Random Notes:
- I liked the "709 Episodes Ago" bit, but even I'm not an obsessive enough fanboy to check their figures.
- I thought Bradley did well playing the First Doctor, considering that he faced the same insurmountable obstacle that Richard Hurndall did (gulp) thirty-four years ago, that of not being William Hartnell. It's a peculiarity of this program that while I can accept a new actor in the role of the Doctor, I find it hard to accept a new actor playing a specific incarnation of the Doctor. For me, William Hartnell was the Firsst Doctor, and any other actor is merely playing the First Doctor. That said, Bradley is a fine actor, and did about as good of a job in the role as one could hope for. I did think that the First Doctor's sexism was a bit overdone, but I blame Mofffat and his eternal desire to be "cute" for that. Really, why would a member of a race that can switch genders think of anything as "women's work"? TTo be fair, the line about the "smacked bottom" was a callback to an early Hartnell story.
- The Testimony refers to the Doctor as " the Imp of the Pandorica, the Shadow of the Valeyard, the Beast of Trenzalore, the Butcher of Skull Moon, the Last Tree of Garsennon, the Destroyer of Skaro, and the Doctor of War". "Thee Last Tree of Garsennon" is new, I'm pretty sure.
- The Captain turning out to be a Lethbridge-Stewart was fairly predictable.
- The scene with the Christmas Truce was very emotional for me. We really don't have to slaughter each other over stupid stuff, you know?
- It was good to see Rusty, Bill and Nardole again. I didn't even mind seeing the Implausible Impossible Girl again, although the storyline of the Doctor having to forget her forever quickly became "having to forget her for a few episodes".
- The regeneration was OK, but I wouldn't mind seeing one that doesn't blow up the TARDIS.
- "Oh, brilliant." We shall see...
Overall: Not perfect, but still quite good.
Replies
As a run up to watching it this evening (been out of town for a few days), I watched "The Tenth Planet." Having William Hartnell fresh in my head actually made me appreciate Bradley that much more. I thought he did a really fine job.
Doctor Hmmm? said:
I think Bradley did as well as anyone could have.The Baron said: