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Series 8's more unhurried pacing reaches its apex with the "lyrical and beautiful," per Steven Moffat, "In the Forest of the Night." Did the episode hold interest? Did The Doctor and Clara resemble themselves from just a couple of episodes ago? Well….
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I found myself really wishing I hadn't seen the "next time" trailer and the previews that were posted. The reveal that they were in the middle of London would have been really cool, had it not been spoiled already.
I agree–I was confused why the Doctor was so committed to earth in such stark contrast to KTM. I wondered if he had tried detaching himself previously, and realised that was bollocks and now has adjusted his attitude?
And not saving the children because they'll miss their mommies is a fairly odd reason to not save children. That's fairly flawed logic I wouldn't want to see applied in other situations. I came away from that thinking that Clara really didn't want to have to deal with those kids for the rest of her life, which is what would happen if they all went off to a new planet or whatever. Which I can somewhat understand, but leaving them to die because you don't feel up to dealing with them is a bit extreme!
There were several instances in this program where I couldn't understand what was said. So at the end when my husband asked me what the hell had happened in that episode, I really wasn't sure. What did the firefly critters say? Also, why did Anabelle come back? Where was she, and how did this global crisis precipitate her return? Was it just a feel-good ending, or was there some sort of reason there?
A coincidentally-timed falling statue?!?
That statue was Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, a monument to an Admiral of the British Empire at the heart of power in the capital city.
It was the symbolism of that statue falling which was important, not that they risked being crushed. If they were being invaded, as the Doctor said, they'd have already lost.
The Doctor's comments were very believable. It definitely was character development: he was saying he was wrong in Kill the Moon. Or as close to saying he was wrong as this Doctor is likely to go.
And Clara has developed too. Her 'addiction' has reached the point where she's now a terrible teacher.
You don't want the characters to stay the same every week, do you?
Mark H, above, makes an excellent point about how Clara's addiction is hurting her teaching. I hadn't explicitly made that connection, but it rings true.
I did like seeing that the Doctor is making some much-needed progress toward becoming "the good man" we know he can be and usually is.
I thought the kids were generally quite strong, myself. Oh, well – mileage varies!