wouldn't it have been interesting if the Cybermen's appearance in the episode had been some kind of reference for their big upgrade in night mere in Sliver or they had simply tried to get even with the time Lord for the times he wrecked their plans.
My big problem with the “power of love”-bit is its implications: if James Corden can undo cyberconversion with his feelings, why can’t anyone else? All those cybermen you see in every other episode? Guess they just didn’t love their kids enough to resist the conversion
@@cwrevenant the Cybermen want to survive and want people to become like them. the Cybermen convert people against their will. it would have made sense if the cybermen wanted to get even with the Doctor because of all the time he has wrecked their plans. it would have made more sense for them to try and delete the Doctor or have tried to gain control of the Tardis in closing time
well i think it’s a matter of hope and also information. any other human being turned into a cyberman probably were fearing their lives and without the doctor or knowledge of cybermen you’ll feel hopeless and probably give in. normal humans wouldn’t know the process of becoming a cyberman either and how they don’t have emotion. you have no preparation or clue of what’s going on so you won’t be able to reverse conversion like that. james corden however had an advantage the doctor is hope and his strong feelings of love was able to be focused and used to fight the conversion.
The best part about this episode is where it confirms that The Doctor gave birth to Stormaggeddon and planted him as a spy to make sure James Corden didn't manage to break through Craig's weak flesh vessel into the Doctor Whoniverse.
Matt Smith is incredibly good at flipping between the goofy fun loving man demonstrating toys and the troubled and weary traveller who's lost so much, and does it in such a way as to never be inconsistent with the character
Cybermen don't convert "everyone in the Universe", just the species from which they originated (be it humans, Mondasians or, viz. the Dhawan Master, Time Lords). They are unusual among DW villains in having such a narrow scope for what they threaten.
Disagreed- one, the Cyber Lords came from Cyber humans, so they recruit outside the species pretty readily. Two, Bill is converted even though she's a human, not a Mondasian (I know, I know, but it's still worth pointing out, even though there doesn't seem to be a difference). It seems what the Cybermen care about is anthromorphism, rather than a strict standard. They don't threaten all life everywhere, which is nice, but I think the distinction I'd make is that they actually care about humanity, it's just such a warped, twisted version of caring that I don't think anybody likes it. Edit: wait those cybermen in that Bill and Missy episode, they're probably humans. Welp, nevermind.
Nightmare in Silver makes it incredibly clear that they eventually upgrade to the point that they can convert any living being. And then the Series 8 finale took it to an entirely different (and pretty stupid) level by suggesting that they can even use NON-LIVING organic material.
I think that ending with Craig overcoming cyber conversion could have had more of a punch if he had actually been partially converted as a result. Not in the way with the helmet, but rather having a Cyberman arm/leg as a result. That way the threat wouldn't be diminished and Craig would have symbolically sacrificed something for the love of his child.
I've always liked Sexy's explanation for why the doctor always winds up where the action is. "You never take me where I want to go!" "No, but I always take you where you need to go"
I don't really have many notes about the episode. it is what it is. Smith is always great. He bounces off of Corden well. That's it. Fun fact: I met Holli Dempsey who plays Kelly a few years ago at my local comic con. She was really lovely. Such a great energy about her. All good vibes.
I'd never watched The God Complex, so I remember reading the Closing Time synopsis and wondering why Amy & Rory weren't there, unlike in The Lodger where it was pretty clear (Amy was trapped inside a glitching TARDIS and Rory was temporarily out of the picture). So in other words, thank you Harbo for clearing up that longtime question for me last week. Seems like they dodged a bullet on this one. 😅😆
@@_hollowsky Because I owned the 50 years of Doctor Who book, which contained select episode synopses from every season leading up to The Name of the Doctor. 'Scuse me for wanting to read them through regardless of having seen them or not.
I'd probably swap Fear Her 2.0 for this, and then we'd have a two-parter for the finale, because I really like the 11th Doctor in this. His reflection is poignant, and I love that he decides to clear up the house rather than go and watch a once-in-time phenomenon. That's so him, and is in the same vain as the 10th Doctor dying to save Wilf: after all he's done and seen, it's the little things that keep him being The Doctor.
Another dating inconsistency is that Miracle Day is supposed to be going on around this time. So literally no one in the episode even mentions that "Holy shit, there's an event happening where no one can die" and the Doctor goes "Eh, it'll sort itself out". So in retrospect, there were no stakes in this episode whatsoever since no one can die.
