Rate "A Good Man Goes to War"

I hate it as an adult!

barnaby morbius wrote:i enjoyed it too but i think there's a danger of these things getting over hyped- the game changing cliffhanger was a) massively obvious and b) not really that game changing

Yeah, I agree with this. River's identity was something a lot of people guessed early on. Even the idea that the vortex and the energies she was exposed to during time travel changing her was not a surprise for me at all. The only truly gamechanging element of the story, from my point of view, was the danger that the Doctor's fame was turning into a dark legend, that people feared him.

The Co=Ordinator wrote:I hate it as an adult!

very good acting from DCI Meadowes though

He was far, far better in The Bill. No episode of which ever plunged the depths of Kinda.

You must have missed the Todd Carty evil cop storyline.

Perhaps I did Rich. Although it sounds fantastic.

No offence, Tony, but if you enjoy the 50-minute long action figure theatre we were presented with last night, then power to you. I think I'd rather watch "Kinda", thanks...

Ooo... Kinda and Snakedance seem to be coming up big.

Daft idea here, but how about the next time The C=O has a convention where Peter Davison is appearing, and C=O is interviewing, the rest of us conspire to have the 5th Doctor autograph DVD copies of Kinda and Snakedance and present them to the C=O... and claim he's been told their Tony's favorite 5th Doctor stories?

Liked it enormously: if The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang was Moffat's take on Last of the Time Lords then A Good Man Goes To War was his take on Journey's End. Immense fun, great one liners, and I peed myself laughing at the reveal of the next episode title.

Can someone kindly explain how last nights episode lacked plot? Especially in contrast to Kinda? As they both had the same amount of plot (one was the attempted rescue of Melody Pond and the effects it has on the characters, the other is a monster getting loose and putting a base under siege). Now they both may have been presented in totally different styles, but I keep coming across this "lacking plot" criticism and for the life of me I can't figure out what the term really means.

Anyway, like most of the Doctor Who stories broadcast since March 2005, that was fun; put a smile on my face and made me feel like I was 8 again. 5/5

So Lee, I'm curious about something: the "game changing" revelation. Did you at all see it coming?

I think it had plot Lee but like some others I found it just too action packed and over the top. That's not to criticise it or say it was bad but it was... not entirely to my taste. I think that is probably just modern television/film action stuff. The whole thing is just getting too sort of epic for me. Give me Fear Her any day quite frankly (not to mention Kinda of course...)

I liked so many of the components (the Sontaran nurse, the Silurian and her maid were great and the Thunderbirds reference was a joy - I could have done without the Spitfires and pirates reappearing though) but for me they simply don't add up to a satisfying whole. I would like the Doctor to stop being, well, whatever he is now and return to more what he was.

I actually think all the episodes have been fine this year - I just don't entirely care for the direction the show has gone in.

One plus this series - I do find Amy much more likeable than last year.

It was a plot where magic elements just appeared without set-up and logic - the Doctor's old friends that we've never seen before, Captain Avery appearing for one scene and Danny Boy - how did those Spitfire's get there? Also, I didn't care for the Doctor's message to the Cybermen - killing all those Cybermen just to make Rory look cool - is that what the Doctor does now? The follow up to the death of the fat one, I missed that as well. Why did the Sontarans help the Doctor, was it on the say-so of one disgraced nurse? Where do the Silurians come from, are they spacefaring creatures now? Why didn't the blue geezer tell the Doctor when he was picked up that the baddy is in the next room? Very unsatisfying, but better on the second viewing, mainly because of Matt Smith.

If you're intelligent enough to notice a plot hole, you're intelligent to think up a solution.

I keep Jon Blum's General Tips and Guidance For Replying On A Doctor Who Internet Forum by my side at all times.

stanmore wrote:If you're intelligent enough to notice a plot hole, you're intelligent to think up a solution.

I keep Jon Blum's General Tips and Guidance For Replying On A Doctor Who Internet Forum by my side at all times.

