That's why I'm glad he's spending "24 years" with River—in his own Doctorish way, he'll finally stay with her and treat her like a wife/partner.

I love your idea of bringing back former companions for individual adventures (Captain Jack would be fantastic). It might be better than introducing a new companion (though the new showrunner might want an S10 companion to serve as the "transition" to the new Doctor/era). And if they're going to do a 10th…

If S10 is to be Moffat and Capaldi's last, I hope Moffat doesn't try to create a grand new arc. I think he just needs to explore the intriguing questions raised in S9: Missy and the Daleks, for instance—what idea did she come up with at the end of "The Witch's Familiar"? Where's Rassilon? If he goes back to…

About the genuine emotion—I think Moffat got better at drawing it out in S9. There were moments between Twelve/Ashildr (the tavern scene), Twelve/Clara (in "Hell Bent") and Twelve/River that were truly moving to me. And the reveal of what Twelve chooses to do with the wall in "Heaven Sent" packed the biggest…

Right; I get the feeling that no one wants the job anymore because the fans have gotten so vociferous/demanding.

Yes, all good points. I just didn’t find these characters enjoyable. I’m not saying that Amy/Clara’s lack of
parent-interaction is better or made any sense. I’m actually not a fan of Moffat’s Companions; I just like his stories and the themes he explores more. And I adore Capaldi.

I really enjoyed "Utopia" and "The Sound of Drums"—I LOVED the Ten/Jack/Martha combo, and I thought Simm's Master was a hoot—but as you said, "Last of the Time Lords" was really poor (despite Martha's awesomeness), and it really brings that arc down for me. From the other episodes you listed, I enjoyed Nine's…

Ah—"Waters of Mars"—Yes! (Interestingly, both of these episodes are Companion-less, making them less RTD-ish, if that makes sense.)

Yes, I see what you're saying—their reasons were definitely justified (in the cases of Jackie and Mrs. Jones—I don't think I'll ever like Mrs. Noble). It just felt repetitive to have each of these mothers in a row be (or start out) "anti-Doctor."

Right now, there's a lot of negativity toward Moffat, but I have a feeling that his series will "age" better than RTD's. For some reason, whenever I watch episodes from S1-4 and the Tennant Specials now, I'm kind of weirded out by how dated they already seem. Moffat is guilty of his own pop culture references…

From all the debates I've read online, I think it comes down to this: RTD created more consistent characters with more believable emotions and backstories, while Moffat seems to emphasize clever twists and paradoxes over emotional depth. RTD humanized the Doctor (giving him a romance with Rose and a best friend in…

Oh, I hope Capaldi stays a while, too. I worry, though—there are lots of rumors swirling about that the next series will be his last. It would be so unfortunate if that's true, as people are just now warming up to him. He's a wonderful Doctor—one of the best ever—and he's a fantastic ambassador for the show.

YES—those factors kept me from fully enjoying the "The Snowmen," but I did like this Clara's (and, earlier, Oswin's) interaction with Eleven. (At this point, I was really excited for the new companion, but then modern-day Clara turned out less dynamic than I had hoped.)

I agree; most of the Who Christmas specials over the past 9 series have been only so-so (up until now, I've only liked "A Christmas Carol" and "Last Christmas," with "The Snowmen" getting some points for fun Victorian Clara). But this one is definitely the best, because, as you said, the quiet moments were so…

My heart broke when that line came; Capaldi's delivery was so quiet and gentle. But then came "You are SO doing those roots."—"What, the roots of the sunset?!" and I couldn't stop laughing. I bought these two as a couple, and what I love most about the beautiful ending is that the Doctor is actually going to BE…

I watched it and loved it (this is coming from someone who has mixed feelings about River). I don't want to spoil it, except to say that the chemistry between Capaldi and Kingston is fantastic and the final scene is lovely.

I loved S9—the highs were so high ("Heaven Sent") and the weaker episodes, like you said, were still intriguing experiments. Capaldi is a fantastic Doctor, who's hopefully won people over, even though Twelve was hard to like at first. I see him as the opposite of Ten and Eleven: he's a Doctor you come to respect…

I hope Mad Men, Master of None, and Doctor Who are in the Top 20….

Yes, I was haunted by Smerdyakov; his taking Ivan so seriously led to the murder and all of Ivan's torment.

The Brothers Karamazov. Took me until about page 200 to really get into it, but then it took off and I couldn't put it down. Each brother was fascinating, but I think Ivan's the one who moved me the most.