S9E1: The Magician's Apprentice (MAJOR SPOILERS)

Filming for Series 9 has started so we're bound to see on-set photos, soon; I thought it'd be a good idea to get a thread up for when we do see them.

"Magician's Apprentice"... Sounds like another companion-centric episode...

Sounds like a C.S Lewis knock-off.

Here we go again.

Or a Mickey Mouse knock-off. The Doctor goes off on some important matter, leaves Clara in the TARDIS, Clara mucks about with the controls, chaos ensues.

Clara messes up big time without the Doctor around to fix it would be an interesting episode. "Flatline" was pretty excellent and was Doctor-lite.

Maybe the Doctor becomes the apprentice??

http://www.themarysue.com/thoros-doctor-who/

^ 10% casting article, 90% back-bends to make a joke.

Rogue wrote:

Maybe the Doctor becomes the apprentice??

I wouldn't be surprised at that. Either way, it's going to be Clara taking the limelight as usual isn't it? :/

I'm looking forward to seeing more of Missy in this season opener!

Advance review... if you like *everything* to be a surprise, DON'T click the link.
If you like teasing with some foreknowledge and a bit of spoiling but no major dead-giveaways then click away:

http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/the-magicians-apprentice-advance-review-75763.htm

Airs tomorrow! WOO!

I wasn't really especially excited until I saw the prologue... No idea what's happening, but it's interesting to speculate what and who they could be talking about. The line "An enemy is just a friend you don't really know yet," seems to me to sound like it's referring to the Master, which would make sense considering Missy is in this episode.

But there have also been strong rumours about...

Spoiler:

Also, great podcast on this episode and the series here:



Looking forward to it!

For what it's worth, Bors calls the Doctor, "Magician," a few times in the Prequel.

WHAT THE H3LL WAS THAT????!!!!

Voted AWESOME!

Major spoiler ahead... You've been warned!

This is a GREAT way to start the series! There's still a lot to be answered, but I was pumped from the beginning when said rumours that I mentioned in my previous post were confirmed in the first scene! Very exciting to see where this will go! Also, such a great feeling to be left on a cliffhanger! I am glad that cliffhangers are back!

Now story-wise, there isn't really much. This whole episode really is one big build up of suspense, and we're still very much left hanging at the end. But I enjoyed it. I am indeed excited to get answers and see events pan out!

Missy was great once again. I don't really know why she's here, but I enjoyed seeing more of her. I love the Doc and Master's relationship - their fight and battle against each other really is to just make each other understand & agree on each other's point of view and be friends, yet also to try to prove themselves right to the other one and boast about it. Under the surface, they really are just two kids at odds with each other. However, I hope that Moffat doesn't soften the Master/Missy up too much to the Doctor because I still want to see them waging war against one another.

But never mind all of that... Davros!! Great to see him back and I love that they're putting the Doctor's line from 'Genesis of the Daleks' to use about the dilemma of murdering a child or not of whom would grow up to be a genocidal maniac. Not just any old maniac though, but Davros! And it looks like we may get some explanation for why Skaro is back, too!

Really, not much has actually happened yet, and we know very little about what's going on. But the suspense present throughout the whole episode, beginning to end, and the sheer hype-factor over Davros has really got me going. So although this episode doesn't really serve as a mind-blowing story, I feel it's the foundation for some great episodes to come in this series!

4/5

I did not like it. There was no plot, just promise of plot. The whole pre-credit sequence held the promise of a really good story and...they ignored it!

And the usual (of late) over use of the companion just irked me. And that whole sequence with UNIT came across as silly! A bunch of over-excited fools. What would they have done without Clara?

And if there was a Dalek spy with the Doctor..for 3 weeks, why could the snake dude not find the Doctor?

...really losing my love for this show...

HOLY CRAP THAT WAS GOOD!

timewarrior wrote:

HOLY CRAP THAT WAS GOOD!

