back to article Doctor Who's The Girl Who Died ships in nasty Vikings floating atop a time-bending tidal wave

Readers please note: THIS IS A POST-UK BROADCAST REVIEW – THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! Kelly says: Ah yes, we've reached that part of the series where the Doctor goes to battle with some ancient warmongers – and this time, it's Vikings. He may not be in the mood for them, but I sure am. And finally, we have someone who is …

  1. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    My favourite

    food scoffing nonsense to watch on TV while eating.

    Enuff said

    still waiting for the OMG moment though..... 7/10

  2. Idocrase

    In the episode preview for next week... Was that Maisie Williams in a highwaymans mask?

    I need to check IMDB on this.

    1. John Riddoch

      She's listed in IMDB for "The Woman Who Lived" - seems highly likely then...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Was that Maisie Williams in a highwaymans mask?"

      Seriously? Of course it was.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Viking electric eels ?

    I enjoyed the episode but where did vikings get so many electric eels ?

    As I recall they are a South American freshwater species ?

    I know the vikings went to North America but this is the first I've heard of their setting up a trade in South American electric eels.

    1. Fibbles

      Re: Viking electric eels ?

      The eels bothered you but the horned helmets didn't?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Viking electric eels ?

        Yes. It was annoying that Dr Who stuck with the historically inaccurate cultural stereotype of the viking horned helmets but they're hardly the first show to do so and the viking's headgear was pretty much irrelevant as far as the plot was concerned. However the electric eels were a crucial part of the plot without them there was no electricity to win the Doctor's battle with the Mire.

      2. Robert Helpmann??

        Re: Viking electric eels ?

        The eels bothered you but the horned helmets didn't?

        Or that they identified themselves as Vikings?

        1. MrXavia

          Re: Viking electric eels ?

          "Or that they identified themselves as Vikings?"

          Tardis translation matrix, translated it to what they thought they should hear :-D

          But the helmets bothered me as well, although I did not realise electric eels were not native to Europe!

    2. Doctor_Wibble

      Re: Viking electric eels ?

      More to the point, why were the eels in barrels and not hovercraft?

      Seriously, if you're going to nitpick, at least go for something historically verifiable!

      And voltage, current, ability to make so much wire in a short space of time, shorting, earthing, not to mention the complete disregard for proper Part P certification for the setup which didn't even have a fusebox! It's a disgrace and as soon as the regulations are made in a couple of thousand years time I will be the first to raise the complaint.

      1. Rich 11

        Re: Viking electric eels ?

        ability to make so much wire in a short space of time

        The wire was stripped from the spacesuit. I expect it fed power to the heating elements, so there would be a lot of it in a mesh throughout the suit's cloth.

        But, yeah, eels. And electromagnetic anvils capable of dehelmeting armour. Hmm.

        1. Doctor_Wibble
          FAIL

          Re: Viking electric eels ?

          > The wire was stripped from the spacesuit.

          D'oh! Yes, attention span of a newt, the Fail Icon is all mine...

    3. Rob Crawford

      Re: Viking electric eels ?

      /mutters about corn not having made it to Europe when the Vikings where doing their thing either

      1. graeme leggett Silver badge

        ...corn

        Corn has meant cereals (wheat, oats, barley) long before people travelled to the Americas and found out about corn-on-the-cob/Indian Corn/maize.

    4. Badvok

      Re: Viking electric eels ?

      Artistic license, they probably felt eels worked better than electric rays which would have been both local and probably more powerful.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Viking electric eels ?

      Just wondering...... did they specify it was definitely Earth? Maybe there's another planet that had its own Vikings that actually had horned helmets and electric eels available :)

    6. Tom 7

      Re: Viking electric eels ?

      And they dont flash when they activate their electric fields either!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Viking electric eels ?

        What bothered me most was that they all spoke English.

  4. ingie
    Headmaster

    SEGIRÐU:AFTUR

    VIÐ:KLÆÐAST:HORN:EKKI

    he etched in stone, wearily.

    1. Doctor_Wibble

      Re: SEGIRÐU:AFTUR

      > VIÐ:KLÆÐAST:HORN:EKKI

      Having trouble with my translation here, this appears to be something along the lines of "again, me so not horny"?

