483
00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:02.940
got to escape in the TARDIS.

484
00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:04.500
There is nothing more Doctor Who than that.

485
00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:05.880
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

486
00:23:05.940 --> 00:23:06.720
Yeah, yeah.

487
00:23:06.779 --> 00:23:09.480
But it's doing a lot of work, like, you know, up to that point

488
00:23:09.480 --> 00:23:09.839
too.

489
00:23:09.900 --> 00:23:12.839
With, you know, having the doctor at the university, having the

490
00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:15.599
vault introduced and them checking on that.

491
00:23:15.660 --> 00:23:18.420
So there's that sort of mystery going on with the doctor and

492
00:23:18.420 --> 00:23:21.420
Nardol, and then she's following him and all that sort of stuff.

493
00:23:21.480 --> 00:23:24.059
It also introduces Moira.

494
00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:27.000
Like it gives us a little bit of background to Bill.

495
00:23:27.059 --> 00:23:29.339
Like we know that her mother's died and so she's being looked

496
00:23:29.339 --> 00:23:30.480
after by Moira.

497
00:23:30.539 --> 00:23:36.119
Moira is played by Jennifer Hennessy, who we last saw in Gridlock

498
00:23:36.119 --> 00:23:37.500
as Valerie.

499
00:23:37.559 --> 00:23:39.420
I knew I'd seen her somewhere else before.

500
00:23:39.480 --> 00:23:40.140
Yeah, yeah.

501
00:23:40.200 --> 00:23:41.279
Your cat mother.

502
00:23:41.339 --> 00:23:43.500
She is really horrible.

503
00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:47.279
And there's a there's a real attempt... casually horrible. just

504
00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:49.500
sort of brittle and not very nice to be around.

505
00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:54.599
Again, there's a brilliant line that where she gives Bill money

506
00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:55.619
for Christmas.

507
00:23:55.619 --> 00:23:59.940
And then she's looking in the mirror, the clothing that Bill's

508
00:23:59.940 --> 00:24:02.700
bought her, and she says, I hope you haven't spent too much money

509
00:24:02.700 --> 00:24:06.839
on this, and Bill says, like, looks at the money she's bought and

510
00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:11.160
says, no, I think this will cover it. which I think is so brutal.

511
00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:15.059
But the one where she goes to the bar and, you know, like, oh, I

512
00:24:15.059 --> 00:24:16.920
just need some me time and stuff.

513
00:24:16.980 --> 00:24:20.220
And so she's a little bit, she's kind of horrible and selfish.

514
00:24:20.279 --> 00:24:24.299
She's like Jackie, but with no charm or charisma at all.

515
00:24:24.359 --> 00:24:25.680
Does she go on?

516
00:24:25.740 --> 00:24:27.240
Is she in it much for the rest of the season?

517
00:24:27.299 --> 00:24:29.160
seen one more episode, is she?

518
00:24:29.220 --> 00:24:30.119
Is she an extremist?

519
00:24:30.180 --> 00:24:31.559
She's in the Pyramids trilogy.

520
00:24:31.619 --> 00:24:32.099
Right, okay.

521
00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:33.119
She one of the monks, yeah.

522
00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:36.299
I thought she was going to be in more, really.

523
00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:39.240
But then again, Stephen's not really interested in exploring.

524
00:24:39.299 --> 00:24:39.779
No.

525
00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:42.839
Yeah, you know, she never finds out that her foster daughter is

526
00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:43.200
dead.

527
00:24:43.259 --> 00:24:44.279
Yeah, yeah.

528
00:24:44.339 --> 00:24:46.920
Yeah, it's just there to reflect an aspect of Bill's slush. not

529
00:24:46.920 --> 00:24:48.180
meant to be a character in her own right.

530
00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:49.140
No, that's fair enough.

531
00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:50.339
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

532
00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:52.980
The other character we have is Heather.

533
00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:56.819
She is astonishingly beautiful.

534
00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:57.839
I think.

535
00:24:57.900 --> 00:25:01.380
And her smile is really something.

536
00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:03.059
There's that smile.

537
00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:03.960
Yeah, yeah.

538
00:25:03.960 --> 00:25:07.799
So there's that scene, the last time that they meet before she

539
00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:09.599
gets captured by the puddle.

540
00:25:09.660 --> 00:25:13.019
Um, and it's...

541
00:25:13.079 --> 00:25:15.420
And it's summer, isn't it?

542
00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:18.299
And we see that shot later where she just turns to Bill and

543
00:25:18.299 --> 00:25:19.079
smiles.

544
00:25:19.079 --> 00:25:24.720
And I didn't realise I watched this twice in preparation for this

545
00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:26.700
recording and once this morning.

546
00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:29.640
I only really realised this morning that we hear this kind of

547
00:25:29.640 --> 00:25:33.240
whooshing sound of her being sucked into the puddle.

548
00:25:33.299 --> 00:25:36.000
So when Bill kind of rounds the corner.

549
00:25:36.119 --> 00:25:36.720
She no longer there.

550
00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:38.579
But it's that last smile.

551
00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:41.940
And it worried me a little bit as I was watching it because

552
00:25:41.940 --> 00:25:47.759
there's that scene, the 1st scene just before Bill runs upstairs

553
00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:49.140
into the doctor's study.

554
00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:52.799
It's outside its night and they're there facing one another and

555
00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:54.599
she's repeating.

556
00:25:54.660 --> 00:25:55.559
Yeah, yeah.

557
00:25:55.619 --> 00:25:57.539
And Bill says you're dead.

558
00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:02.579
So I'm there wondering, well, spoiler alert, how does she come in

559
00:26:02.579 --> 00:26:05.039
in the final episode and kind of rescue her?

560
00:26:05.099 --> 00:26:07.740
How is that in any way a satisfying ending?

561
00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:12.059
But that smile happens enough for zombie Heather.

562
00:26:12.119 --> 00:26:14.460
We see her smile a couple of times.

563
00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:18.779
And even when they say goodbye to one another, the actress just

564
00:26:18.779 --> 00:26:22.740
lets there be a little bit of actual heather, you know, kind of

565
00:26:22.740 --> 00:26:25.980
play on her face that you believe that it's going to be okay.

566
00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:30.359
Well, it's because it's believable that she's regaining her

567
00:26:30.359 --> 00:26:36.539
humanity, as in her humanity is resurfacing slowly throughout that

568
00:26:36.539 --> 00:26:40.619
episode, and you see glints of it when she wants to take her away

569
00:26:40.619 --> 00:26:44.759
and then they say goodbye, that you believe that she's spent all

570
00:26:44.759 --> 00:26:49.019
the intervening, potentially aeons because when is that season

571
00:26:49.019 --> 00:26:49.920
finale set?

572
00:26:49.980 --> 00:26:50.339
Yeah.

573
00:26:50.339 --> 00:26:53.039
Um, becoming Heather again?

574
00:26:53.099 --> 00:26:53.579
Heather again.

575
00:26:53.640 --> 00:26:54.119
Yeah, yeah.

576
00:26:54.180 --> 00:26:54.599
Yeah.

577
00:26:54.660 --> 00:26:57.000
I think like there's that moment where she appears.

578
00:26:57.000 --> 00:26:58.019
There's a really beautiful shot.

579
00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:00.599
You know, on the planet in the future, 23000000 years in the

580
00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:04.500
future where we're on the planet with the weird wavy kind of...

581
00:27:04.500 --> 00:27:07.859
They've gone to that quarry with the big sort of headstone up the

582
00:27:07.859 --> 00:27:08.819
top in the background.

583
00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:09.900
Yeah, yeah.

584
00:27:09.960 --> 00:27:15.480
And there's a shot from the side where she's emerging from the

585
00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:18.359
puddle and you can see the reflection of her face.

586
00:27:18.420 --> 00:27:20.460
You know, it's a really kind of beautiful shot.

587
00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:22.799
But when she sees Bill.

588
00:27:22.859 --> 00:27:27.480
She smiles in recognition and she's pleased to see her.

589
00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:29.880
And then, you know, she grabs her face and tries to pull her in

590
00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:31.980
the water and that's all horrible.

591
00:27:32.099 --> 00:27:37.019
But there's just enough of her there, I think.

592
00:27:37.079 --> 00:27:40.140
And I also think just the moment they 1st made in the bar is great

593
00:27:40.140 --> 00:27:42.599
where they just sort of stop and stand in front of one another and

594
00:27:42.599 --> 00:27:44.099
they look at each other like I buy.

595
00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:46.980
It's quite nice because they've made eye contact, then Bill makes

596
00:27:46.980 --> 00:27:48.779
a move and Heather's already making a move.

597
00:27:48.839 --> 00:27:51.059
So they've obviously just tried to cross each other's parts.

598
00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:51.839
Yeah, it's lovely.

599
00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:52.380
Yeah.

