By cGt2099
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Monday, November 30th, 2015 at 2:00 pm
On Doctor Who Episode 9.11 “Heaven Sent,” after witnessing one of his worst nightmares, the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) is teleported to a mysterious castle that seems to reconfigure and alter its passageways causing a disorienting labyrinth prison for the Time Lord. He begins to unwind the mystery of who put him here and why, only to find he must face more of his own fears and confessions.
During TARDISblend 96, we discuss the critically acclaimed episode with a phenomenal performance from Peter Capaldi – the good, the bad, and the several jaw-dropping revelations from the adventure. We also examine where our predictions were right and/or wrong!
All this and more on the latest TARDISblend podcast!
Presented by Greg Davies (cGt2099 from The BLENDOVER Podcast and The Heavy Metal Historian Podcast) and geek journalist Tom Cheredar of Gigaom, TARDISblend is a podcast that takes a look at the ongoing adventures in the Doctor Who Universe – as Peter Capaldi makes his journey as the Doctor!
[Doctor Who music and clips: copyright BBC – used under Fair Use
Intro Clip features a sample of Doctor Who Theme – Metal Version by Beyond The Epilogue – listen here]
Closing Clip features a sample of Doctor Who Meets Metal by Eric Calderone – view here]
I just listened to the new episode for “Heaven Sent” and wanted to share my thoughts. First, I loved this episode. The ending gave me the first truly “satisfying-beyond-my-expectations” reaction to a Doctor Who episode in a long time. While I loved the payoff in the end, I do understand where Tom’s reaction is coming from: it took a lot of patience to get there. (I actually fell asleep in the middle, but I think that may have had more to do with the time of day I watched it.) However, I willingly waited out my confusion in the beginning for two reasons: 1) In my opinion, it felt like such a departure from recent Doctor Who standards. I was so glad he didn’t just end up on another spaceship talking it out with another big bad. I thought the setting and atmosphere were perfect for where the Doctor’s character was in the story after his losses both against his adversaries and losing Clara. Here was an episode that finally slowed down long enough from the wacky aliens and clever jokes to give Peter Capaldi a moment to really show his character dealing with his internal struggles. Which leads to my number 2) I loved seeing Peter Capaldi carry an entire episode on his own. If it were any other less capable actor, a story like this one could have easily been dead in the water, but his abilities to deliver drama while still maintaining some of the doctor’s whimsey are beyond compare. Between this and the Truth and Consequences monologue, Capaldi has really solidified his place as one of the greats in television beyond just Doctor Who.
Finally, while I thought Clara’s death episode was beautifully done, I honestly wasn’t taken by it as much as losing other companions because I had sort of become annoyed with her character’s cockiness. However, I felt like this episode gave me a chance to feel her loss through the Doctor, and I loved the way they handled her presence in the TARDIS moments. Overall, really loved what they did with this episode and looking forward to seeing how things play out in the finale.
Comment by TransmatTrev — November 30, 2015 @ 3:37 pm
Boy oh boy! I got so mega fanboy excited when viewing just the season finale preview. Purely from a SFX geek viewpoint. It looks like the SFX teams have excelled themselves with fly-thru’s of Gallifrey and imagery that only existed in our minds. All in all a great finish to this season. Some Moff slight of hand and a proper farewell to the impossible girl. Who has probably now joined an all-girl group with Me in some distant off-world lesbian colony? Admittedly, the season did have its low points but overall, I personally thoroughly enjoyed all 12 episodes. So, just under 3 weeks to wait for what is billed as a Tracy-Hetburn romp ;)
And there’s also a wonderful clip circulating the net showing the Doctor dropping in on Peter Jackson in Oz with a letter from the Moff inviting him to Cardiff to direct a future episode. But a Dalek puts pay to any answers. But treble Wow, looks promising ;) (Big cheezy grin) Merry Christmas lads……TT
Comment by TransmatTrev — December 5, 2015 @ 7:18 pm
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Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press
Hi guys,
I just listened to the new episode for “Heaven Sent” and wanted to share my thoughts. First, I loved this episode. The ending gave me the first truly “satisfying-beyond-my-expectations” reaction to a Doctor Who episode in a long time. While I loved the payoff in the end, I do understand where Tom’s reaction is coming from: it took a lot of patience to get there. (I actually fell asleep in the middle, but I think that may have had more to do with the time of day I watched it.) However, I willingly waited out my confusion in the beginning for two reasons: 1) In my opinion, it felt like such a departure from recent Doctor Who standards. I was so glad he didn’t just end up on another spaceship talking it out with another big bad. I thought the setting and atmosphere were perfect for where the Doctor’s character was in the story after his losses both against his adversaries and losing Clara. Here was an episode that finally slowed down long enough from the wacky aliens and clever jokes to give Peter Capaldi a moment to really show his character dealing with his internal struggles. Which leads to my number 2) I loved seeing Peter Capaldi carry an entire episode on his own. If it were any other less capable actor, a story like this one could have easily been dead in the water, but his abilities to deliver drama while still maintaining some of the doctor’s whimsey are beyond compare. Between this and the Truth and Consequences monologue, Capaldi has really solidified his place as one of the greats in television beyond just Doctor Who.
Finally, while I thought Clara’s death episode was beautifully done, I honestly wasn’t taken by it as much as losing other companions because I had sort of become annoyed with her character’s cockiness. However, I felt like this episode gave me a chance to feel her loss through the Doctor, and I loved the way they handled her presence in the TARDIS moments. Overall, really loved what they did with this episode and looking forward to seeing how things play out in the finale.
Sterling
Comment by sterfest — November 30, 2015 @ 3:05 pm
Oh my god! Tom must be having his period ;(
Comment by TransmatTrev — November 30, 2015 @ 3:37 pm
Boy oh boy! I got so mega fanboy excited when viewing just the season finale preview. Purely from a SFX geek viewpoint. It looks like the SFX teams have excelled themselves with fly-thru’s of Gallifrey and imagery that only existed in our minds. All in all a great finish to this season. Some Moff slight of hand and a proper farewell to the impossible girl. Who has probably now joined an all-girl group with Me in some distant off-world lesbian colony? Admittedly, the season did have its low points but overall, I personally thoroughly enjoyed all 12 episodes. So, just under 3 weeks to wait for what is billed as a Tracy-Hetburn romp ;)
And there’s also a wonderful clip circulating the net showing the Doctor dropping in on Peter Jackson in Oz with a letter from the Moff inviting him to Cardiff to direct a future episode. But a Dalek puts pay to any answers. But treble Wow, looks promising ;) (Big cheezy grin) Merry Christmas lads……TT
Comment by TransmatTrev — December 5, 2015 @ 7:18 pm