      Or possibly "Something something oranges something" which is normally a fairly good backstop when stuck though in this context I'd probably question the 'oranges' bit. Noting also that so far at least two people are pretending to be less ignorant than wot I is.

      1. Beornfrith

        Re: SEGIRÐU:AFTUR

        I took it to mean more like "We should not be returning to wearing horns" but what do I know? :P

      2. ingie

        Re: SEGIRÐU:AFTUR

        for clarification, for the less norse/icelandic inclined as i:

        SAY-THOU:AGAIN

        WE:WEAREST:HORNS:NOT

        tho i was simplifying from full icelandic grammar to make it more "runey" [not that one]

        [boring factoid addendum: i started learning icelandic years ago after a discussion with my then girlfriend about "text speak" - i said how i didn't mind "tho" - and when you look at the etymology, with good cause, old english used "þo" ... i began to learn old english - as i get obsessed by trains of thought like that, but then decided icelandic (who use "þó" for though) was a more useful direction since were i live we have a lot of viking links, like our parliament "thing" ]

        1. Beornfrith

          Re: SEGIRÐU:AFTUR

          Yay, another nerd :) I study Old English and use an Icelandic keyboard layout. It is very convenient!

          1. ingie

            Re: SEGIRÐU:AFTUR

            Þæt béo betst cægbord! ..as they say in Beowolf ;)

            Sæll Bjarnfrið!

            1. Beornfrith

              Re: SEGIRÐU:AFTUR

              Ic þyncþ niht "cægbord" in Beowulf wæs :D (He was full touchscreen by then)

    2. I Like Heckling Silver badge

      Re: SEGIRÐU:AFTUR

      VIÐ:KLÆÐAST:HORN:EKKI

      A frog... in which bidet?

      Oh... sorry, wrong show.

      1. Sir Runcible Spoon

        Re: SEGIRÐU:AFTUR

        It clearly translates to :

        My helmet is full of hovercraft..no wait..eels..yukk!

  5. Efros

    'Twas good

    Bring on the denouement!

  6. Graham Marsden

    Was I the only one...

    ... who cheered when the Sonic Sunglasses were snapped in half?

    And then booed when it turns out they still bloody worked?!

    Still, apart from that (and the stupid horned helmets) it wasn't a bad episode :-/

    1. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

      Re: Was I the only one...

      And from the clip of next week's episode, he's been back to SpecSavers and got himself a new pair, or repaired the old ones.

      1. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

        Re: Was I the only one...

        I think Specsavers do a two pairs for the price of one offer. Fact. (Probably.)

    2. a cynic writes...

      Re: Was I the only one...

      No, you weren't. It confused the hell out of SWMBO.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Was I the only one...

      >... who cheered when the Sonic Sunglasses were snapped in half?

      > And then booed when it turns out they still bloody worked?!

      > Still, apart from that (and the stupid horned helmets) it wasn't a bad episode :-/

      Hah - they missed an opportunity with the sunglasses: after the Doctor had wittered on about them being 6m years more advanced (or whatever it was) the viking should have tied to snap them and found it impossible. Then tried to hack them in half with his sword only to have the sword break!

      This one was a kid's entertainment episode - particularly with the electric eels and magnetically levitating anvils[1] - so unbreakable sunglasses would fit right in.

      [1] Hands-up who thought they were going to drop on the now helmet-less aliens? Yep me too.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Vikings did not wear winged helmets.

    The original premise of Dr Who was to teach children about history in an entertaining way.

    I think, as usual, that the BBC has failed to fulfil its remit.

    Dr Who is dire, vacuuous soap opera for tweens.

    1. graeme leggett Silver badge

      The production team have already said they knew that, but it was a conscious choice as elements of the audience would expect it.

      As to teaching history accurately, the debate about the last true historical in Doctor Who seems to settle around they gave up in the first few years.

    2. Gordon 10
      FAIL

      And yet you watched it. Or worse you read the El Reg piece and felt obliged to comment even though you hadn't seen it.

      Either way it's a bit of a Fail isn't it?

    3. Martin an gof Silver badge

      Vikings did not wear winged helmets.

      The original premise of Dr Who was to teach children about history in an entertaining way.

