Dr. Who Reaction 11x8 - The Witchfinders
Added 2024-12-07 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
Comments
I was embarrassed when I saw the Doctor and the apple bobbing image on the ratings page - "How could I have been so careless as to have used THAT image" - but when I scanned through all the IMDB images after watching the reaction I realised it was actually the best one they had.
Andrew Vignaux
2024-12-10 12:17:55 +0000 UTCThank you for your thoughts about the episode and all the additional info. :) Haha I use quotation marks all the time as well :D
Nicologik
2024-12-10 11:50:46 +0000 UTCThank you for the additional information :)
Nicologik
2024-12-10 11:48:26 +0000 UTCI do still look at the ratings, but don´t worry, i don´t take them too serious anymore :)
Nicologik
2024-12-10 11:47:55 +0000 UTCYou have the same doorbell sound? That´s funny :) I´m so sorry you had no electricity over the weekend. That´s a long time to be without electricity. :/
Nicologik
2024-12-10 11:47:09 +0000 UTCDon´t worry about the images you use. I really appreciate the work you put into this site. You can use whatever picture you find and belive is the best for you :)
Nicologik
2024-12-10 11:45:50 +0000 UTC"These are hard times for women. If we're not being drowned, we're being patronised to death", The Doctor, "The Witchfinders" This is an interesting twist on a witch-trial story with aliens filling in the supernatural details and humans just being judgemental monsters as usual. And I do like the Doctor's strict assertion that the group not interfere with the fundamental fabric of history, before proceeding to do just that. "Honestly, if I was still a bloke, I could get on with the job and not have to waste time defending myself.", The Doctor, "The Witchfinders" Actually, I think the most interesting thing about this story is the Doctor being frustrated in her attempts to sort out the situation because of now being a woman and women's position in that society. BTW: This story was the first one in years that was both written and directed by women. The previous story was all the way in Classic Who - and this time we have a female Doctor as well. "Or else, we will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger.", "Ezekiel.", "Tarantino.", Graham, "The Witchfinders" And Graham is wonderful again of course. "A cunning ruse, using your innate aptitude for nosiness and gossip.", King James, "The Witchfinders" One thing I have never understood about this story is why King James (1566-1625) is spending so much time in this tiny little Lancashire village in northern England. Stephen mentioned that King James gave his name to the King James Bible. King James also is the reason that the first English colony in the Americas was named "Jamestown" in Virginia. BTW: the state of Virginia is probably(?) named after Queen Elizabeth - who didn't have any children - hence the name. James was Elizabeth's cousin and was already King of Scotland. But because there were no other people in line, he became King of England (and Ireland) an addition to being King of Scotland. Interestingly, he is named King James the 1st of England and King James the 6th of Scotland - due to the fact that there were 5 previous James who were Kings of just Scotland. Another thing King James' reign is famous for is "The Gunpowder Plot" which was a plot to blow up the parliament buildings just prior to his opening of the Parliament in 1605. Which is why there are the November 5th bonfire night celebrations complete with fireworks. "Apple bobbing! I love apple bobbing.", The Doctor, "The Witchfinders" Sorry about the apple bobbing used as the story image, but it was the best image available on IMDB. There were no images of the mud-monsters or of the Morax Queen which would have been much better. Oh, well. "No, sire. I am no witch. I'm just good at holding my breath, and getting out of chains, thanks to a very wet weekend with Houdini.", The Doctor, "The Witchfinders" I love the name-dropping here. "One final command as your King. Come back to London with me, Ryan. Be my protector.", The Doctor, "The Witchfinders" King James is rumored to have preferred the company of handsome young men, leading some people to speculate about his sexuality. This is probably why the script has him being attentive to Ryan in this story. Thank you for producing a reaction in spite of your recording problems this week.
Andrew Vignaux
2024-12-10 07:36:18 +0000 UTCNot one of my favourites I have to be honest, better than I remember though. I have to tell you when your doorbell rang I went to see if someone was at my door as it sounds exactly the same. I share your frustration at the stupidity of the characters and I suspect the writer is addressing the current rise in misogyny. Sorry my comment is later than usual I had no electricity over the weekend and watched your reaction Monday evening x
Jenny Smyth
2024-12-09 19:01:11 +0000 UTCThis episode is a disappointment for me. It was written by Joy Wilkinson, one of the UKs best dramatists (I have several of her adaptations on CD), but it felt as though she was signed up in order to have another prestigious writers name on the show. Unfortunately she turned in nothing special. For me,the episode is only made entertaining through Alan Cummings' fun OTT performance. Brace yourself for more of the same from IMDB. It doesn't need to be said,why they were so determined to award poor reviews.
Ian Smith
2024-12-08 15:01:49 +0000 UTCSo I don't think this will count as a spoiler but the novelisation of this story has an extra bit at the end where Willa, years later, is once again about to be hung as a witch only to be saved by the Doctor. It turns out she does have some magic inside her. and she ends up as one of the three fates from mythology with the other two being Clara and Ashildr (Me) I really like this story. It's fun and Alan Cummings is great as the king. It's a 4/5 and I have it placed at 51st/140 so just missing out being in my top 50.
Jade Ellis
2024-12-07 18:37:55 +0000 UTCI must admit that, for me, this is probably the weakest of the stories so far this season/series. There is even more of the exposition. Constantly telling and explaining rather than showing. The performances from Siobhan Finneran (Becka) and Alan Cummings (King James) are both a bit over-the-top. It would be fine to have one character behaving like a bit of a caricature. That's part of Doctor Who, but both of them was overdoing it for me. Maybe I'm picky. I do enjoy some parts of it and I would certainly give it a score somewhere between 7 and 7.4. King James (the first of England and the sixth of Scotland) was the son of "Mary Queen of Scots", who was a cousin of Elizabeth the first. He commissioned an English language translation of the Bible which for centuries was used in most English churches. It is still known as the King James Version or the "Authorised Version". Some people in both Britain and the USA give the impression that they think it is the only "real" English version! James was for quite a time obsessed with witchcraft and wrote a long tract about it. He even supervised the torture of some of those accused. In later life though, he became more sceptical. Ducking stools almost certainly were not used to find out if people were witches. They were used as "punishment" for women who didn't conform. Women who were supposedly disorderly or accused of being "scolds". This has got mixed up with a different practice of throwing alleged witches into water to see if they float or sink. If they floated then they were a witch. I don't think that those who sunk would be left to die but I imagine that quite a few did. Madness and misogyny. Doesn't Jodie's Doctor say "presumably" a lot? Although probably not as much as I used quotation marks in my ramblings here.
Stephen Males
2024-12-07 16:47:43 +0000 UTC
