It's really interesting to hear that trivia about the story's journey and how it evolved. Has there ever been a story about a journalist going up against the federation / an ally before? I can't remember one.

As testament to how little it made an impact, it's only now reading your comment that it hits me how important new time lords would even be for the doctor, especially so considering this series's overarching plot.

This is an odd one. It's not terrible. It had action. But it continues a very odd Dalek story. After the Human Daleks all die, I don't really feel any sympathy or compassion for them. They were still empty killing slaves, even if they have the odd moment of something that looks like empathy. As for Dalek sec, I'm glad to not have to look at the weird design anymore.

We got an answer for the green goop - turns out it was an "embryo". Given the Dalek's supposed metaphor as supremacist Nazis, it feels out of place that they would chuck any failed biology into a sewer of all places. It never amounted to anything beyond this one line. The technobabble gene editing stuff makes no sense, but I can suspend my disbelief there.

Plot-wise, the doctor's ultimate "sacrifice" is almost identical to what he did back at Alexandra Palace the previous series: Climb up the tall tower and interrupt it. Well, it works, so don't fix what isn't broken I guess. I am surprised that the Daleks, who can terminate slaves remotely, didn't do so the moment they mutinied. And that the only Dalek who can issue a wireless kill signal, needs to be physically crocodile clipped in to a computer somewhere. Those plot holes are more difficult to overlook.

Historically, wikipedia's list of solar events (there's a list for everything, I love it), tells me there was a solar flare event that affected new york May 1921. However, the Emprie State building was completed in 1931, 10 years later. It's a small detail I doubt anyone would care about, but it's mildly annoying.

By the end, Doctor ended up helping lazlo, but left him looking disfigured. Feels like he probably could have fixed him completely if he put in a bit of effort. I know the Doctor tries not to meddle too much, but this is another case where a little meddling round trip to a future hospital and back would probably be better for the timeline.

There was some little bits of humour I did enjoy:

• Doctor's slinking away and overdramaticisms at the beginning
• "[Turns to look at each other] Both: Dalekanium!"
• Martha telling someone else not to wander off

I'm glad for the game devs but this article's reporting is really confusing. 226% increase on what? They haven't released a game recently before this. Of course you're going to make money right after you release something new. A better comparison would be against the last quarter that they released a new game.

Especially if you live somewhere like the UK where we killed off all the apex predators. We need to hunt deer,or else they'll do more environmental damage.

thanks, I hate it

Very much agreed on that last point. It's not really canonical, but in "Daleks' Invasion Earth" the daleks just slap mind controlling helmets on humans. Seems far more effective. The genetic argument explanation also doesn't make much sense, given they wanted to turn merge daleks and humans. Why are pigs even involved? We also never got an explanation for why there was random glowing green goop in the sewers.

The eternal encyclopaedia tells me that "Hoovervilles" were not a single shanty town in New York, but formed all over the US. One of them was indeed in central park. I do like when historic DW episodes educate me about something.

This episode definitely had some promise as an exploration of class. The piecemeal offer of work for poor folk is basically what we in modern times call the "gig economy". I'd argue this part of the story is more interesting than anything involving aliens.

But then it also has daleks. And pig men. I'm really not sure why they needed the pig men. The pig men masks are pretty well done, far better than the weird human dalek thing, which just looks like a parody of doctor who rather than something scary.

Some things come to mind:

• When Doctor first sees a pigman he says can help - I'll need to wait untiI rewatch part 2, but I don't think he ever does…
• There's some nice jokes like "he's into musical theatre", which sort of makes up for annoying pining Martha.
• Despite being a theatre fan, Martha does seem to have a lot of trouble realising you can get to the other side of a stage without walking right across it

Why though? I genuinely don't know what the use case is here. If you have a bookshelf it already has your books on it, you could take a photo of that. If you wanted a list of book recommendations, a text list would be more useful.

Agreed on the martha stuff. I enjoyed that she called it out as a rebound date, the doctor needed to hear that, though this should have been the moment she stops the crush altogether.

This is a really good episode, it has everything. Multiple good sci fi concepts, horror stories of tech gone wrong and the social impact, great direction, loads of emotive acting, and a great soundtrack.

Throughout the episode we get some really nice writing. At the start doctor's poetic description of gallifrey gives us a sense of optimism and hope that is bookended really well with the fade out at the very end of the episode. There are multiple lines throughout that end up hinting at the face of boe - brannigan's joke about a giant head, martha relying on a complete stranger. Hologram Sally's "we're so sorry" line echoes the doctor's catchphrase and you think it's about the non-functional motorway jam, when it is in fact an apology that they're the only ones left alive.

The acting and character work is excellent. At the beginning, when they open the tardis door, the doctor appears to break something which is a lovely bit of business that makes their trip seem genuine and unplanned. Martha's distraught expressions throughout, while still maintaining her competence as a smart person - caring about a pregnant woman and her idea to run silently. Tennant looks incredibly emotive during the doctor's sad story at the very end. Despite having no real actor present, the face of boe is voice acted really well.

Effects wise, I did find the CGI a bit jarring, and the macra monsters were particularly bad. With the lack of a joke about carcinization, I feel it might have worked better as a lovecraftian unseen monster. But then we get a lot of really great practical effects like very good cat makeup, and close ups of the face of boe that don't make his head look like just a lump of plastic.

I love the cars as a way to showcase the claustrophobia of both non-functional transport, we've all been trapped on a delayed bus or train or plane at some point, but also the limits of technology. Only being able to contact people on your friends list, and being trapped in confined lanes, every car homogeneous. The rumours of hope. The denial. I do have some quibbles though - if the system is automated, why are they even sitting at a steering wheel. And given all the exhaust fumes, they must be getting fuel, but from where?

Really enjoy this episode.

I was anticipating the painful jk jokes. I do think that the 'just wait until you read book 7' line was actually a really good sci fi time travel joke. But aside from the obvious association with Rowling, it also dates the show unnecessarily because it picked a book that was obviously going to be released at some point.