In the original concept there is a fob watch which has since been removed yet the clockwork remains. I wonder if it's to do with 12's face and the explination is the whole fob watch thing last seen in the family of blood (series 3) in which 12 for whatever reason uses the fob watch in Pompeii and then to take on the persona of John Frobisher after each event he opens to fob watch and realises who he is. As for Frobisher's death, maybe one of his family wasn't killed with a single gunshot and then had a second bullet fired into them. Pure speculation but could explain both his face and the different titles.
The one thing I dislike about the titles graphically is that I think the episode name should stay on for a few seconds into the show itself. The way it fades out with the sequence is yucky.
I also think the cogs are on screen for too long with nothing of interest happening in the middle.
:-(
A former member
Enjoyed the episode immensely - the only low parts being the awful awful awful mix of the theme music, and the dreadful titles. They may be 'fan-inspired' but they're not great. Thankfully I think I've warmed to Capaldi straight away.
I think Murray Gold has been on the job just a little too long this time, in fairness I thought the same prior to series 5 but then the music cues for the Eleventh Doctor just blew me away, this time there's nothing as memorable.
but then the music cues for the Eleventh Doctor just blew me away, this time there's nothing as memorable.
I thought "I'm the Doctor" (the music that plays when Eleven does his spiel at the end of his first episode), fantastic though it was, ended up being a little overused (and in one case in the 50th, shoe-horned in). There's been nothing memorable
yet
, but this Doctor is still meant to be a bit of a mystery. Giving Twelve a similar cue so early could be construed as dispelling some of the uncertainty around his character.
The titles and title music: not a big fan of either. I saw the original video on YouTube and didn't think there was much separating it from any of the others I'd seen (I prefer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkJqRkaq8co, for example). The previous titles, which I loved, were only in use for a handful of episodes, and could quite easily have been kept.
As for the episode, it took me a little while to get into it, and a couple of things I thought were a bit clunky (some of the editing, for one), but Half-Face Man was a terrific antagonist. The plot was perhaps a bit too self-conscious a retread of
The Girl in the Fireplace
, but ultimately I think it was an idea worth revisiting and fleshing out (hah).
Capaldi was excellent, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the Daleks think of him next week.
Moffat can write brilliant single episodes but as a show runner he's determined to take the show along the cartoon/CBBC route while giving us the most complicated arcs.
I really wish RTD would come back. Hated everything Moffat has done since Matt and he arrived.
The titles and rearrangement of the music are terrible.
The titles and title music: not a big fan of either. I saw the original video on YouTube and didn't think there was much separating it from any of the others I'd seen (I prefer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkJqRkaq8co, for example). The previous titles, which I loved, were only in use for a handful of episodes, and could quite easily have been kept.
While i do very much like NeonVisual's title sequences, i think they're over designed. They're stunning technically, but i think a better executed simpler idea would work better and i think Billy Henshaws sequence fits that bill perfectly. To be honest though i think the execution of his fan sequence was better. Not so much the fob watch idea, but the clockwork and clockface vortex were timed better and actually look better visually. In the actual sequence, i think the clockwork part goes on for too long.
