Yeah you maybe right on that I guess, new viewers are probably also more inclined to google Sutekh or watch a Who is Sutekh? YouTube video. But I think RTD tried to make PoM important. Imagine if in Dalek Nine had said to Rose, hang on a minute then shown her clips from Genesis of the Daleks.
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Yeah, but I don’t see this as that different than the faces in Rouge. I think that it would be weird if the show presented that it did not have 60 years of stories.
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I didn’t like that bit either 
I’m old, when I was a kid watching it I don’t remember so many references to the show’s own mythology & harking back to the past. Just weekly adventures.
But I’m going to stop now, I don’t want to become one of those people that moan all the time about the show or make others feel they have to defend what they like. I have zero interest in this era of Who on TV, I’m going to focus on the stuff I love & thankfully there’s so much Who for us all to enjoy.
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Same here. I’ve made my views known about the current series. I don’t want to keep going on about it and, potentially, diminish someone else’s enjoyment of the show.
I’ll keep watching Classic, listening to BF, and enjoying DW in my own way.
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Same, I’m going to go through every episode of this season & replace Susan Twist’s face with mine. The Monkeyshaver Fan Edit.
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I feelt like that during 13s era. As you say there is always other stuff to enjoy.
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OK I saw this mentioned again in a review, and posted my response on Discord where @ineffyble told me I’m the first person they saw make this comment so here goes.
Everyone is saying “How come Sutekh survived the first time he got sent into the vortex but died when the Doctor did it a second time! Plot hole!!”
But I think it’s pretty obvious that he survived the first time precisely because the TARDIS was there to cling on to - he grabbed onto it for sheer life.
We have precedent of people surviving clinging onto the TARDIS in the vortex. Clara did it. Jack almost did, he died when he landed but to be fair they went to the end of the universe. (ineffyble pointed out that so did Sutekh, on the same trip, and that is hilarious).
Then he evolved, due to continued existence in the Vortex (also how River Song was conceived as more than human, because it happened in the vortex), and he grew more and more in strength.
The second time, he is forced out of the vortex and instead of sailing through the middle he hits the edge, has nothing to hold on to, and so disintegrated.
I think out of everything in the episode, this is the one thing that made the most sense to me 
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That was exactly how I saw it as well.
That bit made sense.
Yeah the rest of the story was pretty much all “vibes based” and makes next to no sense if you stop and think about it. (Typical RTD finale 
)
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Quoted for truth. 
Well… we can’t agree on everything! 
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My two favorites right there, so hey, we half agree.
I’m in the minority that does not like A Christmas Carol, the story loses something without Muppets, I guess. Oh, and the whole “save the day by singing” thing is not my cuppa. Thank goodness they never tried that again!
And I’m no fan of Last Christmas either, which is a shame, as there’s a lot about it I like. There’s just too many “wake up from the dream” moments, I think, so for me it outstays its welcome.
Nice to hear someone say nice things about Widow, though. That one gets a lot of flak, and I just don’t know why.
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Is this just a coincidence, or is it connected?
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Anyway I spotted this because I was just uploading all my favourite quotes from TLoRS - now live!
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Also, from a rewatch I realised the plot hole of “If UNIT can just retrieve the DNA, why not do that in the first place?” is resolved if you realise that they instead retrieved the answer by fixing the computer Ruby smashed to defeat Sutekh. That is also confirmed when the Doctor says they found her mother using a Time Machine.
Anyway, I’ve added my favourite quotes to Empire of Death!.
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I’m not sure the Doctor even fixed it. They might’ve just copied the data with the sonic, then transferred it to UNIT’s computers.
(Or maybe the computer still worked, and just the monitor was smashed…)
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Hang on a minute!
It is time for me to be that kind of nerd 
Pushes glasses up my nose
That couldn’t possibly be Sutekh!
(Spoilers for a Virgin New Adventures arc we haven’t reached in the Book Club)
In the novel Blood Heat it is clearly stated that the main Universe TARDIS is lost and that that alternative universe’s TARDIS becomes the TARDIS the Doctor travels around in.
And since that universe’s Doctor died during Doctor Who and the Silurians, that Doctor never made it to Pyramids of Mars and couldn’t have met Sutekh so that version of the TARDIS is Sutekh-free
The Empire of Death breaks this very important piece of canon!
Doctor Who is ruined! 
Harrumphs all around RTD! For shame!
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“Hey, wait! I didn’t get a ‘harrumph’ out of that guy!”
“Give the governor a ‘harrumph’!”
“Erm, sorry: harrumph”
“I should think so”
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WILDLY off topic now but I’ve transferred my review of tDtWatW to the main site
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Not my favourite episode, but I do agree with a great deal of what you write. I’ll give it another go (I mean, as if it was ever in doubt?). Fantastic review! Beautifully written and arguments made with care. Loved reading it. Thank you! And liked, of course!
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Finally managed to watch Empire of Death! That’s the longest I’ve ever taken to watch an episode live 
but I was outside the UK again and didn’t want the stress of a Disney+ free trial. Boo. Anyway I’ve SEEN IT NOW AND—
…it was pretty much everything I expected of an RTD finale. Which is to say, I didn’t like it very much! Lots of chaos, lots of noise, lots of intense moments with swelling string chords, and none of it left much impression*.
There are still things I liked, of course. I enjoy RTD’s way of adding those little characterful details that really liven up a story. Six’s coat and cravat, for example. That was wonderful! In fact, everything inside the Memory TARDIS was nice, and it’s always great to have more Mel. I enjoyed how, at the very end, 15 put on a brave face for Ruby when saying goodbye—and only started crying when she was gone. Ncuti and Millie shone as always.
Sutekh was defeated incredibly easily, but I expected that, that’s how RTD rolls. I like that Ruby’s mum was a normal person, but that whole section felt too perfect.
Oh, and I’m very interested in Mrs Flood. I’m pinning all my hopes on her being Iris Wildthyme 
That moment at the end was very Iris! It’ll never be her, but I can dream…
I’ll be posting my overall series 14 thoughts in the correct topic soon. In general: good series with a weak finale, but a great introduction to Fifteen.
*I’m generally an easy target for heartfelt emotional moments in fiction, but something about the way RTD writes those moments leaves me a little cold? Ruby’s reunion with her mum, for example. Maybe it’s that he pushes the emotion too hard- it feels forced. The music doesn’t help, either—I prefer my emotional moments slow, with time to settle; overwhelming string sections make me feel like the TV is telling me to be affected, and I’m taken out of the experience altogether.
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Totally agree @nyssaoftraken
It is too perfect wrapped in a tight bow sprinkled with fairy dust and snow and chocolate candy sprinkles. I have a feeling it is not truly over for Ruby Sunday.
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