**Spoilers** Series 7, Episode 4 - "The Power of Three"

ríomhaire

BuffyBot wrote: »

I still find it hard to believe he is disappearing companionless for 10 years at a time etc given his past tendencies to not be alone for long.

He has River.

cloud493

I liked it, till they showed who was actually responsible for the cubes. Plus, Brian was awesome, actually asking the doctor what happened to his former companions.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

BuffyBot wrote: »

I still find it hard to believe he is disappearing companionless for 10 years at a time etc given his past tendencies to not be alone for long.

The dinosaurs in space episode showed he had other people that he'd pop in on and have adventures with.

I don't understand the time away thing from the Pond's point of view. They had people saying to them that they keep disappearing for periods of time but in the first series with Amy in it the Doctor took her off for 13 episodes or whatever but was able to bring her back right at the same point he took her from. He even did it at the party in this one.
I know they'd probably still age while they're away but from the people in their real lives point of view there's no real reason for them to be aware that Amy and Rory keep vanishing.

phil1nj

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Steven Berkoff (Emperor Palpatine :rolleyes:) are theatrical heavyweights .

Steven Berkoff? Emperor Palpatine? When did that happen? He will forever be Victor Maitland from the first Beverly Hills Cop movie to me.

Seriously though, have to say I've been a wee bit disappointed with the episodes so far this season. This one was no exception. Just feel like there is something crucial missing from them. Next weeks episode looks promising but I'm not getting my hopes up.

pixelburp

Surprised by how many people hated the ending; granted the solution to the crisis was a bit glib, but it always struck as more of an introduction to a new best-enemy, very much a 'to be continued...' scenario, than a rushed ending to a problem.

Das Kitty

pixelburp wrote: »

Surprised by how many people hated the ending; granted the solution to the crisis was a bit glib, but it always struck as more of an introduction to a new best-enemy, very much a 'to be continued...' scenario, than a rushed ending to a problem.

I watched it a second time with this in mind and it was definitely better.

Have to say, I love when they talk about Gallifreyan stories. Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday, Zagreus (which I've only read about but yeah, creepy as feck) and now the Shakri. It'd be cool if they brought out a book of Gallifreyan bedtime stories.

cloud493

I didn't think it was truly terrible, just that the lead up to it suggested a more interesting conclusion. River next week though

ríomhaire

pixelburp wrote: »

Surprised by how many people hated the ending; granted the solution to the crisis was a bit glib, but it always struck as more of an introduction to a new best-enemy, very much a 'to be continued...' scenario, than a rushed ending to a problem.

Yeah I'm really looking forward to seeing more of an enemy that takes five seconds to defeat.

pixelburp

ríomhaire wrote: »

Yeah I'm really looking forward to seeing more of an enemy that takes five seconds to defeat.

:rolleyes: well in fairness, that describes the resolution to many Dr. Who stories, hell it's practically its MO at this stage: a bit of running about for 40 minutes, the day is saved in 5. I just don't think the story should be hung out to dry given it was really only there to serve two purposes: first to throw in the foreshadowing of the Ponds' departure & second to introduce a new villain (though in the spirit of their plan to test the Human race, perhaps they were also testing the Doctor, seeing how resourceful he was in defending humanity).

Stark

Pretty poor episode. Reminded me of some of the lowpoints of the RTD era: clunky tension building (the countdown), gaping plotholes (defibrillate everyone 30 mins after they have a heart attack and they're right as rain?), the Eleventh Doctor chanelling the Tenth with "humans are brilliant".

ixoy

Enjoyed it for the most part but the cube plot was beyond ridiculous. Just throw a killer virus at them - it'd be much easier and a lot less convoluted! I also know I'd have thrown the cube away (and, if the cubes were so dangerous, why were so many scattered on the ground still a year on?! Even if they weren't dangerous seems mad that they'd be lying around).

I did like how they handled the upcoming Pond departure. I also really like Brian - think he's very well handled and my favourite parent in the show after Donna's father. Would like to see more of him.

Matt Smith - as good as ever!

And Kate Stewart - nice touch. It did ring a bell and yep, she was first introduced in the spin-off video/book "Downtime" which I read years ago, as well as "The Scales of Injustice". It may be the first time a character created from the spin off media is made canonical. Now all we need is Bernice Summerfield to show up!

