Rate "The Rebel Flesh"/"The Almost People" Combined

This year, we are also holding a rate it thread to judge both parts of a two-part story. C=O did this with the Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon, so I'm doing this now.

Consider the whole tale, both episodes of the 2-parter, and cast your vote. And don't forget to post in here and tell us why you voted this way.

Now, a word of caution of our North American viewers. Due to the complete idiocy of BBC-America, "The Almost People" won't be shown on TV screens on this side of Atlantic until next Saturday, June 4th. So, unless you can find *ahem* alternate means of seeing part 2, you run the risk of being spoilered if you venture into this thread following UK transmission this Saturday evening. Don't say you weren't warned.

As is the normal policy, this thread will remain locked until transmission of the episode in the UK.

*ahem* indeed.

In other words, what you've done until this series!

Oow. That ending was rather disturbing. Not sure about that at all. (I know that Amy's ganger was here avatar, but even so...)

Eeew. Not sure about that. *shivers*

A 2-parter that should have been a 1 parter that existed purely for the cliffhanger at the very end.

Like Black Spot, this was DW at its most average. Absolutely all over the place.

3/5

My issue with this two-parter is that for all the running around, for all the disturbing imagery, and for all the dialogue, it was merely a set up for the big reveal about Amy's ganger. I almost feel a bit manipulated by that. A two part story that boils down to the final two minutes of part two.

I agree with Johnstone that this was a pretty average story, so it gets an average score of 2.5, rounded to 2.

I think The Rebel Flesh did have enough material to justify two episodes.

I think there was enough there for a two-parter. My issues are more with the story itself. Right now I'm thinking or 2 or a 3, still have to rewatch Part Two.

Don't forget to vote in the individual threads folks.

We can't do half marks and we can't rate out of ten, so my 3/5 needs to be qualified.

The story addresses a huge subject in a way that only Doctor Who can, and as is often the case with Doctor Who the need to run around corridors and escape monsters gets in the way of the much more thoughtful piece bubbling away under the surface.

In this case, it's the central underpinning of capitalism (and almost all civilization): some life has less inherent value than other life, and it's ok to treat that less valuable life like poo.

This is the core of capitalism, the justification for slavery and genocide, you name it. It's such a huge concept that you have to wonder what was going through Matthew Graham's head when he attempted to tackle it in 90 minutes of family viewing.

The sheer scale of the idea, and the excellent use of Moffat's "give me a story with avatars in it" seed line to create a story which in a lot of respects succeeds better than whatsisface from Hollywood did (no, really, I had no interest in Avatar and I had quite a lot of interest in watching The Almost People) warrants a 3/5 straight away.

The story has problems. Pacing in a two parter is crucial, and I do not believe that the show has quite got it right yet. They seem to start quite slowly and then resolve at a dead run, which is certainly what happened here. I think the story may have suffered as a result.

So, magnificent ambition marred by a need to get it all sorted in order to leave five minutes at the end for the Big Arc Reveal. The assorted plotholes really are, having thought about it for a night, small niggles and reminders that sometimes you need to accept the MST3K mantra.

Still, for all that, I stand by my feeling that the cast were ill-used and could have been put to better use. Especially Marshall Lancaster, and especially since any character stuff is true for humans and gangers alike. Blurring the line between the two is rather the point, and while concentrating on the Doctor was the sensible thing to do given time constraints I feel like we got cheated.

This is the first story I've seen that could have been a four parter, and perhaps should have been (although four shorter parts, each growing slowly more confined and claustrophobic as the gangers take on more human characteristics and the acid eats away at the foundations...)

Matthew Graham is like Mark Gatiss: he needs more room than perhaps he'll be allowed in Doctor Who.

A lot of what Dave said above goes for me as well.

I think there was a lot of potential here, it didn't quite translate into the finished product. I thought Smith excellent in both stories and that does influence my final vote. I can't give it a 2.5 either, so I'm giving it a 3.