6 thoughts on “SPOILER FREE Reaction to ‘Rogue’ (Doctor Who)”
scifimike70
The wardrobe for female TARDIS companions has indeed always been helpful in how they shine in each story. Romana’s wardrobe was especially memorable for me. Richard E. Grant’s face included in all the other Doctor faces is certainly curious. If Russell T. Davies has another big surprise regarding that for a future episode, then it should be interesting. Thank you, Tim.
Oh yes, Romana had plenty of outfits in her time-travelling days in the TARDIS in ‘Doctor Who’. A shame Nyssa and Tegan didn’t get that variety of outfits in the seasons they were in. 😆 At least they got to wear dresses in ‘Black Orchid’, even though they weren’t from the TARDIS wardrobe.
I don’t know what to make of Richard E. Grant’s face among the other Doctors’ faces. Maybe it’s something set up as a surprise for later on in the TV series by RTD, I don’t know. It’s quite confusing at the moment with not much information to go on. Also, the Doctors’ faces weren’t in the order I expected to be, as it started with David Tennant, then Jodie Whittaker, then William Hartnell, then Richard E. Grant and so forth. What is happening here? 😐
The Toymaker did mention he’d made a jigsaw of the Doctor’s past life. Maybe it fits in there?
My running theory about the War Doctor was that he didn’t exist until the Eleventh Doctor created him in The Name of the Doctor. A side-effect of his jumping into his own timestream.
We do know that’s possible from things like Interference, where (whoops) the Eighth Doctor causes the Third Doctor to die on the wrong planet.
Yes, the Toymaker making a jigsaw of the Doctor’s past life would be reasonable to explain why we’re seeing Richard E. Grant among the faces of Doctors now. Maybe something will be unveiled about that later in the season or perhaps next year. Who knows?
Interesting theory about the War Doctor not existing until the Eleventh Doctor jumped into his timestream in ‘The Name of the Doctor’. I’ve not read ‘Interference’ but that’s fascinating about the Eighth Doctor causing the Third Doctor to die on the wrong planet in that story.
Millie Gibson has been terrific this season. I think this is the most Jo Grant that Ruby has been over the last few stories. Keeping up, staying aware, and being allowed to enjoy her travels with the Doctor.
Ironically, this felt like probably the most traditional story of the whole season. An honest to goodness pseudo-historical. The stakes are very much like The Time Meddler, The Visitation or The Mark of the Rani. We start off with something that seems rather isolated. Even innocuous, at first. Then, we learn the implications of what’s going on and, suddenly, the stakes just rocket up.
Come to think of it, Rogue also feels like a character that would have shown up in ’90s television. Not ’90s Doctor Who (although…), but in that wave of brooding male heroes from Angel, Forever Knight, et al.
Rogue also confirmed what I’ve been feeling all season. The Devil’s Chord would fit much better after this story. A final bombastic hurrah before the season finale.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about Millie Gibson so far in this season as well as the episode ‘Rogue’. Interesting how you’ve compared this story to other pseudo-historical tales like ‘The Time Meddler’, ‘The Visitation’ and ‘The Mark of the Rani’. Actually, ‘The Devil’s Chord’ would have worked better after ‘Rogue’, considering there needs to be a balance of comedic and serious toned stories throughout a ‘Doctor Who’ season. So, ‘Space Babies’: comedic; ‘Boom’: serious, ’73 Yards’: serious, ‘Dot and Bubble’: semi-serious, ‘Rogue’: semi-serious and ‘The Devil’s Chord’: comedic would have been fine in terms of that series structure before we get to the two-part season finale.
Incidentally, I did a ‘Doctor Who’ story set in Bath way before ‘Rogue’ came along called ‘The Austen Code’ in January 2017 and that story was set in three time zones. Then ‘The Bethemoth’ with Colin Baker came along in October 2017. I wish we could have seen more of Bath in ‘Rogue’, as we don’t even get to see the Doctor and Ruby arriving at the Duchess’ ball. They’re just there already. Plus, I feel the scene featuring the Doctor and Carla Sunday, Ruby’s mum where he promises to look after her should have been included at the end of ‘Space Babies’ rather than in the middle of the season. That scene could have been repeated in ‘Rogue’ as a reminder to audiences that the Doctor should have looked after Ruby when he made that promise if it had been included at the end of ‘Space Babies’ first.
