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back to article Doctor Who: Even the TARDIS key can't unpick the chronolock in Face the Raven

Readers please note: THIS IS A POST-UK BROADCAST REVIEW – THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! So this week we have our hero stumbling upon a Harry Potter-like set, with Clara and returning character Rigsy (remember him?) in tow. A mysterious tattoo on the back of Rigsy's neck counts down to zero and – with the clock ticking – the hunt is …

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  1. heyrick Silver badge

    It was a pretty badass death scene, just a shame the prelude was a lot of yackage that could rival a Shakespearean death.

    I just hope, after going out like that, facing it head on, they won't cheapen it by any "she's not really dead" gimmick.

    12 1 Reply
    1. Dan 55 Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Meh

      According to Whackypedia she'll be in the last episode of the series too...

      0 1 Reply
    2. Bernard M. Orwell
      Reply Icon

      "I just hope, after going out like that, facing it head on, they won't cheapen it by any "she's not really dead" gimmick."

      'Don't run; stay with her. Why do they always run?'

      Clara didn't run, she was the only one that "faced the raven" freely. Also, note at the point of impact of the quantum shadowy that's taken a bird-shape for no adequately explained reason, there was a flash of white light that didn't happen on the "demo-victim" earlier in the episode.

      I see tropes and plot-hammers are being wielded with wild abandon. There is going to be a poor deus ex machina reason she didn't die, or I will eat my (fourth doctors) hat.

      (Ah, Tom, we miss you....)

      0 0 Reply
  2. john devoy

    How come he didnt try stuffing her into the stasis pod?

    17 0 Reply
    1. Tom Chiverton 1
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      Until when ?

      0 0 Reply
      1. Tac Eht Xilef
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        "Until"?

        3 0 Reply
        1. sabroni Silver badge
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          Until he works our a way to save her, obv.

          0 0 Reply
          1. Daggerchild Silver badge
            Reply Icon

            Yeah it stuck out, sitting in the background while everyone talked. Of course putting a souleaten body in stasis still means it's dead, and you can still kill someone in a stasis pod. They could have at least mentioned that.

            Me, I'm thinking Clara's soul would make an excellent house for a new quantum shadeling. She didn't run.

            0 0 Reply
          2. Tac Eht Xilef
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            Oh, sorry, I see now that you really meant "If".

            (hint: not a fan of Mary-Sue Clara...)

            0 0 Reply
    2. Stevie
      Reply Icon

      How come he didnt try stuffing her into the stasis pod?

      Or take her to that place with the aerial fish? They had dozens of the buggers.

      1 0 Reply
  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I think Peter Capaldi was excellent in this episode; he is believably angry and actually a bit scary, unlike his predecessors, with the possible exception of Christopher Ecclestone.

    6 3 Reply
    1. Graham Marsden
      Reply Icon

      I agree that he was believably angry, although I disagree somewhat that the others didn't do that (just maybe not as well).

      Still, as the Doctor said of the Quantum Shade: "You can flee across all of time and all of the universe but it will still find you".

      Hmm, does that remind you of anyone else...?!

      2 1 Reply
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      "I think Peter Capaldi was excellent in this episode; he is believably angry"

      Did he go full Malcolm Tucker ? That I'd like to see.

      PS If Hollywood get hold of the Tardis, the only yank capable of pulling off Dr Who is Robert Downey Jr

      4 0 Reply
      1. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge
        Reply Icon
        Joke

        "the only yank capable of pulling off Dr Who is Robert Downey Jr"

        Ooh err missus!

        That won't be rated PG then.

        22 0 Reply
        1. Anonymous Coward
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          Anonymous Coward

          @ Jason

          The choice of words was quite deliberate, congrats for picking up on it +1.

          0 3 Reply
          1. TRT Silver badge
            Reply Icon

            Robert Downey Jr

            So the UK version of Iron Man, starring Peter Capaldi...

            F***! I''ve got a f***ing meeting in 15 minutes, this is not a f***ing non-crease shirt, there's no f***ing spray starch left and I can only get it up to the right f***ing temperature for f***ing nylon.

            2 0 Reply
      2. earl grey
        Reply Icon
        Trollface

        pulling off Dr Who

        I'm sorry; I don't watch those kind of programs.

        5 0 Reply
    3. ps2os2
      Reply Icon

      Peter, Excellent?? He is arguably the worse Doctor yet.

      2 24 Reply
      1. Number6
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        Now he's been given some good scripts and stories to work with he's doing quite well. Ecclestone and Tennant had all memory of the War Doctor activities repressed but Capaldi's incarnation is fully aware of what he is capable of if he lets himself do it. What we see is that internal struggle of someone trying not to take life and to save it where possible despite him and his friends being attacked and threatened.

        0 0 Reply
  4. Graham Marsden
    Thumb Up

    What a corker!