It really feels like Miracle Day just isn't canon at all. Honestly, Torchwood struggles with this problem a lot. Nothing in Doctor Who ever indicates that either Torchwood or UNIT have ever accomplished anything without the Doctor being present. It really stretches believably that either org has managed to maintain the masquerade they had going on even a little bit. As annoying as the whole "crack in time ate everyone's memory of alien invasions" was, it honestly felt pretty much needed with the way they just could not maintain the fusion of "like real life" and "this stuff has happened". Realistically speaking, with all the tech they've picked up and the sheer scale of threats they've encountered, humanity should be armed to the friggin teeth. Human politics should be completely upended by the knowledge of aliens. Not only that, but the idea of UNIT as a secret organization is laughable because of this very issue. Like, humanity knowing about all this crap and _not_ being aware of Earth's response to the issue? Come on. There'd be revolutions. If UNIT wasn't known to the world, there'd be an American equivalent of Torchwood a thousand times more dangerous than Torchwood One ever was. The American public would demand it. Torchwood as a series presents a society that's barely impacted by this knowledge even _before_ the crack retcon. That's even more ridiculous. "Alien threat cops" should just be a normal group that everyone knows exists, not some secret organization that's using old credentials to pretend to even still be legitimate. UNIT D-Notices should have been downright worthless. There's too many disconnected drives, old phones, and physical recording devices. You can't gaslight the Dalek/Cyberman War out of human memory, that's nonsensical. The crack retcon was literally the only way to fix this nonsense. The entire concept of society even remotely resembling real life after Miracle Day is especially nonsensical. That would be the absolute collapse of our current system. Miracle Day, unlike everything else, wasn't eaten by the crack in time. There would be _so many_ revolutions and complete upheavals of the system. You really think the UK can survive Miracle Day? It'll be an absolute stunner if the UK exists in 2030 simply because of Brexit + the Scots being sick of the Tories in general. It'll probably be the United Kingdom of England and Wales by 2030, because it's not like Wales can leave. And then there's, you know, everywhere else. America's totally going to crumble from Miracle Day. It's been edging to the thought of Civil War 2 for 150 years, and _everyone's_ fears came true at the same time. A single black president happening was the catalyst for a series of events leading to America hitting the point where people are storming the capitol and building gallows. Miracle Day presented the end of human civilization as we know it. The big players in NATO would _collapse_ from Miracle Day. Thus, NATO would collapse. Thus, the entire American Empire and all the countries stuffed to the brim with American military bases whose governments have to placate America in fear of the CIA would be cut loose. The economic collapse would make the Great Recession look like a pothole. It would completely collapse modern society as we know it. Tons of governments just going bankrupt, massive amounts of famine with the complete collapse of the world economy, it's just pure "this is the origin story of the unified Earth government". And tbh, I think actually dealing with this would have been good for Doctor Who, because it would have taken away the lazy writer cliche of Modern Day Doctor Who stories. You could still have them _visually_ be modern day, because we're not revising the infrastructure like that, that's a really stupid sci-fi trope. At a certain level of grounded, the political system wouldn't matter. But you'd have The Doctor no longer able to just walk into present day nations and stuff, it would force it to purely exist in a world where humanity has grown and developed. And even though The Doctor had nothing to do with it, he'd know it was still something he ultimately set in motion in so many days. Accidentally leading to Torchwood's creation, his actions creating Jack's immortality, him making Earth into a target for aliens constantly, him being essential to the growth of UNIT, all of that got us here. It would _show_ the impact of The Doctor. And the most annoying thing is that _secretly_ this happened! Which makes no sense! None at all! Humanity is _secretly_ a one world government and everyone is just larping at it still! The President of Earth is The Doctor! It's so goddamn stupid! Imagine if instead of all these governments pretending to be some independent thing, the UN really _was_ now just the Earth Government, with "countries" being under it, and _that_ is how the President of Earth stuff was handled. Like, everyone fessed up and opened up their intel, and the world governments, given complete knowledge of The Doctor, had openly instituted a President Doctor policy as part of the radical restructuring and unification of the post-Miracle Day world. Humanity is a global democratic republic system without a permanent head of state, but in emergencies, presuming he's around, they have an immediate "shift to full Doctor-led dictatorship" button in full faith that that's safe because he's The Doctor. All of humanity has become his companions now. Humanity coming together to work to survive and thrive and create the grand galactic empire that humanity has been confirmed to build, with the eternal clause that The Doctor is in charge, because humanity recognizes that he's their eternal savior. The _very first Doctor Who story_ has him give fire to humanity. He is Prometheus. He literally cast Satan back down into the pit. He is the Healer, the Medicine Man, the doctor who all follow in the footsteps of. No matter how much he denies it, no matter how much he hates it, he _is_ the God of Humanity. And this frees Doctor Who from constantly having to retcon out future-setting stories, because it's now free of ever having to incorporate a shifting present day. Miracle Day could have fixed so many issues if only they'd had the guts to disconnect from the whole "just like our Earth unless noted otherwise" crap.
@@brainfood8971 Thank you! I honestly loved the universe progression in the RTD era, and I really wish they just kept with it. It would have been a change, yes, but it was the only way to realistically do the Modern Who stories. For them to have weight, the modern world just has to stop existing eventually. Miracle Day would have been the perfect way to do it. The Doctor wasn't there, he didn't save the day. Donna saved him and prevented the precise series of events, but for humanity to become what we _know_ in canon they will become, the Human galactic empire spanning the stars, the current social order must die. Basically, Turn Left still happened. That collapse of things because The Doctor wasn't there to save the day was a fixed point in time, there was no possible way to avert it, all he did was delay it and make it turn out perhaps a bit better via delaying it, and the most important thing Donna did was save The Doctor. Miracle Day being time's reaction to making the fixed point still take place would have been perfect.
I recently came across a theory on the timeline of the show, where this episode takes place during Torchwood: Miracle Day. If they had just acknowledged that in the story, it could've come across as a perfectly logical reason for that ending. Apparently the shows are in completely separate universes though.
i feel like with the doctor always changing the course of history by saving the world over and over i beleive there must be infinite realities of earth where torchwood does or doesn’t exist and within that torchwood has many realities they’re in so i think that would make it make sense as to why they’re worlds don’t seem to be completely aligned
@@arisamelody You're right. It probably has something to do with the Big Bang and literally resetting the universe. Captain Jack obviously couldn't cope in such an unfamiliar environment (though he does appear later in an even more reset universe (Season 12), so where was he until then?)
If I was a showrunner, the first thing I'd do is a Series where The Cybermen were the actual main threat. They always get overshadowed, and it's because of that I feel there hasn't been a NuWho Cybermen story to come close to topping "Rise Of The Cybermen" and "Age Of Steel". Hope RTD changes this and gives them the same treatment he gave to The Daleks.
The only thing I didn't like about this episode was the "power of love" stuff, but everything else about this episode was just pretty nice and a sweet episode. I do wish the finale had been a two-parter, though.
It would have been great if the doctor threw in a line about Craig moving house and using the key to let himself into his old house only to find someone else living there
i feel like they should've bounced back and forth between horror and comedy, a lighter episode before the finale would've wroked well but the horror bits wouldn't have made it feel as disconnected from the rest of series 6b's tone
Idk, I found the episode really fun, and whilst it definitely doesn’t help the finale at all, it’s just a fun episode to watch. Smith and corden are really entertaining, and that’s enough for me.
