I’m also getting strong McGann vibes from the performance, but also from the sort of stories he’s getting. They’re much less about him directly saving the day and much more about his emotional experience of different societies and adventures (and also one where his pretty young companion has a horrifying weird experience). I actually think you could put C’Rizz into this season and he might fit in.
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That was exactly what I expected. A decent, fun, light palette cleanser. Nothing outstanding but after the heavy, experimental episodes we had it was a good change of pace.
Of course the highlight is Rogue and the Doctor’s relationship. I’m excited to see them together again in the future.
Bring on the two-part finale!
Edit: Also did anyone catch a particular face when the Doctor was scanned? I’m not crazy in seeing that correct?
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No you are not crazy, I believe if I am not mistaken it was Richard E Grant but I am not 100% sure
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OH MY GOD SO ITS TRUE!! RTD you sly dog.
Also I did not want to put that spoiler there so
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Pretty sure this was richard e grant! Hes played the shalka doctor and the doctor in the curse of fatal death so it could be rtd making one of those canon, maybe its supposed to be the valeyard, or maybe its some foreshadowing for a future storyline 
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Yeah, I know. If you go down a couple of comments from that post, I talk about it.
I like the idea of Him coming back to Who. Shalka 9 is a favourite, with a fun story.
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That was genuinely the most shocking thing I’ve seen all season.
SCREAM OF THE SHALKA IS CANON LADIES, GENTLEMEN, AND ENBIES
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I loved this way more than i was expecting to tbh! While ive loved the unique stories theyve made this season, having a typical fun doctor who episode with a random monster and both main characters featured is really nice :))
The scene at the end was great too, 15 has been suffering nearly every episode but keeps smiling and joking, so it was nice to acknowledge it. It felt very ten+donna at the end of the silence in the library two parter yk
really sad that the season is ending so soon though, it doesnt feel like its reached a conclusion yet! I want more episodes like rogue with the doctor and ruby just having fun!
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Rogue is a hard one for me to judge, admittedly I watched it and went out more positive than I expected, then again I didn’t expect much from this Episode and well it’s alright I guess? Thinking about it more, it does have some good things for it’s going and some bad.
Honestly @turnoftheearth did make some great points about the Episode. I myself didn’t enjoyed the amount of the Bridgerton reference, I am happy for anybody who did, but I feel like it out dates the Episode sooner rather than later. Also I was never big on “Omg it’s just like this” when it’s done too much. For example, I feel the Bond Line is a lot more acceptable and makes sense and again if they had only two lines, then I’d be totally fine.
I think the villains are fun, cool idea, cool concept and played pretty well. In general, the acting is very nice, especially Ncuti. I feel like he gives me massive McGann Vibes in that Episode, seeing him sing pure imagination was kinda enjoyable too (although they really did overuse the pop culture references a bit, didn’t they? Not saying Doctor Who can’t, but it feels a bit too much in this Episode). I do also enjoy Groffs Perfomance, but felt some of it was done a bit too fast, they had some good chemistry, but this feels rather rushed. In general, I feel like the script isn’t too strong, that is not discredit the writers, I am glad for any new writers in who, but at times it felt rather rushed and confused what it wanted to be. Maybe less is more would have benefit this Episode, that sounds all negative, that being said I had my fun with this one, obviously a lot didn’t land for me much, but I’d think it’s rather solid overall. The Directing and especially the make up for the bird people was stellar, and the acting was A+! But sadly the script didn’t worked too well with the pace, I guess at times it felt all a bit too crowded with Rogue and 15. (As I said I think the banter was good, but everything went maybe a bit too quick, I suppose?)
Overall, I am happy that more people enjoyed it more than me!
Also, seeing Richard E Grants Face and the Implication of Scream of the Shalka being canon was probably my highlight, I literally cant stop thinking about it. And I am guessing E. Grant got already the Nick Briggs Call/J!
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Very fun episode! A breezy plot with delightfuly silly villains, but the highlight is definitely the chemistry between the Doctor and Rogue. I hated it when they teased him becoming a companion because I knew it wasn’t gonna happen but I wanted it so bad. Really looking forward to his inevitable return. The downside to all this was Ruby feeling like a third wheel, but at least she had her moment there at the end.
Also I know everyone’s already bringing it up but omg, a Shalka Doctor sighting in the year of our lord 2024 is insane. It seems like they’re really leaning into the “complex space-temporal event” thing by making the Doctor’s timeline less straightfoward, and I love that.
