Doctor Who 5x12 - The Pandorica Opens
 

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Twas brilliant, but I was slightly disappointed to not find the Doctor already inside the Pandorica and in some wierd insane evil state so we'd have a Doctor V Doctor Finale.

I like it when I see a spoiler and it turns out to not be a spoiler at all.

Agreed. I expected that might be your reaction.

I actually would have been a mite disappointed if he'd been in the box, just because that's what I expected!

I thought that was pretty damn brilliant. Did NOT see "Amy gets shot by Auton Rory" coming. Surely the crack has something to do with trying to save her? Wasn't she signed for next season already?

"Did you ever wonder why your life doesn't make any sense?" Danny, do you remember from the convention that we wondered if Amy's odd flatness as a character was perhaps a story point?

Um, why exactly was the TARDIS exploding? Did I miss something?

Genius extrapolation of the Cybermen's powers, and I appreciated the "The Thing" homage with the head. Mummy skull FTW.

Can't shake the feeling that Moffat, as a dad to two young boys, is asking what they want to see in the show, and "all the monsters team up to fight the Doctor" is what they said! :)

I've always wanted to see the Doctor's enemies team up to fight him too. It's about time that happened.

It was hardly teaming up to fight him, was it. It was just to lock him away, no action involved. If RTD had done this all monsters thing, it would've been shit because he would've made it an epic fight, whereas the monsters' involvement in this instance was just a passing plot point, as were the delightful cameos from Van Gogh, Liz 10, Churchill and Bracewell. Oh, and Moffat made the (ZOMBIE) Cyberman actually frightening, a far cry from the silliness of them in series 2.

Probably the first time I've given a 10/10 to an episode. Seriously, that was amazing.

Same here.

Oh, she'll be saved, I'm sure.

I definitely do!

Uh… to quote Matt Smith, "I'll get back to you."

That part was awesome. As Ronnie said, Steven Moffat made the new series Cybermen scary, possibly for the first time ever.

Yes, that. All of that.

Well, I think you're taking the word "fight" a tad too literally, there...perhaps substitute the word "defeat." The point is the same.

Also, don't assume that the monsters won't fight each other next week! They are all mutual antagonists, and with the Doctor out of the way, they may well turn on one another.

It was definitely a surprise to see Christopher Ryan back as the Sontaran leader.

Always good to see Christopher Ryan in anything.

IMO, he's the only actor the new series has had who has passed as a decent Sontaran (at least up to this point). The other Sontaran actors in The Sontaran Stratagem were terrible. You need the gruff voice.

(To be fair, however, this is not something the classic series always did perfectly either.)

Unrelated to anything, you know what I really hate? That goddamn overused "generic laser" sound. The new series relies way too heavily on this stupid cheap "pew" sound for so much of their gunfire. They used it as the sound of Auton Rory's shot to Amy, which I found incredibly annoying. Especially after they kept the same sound for the Autons in "Rose."

On a similar note, what was with the metal/robotic sounds used for Auton movement? When the hands opened I went "HOLY SHIT AUTONS," but then with the interspersed metallic whirring I went "wait, hang on, I guess these can't be Autons…" Threw off an otherwise excellent dramatic moment.

I really take issue with the entire sound department on the new series. They are seriously slacking.

I was also thrilled to see Christopher Ryan as the Sontaran. His voice is perfect, and he gets that "pugnacious short guy" thing down perfectly.

As for the Auton gun effect, I know what you mean about that. I liked the old effect, it's very unusual sounding. But maybe that's why they didn't use it - since they weren't showing the actual laser beam hitting her, perhaps they were concerned that people wouldn't identify that weird "bonk-whoosh!" as the sound of a gun? (They could have had a practical red flash effect, which would have helped to sell that better.)

Or, maybe Moffat just doesn't like it. :(

As for the whirring mechanical noises, other than the sound of their gun-hands activating (a classic series effect) there's really no reason for them. But, again, perhaps they were concerned that "the average viewer" would need that extra bit of audio to clue them in that these were constructs of some kind? Though it's doubly silly that they only make little servo-noises after their identities are revealed. Did they have their legs on silent??

"Only the Doctor can pilot the TARDIS."

Nicholas Briggs' delivery of this line fascinates me, for some reason. I wonder if the oddness of the delivery has something to do with the fact that it's obviously untrue??

And isn't it odd to hear the Daleks speaking calmly, instead of ranting?

Quote For Truth!

the Daleks seemed positively benevolent, but I think as soon as they can cut their loses, they will.

except it's supposed to be a brain in there, not a fucking skull

but at least they kept the cybermen theme, probably the best motif muzzy's managed to jerk out

Actually, the "proper" old series Cybermen were converted humans. I was overjoyed to see a return to that rather than the silly Cybusmen "drop a brain in an entirely cybernetic body."