It seems like the cybermens weakness is strong emotions, which may override their emotionless-ness, but only whenever the plot requires it for a clean resolution or emotional impact
Cybermen have definitely been done dirty, though I did like The World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls (though they were sharing the screen with the Masters). I love the concept of the Lone Cyberman, as a desperate last gasp half converted Cyberman, but the person they converted is such a zealot for the cause that they don't need the full conversion, but it's pretty poorly executed and overshadowed by the rest of that arc. It also makes no sense to have that Cyberman in the upcoming episode as we saw in the trailer
@@Melina_Evarblume_Seelie right? Like sure there was the timeless child but I knew that was going to he a let down because the master should have been the timeless child but obviously that wasn't happening. But the lone cyberman. Now that had some narrative meat on the bone yet it got tossed in the trash a perfectly good meal. Wasted.
Ashad should have been the Davros of the Daleks: a figurehead of the Cybermen to be able to really hold a legit conversation with the doctor Shame he was killed off too quickly
It hadn’t even crossed my mind that the Amy and Rory in the shop would be an earlier version of the ones from The Impossible Astronaut, not post-The God Complex. Mad, that.
But what does that imply? These are the Amy and Rory that didn't experience the Doctor's death whereas the ones after the God Complex did? The ones from Closing Time are pre-season 6 Amy and Rory?That would mean the ones after the God Complex are the ones we see at the end of the series final,right?
6:25 Just because an idea is deconstructed to the audience doesn’t mean other characters lose such belief, or that the standard can’t be played straight again
Personally what i didn’t like about this episode was how Amy becomes a model in her real life. it never made sense to me. why would she pick a career thats so lackluster in action when her whole reason why she waited was to escape with the doctor to explore the world and have adventures. I still think this episode is good though because of the humor and chemistry between james corden and the doctor. i don’t think the cybermen were disrespected in this video though i think they were just not as scary this time around. cybermen are not the same everytime they get invented by people and people invent things with different motivations and resources these ones if i recall were weak they had low power and weren’t even that hostile.
Great video, usually harbo gets really mad over episodes like this, but this was just really great criticism that admits the episode can be fine if u know to turn your brain off early on (which is what u should do on anything even remotely related to James corden) Ignoring the fact they should have scrapped this episode for having a two parter finale, here's what I think this episode should've been: Like harbo said, this episode is more of a cyber mat story than a cyberman story, and with James cordon there they should lean into that Have the cybermats be a remnants of another cyberpunk attack (could be the next doctor, which in my opinion works best because it allows for the measly cybermats to be powerful and underground with the explanation that they were just there a long time and had a long time to work and stuff, while also feeling natural and just as a consequence of what happened in that story) Doesn't matter what the cybermats are planning, only that it involves the store which makes the cybermats kill people so we can have a similar cold open just with something else than a cyberman) Have it be very comedic, like it is, but don't finish it off with the power of love.... please whatever u do dont.... Have in the end James cordon say something like "huh... they were just fighting for survival... just to live a little longer" and then realize "doesn't sound like somebody i know" matt Smith can smile here as the final few minutes kick in and set up the finale Hopefully in this ideal universe the finale is a two, maybe even three parter if u want to do something that involves the opening two parter, like for example how the doctor understood the time loop or whatever, but only if that idea doesn't turn out like the series nines first two parter, where its a two parter for no reason and drags on unnecessarily for the first half...
the episode is set in Colchester but as someone who lives in Colchester the episode is filmed no where near and looks nothing even like Colchester Colchester doesn’t even have a shopping centre at all like the show XD
Early comment. (relative to video length) I decided very early into my understanding of Season 2 Cybermen that THEY were more terrifying than the Daleks. My reason was that although Daleks had an undeniable fear factor in the way the subtly taunt their enemies by slowly creeping forward and waiting, savouring your resistance before finally killing you. If you attempt to run away, they shoot you dead. They could kill you from a mile away. However Cybermen, Can't shoot you. You can run. You can hide. But you'll hear the marching. *shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.* With every step they take, they close in. With every step you take, you get tired. Your heart beating in your ears as you look over your shoulders and see their empty faces marching forward until finally you're cut off by another ten who knew you were going to be coming this way. Next thing you know, you're cornered with no escape. Daleks would shoot you at this point. Painful, but at least it's relatively quick. But the Cybermen.... *shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.* You see them slowly coming. *shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.* Those empty eyes, blank expressions. *shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.* Even if you shut your eyes, you can hear them. *shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.* They're getting closer. *shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.* Maybe they won't kill you. Maybe they'll just turn you into them. *shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.* Is that better? *shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.* Do you remember the last person they killed? How they screamed? *shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.* How painful is it to die that way? *shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.* But is becoming one of them even better? You're next. *shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.* Aw, no wait. They gave the Cybermen Pewpews by the season finally. Never mind! Take everything I thought off when I was 13 and throw it in the bin!
I just love the cameo scene of Amy and Rory and the Doctor watching them from the far. I believe it would've been the best last scene of them in the show and very beautiful and emotional as well and I just feel enraged of remembering how it all just got ruined later and that scene also lost its impact🤦♀🤦♀🤦♀
When this series was coming out I wasn't really interested in the show but my younger cousin loved it. He convinced me to watch the Wedding of River Song and Angels Take Manhattan as my very first episodes.
13:30 i would say series 10 does them justice because even though they are in background to masters they are an unstoppable force with it actually feeling like fight against them is pointless not to mention the ammount of perfect body horror and elements like that.
Breather episodes can work. But it takes skill when writing them to ensure that they’re not a completely massive tonal departure and they don’t impact the overarching story too much . Closing Time….doesn’t really work as a breather episode
Surely you could blame any single part episode in series 6 for Wedding of River Song being too rushed not just the one right before it. Personally, the single part episode I blame the most is Wedding of River Song.