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So, we have Rogue, which is the only episode this season not written by a current or former show runner and the only episode by a new-to-Who author. And it was a lot of fun. Never mind that I’ve never seen an episode of Bridgerton and never plan to, it was still an enjoyable forty-five minutes. The character of Rogue was fun, the chemistry between Groff and Gatwa was entertaining, the villains being evil cosplayers was an interesting take and a nice unique idea. Was it an episode that will land among the greatest ever? Probably not. But I had fun and enjoyed not having a central social message this time. I wasn’t thrilled with the Doctor and Rogue’s romance, but that’s just not my thing anyway, gay or straight. And we finally get the invisible spaceship from Shada. Anyway, a fun romp that was just the light-hearted palette-cleanser we needed before jumping into the season finale.
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I liked this episode. It was fun and a good time before the final episodes. I have not watched Bridgeton but thought it was good anyway.
Did it snow in this episode? Don’t remember seeing that.
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Kate Herron and Briony Redman - give them the keys to the TARDIS any time they want!
That was just a joyful Doctor Who episode and I’m not usually one for romance in the show, but this really worked. There was such chemistry between Rogue and the Doctor. The Doctor using the sonic to keep turning the music on was fantastic - played just right!
I hate to say this but the weak point for me was Indira Varma’s acting, it wasn’t bad per se only when compared to her acting in Torchwood, Game of Thrones and Star Wars it felt a bit off.
I’ve never seen Bridgerton, but that repeated reference to popular culture (that will become dated real soon) feels a lot like an RTD input.
The costuming department must have had a lot of work and a lot of fun with this episode.
Roll for Insight! 4,5/5 
Bring on the two-part finale! 
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Poll time:
Richard E. Grant
- The Curse of Fatal Death 10th Doctor
- The Scream of the Shalka 9th Doctor
- Return of the Great Intelligence
- RTD just trolling fans
0
voters
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It’s the Shalka Doctor and it’s RTD just trolling fans
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I’m not quite convinced, and also I’m nitpicky 
, if it was meant to be the Shalka Doctor surely they would have kept the quite distinctive hair.
The only logical solution is that RTD is pissed at Chris Chibnall for closing down the “Morbius Doctors” discussion once and for all with the Timeless Child and has decided that fandom needs that discussion back. 
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Just watched this. I couldn’t wait, this was an episode I had been most looking forward to as I love Groff.
And what an episode! Absolutely stellar.
The rumours that Groff was playing a new incarnation of Captain Jack were bonkers because he’s not a Time Lord, and I’m glad they were wrong, but I can see if someone had access to the script why they’d think that. We had:
- Rogue time traveller (time agent?)
- Invisible ship
- Kind of a conman
- Travelling on his own
- Big space gun
- Teasing the Doctor’s ship compared to his (he’s definitely more “Spock”)
- Gay AF
- Romancing the Doctor
And yes @sircarolyn, calling it a Shed definitely gave me Lucie Miller memories “Time And Relative Dimensions In Shed” 
I wasn’t surprised that he ended up being teleported into a random dimension (surely they could have made it not random, that was a bit too much “the plot needs this to be random”), as Groff wouldn’t be prepared to have a recurring role, at least not yet. I really hope we do see him again sometime.
I’m already dreaming of a Big Finish box set “The Return of Rogue”.
And the Shalka Doctor! I didn’t spot him, I was too busy wondering why the Doctor’s faces were in random order, but now I know - to stop there being any argument about placement number for Richard E Grant. That’s a wonderful Easter Egg to add in, or will it be addressed in the future? Exciting!
(Oh and when Rogue stopped the teleport as soon as he saw Tennant’s face I thought maybe this character had met him before and recognised him!?)
I know the haters are going to have a field day about the Doctor being queer here. Bracing myself for it. But I am here for it!!
9/10, the only improvements I think there could have been would be yes less mention of Bridgerton (doesn’t help that the quote was in all the trailers), and would have loved if Ruby were a bit more involved, although Battle Mode was brilliant 
Can’t wait to watch it again! Oh and the next time trailer looked epic 
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First impressions are that I really enjoyed it, but that’s as of me watching it a few minutes ago, so rather subject to flux.
Called that Rogue wasn’t going to last the episode, unfortunately, though I was hoping for a minute that we’d end up with Rogue but no Ruby at the end, and that the next episode was her finding her way back.
Also, anyone else notice when they were playing an instrumental version of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face”?
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I think that one was pretty impossible to not notice, though I might not have picked up on “bad guy” during the first conversation between the Doctor and Rogue if not for people mentioning it on twitter when they posted the clip
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Yeah, given they went straight for the chorus, I suppose you’re right. Revisiting it, they even put it in the subtitles.
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