600
00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:56.099
I guess this is one of the aspects of the episode for me, which is

601
00:27:56.099 --> 00:27:58.980
less satisfying with the puddle and it's home motivation, the fact

602
00:27:58.980 --> 00:28:02.940
that it's come to earth, and then it's choosing heather.

603
00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:06.059
And then it's not totally evil.

604
00:28:06.119 --> 00:28:10.019
Like Heather's initially like the pilot and appears to be evil

605
00:28:10.019 --> 00:28:11.759
like with, you know, the jump scares with all the water in the

606
00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:14.099
bathroom and all the chasing and that sort of thing.

607
00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:17.339
Like, it's like, what is its motivation, why her?

608
00:28:17.400 --> 00:28:20.819
Yes, I think it's great that we get all these smiles because then

609
00:28:20.819 --> 00:28:23.880
you can retrofit the story back.

610
00:28:23.940 --> 00:28:26.400
It's sort of like to me, has he gone and written the conclusion of

611
00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:28.559
the season knowing where that's going and going, well, then how do

612
00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:31.799
I get her out of being killed, spoiler alert?

613
00:28:31.859 --> 00:28:34.380
But now I need to fit it back into this story.

614
00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:38.339
So I guess I was just kind of going, does this make sense in my

615
00:28:38.339 --> 00:28:40.920
head and the clogs that are turning and that sort of thing.

616
00:28:40.980 --> 00:28:43.740
And I can see everything that you're saying, but at the same time

617
00:28:43.740 --> 00:28:47.519
kind of think, well, why, except that we want Bill to live?

618
00:28:47.579 --> 00:28:52.680
Yeah, I mean, he had he had the idea of her being saved at the end

619
00:28:52.680 --> 00:28:55.740
whilst he was writing this story by Heather.

620
00:28:55.799 --> 00:28:57.240
Yeah, it's not retrofitted.

621
00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:01.079
It actually kind of inspires the ending of this episode.

622
00:29:01.140 --> 00:29:03.720
I guess I just want more of an explanation.

623
00:29:03.779 --> 00:29:07.019
Like, I always want more of an explanation, but then when I do get

624
00:29:07.019 --> 00:29:10.799
an explanation, am I satisfied, is it just too much technobabble

625
00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:13.619
you know, so sometimes it's better, less is more.

626
00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:15.779
Maybe you just don't like characters who are a bit wet.

627
00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:19.200
So.

628
00:29:31.500 --> 00:29:36.420
So, twice the doctor talks about things rhyming.

629
00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:41.279
So there's one time where Bill says you were supposed to give a

630
00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:44.099
lecture on quantum physics, but instead you talked about poetry

631
00:29:44.099 --> 00:29:46.559
and he says, well, they're the same thing they rhyme.

632
00:29:46.619 --> 00:29:51.480
And Nardol asks the doctor how he can possibly be teaching Bill

633
00:29:51.480 --> 00:29:54.660
everything and he says, well, because everything rhymes.

634
00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:58.500
And I wonder whether that's an allusion to the fact that a lot of

635
00:29:58.500 --> 00:30:04.079
the stuff that the sort of silly sci-fi plot covers has been

636
00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:05.220
covered by the show before.

637
00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:11.519
So the use of water, pouring off people, and puddles and things

638
00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:15.779
obviously comes from waters of Mars, zombies, water zombies, which

639
00:30:15.779 --> 00:30:18.000
worked incredibly well in waters of water.

640
00:30:18.059 --> 00:30:18.839
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

641
00:30:18.900 --> 00:30:20.519
And I think it works really well. here.

642
00:30:20.579 --> 00:30:27.299
And then the other thing is, of course, the lodger, where you've

643
00:30:27.299 --> 00:30:32.099
got the Silencers TARDIS, is looking for someone who wants to

644
00:30:32.099 --> 00:30:37.680
leave so that it can pilot it away and it decides on Sophie

645
00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:38.160
remember?

646
00:30:38.220 --> 00:30:42.420
So Sophie is going to be the pilot to take that TARDIS away.

647
00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:44.700
It's looking for a pilot and it keeps killing all of those people

648
00:30:44.700 --> 00:30:47.819
because they don't, you know, they don't work.

649
00:30:47.880 --> 00:30:50.700
In a way, it's sort of shorthand because it's stuff that we've

650
00:30:50.700 --> 00:30:53.099
seen before, it rhymes with something that we already know.

651
00:30:53.160 --> 00:30:59.279
And your reflection, you never see what you look like.

652
00:30:59.339 --> 00:31:00.660
Well, that's so Moffat.

653
00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:02.099
That's absolutely Moffat.

654
00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:03.180
And just think about it.

655
00:31:03.240 --> 00:31:07.619
You're standing next to someone looking in the mirror. someone you

656
00:31:07.619 --> 00:31:10.500
know You and someone else are standing next to each other looking

657
00:31:10.500 --> 00:31:11.160
in the mirror.

658
00:31:11.220 --> 00:31:12.900
That person always looks weird.

659
00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:14.339
Yeah?

660
00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:17.880
The person, your friend who's looking in the mirror with you kind

661
00:31:17.880 --> 00:31:20.940
of looks weird because although that's the version of their face

662
00:31:20.940 --> 00:31:22.859
that they're most familiar with.

663
00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:26.339
It's the version of their face that you nearly never see because

664
00:31:26.339 --> 00:31:27.660
it's flipped horizontally.

665
00:31:27.720 --> 00:31:32.339
And so playing with that, I think, is really brilliant.

666
00:31:32.339 --> 00:31:33.599
It's really moffety.

667
00:31:33.660 --> 00:31:37.319
And I also think the shot, the way that it shot as if the puddle

668
00:31:37.319 --> 00:31:42.720
is like a massive hollow under the, under the ground, that it's a

669
00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:46.079
window up into the sort of upper world and there's a big void

670
00:31:46.079 --> 00:31:50.640
underneath with Nicholas Briggs underneath going, pilot acquired

671
00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:51.119
you know?

672
00:31:51.839 --> 00:31:55.740
I tell you what, those effects have come on since TNG skin of

673
00:31:55.740 --> 00:31:56.099
evil.

674
00:31:57.660 --> 00:32:01.259
Well, I think that I think that looks really good.

675
00:32:01.319 --> 00:32:05.880
And so the idea is that it's what a liquid spaceship that shape

676
00:32:05.880 --> 00:32:06.420
shifts.

677
00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:09.779
It's kind of like whatever we need to make this happen. fuel and

678
00:32:09.779 --> 00:32:10.740
now it's a bit old.

679
00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:11.400
Yeah, yeah.

680
00:32:11.460 --> 00:32:15.539
Then why does it have the Dalek ship scorch marks?

681
00:32:15.660 --> 00:32:16.859
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

682
00:32:16.920 --> 00:32:18.240
Again, something we've borrowed.

683
00:32:18.359 --> 00:32:21.779
So before this episode, did Mothite just watch like Tear of the

684
00:32:21.779 --> 00:32:24.119
Autons, Remembrance of the Daleks, the Lodger?

685
00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:25.259
I know what I'll do.

686
00:32:25.859 --> 00:32:30.420
Yeah, well, I mean, because it's the sort of thing that it's like

687
00:32:30.420 --> 00:32:31.380
Boomtown.

688
00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:34.680
Remember how Boomtown is not at all a Doctor Who story maybe until

689
00:32:34.680 --> 00:32:39.539
the last sort of 10 minutes and it has the thinnest possible

690
00:32:39.539 --> 00:32:41.220
science fiction plot.

691
00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:45.720
You know, it's like Annette Badland's going to blow up Cardiff and

692
00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:48.720
surf off into space, you know, or something.

693
00:32:48.839 --> 00:32:50.819
I've actually seen it.

694
00:32:51.180 --> 00:32:53.579
Oh, I've got a vision right there.

695
00:32:54.119 --> 00:32:58.980
And here, it is a very, very thin science fiction plot, but what

696
00:32:58.980 --> 00:33:03.359
it does is it gives us the chance to gradually introduce Bill to

697
00:33:03.359 --> 00:33:04.380
what the Tartars can do.

698
00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:08.099
And one of the funniest lines, I think, is where Bill goes, oh my

699
00:33:08.099 --> 00:33:10.259
god, is it a, have we travelled in time?

700
00:33:10.319 --> 00:33:13.079
And the doctor says, no, we're just in Australia.

701
00:33:13.140 --> 00:33:17.099
And so, you know, like it shows us what Doctor Who can do.

702
00:33:17.160 --> 00:33:18.480
We can travel in time and space.

703
00:33:18.539 --> 00:33:21.000
It introduces us to the Daleks, which I think is absolutely

704
00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:21.660
brilliant.

705
00:33:21.720 --> 00:33:23.640
Doesn't he say now we've travelled in time?

706
00:33:23.700 --> 00:33:24.720
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

707
00:33:24.779 --> 00:33:25.619
Now we've travelled.