If you pause at 5:43 if you want a wild thumbnail with Craig looking like he's grabbing 11's Sonic Screwdriver. Wink wink nudge nudge know what i mean? Say no more
can you please discuss River's nonsensical speech in the next episode, where she talks about sending a distress signal to the universe to help him. how is that relevant. what does the speech even mean. it's so weird and it feels it should be in a shitty American tv show (I'm American). seriously, what does this mean: "River: I'm the child of the Tardis. I understand the physics. DOCTOR: But that's all you've got, a distress beacon. RIVER: I've been sending out a message. A distress call. Outside the bubble of our time, the universe is still turning, and I've sent a message everywhere. To the future and the past, the beginning and the end of everything. The Doctor is dying. Please, please help."
You bring up very strong points in this video, and it was very well put together. However, I just cannot agree with you on this one. I think this story is very compelling, and while it does kind of stomp out the cybermen, I personally believe it helps set up Nightmare in Silver (especially because it perfectly amps up the cybermen to a new threat level from their undermined position). As a standalone episode it definitely isn't strong, but if you key it into the overarching plot of the 11th doctor's run, it kind of fits nicely as a piece of the puzzle.
In a series where the things it's trying to do don't work, Closing Time is unusually solid for me, having just watched it. It's actually funny! And doesn't rely on universe-altering Moffat hokey bullshit like virtually every other line they force Smith to say. It's entertaining, works without companions, and most miraculously contains James Corden in a likable format. Really impressive along with the God Complex.
Sorry, to clarify, I just meant that the template by that point was a two part finale. It wasn't in the plans for Series 6, Moffat wanted the finale to be a single part from the early stages of development
Actually I didn't find that an issue but rather the Doctor being able to speak Baby as if it was a real language. That was very very cringeworthy. Second worse DW moment the Sontaron eating all the chocolates in a frenzy. Third, the Azbarloff or whatever it's called in Love and Monsters.
The novel "Plague of the Cybermen" delves more into the Cyberman horror element you suggest here. Trouble is, it feels like such a retread of both this episode and "Blood of the Cybermen" that I never enjoyed that novel. Like, at all. Enough of that crashed ship crap! It spurred me on to write my own Eleventh Doctor Cyberman story where they're an "Age of Steel"-type threat again, at least.
I don't really know why, but I just absolutely despise the Cybermen. As soon as they appear in an episode,I'm instantely annoyed. There are only maybe one or two Cyber Storylines I like. Wish that wasn't the case, but well, can't force myself to like them
It's a real shame tbh, I did really like the episode personally but I think you're completely right the cybermen were the wrong call for the main villain on this one. Usually, a comedy-centric episode comes with some of the more comedy-centric villains so I don't really get it. Like, imagine if this episode was formatted as closely as possible to how it was but the weeping angels are the main villain instead. They'd never do that because it would obviously belittle the angels as villains so why the heck did they do it here with the cybermen? It's all very odd to me.
He was perfectly fine in The Lodger. Not amazing but his chemistry with Matt Smith was excellent and he managed to sound charming. This is definitely after he started his late night show when his charm was getting boring and unfunny.
This is an okay episode tbh. Nothing really harmful but honestly it’s a definite skip Also yes, Wedding of River Song needed a second part DX Edit: Much of Series 6 really needed different placements and could’ve been a lot better
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wouldn't it have been interesting if the Cybermen's appearance in the episode had been some kind of reference for their big upgrade in night mere in Sliver or they had simply tried to get even with the time Lord for the times he wrecked their plans.
My big problem with the “power of love”-bit is its implications: if James Corden can undo cyberconversion with his feelings, why can’t anyone else? All those cybermen you see in every other episode? Guess they just didn’t love their kids enough to resist the conversion
We have seen yvonne resist the programming but that might have been sheer will power
@@cwrevenant the Cybermen want to survive and want people to become like them. the Cybermen convert people against their will. it would have made sense if the cybermen wanted to get even with the Doctor because of all the time he has wrecked their plans. it would have made more sense for them to try and delete the Doctor or have tried to gain control of the Tardis in closing time
well i think it’s a matter of hope and also information. any other human being turned into a cyberman probably were fearing their lives and without the doctor or knowledge of cybermen you’ll feel hopeless and probably give in. normal humans wouldn’t know the process of becoming a cyberman either and how they don’t have emotion. you have no preparation or clue of what’s going on so you won’t be able to reverse conversion like that. james corden however had an advantage the doctor is hope and his strong feelings of love was able to be focused and used to fight the conversion.
maybe it's that particular model, maybe it's him hearing a stimulus mid conversion
I just guess it’s since they were so run down after having been under the Earth for so long
The best part about this episode is where it confirms that The Doctor gave birth to Stormaggeddon and planted him as a spy to make sure James Corden didn't manage to break through Craig's weak flesh vessel into the Doctor Whoniverse.
wut
This is cannon now
what?
@@IcyLightning00 what?
As they say in Dutch: "Wat"
Matt Smith is incredibly good at flipping between the goofy fun loving man demonstrating toys and the troubled and weary traveller who's lost so much, and does it in such a way as to never be inconsistent with the character
True, he's a great actor
To be fair, dropping Amy and Rory off too early in the timeline sounds exactly like something he'd do accidentally
Cybermen don't convert "everyone in the Universe", just the species from which they originated (be it humans, Mondasians or, viz. the Dhawan Master, Time Lords). They are unusual among DW villains in having such a narrow scope for what they threaten.
Disagreed- one, the Cyber Lords came from Cyber humans, so they recruit outside the species pretty readily. Two, Bill is converted even though she's a human, not a Mondasian (I know, I know, but it's still worth pointing out, even though there doesn't seem to be a difference).
It seems what the Cybermen care about is anthromorphism, rather than a strict standard.
They don't threaten all life everywhere, which is nice, but I think the distinction I'd make is that they actually care about humanity, it's just such a warped, twisted version of caring that I don't think anybody likes it.
Edit: wait those cybermen in that Bill and Missy episode, they're probably humans.
Welp, nevermind.
@Chris Moliere the expanded media has a crossover with star trek? wat
Nightmare in Silver makes it incredibly clear that they eventually upgrade to the point that they can convert any living being.