      I think, as usual, that the BBC has failed to fulfil its remit.

      I think - as someone else has pointed out - that they did it because it would be expected. Anyway, kids these days (and I have four of them) learn a heck of a lot of history from the Horrible Histories books and (particularly) the TV shows. My two eldest, who watched Doctor Who last night, were more concerned about the slightly dodgy CGI than the horned or winged helmets which they knew were probably anachronistic but really didn't care about.

      Mind you, one of them has transcribed the words to the HH Kings and Queens song and stuck them on the wall of the outside loo so we can all learn something useful while "otherwise engaged".

      M.

    4. Rich 11

      Dr Who is dire, vacuuous soap opera for tweens.

      Only when the wheelie bins belch.

    5. Chris King

      > The original premise of Dr Who was to teach children about history in an entertaining way.

      >

      > I think, as usual, that the BBC has failed to fulfil its remit.

      You're about 52 years late for that particular whinge, the whole educational bit went out of the window when someone terrorised Carole Ann Ford with a sink plunger and the Daleks turned up.

  8. Dick Emery
    Facepalm

    Terrible episode

    After the last 2 x 2 part'ers, this was a slap in the face for the more serious Who fans amongst us. I am used to the comedic moments/ramblings but they took it to new heights in this episode. Doctor Who is not a fucking comedy (although many will say it is actually but it's not intentional)!

    Throwing in the Benny Hill theme whilst threatening to use interstellar social media to bully the aliens with was the last straw.

    This has turned into Reddit/Twitter appeasing nonsense where every moment of the show is about rhubarb rubbing showing how 'clever' they can be with plot arcs.

    Don't get me wrong. I still watch and enjoy the show when it is written coherently and as a quirky science fiction 'fun' family show. But it really pushes some aspects too far sometimes. Lexx did dark sci-fi comedy better and Red Dwarf just did outright comedy a LOT better. The writers keep switching from sad to humorous with gay abandon barely giving any time to actually allow it to sink in or associate any emotional context to the characters (and with that infernal soundtrack intruding LOUDLY every minute DROWNING out the fast paced dialogue it needed subtitles enabled to understand what the hell was being said).

    The show is full of some great idea's ruined by idiotic script writers. I shall still be here for next weeks episode though as I have nothing better to do on a Saturday night.

    1. J.G.Harston Silver badge

      Re: Terrible episode

      Glad somebody else is complaining about the not-quite-background music. Several times I've thought: am I getting older than I think, what did he say there?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Terrible episode

      Absolutely agree with every word.

      But maybe we're just not the target audience (any more?) ?

      And no-one's even mentioned The A-Team yet....

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. SleepyJohn

      Re: Terrible episode - inclined to agree

      I stopped watching Dr Who when the infantile idiot took over from David Tennant. I tried this episode on the offchance things had improved, but found it much the same. It seems to have become very American in format - an interesting idea ruined by a puerile, facetious implementation. I will not bother again.

      1. Jagged

        Re: Terrible episode - inclined to agree

        "I stopped watching Dr Who when the infantile idiot took over from David Tennant."

        - You missed out then. This particular old fart found him far better than the gurning tennant, an old soul with a young face. Perfect for Who.

    4. Francis Boyle Silver badge

      Re: Terrible episode

      Looks like someone has never seen "The Pirate Planet".

      1. Rick Brasche

        Re: Terrible episode

        but no robot parrot?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm guessing I'm the only one who spotted the pocket watch necklace on vicky the viking?

    Lots more I could say about this episode however I'm going to leave that as it's a 2000 year old joke.

  10. DainB Bronze badge

    New companion ?

    I have a strange feeling they're going replace Clara with Ashildr as more "timeless" companion, not sure I'm happy with choice if they are.

    1. Gordon 10

      Re: New companion ?

      Not likely. Maisey Williams would likely struggle due to her GOT commitments. Unless of course she only really appears in 1 episode of season 6 similarly to season 5.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: New companion ?

        depends if she's available after winter.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: New companion ?

      not gonna happen unless it's Dr Saville though to be fair it's the BBC.

  11. Adrian Jones

    Jennifer?

    Was Jennifer watching the rugby this week?

