Rate "Day of the Moon"

Episode 2 of Series 6 airs on Saturday in both the UK and North America. So, tell us what you thought of the conclusion to the two part story that introduced this new series of Doctor Who.

*This thread will open following transmission of "Day of the Moon" in the UK. North American members perusing this thread should beware of potential spoilers until the episode airs on this side of the Atlantic.

Some stuff happened. I don't know what it all means.

hhmmmmmmm

That felt like someone took a couple of episodes, pieced together scenes from them at random then got a child with ADD to edit them together. A confusing and disjointed mess that seemed to have forgotten that a story isn't just the interesting and 'iconic' scenes, but the bits inbetween that explain the why and how as well.

Nick Barlow wrote:That felt like someone took a couple of episodes, pieced together scenes from them at random then got a child with ADD to edit them together. A confusing and disjointed mess that seemed to have forgotten that a story isn't just the interesting and 'iconic' scenes, but the bits inbetween that explain the why and how as well.

That reads like a review of Final Crisis-- which, strangely enough is what the storytelling in this episode reminded me of. Moffat seems to have taken a leaf out of the Grant Morrison school of writing, and excised all the fat out of this script, focusing on the action and mystery moments and being very image driven. But all the plot beats are there, they just need a bit of thinking about. The only questions that remain are the ones that run throughout the season, many of which I imagine will be answered by the final episode.

Not quite as good as part one for me, mainly down to the feeling that this is part two of a thirteen part story, but still audacious and unlike anything else on tv.

4/5-- Great scenes from all the regulars: what did happen to Amy when she was kidnapped; Rory's love for Amy and River the action hero being just some of the character highlights.

brain a bit full, I need to rewatch then do the ratey thing

This series is requiring you to put a shift in, isn't it? This story has shown exactly how light the tune-in-next-time moments in RTD's era were.

I would say that even though this story may prove to be less than the sum of its parts (though I'd say that we can't say that for certain til the series finale), the parts were pretty special. The sequences in the children's home were some of the best kitsch horror scenes in the show's history.

Amazingly, I fell asleep this afternoon and didn''t awake until after the episode had finished. Cue some desperate scrabbling around to acquire a copy and then the time to watch it

It's a 4/5 for me. I agree with Lee I also picked-up a definite Grant Morrison/Final Crisis vibe to the story telling/structure.

If I had one real point of dissatisfaction, it was that the Silence ultimately proved less than the promise of their initial menace. If this was deliberate misdirection on Moffat's part to make them appear to be the Series 6 "Big Bad" - then it was highly successful. But whatever way, it plays out, they took a fall surprisingly easily.

I don't think that this is the last we have seen of the Silence. In fact, I don't think they were actually defeated at the end of this story. Seriously set back as they can no longer use Earth and the Human Race, but I am sure they have their claws deep into other worlds and other civilisations. Also, I don't think any of the questions posed in episode one have been answered, and won't be until we have seen all 13 episodes of this series, and it all comes together in one big satisfying whole.

In certain ways the Silence seem somewhat akin to the Krillitane, parasitic invaders who exploit rather than rule directly. I honestly am not convinced at this point that they'll have much of a hand or profile in what's yet to come this series. The more I ponder it, the more I'm coming to the conclusion that Moffat has sold us a brilliantly misleading bill of goods as to their importance.

Of course if I'm proven wrong - fair enough. But somehow I don't think I will be.

Excellent episode, loved Nixon essentially taking the place of the psychic paper, "Hail to the chief" and all. Initial score 4/5.

The Browncoat Cat wrote:I don't think that this is the last we have seen of the Silence. In fact, I don't think they were actually defeated at the end of this story. Seriously set back as they can no longer use Earth and the Human Race, but I am sure they have their claws deep into other worlds and other civilisations.

Oh, no doubt. We can assume they were on planet Saturnyne, no reason to think they're not on multitudes of worlds and simply haven't been discovered yet.

The Browncoat Cat wrote:Also, I don't think any of the questions posed in episode one have been answered, and won't be until we have seen all 13 episodes of this series, and it all comes together in one big satisfying whole.

Oh, I don't know. A couple of them might've been. But there's plenty of mystery left to be revealed.

How to put my thoughts to words...

Right now, I'm prepared to declare that Steven Moffat may well be the best writer of our time. If time travel is a capability of the Doctor, Moffat is the single best author to show, rather than tell, how bizarre, unsettling and revelational time travel can be. I can't think, offhand, of another author in the history of this show who has made the time travel concept of the show so central to the plot itself. And I'm not talking about wibbley-whimey, timey-whimey.