And then the Series 8 finale took it to an entirely different (and pretty stupid) level by suggesting that they can even use NON-LIVING organic material.
I think that ending with Craig overcoming cyber conversion could have had more of a punch if he had actually been partially converted as a result. Not in the way with the helmet, but rather having a Cyberman arm/leg as a result. That way the threat wouldn't be diminished and Craig would have symbolically sacrificed something for the love of his child.
I've always liked Sexy's explanation for why the doctor always winds up where the action is.
"You never take me where I want to go!"
"No, but I always take you where you need to go"
neil gaiman really fixed 50 years of "why the hell does he always stumble into every situation that needs to be fixed" with one piece of dialogue
I don't really have many notes about the episode. it is what it is. Smith is always great. He bounces off of Corden well. That's it. Fun fact: I met Holli Dempsey who plays Kelly a few years ago at my local comic con. She was really lovely. Such a great energy about her. All good vibes.
I'd never watched The God Complex, so I remember reading the Closing Time synopsis and wondering why Amy & Rory weren't there, unlike in The Lodger where it was pretty clear (Amy was trapped inside a glitching TARDIS and Rory was temporarily out of the picture). So in other words, thank you Harbo for clearing up that longtime question for me last week. Seems like they dodged a bullet on this one. 😅😆
Honestly though, do watch the God Complex. It's an exceptionally strong episode.
@@Melina_Evarblume_Seelie Oh believe me, I want to now. 😊♾
Why would you spoil yourself on episodes before watching them
@@_hollowsky Because I owned the 50 years of Doctor Who book, which contained select episode synopses from every season leading up to The Name of the Doctor. 'Scuse me for wanting to read them through regardless of having seen them or not.
I'd probably swap Fear Her 2.0 for this, and then we'd have a two-parter for the finale, because I really like the 11th Doctor in this. His reflection is poignant, and I love that he decides to clear up the house rather than go and watch a once-in-time phenomenon. That's so him, and is in the same vain as the 10th Doctor dying to save Wilf: after all he's done and seen, it's the little things that keep him being The Doctor.
the helmet that gets put over Craig’s head is notably distorted to accommodate his extra chins lol
Clearly just the Cyber Leader needing to be a larger unit to house that magnificent brain.
Another dating inconsistency is that Miracle Day is supposed to be going on around this time. So literally no one in the episode even mentions that "Holy shit, there's an event happening where no one can die" and the Doctor goes "Eh, it'll sort itself out". So in retrospect, there were no stakes in this episode whatsoever since no one can die.
NO STAKES!!!!!!
Your in-laws will always be there!!!??
No death, but eternal insanity
It really feels like Miracle Day just isn't canon at all. Honestly, Torchwood struggles with this problem a lot. Nothing in Doctor Who ever indicates that either Torchwood or UNIT have ever accomplished anything without the Doctor being present. It really stretches believably that either org has managed to maintain the masquerade they had going on even a little bit. As annoying as the whole "crack in time ate everyone's memory of alien invasions" was, it honestly felt pretty much needed with the way they just could not maintain the fusion of "like real life" and "this stuff has happened".
Realistically speaking, with all the tech they've picked up and the sheer scale of threats they've encountered, humanity should be armed to the friggin teeth. Human politics should be completely upended by the knowledge of aliens. Not only that, but the idea of UNIT as a secret organization is laughable because of this very issue. Like, humanity knowing about all this crap and _not_ being aware of Earth's response to the issue? Come on. There'd be revolutions. If UNIT wasn't known to the world, there'd be an American equivalent of Torchwood a thousand times more dangerous than Torchwood One ever was. The American public would demand it. Torchwood as a series presents a society that's barely impacted by this knowledge even _before_ the crack retcon. That's even more ridiculous. "Alien threat cops" should just be a normal group that everyone knows exists, not some secret organization that's using old credentials to pretend to even still be legitimate. UNIT D-Notices should have been downright worthless. There's too many disconnected drives, old phones, and physical recording devices. You can't gaslight the Dalek/Cyberman War out of human memory, that's nonsensical. The crack retcon was literally the only way to fix this nonsense.
The entire concept of society even remotely resembling real life after Miracle Day is especially nonsensical. That would be the absolute collapse of our current system. Miracle Day, unlike everything else, wasn't eaten by the crack in time. There would be _so many_ revolutions and complete upheavals of the system. You really think the UK can survive Miracle Day? It'll be an absolute stunner if the UK exists in 2030 simply because of Brexit + the Scots being sick of the Tories in general. It'll probably be the United Kingdom of England and Wales by 2030, because it's not like Wales can leave.
And then there's, you know, everywhere else. America's totally going to crumble from Miracle Day. It's been edging to the thought of Civil War 2 for 150 years, and _everyone's_ fears came true at the same time. A single black president happening was the catalyst for a series of events leading to America hitting the point where people are storming the capitol and building gallows. Miracle Day presented the end of human civilization as we know it. The big players in NATO would _collapse_ from Miracle Day. Thus, NATO would collapse. Thus, the entire American Empire and all the countries stuffed to the brim with American military bases whose governments have to placate America in fear of the CIA would be cut loose. The economic collapse would make the Great Recession look like a pothole. It would completely collapse modern society as we know it. Tons of governments just going bankrupt, massive amounts of famine with the complete collapse of the world economy, it's just pure "this is the origin story of the unified Earth government".
And tbh, I think actually dealing with this would have been good for Doctor Who, because it would have taken away the lazy writer cliche of Modern Day Doctor Who stories. You could still have them _visually_ be modern day, because we're not revising the infrastructure like that, that's a really stupid sci-fi trope. At a certain level of grounded, the political system wouldn't matter. But you'd have The Doctor no longer able to just walk into present day nations and stuff, it would force it to purely exist in a world where humanity has grown and developed. And even though The Doctor had nothing to do with it, he'd know it was still something he ultimately set in motion in so many days. Accidentally leading to Torchwood's creation, his actions creating Jack's immortality, him making Earth into a target for aliens constantly, him being essential to the growth of UNIT, all of that got us here. It would _show_ the impact of The Doctor.
