Rate "The Beast Below"

So, what did you think of the second episode of the Moffat/Smith era? Open straight after transmission!

Rather undecided on that. Great last 2 or 3 minutes though.

would be interested in other peoples views

I don't have the permission to do it, it seems...so we need to wait for a passing Admin to perform the necessary magic...

Nick Barlow wrote:I don't have the permission to do it, it seems...so we need to wait for a passing Admin to perform the necessary magic...

what did you think of the episode Nick?

I thought it was a bit of a mess, to be honest...and still not convinced by the stars.

A thousand apologies, I thought I had unlocked it. All now up & running & merged.

The more I think about it, the colder I am left by the episode.

Quite the opposite for me: the more I think about it, the more I like it. If Russell T Davies approached Dr Who as the Simpsons in space, full of wild ideas grounded in everyday emotions, then Moffat's approach is that of a fairytale, full of dread and undermining the usual state of things. Really, this episode should have been called 'Amy's Test,' as it's central conceit was to underline the humanity of the companion. The British looked at a problem as an 'either' 'or' way, and the Doctor looked at it the way he would most things: what is the solution that benefits most. But Amy saw the real third way: why not ask the victim what they want. And the episode left me thinking about it for quite a while afterwards.

All this and the production design was lovely.

So, not quite as good as last week, but another solid 4/5 from the Carey Camp.

So, if I may decadently quote my own tweet, that was Brit-Cit on the back of Great A'Tuin (with hugging). I enjoyed the episode, but then I didn't think there'd be a return to Hinchcliffian Dark 'n' Gritty - I imagine if I was one of those convinced that any shade of dear ol' RTD would vanish from the series forever I'd be either very upset or in denial*, 'cause it felt just like a Davies-penned episode to me tonally, stylistically, and narratively. Which is nice.

We're two episodes in, mind, and is it just me or has nothing much actually happened yet? There hasn't exactly been a surfeit of drama and action (maybe intricately plotting storylines is easier when you're only doing one a year?). Obviously I enjoy the conflict between utilitarianism and the categorical imperative as much as the next man, particularly if the next man is Ol' Coxy, but I could sense a twinge of boredom from others in the room. Thankfully, Matt Smith is following in the footsteps of Troughton, Baker, and Tennant, and can clearly make anything more than watchable when he's being the Doctor.

And the set up for next week's episode - a new policy, or just the episode under-running?

Overall, then - watched it, enjoyed it, forgot it. Davison out of ten.

it was alright.

Graymalkin wrote:And the set up for next week's episode - a new policy, or just the episode under-running?

New policy I believe. Very 60's.

It felt like it wanted to be an RTD episode, but one of his weaker ones - it wanted to be Gridlock, but was more New Earth. They were trying for something that was a fairytale or fable, but the various parts of it didn't really come together.

Plus, I'm still not sold on Smith as the Doctor and as for Amy, I just wonder if you could imagine any other companion choosing to press the 'forget' button?

Nick Barlow wrote:I just wonder if you could imagine any other companion choosing to press the 'forget' button?

Turlough would have pressed it before he'd even seen the (public information) film...

Eccleston out of ten. Really liked it.

Nick Barlow wrote:It felt like it wanted to be an RTD episode, but one of his weaker ones - it wanted to be Gridlock, but was more New Earth. They were trying for something that was a fairytale or fable, but the various parts of it didn't really come together.

Plus, I'm still not sold on Smith as the Doctor and as for Amy, I just wonder if you could imagine any other companion choosing to press the 'forget' button?

i think the real problem was that none of the guest characters were remotely sympathetic or memorable. at least New Earth had Cassandra and the cat nuns! plus some good jokes

I thought there were some great lines and some great moments, but it didn't hang together as well as it might have - it was a little less than the sum of its parts. Someone on GB said it seemed strange it only last 45 minutes, as the last six episodes have all lasted an hour or more and maybe that's part of it. Still pretty enjoyable though - probably a high 3/5.

I can't help but wonder how the Ming-Mongs would have reacted to RTD using an actual 'reset button' at the denuement - actually, if Davies had written it, they'd probably be too busy loudly wondering why a spacefaring creature would need a mouth.

Not that I'm complaining in any way, of course, it's nice to see an air of general positivity around the 'net. Long may the honeymoon continue!

ETA - Been thinking about the episode and will be interested to watch it again - I can't help but feel, as often seems to happen, that I'd rate it a 'mark' lower after another watch or two*. Anyone else find that the excitement of watching a new piece o' Who helps leave a more favourable impression than is gleaned once the shiny new-ness has gone?

(The major exception to that rule being 'Gridlock', which saw a major upward trend on successive re-watches - one of the things that makes these chats so useful and interesting as, without the positive and intelligent comments of the Wrinklies (and the podcast commentary also helped - a big 'Boo!' for their absence), I may not have given it another couple of goes.)

Lee Carey wrote:So, not quite as good as last week, but another solid 4/5 from the Carey Camp.

The Zoltar camp shares this view.

I'm not williong to commit to a rating yet; I need to watch it again.

My first impressions were that there were too many good ideas given not enough time to develop. The story felt restless, like it was eager to get on to the next bit, and the thought of the backdrop being a Police State that the Doctor has decided to overthrow reminded me of The Happiness Patrol. In my book, no bad thing.

I wanted more of this story, hence the need to rewatch. One thing stands out, though. Moffat's take on The Doctor seems to be an attempt by him as a writer to see the series and the hero from a child's point of view. It's interesting, and I think it might be working.

Overnight ratings 6.7million, 34%. 1st for the day. Given the timeslot, weather, competition etc IMO those are good, solid numbers.

7/10 for me. Had loads of nice ideas and was very Douglas Adams in places. And it felt a lot like classic WHO to me. Still can't work if the bit at the end was brilliant or really crap. I like the 60's stories leading into the next but this one seemed too forced.

Watched it with a bunch of kids, who were bored.
Got better on the second viewing - the last 15 minutes were superb.
But it was really nothing more than an attempt to do a Gridlock/End of the World type story, and Liz 10 was the only interesting character.

The space whale story would have worked in the 80s, as it worked in the comic that I'm sure it was ripped straight out of - I'll remember where i read it later - but seemed a bit old hat for the 21st century.

The leads continue to excel, can't fault them, but where's the jokes???

And the Smilers: they walked out of a cupboard. That was it. The most useless 'monster' ever.

Thinking about it this morning, it was very similar to Gridlock - a society stuck in one location with a great secret at its heart that no one wants to talk about, while the last of an alien race is sacrificing itself to keep a civilisation alive as best it can - but Davies did it so much better.

The worrying thing is that both Moffat's opening scripts have borrowed from Davies' stories which doesn't fill me with confidence for the rest of the series...

Why were they sending the kids down to to be eaten by the whale, when they knew that the whale wasn't eating them?

Nick Barlow wrote:Thinking about it this morning, it was very similar to Gridlock - a society stuck in one location with a great secret at its heart that no one wants to talk about, while the last of an alien race is sacrificing itself to keep a civilisation alive as best it can - but Davies did it so much better.

The worrying thing is that both Moffat's opening scripts have borrowed from Davies' stories which doesn't fill me with confidence for the rest of the series...

i'm a bit more concerned about the lack of jokes/scariness. i'm sure it'll get better.