Dr. Who Reaction Series 9 - Under the Lake
Added 2024-02-03 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
Comments
The way all of you are talking about this episode makes me afraid of the Youtube comments :D (Just kidding) Like I said in the other replies, maybe I´ll like it more, once I´ve watched the second part. :) Thank you for the sign language translation. :) I like that they chose an actress that is really deaf. I tried to learn sign language a few years back, but I had noone to talk to, so I forgot most of it unfortunately. Thank you for letting me know about those bells. I had no idea that they were invented in Classic Who, but then again I guess almost everthing about Dr. Who was invented in Classic Who. Love those science rants :D :D And I have no idea why the ghost left Lunn alone.
Nicologik
2024-02-05 10:22:09 +0000 UTCI know a lot of episodes that I liked more on the second watch. Maybe this is another one of them. Maybe I´m just missing the second part, and I will appreciate it more in hindsight once I´ve watched the second part. :)
Nicologik
2024-02-05 10:15:56 +0000 UTCI guess you might be right. Maybe once I´ve watched the second part I will like the first part more as well. I guess we´ll find out soon :) Thank you for explaining the Aberdeen bit, I didn´t really get that joke, but it was funny anyways :D
Nicologik
2024-02-05 10:14:18 +0000 UTCI guess my expectations really were too high after that opening. And also I think that I might need to watch both episodes in order to rate them. Maybe once I´ve seen them both I like the first part more as well, just cause it´s a part of a greater storyline. I guess we´ll find out in a few days. :)
Nicologik
2024-02-05 10:12:01 +0000 UTCI´m sorry that I didn´t like the episode, if it is your favorite. But like I said I have the feeling that once I watched them both my rating might improve. Maybe this is one of those stories where you have to know both parts in order to appreciate the story for what it is.
Nicologik
2024-02-05 10:09:32 +0000 UTCI forgot to mention. The Sarah Jane connection with the cue-cards in this one and the callback to "School Reunion" - the episodes have the same writer.
Andrew Vignaux
2024-02-04 07:55:27 +0000 UTC"I like adventures as much as the next man - if the next man is a man who likes adventures.", The Doctor, "Under the Lake". I think this is a perfectly good first part of a two-part story. It has a classic Base-Under-Siege feel, the slow (not boring) build-up as the Ghosts eliminate one base member after another (and thus increasing their own numbers) builds tension. There was an action sequence where the crew work together, running down corridors, to lure the Ghosts into the Faraday room. It all works for me. The fan sites also give this episode a good rating. The cue-cards are funny. I did like how you went back and freeze-framed to read them. As mentioned above, the "Aberdeen" apology is a Sarah Jane reference. It's nice they have a deaf actor playing the strong leader who is deaf, and use that character's skills in the plot. I don't know British Sign Language, but apparently when the Doctor tries to sign "go ahead" he actually signs "you're beautiful" - before he realises he has forgotten the language. It's interesting that the TARDIS cloister bell doesn't have the same impact to New Who viewers as to Classic Who viewers who have seen the critical Classic Who story when it was introduced. Whenever *I* hear those bells chiming in New Who, I know the TARDIS is "complaining" about something and it's something bad and we should start worrying. Now, if I can go on my usual bad-science rant: I don't like the Orion's Sword idea. In reality, those three objects are not lined up in a row indicating a direction to follow - instead they are all over the place in 3-dimensions. They only "look" like they're in a line from our perspective on Earth. Certainly, our Sun isn't a fourth item on a line with them - if they were then, from our point-of-view, they would be all on top of each other in the sky! The writers should check with an astronomer before writing stuff like this. The big question I have (wearing my "lack of knowledge of next-week" hat) is: why did the Ghost leave Lunn alone? "Clara, why don't I have a radio in the TARDIS?", "You took it apart and used the pieces to make a clockwork-squirrel.", The Doctor and Clara, "Under the Lake" Funny clockwork-squirrel joke.
Andrew Vignaux
2024-02-04 01:28:55 +0000 UTCYeah got to say I'm one of the people who love this story as well, although I will say although I liked it at the time I wasn't over enamoured with it on first watch. It grew on me after a second viewing. But yeah mainly for all the reasons others have mentioned above but I'll go into more when we get the next episode. Can't wait for the next reaction.
Jade Ellis
2024-02-04 00:18:18 +0000 UTCI am pretty much with Ian and Jenny on this episode. I really like it and I hoped that you would too. But that's life. We all evaluate things our own way. For me the "running away from the ghosts" scenes were really tense and I wouldn't have shortened them at all. The banter between Doctor and Clara is funnier than it has ever been and the two members of the crew that you singled out (the man who gets trapped by the ghosts and the signing lady) were enough to make me feel invested in their fate. Maybe I am saying that because I have already seen them in both episodes quite a few times, so I feel like I know and like them more. The cards are hilarious and, as Ian says, the "Aberdeen" (in Scotland) one is in reference to Sarah Jane Smith being left there by the Doctor when she actually lived in Croydon (South West London). She refers to it in Class Reunion.
Stephen Males
2024-02-03 20:10:24 +0000 UTCOh dear I thought you would really enjoy this episode. For me this series is the strongest of Capaldi’s tenure. I love this episode and part 2. But hey ho, as Ian says, we don’t all like the same things. The doctor and Clara I feel have really got into their stride now as a double act. There is good chemistry between them. One of the main reasons that Jenna decided to stay on was because she really liked working with Peter. The cards is a really funny scene (at least we can agree on that) I wonder if your expectations were too high after the series opener ? Anyway I think the rest of the series (apart from one episode) is really cracking. However I respect your opinion. xx
Jenny Smyth
2024-02-03 18:52:23 +0000 UTCOnce again, we appear to be at opposite ends of 'Who appreciation'. This story is one of my favourites! It's a thoughtfully constructed,claustrophobic, tense, occasionally funny, often scary, Base Under Siege type of storyline; which gives off decidedly Classic Who vibes. Capaldi is wonderful (sharp and acerbic one moment; silly and funny the next). The location is interesting; the paradoxes,intriguing; and that cliffhanger is hugely effective! Granted, I'm with you on the various characters that make up the Underwater Base personnel; aside from the blind woman, they're basically stock 'ghost fodder', and rather uninteresting. Nonetheless, I feel that this story is a decent 8.5 for me. Ah well :/ (Btw, the "Aberdeen card" was a reference to Sarah-Jane Smith)
Ian Smith
2024-02-03 15:42:45 +0000 UTC