And the most annoying thing is that _secretly_ this happened! Which makes no sense! None at all! Humanity is _secretly_ a one world government and everyone is just larping at it still! The President of Earth is The Doctor! It's so goddamn stupid! Imagine if instead of all these governments pretending to be some independent thing, the UN really _was_ now just the Earth Government, with "countries" being under it, and _that_ is how the President of Earth stuff was handled. Like, everyone fessed up and opened up their intel, and the world governments, given complete knowledge of The Doctor, had openly instituted a President Doctor policy as part of the radical restructuring and unification of the post-Miracle Day world. Humanity is a global democratic republic system without a permanent head of state, but in emergencies, presuming he's around, they have an immediate "shift to full Doctor-led dictatorship" button in full faith that that's safe because he's The Doctor.
All of humanity has become his companions now. Humanity coming together to work to survive and thrive and create the grand galactic empire that humanity has been confirmed to build, with the eternal clause that The Doctor is in charge, because humanity recognizes that he's their eternal savior. The _very first Doctor Who story_ has him give fire to humanity. He is Prometheus. He literally cast Satan back down into the pit. He is the Healer, the Medicine Man, the doctor who all follow in the footsteps of. No matter how much he denies it, no matter how much he hates it, he _is_ the God of Humanity. And this frees Doctor Who from constantly having to retcon out future-setting stories, because it's now free of ever having to incorporate a shifting present day. Miracle Day could have fixed so many issues if only they'd had the guts to disconnect from the whole "just like our Earth unless noted otherwise" crap.
@@PosthumanHeresy That...was incredible! 👏👏👏
@@brainfood8971 Thank you! I honestly loved the universe progression in the RTD era, and I really wish they just kept with it. It would have been a change, yes, but it was the only way to realistically do the Modern Who stories. For them to have weight, the modern world just has to stop existing eventually. Miracle Day would have been the perfect way to do it. The Doctor wasn't there, he didn't save the day. Donna saved him and prevented the precise series of events, but for humanity to become what we _know_ in canon they will become, the Human galactic empire spanning the stars, the current social order must die. Basically, Turn Left still happened. That collapse of things because The Doctor wasn't there to save the day was a fixed point in time, there was no possible way to avert it, all he did was delay it and make it turn out perhaps a bit better via delaying it, and the most important thing Donna did was save The Doctor. Miracle Day being time's reaction to making the fixed point still take place would have been perfect.
I recently came across a theory on the timeline of the show, where this episode takes place during Torchwood: Miracle Day. If they had just acknowledged that in the story, it could've come across as a perfectly logical reason for that ending. Apparently the shows are in completely separate universes though.
Yeah, I always wondered about how it fits in with Miracle Day.
i feel like with the doctor always changing the course of history by saving the world over and over i beleive there must be infinite realities of earth where torchwood does or doesn’t exist and within that torchwood has many realities they’re in so i think that would make it make sense as to why they’re worlds don’t seem to be completely aligned
@@arisamelody You're right. It probably has something to do with the Big Bang and literally resetting the universe. Captain Jack obviously couldn't cope in such an unfamiliar environment (though he does appear later in an even more reset universe (Season 12), so where was he until then?)
If I was a showrunner, the first thing I'd do is a Series where The Cybermen were the actual main threat. They always get overshadowed, and it's because of that I feel there hasn't been a NuWho Cybermen story to come close to topping "Rise Of The Cybermen" and "Age Of Steel". Hope RTD changes this and gives them the same treatment he gave to The Daleks.
The only thing I didn't like about this episode was the "power of love" stuff, but everything else about this episode was just pretty nice and a sweet episode. I do wish the finale had been a two-parter, though.
It would have been great if the doctor threw in a line about Craig moving house and using the key to let himself into his old house only to find someone else living there
This was released in 2011 so Stormageddon is in Year 7 now
i feel like they should've bounced back and forth between horror and comedy, a lighter episode before the finale would've wroked well but the horror bits wouldn't have made it feel as disconnected from the rest of series 6b's tone
I honestly never caught that the Amy and Rory that we see here are from before The Impossible Astronaut. Nice catch!
Idk, I found the episode really fun, and whilst it definitely doesn’t help the finale at all, it’s just a fun episode to watch. Smith and corden are really entertaining, and that’s enough for me.
It seems like the cybermens weakness is strong emotions, which may override their emotionless-ness, but only whenever the plot requires it for a clean resolution or emotional impact
All their other victims just did not love hard enough.
Considering this is a companion light episode, I doubt it's removal would have allowed the final episode to be a 2 parter.
can't believe you don't appreciate how he blew the cybermen up with love
truly a powerful moment
Cybermen have definitely been done dirty, though I did like The World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls (though they were sharing the screen with the Masters). I love the concept of the Lone Cyberman, as a desperate last gasp half converted Cyberman, but the person they converted is such a zealot for the cause that they don't need the full conversion, but it's pretty poorly executed and overshadowed by the rest of that arc. It also makes no sense to have that Cyberman in the upcoming episode as we saw in the trailer
Honestly I wholeheartedly believe the lone cyberman was the biggest let down of the chibnall era.
@@Not_An_EV
It's one of the things that had SO much potential, but just didn't hit right.
@@Melina_Evarblume_Seelie right? Like sure there was the timeless child but I knew that was going to he a let down because the master should have been the timeless child but obviously that wasn't happening.
But the lone cyberman. Now that had some narrative meat on the bone yet it got tossed in the trash a perfectly good meal. Wasted.
Ashad should have been the Davros of the Daleks: a figurehead of the Cybermen to be able to really hold a legit conversation with the doctor
Shame he was killed off too quickly
It hadn’t even crossed my mind that the Amy and Rory in the shop would be an earlier version of the ones from The Impossible Astronaut, not post-The God Complex. Mad, that.