    Unlike the reviewer, and despite the spoilers which, do my best, I couldn't avoid, this was an excellent episode IMO.

    Hidden streets and the like in London existed long before Harry Potter (Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere to mention but one, much better example) and the idea of one being a refugee camp for all sorts of nasties is a very nice idea.

    The "ticking clock" tattoo was also a clever bit of nastiness and "Retcon"? Hmm, this is at least the second time we've had a Torchwood reference (cf Captain Jack Harkness).

    As for "Clara death fatigue"? Dear me, has KF become so cynical that Clara's brave acceptance of her fate just becomes an "emotional, lengthy scene"? IMO the not-extermination of her *and* Missy was blatantly obviously a trick, whereas this was a good and fitting ending for the Impossible Girl.

    I can't wait for this one To Be Continued...

    PS If there was any "Next Week..." or trailer after the episode, I didn't see it because I don't *WANT* to see it, so if anyone has seen that, do me and everyone else a favour and put a spoiler warning *before* talking about it, thanks...

    25 1 Reply
    1. ThomH
      Reply Icon

      Re: What a corker!

      There was a 'Next Week...' trailer; after there was also a very minor post-credits sequence that was just about tying up that episode. I don't think you're missing any important plot points — it was highly skippable — but if you want an excuse to skip back after next week then there it is.

      4 0 Reply
    2. Andrew Moore
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      Re: What a corker!

      My thought was "Neverwhere" straight away. Had to check to see if Gaiman wrote the episode. Ashildr did a very passable impression of Door.

      5 0 Reply
      1. Simon Harris
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        Re: What a corker!

        "Hidden streets and the like in London existed long before Harry Potter (Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere to mention but one, much better example) and the idea of one being a refugee camp for all sorts of nasties is a very nice idea."

        My first thought was Cornelius and Tuppe would have found the streets with the help of the re-invented ocarina and an A-Z in Robert Rankin's 1994 classic Raiders of the Lost Car Park. I think it was 1993's The Book of Ultimate Truths that introduced the Forbidden Zones.

        1 0 Reply
      2. Toltec
        Reply Icon

        Re: What a corker!

        "My thought was "Neverwhere" straight away. Had to check to see if Gaiman wrote the episode. Ashildr did a very passable impression of Door."

        I expected that too from the trailers and checked the credits as it started.

        0 0 Reply
  5. Gary F

    Bring back Clara!

    I'm so tired of the windy speeches that the characters, especially the Dr, enter into each episode. But Clara is so pretty, smart and knowing that it won't be the same without her. I hope it wasn't her last episode.

    My 9 year old spotted a continuity error tonight. The tattoo on the back of the man's neck disappeared in one shot while he was talking to Clara BEFORE she took the tattoo off of him.

    6 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Bring back Clara!

      So pretty, and such a tight sweater, shame on me for noticing.

      31 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Bring back Clara!

        I think you were supposed to - there wasn't really any other argument for a side shot. It was laid on a bit thick, so to speak.

        7 0 Reply
      2. Robin
        Reply Icon

        Re: Bring back Clara!

        > So pretty, and such a tight sweater, shame on me for noticing.

        Don't beat yourself up over it.

        5 0 Reply
        1. x 7
          Reply Icon

          Re: Bring back Clara!

          "Don't beat yourself up over it."

          Thats easy for you to say, much harder for some of us

          1 0 Reply
        2. 's water music
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          Re: Bring back Clara!

          Don't beat yourself up over it.

          Or off. Think of the... cont. p94

          0 0 Reply
      3. Richard Wharram
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        Re: Bring back Clara!

        Its fan service. I seem to remember Nyssa's last episode had some too.

        2 0 Reply
    2. Paul S. Gazo
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      Re: Bring back Clara!

      Similar continuity issue with Ashildr's tattoo. During the first execution, she allows her tattoo to move to the raven. While it's chasing its victim (supposedly a cyberman), the camera occasionally comes back to the watchers, and in one shot, the tattoo is back on Ashildr's yes please.

      0 0 Reply
      1. Robin
        Reply Icon

        Re: Bring back Clara!

        > While it's chasing its victim (supposedly a cyberman)

        Yeah, how come the 'person' could run faster than a cyberman could, as well?

        0 0 Reply
      2. lybad
        Reply Icon

        Re: Bring back Clara!

        The continuity that was bugging me was when they were looking at the entrance to the street - a guy in a grey top walked behind Clara, view changed to the entrance, and then back to Clara, and the guy walks past again,

        1 0 Reply
        1. john.w
          Reply Icon

          Re: Bring back Clara!

          It must have been a glitch in the Matrix, an agent is on the way.

          3 0 Reply
    3. Flat Phillip
      Reply Icon

      Re: Bring back Clara!

      I saw that too. I thought, oh she already has taken it and in the next scene it's back and NOW she's taken it.