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The wardrobe for female TARDIS companions has indeed always been helpful in how they shine in each story. Romana’s wardrobe was especially memorable for me. Richard E. Grant’s face included in all the other Doctor faces is certainly curious. If Russell T. Davies has another big surprise regarding that for a future episode, then it should be interesting. Thank you, Tim.
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Hi scifimike,
Oh yes, Romana had plenty of outfits in her time-travelling days in the TARDIS in ‘Doctor Who’. A shame Nyssa and Tegan didn’t get that variety of outfits in the seasons they were in. 😆 At least they got to wear dresses in ‘Black Orchid’, even though they weren’t from the TARDIS wardrobe.
I don’t know what to make of Richard E. Grant’s face among the other Doctors’ faces. Maybe it’s something set up as a surprise for later on in the TV series by RTD, I don’t know. It’s quite confusing at the moment with not much information to go on. Also, the Doctors’ faces weren’t in the order I expected to be, as it started with David Tennant, then Jodie Whittaker, then William Hartnell, then Richard E. Grant and so forth. What is happening here? 😐
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Toymaker did mention he’d made a jigsaw of the Doctor’s past life. Maybe it fits in there?
My running theory about the War Doctor was that he didn’t exist until the Eleventh Doctor created him in The Name of the Doctor. A side-effect of his jumping into his own timestream.
We do know that’s possible from things like Interference, where (whoops) the Eighth Doctor causes the Third Doctor to die on the wrong planet.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Wolfie,
Yes, the Toymaker making a jigsaw of the Doctor’s past life would be reasonable to explain why we’re seeing Richard E. Grant among the faces of Doctors now. Maybe something will be unveiled about that later in the season or perhaps next year. Who knows?
Interesting theory about the War Doctor not existing until the Eleventh Doctor jumped into his timestream in ‘The Name of the Doctor’. I’ve not read ‘Interference’ but that’s fascinating about the Eighth Doctor causing the Third Doctor to die on the wrong planet in that story.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Millie Gibson has been terrific this season. I think this is the most Jo Grant that Ruby has been over the last few stories. Keeping up, staying aware, and being allowed to enjoy her travels with the Doctor.
Ironically, this felt like probably the most traditional story of the whole season. An honest to goodness pseudo-historical. The stakes are very much like The Time Meddler, The Visitation or The Mark of the Rani. We start off with something that seems rather isolated. Even innocuous, at first. Then, we learn the implications of what’s going on and, suddenly, the stakes just rocket up.
Come to think of it, Rogue also feels like a character that would have shown up in ’90s television. Not ’90s Doctor Who (although…), but in that wave of brooding male heroes from Angel, Forever Knight, et al.
Rogue also confirmed what I’ve been feeling all season. The Devil’s Chord would fit much better after this story. A final bombastic hurrah before the season finale.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Wolfie,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about Millie Gibson so far in this season as well as the episode ‘Rogue’. Interesting how you’ve compared this story to other pseudo-historical tales like ‘The Time Meddler’, ‘The Visitation’ and ‘The Mark of the Rani’. Actually, ‘The Devil’s Chord’ would have worked better after ‘Rogue’, considering there needs to be a balance of comedic and serious toned stories throughout a ‘Doctor Who’ season. So, ‘Space Babies’: comedic; ‘Boom’: serious, ’73 Yards’: serious, ‘Dot and Bubble’: semi-serious, ‘Rogue’: semi-serious and ‘The Devil’s Chord’: comedic would have been fine in terms of that series structure before we get to the two-part season finale.
Incidentally, I did a ‘Doctor Who’ story set in Bath way before ‘Rogue’ came along called ‘The Austen Code’ in January 2017 and that story was set in three time zones. Then ‘The Bethemoth’ with Colin Baker came along in October 2017. I wish we could have seen more of Bath in ‘Rogue’, as we don’t even get to see the Doctor and Ruby arriving at the Duchess’ ball. They’re just there already. Plus, I feel the scene featuring the Doctor and Carla Sunday, Ruby’s mum where he promises to look after her should have been included at the end of ‘Space Babies’ rather than in the middle of the season. That scene could have been repeated in ‘Rogue’ as a reminder to audiences that the Doctor should have looked after Ruby when he made that promise if it had been included at the end of ‘Space Babies’ first.
Many thanks for your comments,
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person