But what does that imply? These are the Amy and Rory that didn't experience the Doctor's death whereas the ones after the God Complex did? The ones from Closing Time are pre-season 6 Amy and Rory?That would mean the ones after the God Complex are the ones we see at the end of the series final,right?
Not going to lie, this episode is a guilty pleasure of mine.
6:25 Just because an idea is deconstructed to the audience doesn’t mean other characters lose such belief, or that the standard can’t be played straight again
Personally what i didn’t like about this episode was how Amy becomes a model in her real life. it never made sense to me. why would she pick a career thats so lackluster in action when her whole reason why she waited was to escape with the doctor to explore the world and have adventures.
I still think this episode is good though because of the humor and chemistry between james corden and the doctor. i don’t think the cybermen were disrespected in this video though i think they were just not as scary this time around. cybermen are not the same everytime they get invented by people and people invent things with different motivations and resources these ones if i recall were weak they had low power and weren’t even that hostile.
She's one of the many many hot nymphs in Moffat's sexual heaven. that's why she chose that kind of career even if it doesn't make sense
Great video, usually harbo gets really mad over episodes like this, but this was just really great criticism that admits the episode can be fine if u know to turn your brain off early on (which is what u should do on anything even remotely related to James corden)
Ignoring the fact they should have scrapped this episode for having a two parter finale, here's what I think this episode should've been:
Like harbo said, this episode is more of a cyber mat story than a cyberman story, and with James cordon there they should lean into that
Have the cybermats be a remnants of another cyberpunk attack
(could be the next doctor, which in my opinion works best because it allows for the measly cybermats to be powerful and underground with the explanation that they were just there a long time and had a long time to work and stuff, while also feeling natural and just as a consequence of what happened in that story)
Doesn't matter what the cybermats are planning, only that it involves the store which makes the cybermats kill people so we can have a similar cold open just with something else than a cyberman)
Have it be very comedic, like it is, but don't finish it off with the power of love.... please whatever u do dont....
Have in the end James cordon say something like "huh... they were just fighting for survival... just to live a little longer" and then realize "doesn't sound like somebody i know" matt Smith can smile here as the final few minutes kick in and set up the finale
Hopefully in this ideal universe the finale is a two, maybe even three parter if u want to do something that involves the opening two parter, like for example how the doctor understood the time loop or whatever, but only if that idea doesn't turn out like the series nines first two parter, where its a two parter for no reason and drags on unnecessarily for the first half...
"... something you could NEVER imagine happening to the daleks..."
Obviously, you've never seen The Chase...
I always forget that theres 2 James Cordon eps they blur into one for me
Would have been better as an auton story
They actually filmed it in the same department store from Rose.
My day be so fine, then boom
James corden
Saved by the power of love… again
All I remember from this episode was that the shopping assistant was my drama school in secondary school
I LOVE this episode! I consistently wish for another revisit.
the episode is set in Colchester but as someone who lives in Colchester the episode is filmed no where near and looks nothing even like Colchester
Colchester doesn’t even have a shopping centre at all like the show XD
James Corden is the template.
Lol just realised it’s all mainly set in the house of Fraser by my house.
Solution: Lose 'Curse of the Black Spot' which isn't a very good episode. Then 'Closing Time' gets to exist and we'd get a two part finale to season 6
Early comment. (relative to video length)
I decided very early into my understanding of Season 2 Cybermen that THEY were more terrifying than the Daleks.
My reason was that although Daleks had an undeniable fear factor in the way the subtly taunt their enemies by slowly creeping forward and waiting, savouring your resistance before finally killing you.
If you attempt to run away, they shoot you dead. They could kill you from a mile away.
However Cybermen, Can't shoot you.
You can run. You can hide. But you'll hear the marching.
*shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.*
With every step they take, they close in.
With every step you take, you get tired. Your heart beating in your ears as you look over your shoulders and see their empty faces marching forward until finally you're cut off by another ten who knew you were going to be coming this way.
Next thing you know, you're cornered with no escape.
Daleks would shoot you at this point. Painful, but at least it's relatively quick.
But the Cybermen....
*shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.*
You see them slowly coming.
*shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.*
Those empty eyes, blank expressions.
*shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.*
Even if you shut your eyes, you can hear them.
*shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.*
They're getting closer.
*shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.*
Maybe they won't kill you. Maybe they'll just turn you into them.
*shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.*
Is that better?
*shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.*
Do you remember the last person they killed? How they screamed?
*shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.*
How painful is it to die that way?
*shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.*
But is becoming one of them even better?
You're next.
*shift Clang, shift Clang, shift, Clang.*
Aw, no wait.
They gave the Cybermen Pewpews by the season finally.
Never mind!
Take everything I thought off when I was 13 and throw it in the bin!
I just love the cameo scene of Amy and Rory and the Doctor watching them from the far. I believe it would've been the best last scene of them in the show and very beautiful and emotional as well and I just feel enraged of remembering how it all just got ruined later and that scene also lost its impact🤦♀🤦♀🤦♀
That lady who works in the store needs to see the world. I feel like standing outside her store and saying "Come Outside"
17:33 An archaeologist? More like a Snarky-ologist!
Still want Stormy to return as a future villain
When this series was coming out I wasn't really interested in the show but my younger cousin loved it. He convinced me to watch the Wedding of River Song and Angels Take Manhattan as my very first episodes.
At least we got a cool Cybermat redesign out of this...
13:30 i would say series 10 does them justice because even though they are in background to masters they are an unstoppable force with it actually feeling like fight against them is pointless not to mention the ammount of perfect body horror and elements like that.
Yeah............... Name something James Corden doesn't ruin
He used the power of emotion. It's super effective.
I would have said Corden should have played a Slitheen but I like those aliens too much for that
I don’t think this is a bad episode.
There’s some great Matt smith scenes, the cybermen r just a scavenger group it doesn’t rlly matter.
"buried" "midcard" oooh scrummy scrummy harbo i see you!!
14:18 Eve of the Daleks: Hahahahahaha
I like the idea of the guardian from the older drafts, it'd be really interesting to see.