708
00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:28.799
Well, in fact, well, they travel in time because the quarry is

709
00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:30.420
23000000 years in the future.

710
00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:32.579
So yes, it travels in time as well.

711
00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:35.460
And we go and fight monsters as well.

712
00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:38.279
So it introduces the show to her.

713
00:33:38.339 --> 00:33:42.539
You know, in sort of 3 stages, I think, at the end.

714
00:33:42.599 --> 00:33:45.539
But that, but that again is playing with our expectations.

715
00:33:45.599 --> 00:33:49.440
We're so used to certain beats like that automatically with a new

716
00:33:49.440 --> 00:33:52.380
companion, we're going to go through time and space to begin with

717
00:33:52.380 --> 00:33:54.000
but initially we just changed location.

718
00:33:54.059 --> 00:33:55.500
Yeah, actually change time.

719
00:33:55.559 --> 00:33:59.099
So that's another thing where you kind of go, oh, that's a bit of

720
00:33:59.099 --> 00:34:00.720
a different energy, a bit different vibe.

721
00:34:00.779 --> 00:34:03.900
Well, in fact, normally a new companion's 1st story is set

722
00:34:03.900 --> 00:34:04.740
entirely on earth.

723
00:34:04.799 --> 00:34:08.519
Yeah, what it's actually doing what we see, the traditional

724
00:34:08.519 --> 00:34:14.219
Russell T. Davis introduction to a season over a course of 3 or 4

725
00:34:14.219 --> 00:34:17.219
episodes, you know, future past, back on Earth.

726
00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:18.719
All in one goat.

727
00:34:18.780 --> 00:34:19.440
Yeah, yeah.

728
00:34:19.500 --> 00:34:20.579
In fact, we're going to the past.

729
00:34:20.639 --> 00:34:24.659
The Dalek Mobel and War, presumably, is taking place around 1980

730
00:34:24.659 --> 00:34:25.260
or something.

731
00:34:26.219 --> 00:34:28.619
So we're going back into the past.

732
00:34:28.619 --> 00:34:31.860
Or maybe it's the John Peel theory that, you know, Genesis of the

733
00:34:31.860 --> 00:34:34.920
Daleks takes place in 1831 or something like that.

734
00:34:34.980 --> 00:34:37.619
Like, it's some...

735
00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:40.019
There are some things that are so stupid.

736
00:34:40.260 --> 00:34:43.920
The only thing we were missing was a phone call back to that shrew

737
00:34:43.920 --> 00:34:44.940
of a foster mother.

738
00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:46.320
Yeah, yeah, she is terrible.

739
00:34:49.380 --> 00:34:54.599
I thought this might be an 8.5. to horses, listeners.

740
00:34:54.659 --> 00:34:57.420
I love listening to you talk yourself up.

741
00:34:57.480 --> 00:34:58.079
No, no, no.

742
00:34:58.139 --> 00:35:00.599
I think this is good, but you've just highlighted some real

743
00:35:00.599 --> 00:35:03.780
strength of this episode, not only in performance, but in terms of

744
00:35:03.780 --> 00:35:05.280
writing and what Stephen can actually do.

745
00:35:05.340 --> 00:35:08.639
And again, this got an audience appreciation of 83.

746
00:35:08.760 --> 00:35:12.900
And the better Capoldis often get like 8384 and it was seen by

747
00:35:12.900 --> 00:35:16.380
6.68 million, the highest rate at episode of the season.

748
00:35:16.440 --> 00:35:19.800
But it's a really good episode to come in on.

749
00:35:19.800 --> 00:35:24.179
And there's so many strengths here with the team and the writing

750
00:35:24.179 --> 00:35:27.780
and the direction and to give a different vibe of the season.

751
00:35:27.840 --> 00:35:28.860
This is what we're going to be going with.

752
00:35:29.219 --> 00:35:32.579
There's some red herrings, like, you know, would we get the

753
00:35:32.579 --> 00:35:33.420
Movellins back?

754
00:35:33.480 --> 00:35:34.739
Would Susan be coming back?

755
00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:40.260
I found that really the shot of the focus on both River and Susan

756
00:35:40.260 --> 00:35:40.920
I find quite interesting.

757
00:35:40.980 --> 00:35:43.860
Yeah, it's hard to know what they're doing, isn't it?

758
00:35:43.920 --> 00:35:47.219
Reverend Susan have a moment in that episode.

759
00:35:47.579 --> 00:35:49.800
He looks at her.

760
00:35:49.860 --> 00:35:57.780
He looks at the Susan photo when Bill asks why he's interviewing

761
00:35:57.780 --> 00:35:58.320
her.

762
00:35:58.380 --> 00:36:05.219
And I think that he is interviewing her to be someone who goes off

763
00:36:05.219 --> 00:36:06.599
in the TARDIS with him.

764
00:36:06.659 --> 00:36:08.400
Absolutely.

765
00:36:08.460 --> 00:36:10.739
So what we learn, and there's a mystery, isn't it?

766
00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:14.099
Like, we're kind of very familiar with it now, but we don't know

767
00:36:14.099 --> 00:36:17.039
what's in the vault at the moment, and we know that he's pledged

768
00:36:17.039 --> 00:36:20.940
to look after the vault and that he's been here for 50, 70 years

769
00:36:20.940 --> 00:36:25.019
or something at this university looking after the vault.

770
00:36:25.079 --> 00:36:28.019
And we don't know what's there.

771
00:36:28.079 --> 00:36:32.699
And he's promised Nardol, and he's clearly tasked Nardol to kind

772
00:36:32.699 --> 00:36:34.679
of keep him honest because he knows what he's like.

773
00:36:34.739 --> 00:36:40.860
And so Nadol is a little bit older now, and he doesn't play it

774
00:36:40.860 --> 00:36:44.940
quite as goofy and fun as he did in the Christmas special.

775
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:46.440
Does other people feel like that?

776
00:36:46.500 --> 00:36:50.340
They actually had a conversation about that, Matt, said to

777
00:36:50.340 --> 00:36:52.019
Stephen.

778
00:36:52.079 --> 00:36:54.119
I think we need to tone this down.

779
00:36:54.179 --> 00:36:57.780
We need to flesh him out because over the course of this season, if

780
00:36:57.780 --> 00:37:00.840
we play, if I play it that way, that, you're going to hate that

781
00:37:00.840 --> 00:37:01.920
character by the end of the season.

782
00:37:01.980 --> 00:37:05.820
So he is kind of telling the doctor, like he tells the doctor that

783
00:37:05.820 --> 00:37:08.880
he can't sort of go anyway, the doctor has to reassure him that

784
00:37:08.880 --> 00:37:11.519
things going to be okay, that the psychic paper will kind of

785
00:37:11.519 --> 00:37:15.179
inform them if someone breaches the vault, you know, the doctor

786
00:37:15.179 --> 00:37:17.820
has to establish, like we go down to the vault, don't we, to

787
00:37:17.820 --> 00:37:20.699
establish that, um, Heather's not after what's in the vault.

788
00:37:20.760 --> 00:37:26.460
So one of the weird things about Nadal then is that Nadal is, I

789
00:37:26.460 --> 00:37:30.420
think, the 2nd longest companion to be with the doctor by

790
00:37:30.420 --> 00:37:31.559
duration.

791
00:37:31.619 --> 00:37:37.440
He's been with him clearly for the entire time that the doctor's

792
00:37:37.440 --> 00:37:38.099
been at St.

793
00:37:38.099 --> 00:37:38.880
Luke's University.

794
00:37:38.940 --> 00:37:43.739
So at least 70 years, the Nardol that we saw in The Return of Dr

795
00:37:43.739 --> 00:37:47.460
Mysterio is much younger and much sillier and much more fun.

796
00:37:47.579 --> 00:37:49.679
This one is creaking a bit, isn't it?

797
00:37:49.739 --> 00:37:52.139
Yeah, this one's creaking in, which I just think is so funny

798
00:37:52.139 --> 00:37:53.820
that's it. dropping his knots on the floor.

799
00:37:53.940 --> 00:37:57.539
We don't see where he kicks it under the rug and nothing gets said

800
00:37:57.539 --> 00:38:01.260
again because we're where Bill's point of view.

801
00:38:01.320 --> 00:38:02.760
That's just for us.

802
00:38:02.820 --> 00:38:06.420
You know, how did he get to be a person rather than just ahead?

803
00:38:06.480 --> 00:38:08.039
Which is how he left?

804
00:38:08.099 --> 00:38:11.280
He's doing that same smile for Bill that Matt Lucas does in Little

805
00:38:11.280 --> 00:38:13.920
Britain in the sketch where the guy comes in and asks for

806
00:38:13.920 --> 00:38:15.599
impossible books in the bookstore.

807
00:38:15.659 --> 00:38:18.059
Yeah, kind of like just smiles at him, kind of...

808
00:38:18.119 --> 00:38:19.920
It's really funny, isn't it?