LOL - I'm not paid to fill in plot holes!

stanmore wrote:If you're intelligent enough to notice a plot hole, you're intelligent to think up a solution.

I keep Jon Blum's General Tips and Guidance For Replying On A Doctor Who Internet Forum by my side at all times.

Do we get a No-Prize for that?

Cheers,
Zolti

I actually think the River Song reveal was by far the weakest bit. Everything from the Doctor's first appearance up to the reappearance of River was golden, but the reveal, though nicely handled, wasn't surprising.

I think that scene immediately following the battle may be up there with my favourite in modern Doctor Who, with the deaths of Strax and Lorna, and that wonderfully bleak music.

I expected the River reveal, but the missus was surprised, probably because she doesn't spend hours lurking around on various Doctor Who forums. She did actually know Sontarans, Silurians and Cybermen were in it before I did courtesy of Facebook posts.

this episode was better than the DVD of "The King's Demons" which i just watched

Damned by faint praise...........

The Infamous Mid-Season Finale…

Or should that be The Magnificent Seven Waves Hello To Yojimbo While On Their Way To The Hidden Fortress Via Star Wars?

This believe it or not is not a criticism. Thematically there’s a hell of a lot of hat-tipping taking place in this story. Moffat and Co avidly join the earlier John Sturges and George Lucus in reverently tipping their collective chapeaux in the luminous direction of the fabled Akira Kurosawa at every conceivable opportunity; and they could have done a hell of a lot worse role model-wise. Questions are answered (well, at least half answered), threads are wrapped up while others are spun off in new directions, and we’re ultimately left at the episode’s end with a non-cliffhanger involving the pretty much non-revelation as to River Song’s identity. All jolly good fun which provides just enough of the illusion of closure that the vast majority of viewers won’t feel particularly short-changed on actually being dazzlingly bamboozled out of the real thing.

David Blaine and Derren Brown would be delighted at Moffat’s deftly breathless creative slight-of-hand.

So, good – verging on great – but not perfect. Just ask The Fat One and Thin One. So essentially characterless that they aren’t even given the dignity of having names. Just like Buzzer and Dicken before them, they’re ciphers asked to shoulder the impossible burden of audience empathy. If anything, they’re even less well defined than their preceding episode counterparts. It didn’t give a toss about their fates; which is unforgivable – because I was expected to and in normal circumstances I would have. But given that they possessed even less substance than your average void, that kind of emotional connection was always going to be a non-starter.

And please, did we really need Spitfire, Pirate and whatnot cameos. They added nothing and engendered even less from me.

So, it’s a 4 from me – verging on a 4.5. In certain ways (but not fundamental ones) it was the televisual equivalent of a Chinese meal. Tasty, fun, lots of it, but yet still vaguely less than totally nourishing.

And that’s that on this subject from your resident critic in exile. All compliments are welcome – all complaints should be directed towards The C=O or your favourite Fast-Living Admin.

Yes, very kind I'm sure my dear Eocene.

The Eocene wrote:And please, did we really need Spitfire, Pirate and whatnot cameos. They added nothing and engendered even less from me.

I found them amusing enough, but glorified cameos is indeed all that they were. A bit a continuity, not particularly important.

The Eocene wrote:So, it’s a 4 from me – verging on a 4.5. In certain ways (but not fundamental ones) it was the televisual equivalent of a Chinese meal. Tasty, fun, lots of it, but yet still vaguely less than totally nourishing.

I'd agree with that comparison.

The Eocene wrote:And that’s that on this subject from your resident critic in exile. All compliments are welcome – all complaints should be directed towards The C=O or your favourite Fast-Living Admin.

My favorite one? There's more than one Fast-Living Admin?

Zoltar wrote:

The Eocene wrote:And that’s that on this subject from your resident critic in exile. All compliments are welcome – all complaints should be directed towards The C=O or your favourite Fast-Living Admin.

My favorite one? There's more than one Fast-Living Admin?

No. The others are just my future regenerations.

Heaven help us all.