I found myself comparing this story to growing up watching classic episodes of Mission: Impossible, as lame and American a comparison as that may be. I say that because these opening two episodes have forced me to pay attention to every moment of the show for clues about the larger narrative beyond these two episodes- it's that cinematic.

I frankly loved this story. I'll post more in the rate the two part story thread, but I'm giving it a four. And I suspect by the time we get to episode 13, that score may be revised upward.

I don't know. After really liking last week's episode I find myself feeling vaguely uneasy and unsatisfied by this week's. This is how I felt last season, in particular with Moffat penned episodes. I again have a horrible feeling that Steven Moffat's vision of Doctor Who is simply not for me. I loved his episodes under RTD as showrunner and am certainly not suggesting he is other than a brilliant writer - and I thought some of the bits within the episode were great - it's just that overall it's not sitting quite right with me. I think the fact that I catch myself thinking 'Well, he'll probably only do three years, four at the most.' is perhaps rather telling. We'll see. Again, I'm not suggesting it's other than very good.

That was the worst portrayal of Nixon I've ever seen, and not just the actor, the writing as well. I don't know who the charming charismatic bloke that's good with the small talk is, but that's not Nixon.

Artistic licence, Rich. Wouldn't be the first time - won't be the last.

Well, what's the point? What's artistic about writing a Nixon that's totally unlike Nixon? He's a badly written cypher, there to help the plot along. Should have used the psychic paper, or written another character.

I don't know what to make of Nixon in that. On one hand, it seems to be part of the rather troubling cuddly-ification of complex political figures that was started with Churchill, on the other to present Nixon as an out-an-out good guy... well, it takes some balls...

Well, I guess it started with the Third Doctor being great mates with Chariman Mao.

Next series: Laughs with Hitler!

The portrayal of Nixon wasn't the only issue with Day of the Moon. It was littered with wrongnity.

On the other hand, I really didn't care because it pulled me along at breakneck speed and I really enjoyed the ride.

Rich Flair wrote:That was the worst portrayal of Nixon I've ever seen, and not just the actor, the writing as well. I don't know who the charming charismatic bloke that's good with the small talk is, but that's not Nixon.

That would be The Doctor's influence there. As The Master said, he is a man who makes people better. In his presence, Tricky Dickie is a charming charismatic bloke that is good with small talk. Which means The Doctor must have been there in 1968 running Nixon's campaign for the Presidency.

Nice try!

Maybe Nixon really was a charismatic and charming man who was good with smalltalk until the Doctor told him that he couldn't trust anyone and that he should tape record everything.

You know, if Dicky was under the influence of a Silent at the time, those things would have become post-hypnotic suggestions and Nixon would have based his life on them.

So...the Doctor is really to blame.

Rich Flair wrote:That was the worst portrayal of Nixon I've ever seen, and not just the actor, the writing as well. I don't know who the charming charismatic bloke that's good with the small talk is, but that's not Nixon.

The actor's take on Nixon's voice was fairly ineffective, but "charming charismatic bloke"? Nah. He just wasn't yelling "Aroo!" and trying to rule the planet from his giant robot body. This is Nixon presented as just a guy, rather than the more arch portrayals we're used to seeing.

stanmore wrote:I don't know what to make of Nixon in that. On one hand, it seems to be part of the rather troubling cuddly-ification of complex political figures that was started with Churchill, on the other to present Nixon as an out-an-out good guy... well, it takes some balls...

Actually, I found it amusing and unexpected. Your first thought is Nixon would be a paranoid negative character and here he is actually being helpful. I don't think he was cuddly at all, just sort of befuddled, utterly out of his depth and going along for the ride. I seriously doubt this will change the perception of Nixon's history.

Dave Webb wrote:Maybe Nixon really was a charismatic and charming man who was good with smalltalk until the Doctor told him that he couldn't trust anyone and that he should tape record everything.

You know, if Dicky was under the influence of a Silent at the time, those things would have become post-hypnotic suggestions and Nixon would have based his life on them.

So...the Doctor is really to blame.

I liked his bit about recording everything, as if to say Nixon acted that way cos he was paranoid about invisible aliens following him around.

Nixon couldn't walk into a room in which he wasn't expected and talk to people he didn't know if his life depended on it. The Doctor Who portrayal had no nervousness or unease, and no sweat. That wasn't Richard Nixon we saw on screen, it was David Nixon at best.

Rich Flair wrote:Nixon couldn't walk into a room in which he wasn't expected and talk to people he didn't know if his life depended on it. The Doctor Who portrayal had no nervousness or unease, and no sweat. That wasn't Richard Nixon we saw on screen, it was David Nixon at best.

He looked uneasy and nervous to me, just not to a comic degree. Showing him with visible sweat would be silly.