The Beast Below (3102/502)

[Joachim]

It was a bit of a rushed mess, I think. An enjoyable rushed mess, though.

I like Matt, but I'm a bit worried about where he's going. A bit too indecipherably blabby still.

[pbellosom]

Finally managed to watch it, as others are saying it's not the best episode, the first half of DW seasons rarely are, but still very watchable. I would've have liked more explanation of what the Smilers and the Winders really are though.

I like to think I would have pressed the "Protest" button, but not sure what I'd actually do in real life, how about the rest of you?

Esspecially how The Doctor acts like such an old man now in his body language, even though he has the energy of a 26 year old.

That's exactly the way I was looking for to describe him.

Can't believe I forgot this, but did anyone else recognise The Demon Headmaster? I noticed him right away and thought it was about time he was used in Doctor Who.

Knew I'd seen him somewhere, that was such a good show.

I liked the mentions to the solar flares of the late 29th century which devastated Earth. For those of you not in the know...we see what happened to the "best of the best" of the human race and what became of Earth some hundreds of years after the solar flares in the 1975 stories The Ark in Space and The Sontaran Experiment. I recommend checking them out.

I really love how much attention Moffat pays to past things like that. I still can't work out whether Magpie Electricals is just an Easter Egg or whether it's going to pay off like Bad Wolf.

I don't think there will be a romance...He's Gandalf to her Bilbo.

In certain sections of the internet, the two are not mutually exclusive

[Madeleine]

I thought the line "I'll have to find a new name because I won't be the Doctor any more" was pretty good. I felt for him, the poor chap. (Glad he didn't have to stop being The Doctor)

Loved how he broke to Amy that they were standing on a tongue

[Replicator Todd]

Um, all I can really say is...Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Steven Moffat, I love you. Cannot wait for next week!

I loved the part when Amy was talking about running away from something she is scared of and the Doctor's response to me was a reference to Ten's final days.

[RandomlyGenerated]

The beast below was a pretty good episode, but not as good as I expected after the eleventh hour.

Some great lines though my favourite being.

"I'm going to stay out of trouble...badly."

[P-90_177]

Scots haven't been killing each other for it in acts of terrorism. Killing each other > campaigns. It's just a nice little joke to have though, saying to the Scottish character that the Scots wanted their own ship although it makes you wonder having seen the episode, if the UK had to use a Space Whale, what did the Scots use?

Well the Scots and other nations will have used engines. Afterall the Doctor mentioned that the ship was hollow in places. As if there should be an engine, it's just that there isn't one. My guess is that since Liz 10 said that UK was the last to leave then it was because they had some problems finishing spaceship UK off. That's when the starwhale showed up.

Still was it just me that thought of Discworld when they showed the StarWhale carrying spaceship uk on its back in the end?

Also I'm surprised no one (that I remember reading) has mentioned the new crack in space and time that we saw at the end of the eppy on the ship. Once again looking exactly like the one in Amelia Pond's wall .

[Rodney_Mckay]

I do wonder what happened to the rest of the world - and why GB was the only lot that needed a Star Whale.

[Blencathra]

I thought about Discworld as well. And a bit of the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy where Zaphod operates on his own brain in order to forget.

GB got left behind because we were probably the only ones fiddling about trying to find something eco friendly & cheap.

[MattSilver 3k]

Um, all I can really say is...Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Steven Moffat, I love you. Cannot wait for next week!

I'm starting to feel a little love for them too. Matt was fantastic in the scenes as he prepared to kill the whale. Lots of shouting and darkly humorous lines that resonated excellently ("Then I suppose they shouldn't call me The Doctor"). The whole mystery was cool, the darkness of the story brilliant executed, and the little humour moments still there and still great. Some nice creep-outs (The Smilers) too. And a big ol' heartwarming ending with Doc and Amy. Good times!