809
00:38:19.980 --> 00:38:24.599
Because she has this sort of look with the creaky noise of his arm

810
00:38:24.599 --> 00:38:28.199
and he just sort of looks sort of weirdly passionate.

811
00:38:28.260 --> 00:38:29.099
It sort of well played.

812
00:38:29.159 --> 00:38:30.659
So he's the 2nd longest companion.

813
00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:34.199
He's been with the doctor for at least 70 years, possibly Romana

814
00:38:34.199 --> 00:38:36.900
travels with a doctor for that long, but we don't know.

815
00:38:36.960 --> 00:38:39.659
And who's the longest serving companion?

816
00:38:39.780 --> 00:38:42.000
Is it his closest predecessor handles?

817
00:38:42.059 --> 00:38:43.079
Yes, it's handled.

818
00:38:43.139 --> 00:38:45.119
He's with 100s and 100s of years.

819
00:38:45.960 --> 00:38:50.159
My hand has just gone to my head, as you said this, because I

820
00:38:50.159 --> 00:38:51.239
never really thought about that.

821
00:38:51.300 --> 00:38:53.880
Thank God it wasn't that other squishy thing from last week.

822
00:38:54.780 --> 00:39:00.659
I would have thought his longest serving companion was the veil

823
00:39:00.659 --> 00:39:04.380
from...

824
00:39:04.440 --> 00:39:05.820
Does they count as a companion?

825
00:39:05.880 --> 00:39:09.179
There's a line in there, like about it being a companion.

826
00:39:09.239 --> 00:39:11.219
A podcast and companion of death.

827
00:39:11.280 --> 00:39:14.159
I think it was probably Dodo, or maybe that just felt the

828
00:39:14.159 --> 00:39:14.460
longest.

829
00:39:14.880 --> 00:39:18.480
But back to what you were saying about Nadol.

830
00:39:18.539 --> 00:39:21.780
Yes, he's got a bit more gravity here and you see that throughout

831
00:39:21.780 --> 00:39:25.079
play throughout the season and that character development is

832
00:39:25.079 --> 00:39:28.679
something that I think plays really well into the show and always

833
00:39:28.679 --> 00:39:29.340
does.

834
00:39:29.400 --> 00:39:30.480
And I think that's a really good thing.

835
00:39:30.539 --> 00:39:33.840
As James was saying, like, the fact that Matt Lucas could discuss

836
00:39:33.840 --> 00:39:36.119
this with Stephen and Stephen could take it on board and actually

837
00:39:36.119 --> 00:39:40.260
run with it really does work well because at the moment he's not

838
00:39:40.260 --> 00:39:41.820
really annoyed by Nadal.

839
00:39:41.880 --> 00:39:43.500
Like, you know, at the end of the season, like, you know, when

840
00:39:43.500 --> 00:39:46.139
your day couldn't get any worse or whatever he happens to say.

841
00:39:46.199 --> 00:39:51.539
It's just interesting seeing that dynamic and the way in which I

842
00:39:51.539 --> 00:39:55.440
always love it in a show where you have a comedic character who

843
00:39:55.440 --> 00:39:58.260
you just think does comedy, but then when the going gets tough

844
00:39:58.260 --> 00:39:59.219
they get tough.

845
00:39:59.280 --> 00:40:01.320
It a bit like Jackie. like you think she's whatever.

846
00:40:01.440 --> 00:40:03.179
But when they're going, it's tough, she is there.

847
00:40:03.179 --> 00:40:05.039
And this is the same with my adult.

848
00:40:05.099 --> 00:40:08.940
That's the great thing about Nut, although he is a very competent

849
00:40:08.940 --> 00:40:09.420
character.

850
00:40:09.480 --> 00:40:15.780
He's weird and quirky, but he drives the plot. in a couple of

851
00:40:15.780 --> 00:40:17.219
places in the season.

852
00:40:17.280 --> 00:40:19.679
He was flying the Tartars last week, remember?

853
00:40:19.739 --> 00:40:23.280
and he went to 12th century, Constantinople and ruled wisely for a

854
00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:24.179
little while and stuff.

855
00:40:24.239 --> 00:40:27.360
Like, he's sort of competent, although there is that thing where

856
00:40:27.360 --> 00:40:30.539
you know, he's given the Sonic screwdriver to destroy all the

857
00:40:30.539 --> 00:40:33.960
panels and I think Bill says something like, uh, you know, are we

858
00:40:33.960 --> 00:40:34.380
safe?

859
00:40:34.440 --> 00:40:38.159
And he says, well, I think that's down to Nardol, so probably not

860
00:40:38.219 --> 00:40:38.820
you know?

861
00:40:38.880 --> 00:40:42.300
He does that Pat Troughton thing from the invasion where things

862
00:40:42.300 --> 00:40:44.579
blow up behind him and he runs down the corridor going, Oh, hoo.

863
00:40:44.639 --> 00:40:46.920
He really does, doesn't he?

864
00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:48.780
He even runs a bit like him.

865
00:40:48.840 --> 00:40:52.500
Like, the sort of, oh, my, my pants are on fire.

866
00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:54.420
So I think that's really good.

867
00:40:54.480 --> 00:40:59.340
And I think also something that's not done enough is the show is

868
00:40:59.340 --> 00:41:03.599
given a shape and a narrative by the Pertoy era.

869
00:41:03.659 --> 00:41:06.840
So something happens to the doctor that changes the premise of the

870
00:41:06.840 --> 00:41:07.139
show.

871
00:41:07.199 --> 00:41:12.599
And so for years he's working on earth with unit and then he's he

872
00:41:12.599 --> 00:41:15.840
sort of gradually goes back into space and sort of rejects unit.

873
00:41:15.900 --> 00:41:18.780
And so mostly the show is just the doctor travels in time and

874
00:41:18.780 --> 00:41:22.800
space except for those kind of 5 years or whatever in the middle

875
00:41:22.800 --> 00:41:26.639
here, Moffatt has done a similar thing.

876
00:41:26.699 --> 00:41:32.219
He said, now the doctor has been here for 70 years and he is now a

877
00:41:32.219 --> 00:41:33.300
teacher at a university.

878
00:41:33.300 --> 00:41:34.739
And we go back to that.

879
00:41:34.800 --> 00:41:36.179
That's the premise of the show.

880
00:41:36.239 --> 00:41:37.500
That's the doctor's job.

881
00:41:37.559 --> 00:41:40.440
He doesn't travel in time and space. so much.

882
00:41:40.500 --> 00:41:41.519
He's based here.

883
00:41:41.579 --> 00:41:45.840
And there's a little bit of that in Russell's early stuff where

884
00:41:45.840 --> 00:41:49.019
you know, he hangs around the power state with Jackie and and, you

885
00:41:49.019 --> 00:41:50.820
know, Rose's family and things.

886
00:41:51.420 --> 00:41:54.539
And Russell's doing it a little bit now in the most recent series

887
00:41:54.539 --> 00:41:58.320
where you've got unit and you've got, you know, some people that

888
00:41:58.320 --> 00:41:59.699
the doctor knows and stuff.

889
00:41:59.760 --> 00:42:04.739
But here I think that giving the show a shape and changing its

890
00:42:04.739 --> 00:42:08.340
premise is something that should be done more often, I think.

891
00:42:08.400 --> 00:42:13.380
And it's interesting how similar it is, and the doctor has a home

892
00:42:13.380 --> 00:42:13.739
base.

893
00:42:13.800 --> 00:42:16.199
He has a goofy but competent new companion.

894
00:42:16.260 --> 00:42:20.699
He has sort of a brigadier figure to spa with and to keep him on

895
00:42:20.699 --> 00:42:23.159
track and he also has a master in close proximity.

896
00:42:23.219 --> 00:42:24.300
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

897
00:42:24.360 --> 00:42:24.900
Yeah.

898
00:42:24.960 --> 00:42:29.159
I think I would have liked to have seen more of that throughout

899
00:42:29.159 --> 00:42:29.940
this season.

900
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:31.619
I know I'm jumping ahead.

901
00:42:31.679 --> 00:42:35.460
It sets it up here, but then how much of it do we actually get?

902
00:42:35.519 --> 00:42:37.800
And I think I would have liked more.

903
00:42:37.860 --> 00:42:42.300
And I think it comes back to how long we have companions for these

904
00:42:42.300 --> 00:42:42.539
days.

905
00:42:42.599 --> 00:42:46.079
I would have loved to have seen this introduction in this team in

906
00:42:46.079 --> 00:42:49.079
half of last season, get all the introductory stuff out of the way

907
00:42:49.079 --> 00:42:51.360
and then have them fully within this season.

908
00:42:51.420 --> 00:42:56.280
I think in knew who, often for me anyway, one season is not enough

909
00:42:56.280 --> 00:42:58.860
with a companion, but sometimes 2 seasons is too much.