      0 0 Reply
    4. En_croute
      Reply Icon

      Re: Bring back Clara!

      It was a glitch in the Matrix...

      0 0 Reply
  6. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Noooo!

    River Song is coming back at Christmas.

    1 5 Reply
    1. x 7
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      Re: Noooo!

      "River Song is coming back at Christmas."

      It'll just be the computer simulation version again

      0 0 Reply
      1. Suricou Raven
        Reply Icon

        Re: Noooo!

        This computer simulation River has barely been used. There's a lot of wasted potential. Consider that this character is running on the highest-capacity storage system ever built, with a processor so powerful it occupies the interior of the entire library planet, and has nothing to do but sit around and read the entire collected knowledge of a highly advanced civilization. She's a singularity waiting to happen.

        Right now? Brain the size of a planet and they send her to open a door.

        10 0 Reply
        1. Chris King
          Reply Icon

          Re: Noooo!

          A library the size of a planet, with an antivirus system the size of a (Dr) Moon. When that two-parter was first shown, I thought "Bloody hell, McAfee has put on some bloat there".

          2 0 Reply
  7. Gordon 10

    one of the better episodes of this season

    A good exit done well.

    Will be interesting to see how angry he is next week.

    And since Clara is the Impossible Girl - what's to stop there being other versions of her? Not that I want it coz it would cheapen things. But there are meant to be Clara's all over the Doctors timeline.

    14 0 Reply
    1. Doctor_Wibble
      Reply Icon

      Re: one of the better episodes of this season

      > But there are meant to be Clara's all over the Doctors timeline.

      Good point - so *this* Clara might be pining for the fjords but there are plenty of others dotted about so even if she isn't immortal maybe she doesn't die with quite the sort of never-again finality that requires being nailed to the perch.

      Maybe the body evaporates into the ether to avoid complicated questions over time and space and the stuff that's in it, otherwise we end up with some bizarre handwavey thing involving twangy elastic and some very strange looking trousers of time.

      1 0 Reply
      1. weegie38
        Reply Icon

        Re: one of the better episodes of this season

        "Good point - so *this* Clara might be pining for the fjords but there are plenty of others dotted about"

        Actually, I took Clara's "You're alone now" line to the Doctor as a sort of hint that this marks the end of Impossible Girl. That is, from this point on in the Doctor's timeline, there's no version of Clara around to help him out.

        Given that the Doctor is now in a new set of regenerations, the events in the "...Of The Doctor" episodes seem to only refer to the first cycle, and Clara has been around for real up to now, this would make some sense.

        3 0 Reply
  8. Valarian

    9/10

    I agree the build-up to the Big Goodbye was a bit elongated, and there were a couple of silly plot-holes in the run-up, but Clara's final few lines were right on the money. Knowing The Doctor as she does, she knew his threats to Mayor Me were far from idle - that warrior, the promise-breaker, is evidently still not far beneath the surface, and you saw it in his face when he swore to rain Hell down on Ashilda.

    And her last lines, and the expression on her face at the evident pain with which she died. Yeah, JLC came close to breaking me there.

    But then Capaldi did it. He looks at Ashilda, and you know that brave defiant face she's putting-on is a sham, and her guts have turned to liquid and are trying to get out really fast. And he says he's going to do his best, to try to uphold Clara's last wish, to not be The Oncoming Storm. And you see it in his eyes, the struggle, the despair, the fury. And that 1000-yard-stare, the one that Eccleston and Smith never quite mastered but which Tennant had and now Capaldi so clearly has, just blasts through her and she knows, she knows, that being immortal isn't going to be defence enough.

    I've said this before - you do not want to be on a Time Lord's shit-list. Ever.

    31 0 Reply
    1. John Tserkezis
      Reply Icon

      Re: 9/10

      "I've said this before - you do not want to be on a Time Lord's shit-list. Ever."

      Sigh, time lords a figment of children's imagination, you don't have to worry your little head about them.

      Santa Clause on the other hand will work his way into your bedroom and f**k you up if you're not grateful for all your presents. Especially clothes.

      Yes, my upbringing was strange, what of it?

      4 27 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: 9/10

        Never mind Santa, it's the easter bunny who will mess you up if you don't eat your carrots.

        What?

        2 0 Reply
      2. Andrew Moore
        Reply Icon

        Re: 9/10

        everyone know there's no such thing as a Sanity Clause

        5 1 Reply
      3. sabroni Silver badge
        Reply Icon
        Happy

        Re: Sigh, time lords a figment of children's imagination

        It's for kids!!! Grow up!!!!!!!

        0 1 Reply
        1. dajames
          Reply Icon
          Facepalm

          Re: Sigh, time lords a figment of children's imagination

          It's for kids!!! Grow up!!!!!!!

          If it's for kids, the very last thing you want to do is to grow up.

          5 0 Reply

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