A little messy at times - I felt like the Mandy's story felt odd as she tagged along, and then she found Timmy... who kinda looked out of it. No explanation, but I believe the Liz 10/Star Whale plot was good enough to overshadow that messiness. Karen Gillian impressed me in her doubts about the wedding (Which I have no doubt will be explored later on). The crack at the end of the episode was intriguing - I did remember reading something about the series' big villain appearing in every episode somehow, so mayhaps these cracks are the big bads to watch for.

All in all, good times were had.

[pjt]

Great episode with a good twist. It was fun, how the Doctor got hurt when Amy tried to stop him making the choice. And it was also nice that it was her who solved the puzzle by only recognizing the similarities between the Doctor and the whale.

And she hasn't told him yet about the wedding.

[DigiFluid]

This one I really enjoyed. I really appreciate stories that aren't set on Earth. When they leave the safe confines of modern London/Cardiff, they're really able to stretch their creative legs. Episodes like The End of the World, Girl in the Fireplace, The Impossible Planet, Gridlock, Utopia and now this....and that's just some stores from new Who, never mind the old series. Love stuff like this, even if the "star whale" thing was kind of...eh. Still really loved the whole setting.

Matt Smith, fortunately, is not a one-trick pony. I think he was pretty fantastic in this episode too. I really loved David Tennant as Ten, and was pretty wary of this new young guy. But he's really awesome; I was quite impressed when he got pissed off at Amy.

Karen Gillian is also fantastic already. Besides her awesome chemistry with Matt Smith, I think she really stands up well on her own too. She had a bunch of this episode either alone or with other characters and I think she was awesome there too. I especially enjoyed her big shining moment at the end--that she was the one who saved the day rather than the Doctor.

Another thing: I'm not sure if it's just because the show is in HD this year but.... Is it just me or does the show seem to have a way higher production quality now?

[Pharaoh Atem]

i wasn't impress with this ep. this show just feels so different i kinda miss the running around style of the tenth doctor.

felt bad for the whale and that crack appeared again

[Alan]

Matt Smith's Doctor has been a joy to watch! He's great! Matt seems to bring a sort of university student curiosity and excitement and energy and a sort of eccentric, bonkers university professor too in his performance. All that mixed in with the Doctor's alien behaviour as well as bringing through through elements of the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, and 10th Doctor's in his performance makes for a winning combination! Matt has slipped in to the role effortlessly as far as I'm concerned. He owns the role through and through. He is the Doctor!

[SaberBlade]

We probably invented somthing, were good at that. Called it somthing inventive like.... The Deep Fat Flyer!

Or it turns out Nessy was real and the Scots used it to fly away.

Well the Scots and other nations will have used engines. Afterall the Doctor mentioned that the ship was hollow in places. As if there should be an engine, it's just that there isn't one. My guess is that since Liz 10 said that UK was the last to leave then it was because they had some problems finishing spaceship UK off. That's when the starwhale showed up.

Still was it just me that thought of Discworld when they showed the StarWhale carrying spaceship uk on its back in the end?

Also I'm surprised no one (that I remember reading) has mentioned the new crack in space and time that we saw at the end of the eppy on the ship. Once again looking exactly like the one in Amelia Pond's wall .

I mentioned the crack. Said "Looks like we can expect the cracks to be a running theme during the season until the finale. I just hope we don't see one at the end of every episode."

Discworld is a good catch. I never thought of it until you mentioned it.

[mjwalshe]

Well the Scots and other nations will have used engines. Afterall the Doctor mentioned that the ship was hollow in places. As if there should be an engine, it's just that there isn't one. My guess is that since Liz 10 said that UK was the last to leave then it was because they had some problems finishing spaceship UK off. That's when the starwhale showed up.

Still was it just me that thought of Discworld when they showed the StarWhale carrying spaceship uk on its back in the end?

Also I'm surprised no one (that I remember reading) has mentioned the new crack in space and time that we saw at the end of the eppy on the ship. Once again looking exactly like the one in Amelia Pond's wall .

or even the giant thingy that was in the torchwood episide "meat"