![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daibhidcThat was awesome.
I'm very afraid that anything I say about the actual themes will be trite, so I'm probably going to largely chicken out of doing so. I did like that there's no easy "aliens caused racism" explanation, and that it acknowledges that things might be better, but they still need to improve, and that the fight doesn't stop (note that the villain is a racist from the future -- his ideas might be completely unacceptable by his time, but they haven't magically gone away, so we need to make sure they stay unacceptable),
(I wonder if we're going to see him again. I know there's an upcoming episode set in 1940s India, but having "Oh, guess what, it's Racist Time Traveller again!" seems a bit obvious.)
Other things I liked were that Yaz gets a bit more to do, even if she is still a bit generic-companion, and the ongoing discussion of how awesome Grace was. And the first TARDIS scene establishing that they've been trying to get back to Sheffield for a while -- it might come very close to having a big sign saying "EXPANDED UNIVERSE STORIES CAN BE SET HERE", but it's always nice when the series remembers it's supposed to do that.
I also liked the quick continuity references. I understand Chibnall's trying to avoid them, but if you've got a villain who's been in a space prison and got hold of a quick'n'dirty time machine, why not say Stormcage and vortex manipulator? It's not like it means you need to be familiar with the Moffatt era to understand what's going on.
And next week they're back in Sheffield! Even with the unseen adventures, that's much faster than the "trying to bring reluctant companions home" schtick has lasted in the past. Which makes sense; Elizabeth Sandifer once pointed out that it worked for Ian and Barbara because the audience shared there uncertainty about the Doctor. It didn't work for Tegan, because by this point the audience knew that being a companion was the most awesome thing ever. So bringing them back to Sheffield relatively quickly so they can choose to keep travelling with her is probably the right call.
(On a note largely unrelated to the actual episode, I am not getting used to the Sunday slot. Having my veggieburger/pizza/whatever in front of the TV on a Saturday was fine, but taking proper Sunday dinner through to the living room just feels wrong.)
I'm very afraid that anything I say about the actual themes will be trite, so I'm probably going to largely chicken out of doing so. I did like that there's no easy "aliens caused racism" explanation, and that it acknowledges that things might be better, but they still need to improve, and that the fight doesn't stop (note that the villain is a racist from the future -- his ideas might be completely unacceptable by his time, but they haven't magically gone away, so we need to make sure they stay unacceptable),
(I wonder if we're going to see him again. I know there's an upcoming episode set in 1940s India, but having "Oh, guess what, it's Racist Time Traveller again!" seems a bit obvious.)
Other things I liked were that Yaz gets a bit more to do, even if she is still a bit generic-companion, and the ongoing discussion of how awesome Grace was. And the first TARDIS scene establishing that they've been trying to get back to Sheffield for a while -- it might come very close to having a big sign saying "EXPANDED UNIVERSE STORIES CAN BE SET HERE", but it's always nice when the series remembers it's supposed to do that.
I also liked the quick continuity references. I understand Chibnall's trying to avoid them, but if you've got a villain who's been in a space prison and got hold of a quick'n'dirty time machine, why not say Stormcage and vortex manipulator? It's not like it means you need to be familiar with the Moffatt era to understand what's going on.
And next week they're back in Sheffield! Even with the unseen adventures, that's much faster than the "trying to bring reluctant companions home" schtick has lasted in the past. Which makes sense; Elizabeth Sandifer once pointed out that it worked for Ian and Barbara because the audience shared there uncertainty about the Doctor. It didn't work for Tegan, because by this point the audience knew that being a companion was the most awesome thing ever. So bringing them back to Sheffield relatively quickly so they can choose to keep travelling with her is probably the right call.
(On a note largely unrelated to the actual episode, I am not getting used to the Sunday slot. Having my veggieburger/pizza/whatever in front of the TV on a Saturday was fine, but taking proper Sunday dinner through to the living room just feels wrong.)