What exactly did you think was good?

Krynoid wrote:

And if there was a Dalek spy with the Doctor..for 3 weeks, why could the snake dude not find the Doctor?

Well Bors was obviously a Dalek spy while Colony Sarf is pretty clearly devoted to Davros, so I'm suspecting that as usual, the daleks and Davros aren't completely on the same level with each other and are working to different agendas.

Krynoid wrote:

timewarrior wrote:

HOLY CRAP THAT WAS GOOD!

What exactly did you think was good?

Davros, the mistress. . .the daleks. . .the whole build up. . .the fact that after all this time. . the doctor has become so embittered that he goes against his own beliefs in a moment of sheer weakness.

I give it a 3 out of 5 after just one viewing but I hope it's not just another poor Moffat payoff to come.

The Good

Davros being killed as a child is a great paradox story idea.But WILL the Doctor do it?That's the big key to this story.I love the thought of killing Davros as a child and it resulting in something worse(if you can imagine)than the Daleks being unleashed in the Universe.
As the 4th Doctor states in Genesis,many long time enemies have stopped fighting and joined forces to fight the Daleks.Also something would have to fill the vacuum of evil.

With no one to challenge the Time Lords do they eventually grow mad with infinite power and enslave everyone?

Do the Sontarans grow to become the next dominate threat to the Timelords with their thirst for power over Time?

Do the Cybermen continue to spread unfettered and become THE Big Bads?

Or does something new come forth to terrorize?

I always was curious about the Nightmare Child and the King of Never Was.

I'd love a return of the ancient enemy of the Time Lords,The Great Giant Vampires from State of Decay.

But unfortunately I doubt Moffat has the stones for such awesomeness in him.Too busy with having the Doc play guitar on a tank to make everyone laugh for a quick moment.

Ending on a cliffhanger is a lot of fun and needs to be done more but with better scripts.

The Great

Karn and the Sisterhood,wish they included the prequel scene too.

Was watching the Daleks kill Missy and Clara.But a Master regeneration would have been too cool in the first episode I guess.And I'm sure Jenna's exit will be more cliche than death.

Skaro Reborn was really cool.

The Bad

Missy being written as a homicidal clown grows very thin after a few seconds.I'd rather more serious but that's a problem with the show as a whole I guess.

Waste of UNIT resources.

The Harry Potter Voldemort ripoff could have been better.

All in all,it seems this season will be better than season 8's Clara and Danny show so fingers crossed.

But do you really think the Doctor will kill Davros? He said he was saving his friends, maybe he wi;; just rescue Davros from the Hand Mines. That act maybe enough so that Davros remembers, he will help the Doctor.

Enjoyable episode and definitely one that is re-watchable (last series maybe there were 3-4 at the most). As long as Moffat is the showrunner, I continue to keep expectations low since there are very few episodes that really stand out between Smith and Capaldi). Two nitpicks deterred me from giving it an Excellent rating:

-Missy continues to be over the top (as another reviewer elsewhere commented, Anthony Ainley redux). Still waiting for a Master that ranks up there with Roger Delgado.
-The whole bit with the arena/tank/guitar was way too long.

Clara was bearable (so happy she is finally departing) but I thought after the Christmas special she would have been a permanent occupant in the TARDIS yet she continues to split her time with teaching.

Colony's snake was wicked though instead of gliding would have liked a more slithering feel to him. His character overall was meh otherwise.

So Davros is another one that you just can't kill - sigh. The Daleks themselves need to sit out a few seasons, just tired of them.

Have to agree with you on those points. It wasn't bad, and definitely better than last series, but not that good.

I think Missy is really silly and needs more stone cold killer moments. She comes across more like Jack Nicholson's the Joker than the Master.

The Daleks need to go away for a while. Probably a couple years at least.

I say restart the whole franchise with a more serious tone in about 5 years after Capaldi is done and a Doctor Who movie(s) is made.