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Immortality

    When the Doctor gave Ashildr another alien first aid kit so that someone else could live forever, am I the only one who thought it might be a tool to explain Jack Harkness?

    1. Rich 11

      Re: Immortality

      Yes.

      We know how Captain Jack got his five billion year lifespan.

      1. Snowy Silver badge

        Re: Immortality

        Rose did that to Jake after she looked into the heart of the TARDIS in Season 1 Episode 13. The Parting of Ways

        1. davidp231

          Re: Immortality

          He's more akin to Captain Scarlet in this respect.... he can still be killed - he just doesn't stay dead. I wonder if anyone's tried a few million volts. I mean it works for Mysterons... but then again, Captain Harkness might just enjoy it a little too much.

  13. I Like Heckling Silver badge

    Finally a Decent Episode

    After suffering through the durge that has been this season so far... sonic sunglasses ffs, breaking the 4th wall (are they trying to give of a deadpool vibe)... some would say homages to other movies and shows... I say poor writing and a lack of decent ideas.... Desperately trying to make Clara something other than the poorly developed 2 dimensional character she's been since the beginning... Finally, we have an episode worth watching instead of watching and cringing.

    Don't get me wrong... it wasn't perfect by any means... nothing screams pandering more than those stupid sonic sunglasses... undoubtedly the worst idea of sonic something ever conceived (and something that will date the show and make it laughable in future) in a way that hasn't been done in 50yrs.

    But it was fun, it was clever, it was poignant and it hinted at something dark and foreboding to come. The twist of remembering where the face came from and why he chose it was a nice touch of continuity (let's pretend Torchwood never existed and gloss over that character please).

    It's by far the best episode of this season so far, a season which has been awful in my opinion... But they are finally starting to understand this doctor and capaldi is starting to step up his performances. He remains the one constant in this show... If only the plots and writing could be stepped up to match his acting abilities.

    At least I have one thing to look forward to in future episodes... the (hopefully) death of Clara and good riddance to her character. It's been a noose around the show for 2 long years.

    I'm actually all for Maise Williams taking on the role of companion myself... an immortal alongside a timelord. The possibilities there are endless.

    I'm actually looking forward to next weekends episode now... instead of dreading it like I was after the first episode and the following 3 eps.

    1. Sir Runcible Spoon

      Re: Finally a Decent Episode

      Every time I think that Clara is getting a bit annoying, I make myself recall that ginger twat that ruined several series for me and I count my blessings.

      1. Gordon 10
        Coat

        Re: Finally a Decent Episode

        Then Ashildr will be right up your street. Give her a couple more episodes and she can be the new Ace.

  14. Christopher Lane
    FAIL

    Then of course....

    ...there's the bit when the Doctor is reading a viking book (not his 2000 year diary). As far as I know the Vikings didn't have books, check out 25:45 on iPlayer.

    1. bpfh

      Re: Then of course....

      I noticed the same thing, books and horns :p

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Then of course....

      Vikings may not have made their own books, but they did have a habit of raiding people who did have books.

  15. Heathroi
    Headmaster

    only the warriors that captured the Dr and Clara were vikings not the whole village as its old Norse for people going to sea on an expedition. and the odin character seems to pinched Thor's helmet.

  16. mark 177
    Coat

    Ho-Hum

    Is it only me who thinks that Dr. Who becoming over-hyped crap these days?

    And is it only me who finds the melodramatic music distracting and intensely annoying?

    If you just threw in a few four-letter words, it would metamorphose into Torchwood, that dire "adult" (read "juvenile with swearing") spin-off.

    1. phuzz Silver badge
      Trollface

      Re: Ho-Hum

      It's not just you, there's plenty of people here telling everyone how much better Who used to be when they had to walk uphill in the snow both ways.

      Incidentally is this your lawn I'm standing on?

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    wondering

    Are these paid for placements or done out of love for the show? Inquiring minds would like to know. I don't recall there being such in depth coverage of previous series.

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: wondering

      It's Weekend El Reg. Less IT, still geek.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why has no-one commented on...

