Sometimes its hard to tell with DW what's a plot hole, what's a set up, and what's a plot hole that will be retconned into a set up. I for one don't mind when people bring that stuff up because it's fun to theorize until we have more answers (or until a plot point is sufficiently far behind us that we can assume it's…

No comments about this episode (I have mixed feelings about the TV show) but Dane Cook's appearance on the CBB Podcast was surprisingly great. Cook was more low key and down to earth than I anticipated and Aukerman gave a somewhat more straight-laced interview than he usually does. He showed Cook a lot more respect…

Dunno, it did leave a pile of dust behind when she used it…

Great episode all round but there was just one thing I wasn't super clear on (and it didn't get mentioned in this review) which is WHY did Missy set up Clara with The Doctor? We got confirmation that it was her (it was pretty heavily implied already) but no real explanation. Does she just get pleasure out of pairing…

Maybe it's because I don't go looking for opinions too much (except for here) but i haven't seen much vitriol against this season. In fact I've mostly seen it regarded as a return to form after the slump of season 7 (6 and 7 for the haters) and as Alasdair says at the end of this, on par with the best few seasons of…

I'd argue none of the subtitles of the previous Star Wars were particularly spine-tingling. "Empire Strikes Back" basically sounds like an elevator pitch / synopsis for a sequel. In fact I think, removed from the context of the years we've had to look back on it, "The Phantom Menace" is probably one of their better…

If people won't pay Fox to watch their advertisements, they want no part of it! Th-that's, um, how advertising works right?

Yeah I can't imagine why people aren't buying the album that was given for free to the demographic of people who buy the most music

I mean compared to RTD… Season 1 Daleks, Season 2 Cybermen and Daleks, Season 3 the Master, Season 4 Davros and the Daleks, David Tennant's last episodes the Master

I find the more authentic Scott Aukerman is the more I like him. His TV show is highly in character and I really can't get into it as much as I'd like to. On the CBB Podcast though he's less, I dunno produced I guess and the show benefits from it. Then on really loose podcasts (U Talkin U2 To Me? and Analyze Phish for…

What about "Writer and performer on a fairly popular HBO program?"

Thumbs up for Malazan, one helluva book commitment.

"With the blessing of the estates of both Kubrick and Clarke"
Hmm… I'm intrigued, maybe I'll just check this out…

Except that there isn't really an afterlife in the episode, just a scam dreamt up by Missy (should we be calling her The Mistress?) preying on human fears and stories utilizing impossible technology. Sounds pretty Doctor Who to me.

I guess I feel like the dream sequence in itself was cheap, or rather made the volcano scene as a whole feel cheap. There are other ways for the Doctor to control the situation. That said it's one minute out of a great episode out of a fantastic season so maybe I shouldn't pick nits.

I really liked the volcano scene, but the "dream state" reveal was so abrupt that it kind of undercut the preceding bit. Now I'm no writer but I think it could have played out exactly as it did, but after Clara throws the last key and has the confrontation the Doctor snaps his fingers and the doors open anyway. That…

Agreed. And when it is used I don't find myself rolling my eyes i.e. Rings of Akhatan

My first point is just that I am super glad to see a transition away from the "it doesn't work on wood" one-liner. I noticed it in the 50th Anniversary episode when he said the door was too primitive ("Would you like to ask for a better quality door so we can escape?") In today's episode he remarks that the trees are…

Regardless of the final letter grade ascribed to each episode, Alasdair has always been very fair to dole out criticism within the body of his review. I've come to see his letter grades as how a Doctor Who fan (not fanboy) might feel about the episode. Keep in mind as well, this review was up just a few hours after…

Throwing away is a harsh way to put it. Personally I don't have as much an issue with it, but when I see harsh Moffat criticism it's usually either in the form of "he's sexist," or "he takes too many liberties with DW canon." The siege mode isn't that significant of an addition (compared to say, Clara's meeting with…