Breather episodes can work. But it takes skill when writing them to ensure that they’re not a completely massive tonal departure and they don’t impact the overarching story too much . Closing Time….doesn’t really work as a breather episode
Surely you could blame any single part episode in series 6 for Wedding of River Song being too rushed not just the one right before it. Personally, the single part episode I blame the most is Wedding of River Song.
If you pause at 5:43 if you want a wild thumbnail with Craig looking like he's grabbing 11's Sonic Screwdriver. Wink wink nudge nudge know what i mean? Say no more
I think the key set up was more of a invitation to stop by any time
can you please discuss River's nonsensical speech in the next episode, where she talks about sending a distress signal to the universe to help him.
how is that relevant. what does the speech even mean. it's so weird and it feels it should be in a shitty American tv show (I'm American).
seriously, what does this mean:
"River:
I'm the child of the Tardis. I understand the physics.
DOCTOR:
But that's all you've got, a distress beacon.
RIVER:
I've been sending out a message. A distress call. Outside the bubble of our time, the universe is still turning, and I've sent a message everywhere. To the future and the past, the beginning and the end of everything. The Doctor is dying. Please, please help."
You bring up very strong points in this video, and it was very well put together. However, I just cannot agree with you on this one. I think this story is very compelling, and while it does kind of stomp out the cybermen, I personally believe it helps set up Nightmare in Silver (especially because it perfectly amps up the cybermen to a new threat level from their undermined position). As a standalone episode it definitely isn't strong, but if you key it into the overarching plot of the 11th doctor's run, it kind of fits nicely as a piece of the puzzle.
i still think this episode it pretty good
Lynda baron was in this episode and she passed away
Death doesn’t follow the Doctor, the Doctor follows Death, he just gets there first.
In a series where the things it's trying to do don't work, Closing Time is unusually solid for me, having just watched it. It's actually funny! And doesn't rely on universe-altering Moffat hokey bullshit like virtually every other line they force Smith to say. It's entertaining, works without companions, and most miraculously contains James Corden in a likable format. Really impressive along with the God Complex.
Star Trek nicked the idea of the Cybermen with the Borg, that's how icon a monster they were in the Dr Who universe, but then....😀😀
If the Series 6 finale was meant to be a two-parter, was there a reason why Moffatt chose to change that? Just curious.
Sorry, to clarify, I just meant that the template by that point was a two part finale. It wasn't in the plans for Series 6, Moffat wanted the finale to be a single part from the early stages of development
Stormageddon was the best part of it 😂
Side note: I just watched Flux a few weeks ago and I already don't remember the ending.
I love this episode just because of the baby. I just really like babies in tv shows and movies, but not the really old kinds like James Corden.
Actually I didn't find that an issue but rather the Doctor being able to speak Baby as if it was a real language. That was very very cringeworthy. Second worse DW moment the Sontaron eating all the chocolates in a frenzy. Third, the Azbarloff or whatever it's called in Love and Monsters.
I really enjoyed this episode. The resolution to the cybermen threat is God damm cringey but the rest of the episode is so fun that I can ignore it.
I guess the Doctor can't risk messing things up
i like to believe that this script was originally pretty good. then when james corden showed up it just magically got worse
The novel "Plague of the Cybermen" delves more into the Cyberman horror element you suggest here. Trouble is, it feels like such a retread of both this episode and "Blood of the Cybermen" that I never enjoyed that novel. Like, at all. Enough of that crashed ship crap! It spurred me on to write my own Eleventh Doctor Cyberman story where they're an "Age of Steel"-type threat again, at least.
And yet the Ponds not ending in the previous episode is still worse than this. As a positive, I always liked 11's coat in this episode.
This and Gavin and Stacey is the only time James Corden is good
I don't really know why, but I just absolutely despise the Cybermen. As soon as they appear in an episode,I'm instantely annoyed. There are only maybe one or two Cyber Storylines I like. Wish that wasn't the case, but well, can't force myself to like them
It's a real shame tbh, I did really like the episode personally but I think you're completely right the cybermen were the wrong call for the main villain on this one. Usually, a comedy-centric episode comes with some of the more comedy-centric villains so I don't really get it. Like, imagine if this episode was formatted as closely as possible to how it was but the weeping angels are the main villain instead. They'd never do that because it would obviously belittle the angels as villains so why the heck did they do it here with the cybermen? It's all very odd to me.
I appreciate the Smiling Friends reference
For some reason I remembered Craig as being gay with a husband
Matt’s doctor makes me laugh, grin and cry like no other character or doctor. He was such a thoughtful actor despite his age then
Have you seen folk think James is the next Doctor
Just swap out Cybermen in the title for anything else James touches and it'll still be accurate
Yet another banger of an episode
I love how this video has been made pretty much because of the rumours of James Corden being DW
3:58 I killed them all… with love 😋
James Corden cannot act. Unless you literally want the character of James Corden in your story, you should never cast James Corden.
He was perfectly fine in The Lodger. Not amazing but his chemistry with Matt Smith was excellent and he managed to sound charming. This is definitely after he started his late night show when his charm was getting boring and unfunny.
This is an okay episode tbh. Nothing really harmful but honestly it’s a definite skip
Also yes, Wedding of River Song needed a second part DX
Edit: Much of Series 6 really needed different placements and could’ve been a lot better
I think the cyber men could of been great, I love the premise, and then James cordon blundered in as a giant fart in dw history
James Corden has ruined everything he's been in since the original couple of series of Gavin & Stacey.
And some say he’s gonna be the next Doctor. 😂😂😂😂
Thank - you . ( 2022 / May / 08 ) .
i personally loved this episode
I like this one
Can’t stand James Corden. Guys got the most over inflated ego
C Rank? That's generous. I'd be inclined to give it E-rank, it's a nothing-episode.
I actually enjoyed this episode. Don't know why, I seem to like generally dislikes episodes. I must be a contrarian.
You may just be an optimist.
Unless you also dislike generally well-liked ones
James Corden vs The Cybermen.