910
00:42:58.920 --> 00:43:02.280
It's almost like you need 18 months, but there's never an easy way

911
00:43:02.280 --> 00:43:06.300
to separate that out or actually make that work in terms of the

912
00:43:06.300 --> 00:43:08.219
beats of a season and how all that works.

913
00:43:08.280 --> 00:43:10.920
I mean, if you look back at classic Doctor Who, many companions

914
00:43:10.920 --> 00:43:16.139
really are in the show for just over a year or span 2 series, even

915
00:43:16.139 --> 00:43:18.239
if they don't do the complete 2 series.

916
00:43:18.300 --> 00:43:22.440
And even the earlier companions, you know, if you look at Susan

917
00:43:22.440 --> 00:43:26.880
Vicki, Steve, Ben Polly, Victoria, Zoe, all do about 40 episodes

918
00:43:26.880 --> 00:43:29.820
or thereabouts, like just over a season, and that's a good

919
00:43:29.820 --> 00:43:30.179
amount.

920
00:43:30.239 --> 00:43:32.760
And so here, I guess the one thing is that he introduces all this

921
00:43:32.760 --> 00:43:34.920
stuff, which is great, but it's sort of like I want a little bit

922
00:43:34.920 --> 00:43:36.900
more with this crew.

923
00:43:36.960 --> 00:43:39.840
I want another 3 or 4 episodes of them.

924
00:43:39.900 --> 00:43:43.079
But I think that's a good thing, though.

925
00:43:43.139 --> 00:43:44.039
Do you know what I mean?

926
00:43:44.159 --> 00:43:46.619
There's 2 times you can stop doing something, and that is before

927
00:43:46.619 --> 00:43:49.619
everyone's sick of it, and after everyone's sick.

928
00:43:49.679 --> 00:43:51.059
Welcome to Clara series 9.

929
00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:53.639
Yeah, yeah. flights are entirety, to be honest.

930
00:43:53.699 --> 00:43:56.760
But...

931
00:43:56.760 --> 00:44:01.679
But here I think, you know, the fact that you've got this new

932
00:44:01.679 --> 00:44:04.260
companion, you've given the show a whole new shape.

933
00:44:04.320 --> 00:44:07.920
It's still able to tell the sort of stories that it really does

934
00:44:07.920 --> 00:44:09.659
anyway.

935
00:44:09.719 --> 00:44:12.000
And it does leave us wanting more.

936
00:44:12.059 --> 00:44:14.519
You asked earlier, Todd, whether we knew that Bill was a one and

937
00:44:14.519 --> 00:44:17.519
done companion, and I'm pretty sure that we definitely did, because

938
00:44:17.519 --> 00:44:20.340
we do know at this point that Chibnil's taking over.

939
00:44:20.400 --> 00:44:25.500
We know that Moffatt has agreed to do a year because Chibnall's

940
00:44:25.500 --> 00:44:27.179
not ready. been persuaded to stay.

941
00:44:27.239 --> 00:44:28.679
He's been persuaded to stay.

942
00:44:28.860 --> 00:44:32.880
I think it works really well because Moffatt doesn't have a whole

943
00:44:32.880 --> 00:44:34.800
heap of balls in the air.

944
00:44:34.860 --> 00:44:36.900
Everything's kind of been resolved.

945
00:44:37.019 --> 00:44:40.500
There's a little reference to Clara, which I think is really

946
00:44:40.500 --> 00:44:42.539
effective at the end of the episode.

947
00:44:43.019 --> 00:44:47.579
You know, which is when the doctor is persuaded not to do the

948
00:44:47.579 --> 00:44:52.679
memory wipe on Bill and we get Clara's music.

949
00:44:52.739 --> 00:44:56.579
Bill says, how would you feel if this happened to you?

950
00:44:56.579 --> 00:44:59.099
And just for a 2nd we get Clara's music.

951
00:44:59.159 --> 00:45:01.440
But that's the only kind of callback to anything that we've had

952
00:45:01.440 --> 00:45:01.800
earlier.

953
00:45:01.860 --> 00:45:05.699
That is also so nice because they've set up Bill as being a

954
00:45:05.699 --> 00:45:06.960
spaniel who likes sci-fi.

955
00:45:07.079 --> 00:45:09.420
And so she just knows that the mind wipe is coming.

956
00:45:09.480 --> 00:45:11.340
I know what a mind wipe looks like.

957
00:45:12.599 --> 00:45:16.500
I also love that great line earlier in the episode.

958
00:45:16.559 --> 00:45:18.960
I know you're not much of a sci-fi.

959
00:45:19.019 --> 00:45:19.980
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

960
00:45:20.039 --> 00:45:21.420
It's so good.

961
00:45:21.539 --> 00:45:23.639
Yeah, so I don't know.

962
00:45:23.699 --> 00:45:26.820
The new shape that the show gets at this point is something that

963
00:45:26.820 --> 00:45:28.619
I'm really, really in favour of.

964
00:45:28.679 --> 00:45:33.539
And I think by clearing the decks, by doing a new thing, by

965
00:45:33.539 --> 00:45:38.039
raining it in a bit, he knows that he doesn't have seasons to kind

966
00:45:38.039 --> 00:45:41.820
of follow up on staff, he doesn't want to set up too much for his

967
00:45:41.820 --> 00:45:42.539
successor.

968
00:45:42.599 --> 00:45:45.599
So it's a sort of constrained thing.

969
00:45:45.659 --> 00:45:48.360
Yeah, he just goes in with a mission to make a season, a good

970
00:45:48.360 --> 00:45:49.260
season of Doctor Who.

971
00:45:49.320 --> 00:45:51.900
Yeah, and I think he really mostly manages.

972
00:45:51.960 --> 00:45:56.639
I haven't gone as far ahead in my rewatching as you, Todd.

973
00:45:56.699 --> 00:46:00.659
I am up to I've got to watch smile after this, actually, after we

974
00:46:00.659 --> 00:46:01.260
record this.

975
00:46:01.320 --> 00:46:02.519
So I'm not ahead at all.

976
00:46:02.579 --> 00:46:05.340
And I do know that there are some episodes coming up that I'm not

977
00:46:05.340 --> 00:46:12.900
hugely enamoured with, but what I do like is this version of the

978
00:46:12.900 --> 00:46:13.139
show.

979
00:46:13.559 --> 00:46:17.219
I think it's really interesting that you say that because, like

980
00:46:17.219 --> 00:46:18.360
I'm much Empress of Mars.

981
00:46:18.420 --> 00:46:18.960
I've watched that.

982
00:46:19.019 --> 00:46:22.019
And seeing the dynamic of this crew, as I was saying, I would

983
00:46:22.019 --> 00:46:24.360
really love them to have been in earlier.

984
00:46:24.420 --> 00:46:27.480
But reflecting on the journey that we've had so far with the

985
00:46:27.480 --> 00:46:31.739
Capaldi doctor, last year I was so surprised and how much of that

986
00:46:31.739 --> 00:46:35.099
season I liked and how strong I thought it was, we were just

987
00:46:35.099 --> 00:46:38.219
exhausted by the Clarodynamic in that last run of 4 or 5

988
00:46:38.219 --> 00:46:38.639
episodes.

989
00:46:38.699 --> 00:46:43.920
But then seeing the Capaldi doctrine and his evolution over these

990
00:46:43.920 --> 00:46:47.219
seasons, how much I've actually enjoyed it to get to this point

991
00:46:47.219 --> 00:46:48.360
with Peter.

992
00:46:48.420 --> 00:46:51.179
And as you said earlier, he's just nailing it.

993
00:46:51.239 --> 00:46:53.519
I know this is your favourite version of his doctor.

994
00:46:53.579 --> 00:46:55.380
I really love last year.

995
00:46:55.440 --> 00:46:59.639
I really like the balance between the narkiness and the comedy

996
00:46:59.639 --> 00:47:01.800
perhaps a bit more than I thought I would, right?

997
00:47:01.860 --> 00:47:05.639
But just seeing him go through the 3 stages of per twee, the 3

998
00:47:05.639 --> 00:47:06.179
stages.

999
00:47:06.480 --> 00:47:09.780
No, no, I... 5 stages of grief.

1000
00:47:10.079 --> 00:47:13.739
The 3 stages of perchway, there's 3 stages of Colin as well.

1001
00:47:13.800 --> 00:47:18.900
Here is like the 3rd stage, and I cannot express how wonderful I

1002
00:47:18.900 --> 00:47:23.159
think Peter Capaldi is in this role, and no matter what he's given

1003
00:47:23.159 --> 00:47:27.539
the dynamics, what he brings to the show, just underpins

1004
00:47:27.539 --> 00:47:28.500
everything so much.

1005
00:47:28.559 --> 00:47:34.440
He is just so good and and just seeing him work out that chemistry

1006
00:47:34.440 --> 00:47:39.900
with Pearl through this episode and the next few is beautiful to

1007
00:47:39.900 --> 00:47:40.139
watch.

1008
00:47:40.500 --> 00:47:43.619
I've bored people many, many times.