Das Kitty

I was amused by the fact that there was an AED just sitting in the hospital hallway not being used when half the planet was in cardiac arrest.

Wing126

Rewatched it today. I honestly would have the episode more if it was just about the Pond's daily lives. The cube plot felt pretty rushed and made the rest of it feel rushed aswell. It was a mediocre episode at best, which is weird considering DOAS was pretty good imo.

cloud493

I really liked Brian. Its interesting to have someone who can see the folly of the doctor, not just the blue box that can take you anywhere you want. Thought he'd be fairly crap too, so pleasantly surprised.

BuffyBot

The dinosaurs in space episode showed he had other people that he'd pop in on and have adventures with.

I'm sure he does, but fleshed out dispoable cardboard cut outs don't really cut it

Art_Wolf

CramCycle wrote: »

anyone else notice they left the people on the ship but then they are all there? Did Rory save them, did I fall asleep near the end? if so, did the kidnapped people on the other ships die?

Nope, the Ponds did indeed leave them to die - wheeled off Brian, ignored the rest and ran back to play with the Doctor. Damn their cold blooded murdering hearts!

CramCycle

Art_Wolf wrote: »

Nope, the Ponds did indeed leave them to die - wheeled off Brian, ignored the rest and ran back to play with the Doctor. Damn their cold blooded murdering hearts!

Wouldn't put it past Amy to be honest, I presume I missed the bit where Rory was wheeling them out while The Doctor and Amy were talking to the Pinhead/Emperor Palpatine love child.

pixelburp

Actually, I think the best way to view the ep is that RTD snuck one of his old scripts into the pile when no-one was looking: a slightly circuitous global event, viewed from a domestic perspective? Random celebrity cameos? UNIT farting about like the Avengers? A slightly messy script that seemed made-up as it went along? Hell, even some of #11s lines were a bit ... Tennish.

Mr.Saturn

Has Moffat been RTD-ing the scripts this year? I mean, I only ask as both of Chibnall's episodes from this season, for whatever complaints are thrown at them, has shown more characterisation and relatability than just about his entire Torchwood run.

There was Owen and Tosh at the end of S2, but hey-ho, that's just because they were about to die.

(Torchwood S2 spoiler).

McLoughlin

One thing I noticed was this episode was set before A Town Called Mercy as in this episode Rory left his phone charger in Henry VIII room and it was mentioned in A Town Called Mercy.

Das Kitty

McLoughlin wrote: »

One thing I noticed was this episode was set before A Town Called Mercy as in this episode Rory left his phone charger in Henry VIII room and it was mentioned in A Town Called Mercy.

I was just going to post this. They're also wearing the same costumes as a Town Called Mercy when they return to the party. So it likely took place in the 7 weeks they were away and sort of explains why they were worried about their friends noticing that they were aging faster than them.

Raphael

...that's very cool, didn't pick up on that at all.

McLoughlin

Raphael wrote: »

...that's very cool, didn't pick up on that at all.

For a moment I thought the the series was airing in a reverse order episode 5,4,3,2 and 1 with Jenna-Louise Coleman in "Episode 5" then reappears in Episodes 6 (Christmas Special) but Rorys father doesn't fit in with that. Perhaps it is a mistake but it would be nice if it had some meaning.

jsn.peters

Am I imagining it or is there a slight difference to the opening credits / theme song to all episodes this season so far

pixelburp

Hmmm I vaguely recall reading somewhere that the running order of some episodes was intentionally changed (though that might have been last season given my addled mind) so I'm guessing if true it must have been these last two stories. I can see why as last Saturdays foreshadowed the Ponds' departure much more than Town Called Mercy.

ixoy

jsn.peters wrote: »

Am I imagining it or is there a slight difference to the opening credits / theme song to all episodes this season so far

The tunnel effect is getting a little darker each week. It started off a light blue and has gone into a deep blue shade - just checked them there.

More fun though is the title/font of "Doctor Who" which pops up at the credit's end. That's varying according to the episode:

Asylum of the Daleks: Filled in a pattern effect like a Dalek
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship: All green, like a dinosaur skin
A Town Called Mercy: Wooden effect, with gun shot holes
The Power of Three: Made up of cubes

pixelburp

The four openings, side by side:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iptAm350o1U