Why are you only counting Moffat seasons with your "four magic reset buttons." There isn't a season finale of this version of the show that doesn't magically undo the threat.

I think on the whole, this season and season 5 are comparable in their lack of episodes that swing hard but totally miss. As someone below mentioned, Season 1 introduced villains who, while in human form were fat, farting politicians (also the finale started with far future renditions of reality shows that were…

Clara wasn't remotely anything in 7B, she was a human female who spoke fast. But in-universe we can only go by what is in the script. My best guess is with her big Time Lady smarts Missy was able to see the person Clara would become if exposed to the Tardis lifestyle.

Question: How did she get the Tardis' phone number to call for tech support?

I've not seen much Classic Who, but I believe the Time Lords granting additional regenerations has precedent in several prior stories. It's also an easy way to explain why Rassilon still is the leader of Gallifrey after all this time… basically he's in the Gallifreyan 1% and gets as many lives as he pleases.

I was glad to see a bit more attention paid to the fact that Missy brought the Doctor and Clara together in Hell Bent. That idea seemed a bit under developed in the season 8 finale when nothing much came of it… But seeing how the Doctor was willing to put the rest of the universe in danger to save her tonight really…

The only real issue I have with Hell Bent is with the Doctor losing his memories of his time with Clara… It's kind of the same issue as with Donna, he just has grown and changed so much since he met Clara, arguably because of his relationship with her. Although, this is softened slightly by the fact that the Doctor…

I'd jump on this conversation, but I'm still exhausted from defending "Kill the Moon" in the comments for "Sleep No More."

I was reminded strongly of the end of the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. That one is admittedly more magical / less science fiction, but it still plays out as this sort of purgatorial loop with Roland having the same journey over and over again, making a little bit more progress each time until he can finally get…

I like the idea of ranking Davies and Moffat Who as separate entities because they at least have the same "goal" so you can easily rate their success against the same standard. Meanwhile the strengths and flaws are so different between Davies and Moffat that it becomes difficult to compare them. As far as your…

If however, you accept that each episode is rated on its own merits and not in comparison to every possible Doctor Who story that exists / could exist, then giving an A to a story such as "The Woman Who Lived" is still totally valid. Episodes should be rated to their success in achieving what they set out to do.

Haha yes, I was expecting the episode to be a more literal Moffat loop / bootstrap paradox when I saw some of the clues. The twist of making it a linear loop with a definite "first" Doctor was a great way to subvert that, but also does require a naked Doctor dying the first time.

I'm not trying to say you're wrong at all, because of course all opinions are valid with this type of thing, but I'm curious to which seasons of Doctor Who would you say were more successful than this one? I do tend to disagree, I think this has been probably the most consistent the show has been in terms of telling…

I would agree with you if Doctor Who cliffhanger endings were never intentionally misleading. As it stands though, I feel that Moffat worded that last line very intentionally, with both meanings being equally possible, so that the fans would have this exact conversation. I tend to fall on the Ashildr = Me side because…

Could be that, Moffat did the same with River and her specifically mentioning the crash of the Byzantium in the Library two-parter.

It seems far more likely the quote was "The hybrid … is Me" which is what Ashildr has consistently been calling herself since she gained immortality (Lady Me in "Woman Who Lived," Mayor Me in "Face the Raven.") She is a Viking Human + Mire technology (two warrior races) and it would justify the writer's decision for…

I think it's unfair to blame Capaldi for the lack of whimsy in season 8. He's a great actor, but is still bound by the scripts which were much more… introspective and serious maybe? The decision to prioritise a discussion about the Doctor's nature over whimsy and fun certainly happened at a higher level than Capaldi…

Curious moment when the Doctor psychically connected with the door to open it at the beginning. Is Moffat laying seeds for a Doctor who doesn't need a sonic? Also a surprisingly emotional moment, considering life as a door:

Best to keep in mind we are still in part one of two (or two of three.) My guess as to the initial plan: the Time Lords got Maisie Williams to teleport the Doctor inside the Confession Dial (which is bigger on the inside, true to form for Time Lord tech.) There was a fake Tardis at the center as bait to get the Doctor…

I wonder what rating The Empire Strikes Back would have if it was released in 2015?