TimDRX
Active Member
Twelve is the best Doctor of all time tho
Doctor Who? 15th Doctor on D+
- Thread starter NakedMoleRat
- Start date
NakedMoleRat
Legendary Member
I liked his first series when he was a bit jaded and detached. When he became Clara’s “yes man” and she was his “girl boss” I began to lose interest. By the time Bill came round, it was clear that Capaldi was over it.
I found series 10 to be one of the better seasons of the three. I quite enjoyed his rapport with Bill, and honestly liked her character more than Clara.
TimDRX
Active Member
Same - Twelve's early episodes were rough to me cause it seemed like he was trying to push Clara away since he wasn't her cute boyfriend anymore. And the frustrating part with Clara was that she isn't really a character until the 50th Anniversary episode when they were done with the "impossible girl" storyline and she finally got to be an actual person - so she only got two episodes with Eleven and they were both big events without much room for their relationship. So much of Series 8 and the Twelfth Doctor's early personality being "I'm sad I'm not the person you love anymore" doesn't hit great on a rewatch - especially since the episodes cast Clara's new boyfriend Danny as the villain in the situation when he's absolutely right! About everything! The Doctor IS dangerous and he DOES get both of them killed!
Series 9 was much stronger, I liked the arc Clara had, becoming more and more like the Doctor until it kills her, and while Hell Bent felt underwhelming on a first time watch it gets better every time, knowing it's not about Gallifrey and Rassilon, so it's not so weird when that all gets brushed aside lol
Series 10 is the single best run of episodes the show has ever had IMO. Bill is a great companion and Twelve has finally developed into the Doctor he was always meant to be (fancy coat and screwdriver included) now that Clara is gone.
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Very much agreed. I think the sonic screwdriver can be easily overused, but I also think the character, not to mention the show, is weaker with it entirely gone. It's such an integral idea to the show that I'll never understand why so many want it gone. Yes, this is mostly because I kind of hated the sonic sunglasses, but that's also because the browser history jokes were tiring after one instance.
TimDRX
Active Member
There was a pretty noble intention behind Capaldi not getting one for most of his run; he wanted to make it easier for kids to dress up as the Doctor. That's why his costume is so simple too - very easy to put together a cheap approximation of it! He kept Smith's screwdriver for a while, apparently so poorer parents wouldn't have to get a new toy at Xmas. Though he also (mostly) kept Smith's TARDIS desktop which seemed more like a budget thing than a fan consideration. Made it his own though!
Funnily enough the directive the prop designer for Fourteen's got was "make it something every kid will want for Xmas" so... that's cool.
I was glad he did finally get one though. Easily my favourite Sonic Screwdriver design. The chasing lights are beautiful.
Agreed. I LOVE that sonic, as well as 14's, thought I wish both got more screen-time.There was a pretty noble intention behind Capaldi not getting one for most of his run; he wanted to make it easier for kids to dress up as the Doctor. That's why his costume is so simple too - very easy to put together a cheap approximation of it! He kept Smith's screwdriver for a while, apparently so poorer parents wouldn't have to get a new toy at Xmas. Though he also (mostly) kept Smith's TARDIS desktop which seemed more like a budget thing than a fan consideration. Made it his own though!
Funnily enough the directive the prop designer for Fourteen's got was "make it something every kid will want for Xmas" so... that's cool.
I was glad he did finally get one though. Easily my favourite Sonic Screwdriver design. The chasing lights are beautiful.
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I have a collection of Sonics- that one is my all time favorite. Instead of a glowy light and a noise, this one looks like it is actually doing something.
I really liked Capaldi but he was only given a handful of good scripts- such a waste
I really liked Capaldi but he was only given a handful of good scripts- such a waste
TimDRX
Active Member
It's interesting reading the development of that prop - it was meant to have red lights originally and there are some behind the scenes and promo videos showing the first version indeed had red lights.
It was operated with a mouse wheel style toggle and Capaldi found it too awkward to use, scrolling past the intended lights. At the same time Character Options had been working with Nick Robatto to make the toy of it, which features very accurate dimensions but very different electronics with the slider style switch and blue n' green light options, no red. IIRC Nick liked the toy style electronics more than his original ones so he popped those in the prop and it lost the red option.
Since Capaldi took a year off and the prop wasn't ready in time for filming Hell Bent, I dunno if the red light mouse wheel version ever made it into in an episode. It's only in one shot in Hell Bent, and it's very ambiguous whether it's activated with mouse wheel turn or not, and it certainly doesn't use the red lights.
As far as I know his Rubbertoe Replicas still use the Character Options electronics!
As for his episodes... give 'em a rewatch! I think they get better every time. Even his superhero Xmas episode that I thought was absolute rubbish the first time round, found myself appreciating it a lot more later.
also the Husbands of River Song might be my favorite episode with her. The Doctor finally getting to drop a "hello sweetie" on her was wonderful.
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