The Witch's Familiar (3502 / 902)

[Annoyed]

There's so much to like in this episode...

Don't forget the whole twist on Emperor Palpatine and "strike me down, use your hate" from Return Of The Jedi..

Oh, there was definitely an Emperor Palpatine vibe about Davros.

BTW does anyone know what the actual skating thing is that the snake guy was using to glide on in part 1? They showed it in the extras but it was very, very quick glimpse and you miss it? In the extras the actor said he was using it in a park to practice gliding....

Maybe I missed something else, but I thought that bit in the extras was Capaldi talking about Davros' Dalek wheelchair.

[Blencathra]

...Maybe I missed something else, but I thought that bit in the extras was Capaldi talking about Davros' Dalek wheelchair.

He's talking about this DW Extra from last week.

I think it might be a Swegway - http://www.ukswegways.co.uk/

[Blencathra]

I thought that was a great episode.

Once again I loved the interaction between Missy & Clara. Some hilarious moments.

C: Can I have a stick too?
M: Make your own stick.

M: Can you see the bottom?
C: It's too dark. We could chuck a stone down or something.
M: Oh yeah. Good idea. (Missy pushes Clara down the hole.)
C: Arrrgghhhh!
M: Twenty Feet.

C: You can't kill a Dalek with a brooch!
M: Yesyoucan yesyoucan.

I also loved the bit in black & white where you get a quick glimpse of the 4th Doctor & the 1st Doctor.

I was on the edge of my seat watching the talk between Davros and the Doctor. I genuinely did not know if Davros was being genuine or not. I thought it was very powerful and moving. Well done Julian Bleach giving such a great performance through all the prosthetics and make-up.

I guess that the Doctor showing mercy to Davros and that being absorbed into the Dalek consciousness is the reason for the scene in The Big Bang between River and the Dalek. River musn't have told the Doctor about that particular incident, as the 12th Doctor didn't know about it.



Some bits I am particularly interested in are that once again Missy references that she chose Clara to go with the Doctor, and that the Master/Missy has a daughter. Is it too obvious that the daughter will turn out to be

Spoiler:

Maisie Williams character in upcoming episodes?

Another thing that had me intrigued was the Time Lord prophecy about a Time Lord hybrid. Am I right in thinking that Davros said that the Doctor's possible participation in the prophecy was his reason for running away from Gallifrey? I am rather hoping that Davros has got part of the prophecy wrong. I really would like it to be a Time Lord/Cyberman hybrid.

[Coco Pops]

Actually I think the whole prophecy thing was some BS that the Doctor told child Davros and it got stuck in his mind.....

I'd love to see a spin off series with Missy / Clara...That would be so funny.

Are they allowed to say "b****" on a show like Doctor Who because I swear I heard that line from Missy "tell him the B is back."

Did Missy say something funny about Clara when the Doctor freed her from the Dalek? Seemed a bit odd? Also how did she fit in that case?

[Sealurk]

Rewatching the episode now, and I think I'm enjoying it even more. Some fantastic lines - "Admit it, you've all had this exact nightmare", "So, anyone for dodgems?", "Murdering a Dalek. I'm a Time Lady, it's our golf", "OKAY, THAT'S A BIT WEIRD" and "...Twenty feet" all got big laughs from me, even if I saw the last one coming a mile off - chalk that up to Michelle Gomez's inspired performance.

Mixed feelings about the Hostile Action Dispersal System, though I think I kind of like it as a result of the Doctor's tinkering with the TARDIS. Not so hot on the sonic sunglasses, hope they don't end up truly replacing the screwdriver - I can understand that the sonic was being overused but I'd still like to see it every now and then.

The Doctor being able to produce a cup of tea lends further credence, as if it was needed, to the idea that he has dimensionally transcendental pockets. That or he was successfully able to blackmail a Dalek into repeating it's "Would you care for some tea?" subroutine from a few years back...

Missy and Clara's banter was brilliant - I'm hoping this gives Missy the idea to get a companion (or mobile emergency rations might be a more appropriate term) of her own, and I do love it when villains work with protagonists.

As funny as Missy is, I think the more serious and dramatic moments in Michelle Gomez's performance are beautifully delivered.

The new facts about the Daleks were overall pretty good, the idea that they can't truly die was interesting and that while Cybermen suppress emotion Daleks channel it.

Davros being funny... twice! Both "The only other chair on Skaro" and "You are not a good doctor" made me chuckle, and that I did not expect coming from Davros. It definitely helped lull me into starting to believe his redemption. I do sort of wish it had been genuine on some level.

The ending would probably have been improved if the Doctor hadn't known, merely suspected, what Davros was going to do and at least for a while had truly started to believe him. Also the liquefied sewer daleks... maybe it's just me but I didn't quite get why they hated the full daleks so much.

I get the feeling this hybrid warrior prophecy and the Doctor's confession dial is going to become very significant...