1009
00:47:43.679 --> 00:47:44.820
You have, James, it's true.

1010
00:47:44.880 --> 00:47:45.840
I know, yes.

1011
00:47:46.079 --> 00:47:48.840
I'm trying not to do it now, Peter.

1012
00:47:48.900 --> 00:47:49.440
Can you tell?

1013
00:47:50.280 --> 00:47:53.760
I love series 10 of Doctor Who.

1014
00:47:53.820 --> 00:47:57.059
It is my favourite series of the modern era.

1015
00:47:57.179 --> 00:47:57.659
Wow.

1016
00:47:57.719 --> 00:48:00.900
And I'm not saying it's perfect, but it's because of Capaldi.

1017
00:48:00.960 --> 00:48:02.159
Capaldi is my favourite doctor.

1018
00:48:02.219 --> 00:48:02.880
Yep.

1019
00:48:03.000 --> 00:48:05.039
I would have said modern doctor, but I think he's actually my

1020
00:48:05.039 --> 00:48:09.719
favourite doctor because he's never short of brilliant, despite

1021
00:48:09.719 --> 00:48:11.579
the stories around him often.

1022
00:48:11.639 --> 00:48:16.079
Often the show he's in can be quite, quite messy or lopsided, but

1023
00:48:16.079 --> 00:48:22.800
he always lifts every scene he's in, even when it's an overritten

1024
00:48:22.800 --> 00:48:26.219
script or a plot that's not quite shelling.

1025
00:48:26.280 --> 00:48:27.960
He is always brilliant in this role.

1026
00:48:28.019 --> 00:48:29.579
Like, I hear you in this.

1027
00:48:29.639 --> 00:48:33.480
Like, it's a Tom Baker thing where he will lift anything, any

1028
00:48:33.480 --> 00:48:36.960
scene that he's in and I'm with you because Peter is my favourite

1029
00:48:36.960 --> 00:48:40.559
doctor of the new series as well.

1030
00:48:40.619 --> 00:48:43.739
But I don't, like, I'm 9 episodes into this season, but I don't

1031
00:48:43.739 --> 00:48:45.179
think it's as strong as the previous two.

1032
00:48:45.239 --> 00:48:48.300
Like, that's, like, it's very consistent, but there's nothing that

1033
00:48:48.300 --> 00:48:53.219
I've loved like I've loved in the previous too, and nothing guests

1034
00:48:53.219 --> 00:48:55.260
that I've loathed as I've loathed as well.

1035
00:48:55.320 --> 00:48:58.440
But it's an interesting season because I think there is so much

1036
00:48:58.440 --> 00:49:01.559
great character stuff and performances.

1037
00:49:01.619 --> 00:49:05.940
But there's some stories where it's like, like, it's not quite at

1038
00:49:05.940 --> 00:49:09.960
the heights that I've experienced over the last couple of years.

1039
00:49:10.019 --> 00:49:13.559
It's really a juxtaposition which I'm sort of struggling with at

1040
00:49:13.559 --> 00:49:13.860
this point.

1041
00:49:13.920 --> 00:49:17.159
But this season also has a great ensemble cast.

1042
00:49:17.219 --> 00:49:17.760
Yeah.

1043
00:49:17.820 --> 00:49:19.440
Yeah, he's great in it.

1044
00:49:19.500 --> 00:49:21.119
Matt is great in it.

1045
00:49:21.179 --> 00:49:22.800
Fantastic.

1046
00:49:22.860 --> 00:49:25.500
And then you bring in Missy.

1047
00:49:25.500 --> 00:49:28.980
Yeah, on top of it, there's icing on the cake. it really it really

1048
00:49:28.980 --> 00:49:29.699
does work.

1049
00:49:29.760 --> 00:49:33.300
I think Paldi's so on point here and the entire episode is just

1050
00:49:33.300 --> 00:49:35.340
sort of simple and elegant.

1051
00:49:35.400 --> 00:49:38.099
And it's interesting that Motha was clearing the decks for

1052
00:49:38.099 --> 00:49:40.800
Chipnall, because I think this kind of episode is what Chipnall

1053
00:49:40.800 --> 00:49:41.340
was aiming for.

1054
00:49:41.400 --> 00:49:45.360
Chipnell so often just wants to go for a simple and elegant

1055
00:49:45.360 --> 00:49:45.960
story.

1056
00:49:46.079 --> 00:49:48.420
And totally, he often gets it quite right.

1057
00:49:48.480 --> 00:49:52.440
Pacing, he often gets wrong and it's almost never written as well

1058
00:49:52.440 --> 00:49:53.400
as you want it to be.

1059
00:49:53.460 --> 00:49:55.260
But this is the template.

1060
00:49:55.320 --> 00:49:58.260
This is what Doctor Who should have been going forwards and it's a

1061
00:49:58.260 --> 00:50:00.179
pity that we didn't get this from the next couple of years.

1062
00:50:00.239 --> 00:50:04.619
Well, in fact, what's kind of odd is that both Moffatt in his

1063
00:50:04.619 --> 00:50:09.119
final season and then Russell in his 1st new season are trying to

1064
00:50:09.119 --> 00:50:12.239
clear the decks are trying to change what Doctor Who can do and

1065
00:50:12.239 --> 00:50:15.179
are trying not to rely too heavily on stuff that it's done in the

1066
00:50:15.179 --> 00:50:18.719
past, are trying to kind of open it up and do new things.

1067
00:50:18.780 --> 00:50:21.960
And, you know, I guess that's a showrunner's role.

1068
00:50:22.019 --> 00:50:26.940
But it's pretty wild seeing Moffatt do it in his 6 season as the

1069
00:50:26.940 --> 00:50:30.480
showrunner after he's already the person who's written more Doctor

1070
00:50:30.480 --> 00:50:35.280
Who than anyone else ever and he's still finding kind of new ways

1071
00:50:35.280 --> 00:50:38.280
of doing it and new approaches to take.

1072
00:50:38.400 --> 00:50:39.900
I think it's it's pretty great.

1073
00:51:05.280 --> 00:51:08.940
Well, El Isra, that's all the time we've got for this week.

1074
00:51:09.000 --> 00:51:12.119
We'll be back next week to learn how the young people are

1075
00:51:12.119 --> 00:51:14.880
communicating these days in smile.

1076
00:51:15.300 --> 00:51:19.139
In the meantime, you can find us wherever you get your podcasts

1077
00:51:19.139 --> 00:51:22.679
and you can keep up with us on our website, flightthroughentirety

1078
00:51:21.119 --> 00:51:25.619
com, where you'll find our social media links, as well as links to

1079
00:51:25.619 --> 00:51:29.760
all of our other podcasts, including our other Doctor Who podcasts

1080
00:51:29.760 --> 00:51:33.659
500-year diary, and the 2nd great and bountiful Human Empire.

1081
00:51:33.719 --> 00:51:39.000
Until next time, remember, you can always have both beauty and

1082
00:51:39.000 --> 00:51:39.659
chips.

1083
00:51:39.719 --> 00:51:41.039
We're doing it now.

1084
00:51:41.099 --> 00:51:43.679
Thank you very much for listening and good night.

1085
00:51:43.739 --> 00:51:45.059
See you soon.

1086
00:51:45.119 --> 00:51:46.199
Ta-ta.

1087
00:51:46.260 --> 00:51:46.739
Good nights.

1088
00:51:50.579 --> 00:51:53.219
That was Flight for Entirety.

1089
00:51:53.280 --> 00:51:55.500
Sorry, Todby, it'll be Nathan Bottomley, Peter Griffiths and James

1090
00:51:55.500 --> 00:51:56.159
Selwood.

1091
00:51:56.219 --> 00:51:58.199
Theme arrangement by Cameron Lamb.

1092
00:51:58.260 --> 00:52:02.340
This episode, Just a Person, was recorded on the 28th of July 2024

1093
00:52:02.340 --> 00:52:04.440
and released on the 15th of September.

1094
00:52:05.039 --> 00:52:09.119
Time for your occasional reminder that flights or entirety doesn't

1095
00:52:09.119 --> 00:52:10.800
end with its closing theme music.

1096
00:52:10.860 --> 00:52:14.340
Stay tuned after this announcement to hear, among other things

1097
00:52:14.340 --> 00:52:18.059
Todd's final score for this episode, and we'll see you next week.

1098
00:52:27.599 --> 00:52:29.340
Oh, right.

1099
00:52:29.340 --> 00:52:29.880
End of it.

1100
00:52:29.940 --> 00:52:33.420
So what we did mention was that Moffat again.

1101
00:52:33.480 --> 00:52:34.139
Do you know what I mean?

1102
00:52:34.199 --> 00:52:35.039
Like, as we talked about.

1103
00:52:35.219 --> 00:52:40.500
We didn't talk that much about gender politics in, um, uh

1104
00:52:40.500 --> 00:52:41.340
Mysterio.

