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radiantbabyI'm finding it really amusing watching fandom yet again hop on the whole Valeyard wagon.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the Valeyard (and the whole idea of him -- I'm easy for dark!Doctor plots, though) and I do think there is a possibility that John Hurt could be something like him (if not another version of him?), but many of the people screaming 'THE VALEYARD! HE'S THE VALEYARD!' have never even seen 'Trial of a Time Lord*' and have probably only read a wiki entry on the character at best!
Then again, we've had the same issue with that chunk of fandom that goes on and on about Handy being the Valeyard too (who have, again, never even seen an episode with the Valeyard in it). I love when you mention Jayston and they're like 'Who?'. *rolls eyes*
Maybe that makes me a snob, I don't know. It just seems weird to keep referencing a character that you barely know anything about. *shrug*
As for the episode itself, it's still settling in for me. I really need to rewatch it with my husband when he wakes up from his nap because my original reaction is bordering on meh. I thought there was a lot of pretty fan service and lots of interesting and awesome elements, but much like an RTD script (especially where finales were concerned), it felt more like A LOT OF COOL MOMENTS! and not a cohesive story. I can barely even tell you what the actual plot was. But then I was tired, irritable, and very low on spoons when I first watched it, so maybe that colored my opinion. I hope to like it more on rewatching it. Just right now it feels like a dessert that was ultimately tasty, but devoid of any real nutritional content. Oh, and the whole INTRODUCING JOHN HURT AS THE DOCTOR! breaking the fourth wall bit at the end fell a bit flat for me. I mean, I FREAKING LOVE JOHN HURT (and LOL at the random people who are like 'Is John Hurt the Doctor's name?' because they have no idea who he is -- the blasphemy!), but I could have done without the text. I think the should have just left the shot without over-explaining it. I just sort of cringed watching it.
(I feel bad about not loving this episode, too. Looking around I seem to be one of the only people who was not COMPLETELY AMAZED by it. I really wanted to be! I LOVE MOFFAT!WHO MUCHLY!)
* Admittedly it can be a challenging season to get through for some people. I love Six myself (eeee, I'm about to meet Colin for the first time next weekend!), but the plots are a bit hit or miss and I don't think it is one of the strongest seasons of Classic Who. Still, I have a sentimental attachment to it, so I'm a bit biased. Having said that, I do still think that if you're going to be completely obsessive about the Valeyard, you should at least watch one serial with him in it.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the Valeyard (and the whole idea of him -- I'm easy for dark!Doctor plots, though) and I do think there is a possibility that John Hurt could be something like him (if not another version of him?), but many of the people screaming 'THE VALEYARD! HE'S THE VALEYARD!' have never even seen 'Trial of a Time Lord*' and have probably only read a wiki entry on the character at best!
Then again, we've had the same issue with that chunk of fandom that goes on and on about Handy being the Valeyard too (who have, again, never even seen an episode with the Valeyard in it). I love when you mention Jayston and they're like 'Who?'. *rolls eyes*
Maybe that makes me a snob, I don't know. It just seems weird to keep referencing a character that you barely know anything about. *shrug*
As for the episode itself, it's still settling in for me. I really need to rewatch it with my husband when he wakes up from his nap because my original reaction is bordering on meh. I thought there was a lot of pretty fan service and lots of interesting and awesome elements, but much like an RTD script (especially where finales were concerned), it felt more like A LOT OF COOL MOMENTS! and not a cohesive story. I can barely even tell you what the actual plot was. But then I was tired, irritable, and very low on spoons when I first watched it, so maybe that colored my opinion. I hope to like it more on rewatching it. Just right now it feels like a dessert that was ultimately tasty, but devoid of any real nutritional content. Oh, and the whole INTRODUCING JOHN HURT AS THE DOCTOR! breaking the fourth wall bit at the end fell a bit flat for me. I mean, I FREAKING LOVE JOHN HURT (and LOL at the random people who are like 'Is John Hurt the Doctor's name?' because they have no idea who he is -- the blasphemy!), but I could have done without the text. I think the should have just left the shot without over-explaining it. I just sort of cringed watching it.
(I feel bad about not loving this episode, too. Looking around I seem to be one of the only people who was not COMPLETELY AMAZED by it. I really wanted to be! I LOVE MOFFAT!WHO MUCHLY!)
* Admittedly it can be a challenging season to get through for some people. I love Six myself (eeee, I'm about to meet Colin for the first time next weekend!), but the plots are a bit hit or miss and I don't think it is one of the strongest seasons of Classic Who. Still, I have a sentimental attachment to it, so I'm a bit biased. Having said that, I do still think that if you're going to be completely obsessive about the Valeyard, you should at least watch one serial with him in it.
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Date: 2013-05-19 11:49 pm (UTC)I wondered about the prisoner at the beginning. With the date and Madam Vastra telling him he murdered 14 women, I took him to be Jack the Ripper. With the little "research" I did today on Valeyard I see I may not be far off the mark, although the Ripper is only credited with 5, perhaps as many as 11, murders, no exact count has been given.
I read the Valeyard has been described as a "continuity nightmare." Amusing given how many people find Moffat himself a continuity nightmare it would seem. Does not surprise me that Moffat may try to resurrect this character. Continuity be damned.
I did enjoy Name of the Doctor if only for the fact that it at least acknowledged previous doctors and solved Clara's mystery, although now that she's become a paradox, I am uncomfortable with her as a companion. The sooner the Doctor is rid of her the better. She was created to save the Doctor? By whom? Tell me that and she might have more depth for me.
Paradoxes make me squirm because they are thrown about in sci-fi like jelly babies. I have even been known to write one or two. I wrote one where the Doctor agreed to show Rose his name, show, not tell because his name is not a name in the normal sense, but ended up showing her too much and she discovered that he met her when he was a baby, so that's why he fell in love with her (yeah, I know) but he could never know that. Gee, almost like Clara, Rose had been in the back of his mind all his life. If that's where Moffat is going with her, he's more romantic than anyone gives him credit for.