[Pharaoh Hamenthotep]

Actually I think the whole prophecy thing was some BS that the Doctor told child Davros and it got stuck in his mind.....

Why would he do that? The Daleks didn't exist at that point. And there's no way the Doctor would give Davros the idea to create them so they could go on to create a hybrid together. It's very unlikely that the Doctor would tell Davros anything about his future.

Can you imagine it, the Doctor sitting child Davros down and telling him all about how he's going to be responsible for the genocide of his own race, and the Thals. And in his thousand years, he would be responsible for the deaths of billions of people.. and it has to happen because it leads to the last survivors of the greatest war in history meeting to create a hybrid creature, a more powerful version of the most feared and hated soldier race in the universe..

How could a child even begin to deal with that information? I don't see the Doctor saying any of that.

[Matt G]

1. Very interesting take on Missy here...sympathetic on this occasion...but completely out of her mind still...

2. "Missy...run". Yeah...

3. Very interestng dynamic between the Doctor and Davros and Davros...was Davros really happy for his old rival?

4. Undead Dalek sludge...revolting indeed...

Very tasty...

[Coco Pops]

Rewatching the episode now, and I think I'm enjoying it even more. Some fantastic lines - "Admit it, you've all had this exact nightmare", "So, anyone for dodgems?", "Murdering a Dalek. I'm a Time Lady, it's our golf", "OKAY, THAT'S A BIT WEIRD" and "...Twenty feet" all got big laughs from me, even if I saw the last one coming a mile off - chalk that up to Michelle Gomez's inspired performance.

Mixed feelings about the Hostile Action Dispersal System, though I think I kind of like it as a result of the Doctor's tinkering with the TARDIS. Not so hot on the sonic sunglasses, hope they don't end up truly replacing the screwdriver - I can understand that the sonic was being overused but I'd still like to see it every now and then.

The Doctor being able to produce a cup of tea lends further credence, as if it was needed, to the idea that he has dimensionally transcendental pockets. That or he was successfully able to blackmail a Dalek into repeating it's "Would you care for some tea?" subroutine from a few years back...

Missy and Clara's banter was brilliant - I'm hoping this gives Missy the idea to get a companion (or mobile emergency rations might be a more appropriate term) of her own, and I do love it when villains work with protagonists.

As funny as Missy is, I think the more serious and dramatic moments in Michelle Gomez's performance are beautifully delivered.

The new facts about the Daleks were overall pretty good, the idea that they can't truly die was interesting and that while Cybermen suppress emotion Daleks channel it.

Davros being funny... twice! Both "The only other chair on Skaro" and "You are not a good doctor" made me chuckle, and that I did not expect coming from Davros. It definitely helped lull me into starting to believe his redemption. I do sort of wish it had been genuine on some level.

The ending would probably have been improved if the Doctor hadn't known, merely suspected, what Davros was going to do and at least for a while had truly started to believe him. Also the liquefied sewer daleks... maybe it's just me but I didn't quite get why they hated the full daleks so much.

I get the feeling this hybrid warrior prophecy and the Doctor's confession dial is going to become very significant...

Missy and Clara would work well as a spin off series . I could see this happening.

Not fond of the sonic sunglasses.

The TARDIS has always had the HADS thing even from the old days. We just never have seen it work on screen. But it has been mentioned..

That joke about the chair was a blatant rip off from Curse Of The Fatal Death. Go watch that it's fun. A hell of a lot of stuff in that program was put in this two parter.

Thinking about this the whole prophecy thing is a huge retcon.

[Blencathra]

...
I get the feeling this hybrid warrior prophecy and the Doctor's confession dial is going to become very significant...

I totally agree. I think this is all going to get very exciting indeed.

...
Thinking about this the whole prophecy thing is a huge retcon.

A retcon? No, I don't think so. I think Steven Moffat has been sowing the seeds of this for a very long time... at least since The Eleventh Hour and possibly since Forest of the Dead.

[Teddybrown]

A retcon? No, I don't think so. I think Steven Moffat has been sowing the seeds of this for a very long time... at least since The Eleventh Hour and possibly since Forest of the Dead.

Are you coming up with another long and elaborate theory that will be very interesting to read?

[Blencathra]

Are you coming up with another long and elaborate theory that will be very interesting to read?

Nope. It's the same one.

[Sealurk]

Nope. It's the same one.

I might need a refresher on that theory, Blen. Anywhere I can find it?

[Coco Pops]

I totally agree. I think this is all going to get very exciting indeed.



A retcon? No, I don't think so. I think Steven Moffat has been sowing the seeds of this for a very long time... at least since The Eleventh Hour and possibly since Forest of the Dead.

No way. Since the 11th hour and Amy's crack? (in her bedroom on the wall) no way.. How?

[Ian-S]

No way. Since the 11th hour and Amy's crack? (in her bedroom on the wall) no way.. How?

I laughed at that way more than I should have.

[P-90_177]

Blen... I think we're all waiting now...