The latest Doctor Who episode, Closing Time, has aired – but what did YOU think. Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.RELATED POSTS
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An episode that balanced humour and emotion to outstanding effect and we are shown a different side of the Doctor ,this sequence of episode has been of such a consistently high standard ,The wedding of River Song cannot come too soon
When will the cybermen be treated to a decent story? They deserve more than being a weak subplot in a shop changing room…
I miss the look of the old Cybermen. These newish types don't convey the same sense of threat. These 6 were supposed to pose a danger to the world but they got physically knocked around. The way they were defeated just did not do them, or Doctor Who as a show, any justice.
The episode was a bit gimmicky throughout and should have been a bit darker considering the Doctor's long life is about to be snuffed out.
Overall though, the show was worth watching for the undercurrent of what is to come in the series finale, including the eerie "Tick tock goes the clock" rhyme.
I think the producers should bear in mind that Doctor Who should amaze and cause wonderment; not descend into cheap slapstick gags. Next week looks bloomin' good though.
I'll have to watch it again to be sure, but it's Gareth Roberts' best, I think, and certainly the first by him to make me cry. Alfie/Stormy was wonderful, as narrated by the Doctor, James Cordon's Craig was terrific as Everyman and the Doctor's friend, the cameo with Amy and Rory was sweet and unexpected, and the attempted conversion of Craig was truly terrifying. But it was Matt's performance of Roberts' words that really got to me. Well done, everyone.
I thought it was dreadful. As suggested above, exactly why one of the oldest and most terrible enemies of the Doctor was treated as a subplot is beyond me. The best I can say about the episode is that it ticked off a number of blank boxes.
Doctor monologue about being aware of his impending doom, check.
Distance from Amy and Rory, check.
Stand-in for companion to cover above point, check.
Cameo of villian who appears every season (either Dalek or Cybermen), check.
Set up the next episode for a long time, check.
Without debate, this is the weakest penultimate episode of a season since the series reboot.
"Without debate"
Oh okay, I guess your opinions are the inarguable truth now.
I thought it was brilliant, very funny, the Cybermen weren't in it much but I don't care much about them anyway, and it left room for more gay subtext between the Doctor and Craig. Even the characters who had about five minutes screen time, like Val, were likeable. And the ending got me really pumped for next week.
It was the kind of episode that could have been so much better. The cybermats came off like toys instead of the creepy crawly, out-of-the-corner-of-your-eye monsters they are. The conversion scene was claustrophobic and dull. Thinking back to Tomb of the Cybermen, the scene needed to be terrifying like old Cybermen stories. Kill the Cybermen with love? Either do that or don't, it just seemed to fall short. Great light-hearted bits. Liked hearing what the kids thought of the Doctor at the very end. Craig is fun.
I loved it. I don't need, or even want, every episode to be some big, important, game changing event and this one reminds we why. It was funny and exciting and frightening and sad and I can't wait to watch it again. Loved seeing Amy and Rory in cameo. I think Matt Smith has really grown into the role and it shows in Closing Time.
I think I was expecting something more climactic, and I didn't really see the Cybermen as the terrors they were in episodes past. Overall I liked it and am really looking forward to the last episode. So much could happen/not happen; I'm going to watch and enjoy without any expectation. This series has been excellent and after "Let's Kill Hitler" I know the "Wedding" could be absolutely anything. I'm so looking forward to it, yet sad that the series has to end…but there's always Christmas! :-))
Enjoyed the Doctor's emotional moments immensely, let out fangirly squee at Cybermats.
Was in danger of losing an eye was eyerolling so hard at Cybermen (that is the worst conversion scene they ever did. EVER!)
The overall episode felt a bit flat and waaaay too gimmicky
Quite simply the biggest load of tripe, that this current production team have served up. From award winning drama series to Laurel and Hardy, but that's insulting L&H, who were very good.
Diminishing returns, really! Craig not as good, cybermen not as good, Doctor adapting to modern life not as funny – even within the episode some of the jokes got less funny as they were repeated. It's not a poor episode, but I feel like we've seen everything here before not only done better, but done better recently. I feel like I've heard the "tick tock" rhyme a couple of times too many, now, but hey ho.
Incidentally – in Night Terrors, the villains were defeated by love. In The God Complex, the minotaur was defeated by faithlessness. In Closing Time, the villains were defeated by love. If you squint hard enough, the Doctor was kind of saved by love in Let's Kill Hitler, but you've got the regenerations there, so I'm not going to try and squeeze it in, but it feels like there are a lot of fluffy resolutions this series. This half of the series, in particular. Nothing innately wrong with it, but I can't say it's not wearing me down. I don't half miss the elegance of "you should kill us all on sight."