1105
00:52:41.400 --> 00:52:44.880
We talked a little bit about it, but it's that kind of idea that

1106
00:52:44.880 --> 00:52:48.239
you know, he's the perfect man because he actually does some

1107
00:52:48.239 --> 00:52:50.219
housework for a change or whatever.

1108
00:52:50.280 --> 00:52:50.940
Do you know what I mean?

1109
00:52:51.000 --> 00:52:52.559
Because he's a hot geek.

1110
00:52:52.619 --> 00:52:53.460
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1111
00:52:53.519 --> 00:52:58.860
But like here, where the original idea was that it was a man, you

1112
00:52:58.860 --> 00:53:03.179
know, that Bill, the whole reason that Bill is made a lesbian, and

1113
00:53:03.179 --> 00:53:03.840
that's a big deal.

1114
00:53:03.900 --> 00:53:07.260
She's, you know, Clara's bisexual, but she's sort of bisexual and

1115
00:53:07.260 --> 00:53:08.219
quietly bisexual.

1116
00:53:08.280 --> 00:53:11.880
Yeah, but it's also in a way that like men fight straight men find

1117
00:53:11.880 --> 00:53:12.360
attractive.

1118
00:53:12.420 --> 00:53:13.139
Do you know what I mean?

1119
00:53:13.199 --> 00:53:16.860
It's the thought of, of, you know, pretty Jenna Coleman snogging a

1120
00:53:16.860 --> 00:53:17.039
girl.

1121
00:53:17.159 --> 00:53:19.500
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1122
00:53:19.559 --> 00:53:26.159
And whereas Bill is like, like, Bill, Bill's look is very, very

1123
00:53:26.159 --> 00:53:27.659
contemporary, isn't it?

1124
00:53:27.719 --> 00:53:29.159
Like the way that she looks.

1125
00:53:29.219 --> 00:53:31.559
We see lots of hairstyles, these episodes.

1126
00:53:31.679 --> 00:53:33.900
She got the big eyebrows and all of that sort of thing, the

1127
00:53:33.900 --> 00:53:36.300
clothes she's wearing are really, really superfessional and really

1128
00:53:36.300 --> 00:53:37.679
kind of now.

1129
00:53:37.679 --> 00:53:39.000
She's really kind of modern.

1130
00:53:39.059 --> 00:53:41.400
She's not like, she's not model.

1131
00:53:41.460 --> 00:53:42.900
She's not like Jenna.

1132
00:53:42.960 --> 00:53:43.739
Do you know what I mean?

1133
00:53:43.739 --> 00:53:48.539
Or Karen, who are these sort of sort of, you know, models and

1134
00:53:48.539 --> 00:53:49.079
stuff like that.

1135
00:53:49.139 --> 00:53:53.340
She's a beautiful woman, but not in the same way as those two.

1136
00:53:53.400 --> 00:53:55.139
It's a warm beauty, right?

1137
00:53:55.199 --> 00:53:56.039
Yeah, yeah.

1138
00:53:56.039 --> 00:53:57.239
And she's queer.

1139
00:53:57.300 --> 00:53:58.260
Do you know what I mean?

1140
00:53:58.320 --> 00:54:01.380
Like the character's queer, but she's only queer by accident.

1141
00:54:01.440 --> 00:54:05.880
She's only queer because Moffatt couldn't get the pilot to work if

1142
00:54:05.880 --> 00:54:10.860
the guy was a man because the man pursuing her, like stalking her

1143
00:54:10.860 --> 00:54:11.760
through time and space.

1144
00:54:12.179 --> 00:54:17.760
My favourite, my favourite anecdote, my favourite thing about this

1145
00:54:17.760 --> 00:54:22.619
entire season of Doctor Who, is that is outside of it, which is

1146
00:54:22.619 --> 00:54:28.679
that playing Bill and playing a strong, independent, queer

1147
00:54:28.679 --> 00:54:32.159
character, made Pearl, realised she was queer.

1148
00:54:32.280 --> 00:54:32.880
Yeah, yeah.

1149
00:54:32.940 --> 00:54:36.420
Just in the last few months, there were photos from Pearl Mackey's

1150
00:54:36.420 --> 00:54:38.820
wedding and she marries these sort of terribly beautiful women, the

1151
00:54:38.820 --> 00:54:42.000
2 of them just look unbelievably glamorous and adorable at the

1152
00:54:42.000 --> 00:54:42.360
wedding.

1153
00:54:42.420 --> 00:54:45.719
And so you've got, and you've got Matt Lucas, who's gay, you know

1154
00:54:45.719 --> 00:54:48.719
like, have we had that before?

1155
00:54:48.840 --> 00:54:50.519
Do you know what I mean?

1156
00:54:50.579 --> 00:54:55.260
Have we had out gay people in the regular cast in Doctor Who?

1157
00:54:55.320 --> 00:54:56.760
Mikey Yates?

1158
00:54:56.820 --> 00:54:58.019
Yeah, that's about it.

1159
00:54:58.079 --> 00:54:59.460
Was he out at that time?

1160
00:54:59.519 --> 00:55:00.900
Well, probably.

1161
00:55:00.900 --> 00:55:02.099
Yeah, yeah.

1162
00:55:02.099 --> 00:55:03.239
John Barriman, I guess.

1163
00:55:03.300 --> 00:55:05.340
I know what you're saying here.

1164
00:55:05.400 --> 00:55:07.619
Like you know, this is the 1st representation.

1165
00:55:07.679 --> 00:55:08.400
Yeah.

1166
00:55:08.460 --> 00:55:11.639
The full representation that we're not shying away from or trying

1167
00:55:11.639 --> 00:55:12.599
to get, you know, around.

1168
00:55:12.719 --> 00:55:15.840
And even if it comes to by accident, as often with Steven Moffin's

1169
00:55:15.840 --> 00:55:18.840
things, he then fully embraces it and moves forward with it.

1170
00:55:18.900 --> 00:55:22.559
That opening scene where she tells the story about fatting, the

1171
00:55:22.559 --> 00:55:25.920
woman, like the woman who is, and like, I'm there going, do we do

1172
00:55:25.920 --> 00:55:26.099
this?

1173
00:55:26.099 --> 00:55:28.079
Because you know you Russell's got his problem with fat people

1174
00:55:28.079 --> 00:55:30.059
because he himself is a large man.

1175
00:55:30.119 --> 00:55:31.260
Do you know what I mean?

1176
00:55:31.320 --> 00:55:33.420
And he's gay and there's all of that sort of body stuff.

1177
00:55:33.480 --> 00:55:35.940
And so you've got her talking about fatting this woman.

1178
00:55:36.059 --> 00:55:40.380
And but the way that she ends, like I was kind of worried about

1179
00:55:40.380 --> 00:55:40.860
that.

1180
00:55:40.920 --> 00:55:44.039
And it's clearly there to establish that she's queer straight

1181
00:55:44.039 --> 00:55:44.460
away.

1182
00:55:44.519 --> 00:55:46.860
That's how we know and it's in the 1st scene.

1183
00:55:46.920 --> 00:55:50.159
And even we kind of admit that it's there for that reason because

1184
00:55:50.159 --> 00:55:53.219
the doctor says, what's that got to do with why you come to my

1185
00:55:53.219 --> 00:55:55.260
lectures and she says, I don't really know.

1186
00:55:55.320 --> 00:55:57.059
I just hope something would defend.

1187
00:55:57.119 --> 00:56:00.900
Like, so she's just telling that story for no reason except

1188
00:56:00.900 --> 00:56:05.579
because we need to know she's queer for the Heather romance to

1189
00:56:05.579 --> 00:56:07.559
work, but also because that's the character.

1190
00:56:07.800 --> 00:56:11.099
But the thing about the fat thing is where she says beauty or

1191
00:56:11.099 --> 00:56:11.699
chips.

1192
00:56:11.760 --> 00:56:13.380
I like chips.

1193
00:56:13.440 --> 00:56:14.699
She likes chips.

1194
00:56:14.760 --> 00:56:15.960
So you know, that's good.

1195
00:56:16.019 --> 00:56:19.679
And then when we see her later, she kind of beautiful.

1196
00:56:19.800 --> 00:56:22.980
She's a, you know, she's a...

1197
00:56:23.039 --> 00:56:27.119
English woman, you know, with pale skin, but she's large.

1198
00:56:27.179 --> 00:56:30.599
And the 2 of them wink at one another and smile and we kind of go

1199
00:56:30.599 --> 00:56:34.079
yeah, like whatever, she's fat, but she enjoys chips and so do I

1200
00:56:34.079 --> 00:56:35.219
and we're totally into that.

1201
00:56:35.280 --> 00:56:37.260
So like I kind of like that.

1202
00:56:37.380 --> 00:56:42.300
Weird phrasing in that scene, though, where she says, you looked

1203
00:56:42.300 --> 00:56:44.099
at her and it was immediate perversion.