    The fundamental silliness of high-tech armoured warrior aliens shown to have an intergalactic spaceship, teleport technology, and keep-you-alive-forever style automatic medical tech:

    1) Losing a fight against electrically equipped Vikings

    2) Running away from a scary looking animal (illusory or otherwise)

    3) Failing to annihilate the Viking village and everything around it from orbit with their hugely high tech weaponry when challenged in the first place, or for that matter when worried about the embarrassing video getting out.

    I mean, the Mire have teleporters. Zap yourself out, zap a bomb back in: video, what video?

    I could just about have coped with the technically inaccurate electrical fighting, but too much of this episode was too daft for my liking.

    The episode had some good features, but the level of suspension of disbelief required was just too much for me. Alas, this seems to be a feature of Moffat era stories. It's pretty good a lot of the time, but then things just get too silly. Someone should teach Moffat and the rest of 'em how to write good SF - I'm sure they could, if they had some lessons.

    (Anyone else find themselves thinking of the Judoon? - at least until the helmets came off?)

    1. Sir Runcible Spoon

      Re: Why has no-one commented on...

      Whilst I would dearly love a more reality-based and darker Dr Who (or something that was inspired by Dr Who perhaps?) this is still, and always has been, a kids show.

      When I was a kid and I made out the cardboard box I was sitting in was a Battlestar Galactica fighter no-one bothered to tell me that

      a) cardboard boxes were not sealed and did not have life-support

      b) they had no heat shielding and would therefore burn up on entering the atmosphere

      c) the 'peeow peeow' lasers had no chance of obliterating the cat that just walked into the living to see what the weird child was up to.

      It didn't stop me enjoying myself however, and as I grew up I swore to myself that I would never forget what it was like to look at the world like a child, for alas, many people do seem to forget.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Why has no-one commented on...

        Cardboard has magical properties and acting ability, how do you think Clara has remained in the show for so long?

        Personally I've enjoyed this re-boot of Dr Who up until Matt Smith, the whole I am the Doctor fear me until I get emo and now these two parters with cliffhanger endings are just plain rubbish with little distraction and poorly written plots with no sub-plots to speak of. This however is just my opinion and like moffats everyone has one.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Why has no-one commented on...

        I know Doctor Who's meant to be family entertainment with the children most in mind.

        And I don't want Doctor Who to be more "reality based" or "darker" or anything (Doctor Who got dark enough for me back in the Tom Baker years). I want mind-expanding tales of the fantastic - just written properly.

        I started reading decent SF when I was quite young and I appreciated all the different approaches I came across (lots of Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, and "Doc" Smith - then I met the SF shelves at the local library and devoured them). The objections I raised in my previous post were issues which would have been glaringly obvious to me by the time I was 10 years old and they'd've irritated me then probably more than they do these days.

        I've never forgotten what it was like to be a child and back then, when I was young, I expected the story tellers to follow the rules: childrens' stories like Rupert the Bear and Beatrix Potter worked a certain way, fairy stories and fables had rules like that, fantasy had rules like this, and SF had rules like the other. It was all clear how it was supposed to be done: all the different ways of telling stories required a certain amount of suspension of disbelief (different types permitting different things), but in return you got a certain degree of consistency.

        When the rules were not followed, I was annoyed at the story teller Not Doing It Properly. Mostly, though, the stuff I read was done properly and I loved it. True realism was not required, but fictional credibility was.

        Now, Doctor Who's supposed to be SF and it always has been. SF is supposed to be credible-for-a-given-value-of-credible: the writers aren't supposed to make it daft, unless comedy is the aim. Posit intergalactic armoured warrior aliens with teleporters if you like, but once you've come up with them you've got to keep things consistent to avoid it being absurd and they failed in this latest episode as far as I'm concerned.

        (Douglas Adams wrote comedy SF and he kept it less daftly inconsistent than this latest Doctor Who! Mr Adams understood the nature of the genre and kept to the rules.)

        There's too much daftness in big budget on-screen SF if you ask me, such as in the Matrix film series where human beings were being used as power supplies for the machines.

        Yes of course use your imagination, certainly you should fight battles in the living room in your fantastic fantasised cardboard spaceship. That's not daft. That's learning to create.

        I'd prefer a decently constructed SF story acted out with crude props like obviously cardboard spaceships than daftness with megabudget SFX: the special effects don't matter half as much as the story and what the special effects are supposed to represent.