But listen to me, moaning away. I should stop now, 'cause I'm spoiled rotten. I'm very glad the Doctor's on TV right now, and can't wait for the next episode. I'm glad Matt Smith's playing the Doctor, I'm glad Steven Moffat's writing for him, I'm glad we're getting so many stupendous episodes (The Girl Who Waited knocked it out of the park), I'm glad of the frequent doses of Alex Kingston, I'm savouring what looks like it might be the last of Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, and I'm delighted that we're getting another series next autumn. I'm very lucky that I can afford to be so picky. But this is, doubtless, the first time since 2005 that I've not enjoyed a series more than its predecessor, so do humour my curmudgeonly whining!
I thought it was an ok episode, but it's too filler-ish to sit so late in the season.
And why are the Ponds in Colchester?
7 deep thoughts here:
http://theoncominghope.blogspot.com/2011/09/doctor-who-closing-time.html
I enjoyed the Closing Tim episode. It delivered something different before the dark denounment of the Doctor's Death. It was great to see the Doctor in that situation. For once he was talking about his worries and the "companion (Craig)" wasn't listening. It gave some lovely moments of humour. Though the Cybermen I have to agree weren't served well. When is some one going to adapt Spare Parts. Sword Of Orion or The Harvest for tv??!!! The coversion reversal was a limp plot device, but hey it did what it said on the tin.
So! If the Doc is going to visit the Owens again. Is a grown up Alfie, going to be a companion?
Not the best but really enjoyed it. It was going to be difficult balancing the emotion of the Doctor's imminent death with a standalone episode but Gareth Roberts wrote just enough humor to make it work.
Loved the Cybemats, Craig/Eleven relationship and the Doctor's talk with Alfie(beautifully film). The shushing moments and air kisses were an added bonus. Matt does wonderfully with humor and children and I hope they explore it more in future episodes.
Loved it! Great balance of comedy and saddness. Makes the filler episodes worth it to. A bit soppy and made me cry however will name future offspring stormageddon lol
Well I think the "love" angle may well be important in why the Doctor survives the next episode, so I have a feeling that the string of episodes involving that have had a purpose.
I definitely enjoyed this episode as I have the whole season, but clearly every episode Doctor Who continues to be divisive among the fans. Really we're going to have what promises to be an extraordinarily dark episode next, we've had several very dark episodes in a row, I think people would have complained just as much if this episode hadn't been a lighter hearted episode.
Light-hearted is fine, it just needed some tuning. The cybermen are frightening, they don't just abduct, they are like a labotomy and a castration all in one. Why treat them like candy? This may have been better with a single cyberman. It would have been easier to sympathize and in doing so draw parallels to the Doctor's own impending death. I just think it missed the mark.
I was looking forward to it because of James Corden but the cybermen to me were not as frightening as they were with the 10th or indeed with TW, but this was lame by any standards. I thought it was a good twist at the end with the crying baby to alter Corden's character to react and become a non cyberman but the elements to that were different to the normal way we looked at Cybermen in the past and the maggot things with teeth!!! I'm sorry but it was just a little too laughable and even the kids weren't impressed. Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear but I wasn't impressed and that's a first for me as a Doctor Who fan
I think it was good episode. I think over-all series 6 has been dark so some fluff and laughter was a nice change of pace. Matt Smith is fast becoming my favourite actor in the role – Sorry, Peter! 🙁
Negative: Cybermen are now just a bit of a joke aren't they? 🙁
Amy and Rory – That was stupid. Made no sense and no idea why they would be shopping in that area in the first place and what child wants the autograph of a perfume model?! Some weird child, that's who. 😛
The ending with River. OMG! Can it be Saturday already!
btw: Glad to hear that you guys will be doing commentaries for the Eccleston/Tennant era. Not so glad to hear that the drinking games had to stop! 😛
Just watched it again, enjoyed it even more the second time. My observation on the cybermen, yep, bit of a joke in this episode. However, they were also in shambles (as the doctor mentioned) and it was made clear that once they'd been fully repaired the 6 of them could have taken over the earth.
Oh also on the amy and rory thing, just because the only thing we saw her modeling was perfume doesn't mean that she wasn't doing more than just that. If she was the face of a campaign that large it isn't hard to believe she'd be all over.
@Evil Adam that's true. What confuses me more is the timeline. If, assuming this is pre-Impossible Astronaut Ponds, how do they know what petrichor is?