1204
00:56:44.159 --> 00:56:45.300
Perversion.

1205
00:56:45.360 --> 00:56:48.659
And she's talking in the 3rd person about herself.

1206
00:56:48.719 --> 00:56:50.519
But I think it's perving.

1207
00:56:50.579 --> 00:56:54.539
I think she's using perversion as a comedy novelisation, but it

1208
00:56:54.539 --> 00:56:58.079
also it almost reads as if you looked at her as in the doctor

1209
00:56:58.079 --> 00:56:58.739
looked at her.

1210
00:56:58.800 --> 00:57:01.800
The 1st time I watched it, kind of came in the car.

1211
00:57:01.800 --> 00:57:03.840
Is she accusing him?

1212
00:57:03.840 --> 00:57:04.559
No, no, no.

1213
00:57:04.619 --> 00:57:09.300
And then the next couple of lines say, like, elaborate on that.

1214
00:57:09.360 --> 00:57:10.980
But it just, it's weirdly phrased.

1215
00:57:11.039 --> 00:57:13.079
I mean, I really like that.

1216
00:57:13.079 --> 00:57:17.280
And using the word fatted, I fatted her as well is pretty funny.

1217
00:57:17.340 --> 00:57:19.019
Like, that's a funny scene.

1218
00:57:19.079 --> 00:57:20.940
That's a properly funny scene.

1219
00:57:21.000 --> 00:57:23.280
God, just those words, I pass it on.

1220
00:57:23.340 --> 00:57:26.099
Every time it comes on, I kind of go, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1221
00:57:26.159 --> 00:57:28.800
I'm sure that there, like, I'm a fat person and I wasn't

1222
00:57:28.800 --> 00:57:29.099
offended.

1223
00:57:29.159 --> 00:57:29.820
That doesn't matter.

1224
00:57:29.880 --> 00:57:32.039
You feel free to be offended by that scene, if you like.

1225
00:57:32.099 --> 00:57:34.860
But I think there's a warmth to it.

1226
00:57:35.460 --> 00:57:38.460
And that warmth is absolutely solved by the scene where she comes

1227
00:57:38.460 --> 00:57:43.739
up later and gets some chips from Bill and the 2 of the week at

1228
00:57:43.739 --> 00:57:44.699
one another and smile.

1229
00:57:44.760 --> 00:57:45.599
I think it's wonderful.

1230
00:57:45.659 --> 00:57:48.000
Well she doesn't make it into a negative thing.

1231
00:57:48.059 --> 00:57:48.960
No, no, no.

1232
00:57:49.019 --> 00:57:49.800
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1233
00:57:49.860 --> 00:57:50.880
Beauty or chips.

1234
00:57:50.940 --> 00:57:52.019
I gave her lots of chips.

1235
00:57:52.019 --> 00:57:54.360
I gave her a couple, but she's not judging.

1236
00:57:54.420 --> 00:57:55.500
Yeah, yeah, yes.

1237
00:57:55.559 --> 00:58:00.840
It is such a shame that Bill is one and done because friend of the

1238
00:58:00.840 --> 00:58:04.079
podcast and good friend of mine, Matt Jones, said that if he'd

1239
00:58:04.079 --> 00:58:07.019
been showrunner, which, let's face it, is not beyond the realm of

1240
00:58:07.019 --> 00:58:07.679
possibility.

1241
00:58:07.800 --> 00:58:11.880
If he'd come in after Moffa, the one thing he would have said was

1242
00:58:11.880 --> 00:58:15.719
ooh, let's keep Bill, because the possibility of Bill being a

1243
00:58:15.719 --> 00:58:19.739
lesbian and falling in love with the 1st female doctor was this

1244
00:58:19.739 --> 00:58:22.320
character who she'd known and respected and suddenly was someone

1245
00:58:22.320 --> 00:58:24.719
who she could fall in love with would have been such an

1246
00:58:24.719 --> 00:58:26.880
interesting arc for that 1st season.

1247
00:58:27.119 --> 00:58:28.500
Wow.

1248
00:58:28.559 --> 00:58:30.480
We going to be cancelled by the year teen people.

1249
00:58:34.860 --> 00:58:36.659
Don't worry about that.

1250
00:58:36.659 --> 00:58:45.780
I think it's great that Stephen can embrace as a straight man.

1251
00:58:45.840 --> 00:58:47.880
And he's made missteps in the past.

1252
00:58:47.940 --> 00:58:48.719
Of course.

1253
00:58:48.840 --> 00:58:49.260
Yeah, yeah.

1254
00:58:49.320 --> 00:58:50.400
And he learns from that.

1255
00:58:50.579 --> 00:58:53.159
And I think that's a brilliant thing.

1256
00:58:53.219 --> 00:58:56.099
So have you seen, have you seen Douglas is cancelled?

1257
00:58:56.159 --> 00:58:57.179
No not yet.

1258
00:58:57.239 --> 00:58:58.079
It's worth seeing.

1259
00:58:58.139 --> 00:58:59.159
I think it's really worth seeing.

1260
00:58:59.280 --> 00:59:02.159
And it is another one where you kind of think, oh, what's he

1261
00:59:02.159 --> 00:59:02.460
doing?

1262
00:59:02.519 --> 00:59:05.400
I'm not quite sure I'm worried by this. worried by where it's

1263
00:59:05.400 --> 00:59:05.579
going.

1264
00:59:05.639 --> 00:59:06.420
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1265
00:59:06.480 --> 00:59:08.940
I'm still only halfway through because I was like, it was so

1266
00:59:08.940 --> 00:59:09.420
compelling.

1267
00:59:09.480 --> 00:59:09.960
I had to stop.

1268
00:59:10.019 --> 00:59:11.159
Yeah, you want to save it.

1269
00:59:11.219 --> 00:59:13.260
I watched it. binged it all in one day.

1270
00:59:13.320 --> 00:59:19.440
It is kind of set up as a, oh, like, and promoted by ITV as being

1271
00:59:19.440 --> 00:59:21.000
a, sorry, by sky.

1272
00:59:21.059 --> 00:59:23.159
Not that this is going the episode, is it?

1273
00:59:24.179 --> 00:59:28.139
As being a cancel culture TV show, but it's not.

1274
00:59:28.199 --> 00:59:29.579
It's much more.

1275
00:59:29.639 --> 00:59:32.400
It tells you why we have to have cancel culture, essentially.

1276
00:59:32.460 --> 00:59:34.019
It is, I think it's really good.

1277
00:59:34.079 --> 00:59:37.380
And it is, again, Moffatt learning. do you know what I mean?

1278
00:59:37.440 --> 00:59:42.059
Like, like a straight man, already aware that he's a problem right

1279
00:59:42.059 --> 00:59:46.800
back from joking apart, and learning and developing and stuff, and

1280
00:59:46.800 --> 00:59:50.760
just having, like, just introducing our 1st queer, regular

1281
00:59:50.760 --> 00:59:55.199
explicitly queer regular, uh, you know, apart from Jack, who's

1282
00:59:55.199 --> 00:59:56.699
just in a bunch of episodes.

1283
00:59:56.760 --> 01:00:00.719
I think he's pretty great and he's a milestone, I think.

1284
01:00:01.139 --> 01:00:05.340
And another reason why, you know, this episode might get an 8.5.

1285
01:00:05.519 --> 01:00:08.460
Who knows what I'm going to say next?

1286
01:00:08.519 --> 01:00:11.099
I'm totally giving it like a really high mark.

1287
01:00:11.159 --> 01:00:13.079
I think it's an absolutely top tier episode.

1288
01:00:13.139 --> 01:00:14.760
It really is a great start to the season.

1289
01:00:14.820 --> 01:00:18.360
And actually, when they did that recent Doctor Who magazine poll

1290
01:00:18.360 --> 01:00:21.179
of all of the stories, it came quite highly.

1291
01:00:21.179 --> 01:00:22.380
Oh, good.

1292
01:00:22.440 --> 01:00:22.980
So no one knew.

1293
01:00:23.039 --> 01:00:28.380
No one knew what fandom thought of Peter Quality 0 in context and

1294
01:00:28.380 --> 01:00:31.199
suddenly they realised they liked it a lot.

1295
01:00:31.260 --> 01:00:34.980
I love how Moffat originally was going to call this a star in her

1296
01:00:34.980 --> 01:00:38.340
eye and then went, oh, I'm repeaching the show. going to lean into

1297
01:00:38.340 --> 01:00:39.300
calling it the pilot.

1298
01:00:39.360 --> 01:00:41.579
Well, actually, it was Mark Gatis going, are you really going to

1299
01:00:41.579 --> 01:00:41.880
call it that?

1300
01:00:41.940 --> 01:00:43.019
him going, oh, I don't know.

1301
01:00:43.199 --> 01:00:45.059
Stars in their eyes.

1302
01:00:45.119 --> 01:00:45.719
Yeah, exactly.