        Writing a story which depends on intergalactic space warriors with teleporters not thinking to use high tech long range weaponry to wipe out a serious threat like that embarrassing video is very daft, unless you somehow justify the lapse.

        Which is a shame, because there was so much about this latest episode that I liked.

        1. Sir Runcible Spoon

          Re: Why has no-one commented on...

          You make some good points and put that way I agree with you.

          In fact my wife and I were discussing this last night and trying to work out what the main difference was in the writing styles and it basically came down to layers.

          Some writers can write a story for both adults and children at the same time - each group taking something different from it. Children who were ahead in comprehension (typically SF readers) would get some of the ideas put across for adults, and adults would appreciate the tongue-in-cheek humour that could be both innocent and naughty at the same time.

          There aren't a lot of writers like that these days (or there aren't enough writers getting scripts through written like that perhaps). Which is a shame.

  19. Adam Inistrator

    bbc monoculture

    I guess hybridisation is just part of the on going BBC "multi-culti" message. The other day there was a program predicting olive skinned farmers on nuclear powered tractors in Scotland in 300 years. Is it just my biases or BBC's that I am noticing all the time. On another note, isnt it funny how an organisation supposedly wedded to diversity believes that its dominance in media is a Good Thing.

  20. breakfast Silver badge

    I think, although it is silly and it does still feature Clara, that this series has done a better job than any of it's recent predecessors. Capaldi is growing into the role nicely and the writing seems at least a tiny bit less irritating.

  21. David Nash Silver badge

    Best line

    Was the in-joke about reversing the polarity of the neutron flow.

  22. Blubster

    On the plus side. At least the BBC have saved on Maisie's costume costs - it looks like it's been pinched/borrowed from GOT

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "At least the BBC have saved on Maisie's costume costs [...]"

      For a moment there I thought Dr Who had moved to beyond the evening watershed.

  23. Bernard M. Orwell

    Orly?

    "Or did the props team get lazy? Unlikely."

    Right....they didn't "borrow" that entire set & wardrobe (Other than the foam-clad aliens) from The Last Kingdom/Vikings then?

    The only good thing in that entire episode was Maisie's last "Time Passing" fugue. That was quality, the rest was bollocks of the first order. Don't even get me started on the lack of any historical accuracy at all.....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Orly?

      " [...] they didn't "borrow" that entire set & wardrobe (Other than the foam-clad aliens) from The Last Kingdom/Vikings then?"

      Following in the tradition of the 1930s "Flash Gordon" series - loved by kids who paid their 6d for the 1950s Saturday morning cinema. They just used any film set that was available on the studio lot. It took the faithful parody in "Flesh Gordon" to put the flesh on the suggestive bones.

      No doubt someone will do the same for "Dr Who" one day with "Dr Oooh" - if they haven't already. The mention of the Benny Hill tune means they are getting there.

  24. teebie

    The middle part reminded me of Horrible Histories - a pack of hapless vikings failing repeatedly, one of whom is Tom Stourton, who I always mistake for Ben Willbond from Horrible Histories

    (it turns out he's Tom Stourton from Horrible Histories)

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yes, the silly horned helmets, the "we are Vikings" thing, the electric eels, but who oh why was it necessary to have a printed and bound BOOK on the table, and to draw attention to it by the Doctor casually lifting it up and chucking it down again. I was surprised not to see the title as "Harry Potter and the Eels of Vikinglandia". Could this BE any more childish?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It's not beyond the realms of possibility that the book will be referred back to later and its presence explained. Moffat does things like that (eg the Doctor's inconsistent jacket in Time of Angels two parter - discounted as a continuity error by watchers at the time).

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I haven't watched Dr Who in years. The El Reg articles help me to understand what the neighbours' lad is talking about. He's so keen on Dr Who that his Xmas present will be a pair of radio controlled fighting Daleks.

  27. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
    FAIL

    orange spacesuit...did the props team get lazy?

    No, this is not the first time we have seen the orange spacesuit(s) in Who. They are obviously part and parcel of the magic wardrobe. I'd have been more annoyed if they'd forgotten about the spacesuits already part of the Tardis inventory and used a different design or colour.

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